Looking for idea's and "why didn't I think of that" thoughts.

Looking to buy a house, convert the garage to living space :eek: to bring the house to 5 bedroom & 2500 sq ft. (garage is 600 sq ft.)

So time for a custom garage/shop. Ideally around 1000 sq feet of garage, with a office/apartment on the top. 1/2 bath in garage, 3/4 in apartment area.

Lots of good idea's from the thread on garage concrete (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43219 ).

Goal is to keep expenses to under $20K (Slab, frame, roof, office floor) finishing out the area's later.

THOUGHTS:

Double doors on BOTH ends of the shop to let any breeze flow through.
Slope the floor, easy to hose out. Set a flat pad in one side for any alignment, llayout work.

Any recommendations on "shop plans" on the web? Ya, need to have the shop match the house.

Suggestions appreciated!

Tom :usa:

I am planning on doing just the opposite. Buy a 50x70 shop and converting part into a living area. I only need 1200 sq ft to live. The rest can be shop area.

Erin

Think ventalition. Build in a welding /cutting area, with over head vent. Steel table for welding/cutting/grinding /burning, and painting (not real body work type painting, just rattle can parts work) If you can even think of affording it.. Do the in ground lift now.. Or at least build in the pit, back fill, cover with maybe a sheet of 3/8 steel, have it for later.

NEVER and I mean NEVER undersestimate how much space you need. is 1000 sq/ft REALLY enough?

ok.. first.. you will want a lift. make sure the ceiling is at least 16' tall where the lift is. Also make sure yyou can lift a 35' RV if you ever wanted to. (Easy to say, I'll never need that, harder to fix it when you realize you do. ;) )

I would highly recommend laying out the floor and where the 1st and 2nd floors will be. ;) might be suprised how small things get. :)

Heat the floor with hydronic system (tubes in floor with hot water for heat), central air, 10 foot doors, air lines, overhead lift, recepts every 4 foot (seperate recepts from lights so you dont kill yourself when you trip a breaker), if you're married cable tv, complete bathroom with shower, seperate phone line to escape the "loved ones". Might as well be comfy sincce you''ll be living in there.

Originally posted by hewl35
Heat the floor with hydronic system (tubes in floor with hot water for heat), central air, 10 foot doors, air lines, overhead lift, recepts every 4 foot (seperate recepts from lights so you dont kill yourself when you trip a breaker), if you're married cable tv, complete bathroom with shower, seperate phone line to escape the "loved ones". Might as well be comfy sincce you''ll be living in there.

I did most of that in my garage. I wish I would have installed the hydronic system, and went with 10' wide doors instead of 9' and 9' high not 8'. btw the standard door is 7' high. I did install the bathroom w/shower and wash tub. It's the best thing you will ever do :D Also go with a 200 amp seperate elec. entrance , put outlets in the ceiling also for drop lights. I to have the phone and catv. 1000 sq ft will not be enough, thats only about 32x32. If you are going to have a pool near the garage put a seperate door into the bathroom from outside for kids and guests so they don't go running in and out of the house. The seperate door for the bath is so people don't have to go throught the rest of the garage to get into the bath. To much risk of stepping on somthing sharpe and getting hurt. Go with a barn style roof , it will give you a huge room on the second floor to finish the way you want. I have 9'6" celings, wanted 10' but the builder screwed up. If you plan on a lift find out which one you want and plan your hight for it. They make lifts for lower ceiling hights but with a lifted truck you will only be able to go so high. You may also need a thicker floor for a lift also. good luck, it all adds up quick $$$$$$$$$

Don't go with an in-ground lift. they're yesterday's news.
I can't think of a shop that's been built in the past 10 years that doesn't have above ground and I'm talking dealerships and major garages.

In-ground has a lot of issues.
1. When they leak (trust me they will) you'll have a ground contamination issue.
2. When you have a problem other then post seals you gotta dig everything up to do any repairs, and you will.

Above ground is way cheaper, easier to maintain and there are some units that will even give you enough room under the raised vehicle to park another under it.

Might consider a row of block or pour a riser up for your base board. That way you don't have to worry about water sitting there and rotting your sill.

There is a machine shop in town that has a unique (to me) ventilation system throughout! On the south end of the shop is where the main exhaust fan is located. The pipe connected to the fan is about 5' long and 2' diameter. Fed into this piece of pipe is about 10 smaller pieces of about 6" diameter flexible tube, kinda like dryer venting. They then sealed this housing up and strung the stuff to the main working areas of the shop, i.e. above the benches and one down low to place over exhaust. Here in the north country heating these shops is a big issue and when you kick on a big fan you can potentially blow all your heat outside. This elliminates that because the hoses hand down slightly.

Just my addition to your list!!!
enjoy the new shop!!!


:beer: :beer: :beer: and did I mention a fridge to keep the :beer: :beer: :beer: cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'll be following THIS thread.
I'm just finally sorting out just the basic interor restoraton and am pretty excited to begin laying out the new 'Jeep Lab" :p
Look, See ... (http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep/NewShop.htm)

Originally posted by Jaffer
I'll be following THIS thread.
I'm just finally sorting out just the basic interor restoraton and am pretty excited to begin laying out the new 'Jeep Lab" :p
Look, See ... (http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep/NewShop.htm)


So that's all ya need, find an old gas station.

They come complete with.....

someone to sweep up.....
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep/Pics/AleseSweepingOutside.jpg

and piles of jeep parts in inside....
http://www.monsterslayer.com/jeep/Pics/PileOfJeepStuff.jpg

who couldn't resist a deal like that!:D

surely you're not attempting to build this is Round Rock in a neighborhood ? i used to live off 620 behind the H-E-B in Round Rock and the homeowners association in all those neighborhoods were so gung-ho nazi about what you could/couldn't do ...

- jack

whoever is talking about heat, he's in austin TX, Think more about how to get the AC flowing good enough....

I am looking into the same issue, with a little different flair. Buy the house sitting on an acre outside of town with a 3 car garage, pay down 20K or so on the principle, then build the shop.

Things I have run into (and I am in Dallas, so it should be similar)

1) Get far enough out of town that there is not a homeowner's assoc.

2) Get at least 3/4 of an acre. Any less and you will have a tough time working out a home and shop on the same lot, and since this place will have your dream shop on it, sooner or later you will want an actual house, and you will want to put it next door!

3) Consider whether you will ever make your offroad shop the basis of a legitimate business (I say legitimate as in enough documentation to get the tax breaks). If it will be a business, take a look at the requirements from both the city and the county to get a fictitious business name and an occupancy permit. You will have to do some research to see which of these you will need for your application.

4) Research requirements on secondary structures in the city/town/ whatever you are gonna be building in. In one I just looked at, you are restricted to 600 sq ft of Air Conditioned space in a secondary structure. I just found rule #1 that I will have to creatively break!

5) Take a look around the neighborhood as you are considering buying, the more car covers with jackstands poking out from under them, flat deck trailers with tire racks on them, and derelict vehicles in the back yards you see, the better. People that have the above yard ornaments will come over to gawk, drink beer, and see if you can weld up their ___________ (insert minor task here), instead of calling the cops on you for spinning up a grinder at 10 seconds after 9 on a saturday evening.

Originally posted by ForestCam
Don't go with an in-ground lift. they're yesterday's news.
I can't think of a shop that's been built in the past 10 years that doesn't have above ground and I'm talking dealerships and major garages.

In-ground has a lot of issues.
1. When they leak (trust me they will) you'll have a ground contamination issue.
2. When you have a problem other then post seals you gotta dig everything up to do any repairs, and you will.

Above ground is way cheaper, easier to maintain and there are some units that will even give you enough room under the raised vehicle to park another under it.

I think in ground lifts have come along way.... this is what I have my eye on.
Check this out....nice and out of the way when you dont need it.

http://www.challengerlifts.com/envirolift.html

Good idea's & thoughts... keep 'em coming. Area is an older HOA section, but smallest lots are 1+ acre.

Well water & septic fields, but most of these homes have large shops behind them. 1000 sq ft shop seems about average.

For "tax code" the area above the shop/garage will be "storage space". Of course with it being so hot in Texas might just need an A/C in there for "storage"! :D For code reasons if the storage area is a "living area" might require a larger septic field. ;)

Lift would be nice feature, but need to keep cost reasonable. Still thinking that I am better of specifying a 6" slab under the whole area, giving more options later for an above ground hoist.

CATV & Computer & phone lines are a good idea, thanks.

Tom :usa:

i would recommend a hoist on track system. sort of like a rail that runs the length of the shop with a hoist attached, that can slide or roll down the rail. i saw this once and it was incredibly how handy it was. imagine hauling home something big (ie: engine or axle) and just being able to snag it right out of the back of your truck, slide it to the back of the garage, and set it down on jackstands. all that with minimal effort and its a one person job. :D

Originally posted by bsumner
i would recommend a hoist on track system. sort of like a rail that runs the length of the shop with a hoist attached, that can slide or roll down the rail. i saw this once and it was incredibly how handy it was. imagine hauling home something big (ie: engine or axle) and just being able to snag it right out of the back of your truck, slide it to the back of the garage, and set it down on jackstands. all that with minimal effort and its a one person job. :D

Now THAT'S a great idea ...
They've been used in packing houses a lot.
One of the simpler designs I've seen looks just like a C shaped rail with a wheel and a drop down hook.
And others I've seen are double or quad rollers on an I beam .

Originally posted by bsumner
i would recommend a hoist on track system. sort of like a rail that runs the length of the shop with a hoist attached, that can slide or roll down the rail. i saw this once and it was incredibly how handy it was. imagine hauling home something big (ie: engine or axle) and just being able to snag it right out of the back of your truck, slide it to the back of the garage, and set it down on jackstands. all that with minimal effort and its a one person job. :D

Commonly refered to as a bridge crane...my buddies shop has one, incredibly handy to have.

check out the codes I can't get a permit to build mine I am having to jump through every hoop and I am only trying to build a 24x34 with 10’ walls on a double lot? I think I will be able to get away with a 24 x32 with a slight bit of fudging. Even though there allowed two houses to be built on the lot next door thats not any bigger than mine and they are about 2200sf each.

first check codes to make sure your building will go up with out a hitch.

my uncle lives in a community with a housing authority and his lot is rectangular so the shop is in the back yard and the only way to see whats going on is to peer over a 7" tall wood fence.:D

for a car hoist look at northern hydralics the hoist i was looking at is like the tire shop uses lifts from the side 8"-35" off the ground pad spread is 36"-57" forward reach of 21" and uses 1/4" air line and lifts 2 tons cost $400 each. so i'll need 2 cost $800 not bad for a roll around any where theres air style lift.

Originally posted by ironpig70


my uncle lives in a community with a housing authority and his lot is rectangular so the shop is in the back yard and the only way to see whats going on is to peer over a 7" tall wood fence.:D



Man... 7" tall.... must have some REALLY short people there. hehehehe

ForestCam -- how did you talk your S/O into moving into a garage? :D

Whew... looks like my offer is accepted... now just waiting on the SURVEY to make sure the shop can fit, and won't go over a septic field. :eek:

Ahem... that 30' x 50' three car garage is looking better all the time! http://www.archwaypress.com/plans/garages/121.htm is what I have in mind. Need to add a 1/2 bath.

Thinking of making the bay to the right a DOUBLE HEIGHT (open to top) for future lift. Limits the loft area, but that is still a ton of storage space.

Quick check of the other homes in the area.... most shops are AT LEAST 1000 sq foot (all property sizes are from 1.2 to 4 acres... not bad at all!). :D

My SO is a wizard, as it looks like we can do a 3% down, with a construction loan built into the mortgage (30 yr) to have the shop built. Whew... Got the credit cards paid off, or down below 50% of their limit, and everything else clean on the credit scores... so looking good.

Just holding my breath.... deal looks too good to be true!

Tom

This is my lift in the barn. We have an outdoor inground lift, but we don't use it due to not wanting to deal with the EPA. As you can see, it makes vehicle storage way easy.

Easy

A couple other thoughts, an engine hoist works great for carting stuff around the shop. It's also about .01% of the cost of a bridge crane and you don't have to engineer your walls to accept one.

Back to the lift. I've never liked inground lifts because I can't stand directy under the center of my vehicle. I don't like working around something when I'm doing tranny/tcase work.

Easy

This is DEFINITELY the thread to keep an eye on for sure! I am looking at 2.2 acre lot to put house and shop on, with future plans of putting down a 2nd house as a rental property. If all goes well with the planning stage I will be working with about 1 1/4 acres for house and shop. Initial shop size so far is about 40' wide and about 40 - 50' deep with one stall having 14' doors on both ends and the other two stalls having 10' doors each. A "storage loft/office" is a darn good idea complete with a 1/2 or 3/4 bath and all of the phone/cable creature comforts.:D The idea of an exteriordoor to the bathroom is going in for revisement as we are looking to put in a pool as well. Being in AridZona I am going to build 2x6 exterior walls for sure. A little overboard on the thickness and insulation will go a long ways with cooling as well as heating efficiencies. The lift is without a doubt a must! The overhead hoist and rolling track is an idea to look at incorporating. I never seem to have enough hands to do the heavy work. The suggestion of a "hood" over the fabrication bench is another gem. Has anybody seen DRM's shop since he posted it up a while back? Any other little goodies you can come up with?!?!?

:beer:

I always wondered if you could build a heated slab system that uses used oil for the fuel?????

Lot's of good suggestions here.

Bridge Crane: I would look hard into this. Like what has been said, nothing like moving heavy shit around effortlessly and placing exactly where you want it. Simple bridge cranes can be had for cheap. Desiging the rail system is as simple as using channel or I-beams. Footings of 4'x4'x4' and 6" steel posts @ 10-12 feet would accomodate up to a 20 ton bridge crane with 20' clear easily.

Codes: This will most likely be the biggest limiting factor more than anything. Check for building types and height restrictions. Here we have a limitation as to a percentage of the garage vs living quarters. Also our codes don't allow full living spaces outside the main residence, but there are many ways around that kind of stuff.

Size: More is definatly better. The biggest and tallest you can build will more likely provide you with many years of shop bliss over the damn I wish I had made that door just a few inches taller or had a little more space just to store stuff.

Costs: If you go prefab the biggest cost will be the slab. This is one area not to skimp, a bad or poor slab will be with you the life of the shop. Yes, 4" will suffice for most but 6 is better and less likely to crack if you drop something big on it. Plan on under slab drains, pits and electrical. If you plan on pre-fab find out when the dealer will have end of show or end of season specials. It's really cool to get a 10k kit for 3500 when they are trying to dump stock. Don't forget shipping costs. Some buildings also require special scaffolding or cranes to erect.

Electrical: Don't under estimate your need and like was said provide banked lighting and possibly emergency lighting. Nothing like being in a big dark shop with all sorts of things to trip over.

Natural lighting: Consider lots of skylights or windows, cheap lighting and helps avoid the under daylight bo-bo's for your rattle can paint jobs.

When I get around to building mine I will be looking into quanset style with 5' concrete block stem walls, I figure I can get 40x80 for under 5k for the building minus the concrete. I can then finish the interior as I have time.

http://www.ultimategarage.com/UltGar2.htm

sum else u can do on the floor to help clean up.. along each wall run a drainage ditch 4 inchs or so and put steel grates over them
and run the concreat or block up 12 inchs or so..
the steal grates can be removed to power wash the floor.. and left in place the rest of the time so ur buddys whos :beer: :beer: dont step in and twist his ankle and ends up ownin ur dream shop.. plus it will be a lot cleaner and nicer then trying to places drains thru out the shop;..

if u have the money pout a lil extra behind the shop a place to wash ur rig before bringing it in to the shop..help keep the place a lil cleaner.. and wont cause a huge pond..,,

Just about done building my first shop..

It was a compromise, since I have to share with my mom.. but it's been a great learning experience, and I've already figured out what to do for Round 2 when I find a place worth buying.. in the meantime, I can deal with coming over to use the shop. :D

Anyhow..

Went 30x30. Sure sounded big when we were tearing down the old 24x20 or so.. still seems big..

Layout is 3 garage doors. two 9x7s on opposite ends (drive-through from street to back yard), one 9x9 to the yard/alley, leaving one corner with no windows and no doors.

The "drive through" is car and Harley parking and off-limits for wrenching.

That leaves a 30' long by 18' "work bay".. equipment lines one wall ( :beer: fridge, blast cabinet, parts washer, drill press, rollaway, filing cabinet for stuff, etc).

The "short" wall has a desk, and will have a 3x8 steel work bench when I get around to it.

Leaves a decent sized work area for one Scout at a time.

I can even get my 119" WB FS Travelall inside.. but between the time the old garage was knocked down and the new one finished, I went out and bought a long-box crewcab.. 166" WB.

I think I can park it inside and still walk around, but when I finish the new 392 for it, I'm going to have to leave the truck half out of the garage to have enough room to roll my hoist with the engine in front of it.

Next time, bigger!

Realistically, 28x32 would've been a better size, making it easier to park two cars deep, plus get the crewcab in.

10' ceilings are fine, since an above ground hoist wasn't an option.

My rigs will currently just squeeze through the 7' doors - well, before I put the 36s on it would..

Went with 2" foam insulation under the 4" slab. There's 750' of 1/2" poly pipe in the floor for radiant floor heat. Haven't hooked up the propane tank and hot-water heater and recirc pump yet.

I went nuts on electric. Something like 15 outlets in the ceiling on 2 breakers. Idea is to use the cheap $10 (loaded with bulbs) 4' dual-tube flourescents. I can just add them wherever and whenever I want - there's an outlet handy.

On the walls, outlets are about 40" off the ground, and every 36". At 40" off the ground, we dryawalled up 48", then the next 4' are 5/8" strand board, then the top 20" are drywall again.

On top of the strand board there'll be some pegboard in places, too.

I put the outlets under 48" so I could easily cut the drywall for the outlets, instead of cutting plywood.

Basic structure is "ICF" - insulated concrete forms.

Foam blocks about 8" wide, with 2" of foam on the outside, then 4" of concrete and rebar, then 2" of foam on the inside.

Good for R-50.

Also have 48" deep frost-walls for a foundation - no moisture getting under the slab - that, plus the 2" insulation under the slab, the R-50 walls, and eventually some blown insulation in the attic.. should be cheap to keep toasty warm.

At the moment, I'm running my 80k BTU space heater with just drywall in the ceiling - no insulation - and it works fine.i

I have telephone and ethernet to the shop. Dual web-cams, too.

I thought about running TV, but we dumped cable years ago, and I can always "stream" some video from the computer in the house (capture board and a VCR for the tuner.. <G> )

Stereo, naturally.

100amp power feed runs in a buried 2" PVC conduit from the shop into the house's crawl space.

Phone and Ethernet runs on two seperate Cat5 runs in a second 2" PVC pipe. I fished some cotton rope through the pipe when I put it in and taped it on both ends to make fishing wires easier. Had 'em dig the trench to the house while the backhoe was here for the foundation.

I didn't plumb for the air, since I don't plan on being here *that* long.. but the plan at one time was to put air drops all over the place, too.

Probably about $20k into the shop, give or take.. contractor did the slab and the walls and the sheathing on the roof. I sided, I wired, I roofed, I drywalled.
Floor heat was a $1000 thus far. About half n' half for the under-slab insulation and for the pipe.

Details at


http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/jpg/garage/index.html

Shop cams at - http://tigger.tmcom.com/~tsm1/scout/shopcam/

Next shop?

I kind of like the ICF.. it's not cheap, but it's not that much more than a good 2x6 stick structure, more so if you consider the R-50 insulation and what it would take to get a 2x6 building even close to that.. and it's strong. 4" of concrete and rebar!

I'm thinking the next one (assuming I can swing the $$) should be something like 40' deep (leaving a good 10' of workbench/equipment area and 30' for a bay, long enough to work on my crewcab - and definitely long enough to park two rigs deep).

Ideally, about 60' wide. :D

Put an above-ground lift on one end, with a high enough ceiling.. but only on that end, sloping it down to the opposite end.

Maybe make one end an "open" bay that could become a paint booth from time to time, then next to that the lift, leaving about 3 open bays w/o a lift, and without painting an option for just general "stuff" - or car parking.

You can't have a big enough shop.. except when it comes time to heat it. :)

Ideally, some method of partitioning off half of the shop give or take to make heating easier/cheaper..

I live in Montana, so a warm shop is a good shop.

Oh yeah.. thought about the I-beam crane thing.. $$$.

Instead, I find my $30 hand-truck and my engine hoist work GREAT for moving heavy stuff around by myself.

I don't know why I waited so long to buy the hand-truck..

A buddy of mine that had experienced friction with neighbors over the noises from working in his shop built a nook for his air compressor out of concrete blocks, with built-in vibration insulation. It cut down on the noise dramatically. Maybe building something like this into the shop design from the get-go?

Henry... I figured on making a separate concrete pads for the air compressor & A/C unit. One trick I saw for cutting down the noise of a compressor was to use egg cartons on the interior of the compressor housing walls. Lots of baffles to let heat out, but keep the noise down.

Lots of good idea.... Thanks!

Looks like my offer has been ACCEPTED! Sellers are cool, walked the property yesterday with my 100' tape. Looks like a 30' x 50' shop will work out fine! YEEHA!

Deed restrictions are funny. "no junk" -- easy to understand, "no swine" -- cool, ex can't be out there :D No Rifle Shooting... Shot guns for clay & birds are OK :eek: "Honest officer I didn't realize it was my ex, I thought it was a big fat :rainbow: pigeon. :D

Shop plans have to be reviewed by the "committee", biggest requirements are that the shop is "of similar construction and quality as the house". I.e. the front of the shop must be brick that matches the house.

With the last requirement, looking to modify the shop idea to have the 30 ft end facing the street, with two large garage doors. Hmm, less brick work required. Rest of the shop can be other than brick.

Biggest problem: Finding a place to "store" my stuff: i.e. milling machine, lathe, TIG welder while the shop is being built. House currently has a two car garage, but to get all six of us into the house we need to convert the garage into bedrooms. Realistically it will be six months that I won't be able to do any metal work, but gets expensive with "riggers" to move that stuff around. Starting to think of a "frame" with four wheels that could suspend a large piece of equipment so I could winch it onto a trailer. Milling machine weighs in around 3500 pounds! :eek:

Tom :usa:

our one cost 18000 aus - 9000 us?

i is 1200s/ft 30x40

i has 3 9'6" roller doors which are 11'6" high

3 phase power

8 fluro lights

8 standard power points

i like it

Well I certainly like all these ideas. I didnt read all of it and didnt see mention of any floor attachment points. I mean put a 3/4in bolt through a 1in plate of steel under the slab maybe 10inx10in plate with a 3/4in bolt through it with it sticking flush to the floor surface and the concrete recessed around it to mount a d-ring or tool to pull something towards the floor.I had recently found my Yj frame was bent and with a jackstand and a floor attachment point I could have fixed it. I hope this is not a repeat of another idea. Another if into body and paint would be to build 8ft benches with flourescent lights under them shining sideways towards what you are working on.

you guys keep mentioning floor drains.
they are "illegal" in most areas I thought.
too many morons dumping motor oil and glycol down them ruined it for the rest of us

I forgot last night to say for your temp storage just rent a steel container. Not a semi trailer but the ones used on jobsites. I am having one delivered to the house we just bought with no shop for use for 6mos while we build one. I found one place with a 8ftx20ft for $59.00 a month and a one time $75.00 buck deliver and pickup fee.I think they even have metal floors. Very lockable dry and secure. Plus all your stuff is on site.

I built a new shop last summer. Mine is a two-story affair with office and guest quarters above. The design included a large beam running across the ceiling of the shop area, which was perfect for a bridge crane system. I have to say that is one of the most appreciated features from my perspective (old fart with a bad back):D

Winters in Central Orygun are cold, so heating was an issue for me. I elected to keep the shop relatively small and clean by building an unheated pole barn for storage and the more dirty activities (e.g., sandblasting).

Pics of my shop are HERE (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Ejrice/Shop/Shop.html)

:drool:

Damn, medusa, that is the nicest shop ive seen at someones home. Great work, I'm sure you love it. I especailly like the mill and lathe :beer:

I wish my house was as clean as your shop. :D

Originally posted by Medusa
I built a new shop last summer. Mine is a two-story affair with office and guest quarters above. The design included a large beam running across the ceiling of the shop area, which was perfect for a bridge crane system. I have to say that is one of the most appreciated features from my perspective (old fart with a bad back):D

Winters in Central Orygun are cold, so heating was an issue for me. I elected to keep the shop relatively small and clean by building an unheated pole barn for storage and the more dirty activities (e.g., sandblasting).

Pics of my shop are HERE (http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Ejrice/Shop/Shop.html)

Medusa,

It looks like you are WAY to clean and tidy to make my mistake, but if this is where you acutally use your chop saw, I would recommend putting a piece of sheetmetal over the plywood on the wall. I have had the stream of sparks coming off a chop saw litterally burn into sheetrock. I am sure that plywood would be easier to damage. Other than that, it looks like a SWEET area to do some hobbyist work in.

Mike

http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/%7Ejrice/Shop/Blaster2.JPG

Medusa -- is 1800 sq feet BOTH up and lower? 30' x 30' building?

How is the epoxy floor holding up (I assume two part epoxy, my concern is welding on it (burns and such).

Trying to get an idea of the "space" of your floor. I've found a "U" shaped area with the lathe, mill, and work table is pretty good for size and "not running around back and forth".

Thinking of making the rear of the shop into two 15' x 15' rooms. Lets me keep my "office" and the mill & lathe in a "clean" area,
while the welding/grinding/plasma cutter are done in the "dirty" area (next 15' area). Front 20' is for parking vehicles, and all that
other stuff that can not go into the loft.

Deed restrictions are very reasonable. Only requirement is that the side facing the street has to be brick like the house. Hence the 30' side will be in that direction, along with the garage door moved to the front. Both neighbors commented that they thought 1500 sq ft shop seemed like a good size! :D

Only catch with moving the room door around, is not possible to have room for a lift.

wheelinjp -- interesting idea. Not sure if I can put such a container into the yard during construction. Would be cheaper to store (& have access to) everything when I need it!

Tom :usa:

1800 total. The shop area is 30'x30' and the "barn" is 40'x60'. The epoxy floor is working well -- so far no burns from welding. It is harder than I expected cleaning the machine oil and ground in grit. So, the shop is now not at all clean like those in the photos (taken just after moving in).

Foley -- Yes. the wall behind the chop saw has sheet metal on it.

Medusa,

How do you like the Jet band Saw? I've been thinking of one, but have yet to really decide what band saw to go for. This one is actually leading the pack...

Corey

Bigger is better.

Here is my dad's backyard workshop....70x70 with 14 10x20 bays (7 on each side) and a 30 x 70 open area down the middle.

http://home.bellsouth.net/coDataImages/p/Groups/47/47154/pages/262965/IM000261.JPG

My old shop had floor drains and the floor was shaped to flow into them. It was great for clean up but it really sucks not having a flat level piece of concrete to build stuff on. If you're going to slope your shop for easy hose out I'd recomend keeping a strip in the middle that is flat and level to build off of. Nothing worse then taking lots of time building something square then finding out your floor is off.

Travis

Tom, I built my house last year and lived in a 30x40x12 metal building for almost 6 months. We had plenty of room to store our boxxed up whatnots against a wall. I installed a 4 ton central heat/air unit which was perfect size. The main complaints that the wife had were lack of sound insulation and the bugs and rainfrogs getting in around the overhead doors.
I used a thin insulation that looks like bubble packing w/tinfoil on 1 side. It is great for heat insulation,but horrible for sound insulation. Anything more than a light drizzle of rain and you couldnt hear the tv or anyone on the phone. I thought it was funny. The wife didnt. So, my best advice is to properly insulate the building for noise. Also pay close attention to the future neighbors before you buy. I am ready to sell my house right now because of an 80 year old neighbor who swears I am running a commercial business any time he sees a Jeep or something pull up in the driveway. Our restrictions dont allow commercial businesses, but they do allow freakin hog farms if I desired. I still havent figured that one out.

as for putting in a "bathroom" type features, here is what 2 of my
freinds did in different states, at much different times.

Chico, California, approx 1974:
freind had 5 acres. needed a detached garage/shop. by code
definitions, if the "shop" had any major features such as: heat
source, any water supply, or bathroom (toilet) feature, it would
have changed the classification from: AGGI BUILDING, to HOME-
GARAGE. AGGI-building permits/taxes were very cheap. he later
installed a wood buring shop heater, and piped-water for drinking/washing.

Phoenix, AZ. approx 1995:
Old roomate/buddy built his own 30x40 stucco building/shop.
13-foot door on one end for 5th wheel RV. 16' garage door in
center, and single-door on other end..
He "planned" on doing a full bathroom, complete with water-heater, toilet, sink, and shower stall.
The way to do this is to hide all the drain-plumbing under the
concrete-slab just under the surface skin. (like 1/8" under)
make sure you know where every pipe-cap is placed, (not glued).
after clearing past your construction inspections, you can chip-off
the concrete skim, and connect your plumbing and finish your
bathroom........

evidently, installing a toilet/shower makes a big difference in
overall plans for use, and permit fees/taxes........................

--Sherpa

one last thing, for my garage, I will install a full-gantry type overhead crane system. even if it is homebuilt.....

Sherpa, I dont know how the inspectors do it in other states, but here, the inspector comes after all of the wire mesh and rebar and visqueen is in place but before the slab is poured. This way he can check all of the footings and slab prep and any plumbing prior to pouring concrete. If you were to do it this way, you would have to get the inspectors approval first, then pull up the wire mesh and run the plumbing,then get the slab poured.
The only issue that I ran into since the shop was going to be inhabited was that fiber mesh alone is not approved for living quarters;wire mesh and rebar have to be used in the concrete. We have septic systems here, so I was allowed to use the single septic tank for the house and the shop. The shop is only 100' from the house, so I had the tank put in between the two. I think the big issues dealing with plumbing in auxillary buildings deals more with single family dwelling on one lot. If you do decide to run a business from the shop, you may need to look into having seperate water and electric meters for tax deduction reasons.

Rusty,

what you mentioned about the inspection after the footings
and wire mesh being installed are correct. he had the pre-pour
inspection done. then, moved the wire mesh, dug the trenches,
buried the plumbing, and recovered and packed the base. the
wire mesh was re-installed. then the pour was completed.

like I said, it might not be easy, most guys wouldn't do this
type of work. but I know my freind would. his shop in the
middle of summer (PHOENIX-AZ) heat, prob 115 degrees,
the shop if kept closed stays around 75 degrees.... with no
fans or a/c running....... hell, every single wall-ceiling panel is
fully sheet-rocked and textured.... I could live in that shop!

--Sherpa

Originally posted by rustyb
Sherpa, I dont know how the inspectors do it in other states, but here, the inspector comes after all of the wire mesh and rebar and visqueen is in place but before the slab is poured. This way he can check all of the footings and slab prep and any plumbing prior to pouring concrete. If you were to do it this way, you would have to get the inspectors approval first, then pull up the wire mesh and run the plumbing,then get the slab poured.
The only issue that I ran into since the shop was going to be inhabited was that fiber mesh alone is not approved for living quarters;wire mesh and rebar have to be used in the concrete. We have septic systems here, so I was allowed to use the single septic tank for the house and the shop. The shop is only 100' from the house, so I had the tank put in between the two. I think the big issues dealing with plumbing in auxillary buildings deals more with single family dwelling on one lot. If you do decide to run a business from the shop, you may need to look into having seperate water and electric meters for tax deduction reasons.