Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Great shop Denny, can you feel garage envy from envy(Plymouth)

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

I am in the planning stages for a shop. What are the Pro's and Con's between an all steel building and a stick building? Door styles for overhead doors with wide spans. I am planning on housing a 48' trailer inside along with truck. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Sean

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

I built similar tables but 2 x 4 ft in size frames, one shelf(each table had different height on the shelf)with a 48x30 top (you can replace these). Cut all the frame pieces the same so height's are the same, with locking wheels. I have smaller garage 24x36, so I put these where I need them, If I need a large flat workspace then I can roll them out in the middle of the garage and shove them together, lock the wheels and have a pretty large table(great for serving food during our super bowl party). My wife made canvas covers with snaps so all the tools,junk on the shelves are hidden and helps keep the dust out and don't need extra space for opening doors.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Sean,

The steel building goes up faster and in most cases will be less expensive. The stick building does not have the commercial look and is more customizable then steel building but it will increase the price significantly.

I think both can be made to handle most any door configurations, it just comes down to how much money you want to spend .

Many don't like the steel building look, but if your okay with it, I think its the way to go just for price point.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Sean a stick building allows for thicker insulation and the studs make it easier to sheet rock. You can also build a stud wall inside a steel building to get the same but the cost goes up. I just prefer the feel of a stick building. Just finished a 30x50 addition on my shop.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Sean,

I am attaching some pics of a building I had built last year. It starts out as a 42 X 64 pole barn that becomes completely insulated in ceiling and walls. Along one wall(64 length) we put up a wall 9' from the side to have and area for office, mechanical, parts and a one stall garage (one car totally separated). This was studded and dry walled, with 8' ceilings but went up to 9' for the stall (7' door 2' rails). I had the white metal put on the shop area for easy clean up and to help everything be bright with light. The 9' area has the painted walls and wood trim like a stick built feel, but I can tell you that the insulation is so thick and works so well with the hot water heat running through the floor. I don't have total numbers, but I will bet I used less than 300 gal of propane last year and the heat was never less than 60 the whole time. Regarding doors, I put 2 10' X 20' one on each end so that drive thru is possible with my F-350 and a 28 tag. I wanted to go even longer and be able to unload the car from the trailer while inside, but I just didn't have the money for that. I hope this helps. Attached are some of the pics.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Steve,

Your shop looks great, man am I jealous, I wish I could have built something the big. What did you do for the floor, it looks great. I need to do mine over and have not decided what to do yet. How about some pictures of the outside.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Ken,
A racer friend had this done in his and he told me to have the concrete guys put a "dye" in it. It did run about $900 more, but when the cost of the concrete was over $20k, that is a drop in the bucket. Color is good, but the pics don't show that all of the work that went on inside later affected the "shine" I was trying to achieve. The finish is great, wipes up oil and anti freeze even weeks later. It is not as slick when washing a car with the water and all but oil does make it slick. I have had a rep from the company visit and says that I need to put another chemical on it to soften it and release the moisture that might have gotten trapped, then it will harden again and shine.
This has slowed my progress as the fumes are very dangerous and I have daily use now for my truck. I have not put my lift in as I am waiting to do the floor as a whole.
Headaches. I will post some outside pics later.

Re: Shop, need suggestions
 

Some pics of the outside of the shop. Only windows are in the office area(less chance for curious eyes). Limited walk doors limit intruder entrances. There is a pic of my one car stall that is for the Pontiac, but has my Merc in it for now. It seals off so nothing can get on the car and there is little room to put anything else in if the urge should come up.
A couple of pics of my heating system. I so love the way it works.

Re: Shop, need suggestions