New shop

[Numbfingers]

I'm sure this will start a lively discussion, but I wanted to get some input on a project for next year. I'm going to build a SMALL AND LEAN shop to house my service truck, some supplies, and all my other tooling that I don't carry on the truck daily. Also need some space to have a personal car project in there as well. The other reason for the shop is so I can for work on customer's components out of the weather. I don't do a whole lot of welding, so space for that was limited. I want to keep the welding area away from the waste oil and working area so I'm not throwing metal grindings and slag onto a customer's component. I will not be bringing machines into the shop, only an occasional component like an engine, axle, or pump, etc.. I'm building on a tight budget, out-of-pocket, so I'm not burdened with monthly payments. Take a look at my layout, and see if there's anything that could be done smarter based off of your experience. Kind of like the kitchen triangle you know? I already have the gravel pad done, and just waiting for spring(and more money). The dimensions are 32x40x14. 12x12 door on the short, gable side. I'm considering putting the man door on the left(boiler) side, and likely building a lean-to about 12' wide for storage. Anyways, your thoughts?

 

[colson04]

Service doors: check your local building code, these usually need to be a minimum 36" wide.

What style framing will you be using? Pole frame? Monolithic slab and stick walls? It's really easy and cost effective to do an addition on a pole frame building. If I didn't have the funds to build bigger initially, I would leave myself some options for the future. IE: don't set the back of your barn against your property setback unless you need too.

Also, with the height of your barn, lean too additions are also a great option and very cost effective as well. Just make sure there is space left to the sides to allow for future construction.

Are you doing over head IR heat with the waste oil? What zone are you in? If you are heating the shop due to harsher winters, don't skimp on the insulation. For reference, I've got R38 in my garage ceiling, R19 in the walls, insulated garage door and R10 under the concrete floor. Well worth it. It's currently 25 outside and a very comfortable 55-60 inside with minimal heat loss. I'm also using radiant heat in my slab though. Makes crawling around under vehicles/trailers very nice in the winter.

 

[Cmark]

A couple of thoughts. If possible, put your air compressor outside is a separate insulated shed. The noise gets annoying after a while.

Put your waste oil tank/filter bin as close to the door as you can. It'll be more convenient if you ever need to get a tanker to empty it and they smell pretty bad in a warm workshop.

Depending on the capacity of your press, it should also be close to the door as you may need to load heavy items onto it with your crane/forklift.

And if you don't need two access doors, just have one. Wall area is a valuable commodity in a small shop..

 

[thepumpguysc]

The lay-out looks decent enough.. I like it..
You said no vehicles IN the shop. SO, be sure to run air line connections, SEVERAL, outside.
What size is your compressor? what size line are you gonna run..
Don't forget, the compressor is NOISY !!! & aggravating .. I'm gonna put mine outside w/ a small lean-to over it.. & maybe some lattice around it for "looks". I'm gonna run 3/4 line around the shop & reduce it for air lines & such.. BUT run the 3/4 TO the sandblaster..

 

[92U 3406]

One thing you might kick yourself for is the door. I would go 14' wide if you can.

 

[thepumpguysc]

1 thing I'm kickin myself for, is the walk in door placement..
I put it in front on the left side of the roll-up..
I CANT SEE IT from my kitchen window w/o straining my neck.
IF it was on the RIGHT SIDE I could just look straight out to see the door.. just something to think about.

 

[kshansen]

I would agree with others on putting the compressor outside and seeing you are in Alaska insulate that building. One thing I was told years ago is when running air to a shop is to make the piping a loop. that way if two people are using air at the same time the first one on the line will not be stealing all the air from the second person. Also at several places around the shop put a drop down pipe with a drain valve to drain moisture out of the system. Compressing air is like squeezing a sponge if there is any water in the air it will come out!

 

[Junkyard]

I'd consider a larger rollup door. Perhaps even wide enough to the point all you have between it and the walk through is a column. 12' doesn't leave much extra room for mirrors to squeeze through and if your truck is in there you may have hell trying to squeeze something out past it.

If you make a small room outside for compressor might as well create storage for oil, perhaps the waste oil tank etc. Keeps the noise, mess and clutter out of the work area. Also, 14' isn't very tall if you start adding a lean to off the side. Not sure how much height you'll get. All depends on how wide you go with it.

If you run air lines do so with steel pipe or the newer fancy plastic airline like a truck. Don't use PVC. Like was said above, drip legs are a must. I generally build them in at each point I have a connector. I could go on and on.

 

[Numbfingers]

Service doors: check your local building code, these usually need to be a minimum 36" wide.

What style framing will you be using? Pole frame? Monolithic slab and stick walls? It's really easy and cost effective to do an addition on a pole frame building. If I didn't have the funds to build bigger initially, I would leave myself some options for the future. IE: don't set the back of your barn against your property setback unless you need too.

Also, with the height of your barn, lean too additions are also a great option and very cost effective as well. Just make sure there is space left to the sides to allow for future construction.

Are you doing over head IR heat with the waste oil? What zone are you in? If you are heating the shop due to harsher winters, don't skimp on the insulation. For reference, I've got R38 in my garage ceiling, R19 in the walls, insulated garage door and R10 under the concrete floor. Well worth it. It's currently 25 outside and a very comfortable 55-60 inside with minimal heat loss. I'm also using radiant heat in my slab though. Makes crawling around under vehicles/trailers very nice in the winter.

36" door it is then. I'm doing a pole frame with lotsa insulation, and heated slab.

 

[Numbfingers]

A couple of thoughts. If possible, put your air compressor outside is a separate insulated shed. The noise gets annoying after a while.

Put your waste oil tank/filter bin as close to the door as you can. It'll be more convenient if you ever need to get a tanker to empty it and they smell pretty bad in a warm workshop.

Depending on the capacity of your press, it should also be close to the door as you may need to load heavy items onto it with your crane/forklift.

And if you don't need two access doors, just have one. Wall area is a valuable commodity in a small shop..

I don' want an extra access door but I think a fire exit door opposite of the main one is not a bad idea. I just might have to make a spot for the compressor outside in an insulated cover.

 

[Numbfingers]

I appreciate the inputs. I'll definitely look into putting compressor outside and making a loop, good idea. I'm going to keep the bulk of my waste oil outside and only about a month's worth or so inside.

The lay-out looks decent enough.. I like it..
You said no vehicles IN the shop. SO, be sure to run air line connections, SEVERAL, outside.
What size is your compressor? what size line are you gonna run..
Don't forget, the compressor is NOISY !!! & aggravating .. I'm gonna put mine outside w/ a small lean-to over it.. & maybe some lattice around it for "looks". I'm gonna run 3/4 line around the shop & reduce it for air lines & such.. BUT run the 3/4 TO the sandblaster..

I don' have the compressor yet but do plan on running 3/4 lines.

 

[Jumbo]

I would make your truck door a 14x14, bumping your walls up to 15’ today you won't bring anything large in, next week, you will need to bring a gravel truck or a log truck in. I built my door too small (12x12) it was fine for about a year. I got sucked into driving a log truck for a while and greasing it outside in a Washington winter is not pleasant. With a 14x14 door I could have at least greased it on relatively dry concrete.

Electrically; run conduit on the surface of whatever you sheet the inside with. DO NOT run romex in the studs, you will regret it as soon as you finish sheeting the inside and want to change something. Put a double duplex every 6’ around the perimeter of the shop. Dragging cords is just another trip hazard. I would have three rows equally spaced of 250W equivalent LED lowbay lights 5 to a row. In your welding area, I would locate some windows up about 8’ off finished floor, natural light welding is nice. I have only one window in my shop, (bad plan) and when I weld, I tend to open one of my roll up doors for better lighting. Letting all the warms escape…. I am 65, the older you get, the more light you need, so plan ahead. Don’t forget the 10 and 12 foot step ladder storage, you will need one or the other to access high shelves.

Even if you don’t use anybody’s suggestions, you still have a nice shop you can look forward to using

 

[Welder Dave]

Yes, 14' x 14' door and 16' walls. You could put in a mezzanine along a wall to store stuff that wouldn't take up floor space and have enough height to walk under and on. I put up a 40' x 60' x 16' pole shed with 14' x 14' door because it was the best bang for the buck. I priced a 30' x 50' x 14' with 12' x 12' door and it was only about $6000 cheaper but 900 sq. ft. smaller. A 14' x 14' door will allow any road legal vehicle to fit through. I kind of wish I would have went even wider for getting equipment in and out. If I ever sell the property, someone will be able to park a motorhome or other large vehicle in it and could be a selling point.

 

[Numbfingers]

I would make your truck door a 14x14, bumping your walls up to 15’ today you won't bring anything large in, next week, you will need to bring a gravel truck or a log truck in. I built my door too small (12x12) it was fine for about a year. I got sucked into driving a log truck for a while and greasing it outside in a Washington winter is not pleasant. With a 14x14 door I could have at least greased it on relatively dry concrete.

Electrically; run conduit on the surface of whatever you sheet the inside with. DO NOT run romex in the studs, you will regret it as soon as you finish sheeting the inside and want to change something. Put a double duplex every 6’ around the perimeter of the shop. Dragging cords is just another trip hazard. I would have three rows equally spaced of 250W equivalent LED lowbay lights 5 to a row. In your welding area, I would locate some windows up about 8’ off finished floor, natural light welding is nice. I have only one window in my shop, (bad plan) and when I weld, I tend to open one of my roll up doors for better lighting. Letting all the warms escape…. I am 65, the older you get, the more light you need, so plan ahead. Don’t forget the 10 and 12 foot step ladder storage, you will need one or the other to access high shelves.

Even if you don’t use anybody’s suggestions, you still have a nice shop you can look forward to using

I like he idea of a window by the welding area.

 

[Graham1]

Looks good and a lot of great ideas learnt the hard way from other peoples mistakes. I only rent a yard a present, but would love to buy a bit of land and put up what I want. Do you have to get permissions or can you do what you like?
Rear fire exit looks like a very sensible idea. It is something we don't have and it restricts where you do hot work. As people have said, more natural light is great, but it depends on security and I find I end up doing a lot in the evenings after being out all day, so good artificial lighting is even more important.
Graham

 

[check]

Also, with the height of your barn, lean too additions are also a great option and very cost effective as well. Just make sure there is space left to the sides to allow for future construction.

Another angle would be to build it with the lean to additions from the start, thus avoiding the cost of doing the eave walls twice. Since you only need high ceilings in part of the shop, the heating bill will be lower and since trusses will only be needed in the middle section and the wings would have rafters, the cost per square foot goes down some more. Disadvantages of this design is it requires vertical support members on the inside and you need to heat the whole thing including wings.
The bigger the better! In general, the cost per square foot always goes down as the square footage goes up.

 

[repowerguy]

One small thing I see is never label or refer to the used oil as waste oil. Waste oil is a hazardous substance, used oil is just that, used oil, to be used for heat or whatever you have in mind.

 

[Graham1]

One small thing I see is never label or refer to the used oil as waste oil. Waste oil is a hazardous substance, used oil is just that, used oil, to be used for heat or whatever you have in mind.

Very true

 

[Tradesman]

If you go to a 14 foot high door be sure to go to a 16 foot sidewall it takes 18" or more to open a door that size depending on the track size. There are short radius tracks that will open in less head room but they're not as good and I don't think you can put a jack shaft opener on them
Also I was being cheap when I built my on shop and used a 10' on one side and a 12' on the other if I could or go back in time they would both be 14

 

[kshansen]

One small thing I see is never label or refer to the used oil as waste oil. Waste oil is a hazardous substance, used oil is just that, used oil, to be used for heat or whatever you have in mind.

Good point! We were told to do this years ago where I worked. If you label something "Waste" you might as well label it "Nuclear Waste" as some inspector will act like that is what it is equal to and start writing you up.

And if you have some contaminated oil, like with coolant or anything else you don't want to screw up you heater with, we always labeled those barrels "Non-burnable Used Oil".