If you had about $30,000 for a shop

[crazyal]

Building yourself is a false economy. I built mine myself and so did my neighbor but my FIL and a friend each had about the same size buildings put up in 3 days, including the concrete floor by a traveling crew for the same money. Mine was a summer project and same with my neighbors.

Look into it. They order the stuff and deliver it to your property. My FIL had the materials for about a month before the crew got to his place to build it. I was amazed how quick they built it and that they could for the same money as a kit from the local hardware store. Guess they are buying on such volume they can do it dirt cheap.

I agree with wanting a lift. Like I said before I went 12' and kick myself everyday. I have a boat that is 13'6" tall and will not fit in. Stupid of me not going taller. I want a 4 post lift right now. Its the cheapest way to add a additional car storage and give you a great tool.

I disagree on the floor sealer or epoxy. My father has a 24x30 garage that he did this too. Its slicker than snot when the car drags in water, with saw dust on it, ect. Plus the water from melting snow and such just sits. You must squeegee it off, the concrete does not soak it up. He hates it now 5 years later and says its dangerous.

Chris

It really depends on what your time is worth. If it's free time and you don't mind doing the work then you can save plenty of money. Just talking to the lumberyard quickly got me the contractor's price on the building materials (lumber, shingles, etc.). Plus if building a house the lumber yard will most likely love to add in everything you need to build a garage to the house order. The cement was more expensive for me to buy than what a contractor would pay but once you added in their labor the cost per yard was more to hire it out than do it myself (plus I used a lot more rebar and wire mesh than a contractor would have).

But that's a wooden structure. A steel building is a different story. Unless you have access to a telescoping forklift or crane to raise the steel you're either doing it by hand or renting equipment. 14' ceilings are out of the reach of a tractor's FEL so that's not an option. Your friends are quickly going to avoid you if you try to get them to lift the steel up. If renting you still need help and that most likely will mean weekends and rentals sitting during the weekdays still cost money.

But it must make sense. With a child on the way you have to add in memories that you can't get back. You're about to have a bunch of 'first time' memories that if you miss you'll never get back. That's all on top of the amount of work a new child will add to your life.

 

[The Elements Group]

As a landscape contractor I would suggest pagers as an alternative to a concrete slab...just my $.02....By the way does anyone have pictures of a pole barn with loft...loft?

 

[crashz]

TEG, pagers have long gone the way of the dinosaur. Even little kids have cell phones now! But I bet you could find enough in landfills to pave a good size floor.

I assume you mean pavers, but if you have to crawl around on a creeper or move a big tool box, its a pain with all those joints. It would never be as smooth and water tight as a monolithic concrete slab, unless cracking and heaving gets extreme.

 

[RPW]

14' isn't necessarily out of the reach of a FEL. Check the photo's I posted earlier. Now for a moveable platform to work off of then yes it's a stretch. How I overcame that was to use some 2 3/8 pipe I picked up at an auction and built a 10' platform. Got some wheel dollies from HF and a wooden platform on top. Worked great and also will turn into a great platform start for my deer stand. As far as time I started in early May and finished by the middle of Jun. That was working after a normal 8 hour day and on weekends in 107deg temps. Would I do it again....sure. Learned alot doing and actually had quite abit of fun. I've still got more to do to refine it but it's turning out exactly how I envisioned it.

 

[Diamondpilot]

It really depends on what your time is worth. If it's free time and you don't mind doing the work then you can save plenty of money. Just talking to the lumberyard quickly got me the contractor's price on the building materials (lumber, shingles, etc.). Plus if building a house the lumber yard will most likely love to add in everything you need to build a garage to the house order. The cement was more expensive for me to buy than what a contractor would pay but once you added in their labor the cost per yard was more to hire it out than do it myself (plus I used a lot more rebar and wire mesh than a contractor would have).

But that's a wooden structure. A steel building is a different story. Unless you have access to a telescoping forklift or crane to raise the steel you're either doing it by hand or renting equipment. 14' ceilings are out of the reach of a tractor's FEL so that's not an option. Your friends are quickly going to avoid you if you try to get them to lift the steel up. If renting you still need help and that most likely will mean weekends and rentals sitting during the weekdays still cost money.

But it must make sense. With a child on the way you have to add in memories that you can't get back. You're about to have a bunch of 'first time' memories that if you miss you'll never get back. That's all on top of the amount of work a new child will add to your life.

What I am saying is they priced out the lumber and concrete and then got a price on a finished building. In both case it was cheap to have it built then building it themselves.

Off topic but same holds true for building a trailer. I started to build my own 18' Car Hauler. I could not buy the rims, tires, axles, brakes, springs, and steel for what a new one cost me. I would have still needed the lumber, coupler, safety chains, lights, wiring, paint, ect. Not to mention my welding wire, grinding wheels, cut off wheels, drill bits, ect.

C

 

[Redneck in training]

Your shop sounds great... any pictures?

Here are some. I and my wife constructed the inside walls, hired a guy to do the drywall and then we finshed the guest room. When it gets warm we will tile the bathroom and finish my office.

 

[Redneck in training]

Here are few pics of the guest room. The elevated bed will have some kind of fall protection when I get to it.

 

[Whitnel]

Thats a nice place you have there, redneck in training. I think mine will be more bare bones for awhile.

 

[RPW]

-subsoiler- Got your PM but had issues trying to reply. Please PM me again.

 

[dfkrug]

The problem with ICF block construction is that you must finish the interior walls right away as it's a hazard in the event of a fire. That is building code here, not sure about elsewhere.

I finished my workshop about 12 years ago and it is made of ICFs. I only
painted the interior, to make it whiter/brighter as no additional finish
is required for barns/shops not connected to a dwelling. The EPS is
less combustible than wood, and does not support fire by itself. All the
exposed steel furring strips supported many many linear feet of shelves.
Can't have too many shelves.

I epoxied the floor, but it did not stick, despite following all the rules
and waiting months for cure. If I did it over, I would leave the concrete
bare, except for using some Thompson's water seal on it.

A tall ceiling with steel ridge beam supports a trolley-hoist. I am very happy
with that tool.

I wish that I had incorporated a tiny wood stove for heat....I will have
to add one later, hopefully one that does not use too much of my limited
floor space.