New shop build, beginning stages with questions

[truckdiagnostics]

my :2cents:
i have not looked at where he lives. But in a working shop in the snow belt I would not have in floor heat as my sole heat source. You need a way to get the moister out of the building. You need some form of make up air also needed for welding painting...If i had to do over i would design the boiler to handle an air handler. You will need a heat source for your other rooms? Then run the air handler on a humidistat and have it turn on when you run your exhaust fan. Then run zone vales for the other air handers through out the building. Put an ac coil in your air handler and you have an air conditioned shop

 

[ovrszd]

my :2cents:
i have not looked at where he lives. But in a working shop in the snow belt I would not have in floor heat as my sole heat source. You need a way to get the moister out of the building. You need some form of make up air also needed for welding painting...If i had to do over i would design the boiler to handle an air handler. You will need a heat source for your other rooms? Then run the air handler on a humidistat and have it turn on when you run your exhaust fan. Then run zone vales for the other air handers through out the building. Put an ac coil in your air handler and you have an air conditioned shop

My only shop heat source is the floor heat. Heat method is propane fired tankless heater. I have no moisture problem in my shop.. I find floor heat to be a dry heat. An example is if I pull my vehicle into the shop wet, within a couple hours the vehicle and the floor are dry.

I don't have an exhaust fan. I'm on the fence about that. Totally depends on frequency of need. My negative concern regarding an exhaust fan is heat loss. Needs to be mounted high on the wall or thru the ceiling. Friend of mine built a "blind" that he mechanically closes over the fan opening when it's not in use. Minimizes the heat loss.

I'm very picky about heat loss. I bought very good quality windows, walk in doors and overhead doors. My shop building is very tight and well insulated.

 

[rangerfredbob]

You guys up north have to do WAY more figuring into things, around here it doesn't snow until February normally and if we get a handful of days below 30F that's a fairly cold winter... If I get a big space to get out of the rain I'm winning, if I can warm that space up to 50 for a couple days without doing too much extra work that's a bonus... I am in no way going for peak efficiency... I do appreciate the back and forth chatter, it gives me things to think about. Honestly with a decently circulated wood stove and some supplemented floor heat for a larger thermal mass I should be pretty well set up.

On another note, there was a local Home Depot return online auction a bit ago and I picked up a roll of 12/2 with the aluminum shield for a little under retail ($20 I think, anything helps) which would probably be good for some of the runs to outlets. Also picked up a 24" attic vent fan with louvers to put in the trailing edge peak to get welding fumes and possibly paint fumes or summer heat out for less than retail.

Gonna spend some time staring at things some time this weekend, might take the marking paint and make some lines to see where things go, maybe pull the F350 in the shop to have a look see on the lift situation... Gotta get this figured out soon...

 

[grsthegreat]

You guys up north have to do WAY more figuring into things, around here it doesn't snow until February normally and if we get a handful of days below 30F that's a fairly cold winter... If I get a big space to get out of the rain I'm winning, if I can warm that space up to 50 for a couple days without doing too much extra work that's a bonus... I am in no way going for peak efficiency... I do appreciate the back and forth chatter, it gives me things to think about. Honestly with a decently circulated wood stove and some supplemented floor heat for a larger thermal mass I should be pretty well set up.

On another note, there was a local Home Depot return online auction a bit ago and I picked up a roll of 12/2 with the aluminum shield for a little under retail ($20 I think, anything helps) which would probably be good for some of the runs to outlets. Also picked up a 24" attic vent fan with louvers to put in the trailing edge peak to get welding fumes and possibly paint fumes or summer heat out for less than retail.

Gonna spend some time staring at things some time this weekend, might take the marking paint and make some lines to see where things go, maybe pull the F350 in the shop to have a look see on the lift situation... Gotta get this figured out soon...

just be careful using mc or bx cable (Thats the aluminum wrapped #12 wire). Make sure the metal is cut clean and does not pinch the internal wires. They make special connectors that have an internal plastic shield to help prevent arcing. I have had to do a fair share of troubleshooting over the years to find shorts with this wire.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

If you are going to put on second floor or over head storage footings to support the upper floor?

 

[rangerfredbob]

I've wondered about that, and will likely do some digging to get some extra concrete in that area. I'm going to "try" to figure out how to use the loopCAD software to get the heating circuit to go in an easy area to leave an empty window of concrete so I can put lags in to attach the wall base to... With a 6" reinforced slab I'll probably be fine making a office/bathroom the size in the box I attached before. I'll do some figuring this weekend, I need to get it cleaned out as it's amassed some "stuff" already and get other sheds cleared out so I can function...

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Went back and looked. Consider putting your manifold under your office space towards the center of the building. Then put mechanicals under there? you will need some form of a chase for the plumbing from the bathroom any way make it a closest space room for air compressor? Then it is a short run to your boiler for heat upstairs. I didn't see where power is coming in that is another thing to consider. My welders bathroom power is all in one corner. Saves on running wire.

 

[truckdiagnostics]

The post in the corner I would for sure add a footing and the others along the outside walls?

 

[rangerfredbob]

I saw a gap in my lighting and ended up going to Harbor Freight getting another 2 lights... Now I'm up to 16 of the 5000 lumen lights and one of the 5500, it's not dark... I'll likely go to town tomorrow and might grab a couple more for the area over what will be the loft, I'll rewire it later to be on their own switch...

Today I worked on cleaning up the shed closest to the shop. Rats and mice have made a mess over the last couple years, I had a bale of hay that came with the property in there and a couple years ago a rat made a nest... I put on my respirator once I got to that but got that all cleaned out, I went from not being able to walk in to being able to put one of the boxes from my new tool box full of insulation in there... Now the shop is nearly empty so I can get on the floor. Yesterday I picked up a chalk line kit from Home Depot so I'll start marking things out.

I'm not sure I'll go too crazy making footings for the walls of the office, I'll probably do something on both ends to increase the footprint but that's it, it's not going to be a second story, just storage of maybe a couple thousand pounds of stuff over the 10'x36' area aside from the weight of the materials to make the area... Not to make excuses but a friend has a 4" slab with a 8'x10' office with the rest loft on the last 10' of his 30'x40' with nothing special on the slab and no issues so far...

In my cleaning today I found 2 more speed squares! So now I have two Empire brand (one plastic, one aluminum) and two Harbor Freight units that I know where are... I also realized how much junk I have... I found 3 SPARE starters for my '90 Ranger, whether they work or not I do NOT remember... . To make it clear, I washed my hands a bunch of times today, there's no need in getting some stupid disease from the vermin...

 

[rangerfredbob]

I'm itching for this thing to be done... On Monday I called the concrete guy, he's working on getting me penciled in, he's been in the business a long time and sounded very confident and understanding of what I'm going for...

That said, the other day when I was cleaning and moving things I really want to get a floor in so I can get fancier tools situated! I moved a new unopened 6" belt sander, unopened blast cabinet and needs love Craftsman jointer among other things... Not to mention the new tool box I have now in my way in the garage waiting for the shop, the welders that need a better home, spare parts that need to be out of the way, etc...

I'm SO close to my stress level reducing a few steps... I'd MUCH rather work on the stuff I have planned on IN the shop than working ON the shop