Two story Shop on steep grade - Help me Design/Build it!!!

[dragoneggs]

Update.

After some consultation with a couple contractors and another reassessment of the impact to my retirement (7 years to go?) age I have put the project on hold. I am getting cold feet. Did some rearrangement of my two car/garage shop to make my cramped space more usable with less need for rolling around 'stationary' tools. Listened to Eddie's advice on wood shop vs. both wood/metal shop and realized my heart and skill is on the wood side. Thought about my wife and whether I am being selfish... and decided to shelve but not kill the project.

Now looking at enhancements to my existing detached two car garage/shop.

1. Bring in more electric power. Subpanel with two 220v circuits and several 110s.
2. Slight expansion towards the house or at least a partially enclosed area for storage of raw material and little used equipment.
3. Covered 'carport' in front of garage... I mean dedicated shop.

Yeah squashing my dream but unless/until my 'shop' is a net income entity, I think this is the smart way to go. I hate getting wise!

 

[Wagtail]

Update.

After some consultation with a couple contractors and another reassessment of the impact to my retirement (7 years to go?) age I have put the project on hold. I am getting cold feet. Did some rearrangement of my two car/garage shop to make my cramped space more usable with less need for rolling around 'stationary' tools. Listened to Eddie's advice on wood shop vs. both wood/metal shop and realized my heart and skill is on the wood side. Thought about my wife and whether I am being selfish... and decided to shelve but not kill the project.

Now looking at enhancements to my existing detached two car garage/shop.

1. Bring in more electric power. Subpanel with two 220v circuits and several 110s.
2. Slight expansion towards the house or at least a partially enclosed area for storage of raw material and little used equipment.
3. Covered 'carport' in front of garage... I mean dedicated shop.

Yeah squashing my dream but unless/until my 'shop' is a net income entity, I think this is the smart way to go. I hate getting wise!

But... but... but... We (TBN) were all ready to spend your money.

:bawling:

 

[EddieWalker]

Now looking at enhancements to my existing detached two car garage/shop.

1. Bring in more electric power. Subpanel with two 220v circuits and several 110s.

When you say "Bring in" are you going to add another meter to the house, or is this just a sub panel from your existing main panel?

The reason I ask is that it would be very rare to actually need a second meter. I'm just not clear on what you are wanting to do.

 

[dragoneggs]

No, if I were to build a separate shop I was planning on a second meter as there is an open spot and only a few feet it would be from the service to the main. Figuring a big shop could be rented out and it would be nice to have separate billing.

My existing garage has only one 110v circuit so I would either rob one or two double pole slots on my main panel and add a 100amp sub panel in the garage.

 

[dragoneggs]

Update... my two story dream shop is officially dead. At least for the foreseeable future.

The good news is I did successfully run 220v power 6-6-3 from my main breaker to my detached garage and installed a sub panel. I now have 3 220v circuits and 2 extra 110v circuits. No longer running a heavy duty extension cord for 220v and having to unplug/plug and can run my compressor the same time as other 220v tools. Yeah! Should have done this long ago.

It means I will have to live with a 28ft by 24ft space and dial back my dreams of a dedicated metal shop. The good news is my wife might get her dream of extending the house a bit with a remodel and I might net a boat for retirement activities.

 

[goeduck]

Sounds like a win-win to me! Nice!

 

[Big Barn]

Must be a nice feeling to get the wiring upgrade!

 

[dragoneggs]

Must be a nice feeling to get the wiring upgrade!

Oh yeah!

 

[RalphVa]

I hear ya on the trees. My wife thinks I should not leave any nearby. I am leaving four and taking down a dozen. Three of them are located along the property line and provide some buffer screen between the shop and neighbor house. I am already feeling guilty about building this huge 'wall' so close to my neighbor whose house is about 20ft off the line. My biggest concern is the debris and moss buildup on the roof and gutters making for a maintenance nightmare. Might go with metal roof with a steeper pitch.

When we replaced the house gutters with covered ones, we did our carriage house gutters as well. NEVER have had a gutter problem since.

Ralph

 

[goeduck]

When we replaced the house gutters with covered ones, we did our carriage house gutters as well. NEVER have had a gutter problem since.

Ralph

So those work? I always wondered. What brand? My house has over 300 lineal feet of gutter (hip roof, single level, 3000 sq ft of house) and cleaning that many feet is a pain.

 

[MossRoad]

Update... my two story dream shop is officially dead. At least for the foreseeable future.

The good news is I did successfully run 220v power 6-6-3 from my main breaker to my detached garage and installed a sub panel. I now have 3 220v circuits and 2 extra 110v circuits. No longer running a heavy duty extension cord for 220v and having to unplug/plug and can run my compressor the same time as other 220v tools. Yeah! Should have done this long ago.

It means I will have to live with a 28ft by 24ft space and dial back my dreams of a dedicated metal shop. The good news is my wife might get her dream of extending the house a bit with a remodel and I might net a boat for retirement activities.

Many years ago I installed a conduit to the garage, removed the single 15 amp circuit, and installed a sub-panel much as you did. :thumbsup:

 

[EddieWalker]

Update... my two story dream shop is officially dead. At least for the foreseeable future.

The good news is I did successfully run 220v power 6-6-3 from my main breaker to my detached garage and installed a sub panel. I now have 3 220v circuits and 2 extra 110v circuits. No longer running a heavy duty extension cord for 220v and having to unplug/plug and can run my compressor the same time as other 220v tools. Yeah! Should have done this long ago.

It means I will have to live with a 28ft by 24ft space and dial back my dreams of a dedicated metal shop. The good news is my wife might get her dream of extending the house a bit with a remodel and I might net a boat for retirement activities.

Sounds like a win-win. And the dream doesn't have to die. I think it was a good idea and location for a single story building. All of your excessive costs were in doing the lower level.

 

[AllByteNoBark]

So those work? I always wondered. What brand? My house has over 300 lineal feet of gutter (hip roof, single level, 3000 sq ft of house) and cleaning that many feet is a pain.

geoduck, we had the covered eves on a house surrounded by tall oak, hickory, and other hardwoods. Lived there 18 years and never cleaned the gutters once. It was great. About 12 years in a large tree limb fell on the eve and we had to repair it and replace a section of the gutter and the gutters were very clean inside, just a little dirt in the very bottom. Probably less than 1/32 of an inch. I was amazed they worked that well. The ones we had were made on site and looked like small louvers with the opening facing the roof. I have not seen them anywhere else and do not have a photo. Where we live now there are no trees taller than the house.

 

[dragoneggs]

Sounds like a win-win. And the dream doesn't have to die. I think it was a good idea and location for a single story building. All of your excessive costs were in doing the lower level.

Yeah... your wisdom didn't help either! :laughing: :drink:

 

[GLyford]

Got a subpanel in the garage when we did our kitchen remodel. It is so much nicer to just plug the welder in, in the garage without having to run a cord and unplug the dryer first...

 

[dragoneggs]

Got a subpanel in the garage when we did our kitchen remodel. It is so much nicer to just plug the welder in, in the garage without having to run a cord and unplug the dryer first...

The biggest pain in the butt was running the plasma cutter and stopping to recharge the air compressor tank and going back and forth with the extension cord. NO MORE!

 

[ultrarunner]

I had the same conundrum...

Knew exactly what I wanted in a shop/storage but the cost was out of reach.

Then I said if I sold off some of my antique cars I might be able to swing it but constructions costs here are up at least 50%... plus if I sold off my cars I really wouldn't need a big shop... and then there is the thing about getting older added to the mix.

Not saying it won't ever happen but the possibly of it happening here in the SF Bay Area is very remote with the passage of time.

My cousin has exactly what I want... two story downslope with easy drive in lower access... where he lives there are/were no seismic codes and being a working farm made a world of difference... kind of hard to duplicate in a city like Oakland California or I would imagine most cities...

The one thing you have is I believe this is your forever home... so it is easier to blur the lines...

Making the space you have the most efficient and tweaking it is the smart move... even if you build later.

Your views and surroundings are breathtaking!

 

[Big Barn]

I too was in a somewhat similar situation.

All my life on the farm I was unable to build a proper shop. Anytime funds were available for a building, another cold storage room would be built. It was a simple matter of economic viability.

Over a thousand tons of carrots in cold storage but no proper spot to repair tractors and equipment.

 

[goeduck]

I too was in a somewhat similar situation.

All my life on the farm I was unable to build a proper shop. Anytime funds were available for a building, another cold storage room would be built. It was a simple matter of economic viability.

Over a thousand tons of carrots in cold storage but no proper spot to repair tractors and equipment.

Was your carrot farming on Vancouver Island? I have a heck of a time growing carrots on this side of the Straits due to the carrot fly. On the property that I try to grow them on I can see the island so you must have them there as well.

They grow great, they just get all bug holed up.

 

[Big Barn]

goeduck. Yes we had carrot rust flies on Vancouver Island also. They lay their eggs on the surface of the soil and the emerging maggots ruin the carrot.

We sprayed insecticides on a regular schedule in conjunction with Integrated Crop Management to keep it under control. This was over 30 years ago.