Workshop size

[BAC]

I built a 48X52 a couple of years ago and it is already too crowded. All the advise you have received here is on the mark in my opinion. Build the biggest you can afford and it will still be too small in a few tears.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

On what I hope is a practical note here, I'll make a couple suggestions to you. Consider going with 200 amp service especially if you think you'll ever, ever want a compressor or welder out there. The cost difference is truly minimal and 200 amps with 42 breaker slots should be all you'll ever need. It's an awful lot cheaper to do it now (maybe $100 extra) than to upgrade it later (possibly four figures).

If you are able to go bigger than the 25' x 25' I'd suggest maybe 24' x 40' placed in such a way that a 40' wall faces an area onto which you could later expand. The other thing I'll suggest is talk with your contractor about the possibility of future expansion so he'll design it with that in mind (roofline running to the 40' walls rather than parallel with them) and won't do something like putting your electrical panel on the wall you'd want to eliminate later. The same thing for plumbing, etc. Good luck on your project. I hope this helps. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[cj7]

I suggest going with a larger 200 amp service. Small hot water tank? heating system? My building is 32x48. 12' ceiling, 10x18 roll up doors on each end. I have shelving, workbenches, about 5 jeeps at any time misc shop equipment.

Something that I did was took measurements of everything I thought I would ever put in. Then drew a rectangle and "parked" everything inside. Some guys have parked
everything on the grass and taken an overall measurement. This really helped me. I also looked at some other garages to see what I liked and did not like.

Oh and my builder aske me if I ever saw myself having an RV.

I also found out that sometimes adding the two extra feet was cheaper since the building material would not have to be cut.

Good luck with it.

 

[Turfman]

We're at 25 X 36 now and I'm afraid that will have to be it. I appreciate all the suggestions and help. I will have the electrical service jumped up. The natural gas line will feed a ceiling mount gas furnace. I'll have a pad poured on the in-lot side for parking, so I can move things around to work.

This place is a one acre lot in a nicer subdivision, so I'm limited on what I can put on it. It must be brick and match the house, which raises the price a lot. If I did a steel building I could get a lot more for the money, but the covenants are pretty restrictive. With the extra parking I should have room to work and store things like the tractor. I'll just have to leave the flatbed outside.

Thanks again and any other suggestions are welcome.

 

[ScottAR]

Suggestion, put in a floor drain if codes allow it. designate a "wash" area around this drain. You'll be able to wash things (like cars) in comfort when its colder than (insert analogy here) outside. Think about an air filtering system if you plan any woodworking/sanding/dust producing activity.

 

[cj7]

How about a second story? Woodshop/storage?

 

[Carl_NH]

As mentioned above a second story can add a lot of storage space, also for an office, etc..

Regarding the 25' width - this is not 4' O/C also if you add a second floor rafters and materials will be non std length.

I have a 24x36 for shop, TLB storage, and such. I put one door on the back left side and the other in the front gable end with floor trusses and second floor - so no interior posts- makes for a lot easier movement of stuff. With this setup you can easily store a 16' trailer on the back side, put the tractor on the one side with a 20'+ work area on the other.

Carl

 

[Argee]

I have a 32' x 48' shop. Went that route as someone else has already mentioned, so there's not a lot of lumber wasted. I went one block high off the slab and used full 8' 2 x 6's for my walls. That gave me 9' ceilings. I have an 9 x 8 overhead door on one side and a set of double doors on the other(located on the gable ends so as not having to deal with rain or snow coming off the roof), plus a couple of entry doors at various locations around the building. I have it partitioned down the middle lengthways and only heat 1/2. The heated side is 1/2 wood shop and 1/2 general purpose, it has a bath with a shower and a 3-partition stainless sink. The heated side is also drywalled and painted giving me flexibility should I want to license it for processing chickens, etc. I installed 100 amp service to the building. Down the center partition wall on both sides I located 220 plugs 8' OC and 110 plugs at about 6' OC in the partition wall and around the perimeter of the building. I have a mechanical room at one end where I house the hot water heater, boiler and well mate. Next to that is the bathroom, so I keep all my water requirements close together. I have 3 zones off the boiler, one for the GP room and bath, one for the woodshop, and one for future expansion. It works out pretty nice.

A shop should be planned around ones current interests and any that one may have in the forseeable future. Care should be taken in laying out outlets and overhead lighting.

Basically what I ended up with is a great shop and (because of the strategic location of windows) an extremely large deer blind.

 

[bgott]

Do you like messin' with cars? Think about a 12' to 15' high ceiling so you can fit a lift inside the building. You can get a lift for pretty darn cheap these days.

 

[ScottAR]

If you have thermal pane windows, don't shoot guns inside. The pressure wave (which is pretty small) will break the seal on the glass. Then moisture gets between the panes and they fog over. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it.