How big of shop

Cody Hofsommer

Cody Hofsommer

Joined
Dec 2, 2011
Messages
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I'm thinking about building a new shop. Just thought I'd here you weigh in and get advice on size and other dos and don'ts. I don't want to build it to small, but I don't want to spend more then I need to. I would like to build it as fire proof as possible. I was thinking either tin inside and out, or solid concrete block. He block option would have issues with insulation, it get chilly here sometimes! -35 F last week!
What do you think?
Thanks
Cody
 
Build the biggest you can afford, with twice as many plugs/outlets as you think you need.
 
Jason Fry said:
Build the biggest you can afford, with twice as many plugs/outlets as you think you need.
Click to expand...

Yup. There's basically no such thing as too much room, too much power, or too much light.

A separate clean room for sheath work and sharpening is really nice.
 
was looking at a 14x24 with 2 floors but i dont think i can swing that and the heated floor so a change of plans is 16x24 one floor with loft for storage
i will have a clean side and dirty side so my kiln mill sharpening stons and computer will keep clean in one room
 
A grinding room is really nice. With an air filter and a door. It could have a storage loft above it. My main shop is this way, and works well. It's 25x35' and for the most part is big enough- it's nearly full but I'm sure if I got a big lathe or a Bridgeport I could rearrange to make room. I could easily use another 1000 square feet if the main items on my want list came true...
 
From a commercial contractor's standpoint, for a fireproof building, a pre-engineered metal building would be the way to go. You can insulate the walls/ceilings w/batt insulation and use a metal liner panel on the walls and ceiling as well to help with the fire resistance. I see a lot of in floor heat these days. I helped a friend of mine put up a shop building - 4800sft with in floor heat. He runs it off a 40 gallon hot water heater and you can work in a t shirt with the doors open at 15 degrees once the floor gets heated up. Doesn't cost much to run either. Plan on putting some extruded polystyrene insulation under the floor to help maintain the heat. Shop around - right now, its pretty easy to find a deal on a building as they're not selling much at this time. You can put them up yourself without much in the way of equipment - they usually come with an installation guideline. I would avoid a block building - hard to insulate and unless you are a mason, the labor will be more than the material.
 
How is the efficiency of that radiant floor in the shop? I heat mine with wood, but that's really not ideal. It's just what we do here...
 
My new shop will be 16X40, two-story. 12X16 clean room and 28X16 hot work room. Storage and office upstairs. I already know it won't be big enough.

As said, build all the shop you can afford. You can use many materials, depending on where you live and who has to look at it. A steel frame building with metal siding and roof is certainly fire-proof. You can try and insulate it, but the better choice would be to build a portion that is enclosed with walls and insulation and make that area the finishing and cleaner work room. Heat/AC that room as you wish. For the open shop area, a torpedo heater, or a hanging gas fired heater will take the chill out of the air. A wood stove can help a lot, too.
 
Check your local building codes... There is a product called Rocksul. It is a spun rock and faberglass insulation. What makes it work so well for work shop construction is that it has advanced sound deadening properties and is fire rated 1450 degree. With that, steel studs and doubled up5/8 drywall you have an amazing structure! It's what I did with my safe room. You would be amazed with the results.
 
Good stuff here. I built houses for 10 years, and layer dozens of basements. So I know how to most of anything, but there is lots of good perspectives and ideas here to think about. I'll have it look into the steel structures. I have helped my brother put up 3 of those Quonset huts. The insulation is the pain with those.

So in short, I need a Tim Allen shop, bigger with more POWER!!! Thanks
 
From a builders point of view, the engineered metal pole building is where you get the most for your money. They must be insulated, metal transmits heat amazingly well. Give yourself plenty of head room. Finish the wiring "before" you move in. Insulate the concrete floor and make it substantial, if you are going to be using a power hammer or the like.
Make up a 1 inch to one foot drawing and put everything in the shop thats going to be in it. Use a marker that can be removed from the drawing. Its so much easier to move it in the drawing than after its bolted to the concrete floor. Paint the inside white before you move in. It makes the shop twice as bright.

Good luck to you enjoy the build, Fred
 
the plan in the heated floor is jsut to keep things at 55 thats when i turn off my heater now as its too hot to work in a long sleave shirt. i dont want ot have to worry about heaters and getting steel Ti or wood dust inthem making problems
 
Cody, I'll help you build yours and you help me build my new hot room.
Over at my house we had -29 when you had -35. Still, with decent insulation, I have mine so warm in 20 minutes of the forge running it gets up to 80 degrees.
So, I can only imagine what it will be in July!
I'm going to build a stand-alone forge structure that I can open up from end to end in the warmer months. Don't even need to heat it in the winter when it gets up to 80 in a few minutes of forge time.
My point is, for the forge area, the issue is NOT heating, regardless of how cold it gets here.
The problem is COOLING!!
When you build yours, just keep a design feature in mind that will let you open it up in the warmer months.
Like I said - I'll help you if you help me.
I built homes for almost 30 years. But it's still hard to set trusses by one's self. :D
 
My shop is 18 x 50 feet. There is a 18 x 30 dirty area, and an office area and mez space above the offices.

Some tips I've learned.
1. Put in lighting lighting and more lighting
2. The electrical box is critical. Get one with LOTS of space. You're going to run out anyway. My electrical box is currently the limiting factor in getting more machines.
3. A LARGE bay door is a God send.
4. Dust collection is highly overrated. I actually wish I hadn't spent the money on the machine and wasted so much time running the ducts. A good leaf blower, a system of fans, and a large bay door keeps things cleaner and the air purer than any dust collection system. I removed the bag from my dust collector, punched a hole in the wall, and the machine blows the dust outside. We use the blower to blow everything out about twice a day. Its fast, and it works.
5. The cleaner your shop, the faster and calmer you can work. A dirty shop is a dangerous worthless cancer causing incendiary device. Pretty much worthless.
 
+1000 on a grinding room. Just built my shop in the third car garage. Id recommend a sub panel if coming off of your house panel located just outside grinding room so you can shut things down if needed. Also spend the extra money and insulate grinding room walls and ceiling (at least). Also put my Vfd(s) on the outside walls of my grinding room. Ran some 5 conductor signal wire (18ga) to a junction box and from that ran some 5c 18ga SOOW cable to a remote box that has on/off and potentiometer. Works great. I also ran an extra line for my second grinder when i get around to moving it from my company shop (closing the doors--thank you economy:mad:). Also lined grinding room with FRP (shiny wall covering you see in the bathrooms at the local stop and rob). Grinding dust slides right off and is easy to clean.
 
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