How to spend my shop building budget

JTknives

JTknives

Joined
Jun 11, 2006
Messages
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We are just about to close on our house (march 8th) and the wife is bugging me to settle on a shop decision. I'm torn and don't know what direction to go. My first thought was pole building kit as I'm doing all the work my self. Then I noticed a few companeys make kits the look like a pole building but thy are steel buildings. My budget for the shop is $14k cash, that's what I have to work with. I know I had a thread about this topic a little while ago but it's coming down to the wire and I have to make a choice. My question is this, if I go pole building would I save much if I just bought all the materials my self vs getting a kit. I have decided on a 20x36 minimum or a 24x36 and I will devide it up in half inside. The more kit places I call the more quotes I get in the 10k-11k range. That does not include any concrete or insulation and wiring. That just seams high to me for a few sticks and some tin. I also thought maybe just stick build it on a slab. But time is also a factor and I dont have a year to get this done. I like the idea of the steel buildings and the entire thing bolts togather but I don't know how you would finish the inside. I'm just looking for some wisdom to guide me in the right direction. Thanks guys.
 
I don't care for the rounded arch ceiling construction of the prefab metal buildings.

You can't hang ANYTHING off the ceiling because there is no structure

Walls and everything are more of a pain because nothing is square.




Desing what you want.
Build what you want.

Kits are a compromise and put $ in their pocket

Spend that cash on putting in electricity or something.
 
IDK, it sounds like a tight squeeze to build a 700-800sq.ft. shop for 14K. The slab will cost a third of that or more. The building materials may run 10K or more.

The cheapest may be a wood frame pole barn with metal siding and roof. It will have to be carefully installed to prevent leaks. The drawback is that it will be nearly impossible to heat or cool.

My shop build will be about $15K for the building materials and slab ... and it is 16X40. It will be two story, so it has about the same floor, and wall sq.ft. as yours, but the roof and slab are half the size. I will farm out the roofing, and maybe the vinyl siding, as I have done enough of that in my life to know why it is smarter to pay someone else to do it. By the time the building is erected and all infrastructure is installed ( lighting, power, doors, benches, air lines, etc.), I expect the cost to be $20-25K.
 
the slab and shell are the most important parts... if you can get a 24x36 pole building on a slab, with metal siding, for your $14K, you can improve it from there while working out of it.
Having a shop in an uninsulated, poorly lit, minimally wired tin can sucks, but it surely can be done... I've been there. Insulate when you can afford it, ditch all the extension cords and only running one machine at a time and poor lighting when you can, add a shop stove... before you know it it won't be half bad during the winter.
 
do you have a menards in your area? have you checked with them? i helped my brother build a 20x36 last summer. i think the kit was about 4 grand after the 20% sale that they run twice a year. edit: i just called him up it is a 20x32 and the kit was 5300$ the concrete was 900 delivered and we floated it ourselves. he had about 350 in electric and a couple hundred in the gutters. so less than 7000.
 
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how is the ground in your area? my bro. lives in the city and code required 18'' dia. x 52'' deep holes. we had access to a bobcat and he rented the auger for about 2 hundred dollars.
 
Well guys I think we have settled on a game plan and it should work out for the best. Talked to a local lumber suplyer here called ziggies, kinda like a Home Depot. For a 20'x40'x10' with 2" of fibreglass roof vaper barior and walls and trusses ready to take plywood we are at just over $8200. This is with an insulated roll up door and and one man door. The walls are commercial gurts so thy are framed in and will be flush with the posts. The ceiling is also framed in between the trusses. The plan is to do a 6" slab and put up a dividing wall and finish out the back room with insulation and plywood. I will then finish out the rest of the building as funds allow.
 
JT I saw this post the other day at work and forgot to respond when I got home. I wanted to tell you to check out the gallery at garagejournal.com. There are hundreds of shop builds there and many of the guys post the price they paid for materials, labor, concrete, etc. Folks are especially interested in this when someone does most the work themselves.

I've been reading it pretty heavy for the last two or three months. The housing market here in Columbus is horrible for buyers and I have been looking for over a year for a place with land and a shop just outside the city. In my experience the houses that have shops are no more than a house of similar build without one. However the market is so bad I decided to look into building a shop in case we found the perfect house that didn't have one and I have to say I was a bit taken back by what these guys have in even humble shops...

I'm glad you have found a way to make it work on your budget but I'd still recommend taking a look at GJ. Aside from all the great stuff you learn about building a shop there is a lot of other interesting builds and projects there.

Post some photos of your build as it progresses.

-Clint
 
Sounds like you've got a good plan there JT - $8200 sounds like a good price for what you described - I expect you provide the concrete slab for that to be built on? As other's have said, get the main structure first, you can "jury rig" some of the electrical, heat, lighting, etc, and plan to upgrade that properly as funds allow. BUT - it does sound like you're going to be darn close to budget.

I LOVE the sharing of knowledge of this place.

Ken H>
 
If you have or plan to buy a hammer, remember to pour a little sub-slab.
 
I really want a clean room, a place away from the dust and gunk of the forge, grinder and plasma.
 
Joe if you pour a slab before you have a hammer can you go back and retro fit all thread to bolt it down? I just assumed you would have to pour and place the all thread at the same time to anchor it in the concrete. I have no knowledge of concrete though :D

-Clint
 
When I get a power hammer I will cut out a section of slab most likely and re pore it maybe a tad thicker and place studs in the slab. But I know the chemical bolts that epoxy in place are said to work wonders on things like this.
 
Yeah a good buddy of mine owns a concrete business so I'm not worried about cutting it up and repouring, I'll have to any way because I have a 25lber on 6x6's at the rental shop currently and I can't wait to get it on something more solid. But I am curious how you would do it after the slab has been poured. I have never heard of the chemical bolts, I'll have to google them.

-Clint
 
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