I'm Building a Shop - Hit me with your thoughts! - @RedBeardOps

Pegboard walls are also good. Hang stuff anywhere that way. I built a 12-foot-long 8-foot=high, 2-feet-deep set of shelves down one wall and made three 8'X4' doors over it covered in pegboard.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Pegboard walls are also good. Hang stuff anywhere that way. I built a 12-foot-long 8-foot=high, 2-feet-deep set of shelves down one wall and made three 8'X4' doors over it covered in pegboard.
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Stacy, thanks for the write-up. I just went though your build thread. I think I'm going to need some updated pictures of your shop and rooms!
 
Pics should be coming this summer. I am almost through with the power and other infrastructure. I have the equipment to install on the benches and rolling carts once that is done.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Pics should be coming this summer. I am almost through with the power and other infrastructure. I have the equipment to install on the benches and rolling carts once that is done.
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Well I'm extremally excited for them! Thanks for your detailed write ups... Lots to think about on my end. I like the idea of a grinding room and a clean room. I also want the "main section" of the shop to be able to be used a garage if need be (aka, if we ever sell the property).

I'm not sure If I'd really need 10x20 for a clean room. Only things I'd plan to do in there would be leather work, assembly, photography, and maybe some video editing. 10x20 sounds pretty nice for a grinding / welding room. I was thinking of arranging a "larger than normal" door for the grinding room or a double door... just in case I ever get my hands on a surface grinder.

For sake of explanation, assume North is pointing up on the diagram I shared. I'm thinking of having a normal exterior door on the South West section of the shop. This would make sense to open into a clean room. Where to put the grinding room is a little more tricky since I'm thinking I want my hot work / forging area coming off the North side of the building towards the back fence. While I'm going to set up the shop with ventilation so that I could forge with the doors closed... I think it still is a good idea to have a garage door and small slab on the North side of the building. I'm choosing the North since it would be out of sight and potentially less noisy for neighbors if I did open the door. Ideally... this door would be as close to the center of the yard as possible... so maybe the North West corner.

This seems to me to also be the ideal place for a grinding room since I want to have potential garage bays from the drive way to the East. I was originally thinking the East side of the building would basically be a large 2 car garage size that would be accessible from the new driveway. With the desired North West forging station, however, I'm thinking of a grinding room on the South East wall and a tandem garage equivalent along the North Wall (which in my case would be used for the hot work / forge area in the North West and then the rest of my equipment for the remainder (mills, lathe, etc)

Sorry for the mind dump here... I'll be drawing this stuff out for sure in the coming weeks/months to scale with equipment layed out... I'll make sure to post it here for yall's opinions.
 
Those positions sound like good plans.
Definitely put an awning or shed roof extending out over the small slab at the garage door on the north side. You can add it after the build and inspections if it makes things easier.
 
Insulate your slab, many skip this part.
I've built quite a few (general contractor...that wishes he was a knife maker).
Consider attice/room trusses. Consider an energy heel on your truss.
Consider using SIP panels for your walls. (osb inside and out with expanded polystyrene on the inside) They are very easy to build with and very efficient.
A nice trowel finish on your slab is all you want, don't burn it off too much. Over polished concrete looks good, but it's too slippery for a shop.
Get your grade set right, as mentioned, you do not want water problems.
Consider doing soil tests.
Don't skimp on rebar.
If you plan on keeping it cool/warm, don't skimp on insulation.
Take the time to seal between studs that contact each other. (Trimmers/kings. Headers. Corners.)
I always seal the bottom plate to the slab. I use sill seal, but then caulk the bottom plate to slab on the inside of the building. ( I use do-all-ply, not silicone)

Make sure you vent your attic correctly.

Wall height is a big consideration. With 10 ft doors you'll want 12 ft walls. This means your heating and cooling more cubic feet of air, which cost money every month.

Install reversible ceiling fans, depending on what's going on, you can control your climate better. They aren't expensive.

Put outlets and lights everywhere!!!! Lights aren't really that cheap, but outlets don't cost much. I hate extension cords in my shop. If they're there, you'll use them.

If you don't use plywood or osb/ SIP panels on the interior, make sure you install backer blocks wherever you think you might want them. Again, this just requires thinking, it's not expensive at all. I wouldn't even charge for this unless it was really extensive.

In climate controlled areas with poor air quality, that require extra venting, we typically use air to air heat exchangers to avoid exhausting all that warm air you paid to heat up.

I've enjoyed your youtube videos, thanks for sharing your info.

Good luck with your build.
 
Well I got some quotes back... daymn!! Material prices have gone up a ton (2-3x). I'm contemplating having them put the building up and concrete work and then doing some of the interior finishing myself.

Or waiting for the world to settle down a bit. Is it better to build once we are deep into the recession?!? ;)
 
J. Keeton said:
Well I got some quotes back... daymn!! Material prices have gone up a ton (2-3x). I'm contemplating having them put the building up and concrete work and then doing some of the interior finishing myself.

Or waiting for the world to settle down a bit. Is it better to build once we are deep into the recession?!? ;)
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My brother in law is a construction guy, and tells me that the prices on materials change daily.

Will the prices drop? That's unclear to me. I worry that we've hit a point of no return on that front. But I'm no economist either, so I hesitate to listen to myself 😁
 
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