New shop build

[DirtyComanche]

I moved in the summer and lost my shop.  Part of the deal/plan with this was that I would build a new, bigger, better shop.  I did know somewhat what the costs were before I did this, but man, it's a hard pill to swallow.   Ultimately I had to do it though, there was nothing for sale that met my criteria.

 

Anyway, it's 40x40' and 16' ceilings, plus it has carports on both sides.  I got hung up bad with permitting due to the area I live in (need permits from multiple levels of government, all of which decided to be on strike at some point in this), so we wound up starting construction in January.  January is not one of the nicer months in this part of the world.  Actually, it's probably the worst.

 

Back in summer/fall I cleared off the access and site.  I used my trusty but terrible 742B (arguably the worst machine Bobcat has ever sold, and man have they sold some bad machines) for lots of this.  I relocated as many of the small trees as I could to other places on the property.

 

 

Site in the winter, after the surveyor came out and verified I met setbacks:

 

 

It's back pretty far from the house, and the driveway dog legs.  It's what I wanted, not obvious or in your face.

[DirtyComanche]

We finally got going with excavation and building forms.  Oddly it warmed up way beyond what was seasonable, which they took advantage of in that they could pour concrete without having to heat it.

 

 

 

 

The posts for the carports are 5' deep and the rest is only 4'.  It's all clay, and we will have good grading so it should be happy.

[DirtyComanche]

I tracked down a beam for an overhead hoist.  I put one in the last shop and it was invaluable, so I did the same but much beefier this time.  That said, it's still only good for about 2500lbs single point, spanning 40' is asking a lot without getting really expensive.

 

 

They got the foundation backfilled, foam insulation on, and did some compacting.

 

 

Funny thing is you can see the tops of the piers for the carport posts, they formed them so they're square.  The guys building this normally do custom homes, so they do some little things to make things nicer, and this does look nicer versus just having the round sonotube sticking up.

 

Then it got cold again, but that's fine for framing.  How bloody tall it is going to be started to be apparent.

 

 

 

 

There will be a small washroom, which is what the window is for.  The man door is a french door, and overheight.  I wanted this as in the last shop I put an "oversize" door in for the man door, but I still found I often took large/awkward stuff through it in the winter versus opening the bay doors, so this should work better.

[DirtyComanche]

More framing, and carport posts and beams.

 

 

Carport roof framed, and bottom trusses going on (trusses are two piece because the roof pitch is so high).  I went with "spacemaker" trusses because the roof pitch is so high you might as well, it will just be cold storage that is only accessible from outside.

 

 

Beam installed.

 

[DirtyComanche]

Sheathing and making gables.

 

 

Top trusses on.  It's stupid tall.

 

 

Gables all done, double door framed in for the storage area and the bay doors cut out, windows in.

 

 

Back windows in and I got them to put a single door on the back of the storage area.  I will probably put a staircase on the back eventually.  I may pay them to do it but the budget is pretty shot on this honestly, so more likely I'll make something out of steel later.

 

 

A big thing I did not consider before this was that to access the storage area, well, it's about 17' to the floor.  I have a Bobcat and a Clark forklift, neither can lift that high.  There will be french doors on the front of it.  I think (pending hearing better ideas) I will probably build a beam/trolly system for a hoist off the front french doors, and normally access it from the back.  If I can find a forklift that can lift that high for the right price I will sell the one I have, but that's somewhat unlikely as 3 stage stuff tends to be more pricey.

[neohic]

HELL YES!!! Great looking structure! Good luck with the build. It's looking like an awesome space! 

[pizzaman09]

Love it!  You got real lucky on the weather for concrete work.  Good choice to do thicker on the conc for the lift.  When I did the concrete for my garage (2400 sqft), I asked what the cost difference would be to take it from 4" to 5" on the whole thing, it was only $1600 more so it was a no brainer. 

 

Looks like you will have some nice storage up top too!

[DirtyComanche]

3 hours ago, pizzaman09 said:

Love it!  You got real lucky on the weather for concrete work.  Good choice to do thicker on the conc for the lift.  When I did the concrete for my garage (2400 sqft), I asked what the cost difference would be to take it from 4" to 5" on the whole thing, it was only $1600 more so it was a no brainer. 

 

Looks like you will have some nice storage up top too!

 

I'm doing floor heat so there will be two pads where there is no pex and that will be thicker.  Otherwise I'd just do the whole thing.  Floor heat is a luxury but I may go with an outdoor boiler at some point, and it's hard to integrate an outdoor boiler usefully otherwise.  The house has a fully unfinished basement so it would be "easy" to add floor heat to it.  Will I ever do that?  Eh, who knows.