It's Semi-Official - I'm getting a Shop

[LUV2XCLR8]

Well sort of, we're adding on to our lil place in the country, I'm
waiting on my bids to come back as soon as next week, I have
always wanted to ask this, What ideas do you have expensive
or cheap for a garage? Anything you did you would do again?
Anything you would have done differently? Thanks for any and
all of your comments, and btw YES I know it's never big enough,
depending on the bid I may have extra $ to make upgrades

*Will try to upload a crude drawing of the layout tomorrow, we
have a 20 x 20 garage now, barely 2 car, the new addition will
be 32 x 40 and will be a 3 car, plus a lower garage underneath
on the backside for a tractor bay, I don't even have one yet

*Edit - My crude attempt at the layout (Minus Basement Section)

Yellow is the old garage, Pinkish is the House, Orange walls is New,
Black is the doors (8' high) and the Blue are the windows (2' x 3').

[TugOwar]

Congratulations! unofficially.

dude, 32x40 is nothing to laugh at. I'd be damned proud to have that kind of shop space.

[TugOwar]

quick, run outside and break ground before she changes her mind.

[msgross]

One thing that I have learned is about making metal sided pole barns. (or wood I guess) Instead of using a 6x6 posts and going for the expensive lengths (16,18,20+ ft). To go with 2x6 and laminate 3 of them together. The bottom three in the ground need to be PT's but the rest don't. You laminate them with bolts and stagger the joints and you can go as high as you want. Morton buildings does this and it can save you thousands in main posts....and have a strong or stronger structure. Good luck with the garage.

[Tynee]

Color me jealous...

I'd settle for the 20x20 at this point.

[Palf70Step]

Sounds good LUV. My shop is a metal building, other than want to have gone bigger, I think the only thing I would have done differnt are
1. Made the overhang/carport on the front a tad bigger. It's not quite long enough to put the full vehicle under when I am doing a lot of messy stuff, I just roll her out under the port.

2. Arranged my lights a bit different so I could add bracing and make a mini attic/storage area. I'm OK since I have the old shop, but it would have been sort of nice for the space in this building.

Don't scrimp on the power, leave you self plenty of room for lots of (220) growth.

[JAKES 68GMC]

My words of advice: Make sure it's the size you want, and maaybe add on a few feet to each side for junk space. We have a 28x48 shop with 14 foot walls, and at times it feels crammed. Not often, but sometimes. Theres a lot of stuff in there, ranging from Cat diesel parts to squirrels (once in awhile ) and anything in between, plus tools, projects, the dunebuggy. We've always got something cooking in there, except for winter time. It's too damn cold out there. Glad your having a shop, it's like going on vacation just feet away from the house.

[Canadian694x4]

Congrats!

[72 CustomCamper]

Originally Posted by msgross

One thing that I have learned is about making metal sided pole barns. (or wood I guess) Instead of using a 6x6 posts and going for the expensive lengths (16,18,20+ ft). To go with 2x6 and laminate 3 of them together. The bottom three in the ground need to be PT's but the rest don't. You laminate them with bolts and stagger the joints and you can go as high as you want. Morton buildings does this and it can save you thousands in main posts....and have a strong or stronger structure. Good luck with the garage.

That's how they did a friend's 36x40 pole barn. His has 16' ceilings for a lift...

[Ron 586]

Congrats. hope you can get it up and running before winter. No matter how big you build it it won't be big enough, but you have picked a good size.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Got the bid today, need to get a 2nd opinion, ouch

[kingsolver72]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

need to get a 2nd opinion, ouch

O.K. your a lucky $#^&*!:
Just kiddin.Congrats man!

[hgs_notes]

Make sure its wide enough that if you have all of the bays occupied, you can open all the doors of the vehicles. Including with shelves and other stuff along the walls.

Put heat in right away if you think you need it for winter comfort. And insulate.

Get good lights and plenty of them, including some for on the driveway and the outside entry door.

Floor drainage is a must. You will spill things. Cars will have leaks. Snow and ice melting, etc. It's best to get a nice floor surface in from the start also. To save money you can get some good sealers for the concrete instead of using tile or the rubber matting. That epoxy stuff works pretty good too. Probably even better if its being applied to a new floor.

HG

[79Silv4x4]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

Got the bid today, need to get a 2nd opinion, ouch

If you don't mind sharing--how much was the quote? I'm in a neighborhood now where I cannot have the 'shop' I want but I can add a sizeable 'shoplike' addition to my home. I havent gotten any bids yet so I wonder if it's even worth my time. . .

[LUV2XCLR8]

Originally Posted by 79Silv4x4

If you don't mind sharing--how much was the quote?

Please keep in mind that it HAD to match the house, per the wife , so it's
BRICK on front and side, and brick on back 1/2 way up, to where foundation
line is on the house to match, it basically will look like the house, so that is
alot of the cost, then it was going to have a wine cellar / strom shelter and
a tractor bay on the lower level that you entered from the back, 3 bays on
top which you enter from the front, vaulted ceiling w/ no attic so down the
road I could put in a 4 post lift w/ no height issues, 3 windows across back
side to create a flow through when the doors were up, and 2 dog houses on
the top to mirror the house look once again, plus it includes all of the tree's
in the way removed, dirt work, etc............. I thought it was a little high, I
could be wrong, either way it was $67,000, which is $12K over my budget.

[woodridge]

But will you have it ready for Oct. 21?

[72gord]

If the bid is higher than you expected, the completed project will be even higher!!! At least that has been my experience, a change here and there and add a little and pretty soon the budget is blown to heck!!! Good luck on it, just starting on mine 40 x 56 pole shed construction....I'll post some pics as we progress.

[hgs_notes]

$67K !?, YIKES! Get more bids.

HG

[HotRod71]

Feed all them people coming to your house next month and put em to work. LOL

[Chevy Fleetside]

Something like that here in San Francisco would cost you over $100,000 so me telling you that is alot is a mute point.. But then again me being a General I would do it myself anyway...

[LUV2XCLR8]

Another thing I left out that might, I say might be part of the cost being
more than I thought it would be, I'm only about 100 mi. from New Madrid
faultline, so the walls have to be poored, no blocks on the lower section.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by LUV2XCLR8

Another thing I left out that might, I say might be part of the cost being
more than I thought it would be, I'm only about 100 mi. from New Madrid
faultline, so the walls have to be poored, no blocks on the lower section.

That don't sound right to me...Earthquake codes are pretty strict here, but we build with CMU everyday. We build schools mostly, nobody wants one of them to fall down in an earthquake. As far as 67K-jump on it, next week it'll be 72. Material is through the roof, labor is hard to come by, and contractors are finally getting what they deserve. (ex general contrator here )

[junkyardjohn]

IT DOES SOUND LIKE AN AWFUL LOT. I JUST BUILT A SHOP. IT'S AN ENGINEERED BUILDING, MEENING IT HAS NO TRUSSES (LAMINATED BEAMS) & NO WOOD IS TOUCHING THE GROUND & IS ABOUT 15' IN THE MIDDLE SO I CAN HAVE A LIFT. I HAVE ABOUT $26,000 IN MINE. IT'S 32X50X10 WITH 12' SLIDERS AT EACH END & A CEMENT FLOOR, 400 AMP SERVICE. A SATALITE DISH, TELEPHONE, SHOWER TOILET & SINK, DSL INTERNET SERVICE, WASHER & DRYER, MICROWAVE & FREEZER. SHOOT ... I'M LIVING IN IT WHILE MY HOUSE IS BEING BUILT. I CAN SEE WHERE YOU'RES IS GOING TO COST A WHOLE LOT MORE SEEING AS HOW YOUR ADDING ON TO YOUR HOUSE & MAKING IT MATCH YOUR HOUSE. GET A COUPLE OF QUOTES & DON'T PREPAY FOR ANYTHING, PAY AS THEY GET IT BUILT. IN OTHER WORDS... BE YOUR OWN GENERAL CONTRACTOR. YOU CAN SAVE ABOUT 15% IF YOU PAY EM ALL IN CASH. (EVERYBODY LIKES CASH & IF IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE TO YOU.. WHY NOT??) I'M SURE YOU COULD GET OFF ALOT CHEAPER BY BUILDING A STAND ALONE BUILDING, BUT IF YOU WANT TO GO WITH AN ADDITION TO YOUR HOUSE IT'LL COST PLENTY & YOU CAN'T REALLY COMPARE ANYBODY ELSES WORKSHOP TO YOURS. WHATEVER YOU DO... YOU'LL LIKE IT. CONGRATULATIONS!! JOHN

[JAKES 68GMC]

I'm not sure, but I think my dad's 28x48x14 shop cost $30,000 or so to build. He cuts wood for a living in the winter, so he cut the logs and had the lumber sawed for it which cut down the costs some. It has trusses, so it has a huge upstairs in it. Big enough for someone to comfortably live in, maybe 2 people. I think $67,000 is a lot of money to build that shop. Just my thoughts.
Jake

[meathead95]

i think all brick and being attached to the house with a lower level that is a decent price. i built a 36x48 metal building last year with a 1/2 bath 8x24 office in it and a 8x48 loft with cathedral ceilings a 200 amp service with its own meter and a 2 post car lift and i have over 30k in it