good size for shop...I know bigger is better

[Red68]

I will be moving to the Dallas area in the next couple months and plan to buy a house with an acre or 2 with room for a shop. I have a 68 LWB, that I work on from time to time as well as a 69 impala that I am working on for my wife. I want to install a lift, not sure I should go with a 2 post or 4 post.

My biggest question is to fit 2 cars with room to work and a lift what would you guys think would be a nice size, 30x40, 12' ht. 1 or 2 roll up doors?

I know bigger is better but I dont want to break the bank, what is a good sf price for an insulated pre-engineered building.

Is there any websites that has examples? I have done a google search and have not turned up what I am looking for.

Thanks for any info you can provide

[ETsC10]

Congrats on your future garage!

Considering your project plans and current stable, 30x40 is a bare minimum.
Though the size seems impressive on paper, when you get one or two full
size vehicles in it, you are going to wonder how the building shrank so fast.

If at all possible, I would think putting in 3 bay doors would help a lot;
two side by side and one in the opposite wall so you can drive straight
through without shuffling cars.

Hoists make great, affordable storage areas for any hobbyist.
I personally like my two-post because there are two less obstructions
on the shop floor.

Maybe cruise through this forum and sites like this one for visuals and
check the local paper for builders.

[Red68]

thanks for the reply. I found a couple of posts on the board with lots of suggestions and different idea also.

[1969x11]

If you do a prefab you will want to add more pitch to the roof. Mine is a 40x60. 12' foot side walls I'm right at 17' at the center of my roof. This also enabled me to add storage on top of my paint booth.

[Marv D]

Something from Texas maybe.... They put together a nice prefab kit with decent materials and price

http://www.muellerinc.com/steel-buildings

[El Campo]

We have a 75 x120 with 18 foot eaves. This gives us 24 feet in the center. The whole thing is concrete. Best investment we ever made. I can put our 17 ton crane truck in it and lift the cab off of a 4 wheel drive tractor with ease. Now this may be a bit overkill for most people but I only have three suggestion. Concrete everything as any dirt or gravel portion will always pollute your area that you are working in. Also (here in south Texas) the wind often blows in the same direction and you DEFINITELY want to have two doors in line with the wind as it makes a HUGE difference. If you can afford it insulation is well worth the money. I can work in the winter without a heater even when it is 30 outside and do not need a fan in 95 degree weather. The insulation makes a GIANT difference. We put up a radiant barrier type insulation which was cheaper and easier to put up than the typical shop insulation and yet has better R values. Oh and I don't know if this still holds true but we got ours from Premier Metal Buildings and it was the best price anywhere. According to the people in the business most of the companies are just brokers and most of the buildings come from the same place anyways. Also the doors that were recommended to us by a door man who has been in the business for 30+ years was to get the garage style doors versus the ones that roll up in a roll. Says they last much longer and are substantially stronger (a big deal down here in hurricane country)

[fishingjred73]

I bought mine here http://www.muellerinc.com/steel-buildings/ I got a 40x60x15.

[jhaymon]

i got mine because of a hurricane. i charged to tear em down and haul off the steel so i actually got payed to build my shop. i took 3 years a 2 more hurricanes to get enough for a full shop, but i ended up with 30X50, 8 door drive through.
i run into a couple of issues with long vehicles like the f-250 and a hearse so i should have gone 40 deep and put in more ventilation. the main shaft on one of my fans broke and pretty much shredded the whole thing. now not only do i have a hole in the roof but it was the drive fan so my other fan doesn't work either. my new fans have individual motors so i wont have to deal with that. just waiting on them to get here and then i have to get a crane in here to install em.

[ETsC10]

Wow Red68, seems you've gotten great advice from Texans
and others who have to deal with severe weather issues.

Sounds like jhaymon has some great $ saving experiences
you might utilize too!

Keep us posted and, (as usual) pics rock!

[jhaymon]

Originally Posted by ETsC10

Wow Red68, seems you've gotten great advice from Texans
and others who have to deal with severe weather issues.

Sounds like jhaymon has some great $ saving experiences
you might utilize too!

Keep us posted and, (as usual) pics rock!

i got lucky. im just a poor trying to get by. when rita hit us i put an ad in the classified to do cleanup so i could earn some extra cash and my number was handed out on the next couple of storms. dont get me wrong i earned every square foot of my shop.

[Red68]

Great ideas and suggestions, I am in the construction industry so I am thinking of stick building it my self. I hope I have the time to do it. I found several pictures of 3 bays on the board that I really like. Once I find a place I will nail down a design and get to it and of course post the progress pics.

I found a post that suggested visiting Garage journal.com. Some very impressive shops/garages! As someone said looking at that site will make the cost triple!!!

Thanks
Posted via Mobile Device

[vin63]

Congrats on the eventual property upgrade! Yep, I built my stick building myself, and the only other advice I have is to at least make it 30' deep, or longer...that is the one thing some people (my friends included) that go with a standard 24' deep plan regret the most. I built a 30' deep x 40' wide shop in my backyard. The city limited the height of the roofline, but was able to do a vaulted ceiling in the carport area to accommodate a lift.

[100%Chevy]

I got my steel and purlin shop at auction about 20 years ago.It's 50'x75'x 12' high in the center.
I thought I would never need more room!
WRONG!!!
It's so full,you can't throw a penny in the door!
50'deep is just right for 2 cars end to end with room to get around them.75'is just right for 6 cars wide and room to move around them too.
The height is great for lifting bodies off.
Some things I've learned are-
A shop adds property value when you sell and adds to taxes now!
Think about security.
Insulation.
Ventilation.
A/C?
Plumbing.
Electrical(very important!)I'm an electrician and normally suggest a 200 amp @230 volt service with at least 30 breaker spaces.42 being much better.
Lighting-natural and electric.
Fire protection.
Cell phone with-in reach.
I built away from the house incase of a fire,so both don't burn.100'.
Plan for a lift before pouring concrete and get the better grade of concrete.
Allow room for your junk!Like workbenches,tool cabinets,storage,etc.
Bottom line is,it's cheaper to do now than to add it later!
Mike./

[Red68]

Thanks for all the ideas, I started cutting and pasting all of them on a word document and organizing them for future reference. What have you guys done with the door where a lift would go? I want to be able to have the door raised when a vehicle is on the lift, door I look for some kind of roll up door or is there other options?
Posted via Mobile Device

[ETsC10]

Originally Posted by Red68

Thanks for all the ideas, I started cutting and pasting all of them on a word document and organizing them for future reference. What have you guys done with the door where a lift would go? I want to be able to have the door raised when a vehicle is on the lift, door I look for some kind of roll up door or is there other options?
Posted via Mobile Device

My door is a single 10' high by 15' wide plywood & 2x4 barn door. Very sturdy and very easy to open.
When fully open, it does cover up the adjoining man door but that hasn't been that too much of a nuisance.

When loaded with a pickup, the lift is set back enough to allow about 3' of space from the side wall and
6' from the trucks nose to the door.

This shops flaw is that it is an extension to the back of another building and to bring in other cars, they
have to be pivoted for clearance when the hoist is loaded (the car you see is on skates) unless the hoist
is up high enough. The addition of another bay door across from this one could have corrected that.

Obviously, with an opening this large and a wall this tall, well engineered shear walls are a must.
Last pic is from the mid-90's.
That pic was long before I got here and before the doorway was widened and the door built.

[PanelDeland]

I'll suggest you design so you can expand by lengthening the structure.From what I have seen over the years,there is no such thing as a big enough shop.You'll always wish you had more.It' easier to design in expansion than to figure it out afterward.You may also want a carport type structure added to the door end/side to expand work area and allow full airflow at times.

[jhaymon]

always plan for expansion later. this basically means don't put it too close to property lines and make sure you have enough room outside the shop for stowage and hazardous waste storage. basically you dont want to put fire hazards and stuff that attracts rodents and bugs away from the shop. something like a small building or like i have, a fenced off part of the property. i have a 10' wood fence around my stowage so the neighbors don't complain..as much. i have a gated area of the property with easy access for wreckers, garbage trucks, waste oil trucks ect.

i walked the property for days figuring out a layout. i still messed up by not building my shop deep enough but i do have room to add the 10' onto the back like i need.

[71sierragrande]

My shop is 100'x500'... (kidding) Damn these guys have got some monster shops! I was gonna say at least 28x32 when I read the original post, but it really depends on the amount of tools you have taking up space also. Go with the biggest you can afford, its never enough. I have to muddle through with my 20x22(it sucks to be me).

[vin63]

Originally Posted by Red68

Thanks for all the ideas, I started cutting and pasting all of them on a word document and organizing them for future reference. What have you guys done with the door where a lift would go? I want to be able to have the door raised when a vehicle is on the lift, door I look for some kind of roll up door or is there other options?
Posted via Mobile Device

Yep, this is why I mentioned going at least 30' deep, so that you can use a lift with a roll up door open. I have about 6' between the post of the lift and my work bench in the rear of the shop. If I was able to go taller (city restricted me), I would've used a barrel-type roll up door. But, since I was limited to a standard opening, I used a regular garage door...