New shop ideas and tips

[furrowtickler]

I know a guy that bought a picker truck at an RB auction in Edmonton . The truck had a big picker , not sure the size though.
He took the picker off and mounted it on the floor in his new shop. He can reach almost anywhere in that shop. Also has a good flat deck truck for cheap now .

[Rareearth]

That's one I haven't heard of, I don't mind that idea.

The movable big hoist for cars and semis are sweet, $

[burnt]

When we rebuilt our shed/shop after a fire in '09, we wanted to locate it to maximize the use of the sun in wintertime. So, we built it facing south/south-east.

We have a 16x24' overhead facing south and it is amazing how much warmth it collects throughout the daytime with even just weak sunshine. It will raise the temp in the shop by 10C on a clear day. Sure cuts the need for the boiler running.

We have in-floor heat which I would do again, but I think it would be helpful to supplement with some form of radiant for a quicker recovery when the door is opened in the winter - it's a quick chill with a door that size.

Also, we have only the one big overhead due to grade and space limitations on the shop frontage, but would benefit from a smaller overhead as well for loading or unloading goods, rather than having to open the big door for something as small as a single pallet of goods, etc.

We went with concrete sandwich wall - very little cost differential over pole, if any, considering the benefits.

Oh the things you think of after the fact!

[fjlip]

Snap on 15 inch tin strip skirt around bottom, sprayfoam entire wall and skirt min of 2 inches thick. Concrete butts up to the top of the insulated skirt creating an important thermal break. Sprayfoam well worth it on the walls imo keeps the tin rigid and eliminates air infiltration. Accoustical caulk between the plies of the post as they can leak. Versaframe has best pricing on custom cut tin imo. I had my posts wrapped in blueskin 24 inches below ground and 12 inches above to give me some peace of mind that the posts won't rot off in my lifetime.

Oh ya and remember to remind the crew to install the gable vents. They like too forget.

Seems all pole sheds are lifting out of the ground around here. Yours okay? How to prevent that?
We did the insulation/Tin around foundation, 6" into the ground , 2" styro 2' out all around the base. Warm floor up to the wall.
Concrete never had frost, NO cracks. No floor heat, furnace recovers in a few minutes. South facing for ice/snow issues is a big deal.

[SASKFARMER3]

Radiant heat. NO in floor and quick recovery equipment warms fast! Insulated good nice and cool in July! A shop worth as much as extra quarter at today's price!

Buy build bigger than you think you need! We might have to add a new section higher and bigger side door!

[Redone]

When it's all said and done, you can figure $40 a square foot.

We just finished one and it's the smartest thing we have ever done

[biglentil]

Seems all pole sheds are lifting out of the ground around here. Yours okay? How to prevent that?
We did the insulation/Tin around foundation, 6" into the ground , 2" styro 2' out all around the base. Warm floor up to the wall.
Concrete never had frost, NO cracks. No floor heat, furnace recovers in a few minutes. South facing for ice/snow issues is a big deal.

I dug in 4ft of 3" rigid foam on a 45degree angle extending out from bottom of the skirt with extra in the corners. Also have Infloor heat just 15 ft around interior perimeter and under overhead door seals to prevent stuck doors. 1 floor drain on one side of the shop, flat on the fabrication side. Go with T5 bulbed Highbay florecant shop lights can't beat em.

[MBgrower]

Upgrade to larger mainposts, set at least 8' deep, go with in floor heat, heat recovery is fast as whole slab contributes heat, run the in floor heat out past overhead door to external slab so your door doesnt freeze, install air exchanger to get rid of humidity after bringing in snowy equipment, install your elictrical on the surface of the wall in conduit not inside the walls, dont face your door north, remote door opener, ceiling fans, exhaust vents that auto open close, seal the concrete, build it bigger than your planning, small door to bring in the pickup, front end loader, lots and lots of lights with multiple zones, 2 breaker panels one on each side, lots of rebar in the concrete, plumb in a bathroom.....
Get an estimate on your concrete and electrical work, big, big costs there.

[Ache4Acres]

Agree on the 20ft height. Out last one is 22ft height and it seems excesssively High.

Keep in mind on building height that if you have a big bifold it might need the extra building height to have the desired opening height.

[Quadtrack]

One idea I found was to put two layers of 3/4 in plywood all around the base of the interior then tin up from that. It gives a smooth, solid surface to mount electrical, air lines to, and anything else you want to mount on the walls without poking thru the vapor barrier. And it's tough. Have seen several shop interiors where the lower tin gets dented over time, and looks crappy.
I put LED lights in and very happy so far. Also have in-floor heat and very pleased with it-recovery time is a non-issue.
A twenty foot ceiling is good if you want to work on the top of your combine ie the bubble auger or something-then you don't have to worry about head clearance. I've yet to think 20ft was not high enough.