New shop.........."build"

[traut811]

This build thread isn't for a pt ride, its actually somewhere for them to go. I've read through so many threads on this site and others trying to get ideas on what to do for this or that. I figured I'd try to post progress as we go and maybe it'll help someone out going through their own process.

My setup is currently a 2-car attached garage, with a 2-story detached (26'x26' upstairs and downstairs) Upstairs has 2 garage doors and you drive around back where there is a single wide door to get in. Basement houses all of the machining stuff - lathe, Mill, sheet metal brake, blast cabinet, welders, plasma, and 2 post lift I posted on here previously about. Upstairs is more of a "cleaner" place to do assembly, wiring, or just hang out. When we bought the house, it had a 24x40x14'tall old horse barn that I ended up tearing to put a new shop in its place. I just needed more room for the "stuff".

Going with a 48' deep by 60' wide with 14' tall ceilings. Three 14' wide by 12' tall doors across the front and only one floor drain with a 6' sweep behind the left door, to keep the rest of the floor as flat as possible.

I will have at least one 4 post lift that will primarily be used for storage and need it high enough to fit ideally my 3/4-ton 2500hd under, but if not at least put the jeep under. I'll get into this shortly as I need to pick out a lift soon so I can determine electrical requirements.

Concrete:
Based on varying elevation, it was tough to get the size I wanted. It required 9ft of fill in the back corners and sides. The contractors did a 9ft wall, and I ended up backfilling all but about 2 feet of this to make it look more natural. Between my dad hauling 40ish tandem loads of rock in and both of us pushing dirt from the field nearby for 8 hours each, it turned out pretty good.
The floor is 5" thick with rebar on 2' centers. I did not do heat in the floor. It was pretty straightforward but did run plumbing beforehand for the floor drain (3") and a 4" for septic if needed. Both run out the side about 3' down below ground level. I will tie into this later.

Plumbing:
3/4" PEX was ran from the house down to the area (220' or so), where I split and added a frost proof hydrant outside and split to run a line through the concrete to the back corner for a simple 5'x5' bathroom.

Electrical:
I'm still struggling here... I want it to be bring but definitely don't want "hot spots" that seem to come with improperly positioned LEDs. We'll use the "high bay" style LED lights, likely Lithonia ALO13 REBL series. They're about $130/each and can't decide between a 4x4 grid of them, or 3x5. Playing with online lighting calculators now to get lumen/sq ft readings. It's pretty cool these are offered.
We'll need power ran for the following:
Compressor (220v 40A)
Lift (220V 30A, or 110V 30A depending on mfg.)
1 220V 50A receptacle for welder/plasma
1 30A for camper
2 ceiling fans (I'd love to have a big ass fan or something but can't justify the cost). Will likely just do 2x hunter industrial fans
receptacles for each overhead door opener
several receptacles alone the wall
wall pack lights on exterior.

Building:
I won't have anything to do with this part. Definitely something best for me to leave to the pros than even attempt. 2x6 construction with 2x6 over 2x6 trusses (3-1/2:12 pitch) with metal tin roof and walls.

[Ketzer]

Congrats! It's gonna be awesome!

I hope your drain works out better than mine, the low spot in the slope is about two feet away from the actual drain...

Jeff-

[traut811]

Originally Posted by Ketzer

Congrats! It's gonna be awesome!

I hope your drain works out better than mine, the low spot in the slope is about two feet away from the actual drain...

Jeff-

Thanks, Jeff!

Oh no... that's a bummer. So far so good. The concrete contractors we have here are pretty slick and am extremely happy with their work.

[alex809]

On the lighting, I’d lean toward the 4x4 grid if you want more even coverage, especially for detail work like wiring or finishing. Those ALO13s are solid, and spacing them well avoids that harsh spotlighting effect

[pontiacgtp97]

I have a 40' x 64' with 12' ceiling. I used 12 2'x2' LED panels. I think it turned out well.

[camcojb]

I'd take it!

[RDuke]

Looks like an awesome project. Here's a few suggestions from when I built mine:

(1) Run an extra (empty) chase line or two from the main house to shop. Helpful if you need to ever add something. I added solar to the back of my garage and it made it easy.

(2) Run a big mini-split unit. It's great to have heat and A/C. Not sure where you are, but the AC really helps cut the humidity in the summer and remove any condensation on the floor/cars.

(3) Hard line your Air to each wall. I went with RapidAir 3/4". With a real on each wall it made it easy for accessing it anywhere.

(4) Lighting is huge. I found a guy on garagejournal forum who did lighting design for a few hundred $. Best money I spent on the project. He gave me an entire map, what to buy, and where to place it. Simple.

(5) Internet. I was more than 300' so I ran fiber optic line with a simple data converter on each end. This allowed me to be on the home network without issue and add a few 4K cams to the inside/outside of the building. Also allowed me to connect to the home Sonos network for easy music.

(6) Flooring. Went with Tile. Been fantastic. No issues for last 6 yrs. Did a redguard layer, I set them all myself to make sure no air pockets in the mortar ,and used epoxy grout. Just align the cement stress cut lines with the grout line and good to go. In hindsight it would have been easier to mark the lines on the wall, lay the tile, then go with a cutter and cut the joint lines. I did it the hard way and cut all the tiles.

(7) Painting/Mess. Not sure if you do any bodywork or painting, but getting a cheap $1K inflatable paint booth that you can setup inside the shop is a huge clean up saver.

[camcojb]

GREAT shop!