Shop Build...should be a fun journey...

[Zachary Hoyt]

Do you have quotes for all of the different types of construction already? It sounds like a very interesting decision to have to make.

[George Yetka]

I dont recall if this was mentioned but is there a plan for an attached compressor/collector shed?

Will the framing allow for a storage loft or partial loft?

[Charles Coolidge]

I will likely be making a decision in the next few days about "what building" will get the nod. I finally have most of my numbers so it's time to analyse things and "dive into the deep end", as it were.

My heart says stick built but my wallet says metal is probably less expensive. When my house was built 10 years ago the builder quoted me $30k for a 24x30 stick built but the real estate market was in the tank then.

[Jim Becker]

Do you have quotes for all of the different types of construction already? It sounds like a very interesting decision to have to make.

Yes. more or less. Formal quotes for the two top choices and more informal for other formats which helped rule them out for cost.

I dont recall if this was mentioned but is there a plan for an attached compressor/collector shed?

Will the framing allow for a storage loft or partial loft?

I will be using a sound reduced closet as I did in my previous shop. I'm pushing the square foot limits and adding an external structure could trigger the requirement for a major topographic survey and drainage planning which would cost thousands of dollars. (We had to have that done when we did the home addition at the previous property) I'm going with 10' walls so no formal loft but I plan on using that idea for storage over the DC/Compressor closet.

My heart says stick built but my wallet says metal is probably less expensive. When my house was built 10 years ago the builder quoted me $30k for a 24x30 stick built but the real estate market was in the tank then.

A 24x36x10 stick-built would easily cost me 40K+ before interior, electrical and HVAC work here. Trust me, I asked. The two top options...wood post frame and metal post frame are well under $30K before the rest of the work.

I will say at this point after playing with the numbers this afternoon, "most likely" I'm going with the wood post frame as the offer includes a few things I'd have to do independent with the metal post frame to get what I want (gutters and doors are examples) and the ground prep...which I am doing myself...is a whole lot simpler. I actually thought that the metal structure would come in a few thousand less, but after adding back in things...it's nearly a wash. That was a pleasant surprise.

[Jim Becker]

As an update, I've made my decision to move forward with the 24x36x10 post frame structure and will be meeting with the purveyor of the same tomorrow to tweak some details. I told the bird that I was getting a new cage for my tools and she wasn't impressed...probably thought I should get her a bigger house instead....

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[Zachary Hoyt]

My experience is limited to chickens, but even after 20 years of daily association with them I still have trouble telling what they're thinking.

[Jim Becker]

My experience is limited to chickens, but even after 20 years of daily association with them I still have trouble telling what they're thinking.

Sammula doesn't think...she demands.

[glenn bradley]

Sounds like things are moving along. This will be a great ride-a-long.

[Jim Becker]

So today...I bought a building. 24'x36'x10'6" post frame, color coordinated with the house and including all doors and windows. I'm doing the site prep myself. I will likely have a mason friend do the floor, but if that doesn't work out, the building company can easily do that. I may or may not have them do the ceiling and can deal with that later. Once I have the engineered plans, I can do the permit dance and hopefully there will be a building in place 12 weeks or so after the permit is approved.

"Vawwy Skawwy"....

[Christopher Charles]

Congrats on the big step! Have been and will be following along.

Best,
Chris

[Leigh Betsch]

Super! Not long before pic I hope.

[Lisa Starr]

Congratulations! I hope the permitting goes smoothly and you have a building in no time.

[Sal Cangialosi]

Looking forward to learning from this!

[Phillip Mitchell]

Woohoo! Congrats Jim! Is the post frame purchase through a dedicated post frame contractor and they are handling it all (sans site work, maybe concrete, utilities, etc) ?

If so, that’s nice for you in that you don’t have to sub contract all the little things (roofing, siding, etc) that typically aren’t in a framer’s wheelhouse. Excited for you and can’t wait to see photos.

[Jim Becker]

Super! Not long before pic I hope.

Here's a couple... . In all seriousness, the build will likely be early summer, but the ground work will happen as soon as the permit is secured.

IMG_0970.jpg IMG_0971.jpg

Woohoo! Congrats Jim! Is the post frame purchase through a dedicated post frame contractor and they are handling it all (sans site work, maybe concrete, utilities, etc) ?

If so, that’s nice for you in that you don’t have to sub contract all the little things (roofing, siding, etc) that typically aren’t in a framer’s wheelhouse. Excited for you and can’t wait to see photos.

The firm I chose is in the post frame business. It's what they do. It can be as turn-key as I want it. At the moment, I've excluded the concrete work while I pursue that with a mason friend, but I can add it back in at any time. The builder used to subcontract concrete work, but they actually have in-house folks now for that, too, and the cost is reasonable. So if my friend doesn't want to do it, I have an out. The floor gets done later anyway with a post frame, so I have options and time. I'm doing prep work for that myself, too, in addition to the ground work before the build...the Big Orange Power Tool will get a workout and since it's small, it will not be as fast as a hefty machine. That's ok, however. My "job" is doing my own projects being retired now for five years.

I will be dealing with the electric service, interior and HVAC myself. I'm currently trying to get the utility to even answer the phone, but I'll get there. I may use the electrician I engaged for my recent generator project for some of all of the initial service. For the interior, I'm debating having the builder do the ceiling just because that's a pain. It would be a "do it later" job anyway and I can contract for it at any time. HVAC will be a nice Mir Cool minisplit...Costco now carries them and the 24K BTU system at $1600 is "very attractive", considering the 18K BTU unit at my old shop was over $3K and that was with me doing all the prep and electrical as well as getting a "friends and family" discount from the HVAC contractor. So I guess it's accurate to say that I'm kinda the "general contractor" over the whole project, but with all the heavy lifting done by professionals.

I will tell you this, traveling to the builder's location was a good experience. For this kind of money, meeting in person is nice and the inside rep I've been dealing with was very cordial to answer my questions and work out the final details with me sitting across a table. She was great. While she was preparing the final paperwork, I took a quick visit to the sample building across the parking lot and that absolutely cemented my already made decision to use laminated posts. The sample building has been in place for about 15 years and the solid sawn posts were a bit, um...twisty. Fine for a farm building in many cases, but not for a structure that's going to be finished and conditioned inside.

One decision I did have to weigh yesterday sitting there was flat vs scissor trusses. I really liked the idea of the latter and it was only about a grand uplift in building cost. But it pretty much eliminated the ability to do blown-in insulation and with 4' truss spacing, there would be a big material bill just for the structure to hold R-38 batts. So I chose flat trusses to keep all my options open. The ceiling will be about 10'6" up so I'm really not worried about headroom...low enough for not complicating lighting too much and high enough to provide for vertical material storage and spaciousness. The latter will be nice because at 24x36, it's not a "yuge" building by any means, even though by square foot, it's a lot more than in the old shop, minus the upstairs I had there for storage.