This has been a LONG time coming, but I’m finally ready to break ground on my new shop. I’ve been reading all the ‘new shop’, ‘shop remodel’, and ‘shop advice’ threads on here for quite some time. I’ve incorporated quite a few things I learned on here and wouldn’t have otherwise thought of. For that, I thank all the SMC’ers for your shared experiences and expertise!
Some of you might recall a few threads I’ve started or participated in regarding various aspects of wooden floors in a shop. My previous shops have had concrete floors and I’ve never liked them. Besides being hard on tools that inevitably get dropped, I find them very tough on the legs and back after long hours of standing.
With input from Frank and others on here, utilizing piers and beams along with an engineered system of I-joists and LVL’s, I’m going to finally get my wood floors. I know there are some of you out there that don’t believe in the engineered products, but after exhaustive research, conversations with the local building inspector and a few contractors, I believe the benefits I’ll be seeing will make them worth it.
I’m doing this ONCE and I have the room, so I’m going pretty big. It’s going to be 40’ wide, by 64’ long, with 10’ ceilings. (That just might keep the “go larger” comments to a minimum!)
Before I post a few diagrams, let me take a minute to thank Dave Richards, without whose assistance, I’d still be floundering in Sketchup. I modeled the entire shop in Sketchup. I’ve done quite a bit of remodeling, and a few large deck projects, but I’ve never tackled an entire structure from start to finish, nevermind ALONE! The decisions I’ve had to make and the choices I’ve had to deal with have been almost overwhelming. Sketchup allowed me to make changes, find potential problems, and fine-tune details, all without lifting a tool or wasting any material. Creating a true-to-scale model with all the details also allowed me to create an accurate material list. It was a lot of work, but I think it was time well spent. I guess I’ll find out when I get going!
Ok, here are a few different views of the shop. Since this is a Sketchup model, I can take snapshots of any detail I want or need to. And since it was done with layers, I can isolate every aspect of the model. It was also pretty cool to be able to virtually 'walk around' inside the model.
Front
Attachment 39129
Back
Attachment 39130
Pier layout:
Attachment 39131
Attic Space
Attachment 39132
Floor Plan
Attachment 39133
Foundation:
This will be an open foundation pier and beam system. There will be four rows of seven piers (28). Each pier will consist of a 12” diameter 4’ long concrete filled Quik-Tube (Quikrete brand of Sona-Tubes), sitting on a 2’ x 2’ concrete cookie with two L-shaped pieces of 3/8” rebar embedded in each cookie, extending up into the concrete tubes. Since there’s no frost line here, and the flooring engineer specified a minimum clearance of 16” between dirt and the flooring, I’m planning to sink the piers roughly 2.5 feet into the ground. Since the I-joists will straddle the two center beams, the two center rows of piers will be sunk about a foot deeper. Topping each pier will be a block of pressure treated 2x10 attached using Simpson MAB23 straps. The double LVL’s in the floor system will be nailed to these 2x10’s. Once I have the piers installed, I plan to have the ground treated with termidor (or equivalent). I’ll then put down a 6 mil plastic vapor barrier, which I’ll cover with pea gravel.
Floor:
As I said, this is going to be an engineered floor system, using Trus-Joist “I-beams” and “LVLs”. The floor has been designed for 150lb/sq ft live load, and 20/lb/sq ft dead load. A standard residential floor is 40/live 20/dead, so this is about four times stronger. I’m not sure it would handle the load of a shop full of Dev’s caliper of equipment, but it’ll be plenty strong enough for my needs. It’ll be topped with 7/8” T&G Advantech sheathing, which will add to the strength and rigidity. I’ll be adding fiberglass insulation between each truss in the floor. I’m also planning to run hardware cloth across the underside of the trusses in hopes of keeping out a majority of the critters. (Thanks Frank for the idea!)
Walls:
I posted a thread about ceiling height a short while back, asking about 12’ high ceilings. That’s what I originally planned, but have since changed to a 10’ height. I don’t think the additional two feet would be a benefit, and it would be harder to light, and more space to cool and heat. All walls, including interior ones, will be 2 x 6 construction…more room for insulation, and wiring, and I just prefer the beefier walls. Instead of sheetrock, I plan to cover the walls and ceiling with 15/32” OSB. It’s lighter, easier to install, and in my mind more flexible for mounting cabinetry and other wall-hung doo-dads.
Windows:
I knew I wanted loads of natural lighting. I also knew I didn’t want the windows interfering with wall outlets, work surfaces, or sheet goods leaning against the wall, so I’ve placed them 56” high. There will be three on the front, three on the back, all of them being double wide, double hung units 80” wide by 48” high. I’ve also added a pair of large windows in the office space. Each will be 72” wide by 80” high. The view out of each will justify the cost and work…at least that’s the way I see it.
Porch:
I wasn’t originally going to put a porch on the shop, but the more played with the model, I wanted one to block some of the sun and afford me a comfortable place to go regardless of the weather when I just need to walk away from a project. Sketchup allowed me to create it virtually, allowing me to know EXACTLY what materials would be involved so I could determine what the cost would be. In the grand scheme of things, it’s only a few more studs, 9 more pieces of sheathing and 2.5 more bundles of shingles, so a porch will be included!
Attic:
I had originally planned on a 4:12 roof since I don’t like doing roofing, especially on a steeply peaked roof, and that's the minimum pitch I could get away with using standard architectural shingles. But, when I was working with the local truss company, we did a few ‘what-if’ models and he showed me the ‘room-in-attic’ truss system. The cost was almost the same for the attic room, and all I needed to do was change to a 5:12 pitch. It buys me 64’ of 10’ wide 6’ high storage space. He also beefed up the vertical webs in the trusses so I could hang the motor for a cyclone from them. I plan to have the air handler for my HVAC system, dust collection and my compressor up there, as well as all sorts of assorted storage…jigs, materials, etc. I plan to cover the floor of this attic space with 23/32” OSB, and the walls and ceilings with 15/32” OSB.
Electrical:
I haven’t even begun modeling the electrical for the shop. I plan to do that once I get the structure under cover. I’d rather be standing in the space visualizing where things will go, and where I’ll need power, than to speculate and waste time having to re-do things once I’m in the structure. I plan several banks of fluorescent strips over-head, each on a separate circuit. I also envision some track lighting over benches, and maybe machines, but I’ll decide that once I get to stand in the building.
Tool placement:
I’m handling this the same way as the electrical. Until I get the structure done, I don’t want to plan anything. Not to mention, I’ll be adding several larger tools since I’ll now have the space.
There you have it…at least the way it’s currently planned. I value the opinions of everyone here, so I’m open to changes (within limits and budget). If any of you folks see anything glaringly wrong, or omitted, please let me know.
I’m off now to get the price quotes from the three vendors I have competing. Once I choose the primary vendor, I’ll be ordering the Quik-tubes, which should take about a week to arrive. I’ll be outside either later today or tomorrow, doing some site-prep work, then putting in my batter strips and laying out the actual location of all the piers. That reminds me, I need more string…
Pictures WILL follow! I’ll try to update this thread as often as makes sense, which might be as frequent as every day, or as infrequent as once a week, depending on where I am in the process.
Frank has certainly raised the bar on ‘shop construction’ threads. I doubt I’ll live up to his high standard, but hopefully this will be beneficial to others. I know I’ll benefit from the wealth of knowledge I can tap into here…
Thanks for following…
- Marty -
Originally Posted by tod evans
I look forward to watching your updates. One of these days, if money turns around, I'll get back to my shop and finish it where I can actually use it. Jim.
When someone asked my brother and I about the best way to build a building these days... we both blurted out in unison...
