10' or 12' Walls

[Karl Brogger]

Heating that space isn't a problem, I have infloor hot water radiant heat.

I don't know if this is B.S. or not, but I've been told that with infloor heat that the warmth stays low. Or at least lower than it does with forced air.

Personally I'd go with 12'. When it comes times to build a new shop, (hopefully next year), I'm going with 12', but the plan is to add on at some point with either a 14' or 16' sidewall addition on the back. The first part being about 3500 sq/ft, the addition being 10,000 sq/ft. The bulk of the first part will be converted to office/showroom, the addition will be all shop. Up is cheaper than out, but I'm also considering the resale for commercial property, (the only reason I'd add a dock).

[Rob Damon]

I went with a 10' ceiling. Because of the double top plate on the stud wall, the actual floor to bearing of joist is 10'-1-1/2", so I can store 10' boards, pipes, conduits easily.

I am going to leave a 2' x10' space on the center of one end of the shop ceiling open, so I can stack any boards taller than 10' having them extend into the roof rafters (insulation on the underside of roof deck, not at bottom of joist.) This means I can place boards up to 13' easily at that point where the peak of the roof is.

I feel pretty comfortable working off a ladder for the ten ceiling, but trying to close in the ceiling at 12' would have been nerve racking. Even at 10' I have opted for a scaffolding to do much of my work in insulating inbetween the rafters.

But if you hire a contractor to do all the ceiling work, then go with what you can afford. The only thing I would be curious about is if you would have to beef up the wall because of the 12' height.

Maybe just get a contractor to give a price for both a 10' and a 12' ceiling and see if the price difference is worth it to you.

Rob

[Wayne Cannon]

My shop has 10' ceilings and have never wished for anything higher.

I store sheet goods vertically, lumber horizontally, and have overhead garage doors and a heat pump hanging below the 10' ceiling (the heat pump is a little out of the main traffic area). I have occasionally hit the garage door rails while swinging a 16' board that got a bit too vertical, but it's never been too low for anything else I do.

[Matt Ocel]

The only thing I would be curious about is if you would have to beef up the wall because of the 12' height.

Excellent Point Rob -
Typically when a wall is over 10', That is the trigger point at which a Building Official may call for engineering.

[Steve Jenkins]

I have 12' walls with open trusses so at the center it is more like 17'. I store all my lumber on end and I mounted 3 60" ceiling fans down the center which I leave on low speed all the time. I really like the openess it gives me.

[Luther Oswalt]

My shop ceiling is 12' and I am glad it is ... I had planned to do some automobile work (hobby only) in the shop with a bit of woodwork. As things happened the auto work has all but stopped and I find myself more into DIY for the house than anything else. The ceiling height was orginally established by the car lift .... now if I were going to start over I would look at 16 ft ceilings because the car lift, I would want it to lift a foot higher plus working height of car at least! If I was going to ony do minor auto, major home owner and woodworking activities I would reccommend the 12' .... but it depends on what type projects you are planning to do and the volume of the largest projects. Any way that's my $0.02!
Leo

[Rob Russell]

My basement shop has 6'3" clearance to the joists in most places, and I'm 6'2". Talk about a nightmare, I'm just dreaming about not hitting my head for now...

LOL, I'll quit whining about my 6'6" clearance ...

[Chris Padilla]

Personally, I'd go with 11' or 13' ceilings...just because....

[Duane McGuire]

I split the difference and went with 11' The shop is framed with 2x6. The cutoffs from the 12' stock worked well for needed blocking. I would have gone with 12', but didn't want the shop to "over-power" the house.

[james roccasano]

I would go with 12' if you are doing radiant heat in the floor.

I currently work in a 7'2" garage so anything where I could stand a sheet of plywood up would be great.

Jim

[Don Bullock]

Excellent Point Rob -
Typically when a wall is over 10', That is the trigger point at which a Building Official may call for engineering.

My new building with 8' ceiling required a detailed engineering plan showing all load calculations.

As to the OP question -- I've never had a shop with a ceiling taller than 8'. Cost and building codes kept me from going higher with my new shop/garage. Before you decide what you "must have" you might want to check what your building code allows for the place the building will be built. Also while you're contemplating your ideal shop get some estimates for the differences in cost for the heights you're considering.

[Tim Anderson]

I originally wanted 12' walls in my shop but decided on 10' due to asthetics. 10' has worked well and the money I saved on height and doors funded other wants.

Tim

[Anthony Watson]

I built 8' walls on a 2' concrete perimeter foundation. Subtract 6" for the concrete slab and that leaves me 9-1/2' of headroom in my garage shop. I can stand 8' lumber vertically, and even flip plywood sheets diagonally without hitting the ceiling. For the rare times I have longer boards, I simply store them horizontally, or cut into shorter lengths.

8' walls were cheaper to build, easier to insulate, and I didn't have to install fireblocking or other reinforcing in the framing. And the lower ceilings make the space easier to heat.

One possibility if you need to stand longer lumber vertically, is to keep a lower ceiling in most of the shop, with a raised opening where tall lumber can extend up into the attic space. That would keep your construction and heating costs down, while providing tall vertical storage.

Anthony