Woodworking Shop

[lacapic]

I need to build myself a shop. The tools are getting bigger and heavier. Do any of you have steel arched shops? I believe it's possible to get one of these in DIY kit form. It would be quick to install but I worry about leaks and rust. Any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

[Dave Shepard]

I helped put up a couple of Wedgcor (sp?) steel buildings. It takes some time, and some equipment doesn't hurt either. None of the buildings have leaked or rusted. The ones I helped on were late 90's, and one that was already there must be 25 years old now.


Dave

[Ironwood]

If you are talking about the ones that look like drainage pipes, stay away! I have a friend that bought one, HOW WOULD you ever roof it if it needed one?  For what you'de spend you would be better off w/ one of the truss arch tent style buildings, reroofing? Just order a new skin in 20 years. IMHO,  Also, what about preventing condensation? The truss arch folks have this covered with a special insulation.

Ironwood

[Dave Shepard]

The buildings I am talking about are standard steel structural frame with corrugated sheets for siding and roofing.


Dave

[getoverit]

I have looked into this type of building and you are right that they are fairly inexpensive. There are a couple of problems that come with it though. The first is that insulating one of them so that you can work in hot or cold weather is VERY expensive and difficult. Everybody tells me that the only type of insulation that wont allow the metal to "sweat" is the blown on foam, which will cost you more than the building. The second is that the metal wont last forever, especially if it is galvanized metal.

[lacapic]

Yes Dave you are correct about the design. Vertical 8 ft. walls and an arch on top. About 14 ft high. Assembled on the ground, lifted and bolted together. Surely there is some way (other than foam) to insulate them. The manufacturers must have received countless comments on this issue and solved it by now. Do you guys all have shops made out of wood? Is there not one steel shop? I need confirmation of this and that will tell me plenty!!

[Dodgy Loner]

The shop I'm currently using is at my dad's place.  It's a steel-frame building, but it has a truss roof, not an arched roof.  We're very pleased with it.  Framing out the interior was a bit of a pain.  The shop I'm working on at my place is wood frame, though.

[Ironwood]

HEY, I love steel. Wood is good, but steel is GOOD too. You just need to address the appropriate issues.

IRonwood

[Dave Shepard]

When I said corrugated, what I really should have said was standing seam. It is just standard metal sheet roofing. The roof pitch is straight, not arched. The insulation is in big 4' or 8' wide bats, can't remember which. Don't know anything about the curved buildings. I have seen people use sections of old grain bins for buildings, don't know how much of a pain it is to insulate them.

Wedgcor

If I was going to put up a steel building, I would definately consider this company.


Dave

[Handy Andy]

  I like a steel frame building, bought one a few years ago from worldwide building sales.  It is welded up at Peculiar MO.  It has zig zag trusses, but seems pretty strong.  When I was shopping, the buildings built in the north are heavier and more expensive than the southern buildings,  snow load. So price depends on where you live.  And steel is expensive right now.  The steel buildings are not an easy erector set,  harder to build than it looks. Especially that blanket type insulation.  Real pain to put on and then put the tin over.  But the blanket insulation is pretty inexpensive though, compared to other types.   Those arch buildings are just cheap enclosures, don't have a lot of strength, as they have just sheetmetal to support them.  The way they anchor down, with concrete poured in a metal trough turns me off.  Looks like the trough would just rust out, and there goes your building.  Jim

[lacapic]

Yes, I'm loosing my interest. Quite by accident, I met an engineer and talked to him about using a steel building that had been in the field for 10 years as a woodworking shop. He said I was buying trouble. Secondly, while I was driving around, I saw many steel buildings in the area that were rusting. Now I have to build up the courage to tell the seller I changed my mind. I don't like doing that! I also started calculating the price of a wooden structure. I can build a wooden structure relatively cheap compared to the steel building. I see the potential for a sawmill in the future (I just have to convince the wife!) I have been looking on the net for ideas for a sturcture. I can't find many. Do you guys have any idea for plans for a structure? I don't mean the layout, I mean the structure itself.

[beenthere]

After you witnessed all the rusted steel buildings, seems getting the courage to tell the seller you've changed your mind wouldn't be so difficult. It's your money. 

What's the climate where you are at? Near the ocean? 

[lacapic]

Yes, only a couple of miles from the ocean. The steel building I was thinking of buying had been damaged during shipping and the guy wanted a new building not the damaged one. The trucking company was going to be stuck with the damaged building so they sold it to this other guy for a song. He runs a welding shop and he thought he would use it as an extension to his shop but he never used it. The building would probably be good for someone, even for storage. We are selling our house (4 days on the market and we accepted an offer!) but now I'm going to lose my shop and just when I bought all kinds of tools to upgrade (Woodmaster 718!) and other nice tools. The steel building would not look nice on our new property and then there's the rust factor. So that's the story. I have to build a new house and a new shop. That's why I'm looking at options for a woodworking structure. Maybe it's unfair to ask you guys for input because there are so many variables involved. I'm surprised I can't find pics of shops on the web. Come on you guys, it's time to show off!!!

[Handy Andy]

  If I were going to build a new woodworking shop, I would pour a stem wall and make the shop twice the size I thought I was going to need.  Mine is 26 x 50 and it is not wide enough.  So would probably go 36 wide, as you could do that with 20' 2x lumber.  Then I would build the walls 9' tall, so I had plenty of height, and frame the walls with 2x 6 on 16" centers.  I would put plenty of windows on the south side, so you have lots of natural light.  And I would run the building longways east and west so I had lots of south facing windows.  If you have lots of money, I'd frame the floor from lumber and floor it with boards.  And I'd support the joists in the center so they could handle the weight of my machines.  Need any more?  Jim

[lacapic]

I'll be using many of your ideas. The way the lot is shaped, I'll be able to orient the building east and west and have a long southern wall. On the south and west I would like windows, especially west because I'll have a view of the lake. The lot slopes so I'm thinking I'll build a basement with concrete blocks. In the basement I'll put a wood furnace and connect it to the oil furnace in the house. Also in the basement I  would like to have a place to dry wood since the wood furnace will be right there and "free heat". I could put the 4 wheeler and lawn mower, wood splitter in the basement. Upstair would be the shop. I was thinking of 9 foot high ceilings but it means 10 foot long studs (waste). So what I would do is build an open ceiling on the south western end and do my assembling there. As for size, I haven't decided yet. This building will be close to the house so I don't want to take away from the look of the house and the lot is narrow and since we are building a house, the budget is limited. I would like to go long and narrow since I may do plenty of milling (Woodmaster 718!). I was thinking 24-26 X 36.  Yes it will be small according to some but what an improvement over what I have. It would be great to be able to build the shop before we start on the house. Anyway, thanks for showing an interest and your input.

[Dodgy Loner]

Why would 9' ceilings mean 10' studs?  9' studs are cheaper.

[lacapic]

You can't find/buy 9 foot studs around here so we have to buy 10 foot studs and that means wasting a foot. Crazy heh!

[Dan_Shade]

make it 10' tall then, which is even better

[Dodgy Loner]

No 9' studs?  Wow, where do you live?

[lacapic]

I live in Nova Scotia. With all the houses being built and houses with 9 foot ceilings, you would think someone would clue in on the need to cut 9 foot studs. You know what would be really great is if I could justify buying a portable sawmill to build my house and woodworking building. But again, around here, they are starting to frown on building with lumber that is not inspected. !0 foot walls? What would it look like next to the house? I have visions of a warehouse! The wife would not be impressed.

[Dan_Shade]

just do it without telling her  :D  besides, what difference is a little old foot?  gotta push the sale.


it's always easier to beg forgiveness than to get permission.  (so says the bachelor)

[Dodgy Loner]

I think you definitely have just cause for buying a sawmill ;).  As long as "frowning upon" building with uninspected lumber is not the same as "writing and enforcing building codes" that prohibit it...

[lacapic]

A friend of mine just finished building his retirement home and he used wood he had milled. He cut his logs and hired a mill to come in and saw. He said he saved 50% of the cost of his lumber. I believe our region is one of the last to allow non inspected lumber, at least for now, to be used in the construction of a home. At the same time, lumber in the area is at an all time low because British Columbia is trying to process as much wood as possible to keep ahead of some sort of beetle infestation. It's a perfect time to build, at least for the cost of lumber. Lumber is cheap, but a mill would be nice. I have a cousin who logs for a living and he could keep me supplied with prime logs especially if I lend him my wood splitter and mill some wood for him with my Woodmaster 718. I'm now retired and it's fantastic to be able to move some of my dreams into reality. I'm really too busy finishing this house, which is apparently already sold, to really put all my attention on the new house and shop. Life is throwing me all kinds of curves but it's fantastic. With time, everything will hopefully fall into place.

[WDH]

Definitely go with 10 foot ceilings.  If you handle plywood, the 10 height is great.  On my shop, I used treated 3/4" exterior grade plywood over 2x10 joists for my floors.  Strong, solid, will not rot, and good on the feet.  Pretty easy to do, too.  Don't forget some shed space either.  You could easily add a shed roof on each side if you make go with the 10 foot finished height inside.

[lacapic]

Yeah maybe you guys are right about the extra height. At the same time, I wonder if you understood that I originally meant to leave a part of my ceiling exposed and that I was going to do my assembling in that area? This means no 8 foot ceiling at one of the gable ends. That would give me plenty of height for assembling. How do you guys heat your shop? Do you have a separate electrical entrance just for the shop?