Bought Some Land for a Shop, So......

firefighter ontheside · June 11, 2021, 04:45:54 PM

Yesterday I bought some land across the road from my driveway. This land has been vacant since I can remember, which is about 40 years. A few months ago the guy who owned it approached us and asked if we were interested in buying it. I didn't really want to, but I also didn't want him to sell it to someone who would put some sort of eye sore there, such as one of the mobile homes down the street that has trash everywhere and about 7 broke down cars. We bought the land in a sort of partnership with the next door neighbor. Eventually we will divide the 9 acres and we will each own half. Now that I have it, I think I will plan to build something over there. I don't see me doing a real timber frame, but I'd like to at least use 6x6's off my mill to build the structure. Likely I would do a post frame with truss roof, but I'd like to make it look nice and accentuate the timbers. I built my current garage in a similar fashion, but that was long before I had a sawmill. I bought 6x6 yellow pine and built a carport, which I then closed into a garage. I would appreciate any suggestions along the line of what I'm talking about doing. It could become my woodworking shop/sawmill barn/dry lumber storage area. One of my concerns is security. Where my house is is back in the woods and not visible. This area will be visible and i'm afraid attract those who may do no good.

Don P · June 11, 2021, 08:59:35 PM

What size, LxWxH are you thinking of?

btulloh · June 11, 2021, 09:24:27 PM

50x120x16 sounds about right unless you can go bigger.

samandothers · June 11, 2021, 11:32:20 PM

Congrats on your new property! Now the fun of how to use it!

firefighter ontheside · June 12, 2021, 04:03:19 AM

Quote from: btulloh on June 11, 2021, 09:24:27 PM
50x120x16 sounds about right unless you can go bigger.

The property is about 4.5 acres but I can't put the whole thing under roof. :D

firefighter ontheside · June 12, 2021, 04:12:16 AM

Size is something I have to figure out. I at least need 24x24 for my woodshop area. Another area around 12x24 at least for storing dried lumber would be good. Then I'd also like to be able to park my tractor inside a locked garage area. This is getting to be about 24x48 at a minimum. I'd like to use some trusses to have a small room in the roof. This will probably be years down the road, but I'd like to have a plan so I can start milling and storing some timbers. I will likely clear some space on the land this fall and winter. I'm not going over there right now. The ticks are so terrible right now, I'm just gonna wait for cooler weather.

Don P · June 12, 2021, 09:27:18 AM

If the room is in the truss you more than likely just called out a queenpost truss design. If the room is below the truss, say a tall front room with a 2 story back area a kingpost design would probably serve well. A taller sidewall has advantages, it is easier to build side sheds off of it if you plan those supports during the initial design. I'm thinking you are in 25psf snow load country?

I wish I had built mine with a taller opening, I can poke the bigger toys in but cannot get them all the way inside.

firefighter ontheside · June 12, 2021, 10:01:13 AM

Thanks Don, I think I will likely just go with some manufactured trusses with whatever size bottom chord is required to give me a room upstairs. Snow load for this part of MO is 20lbs. My timber frame elements will just be the walls. My big toy is a 36' fifth wheel that is about 12' tall. I already have that under an 18x41 carport. I can only mill 10' long so I will have 10' tall walls at most. My garage is 8' 6x6 posts spaced 8' apart with 8' 6x6's spanning from post to post. There are braces going out 24" and back to the post at 45 deg, so the span of the 6x6 is no more than 4'. On the outside I filled in the spaces with 2x4 walls and have the posts exposed. I have board and batten on the walls. I think on this building I would just hide the 6x6's on the outside and put metal on the whole thing and then have the posts exposed on the inside with some sort of paneling.

Don P · June 12, 2021, 11:32:02 AM

It is not good practice to count on braces to reduce beam span, check the beam from post to post. However if the wall is studded that post to post distance is whatever the stud spacing is. If the trusses stack over the studs there is no beam span at all, simply a column load.

Take a look at attic trusses. If you have them spring the truss from the outside of the overhang rather than from the wall you will pick up a good deal more room in the upstairs. For residential type loading at that span the bottom chord is probably a machine graded 2x10.

If side sheds might be in the plan for the future think about letting in a horizontal 2x ledger flatways into the studs as you build as a solid continuous connection point.

firefighter ontheside · June 12, 2021, 12:10:31 PM

@Don P I did just see where you mentioned in another post recently about the side stress that is put on on post with the brace. When I built the garage, originally it was a carport, so there was no support other than the beam. As you rightly point out, this building will be built right off the bat as an enclosed building and therefore will have studs probably on 16" centers and then there will be no concern of span. I see what you mean about the trusses giving me more room upstairs. I do intend on having sheds on each side. If I move my mill to this building, thats where it would be.

firefighter ontheside · June 13, 2021, 03:46:27 PM

Today we took a little tour of the property on the Mule. That way I could stay out of the ticks. There are already a few trails that a former neighbor had made into the land to cut firewood. Apparently he had permission from the guy I bought it from. Now that I know the scheister lawyer I bought it from, I have my doubts that he gave permission for that. Either way they are a good starting point for access. One of the paths is not far from my driveway so I can cut my way in and connect to the path. I'll need to put the brushhog on and do a little cutting. That land falls away from the road, but not a steep angle.

aigheadish · June 14, 2021, 10:10:19 AM

Exciting times FFOTS! It'll be neat to watch your progress!

I've got a twin 6 acres on my neighboring northern side that I would love to buy, but I'm not sure if it'll ever happen. The folks that own it live directly behind me and we hadn't met until a few months ago. First words I said to him were "if you ever want to sell that property next to me let me know!" We've talked a bit more during the burial of a horse, for another neighbor, so I may be able to work my way in there. Sadly, I have a feeling it'll be in the realm of the 10k/acre price, but that's just a guess.

firefighter ontheside · June 14, 2021, 03:02:25 PM

Whoa, 10,000 per acre! The guy we bought the land from wanted 10,000 per acre when we started. I showed him that it wasn't worth anywhere near that with comparables. He got 3700 per acre from me and that was still more than its really worth, but the price to keep some yahoo from going in there is priceless.