Dream Shop/Barn thoughts and feedback

[iosborne]

Curious what others have as their shop and seeking some input on my dream shop build.  
What is the footprint and structure? Is it one story or two or some combination? Is your shop insulated? Does it have interior posts or open floor plan?  Is it for your personal use or for business/commercial use? Foundation?

I currently have an uninsulated 24x24 garage with an open air shed roof off the right eave side that is about 13 wide by 32 long.  Thinking of adding off the back gable side of the garage. Simplest/cheapest would be pole barn style about 30x40 making an L. Pier footers and slab with posts bracketed to slab. Would have to tie in with valleys. 

Other options- stand alone barn.  30x40 timber frame on continuous frost protected foundation. I know this could be done with open floor plan like Chappell's workshop plans but a little leery of that.  More likely to add interior posts and have second floor studio space.  With 2 stories could also attach to garage, but come in with the barn eave above the roof peak of the garage, eliminating the valleys.  

3rd option would be a hybrid approach. I am really curious about building a straw structural insulated panel system combined with minimal timber frame (Like Croft and Haystack if you're familiar).  Anyway, appreciate any feedback. I know most things come down to budget so if you're comfortable sharing any budget numbers too that would be very helpful.  

[doc henderson]

My shop mimics the house.  it is 34 x 84.  the first 34 feet is over a slab and designated for dirty greasy mechanical welding stuff.  the 34 x 50 area has a full basement so ongoing mechanical and electrical stuff can happen in the basement.  It is boiler heated with pex in the slab including over the basement with 1.5-inch fiber re-enforced concrete over the floor.  the area above the basement is the woodshop.  It has 12-foot sidewalls and scissor trusses with 4 skylights in the woodshop.  the car shop area has 14-foot sidewall as it is on a slab.  two steps up to the woodshop due to the trussed floor.

[iosborne]

Doc, that sounds like a pleasure to work in. The skylights are the icing on the cake. I definitely need to add some more windows to mine. I was also thinking of adding a lean-to greenhouse on one side that could be seed starting and possibly a solar kiln.  

[aigheadish]

I built a shop on the back of my house, which had a weird roofed area but dirt ground underneath. It was probably intended to be a sunroom or something that never happened. I had concrete put down in a foot print of about 23x14 or so, then framed it in myself. It's much better than the 10x16 or so offshoot of my garage that was my shop space, but I immediately found it too small, when I couldn't run an 8 or 10 foot long board through the table saw without arranging it such that my saw pointed straight out the man door and the big front doors. I've rearranged the shop, tools, and benches 3 or 4 times and I've got it so it works well enough, but it'd be great to double the space. A two car garage size, for me, would be lovely. I spent in the neighborhood of 8k, so not much, but it's a lovely place to hang out and get some stuff done occasionally. My budget was almost non-existent.

We also built a pole barn a few years back and I thought of building a shop space on the front of that but figured if I had to put shoes on and go across the yard I probably wouldn't use the shop as much. As it stands now I spend a lot of time in the shop screwing around or just staring at the back yard. I love it.

[doc henderson]

My shop is 50 feet across the drive.  my friends drop by and check the shop first, assuming my truck is in the drive.

[tule peak timber]

There is no dream shop as time changes everything and the shop should evolve with time. I started with 2 saw horses and an 18 inch chainsaw sitting in the dirt and then added a container, and then another. That was 19 years ago. 
 You might want to look at what power you have readily available, waste stream management, and raw material sourcing, and where your dream is headed (product) as part of your general planning. Good luck with lots of good information here.   

[aigheadish]

My shop is on the back of the house just on the side of the garage, typically I have the garage door open along with the big shop doors, for the breeze but I can also hear anyone in the gravel driveway. Luckily, we don't get many pop-ins.

[Tom K]

I have to agree with the Wizard here, it also will depend on what you plan on doing in the shop and what type of project you build.

I built a 32'x44' shop a couple years ago, I would have went bigger had I had a little more more. This is strickle a wood working shop, I have other buildings for equipment storage and repair. The wood shop has a full foundation, heated floor, stick framed & insulated 2x6 walls with a 12' ceiling.

Your price range is going to vary a lot depending on size, style, and labor. I had around $35/sf into mine but that was 3 years ago and I did 100% of the work myself. You could probably have a range from $10/sf up to $150/sf depending on what you do.

I would insist on a separate building for multiple reasons, mainly cleanliness and fire risk. I don't want to be working on gas engines, or welding & torching in my wood shop.

Climate also plays into this as well. HERE, we get 40" of rain a year, and the temperature can range from -15 to 100. You aren't going to work consistently without a building.