# Building new shop



## SawdustAddiction (Nov 29, 2008)

I plan on moving my shop into a larger out building this year. I have enough room for a 30' x 40' building. My question is pole barn or stick built? any help on pros and cons and cost of diy accept the foundation which I would hire help for. any help will be greatly appreciated


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## Geoguy (Feb 22, 2008)

Sawdust,
Pole barns can be built fairly cheap but they're not (usually) easily heated/insulated or sealed. Depends on what part of the country your in and what you want your shop environment to be like. I've seen photos of some beautiful shops that are nicer than my house (nice wall coverings, computer rooms, TVs, etc.).

If you're pretty handy you can build your own stick built shop sorta cheap (although, a 30'X40' won't be too cheap, even if you build it all yourself) and "sorta cheap" is a relative term depending on how fat your wallet is. If you check my photo albums, I have photos of a shop (24'X28' stickbuilt) I built myself about eight years ago that I only had about $11K in materials - but that was eight years ago! I also, dug the footing by myself with a shovel, poured the concrete, framed it, wired it, and finished it myself (I paid someone to brick it to meet homeowner association requirements- I probably could learn to lay bricks but was affraid of what it might look like while I was learning:laughing

I, personally like the stick built shop because it can be air-tight and easily heated. Although, my Dad has a fantastic 30'X40' metal building with a concrete floor that he loves (he doesn't mind wearing a pair of coveralls while he works in the winter).

I'm sure my friend, Smitty, will chime in with some advice - he built a fantastic stick-built shop last year.


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## bradleywellsoff (Nov 27, 2008)

Im going thru the same thing. I did some resarch and found that a steel building kit is about the cheapest thing you can do if your in a hurry. Im not in a hurry, so Im going with a timber frame kit. If your only doin one floor, And doing it your self, I would say stick frame. Like Geoguy said, pole buildings are a little harder to insulate.

Good luck with your build, Brad


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## bradnailer (Nov 11, 2008)

When I built my shop, I contracted the slab, framing and roof. My wife and I did everything else, sheathing, windows, doors, siding, soffits, facia and insulation. We still have to drywall the inside.


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## AZ Termite (Dec 20, 2008)

I just built a new shop last year. It is 20'x35' stick frame. It has 2"x6" walls, 100AMP electric service, a double or single gang box on every other stud, 9 220v outlets,insulated, drywall, insulated garage door,and a widow air conditioner. All together I have just under $13,000.00 in materials. I got friends and family to come and help pour the concrete. I framed it myself with some help standing the walls from LOML and the neighbors. I used to frame houses so this was the only option for me, as I was getting the itch to do some framing. When I was pricing which way to go it was cheaper to stick frame than buy a metal building. The quotes I got on the metal were around $12,500, and I did the whole thing for a couple hundred over that. I would do it all over again in a New York second.


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## Kenbo (Sep 16, 2008)

I built my shop last April (I know that I haven't posted any photos yet but I will) The largest that the city would allow me to build was 12' X 24'. It's a little tight, but with some organization, it is quite comfortable, even for cutting and working with sheet goods. I excavated and poured the concrete myself and framed it myself (lumber framing). Fully insulated for fire and sound, finished walls inside and vinyl siding on the outside. I am quited pleased with it for a total cost of about $7000.00. (Canadian funds. So about $6.47 American :laughing
Ken


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## AZ Termite (Dec 20, 2008)

I forgot to add that there are photos under my photos. They are listed under New Shop. Check them out.


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## windstorm (Dec 21, 2008)

Sawdust,

I built an outbuilding last fall (initially intended as a garden shed & then became a place to store lumber & will soon become an office) that is 7'X11' (obviously too small for a workshop which is now in my 10'X20' garage), but it's a simple 2"X4" stick frame with 2"X8"rafters, a concrete slab floor, asphalt shingle roof, double french doors, two windows, cedar shake exterior & all cedar lap interior (with R30 insulation for the walls & 1" styrofoam insulation for the ceiling), two 120-volt duplex outlets, interior dome lighting, trim paint -- all for under $10K in materials. If my city engineer would have allowed me to double the size of the building (as a workshop), it probably would have cost around $15K. The doors & windows alone were over 1/3 of the cost of the project and running electric from the house was maybe $1,200. Labor on this shed in my neighborhood would have been around $4K. I hope this gives you a reference.


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## Conner (Sep 14, 2008)

I built my "garage" about a year ago and it is stick built. It is 704 square feet, with a 24'x24' main part and a 16'x8' deep bump-out on the back. It cost around $25k in total and I got quotes for twice that to have it built by a contractor. I subcontracted out the block foundation and slab, which cost about $12k and the electical ($3k). All of the lumber, trusses, and siding came from 84 lumber for about $6k including two garage doors, and the insulation, shingles, drywall, four windows and door rounded out the total price at around $4,000. With my dad's help we framed, sided, shingled, insulated, drywalled, finished, and painted the building ourselves. I've got plenty of outlets, lots of good light, and electric baseboard heaters (which make a huge difference in the winter!). I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.


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## Rich Aldrich (Apr 26, 2008)

I built my shop pole building style. If I did it again, I would build a normal foundation with a rat wall, normal stud walls with 9' to 10" ceiling. The rest would be like a pole building. 

I put a lot of extra wood in the walls to get studs a a 16" centers.

I would also go with in floor heat and possibly cathedral ceilings.

Did I mention that I would go with 9' to 10' ceilings? It really makes handling sheets of plywood easier on the ceiling and corners of the plywood.


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## SawdustAddiction (Nov 29, 2008)

Conner said:


> I built my "garage" about a year ago and it is stick built. It is 704 square feet, with a 24'x24' main part and a 16'x8' deep bump-out on the back. It cost around $25k in total and I got quotes for twice that to have it built by a contractor. I subcontracted out the block foundation and slab, which cost about $12k and the electical ($3k). All of the lumber, trusses, and siding came from 84 lumber for about $6k including two garage doors, and the insulation, shingles, drywall, four windows and door rounded out the total price at around $4,000. With my dad's help we framed, sided, shingled, insulated, drywalled, finished, and painted the building ourselves. I've got plenty of outlets, lots of good light, and electric baseboard heaters (which make a huge difference in the winter!). I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.


Thanks for the info, but I have 2 questions. First, how tall are your walls? Second, do you have any attic space, more then just crawling space? I was thinking about having trusses made with some standing room in the attic.


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## SawdustAddiction (Nov 29, 2008)

I want to thank everybody who replied so far for your time and helpful information. I have experience in construction so I plan on doing most of the work myself, however when it comes to calculating cost thats another story. I can write down everything I think I'm going to need and it never fails there is always somthing I forget. I guess it's a good thing I don't write estimates for a living.:laughing: Once I start construction I plan on taking lots of pictures and will share with everybody. Thanks again for everyones help and anybody else that replies after this.


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## smitty1967 (Feb 24, 2008)

With the cost of demolition, removal and site prep, renting dumpsters, hiring bobcats and tandems of torp, 33 yards of ready-mix, stick building 2x4 framing, 25 year fiberglass shingles, .042 vinyl, new 200 amp service and remote feeding the house from the shop panel, insulating _everything_, double pane windows, built-in A/C and baseboard heat, I have right at about 20K in mine. The size is 28x30.

I, too, would do it all over again in a Texas second. There is nothing-I mean *nothing!*- like having your own dedicated space, and each tool having its own dedicated workspace. I did it in a one-car garage for twelve years, so now I'm somewhat spoiled!

Sawdust: Best wishes when the construction season comes over you, and keep up posted with pics and regular updates. My thread here http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f2/new-work-shop-begins-3499/ seemed to be pretty popular as well as helpful, from what I was told.....maybe I'll check your progress and wish I'd have done a few things differently. 

regards,
smitty


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## terrysumner (Oct 5, 2008)

*Here's a link to my stick built garage/shop*

I'm new here, but you may be interested in my shop. Built the entire thing myself with the help mainly of my son and occasioanl help from some other friends. Here's the link to all the photos on my Fotki site...

http://public.fotki.com/tsumner/woodworking-1/

Hope this helps!
Terry


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## Tom Clark NM (Jun 21, 2008)

When I retired a few years ago we moved to the country onto a five acre lot, so there was room for nearly anything. After years of never having enough room, those days were over. 

I went with a steel building for a couple of reasons - the main one being that everything had to be as maintenance free as possible. I wanted to spend my time working in the the shop, not on it.

The shop is now 10 years old and I have never regreted the decision.

The building is 40x60x10' high. See the shop tour under my photos.


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## Conner (Sep 14, 2008)

SawdustAddiction said:


> Thanks for the info, but I have 2 questions. First, how tall are your walls? Second, do you have any attic space, more then just crawling space? I was thinking about having trusses made with some standing room in the attic.


Walls in my shop are about 9' total. The block foundation comes above the slab about one and a half courses (code required the wood sill plate be above grade at least 8") and the frame walls are 8' on top of the block. I highly recommend walls taller than 8' if you can swing it. 
And mine does not have attic space. The roof pitch is 4/12 to match my house, so not enough head room up there for anything and the trusses are just conventional scissors trusses.


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## ricaroofers (Feb 13, 2010)

A stick built should be more costly than the pole barns. The pole barn is cheaper so you should consider that in building your barn. Also you have to consider its durability and the way they should be built. Roofers


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## freedhardwoods (Sep 7, 2008)

I think some of you may have an out of date idea of pole barns. Because this may sound like a sales pitch, I intentionally left out their name.

I work for a very large ($100 million in sales last year) pole building manufacturer. They will build exactly what you want, whether it's an uninsulated shed or a very tight, well insulated, easy to heat shop that you can work in a t-shirt when it is below zero outside. They manufacture their own metal, trim, trusses (up to 100') and laminated poles. They have 3 styles of metal roofing and siding that can be made from 3 different metal thicknesses and will make *any* kind of trim you want. Besides the many types of stock trim they have, you can draw them a diagram of what you want and they will make it. They will also sell you a stick built building package, but few people order them. They have in stock every component you might need to build either style. They also have Decra shingles. They look like regular shingles, but are made out of steel with a much longer lifespan than regular shingles.

We deliver building packages and materials to dealers and job sites in most of the states east of the Rockies and Canada also. In just the last 2 weeks I have been from upstate New York to Texas to South Carolina, and many other states in between delivering materials.


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## garryswf (Aug 17, 2009)

bradnailer said:


> When I built my shop, I contracted the slab, framing and roof. My wife and I did everything else, sheathing, windows, doors, siding, soffits, facia and insulation. We still have to drywall the inside.


 
Sawdust addtction,
This suggestion makes the most sense, 30x40 is a big undertaking. Haveing it framed and shingled puts you ahead of the game. But if you are the type of person that can do the job from start to finish and you enjoy that type of work then i say good for you.
My old shop was a 24x40 pole structure, poured floor in the shop area with treated wood floor in two rooms that i framed for lumber starage and also a place to keep all my hunting gear. The exterior walls of the pole building had 2x4s two ft. OC which made the walls flush because of the 4x4 poles i used when i constructed the initial building. There was also a 10x30 shed roof on the back side that allowed for extra storage.


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

SawdustAddiction said:


> Thanks for the info, but I have 2 questions. First, how tall are your walls? Second, do you have any attic space, more then just crawling space? I was thinking about having trusses made with some standing room in the attic.


On a dollar per square foot basis second floor space is about as cheap as you can get. So, if you have the room, and code allows, add space upstairs. Whether it is a full blown room, or simply a large crawl space, used for storage, you won't regret the additional cost.

Gerry


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