nirion

I just signed the contract and put a deposit on a 30x40x12 shop for the 4 acres my wife and I bought. It will be the only thing on thing on the land until she graduates nursing school and we build a house. It will have 4" reinforced concrete and a 16x9 garage door.

I will post pictures once the building starts.

My questions are
1) Any suggestions on things I should do before/as it is being build to improve usability?
2) Suggestions on a lift (this won't come for a while, but I would like to start looking)?
3) Suggestions on heating it once I get power to it? I won't heat it now, but once we build I would like to keep it around 40 degrees or so.

Thanks guys, I know some people on here have really nice shops now and will lots of good ideas.

cmac

just a suggestion but why not put an in-floor heating system in it. i'm pretty sure that is all my father-in-law uses in his and it works great. it's pretty nice to be able to lay on a warm floor too......

tmleadr03

Radiant heat is a good thing, if your going to make this property home then you might want to look at geothermal heating
.

Here is a page to research lifts. Probably should look at getting at least 10k lbs lift if you want to feel safe under it with your truck.

Other then that, I am jealous of you. I cant wait to get my own place build a house and a garage to work in.

BBWD

If it is going to be the only thing on the property for a while, a good alarm system and big loud, B_A_D dog would be my first improvement.

John (DH)

patdaly

Second the in-floor heat. I did not and wish I would have at least put the Pex tubing in...........

Oh yea, if you have a 2 post lift, 4" of Concrete isn't nearly enough. Figure out where your lift will be and install a couple of piers under the 4".

berner

I'll second this. Get the tubing layed in the floor when they pour it even if you don't heat it right away. A neighbor had this heating system. He kept his at 70F for about $1/day.

Oh yeah, 2X6 walls and 10' high door. You might want to consider two 9 ft doors instead of the 16. Less heat loss and easier to drive in straight.

Clayten

I have 11 ' high doors on my shop. I can't put truck and camper in the shop.

Troutstrannysvc

I third infloor heat.

Secondly tho, might want higher ceilings if you're going w/ a lift..

nirion

Sounds like this in floor heating is the way to go. Does anyone have links or company names of good ones to get?
I've heard that the geothermal is really expensive, but I will take a look at it too. The price might be justifiable since it will work for the house as well.

Thanks for the link to the lifts.

As far as the door, I got such a deal on it, I couldn't pass it up. I originally wanted 2 10' doors, but sometimes a deal is too good.

And patdaly, sorry to sound stupid, but what do you mean by the piers under the concrete where the lift will eventually go?

I just heard from the contractor, the lumber package should be here next Friday and they will be able to start soon after (I imagine right after Christmas).

tmleadr03

Geothermal has the potential of decreasing your heating and cooling costs up to 60% a month. Its one of the expensive up front but worth it if your going to be there for a while.
Concrete is very brittle and if you place too much weight on one point of it it will crack and not support the weight. A lift concentrates all the weight of the vehicle on two points (generally, 4 point lifts are more expensive) so if you only have a thin layer of concrete you will need pilers to help spread the weight of the lift/truck.

Still very jealous...


So when is the grand opening party going to be ;-)

tmleadr03

Also wanted to add that if you use geothermal you can get a tax break in many states for going green.

Raspy

Radiant heat is a great idea. It can be very simple or very complicated. Here are a few of the basics:

Be sure to roll out your radiant tubing before the pour. Get the slab done and then you can have a breather to decide on the heat source.

Use Barrier 1/2 inch PEX tubing.

Pressurize the system before the pour and leave it on till the pour is done.

Have repair kit ready if you break the tube. Copper crimp rings with brass inserts are readily available and work well.

Limit each loop to 300' max length, 200' is better.

Try to limit the time the tubing is exposed to the sun. So don't roll it out and then leave it for a couple of months before the pour. Cover the exposed tube at the manifold until the roof is on.

Tie directly to the rebar with rebar ties. So, space the rebar at 9" or 12" depending on your area. Extra cold 9" but 12" will be fine for most systems. Space the tube at 6" near the big door for a few loops. Run the tube in straight lines, back and forth across the area with the hot supply running to the coldest areas, hot to the door instead of the middle of the room

Use a good manifold like Zurn that will give you the chance to have different thermostats as well.

Remember, a zone is a thermostat controlled area. A loop is a length of tubing in a thermostat zone. So a zone might have two or even five loops. Plan your zones for future use. Some areas might be storage, maybe a small apartment will be in one area. Etc.

Pick the most practical heat source. Anything from a domestic gas water heater devoted to that purpose to a boiler and on to a ground heat sourse heat pump. A tankless water heater is probably a bad idea. If it will just be a sometimes used area and cost is a factor, the water heater may be good. Even a heat exchanger system from the house water heater works well for small areas. Then you can have hot water and radiant from one appliance.

Design your heat source for about 25 BTU per sq. foot. If it ends up with only one thermostat you can go up to 50 BTU or so for good response. Max delivery temp does not need to be higher than about 120*

The radiant water will be a closed loop. Separate from the domestic water system.



Feel free to PM me if you have any further questions or if you want me to expand on these points.

I'm getting started on a 48 X 60 with a 12 foot extended overhang on one side that will be our new home and garage. The steel arrived a few weeks ago and we'll start the slab this next Spring. Very excited.


John

Deezel Nate

4" slab isn't too thin?

I am used to 6" min. I have a slab outside to do work on rigs, it's 4" and it's all busted up just from the weight of the trucks. The 6" slab in my garage is doing just fine. (both poured at the same time best I can tell)

berner

My 4" slab seems to be holding up. It's thickened around the outside to about 8-10" where the building sits on it. They really compacted the base gravel before they poured. The concrete contractor hauled in 11 yds of base for a 26x28 slab. I've been parking on it for over a year. No cracks except for where they sawcut it, which is supposed to happen.

Great post Raspy. I've heard up here in Canada, we can't use a hot water heater anymore. Has to be a boiler. Nirion, better check your local building codes.

Hvytrkmech

You got a great deal on these doors because they are 9'. It is easy for me to spend your money, however, it won't be long before you wish you had 10' doors. I have 10' doors on my personal garage and wish they were wider. Just wait until you put a dually inside.

Good luck with the build,

Tim