How crazy to get building a new shop

[Aleinsteingenius]

I am working on a new 40' x30' shop, getting ready to build a roadster. Yeah, I am the guy who started that whole 4-post lift vs 2-post lift thread. Now I am deciding on what to do the walls in, sheetrock vs ?. Also, I have a nice concrete floor but should I epoxy coat, paint, vinyl roll out floor, Racedeck? For insulation I am leaning toward spray foam. I will also add a 36,000 btu min split and since I have 12.5' ceilings, a large ceiling fan, and LED lights like it's an operating room.

Now my wife says "You should bring your lazyboy recliner in there, and a microwave, and a fridge....you can make it your Man Cave or He Shed!" Do you think she is trying to get rid of me? lol.

How much is too much?

[PMD24]

I'm located in the Rochester area and just built a new shop. To offer a little credibility to my input, I'm a licensed professional engineer with 40+ years experience in HVAC and building envelope design and construction.
> I passed on drywall because of its lower durability in a workshop. One wall where most of my wall hung equipment is, is 1/2" painted plywood. Two walls are a product called Trusscore. It's a 16" wide corrugated PVC board. Mine are mounted vertical. On the third wall, just to break things up a bit, I installed inexpensive flooring boards, mounted horizontally. The ceiling is 36" x 16" metal ceiling panels in bright white. Lighting is LED strips.
> I'm not a fan of spray foam. If using it, in most applications you should be using closed cell. Closed cell foam is very expensive. Use it sparingly in places where it's difficult to effectively insulate with other materials, or in areas where air sealing is a challenge. A good example where foam is a good application is in a home at the band joist. Even there, however, I recommend filling the cavity with a couple of inches of rigid board insulation and then applying the foam over it. This reduces the amount of foam needed, and reduces the risk of pull-back from the foam shrinking, if sprayed too thick in one pass. (a very common problem).
> For the walls I recommend dense pack cellulose. Wet or dry spray is fine. Personal preference is wet. It's way less expensive than foam, has great vapor transport properties, great r-value per inch, etc.
> For the ceiling, blown-in loose cellulose.
> Sounds like you've already poured your slab but if not, radiant heat is really nice. It is expensive though, unless you are doing it all yourself. It's pretty easy to do yourself. A lot of work, but not difficult. I did all of mine by myself.
> Technically a "mini-split" is an air conditioning only device. A unit that does both heating and cooling is a heat pump. A heat pump is an awesome solution, but expensive. I have a geothermal heat pump system for my home, but passed on the heat pump for the shop. No natural gas where I live, so I heat my radiant slab using a propane water heater. I will use a wall mounted AC unit on the few summer days when I want cooling. I'm one of those people who doesn't like air conditioning and prefer to have the windows and doors open. But, on very hot or humid days my window shaker will work fine to keep the shop comfortable.
> I'm also going to install a small heat recovery ventilator (HRV) to bring in fresh air when the shop is closed up during the winter heating season. This winter I noticed that the shop envelope is so tight, there is absolutely no fresh air in the space. HRV's are now required by code in all homes. We have one in our home and it pumps fresh air into the house 24/7 while recovering heat from the equal amount of air being dumped outside.
> My gut says your 36KBTU unit is way bigger than what you will need. I bought the smallest I could find for my shop and it hardly runs.
> On the floor I chose a contractor using an epoxy base with aspartic topcoat, with grit added to the chip. All of the franchise coating operations will push all-aspartic (one day process). Smaller operations will recommend epoxy for the base coat and aspartic over it. It's a two day process. I suggest looking closely at both approaches. Costs will be essentially the same.

Note that you won't need much grit added. These floors with the chip added to create the color on the surface are very rough and not at all slippery, even when wet.

Hope this is helpful.

Pat

[Jeff Kleiner]

How much is too much will be answered by your budget. How is the building constructed?

When I built my shop I put in a bathroom then like yours my wife reminded me that we had a microwave and fridge stored in the attic and started saying things like "you'll never have to come into the house!" Hmmmmmm... :confused:

Jeff

[Papa]

Here are some thoughts for you from someone that has built two shops in the last 15 years.

Walls: My first shop I did drywall (smooth, no texture). They looked great, but for my second build, I used OSB. The OSB allows me to hang stuff anywhere I like and is, in my mind, more practical for a shop than drywall. It doesn't have the same level of "finished" look, but works for me.

Floor: I considered epoxy floors, but ended up with bare concrete in both. Epoxy looks great, but gets very slick with any moisture. You can add grit to epoxy, but I'm not sure how much it helps unless you go really heavy with it.

Lights: I installed six 250w LED UFO lights (35,000 lumen each) and the lighting is great.

Amenities: I put an 8' ceiling fan in my new shop. Be aware that large fans have different mounting requirements than typical ceiling fans, so be sure you understand what those are before you insulate and finish the ceiling. My 36k BTU mini-split is awesome! I used it all winter and the heat worked perfectly. I suspect I'll be trying the AC soon. I also ran RapidAir FastPipe (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F785WJ4?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_ti tle_8) air lines with six hose ports, so I have plenty of compressed air from my 60-gallon air compressor anywhere I need it. I also installed a keyless entry lock on my man door, so I don't have to have a key to get into the shop. I added a mesh Wi-Fi router to provide internet at full speed inside my metal building, which can be a challenge. I put a TV and Amazon Echo in the shop for entertainment along with a mini-fridge. And, of course, I installed a lift to top it all off.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211682&d=1742485038

[PNWTim]

I built my 36 X 50 shop/garage 17 years ago. Agonized over every decision and have thought of the things I like and don't like over that time frame. Things I am glad I did:

I planned a lift so I installed scissor trusses (it is stick built).
Ignored the floor slope requirement and reduced it by 80% so round objects wouldn't roll away when I dropped them.
I put 220v on all four walls
I put 20 amp receptacles every 4' (this has been one of the best decisions)
Keyless manway door and external keypad for garage doors

Things I wish I had done:

Put a mini-split in on day one. I just installed one and keep my garage at 68F - it's very, very nice.
Put a professional coating on the floor (not a rustoleum kit from Home Depot but the commercial application).
Put a bathroom in. I was going to but the permitting was a pain in the *** at the time but I still should've done it.

These are all kind of first world problems but the devil is in the details. Amenities are nice as well. I have a fridge, wall mounted flat screen and a nice stereo and a couple of chairs.

[Aleinsteingenius]

The new shop area will be inside an 80' x 60' uninsulated airplane hangar. It is a corrugated metal building. Basically a pole barn. I am just building two partitions and a ceiling. The building is on a lot with a 5 BR house, and they can't be subdivided so I sold the entire lot to a business I own (with partners), but I get exclusive use of the entire hangar for 15 years for free. That should be enough time. I am 68 years old. I am paying for all the shop improvements, but don't want to go crazy. In 15 years I will turn it over to my business to use. I am a commercial real estate developer, so I have done spray foam insulation, geothermal, etc. Heat pumps can work here on Long Island barely (thanks global warming). I don't need to maintain 72 degrees in the shop. As far as budget goes. There is no real number. I just have to keep in mind I am walking away from the money spent on the shop in 15 years.

[Aleinsteingenius]

212042

[Aleinsteingenius]

Under Things Nobody Said Ever: There are way too many outlets in this shop! There will be 20amp outlets, 220 for the lift, milling machine, surface grinder, big lathe, and welder.

[herb427sc]

Must have in new shop: 1) Mini split for HVAC
2) 13 foot high ceilings (Clearance for lift)
3) OSB for the interior walls (NO drywall)
4) at least 1 10 Foot by 10 Foot door (12 feet wide even better)

[MSumners]

Used the racedeck on my shop flooring and overall would do it again. Keep in mind its not terribly easy to roll things on like a lift and I dont think there is really a flat tile option yet. Agree with radiant heat, love it. Can't have too many outlets. Would have loved a bathroom but a new septic and lines was 40k so opted out initially.