[txwil]

I've recently had my property cleared and I'm working on making it nice. I'm at the point I need a garage.

I've got a couple small sheds that I'd like to see go, and I've got a tractor, bunch of implements, 20' trailer, and some other stuff sitting outside in the weather.

I'm not sure how large quite yet, I wouldn't mind a 40x40 or 40x60 but I don't really have much to base that on quite yet.

I've got electricity and water close by the location, might be nice to have a bathroom in there.

On the fence if I want to put a lift in one of the bays, might be useful for working on the Jeep and stuff.

I'm looking at Mueller buildings right now, I'm in Central Texas and they make their stuff locally. I haven't made that decision quite yet but they seem to make nice stuff.

Anyone have advice on any other manufactures I should be looking at? Anything I might want to know before I do something stupid?

Thank y'all, always appreciate your thoughts.

 

[MattL]

Best advice is go bigger than you think you'll need. And if you put in a BR- I'd put in a urinal!

 

[workinonit]

Plan the size you want, then double that and add another 1000 sq ft.

 

[workinonit]

And put a lift in it. So it needs to be at least 12' high inside.

 

[dodgeman]

I’d say plan the size. Would wider be better than deeper? Would deeper be better? Do you want heat and/or AC? Do you weld? Floor drains, trench drains or flat floor? How much lighting and outlets? Morton building is another popular metal building supplier. Make sure your floor is thick enough in the area of your lift.

 

[Ritz]

I’d say plan the size. Would wider be better than deeper? Would deeper be better? Do you want heat and/or AC? Do you weld? Floor drains, trench drains or flat floor? How much lighting and outlets? Morton building is another popular metal building supplier. Make sure your floor is thick enough in the area of your lift.

^^This^^

Also, the size and "occupants" of the lift may influence the thickness of the slab your pour. If it will be a workshop in the sense that you're going to primarily work on cars and other machines, a floor drain would be a very nice thing to have indeed. Prefab building is definitely the way to go. Good luck!

Best,

 

[MattL]

While this is less "building" and more utility... One of the things that I saw on GTT regarding a shop build was adding an air line from the shop's aircompressor to the garage on the house - It was ran in conduit, next to the power and water hookups. Having Air in the ship is a given (yes?) but being able to add a "drop" in the house is an expensive luxury, that also keeps the compressor racket in a different building.

Edit: And while we're covering conduit, running an extra empty conduit, and pulling fiber or cat5e/6, through the air/water conduit would be something to include.

 

[MachoDrone]

left loosey, righty tighty

 

[ClydeLogan]

At the very top of the planning list should be looking at the legalities - zoning regulations and building codes for your location here in these United States. Spending time and effort designing the perfect building will be wasted if local laws will not allow you to build it, and if you cannot afford it.

Lots of responses to your questions will be found below. Just scroll down to where it says "Recommended Reading" and start looking at those responses. You aren't the first person to post about this.

 

[Jaws1968]

I've recently had my property cleared and I'm working on making it nice. I'm at the point I need a garage.

I've got a couple small sheds that I'd like to see go, and I've got a tractor, bunch of implements, 20' trailer, and some other stuff sitting outside in the weather.

I'm not sure how large quite yet, I wouldn't mind a 40x40 or 40x60 but I don't really have much to base that on quite yet.

I've got electricity and water close by the location, might be nice to have a bathroom in there.

On the fence if I want to put a lift in one of the bays, might be useful for working on the Jeep and stuff.

I'm looking at Mueller buildings right now, I'm in Central Texas and they make their stuff locally. I haven't made that decision quite yet but they seem to make nice stuff.

Anyone have advice on any other manufactures I should be looking at? Anything I might want to know before I do something stupid?

Thank y'all, always appreciate your thoughts.

I've recently had my property cleared and I'm working on making it nice. I'm at the point I need a garage.

I've got a couple small sheds that I'd like to see go, and I've got a tractor, bunch of implements, 20' trailer, and some other stuff sitting outside in the weather.

I'm not sure how large quite yet, I wouldn't mind a 40x40 or 40x60 but I don't really have much to base that on quite yet.

I've got electricity and water close by the location, might be nice to have a bathroom in there.

On the fence if I want to put a lift in one of the bays, might be useful for working on the Jeep and stuff.

I'm looking at Mueller buildings right now, I'm in Central Texas and they make their stuff locally. I haven't made that decision quite yet but they seem to make nice stuff.

Anyone have advice on any other manufactures I should be looking at? Anything I might want to know before I do something stupid?

Thank y'all, always appreciate your thoughts.

View attachment 791148
Almost complete with my garage project. I did View attachment 791148

 

[CopalisFarmer]

Start pricing out your building and get updates each month. I'm in the same boat and with the price of steel being stupid, I've decided to put my large building on hold. 9 months ago, I could complete the whole 40x60 project in the sub 50k range, now, the building along is $70+k and goes up 10 to 15% a month.

 

[Gizmo2]

At the very top of the planning list should be looking at the legalities - zoning regulations and building codes for your location here in these United States. Spending time and effort designing the perfect building will be wasted if local laws will not allow you to build it, and if you cannot afford it.

Good post, IMO.

 

[txwil]

Best advice is go bigger than you think you'll need. And if you put in a BR- I'd put in a urinal!

Copy loud and clear on the urinal!

Plan the size you want, then double that and add another 1000 sq ft.

This is already pretty large, I don't know how much I can afford!

And put a lift in it. So it needs to be at least 12' high inside.

The lift sure would be nice. I'm not a mechanic or anything, but things do come up. I'm not sure how much that adds but if it's reasonable I'll do it. Doing it later probably won't be feasible.

I’d say plan the size. Would wider be better than deeper? Would deeper be better? Do you want heat and/or AC? Do you weld? Floor drains, trench drains or flat floor? How much lighting and outlets? Morton building is another popular metal building supplier. Make sure your floor is thick enough in the area of your lift.

Definitely some thought still needs to go into this, I'm not sure I'll do AC or heat but I'll probably want to insulate it. It does get hot here.

Good call on Morton, I'll check to see if they've got people here and talk to them too!

^^This^^

Also, the size and "occupants" of the lift may influence the thickness of the slab your pour. If it will be a workshop in the sense that you're going to primarily work on cars and other machines, a floor drain would be a very nice thing to have indeed. Prefab building is definitely the way to go. Good luck!

Best,

Good stuff, I'm no mechanic but things do come up.

While this is less "building" and more utility... One of the things that I saw on GTT regarding a shop build was adding an air line from the shop's aircompressor to the garage on the house - It was ran in conduit, next to the power and water hookups. Having Air in the ship is a given (yes?) but being able to add a "drop" in the house is an expensive luxury, that also keeps the compressor racket in a different building.

Edit: And while we're covering conduit, running an extra empty conduit, and pulling fiber or cat5e/6, through the air/water conduit would be something to include.

Oh this will be pretty far from the house, probably a couple hundred yards at least. Our land here is rock so trenching requires a rock saw. Not that we can't do it, but trenching to the house would be quite the project. That would be pretty awesome though.

left loosey, righty tighty

So that's where I've been going wrong this whole time!

At the very top of the planning list should be looking at the legalities - zoning regulations and building codes for your location here in these United States. Spending time and effort designing the perfect building will be wasted if local laws will not allow you to build it, and if you cannot afford it.

Lots of responses to your questions will be found below. Just scroll down to where it says "Recommended Reading" and start looking at those responses. You aren't the first person to post about this.

We don't have codes out here when it comes to buildings, there are some restrictions when it comes to digging wells and dropping septic but that's about it. Sometimes that's nice, sometimes you see some pretty interesting things! People build houses out of shipping containers and stuff out here... Hey, shipping containers... Hrmm...

View attachment 791148
Almost complete with my garage project. I did View attachment 791148

I don't see anything there, it just takes me to the attachments and implements forum?

Start pricing out your building and get updates each month. I'm in the same boat and with the price of steel being stupid, I've decided to put my large building on hold. 9 months ago, I could complete the whole 40x60 project in the sub 50k range, now, the building along is $70+k and goes up 10 to 15% a month.

This has been keeping me up at night, I'm half wondering if I should just wait till next year. Or the next administration even. That must be pretty frustrating watching numbers going up like that, that's a lot of money!

Good post, IMO.

Thanks y'all, good information. I appreciate each and every one of you and this is really useful making sure I'm headed in the right direction. Hopefully I can make this a reality here in the near future.

 

[Guja0501]

@txwil search for shop/barn builds here, there may be a couple. What works for someone in Florida isn't the best for someone in Montana. That being said, there is a lot of good tips, things to aviod, things you didn't think of, or side projects that you may include.

I'll echo the planning and size aspect. Our shop was already built when we bought the place, but if we were to build one it would be different size and door layout. The electrical and water are OK, but given the chance to do it again, I would make some changes to that as well.

 

[ClydeLogan]

and I've got a tractor, bunch of implements, 20' trailer, and some other stuff sitting outside in the weather.

I'm not sure how large quite yet, I wouldn't mind a 40x40 or 40x60 but I don't really have much to base that on quite yet.

It isn't clear to me whether you plan to put these (tractor, implements, 20' trailer, etc.) in the proposed garage building. If so, do you have an approximate number of square feet of floor space these things will need? Do you plan on shelving to store some of the implements and handle them on and off with forks? And, do you already have another garage structure for any cars and trucks, or will these go in the same new building.

You haven't indicated a budget for the project. The suggestions you will get and have gotten will really start to add up i in cost, sometimes thousands of dollars at a time. Examples are a bahroom facility, leading to a septic field and tank, and a hydraulic lift, requiring a thicker concrete floor than just parking the tractor. Speaking of concrete, you haven't indicated whether you even plan a floor, or are you going with a roof and walls over compacted dirt?

It's a huge plus that you don't have building codes, you can cut a bunch of corners there and save money. If you plan to cover the structure with insurance that might not be a great idea, however. Can you just have a urinal piped through the wall to empty on the ground? Maybe you don't even need a place inside to pee?

 

[coaltrain]

Start pricing out your building and get updates each month. I'm in the same boat and with the price of steel being stupid, I've decided to put my large building on hold. 9 months ago, I could complete the whole 40x60 project in the sub 50k range, now, the building along is $70+k and goes up 10 to 15% a month.

This is the first thing that comes to mind - the crazy price of materials right now. And here is the proof.

 

[dianedebuda]

Can you just have a urinal piped through the wall to empty on the ground?

That'd be a no-no in TX.

 

[Boar]

When I plan my buildings, I look for intent of it and a rough budget based on size and extras. You can quick google search the building size or price out on menards (or similar). Whatever the price is on material, double that to include hiring it out. If the budget isn't there, it's not gonna work. Next zoning, which you said you don't have, so you're good. Concrete thickness, and extras (doors, windows, patio, plumbing, water, drains, insulation, outdoor concrete pad) will significantly add to the costs.

If you are not comfortable with determining any of these, I would consult a company that specializes in these buildings. They will be able to help you make a determination and quote you a price.

I also recommend visiting other people's pole barns - even online, and get ideas of what ya want. People say bigger is better - nope. I think there is a cap. Eventually, I would be big enough to want a separate structure. If anyone has combined animals, a workshop and/or also try to store stuff (like a nice car, or hot rod lawn mower will tell you, dust, smells, and other things contaminate your other areas. I couldn't imagine having animals in or around the workshop. Welding around straw, no thank you.

 

[RandallCK]

I'll chime in on my experiences with having a lift. It's the cheapest extra covered parking you can add. I spent a little over $3k for a 9lb four post lift. My ceiling is 14 feet, so except for my Dodge 4x4, any of my other cars will fit on top, with room for another underneath. The Dodge will fit under it, too. I found myself using it I ways I never thought of. A few fabrication projects, that I could then just pick up with the lift and put on a trailer. I built a couple of 32 foot arched glue lams on a temporary table underneath. Picked them up when done and set them on a flatbed. My lift was not in my original plans, so I cut the slab in the post locations and poured new footings. I debated going with a two post, but a comment that made me decide on the four post was having "two 16 foot work benches". It also makes you put your tools away, since you can't get your car off the lift, until you do. I don't have a bathroom in the shop, but I do have a wash sink with hot water. As far as a urinal goes, I pee outside. If the neighbors can see it from their house, I be proud!

 

[Tonkabot]

You can get a four post lift for 4k or less, and it doesn't need anything special for the concrete floor.
it came with castors that allow you to move it around pretty easily.

a two post needs to be anchored to the concrete I believe, but 5 inches should be fine and I am pretty sure you can put one in at anytime.