new shop

[texaswoodworker]

I don't now if the thread fits here but a shop could be considered a tool. Anyway I am currently planning to build a new shop (the old 7x7 is getting cramped) I need to make some money (about $2700) and I can start building.
Its going to be either a 14x14 or a 15x15 metal shop. (the guy who works at the place who sell these kits said that I could cut cost by replacing two of the metal walls with wooden walls. Does anyone have any suggestions?

PS I'll post some pics when I start building (hopefully in a few months).

[lucky788scroller]

I am thinking for $2700 you could build using all wood and go quite a bit larger. Are we talking concrete floor, all the electrical and everything in the 14 by 14 or 15 by 15 shop. The suggestions I have are pretty simple, make sure you have at least one big door to get tools and materials through, have a lot of lighting,twice as much electric outlets and circuits as you think you will need, and make it as big as you possibly can, because even then, you will quickly wish it was twice as big!

[yost69]

Originally Posted by lucky788scroller

I am thinking for $2700 you could build using all wood and go quite a bit larger. Are we talking concrete floor, all the electrical and everything in the 14 by 14 or 15 by 15 shop.

I will have to disagree. I have a 12x20 shop that i built myself and have just over $5,000 in it. That is a wood floor, vinyl siding and 30 year architechtual shingles on it. That does include electric which was about $500 worth of materials to run the shop. There is no labor as i did it all myself.

Now i will say that metal is cheap. If you have the knowledge you would be far better off getting the stuff and building it yourself as you would probably save about $500 - $700. The company that puts these kits together are not doing it for free. For example 84 lumber offers a house kit that comes with the basics. For the price it seems like a heck of a deal but when you sit down and figure it up with what it comes with you can go to lowes and buy everything for $30,000 cheaper.

Originally Posted by texaswoodworker

(the guy who works at the place who sell these kits said that I could cut cost by replacing two of the metal walls with wooden walls. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I dont think you will save anything. You will cut the cost of the initial building but will spend just as much if not a little more to build them out of wood. Unless you have a source for cheap studs, by cheap i mean almost free as lowes sells wood studs for about $2.00.

The only real way to find out is price the materials to build the walls out of wood and find out how much the company is willing to knock off for the two missing walls, then compare.

My opinion take it for what its worth.

Ben

[miniwoodworker]

If you have basic carpentry skills you can save a heck of a lot of money by buying the materials and doing it yourself. Spend some time at Lowes and/or Home Depot looking at their books on shed construction. Spend some time with google
garden shed plans
workshop plans
garage plans - etc.

Some companies offer all the supplies that you need to build your own. Those kits come to you much like a BBQ grill, for example. You just follow the directions to put them together (build your shed). There's a Builders Supply store near me that periodically sends out an ad that includes those kits. Don't have one handy now, but the price for that truckload of lumber and other materials is far less, for a bigger building, than what you're discussing.

While you're saving for your new shop, spend as much time as you can learning the options that you have for your area. For every dollar that you save in the construction of your new shop will be another dollar for tools and supplies.

BTW, be sure to check local building codes and ordiances. In some instances, an old building is "grandfathered". Once that building is demolished, a new one can't be put in it's place. The powers to be keep changing the rules, so what applied even a couple of years ago, may not be so today.

Oh, and before I forget - consider the possibility of adding on to your existing shop, if you have the space to do so. Even adding a 4' bump out can give you a storage area, for example, to free up working room in your existing shop.

In closing, also consider how long you plan to be at your current location. If my memory serves, (please forgive me if it's faulty), you are a young fellow. If that is indeed true, consider how much money you'd want to invest now, with the possibility of leaving it behind in a few years. Much to my regret, we did too much of that once, then moved a couple of years later.

Hope you find some of these thoughts to be useful. Good luck with your plans, regardless of what you decide to do. And, please do keep us posted. As you get closer to it, we'll be glad to answer all of your questions that we can.

[texaswoodworker]

Good news. I just finished planning the shop. I made two versions. One has the specifications for the plugs and the lengths of the walls, windows, doors, and distance between all of them and the other has the locations of the workbenches, shelves, cabinets, and tools. I try to post them later.

[Pajaro]

I would consider adding on to your old shop. Could save $$$$. . I added 160 sq feet to my old 180 sq foot shop. Wish I could have made it bigger. But I saved a bundle on the electrical alone. All I had to do was add a few circuit breakers to the old main box. Here are some pictures when I was building it. The green part with "Bessie" is the old shop.

http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/att...0-dsc02641.jpg
http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/att...0-dsc02642.jpg
http://www.scrollsawer.com/forum/att...0-dsc02643.jpg

[texaswoodworker]

Wish I could but the old shop is in the garage. (it is in the far corner of the garage and I was originally a open storage room

[miniwoodworker]

Aaron, you're in a garage!!! I'd give my eye teeth for a garage for my shop.

Instead of thinking about building a new shop, work on getting more space in the garage instead. Even if you have to keep vehicles in it, there are a number of ways of incorporating a full fledged woodworking shop in one. Just one example, for now.

Storage can be built over the hoods of the parked vehicles. It's like a tall workbench. Just drive the front end of the car under the "bench".

The first thing I'd do is leave the vehicles outside! If they have to be under a roof, consider using one of those free-standing carports for them. My brother in law recently did that. He put the carport in front of the garage. Looks nice, protects his vehicles, and his cost was less than a $1,000 for a prefab kit. (I sure hope you don't have zoning czars who'd who put a stop to that idea.)

Do tell us more about your garage and what you HAVE to keep in it. Maybe we can brainstorm some ideas to get you into a larger workspace while saving you some money in the process.

Lee

[texaswoodworker]

My garage has to fit both vehicles (no room for carport), my shop, and all the lawn care stuff). I'll try to figure out where I could put a carport.

Thanks

[Rolf]

I had the crawl space under my (16 x 20) Great room dug out.
It gave me about 230 sqft of floor space. plus a 2foot shelf around 3 sides of the space and a Bilco door for the much needed outside entrance. It was worth every penny.