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Shop Things to have in your dream shop!

Shop

little ol' e

Jus' a hobby guy
My dream shop definitely has a full bridge crane, at least 2T but probably 5T or more so I could easily lift pretty much anything that would ever be in there. I'd want divided sections for metal fab, machining, woodworking, electronics/repairs, wash bay, storage, parking (like a showroom), mechanical room, and automotive with multiple lifts. Heated and cooled of course, with full washroom facilities, and a kitchen/dining/hangout spot. With enough property around it, both paved and off road, to shake down anything I was building or toys I had to play with.

We're basically talking 100,000+ sq feet on 100+ acres :)

I'll have to suffice with my little 18x20+6x12 garage :(

I had the same dream not long ago. My dream picturesque added in a flight deck, wet bar, chocolate fountains, and live entertainment. Wiith Juicy Jays blueberry wall paper and a comfortable landing strip.:p
 

Brent H

Ultra Member
Current shop and house has Radiant floor heat, works great. Both are running on natural gas. I have to check into the reality of the situation but supposedly Propane in New Brunswick is up to 60% x as expensive as other provinces- checking on those specifics. Electrical seems to be the more common heat - new house is a heat pump with air handler. This does give both heat and A/C so something to think about as radiant floor would then need a seperate AC unit.

Paint area, compressor and dust collection would be a seperte area with the paint area set up to be able to at least handle a car, full kitchen cabinets etc. that is going to be its own separate entity 20 x 40 if I can do it…..

A place outside for over flow storage will be a must - not only for steel but rough sawn wood.

I will post a possible layout in a few hours.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
I can only dream of having a supersized deluxe shop , ............. sigh , I'm retired and I'm on a budget so I try to work with what I've got .

Expanding the existing garage wasn't an option , making better use of the available space was .

For a while , I wanted a shed to use for storage and to free up space in the 22' x 22' Garage I have so this year I went ahead with that plan and framed one , I never really had a plan or a drawing , just pictures I found cruising the net of various sheds. The biggest I could go without a permit was 10' x 10' . I did shop around to see what was commonly available at building supply stores and was not impressed with what is offered . A steel bolt together " garden shed" is not a good choice for me , they are flimsy and the door opening is sized for midgets , anything available in wood construction was cheaply built very expensive for what you get and generally a crappy product .

I live next to a park / school / soccer field / green space , the city planted poplar trees around the perimeter in the 70's . There's a large poplar next to my yard that has ruined the lawn , has damaged my sewer line and is a general pain in the butt , every spring it sheds an anormous amount of sticky seed casings that stick to everything and make a mess of my camper. I began my yard improvement project in the spring by removing what was left of my once nice lawn , digging for days , hacking and chopping away at the roots to prepare the yard . Like I said , I'm on a budget and pouring a slab wasn't in the plan , I went with patio slabs , I already had several .

I broke ground ( and some wind ) in March to prepare the site.

View attachment 28137
This picture represents less that a quarter of the roots I exposed , dug up and removed .

A few months went by before I actually bought any lumber and began construction.

View attachment 28138

The base platform was all 2" x 6" treated lumber , sitting on top of several cement slabs .


View attachment 28139

View attachment 28140

View attachment 28143


View attachment 28141

View attachment 28142

View attachment 28144

It's full now , freeing up quite a bit of space in my Garage / workshop.T
That really did turn out nice! What did it cost you?
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
I was about 50k into the slab/foundation before I started building walls etc. And I did everything myself other than placing and finishing the concrete.
1800 sq feet and about $28 a sq foot? Wow. @Darren how thick was that? Lots of rebar?

Is concrete in Canada just crazy expensive? What would a shop floor cost in Montana? Burnco and LaFarge have the market locked up and they seem like an oligopoly to me.

I've often wondered if with the right crushed and heavily compacted gravel bed if you could get away with patio pavers. A 20x20 garage floor would use $1600 worth of pavers. How much for a big load of gravel/sand? $500? Tool rental $500. So for $2500 you could do a garage floor. Would it be durable? Move machines on bigger wheels? Possibly put in concrete piles where the machine feet go? Any civil engineers on here who could authoritatively weigh in on this?
 
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Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
1800 sq feet and about $28 a sq foot? Wow. @Darren how thick was that? Lots of rebar?

Is concrete in Canada just crazy expensive? What would a shop floor cost in Montana? Burnco and LaFarge have the market locked up and they seem like an oligopoly to me.

I've often wondered if with the right crushed and heavily compacted gravel bed if you could get away with patio pavers. A 20x20 garage floor would use $1600 worth of pavers. How much for a big load of gravel/sand? $500? Tool rental $500. So for $2500 you could do a garage floor. Would it be durable? Move machines on bigger wheels? Possibly put in concrete piles where the machine feet go? Any civil engineers on here who could authoritatively weigh in on this?
I worked out your 62 yards (assuming cubic yards?) of concrete on a 36' x 50' slab to be an 11" thick floor? That's thick. seems too
thick. Maybe I'm being thick - is that right @Darren ?
 

little ol' e

Jus' a hobby guy
I find a good magnet comes in really handy. Not the flat bottom type, you will want a V bottom for round stock as well. Getting you by until installing an overhead crane.
 

Doggggboy

Ultra Member
1800 sq feet and about $28 a sq foot? Wow. @Darren how thick was that? Lots of rebar?

Is concrete in Canada just crazy expensive? What would a shop floor cost in Montana? Burnco and LaFarge have the market locked up and they seem like an oligopoly to me.

I've often wondered if with the right crushed and heavily compacted gravel bed if you could get away with patio pavers. A 20x20 garage floor would use $1600 worth of pavers. How much for a big load of gravel/sand? $500? Tool rental $500. So for $2500 you could do a garage floor. Would it be durable? Move machines on bigger wheels? Possibly put in concrete piles where the machine feet go? Any civil engineers on here who could authoritatively weigh in on this?
Around here base is 45-50/yd plus delivery. Crusher dust is 55-60/yd plus delivery. Spreading either of those around by hand and getting it level is big, big work.
Even generic concrete pavers are about $3/sq foot and are only 1 1/2in thick. Given how much of a pain in the ass it is to encounter even a small pebble on a smooth concrete floor when you are trying to roll around anything with steel wheels, I can't imagine doing it on pavers with a rolling floor jack or anything heavy.
It would probably work for a parking garage, but would be a pain to work on in a shop setting I think.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
@Janger

That is just amazing Darren. The work you did just a massive effort. Shop looks fantastic.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Shower? Cleaning sink - not the one in the bathroom. Exhaust fan? Windows, skylights, natural light. Read about air sealing and the importance of it. Insulation and thermal bridging. The way we build homes and structures in Canada is really poor. Newer approaches can cut energy costs by 90%.
 
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Dan Dubeau

Ultra Member
36-40x80 Monitor style timber frame structure, with 2 15-20' wings off each side with 10' ceilings, and another out back for tractor/trailer/implement covered but exposed storage. Bridge crane spans the entire main area, that is all radiant infloor heat in a 5-6" concrete slab. Main area is open to the roof, except for a 2 story 20ft deep area at the back with a 6x12 snooker table/bar up top overlooking the main shop. Walkways down each side of the main area on the 2nd floor hung with cool stuff we all collect all along the walls. Underneath that at the back is small design office, Bathroom, with full shower, and hardware store along the full width. Walk out to 2nd floor deck facing west for those evening sunsets, with a hot tub. Beer on tap, with a hose long enough to reach hot tub.

Side wings are brightly lit, clean, and closed off from main area. With individual climate zones, and end grain wood block floors. One is dedicated to metalworking machine tools, and other side wing is wood shop, with all dust collection run in the floor, a good overhead air filtration system, and a jointer big enough to land a cessna on, with a planer to match. Main area is for wrenching, and general fab work. With a 2 post lift, and a 4 post for storage of projects. Somewhere in there is a 40x20 VMC, and a mill turn CNC lathe with barfeeder, and a WEDM. A 5x12' plasma table, and a CNC router with vaccum table too and maybe a 6 axis robotic arm in there somewhere to play around with like those lignum guys on Youtube. Along with the normal host of machine tools. In the metal side I'd also have a clean/dirty side for grinding/blast cabinets etc.

All fab tools in the main shop are on wheels so at least once a year I can wheel everything out and sweep/blow out the shop from one end to the other.

Over head air drops and hose reels all over fed by a big screw compressor isolated from the shop somewhere in it's own room, with an air dryer, as well as lot of overhead power drop and extension cord reels.

Out front is a covered concrete apron (also heated so no snow shoveling) that spans the entire width of shop. Allowing you to drive a truck with loaded trailer in from the side and out the other, and leave it undercover while being able to run the crane out front to pick a load off the trailer. Or just leave it parked under cover when you get home from a late night road trip getting some great old piece of iron. Long full stick steel storage along the side wall inside with an autofeeding bandsaw. Hose bib outside on apron for vehicle washing.

I'd have a second building for my sawmill, and lumber drying/storage, along with a solar kiln. I'd also have a 3rd building for blacksmithing and casting too. All concrete access to every shop so I can load unload everything easily with a forklift. But not a nice one, an old beat up one, that requires constant maintenance and has no brakes. Just to give me something to always complain about, work on, and keep me grounded :D.

Would love to also have a golf simulator room in there somewhere too, but I would concede that to the boss......

On second thought, make that building 160' long and add the sim room, she wouldn't care lol.

Actually I'd have to build 2 of those shops, and hers would contain a pretty long list of stuff too like a walk in freezer, meat/product processing, and commercial kitchen area. Climate controlled fermenting room, and charcuterie fridge. Pottery area, and a glass blowing studio. Climate controlled yarn storage area, and room for all her knitting machines, spinning wheels, and looms etc, along with her dye studio. There would also be animals. Lots of fiber bearing animals, and livestock.

I'd also include an underground tunnel out to the shop from the house, so you can don't have to dress up in the winter, but I think that's getting a bit ridiculous.....

I could probably think of more, but that's a good start of what I/we'd be building if I ever won the lottery. :). These are the things I think of on my drive home after I buy a 60 million lotto max ticket. :D
 

Chicken lights

Forum Pony Express Driver
36-40x80 Monitor style timber frame structure, with 2 15-20' wings off each side with 10' ceilings, and another out back for tractor/trailer/implement covered but exposed storage. Bridge crane spans the entire main area, that is all radiant infloor heat in a 5-6" concrete slab. Main area is open to the roof, except for a 2 story 20ft deep area at the back with a 6x12 snooker table/bar up top overlooking the main shop. Walkways down each side of the main area on the 2nd floor hung with cool stuff we all collect all along the walls. Underneath that at the back is small design office, Bathroom, with full shower, and hardware store along the full width. Walk out to 2nd floor deck facing west for those evening sunsets, with a hot tub. Beer on tap, with a hose long enough to reach hot tub.

Side wings are brightly lit, clean, and closed off from main area. With individual climate zones, and end grain wood block floors. One is dedicated to metalworking machine tools, and other side wing is wood shop, with all dust collection run in the floor, a good overhead air filtration system, and a jointer big enough to land a cessna on, with a planer to match. Main area is for wrenching, and general fab work. With a 2 post lift, and a 4 post for storage of projects. Somewhere in there is a 40x20 VMC, and a mill turn CNC lathe with barfeeder, and a WEDM. A 5x12' plasma table, and a CNC router with vaccum table too and maybe a 6 axis robotic arm in there somewhere to play around with like those lignum guys on Youtube. Along with the normal host of machine tools. In the metal side I'd also have a clean/dirty side for grinding/blast cabinets etc.

All fab tools in the main shop are on wheels so at least once a year I can wheel everything out and sweep/blow out the shop from one end to the other.

Over head air drops and hose reels all over fed by a big screw compressor isolated from the shop somewhere in it's own room, with an air dryer, as well as lot of overhead power drop and extension cord reels.

Out front is a covered concrete apron (also heated so no snow shoveling) that spans the entire width of shop. Allowing you to drive a truck with loaded trailer in from the side and out the other, and leave it undercover while being able to run the crane out front to pick a load off the trailer. Or just leave it parked under cover when you get home from a late night road trip getting some great old piece of iron. Long full stick steel storage along the side wall inside with an autofeeding bandsaw. Hose bib outside on apron for vehicle washing.

I'd have a second building for my sawmill, and lumber drying/storage, along with a solar kiln. I'd also have a 3rd building for blacksmithing and casting too. All concrete access to every shop so I can load unload everything easily with a forklift. But not a nice one, an old beat up one, that requires constant maintenance and has no brakes. Just to give me something to always complain about, work on, and keep me grounded :D.

Would love to also have a golf simulator room in there somewhere too, but I would concede that to the boss......

On second thought, make that building 160' long and add the sim room, she wouldn't care lol.

Actually I'd have to build 2 of those shops, and hers would contain a pretty long list of stuff too like a walk in freezer, meat/product processing, and commercial kitchen area. Climate controlled fermenting room, and charcuterie fridge. Pottery area, and a glass blowing studio. Climate controlled yarn storage area, and room for all her knitting machines, spinning wheels, and looms etc, along with her dye studio. There would also be animals. Lots of fiber bearing animals, and livestock.

I'd also include an underground tunnel out to the shop from the house, so you can don't have to dress up in the winter, but I think that's getting a bit ridiculous.....

I could probably think of more, but that's a good start of what I/we'd be building if I ever won the lottery. :). These are the things I think of on my drive home after I buy a 60 million lotto max ticket. :D
Forklifts don’t have brakes, well, the real ones
 
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