We finally found a piece of land to build on here in east texas. Looking for shop ideas / pictures, etc for some inspiration. Planning on getting roads, utilities and shop built by the end of the year and we will build our home in the next couple years.

I'd like at least 3 bays, but after that, i've got nothing. help is appreciated

What dimensions did you go with? Pictures?

o dang, forgot about this….. 32 across front 24 deep…. pitched carport across the whole front. 20 ft
Workbench… 3 shelving units, some wall hangers and a blackstone…. it is packed when wife pulls her car in.
3 sets of sawhorses really clutter it up…. havent quite figured that part out yet.

It's going to be mainly used for our business.

The first two bays I'd like to able to store at least 4 refrigerated trailers in it during the slow season. I'll have all my spare ice merchandisers and forklift

3rd bay general use with a hangout area. The house will be where decoration storage is and similar usage

For the trailer bays, 12' wide roll up doors have been my favorite. Wider feels like wasted space and narrower is less forgiving with strange back-in angles or employees who can't back a trailer as good.

I've learned I'm not a fan of drive-through bays. I feel like I can't ever use that space for items that will not move quickly because then I won't be able to pull through it. And when something inevitably lands there that doesn't move for a while, you can't use the wall space in front of the doors because the door being there makes it feel wrong.

Height on a metal building is relatively cheap, going a little higher to have a usable loft over the hang out bay. Also makes an office or bathroom fit in nicely without using up sq.ft.

Roof pitch - 3/12 is minimum for keeping it residential looking. 2/12 starts to look industrial and 1/12 definitely looks industrial.

I'm a fan of some sort of roof extension over all windows and doors. Whether that be a full on porch extension or just a few feet of overhang.


I'm currently building the 3rd shop that I'll have occupied. And have helped draw the layout for a few family and friend projects. Maybe we can do some horse trading on drawings for advice on ice merchandisers as I'm in the market for 1 (I think). Sometimes seeing the building to scale with a to scale trailer, welding table, or whatever it may be really helps. Also nice to have to help plan outlets, plumbing, lights, etc.

Great point on height. I do wish I'd have gone 18' sidewalls. Usable loft or second floor office space would have been easier but it is what it is

18' does seem to be the sweet spot for that. I did 18' on the barndo build I had a thread on awhile back. Made the upstairs comfy even with 9' bottom floor ceilings and a 2' tall floor joist.

12 ft eave height
Full bath-stand up shower
Mini kitchen
Bath and kitchen does not take up much space
Plumb for air lines.
12 ft roll up doors
Utilize upper space for shelves. I used all thread and unstrut and dropped in wire shelving and it stores alot!
And it will never be big enough. I started 40x40 with a 20 ft carport, added another 30x40 and just finished a 40x40 lean to on the end.

Pictures

TOLD YA!!! Build it bigger is #1 requirement if doable. haha

Good luck with build.

When I build a shop one day, I'm going to leave a section without concrete and fill it in with man sand or something like that with a vice and a cutting table. That way I have an area for heavy cutting and welding where I'm not going to mess up the concrete with molten metal. Plus since it is sunken in a little bit, it will contain the slag as well.

I like the porch area for parking. I think I will have something similar but instead of parking perpendicular to the main structure, i'll park my truck and big gooseneck parallel to be out of the sun

After reading about ice accumulation destroying barns , what options are there to build structures to mitigate/prevent damage due to said ice accumulation?

Shayboy3 said:

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12 ft eave height
Full bath-stand up shower
Mini kitchen
Bath and kitchen does not take up much space
Plumb for air lines.
12 ft roll up doors
Utilize upper space for shelves. I used all thread and unstrut and dropped in wire shelving and it stores alot!
And it will never be big enough. I started 40x40 with a 20 ft carport, added another 30x40 and just finished a 40x40 lean to on the end.

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With the new battery powered tools, IDK that I would plumb for air lines. I've gone to all electric impacts. I bought a little $20 ryobi tire inflator that is as good or better than having an air compressor. Tires and impacts were 95% of what we used air compressors for in my dad's shop and the shops I worked in growing up.

Genuine question, but what would you still need a compressor for?

No recommendations on layout or anything other than to go spend a few nights browsing this:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

You are probably right about air lines. I got the parts for nothing so I went ahead and put it in a few years ago.
However I do use it for tires on tractor and trailers. Also blowing out radiators during baling season.
The battery tools have come a long way. I was looking at a Milwaukee air compressor this morning and wondering if it would be worth the money!

Shayboy3 said:

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You are probably right about air lines. I got the parts for nothing so I went ahead and put it in a few years ago.
However I do use it for tires on tractor and trailers. Also blowing out radiators during baling season.
The battery tools have come a long way. I was looking at a Milwaukee air compressor this morning and wondering if it would be worth the money!

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You might check this little dude out for tractor tires. I'm keeping one in my tool box. It is so nice and easy to use.

Make sure you start with a quality foundation: https://texags.com/forums/61/topics/3593185

add as much parking and turning pavement area as you can

In Texas I had 7500 sq.ft. consisting of 4 separate buildings which encompassed my work shop, tractor, implement and equipment storage, and ranch vehicles and boat storage.
In MO I have a single red iron building and partitioned it into 3 sections. Overhead doors installed in the ends and each partition wall so I could drive through the entire building from end to end. I also have double pull through doors in one partition so I can pull through with whatever without having to back in.
So I went from 4 buildings to 1. I consolidated the 7500 square foot of 4 buildings to just 1 building with a little more square footage total.
Insurance is cheaper, electrical construction cost, structure (red iron and roof and wall sheeting) and construction cost, insulation, concrete and plumbing, were all cheaper in building the one large building and partitioning it than building the 4 separate buildings like I had.
Utilities for running them is also much less expensive than the 4 separate buildings before.
I have a total of 8 overhead doors in that one building and have not had issues with them. When it's hot I can open all of them for a nice breeze and air flow. When it's cold I can close all doors and just heat the particular partition I'm working in. Has worked really well for me.
The other thing I have enjoyed having is a vehicle lift. Great for working on and servicing vehicles.

try doing a scale layout in vizio or even excel. Start putting stuff in it close to scale as possible, boat, car, toolboxes etc. That helped me get my dimensions and layout.