# empty steal building



## Priceless (Aug 24, 2009)

Hello All,
I have moved to Florida and on my property is a 30X50 completly open steal building. I am looking for some help on how best to add interior walls (steal or wood)? How do I fasten the walls to the building? Do I need to insulate? do I need to put in a cieling? and such….. The building does have 2 garage door (12' and 9' wide) and 1 entry door. I am going to make a wood shop 30X35 when all is said and done. If anyone has any helpful information let me know. thank you…..


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## JAGWAH (Dec 15, 2009)

Eric, A steel building is a great start. Depending on the exterior walls you can run hat channel on them and this will allow you to screw plywood or drywall to that. As to walls metal studs be my choice,termites don't eat metal. I would build my walls after I put in a drop cieling.This will be appreciated if in the future you decide to rearrange the shop. But I might leave my overhead clear around my equipment to allow for any dust collection . Even in Florida I suspect a well insulated building will be appreciated.


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## MisterBill (Mar 27, 2012)

Eric,

Where in Florida are you located? The reason that I ask is that the southern portion of the state has some of the strictest building codes around. As a starting point I would suggest that you contact the local building department to find out what their requirements are.
After all, you don't want to build your insulated walls and ceiling and then have a hurricane come along and blow it all away!


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

well this is great, what a way to start your new shop, i think using wood or steel will depend on what you like best, what is the best price, both will work, i dont have any experience with steel , and all in wood, so i think you can decide that, as to insulation, if your going to heat or cool the building, i would insulate, does it get cold enough there to have heat..i know it gets hot enough there to warrant cooling, and if you want to control the cost of either , i would have a lower ceiling..heat rises, in my shop i have 10 foot walls, and the ceiling is insulated, i also have wood heat for the winters, most of the days are ok without heat, but there is enough cold days that i want the heat, andi also cool my shop when it get to be to much, and it stays cool enough in there with what i have…your power will need to be evaluated, how many machines will you run that require 220, and how many will you have, when my shop was built i had a 220 amp service put in, and it gave me the options i wanted, my recommendation is to put in a lot of 120 receptacles..and run yourself a good dust collection , thats all i will post for now unless you ask me questions, as you might be a experienced wood worker, but il be glad to help if i can…grizz


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

If possible, I would use painted OSB or drywall. Your machines will make a lot of noise and steel walls will amplify that noise. I once owned a kennel with steel walls and couldn't hear myself think when a few dogs were barking (almost always). HTH


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

steel


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## DIYaholic (Jan 28, 2011)

For my personal use, I would use padded rubber for the interior covering!!! Lol.

Definitely check local codes, prior to doing any "construction".


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## woodworker59 (May 16, 2012)

All I can say is " what a terrible dilemma to have, what to do with a 30×50 shop" I will sit here in my little 11×20 and think of all the things I could do with that much space.. enjoy, great position to be in.. Papa (green with envy)


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

+1 on "steel" unless ya stole it.
Codes are a big deal. Check 'em out before ya build.
Bill


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

.


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## tomclark (Feb 16, 2010)

Eric, I just moved from FL to NM.. I had a 40×60' building for the last 14 years in FL, and now have a 36×60' at the new place. The old building had R11 insulation walls and ceiling from when the building was built. Heat and air cost was HIGH! First photo shows the old shop as we were moving out of it.

In the new building I divided the building into a 36×36 shop, a 24×24 garage, and a 12×24 exercise room. When the walls were built I used studs on 2' centers, since they do not support the roof. Behind the walls we added 4×8' sheets of 2" thick styrofoam on top of the insulation the builders put in. Studs were bolted to the inside of the walls, and concrete screws were used in the floors. Wiring was run thru the walls and electrical boxes installed before the 7/16" OSB walls were put up. We painted the walls with white primer, because the unpainted walls started looking like a dungeon inside the shop. With the well insulated shop it stays quite cool all day, even when it is 100 degrees outside. With the good insulation air-conditioning is easy and inexpensive.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Tom, skip the exercise room and use it for more shop area!


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

im thinking tom wants to be around longer to use his shop, so i imagine the exercise room has a purpose…lol…


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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

Tom, skip the exercise room and use it for more shop area!

-> im thinking tom wants to be around longer to use his shop, so i imagine the exercise room has a purpose…lol…

Just get a old jointer and a tablesaw and store them at the beginning and ending of each day with no mobile base.

Restack your lumber 3 times a week.

Done.

Oh, about the walls. I'd get an estimate from a spray in insulation company to keep your conditioning bills down.

Then, you can do the traditional method and use one of the systems available (probably through the bldg manufacturer or others) to add walls to a steel bldg OR build stand alone rooms or partitions around the shop to allow some flexibility in space utilization.


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## jm8 (Jan 26, 2012)

Tom I am so jealous. Sure beats my 10×20 space.

Peace to all


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## tomclark (Feb 16, 2010)

-> im thinking tom wants to be around longer to use his shop, so i imagine the exercise room has a purpose…lol…

YA DARN RIGHT!

Just get a old jointer and a tablesaw and store them at the beginning and ending of each day with no mobile base.
SORRY, I DON'T MOVE MACHINERY. ALL IS STATIONARY

Restack your lumber 3 times a week.
I JUST FINISHED UNLOADING THE SEMI WHEN WE MOVED, AND GOT IT STACKED THE WAY I WANT IT! AND YOU WANT ME TO LOAD AND UNLOAD THREE TIMES A WEEK????? SEE PHOTO…

Oh, about the walls. I'd get an estimate from a spray in insulation company to keep your conditioning bills down.
I JUST BOUGHT 53 SHEETS OF 2"X4'X8' FOAM FOR $954. THAT IS 1/3 THE PRICE OF SPRAY-ON.

Then, you can do the traditional method and use one of the systems available (probably through the bldg manufacturer or others) to add walls to a steel bldg OR build stand alone rooms or partitions around the shop to allow some flexibility in space utilization.
SEE PHOTO IN LAST POST. I BOLTED THE STUDS TO THE STEEL WALLS AND IT WAS EASY AND CHEAP TO DIVIDE INTO ROOMS - USING THE FOAM AND OSB FOR PANELING.


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## tomclark (Feb 16, 2010)




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## Doss (Mar 14, 2012)

*Tom*, that's great.

BTW, the:
Just get an old jointer and a tablesaw and store them at the beginning and ending of each day with no mobile base.
AND
Restack your lumber 3 times a week.

suggestions were just jokes about not using any space for an exercise room. Move machinery and lumber for exercise instead. Make it all shop. I guess you didn't get that.

The other suggestions were for the OP (*Eric*), not you threadjacker.


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## jgreiner (Oct 23, 2010)

Heya Eric,
I moved to florida a few years ago, if you're in central florida near the orlando area I'd recomend checking out the central florida's woodworking guild. Though we already have an Eric, so you would have to be "The other Eric" .. but as far as the inside of the building, I would totally insulate all you can including the garage doors. (I work out of my garage and insulating the garage door made a huge difference) .. then get a mini-split ac/heating unit and that will allow you to keep the shop a comfortable temperature.

As for the walls, if you can do wood instead of drywall that would be ideal because you can screw right into it to hang french cleats and such but some building codes won't allow for that so you'll have to check.

-jeremy


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