# Steel shop



## smokie (Dec 29, 2012)

Morniing all. I'm kinda sorta thinking of building a proper shop in the back yard, so I can get outta the damned garage. After doing a quick check with the local authorities I find the start up costs (drawings and permits are gonna be a bugger. Then I started thinking about the steel pre fab sheds/shops. Mine would be about 16' X 25'
as that is about all the space I can spare. Any one out there own some thing like this or have experience along these lines? I'd appreciate any in put. 
Thanks.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I put up a building I bought from a company called Miracle Truss who are no longer in business. They provided plans to get permits with snow load information, wind sheer etc. I had folks who did the slab put up the two main trusses with their loader and I did everything else. You need to make sure if you go that route that you have a way to get everything off the flatbed that shows up. Guy I hired flaked out and said he 'changed his mind' as the truck pulled up- me and driver spent about four hours taking everything off the truck by hand, and it was heavy. Nice thing is I have a clear span and a 12 foot peak, so if you set up a shop you could handle long lumber without hitting a cross tie. But if I had it to do over I'd hire a company that does wood pole buildings and have a garage that looks more aesthetically appealing.

AND - just mention 'steel building' and the ad for Armstrong Steel Building Systems shows up on the right, so there you go.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I just built a 16 X 24 shop in my back yard. Still building it, in fact. I paid a contractor to build the shell with a barn style gambrel roof. The roof trusses have an open 10×24 x 4ft height storage attic and the shop part has 9 ft height ceiling. I am insulating, and sheeting the inside myself. The contractor took care of the permits, but they were only like $150 including three inspections. The cost of the shell was around $12k.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

Not too sure if you have anything up- NORT like I found in Tennessee but I bought a "pole barn" from a company called Blitz Buildings (out of Ohio I think). blitzbuilders.com They shipped me the kit on a flatbed truck and a week later 4 guys showed up in a pickup and had the building up and done in 2 days. I then contracted the concrete for the floor and did the electrical wiring myself.

Now that we're back in Georgia, that company no longer comes this far south, so I did a bunch of searching and finally I bought a "double wide" which was a school portable building. I actually found it on Craigslist. It's coming along pretty well (even though it is a bit smaller than my last shop)

The building cost me $3500 and then it cost me almost 4grand to have it moved here and set up (it was located almost 3 hours away from my house) The cheapest estimate I could get locally was TRIPPLE that to build a similar sized building and that did NOT include the electrical wiring.

You can see both of these if you like. The Tennessee shop is in my "workshop" and my new shop building is in my blogs.

Good luck with your efforts!


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

Don't hesitate too long. In 2000, I had a 30×40 building put up with 3 overhead doors and 1 man door. This building came with a concrete floor and insulation between the frame and the outer skin. That cost me $12,000. @ years ago I had an addition room added to the end of the first building. I is 21×30. this makes my building 30×61. The addition has 1 overhead oversized door and 1 man door. There is no insulation. That addition cost me over $13,000. It is almost impossible to make any way to hang something on the walls. If I were doing it again, I just might put up a wood pole building. At least you can drive nails in it. I am slowly adding nailers to the interior then I can add plywood or whatever I want to the interior. Think about the things you would like to hang on the wall and work from there. My buildings were shells with no electricity or lighting.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Squeeze out all the space you can, cuz, a few years from now, you'll say, I shoulda


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## AandCstyle (Mar 21, 2012)

Mark, have you considered looking for an existing building close to you that you could either buy or lease? You can buy them cheaper than you can build them. Granted, the convenience factor would not be there, but with the potential savings you might be able to upgrade a couple tools. 

We had a metal building and it was extremely noisy due to all sounds echoing off the metal walls, so if you build a steel shop use ply or OSB or drywall for the interior walls.

Keep us up to date with your project.


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## shawnmasterson (Jan 24, 2013)

Another concern of the steel is sweating. Generally I see people end up spray foaming the inside to stop the condensation.


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## smokie (Dec 29, 2012)

Thanks for all the response gents. If I did go that route it would definatly be spray foamed…To damned cold in the winter. I dunno Art…still in the planing stage. Might not even get to lift off.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

I put up a 30×30x18 garage 3 years ago-32K. It's all steel and I put a 2nd floor with retractable staircase. It was a long process to get it insulated. Had to put in nailers on the walls covered with OSB. There isn't anyone within 100 miles who does foam. I laid down an epoxy floor coat in an insane color of yellow, probably one of the best Ideas I had. It really helps with the lighting and cleans up with incredible ease, it also reduced the humidity level in the garage. The worst mistake I made was to listen to my electrican friend and put the outlet boxes 48" from the floor to the top of the box, should have been 48" to the bottom of the box. I've now got 3 outlets I can't get to because of plywood leaned against the wall. I've 2 dozen outlets of which 2 are 220v. Figured more is better, I was right. Everything is on mobile bases, another highly recommended idea. It's still a work in progress.

I'm trying to do it right by not cutting corners. I might not get it finished to my final satisfaction for another year or two, but slowly and surely it's getting there.

My advice is don't cut corners from the start plan on the most and best from the start, then work to it slowly. More Sq. Ft, more outlets, lights and elect service. Also seriously consider an epoxy floor paint, a good one not a cheap big box store kit.

Just my thoughts.


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