Metal Building Homes

I definitely plan to tell them what I want to do. If it doesn't work, I can do basically what was posted above. It looks like his house part isn't inside the shop, just connected. I'll find a way to legally do what I want to do though. If I have to have the two separate, I'll do it, but they'll only be a few feet apart and probably on the same pad and share the same roof.

I could go with 5" insulation. I know it works damn good in the back half of our machine shop at work!


( Ha! Erection :D )
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Planning to have a lift in the shop, so that's one reason I figured I would do a 6" slab. Plus, one thing concrete is going to do is crack. Not the substance, hopefully.
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LOL, thats my kinda humor. Anyway, most of the lift manufacturers only require a 3.5-4" slab. Thats what I did, but I also did a thickened area (6-7", lots of rebar) in the area where I plan to put the lift just for peace of mind.
 
Let the contractor/designer worry about the local residential code, that's what they are paid to do.

I've seen some really nice metal buildings that look like houses, have some nice architectural features, and that can give you the shop space you'll want.

The fire rating between the living quarters and the shop is pretty well defined as is the requirement for the door (metal fire rated, etc.).

If you have some specific questions, let me know as I'm a GC and will help as much as I can
 
@Hokie_YJ : That's badass! Will you take some more pics for me? Particularly, inside the shop and looking back towards the house. Maybe some showing how well the framed walls meet up to the insides of the building. Are the floors framed up or just like a slab house and flooring on the concrete? Is there anything above the house? Attic space or a loft or anything?




Here's a few pics I took when I was doing the walkthrough before I bought it. I can get some better pics. Ignore the mess, and the awesome butterfly rug on the wall.

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It's just like a slab home with the floors on the concrete. Actually the living room, hallway, and my bedroom are still just concrete. It may not be pretty and fancy, but neither am I.

There is an attic area above the house part. It has lights, but it's not floored. I may eventually rip some sheets of plywood and floor part OT it. The little opening to the right above the door in the pics goes into the attic. The eave height of the building changes at the wall between the house and shop. The house is 8' and the shop is 10'.
 
ManglerYJ said:
Do you have a hill you can dig out to have the shop as essentially a "walk-in/drive-in basement" and the main floor be at ground level so that you drive around back to get to the shop/garage and the house appears to be a ranch from the approach? That way, it keeps your shop a little more secure since it's hidden and you have your ground floor living area so you can move furniture in easier?
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This is how I envision a shop house combo!
 
Alright guys. I finally got home and pulled up the email with the quote from Heritage. It's looking pretty good so far. I called this morning and talked to them and gave them a better idea of what I wanted to do. I'm making a few tweaks on options and door locations, but it's very straightforward and they're extremely easy to deal with.

For a 40x70x14, 2:12 roof, insulation at 3" on the walls, 4" in the ceiling, a 14x14 and a 10x10 insulated shop door,1 man door (more getting added), and delivery rings up at $25,487. I'm also having them price 3 more entry doors, moving the 10x10 a few feet closer to one end, and a 20ft shelter down one side. I'm anxious to get the total, but I know it will be so much easier to go ahead and do the lean to at the same time and have it tied in to the same plane as the roof. I've got to have a place to park all my stuff!


@rockcity : Any suggestions for a good crew to help me with the erection? :lol: :rolleyes: At work (and there's pictures of our place on their website!) we've had CBC do a lot of work for us. I'd guess you're familiar with them, being in Greenville and all. Most recently when we doubled the size of our machine shop and when we bought the building next door. Not sure how they are price wise, but the crew they sent out both times were some pretty good guys. I'm open to suggestions though. They were just the first ones that came to mind. I basically just need someone to do the grading, frame up for the pour, set the anchor bolts once the pad is poured, and put the building up. I could probably do it, but subbing it out would be faster and I don't really want to do it, but that last part all depends on the prices I get. My uncle used to put these things up, so if I have to do it myself, I can.


I've got the wiring, plumbing, and other general house-building type things covered. I've got to get my guy to check on residential and fire codes. If everything checks out, this project should get rolling soon. I asked Heritage for an outside dimension for the slab that will need to be poured so I can get an idea of how many yards of concrete will be needed. Their plans call for 4" thick, so I'll probably roll with that and just thicken the area under the shop part and where the lift will be. Most likely, I'll just go with 6" thick on that side. Everything is looking to be pretty straightforward so far!


I hope I can start posting pictures in 4-6 weeks! It all depends on the weather and the lot drying up some so the guy can get in there and clear some trees and dig some stumps.
 
CBC seems to be good. I haven't heard anything bad about them and worked around them a little in the past.

Hell, I may be interested in helping ya out as metal buildings is what I used to put up in the past when I was out in the field. I'm actually looking to start breaking out and doing more GC work in lieu of CM work and may could get ya a very fair price ;)

Without looking at your local codes or seeing any drawings, I'd guess it would be the same as any other house other than the material of construction and that you have a super sized "garage".

For the shop area, I wouldn't do anything less than 6". You'll be much happier in the end as it will be more resistant to cracking with heavy use. My pet peeve with concrete is making sure its delivered and poured correctly as most "residential" crews will dump a ton of water in the truck when it gets on site to make it flow easier and is easy to work. Problem is, all the aggregate sinks to the bottom and you kill the strength of the concrete with all of the water.

So you have the wiring, plumbing, sheetrock, etc, covered? You just need grading done, concrete, and framing? I'm assuming you'd need the permit work taken care of too? That should be pretty easy.
 
@rockcity : I know if I was to have CBC do the work, they would sub out to concrete job. Again, I may be talking big money for them to come in, but who knows? You can certainly help with the building if you want. I'd be around the whole time anyway and would be working on it too more than likely. It'd definitely be nice for someone else to lead the show in that aspect. I also don't have a boom truck, sky jack, or fork lift to unload it off the truck and for assembly purposes. As much stuff as you have, I wouldn't be surprised if you said you had two of each!

@Macdaddy4738 : Not sure. According to the spec sheet, the building is rated to 115 mph.
 
Lizooki said:
BTW- If you make it to the building process, don't let any inspector give you any crap over the structure ..... these things are basically pre-fabbed, pre-engineered buildings and must be accepeted by state inspectors before being sold in NC.
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That doesn't mean you don't have to submit signed and sealed drawings for permit review. But $6k for engineered drawings as somebody else in the thread stated.... that's stupid. They should be able to churn those out for a fraction of that cost.
 
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shawn said:
That doesn't mean you don't have to submit signed and sealed drawings for permit review. But $6k for engineered drawings as somebody else in the thread stated.... that's stupid. They should be able to churn those out for a fraction of that cost.
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A little confused here...what you quoted me as saying is not something I said....
 
If your codes allow for fire retardant wood products to be used for a fire barrier, let's just say you have a friend in that particular business. ;)
I work directly with metal stud framers everyday and have to say that is a quick and effective way to frame "shared" space like you are talking about.
As always, check with your local codes before doing anything whatsoever.
 
It may not meet code, I honestly have no idea. I bought this place already built, and I can only assume it passed an inspection since it was occupied before I bought it. Of course here in BFE where I live I'm not sure they know what codes are.
 
Subscribed I as well am looking into this. Shop for me and apartment for my dad. Cant wait to see what you come up with. I have plans for building with apartment upstairs but cant go that route seeing into the future..dont want pops climbing stairs.. good luck with the build and post as much as you can!!
 
I'm hoping that I won't have to go to the ceiling of the shop with the separating wall, but realistically, I assume it's required. It kind of makes sense to do it that way since it IS a fire barrier. It wouldn't be very effective if it stopped half way up, would it? I'd like to not have it that way, dividing the building, so it looks more open. Plus, the location of the skylight panels would throw some light over top of the living space for the attic area. However, if I do have to go all the way up, I'll just have a set of stairs to the top with another fire rated door up there. Maybe I can just have the entire outside/top covered in an acceptable substance that resists fire. We'll see soon enough.


@hoop called me yesterday evening and we talked about it. Hell, I had no idea this many people thought this was so badass :D


@cgm147 : same here with the upstairs stuff. I don't want my dog running up and down steps to have to go inside, she's still getting used to indoor living and being spoiled :D Plus, my parents are older, my grandma will probably be over frequently since she'll be next door (chances are I won't have to cook much either!), carrying groceries up steps always sucks because we, as men, will only make one trip (or die trying!) with bags whether it's 1 bag or 17...and besides, who wants to walk up a flight of steps after a 10 hr shift?

@Jody Treadway : I'm glad you reminded me of that! I'll definitely check in to what they'll allow and give you some business if I can! I could kill two birds with one stone on a trip up to your place :D Head up with the truck and trailer and come back with a load of wood and new gears :driver:



I'm certainly going to keep everybody updated with my progress. As of the moment, my biggest hold up is weather. Just when I was thinking that it would start to dry up a little after last week's snow storm of doom, here comes some more sleet and snow tonight :flipoff: I can wait to start posting pictures and having materials show up! It won't take very long once the slab is cured enough for them to put the building up. Not sure if I mentioned it or not, but I even have an air compressor and 2 post lift picked out :huggy: If I already mentioned it, it bears repeating.
 
Not to throw you a curve ball....but....being from where its cold a lot and realizing that it does get somewhat cold here, I'm a HUGE fan of radiant floor heating. Something to think about where you are still in the planning stages....Just say'in
 
Wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd have to get the spacing right in the shop to be out of the way of anchor bolts for the lift.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Wouldn't be a bad idea. I'd have to get the spacing right in the shop to be out of the way of anchor bolts for the lift.
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Go ahead and get the lift, and set the anchors with a template when you pour concrete.
 
I thought about that and it sounds like a good idea!
 
You're a resourceful guy Jake, you could set up a good radiant floor heating system where you could fire with propane, wood, diesel whatever you want. The beauty of radiant floor heating is the once that slab is warm it maintains heat pretty well. your feet are never cold and laying on a concrete floor working on something is never an issue.

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Someone had mentioned using the shop for commercial business, which might actually be possible regardless of the zoning. Check into what would be required for a home based business. A lot of times its based on floor space (ours is 25% or less of the total floor space of the home).
 
I don't even want to think about what the building code issues would be for a commercial automotive repair or fabrication shop with a residence under the same roof.
 
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