Shop ideas and pics

77GreenMachine

77GreenMachine

Phillip Talton
Joined
Mar 30, 2010
Location
Trinity, NC
ok guys, like a lot of us on here, i dont have a sweet shop or garage to work on my rig. i literally built my truck in my back yard on blocks when it wasnt raining, snowing, too hot or too cold.
i have always dreamed of having a great shop i could always be tinkering in.
well, the time has come (sort of) in about a year or so i should be breaking ground on my dream shop. i want something around 25x25 or so, two bays, concrete floor and a lift.
so i was wondering if i could get some of you to post some pics of your shop, your buddys shop or whatever. even some ideas will help, like what size, steel, or brick, whats the cheapest way to do it nice.
this is a big investment and i wanna do it right. ultimatley it will just be my man cave hahaha.
so lets see some pics and hear some ideas guys!
 
Due to a recent separation, I lost my garage and shop. She kept the house.:rolleyes: Anyways, I bought a house that had no garage at all and that wasn't going to cut it. With my budget, I found that the glorified carport with walls would do nicely for me. I poured the pad myself.($950)
ai31.photobucket.com_albums_c391_willness33_concrete.jpg

Then for a mere $3800 I had this built. 21'X24' with 10' walls and a 10' door.
ai31.photobucket.com_albums_c391_willness33_shop.jpg

I wish I had another grand or so to upsize the pad and building to a 2 bay in the size range you want, but that wasn't possible for me. What I have keeps me and my toys dry and that's what's important.

EDIT: Sorry for the shitty, little cell phone pics. She kept the camera too.lol
 
yeah ive been thinking that using the "carport" style garage was gonna be the fastest and cheapest way to go. im just wondering if i can insulate and sheet rock the inside. i plan on having a wood stove for heat in the winter time.
props for doing what you could on your own, id be lost with that stuff.
sorry bout the divorce man, women are hell!
 
You could insulate and drywall if you want. Screw some 2x's to the legs on the inside and just hang the rock them. I'm going to insulate with those 1" foam panels and probably add 1/4" plywood over that, at least on the bottom so the welder/grinder sparks don't turn it into an inferno. I have a woodburner to go into it at some point, but the "need to do" list is already too big to manage.:shaking:
 
Sounds like a plan. I think the most expensive part will be concrete and maybe wiring for Power
 
25x25 is not near big enough. My 2 car garage is 24x24. I have a bunch of tools but I have to plan everything. Tools are on heavy duty mobile bases. And I am constantly moving them so I have room around them to work. Bending is a pain especially long stuff because the tube hits other things. When you put a rig in the garage there is very little room. Add benches and shelves and it cuts down more.

You man not have a bunch of tools now, but eventually you will. Not to mention steel racks etc.

I say make it bigger. Even if you have to save for a couple more months.

All that to say the metal buildings work good and you can insulate them later. They are relatively inexpensive and fast to build.
 
Bruiser> thanks for the link, nice shop. jus wondering why you poured concrete after the build? ive seen this done many times and didnt know why?

as for the size, after reading what yall said i laid 25x25 out on a tape and its a lot smaller than i had thought. maybe 35x40 would be better?
i dont plan on really making a living out of this shop but maybe one day if i got enough customers, i just like to tinker on mine and my buddys stuff.
my main concern is the budget, im not too much of a handy man when it comes to this kind of stuff so i would like to pay somone and have it done quick.
i wanna stay in a 25,000-35,000$ range and thats including getting the tools i dont have such as welder, plasma cutter, pipe bender ect.
i also have to factor in that in one small corner i want a couch, fridge and TV for the "man cave" part so on 2nd thought, im def gonna have to make it bigger than 25x25!
 
77GreenMachine said:
Bruiser> thanks for the link, nice shop. jus wondering why you poured concrete after the build? ive seen this done many times and didnt know why?
as for the size, after reading what yall said i laid 25x25 out on a tape and its a lot smaller than i had thought. maybe 35x40 would be better?
i dont plan on really making a living out of this shop but maybe one day if i got enough customers, i just like to tinker on mine and my buddys stuff.
my main concern is the budget, im not too much of a handy man when it comes to this kind of stuff so i would like to pay somone and have it done quick.
i wanna stay in a 25,000-35,000$ range and thats including getting the tools i dont have such as welder, plasma cutter, pipe bender ect.
i also have to factor in that in one small corner i want a couch, fridge and TV for the "man cave" part so on 2nd thought, im def gonna have to make it bigger than 25x25!
Click to expand...
$25,000-$30,000 is a hell of a budget. My ex bro-in-law built a 40'x60' with 12' walls and poured concrete with radiant floor heat for that price. His was a true steel building from General Steel or someone like that.
 
I've got a 30x30 shop with a lift. I wish it was a least 2ft. deaper. My ceiling is 13ft. high to give clearance for the lift. The walls are 5ft. Of block and 8ft. Stick built. I've got way less money in mine than you have in your budget.
 
transman731 said:
start searching the internet for closeout deals on discontinued steel buildings.
25 ft is not deep enough if you put a lift in, they suggest at least 11 feet from center of lift forward, and 13 feet behind
Click to expand...

psst 11+13 is 24. Technically big enough.:huggy:

77GreenMachine said:
as for the size, after reading what yall said i laid 25x25 out on a tape and its a lot smaller than i had thought. maybe 35x40 would be better?

i wanna stay in a 25,000-35,000$ range and thats including getting the tools i dont have such as welder, plasma cutter, pipe bender ect.
i also have to factor in that in one small corner i want a couch, fridge and TV for the "man cave" part so on 2nd thought, im def gonna have to make it bigger than 25x25!
Click to expand...

Yeah your gonna need bigger.

That's a good budget. What is your land like? Is it flat? When I was going to put a building up that killed the budget. Too much land prep and dirt. Is 40' my property drops 8'. If you're flat then you should be pretty good.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Bruiser> thanks for the link, nice shop. jus wondering why you poured concrete after the build? ive seen this done many times and didnt know why?
Click to expand...

since i was on a tight budget and wanted to do as much as possible myself..

I started with deep walls due to the fact that my shop is where the septic field used to be.. so it was very very soft that is why the block walls are so deep.. we had to go that deep to get to solid ground to pour a concrete footer..

and since i had building laying on ground in backyard I decided why not put it up and use it as a carport till I could afford concrete

and if you look at dates on posts you will see it took me a while to get this up and working as a garage.

shoot I build my tow rig in it as a carport :) on gravel
 
yeah i figured thats what it was, just didnt know if there was some advantage.
i have passed you before on 220 towing your jeep. sweet set up man, love that dodge and XJ!
id like to see some more pics of other peoples shops if anyone has some.
 
hadfield4wd said:
psst 11+13 is 24. Technically big enough.:huggy:
Yeah your gonna need bigger.
That's a good budget. What is your land like? Is it flat? When I was going to put a building up that killed the budget. Too much land prep and dirt. Is 40' my property drops 8'. If you're flat then you should be pretty good.
Click to expand...

the only reason im considering such a large budget is because i have no clue whats involved and how much it all costs, but it seems like i can get out for a lot cheaper than i thought. but i dont have a lot of tools, so i plan on going a little crazy when i buy them.
see, the thing is im being given a house in time with about 5-6 acres, which is paid for. so i plan on re-financing it for the shop.
as for the land, its not too bad really, tare down 3 small buildings and a little grading which i can do mostly myself and its ready to start building. in 40ft it might drop 2ft.
 
77GreenMachine said:
the only reason im considering such a large budget is because i have no clue whats involved and how much it all costs, but it seems like i can get out for a lot cheaper than i thought. but i dont have a lot of tools, so i plan on going a little crazy when i buy them.
see, the thing is im being given a house in time with about 5-6 acres, which is paid for. so i plan on re-financing it for the shop.
as for the land, its not too bad really, tare down 3 small buildings and a little grading which i can do mostly myself and its ready to start building. in 40ft it might drop 2ft.
Click to expand...
Don't refinance the house to pay for the shop. Start putting away everything you can now, and then pay for stuff as you need it. You will save a lot of money in the long run, and not be tied to a loan payment every month.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Don't refinance the house to pay for the shop. Start putting away everything you can now, and then pay for stuff as you need it. You will save a lot of money in the long run, and not be tied to a loan payment every month.
Click to expand...


Nice catch Matt.

True don't go into debt for this, or anything for that matter. You'll be better off paying cash as you go.
 
yeah an upper loft would be a great thing to consider. maybe if i make it big enough, in time i could do something like that. i planned on having a wash sink, but never thought of a toilet!
as for the financing i will have enough to get started on my own such as grading, and foundation. i can have the concrete poured and paid for. and these metal builidings seem like me and a few buddys could slap one up in no time. im thinking that this will be cheaper than i thought by a long shot. my biggest expense will be all the tools and goodys to fill it with, which i can aquire over time.
i would like to buy a welder that would suite my needs all in one, such as custom bumpers, roll cages, exo cages and rock sliders and what ever else i may need to weld.
what kind of welder do i need to look into and how much will it run me?
also a good plasma cutter
 
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