Based off my barndo's shop, heres my advice: put the small door in the back for air flow across the shop and for ease to move things in and out. Go with 14 foot ceilings so you can get a lift thatll pick up a truck high enough to walk under it. Go OVERKILL on lights, do light colored steel inside. Do outlets every post all the way around, do outlets on the ceiling, you run out of outlets really quick. And biggest advice, just seal your concrete, dont epoxy it, epoxy is trendy but it gets WRECKED when you work on it.
Bigger doors are a must in my opinion, 12x12 gives you plenty of space for any super wide or super tall vehicles. We’ve got a 40x60 with 12x12s on each end, plenty of space to pull a trailer through and not sweat it. And the taller the ceilings the better, that way you have an option for a mezzanine for extra storage.
lol same. His build is definitely impressive, I’m sure this one will be a lot cheaper. Considering he doesn’t have to worry about an hoa and city guidelines.
Have you had an engineer out to look at it yet? Be sure your soil doesn't require any footers or additional support under your slab. Don't pour your concrete while its this hot or you could get cracks in your slab. Are you running plumbing to your shop for a water supply that will require you to run pipe before you pour the slab? Are you thinking of a metal or a wood building? Going to insulate? Plan ahead for proper ventilation! I'm so excited for you!
Had my all steel building built back in January, I did the 3 in over hand of concrete all the way around only probably being after the caulk gets old it will leak when it Rains. Also 100% make sure you recess your garage door at the bottom in the concrete so water will not get in!
You'll want to go 40ft deep. I made my shop 30ft deep and I wish I made it 40ft. Time you pull a 4 door truck in you ain't got much room to walk around it after tools and shop stuff. My shop is 30x60 wish I made it 40x60. That's my regrets.
30’ minus walls leaves only 29’. My crew cab long bed truck is 23’ long. 3’ between truck and door and a 2’ deep toolbox in front leaves only 1’ between toolbox and truck.
Highly suggest putting a 90 degree pvc elbow in for your electrical panel when they pour the pad. Makes for a cleaner look and you could back feed power to the house in case of power outage unless you have a backup generator on the house.
Make a 1 foot footer around the entire pad to act as a footer that’ll support the actual concrete pad. ADD WIRE MESH to help keep it all together and last a long time. They’ll have to “burn” the concrete after they pour and when they finally do pour…. Water it so it dries slower and bonds together properly.
I definitely would do a door on the back for trucks that can’t move under their own power and for air flowing through but I think your gonna have a nice shop man
I would definitely do a door in the back just for air flow. Got to make sure the doors are tall enough and wide enough for the truck. And I would definitely do 14ft
Pouring concrete is a large part of my job... we typically pour 6 inches if they plan on driving over it a lot (especially something like an apron outside of an overhead door) so I definitely think that's a good decision. 👍
Been in and worked around shops all my life I’d say 14 foot is probably for the best don’t underestimate the lighting good lighting goes a long ways I’d run air compressor hoses to at least each side of the shop get a decent size compressor and build a little external box attached to the shop but not inside just because they are loud and annoying I’d say with that and personal preferences you would have a sick shop man proud to see you move up in I hate to say the truck scene just because of what some people have made it but as a truck influencer I’ve been watching you forever grew up watching you and you made me want to build my truck even more especially when you had baby squat and chomper and just about ever other previous build and present build I love what you do and can’t wait to see you succeed even more in the future keep us updated on the progress can’t wait to see it here
I built a shop in 2021, and I'm not too far from you, in Alabaster AL. It's a 28' wide, 35' deep, 12' walls to accommodate a lift. I just used a sealant on the concrete and opted against epoxy because it gets wrecked over time. One thing that I wish I had done from the beginning was to get the shop insulated. Now that I have all my tools and hot rod in the shop, it's harder to go back and add the insulation. I would go ahead and get some quotes for closed cell foam insulation and add a couple of mini splits to the building. It's too dang hot down here to not have AC. lol Run 3-4 different electrical circuits so you aren't tripping breakers, and go ahead and add 240 for welders, air compressors, and AC.
I'm not sure what it's like during the colder months in AL but in Ohio it gets cold, luckily the previous owner put heated floors in when he laid the concrete in our shop it is amazing for wintertime! It is not a good main heating source but it's nice to keep everything at 50+ degrees all year. It might be worth looking into but I know it isn't cheap.
Figure out your storage, tool boxes, and any kind of machine before putting anything in it. Figure your electrical and air supply first. You can mount a winch to the floor and just unbolt and move to pull car into the shop. My shop is 20x70. I split it up witha wal with a garage door inside storage and cars on one side and do all my mechanical and projects on the other side. The side I work on is heated and cooled. That's a great deal on the concrete . Jump on that for sure. I live in Pell city where you get your exhaust done at. My concrete was a lot more here.
If you think you may be pulling engines from vehicles you may want to install an I-beam along the ceiling for a chain / pulley system that can slide along the beam for either bay and then all the way to one end to be out of the way. Enjoy!
Add another door on another side somewhere will be glad you did especially when you have a big project going on and stuff everywhere. Also for the concrete have extra concrete out front for the jobs you don’t want in the shop kinda a place you don’t worry about if you get it dirty and possibly even some extra on the side a parts washer or anything like that
I work in the concrete industry and I personally think 6” is best for the slab however I would highly suggest that you put footings in for the lift and not just bolt them to the slab.
That sounds awesome man, but I don’t think i would put a 4th door in just because that is less space you can put stuff on the wall. Yes it would be SUPER nice when you need but your not gonna need it a ton. My grandpa built our shop and one thing I’ve found out is always go a bit bigger then you think because at one point your going to need the space.
Aside from the doors, I'd definitely go with a higher ceiling. Having lifted trucks it'll come in handy I promise when it comes to having a lift. Also ac & heat will be life changing 😅 worth every penny lol, talking from experience.
the garage door on the back would be very helpful. airflow and like you said to pull any trucks that don’t run inside, would also recommend going deeper. at least 40ft, our old one was 30 and it was a pain. when we moved we upped to 60 which is overkill but awesome at the same time
We have a shop with 7 2post lifts, def Get 12 plus foot tall cellings so you can fit lifts and Fans are super nice in the summer for a nice breeze. Also run all get a air compressor (put it outside or inside) Run air lines every were. Some times I need a air hose and have to walk across the shop to get one. And please Go Over kill on outlets trust me they run out quick. Put them higher up so you can have them at tables,toolboxs,etc. and dont epoxy it we have chips missing out of are floor and its only 2 years old. And Congrats on the shop
Just built my dream shop a couple of years ago and this is what I’ve learned… 1) it will never be big enough. 2) put some windows in 3) vent it well for the summer 4) the extra oh door is a must. It helps with draft on hot days 5) run a floor drain. Even if you don’t hook it up, install it and stub it out. You can always hook on later. Washing your truck inside it insanely nice. 6) look into a wifi bridge system. Hit me up for more info on this but you can bridge your wifi to the shop from your house and it works amazing. I’m able to have a big screen so it helps give the kids something to watch sometimes when I’m working in the shop and they are with me. 7) maybe build a lean to off the side or back for covered parking 8) pour your footings now for your lift 9) most of the time these guys won’t price reinforcements for concrete. Make sure they do that with moisture barrier I’d be more than happy to talk through some of these points and some others along with sending pics. Just reach out. Good job and proud for you bro!
Yessss I knew at some point you was gonna build one I can not wait to see this 😁 also hope you would have room to place a lift tire machine And wheel balancer or whatever it’s called
A backside door would be nice. I work out of two different carports at my house. One with asphalt and not drive thru and the other with a gravel bottom but drive thru. The gravel one sucks cause it’s hard to use any wheeled tools and it’s messy but it’s nice when I have to pull my project in. I have to do most of my engine removals and installs on the asphalt and it sucks pushing the truck in there. I might just put concrete on the gravel bottom shed cause asphalt is soft and my engine hoist just digs into it. Anyway my point is to give yourself a way to pull a truck into the shop because pushing trucks sucks. And this is my opinion but I’d put the back bay door on one of the end doors so you don’t have to walk around a broke truck in the middle of your shop. If it’s next to a wall it might feel less in the way depending on how bad it’s broken.
Go the extra 10' deep and go 40' wide x 50' long. Gives you plenty of room for the lift and a good size work bench along the back wall. We have a floor mounted warn electric winch, with pull bolts to where we can move it if needed. Do away with the rear door idea and use the electric winch. Save ya some money.
I came here to say the exact thing! And as someone else has already mentioned, be careful pouring the concrete in the heat. LSH already has a ton of cracks in his.
@@kennethhardin3790 I want to add. As someone who works with concrete. You want to make sure they don’t wet it up too much. The strength of the concrete will go down, the more water you add.
Definitely put a rollup door on the back and exhaust fans on each end to pull air. It be a whole lot cooler if you’re not gonna have air, but you still use the fans on pretty days.
definitely go 14ft ceilings. also consider the power you are running to the shop, so you can run a welder.. etc.. also consider runnning water and bathroom.
Just my advice to think on. My experience is the slab should by the exact size as the building so water doesn’t hit the slab and run under the walls unless the concrete over hang of concrete slopes away from building. I put in 14’ walls which made it a able to put in a nice loft to store your stuff you don’t regularly use. Get color matched screws. Make sure you man door swings the direction you want. Put any electrical or plumbing pipe in the slab that you think you may use one day. Ready the contract closely because my building was gray and all through the bid process it was gray and the last you sign it got wrote as clay and I didn’t catch and I was my fault. I was just excited I was finally getting a build. Good luck
I would say maybe watch some of Lonestar Hawaiians’ videos. I think his whole set up is super awesome. He is also building a shop and learning everything along the way.
hell yeah, another LSH viewer. Might also check out TWA Motorsports' shop build, it's closer to what you're looking for -- his build was around Sept 2020 so you'll have to dig through the videos a little.
I'd say first things first and pour your own slab to save THOUSANDS. Pay for the concrete truck part of it to come pour but build the forms, tie the rebar and finish the slab yourself !
I would say to definitely get the concrete sealed but you should go for the 14 ft ceiling because the bars on the inside will probably come down a foot or so and if you want fans or lights you don’t want to hit those
We have a shop that’s probably 30x40, single man door and 2 roll up doors at the front and 1 roll up door in the back. Trust me, you want that back door, it helps bring it across breeze in the summer to cool the place.
Definitely better to over build. Go as big as your budget will allow. You won’t complain later by being bigger than needed, but you will if it’s the other way around. As for concrete stuff, this is definitely overkill but make sure you don’t want a small bathroom or anything that will require plumbing. A small slab of concrete outside your shop might be something to consider if you ever want to put an independent ac unit.
I say you need more than 12ft ceiling. I highly recommended having water and a/c ran to your shop. Who is your concrete man? I need a big driveway poured in the McCalla / Lakeview area.
yes do 6in that way if you decide to put another lift it’ll be right on the good margin for the thickness for a lift they are a pain to anchor down but if you do a two post get one with a cross bar ontop of the lift and or make ur own
I am building a 30x50x14. Thicker the better for concrete, make sure you pour footers if you are even considering a lift. Taller and wider the doors the better, make sure you have room to build a loft for storage if that’s something you ever thing about. Every single person I’ve ever talked to about a shop has always said they wish they went bigger.
I wouldn’t put another door on the back I would put a heavy duty pulley mounted to the concrete and just be able to pull a broken truck in that way way cheaper and that’s more wall space to hang stuff and in my opinion will look better
I would definitely get something like a heat pump to help keep it cool and I would definitely get a 2 post lift instead of a 4 post that’s the only things I wish my family had done instead of what we have now
I am actually in the process of building a 30x60x12 shop tall enough for a lift. My 19 ram 2500 4 door short bed will fit and leaves me around 6 to 8ft in front of that truck. About the same size in doors but where your walk thru is on the front is where my doors will be moved down to. I'll have a walk thru on that end and on the back. Then the 3rd door is where my 91 silverado project truck is going to be. That same bay is where I will have a drive thru door for the same reason to pull something thru. In my area is looking to be around 50k to build that's including concrete. Kinda doing the same thing and making the one end where I can have tools and work on anything i may need to put together or weld. I work in a 50x80x16 I believe it is. We have 2 lifts and they are 12ft and my 19 ram 2500 fits no problem and goes up high enough and I'm 6'1.
Forget what everybody else is saying only advice is whatever size your thinking now you're going to wish you went bigger in the future the more you use it and have yhings in there you will want to go bigger eventually just a matter of time so do it now rather then later
I’ve got a 25x40 shop with a 10,000lb atlas 2 post lift, 16 foot peak height. If I can suggest anything put a restroom in, I have one in mine and it is awesome
Yes definitely a bathroom and possibly a small shower my wife hates it when I’m all greasy and I come home greasy n nasty she wishes u could take a shower before I get home
I would go a little bigger then what you think bc we have a 40x60 and it’s packed also I would tho a lean to on the side and definitely do the back door
