Started breaking ground tonight for a brand new shop. It will be 48' x 60' when it is finished, and the barn in the pics will be torn down (thing is about to fall in anyway)

pic 2

Pic 3 (you can see the septic tank in the background and the laser level we are using to plumb it up. Ground was pretty level. Only 4" difference in any given spot.

Concept drawing of the shop

Sorry, pic was done with MS Paint. Don't have the luxury of photoshopping it. It will have two front bays and one in back. Still debating about putting a pit in for underneath work....

Might as well get it all at once. I think that would be something great to have.

quote:

Originally posted by semo03hemiram:
Sorry, pic was done with MS Paint. Don't have the luxury of photoshopping it. It will have two front bays and one in back. Still debating about putting a pit in for underneath work....

Or you could put in a lift if you have the room either the 2 or four post type http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=94781

Thought about that. But they are just so darn expensive...Cheapest one I have seen that is good quality is like $4500. Thanks for the link, but I don't like Harbor Freight.. That lift doesn't look like it would hold a truck to me..

Very cool, Duane! That barn looks familiar. Is that on the same property as your house?

Pretty cool Duane

That's gonna be sweet!

I know it's always easy for someone else to say "Hey, put this in" or "Make sure you do this" but you're the one that's gotta pay for it. BUT anything that you could possibly think of now and could afford, do it.

Good luck with your project!



Pup

Congrats on new shop!

Congrats!!! Duane

Hey D, you remember the lift in my shop right? It was only 'round $900 from Snap-On, and it lifts more than my dad's crew cab dually. No posts to mess with or anything.

quote:

put in a lift or putting a pit

it's cheaper do do it now rather than later. prices only keep going up. still going to be sweet having a shop that big.

quote:

Originally posted by semo03hemiram:
Thought about that. But they are just so darn expensive...Cheapest one I have seen that is good quality is like $4500. Thanks for the link, but I don't like Harbor Freight.. That lift doesn't look like it would hold a truck to me..

Just putting the idea out as with a lift (not necessarily that lift) you could install after if you plumb for it and include the footing under your slab. I was a project engineer / gereral contactor and it's best to plan ahead on anything you may plan to install in the future as for a pit there are several considerations to take into account safety, water table and drainage. The cost to form, reinforce and pour the pit if using stem walls or footings for CMU. I know it's easy to say put this in or that but a little fore though can save you money and headaches in the future good luck on your project and wish I was zoned and had the set backs to put my own shop in where I live.

quote:

Very cool, Duane! That barn looks familiar. Is that on the same property as your house?

Why yes, it is Dave. I have 5.5 acres here to play with...

quote:

Hey D, you remember the lift in my shop right? It was only 'round $900 from Snap-On, and it lifts more than my dad's crew cab dually. No posts to mess with or anything.

No sir,I don't, but I will check it out when I come over the 11th/12th. Is is a floor lift or a post lift? I was looking at one of the ones that mount to the floor that lift it up like a jack.

quote:

as for a pit there are several considerations to take into account safety, water table and drainage.

Yea, that is going to be the biggest problem with a pit, the water table. It is so high around here, you can dig 6-8 feet and hit water, some places even less. Friend of mine hit water at 4 foot! Grrr....

Well scratch my idea of my lift. Someone PM'ed me about it, and I looked it up... yer right D, $4k. This is what we bought maybe 10 years ago for $900. 'Cept ours lifts well over 6500. The weight of the F-350 alone is around 9,000lbs, and it's sat on it over night before. With a pit in the next bay, there's really nothing else we need.

D, bigkum is very very very right. Ya don't build a shop like that with intentions of doing things later. Especially if you have a pit and lift in your plans. If there's a reason why ya can't dig a pit, that's one thing, but if you can, do it now, you will NOT regret it.

My pit is studded cement with 12" thick walls and floor. Not a single crack in over a decade. There's a hole at the opposite end of entry where a simple water pump sits feeding up a PVC pipe that was routed through the cement to outside the shop.

But kum is very right. Planning for it now and footing the bill for it now will save you thousands, maybe 10's of thousands later. No joke.

Yea, I am going to try to put a pit in one stall and add extra concrete in the other one for a lift if I can afford one later.