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re: I'm building a Metal Shop
Posted on 2/22/26 at 7:17 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Posted on 2/22/26 at 7:17 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Don't know you, but proud as hell of you, baw. I don't have the knowledge or skill to do anything like this at all.
Safety first and keep us updated!
Safety first and keep us updated!
0
Posted on 2/22/26 at 11:09 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Just seeing this thread. Great work! Only thing that comes to mind you may want in there is some type of overhead lift/winch.
Posted on 2/23/26 at 6:42 am to BLM
quote:
Just seeing this thread. Great work! Only thing that comes to mind you may want in there is some type of overhead lift/winch.
I designed the trusses specifically to be able to add a gantry crane in there. It's not going to lift thousands of pounds, but some of my projects seem to run into the 200 - 400 lb range which is heavy enough that I can't just lift it up easily. The welder I believe is around 400 lbs and I move it in and out of my truck frequently. So I definitely need something to move a little bit of weight in there.
With a normal I Beam design without trusses, I was afraid to suspend much weight from the ceiling. The weight transfers straight to the joint at the peak, and pushes down to the walls outward. That's why I decided to build with actual trusses.
Really wish I knew structural engineering math. The trusses I designed I believe I could suspend 4 or 5000 lbs without an issue. I don't plan to do that, but my curiosity has me wondering what the failure point is. From what I've read, it seems that engineers are more concerned with deflection, more than failure. But I still wish I knew how much weight I could support safely. I have no clue how to go about finding an engineer that would tell me what I've done. Lol.
I've been working on framing the bathroom this weekend and getting the garage door working. I screwed the rails for the door to the frame this weekend and I'm going to have to slightly adjust them now. It got too tight in a couple of areas. I'll get more pictures added this afternoon.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 8:26 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Been a couple of months since I've updated the thread. Here are some random updated pictures.
The electrical in the whole building I would say is about 95% complete. Just need one more circuit for the microwave in the guest house, relocate the fridge circuit, and add a 10' run of wire for the bar nook. Lights are installed and hanging in the guest house now. Outlets are all terminated in the guest house also.
I've gone through 2000 feet of 12/2 Romex 300 feet of 10/2 and 375 feet of 6/2.
Air conditioner and ducting were contracted out and installed last week. It is a 2 ton 2 stage heat pump unit.
Water lines are all roughed in for the kitchen and bathroom. When I poured the concrete, I put a 2" PVC stub in so I could pull the water up into the building instead of coming up above the ground and T'ing into the building. Had to find a way to latch on to the pex and pull it through. Wanted a 1" line all the way to the water treatment area so I welded up the expanding contraption seen in the picture in my hand. The rest of the water lines are 3/4" all the way to the faucets.
The water treatment is a Carbon filter, water softener and inline filter. I'm waiting on a drain pan to come in before I hook these all up. Installed a tankless water heater as well. It required 3 40A circuits. That stung a little.
Insulation is the biggest expense remaining, and is the second most expensive part of this build. I didn't realize it was going to be $15k to spray foam this thing. So I decided to make a little extra money on the side a couple of weekends ago.
I was contracted to frame up a shop for another guy. Took 4 days to frame. Now I'm helping him with his electrical as well. It's a friend of a friend. He's in an HOA and he was worried about the HOA giving him grief about his building so he decided to skin it in camo. And sure enough, the nosie Karens in the neighborhood were posting on their neighborhood app asking why all the "commercial" vehicles were coming and going. But you physically cannot see the shop without driving down his driveway and down a hill.
The electrical in the whole building I would say is about 95% complete. Just need one more circuit for the microwave in the guest house, relocate the fridge circuit, and add a 10' run of wire for the bar nook. Lights are installed and hanging in the guest house now. Outlets are all terminated in the guest house also.
I've gone through 2000 feet of 12/2 Romex 300 feet of 10/2 and 375 feet of 6/2.
Air conditioner and ducting were contracted out and installed last week. It is a 2 ton 2 stage heat pump unit.
Water lines are all roughed in for the kitchen and bathroom. When I poured the concrete, I put a 2" PVC stub in so I could pull the water up into the building instead of coming up above the ground and T'ing into the building. Had to find a way to latch on to the pex and pull it through. Wanted a 1" line all the way to the water treatment area so I welded up the expanding contraption seen in the picture in my hand. The rest of the water lines are 3/4" all the way to the faucets.
The water treatment is a Carbon filter, water softener and inline filter. I'm waiting on a drain pan to come in before I hook these all up. Installed a tankless water heater as well. It required 3 40A circuits. That stung a little.
Insulation is the biggest expense remaining, and is the second most expensive part of this build. I didn't realize it was going to be $15k to spray foam this thing. So I decided to make a little extra money on the side a couple of weekends ago.
I was contracted to frame up a shop for another guy. Took 4 days to frame. Now I'm helping him with his electrical as well. It's a friend of a friend. He's in an HOA and he was worried about the HOA giving him grief about his building so he decided to skin it in camo. And sure enough, the nosie Karens in the neighborhood were posting on their neighborhood app asking why all the "commercial" vehicles were coming and going. But you physically cannot see the shop without driving down his driveway and down a hill.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 9:24 am to WhiskeyThrottle
you do nice worth brother. On that water heater I would have been tempted to go propane even with a 10 gal bottle.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 9:35 am to cgrand
quote:
you do nice worth brother. On that water heater I would have been tempted to go propane even with a 10 gal bottle.
Thanks man.
I went back and forth on it. The bathtub the wife wanted is a capacity of 81 gallons and she likes to take baths frequently. She won't be filling it up 81 gallons every time, but I don't know how much she'll actually use. There's so much conflicting information around efficiency and convenience. Decided to go this route and if it doesn't work I can change it up later.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 9:46 am to cgrand
I found a level that gets you insanely accurate. Brand name is stabila. Not exactly cheap, but I wish I had it when I framed my shop. A couple of the posts are not quite level and it's nothing anyone would notice, but it drives me insane. It's digital and prints out down to the hundredth of an inch per foot how out of level you are. We were able to get the posts accurate to .01 inch per foot.
Used it on the camo shop and that thing is about as dead nuts level as you can get.
I also bought a bosch laser tape measure. That thing saved me a ton of measuring on the shop I framed up as well.
Used it on the camo shop and that thing is about as dead nuts level as you can get.
I also bought a bosch laser tape measure. That thing saved me a ton of measuring on the shop I framed up as well.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 11:10 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Yes everyone should have a laser tape. The one I have you can take to the saw and cut to scary accuracy
Posted on 4/10/26 at 11:57 am to cgrand
I've had a 3 axis green laser for my barn interior buildout, i recently bought a cheapo 2 axis to use in conjunction with the other for hanging wall cabinets. I find the studs behind a particular cabinet and align the lasers on them then put the cabinet hanging cleat up with the studs still shown by the lasers, then finally the hold down screws when the cabinet is hung.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 1:49 pm to cgrand
quote:
Yes everyone should have a laser tape. The one I have you can take to the saw and cut to scary accuracy
I found it useful to measure distances between I Beams. It's trivial to complain about having to measure a 15' span but the damn tape measure always seems to slide off as soon as I get it to where I need. And like you said, it's scary accurate.
Posted on 4/10/26 at 5:15 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Really wish I knew structural engineering math
I know a dinky looking steel truss is extremely strong. Im sure theres tables available for round numbers. I used to know how to do this stuff.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 8:07 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Finally got insulation blown into the shop. That was a beating I didn't know how ready I was to pay for. They quoted a day and a half and ended up spending 4 days spraying. Had a little trouble with equipment but that didn't account or 2 extra days. I even told them this isn't just a square shop and they should come out to look before quoting but they said they have it under control. They were nice people and I'm happy with the work. But it was $16k and that check hurt to write for some reason. The walls were registering at 130 the days before they insulated. After spraying I haven't seen it get above 95 out there. I've been able to work for hours out there even at the heat of the day. Well worth it at this point. We had our first rain the other day and there is one area in the shop where I have water on the ground and coming from underneath the insulation so I'm going to have to find that sooner than later.
Progress points since last update:
Insulation done
Rough in water lines are all done now. I added a water and drain next to the front door in guest house for an ice maker. That area is going to be a bar nook and I'm debating on adding a little sink there also.
Septic is all vented now
Internet is now working in the shop. Hard lined internet from the house to the shop. Have some grounding concerns to account for now. Here's a thread on the internet setup if you're curious. Nothing too extravagant or complicated. Internet Thread
Electrical is all but finished. I need to run a wire maybe 50' to another outlet but I'm out of romex.
Drywall in the guest house is complete. Bathroom is still not sheetrocked.
Shiplap for ceiling is delivered and I've started staining it. Original idea was to apply stain with a roller, but that was a terrible idea. Got my wife's best kitchen towel and now I'm rubbing the stain in. The picture below is maybe 20% of the wood and took about 30-45 min to stain. Not bad.
Built an overkill shelf above the sink.
Water plant is all plumbed and installed. Carbon filter, water softener, in line water filter, and water heater are all ready to go and working.
Next up:
Shiplap ceiling in guest house
Sheetrock and finish framing shower and small wall in bathroom
Shiplap ceiling in bathroom
Trying to get the shiplap done in the guest house before moving to the bathroom because once I finish out the bathroom, I won't be able to get the scissor lift through the door frames and I don't want to work from a ladder in the guest house. Real first world problem.
Progress points since last update:
Insulation done
Rough in water lines are all done now. I added a water and drain next to the front door in guest house for an ice maker. That area is going to be a bar nook and I'm debating on adding a little sink there also.
Septic is all vented now
Internet is now working in the shop. Hard lined internet from the house to the shop. Have some grounding concerns to account for now. Here's a thread on the internet setup if you're curious. Nothing too extravagant or complicated. Internet Thread
Electrical is all but finished. I need to run a wire maybe 50' to another outlet but I'm out of romex.
Drywall in the guest house is complete. Bathroom is still not sheetrocked.
Shiplap for ceiling is delivered and I've started staining it. Original idea was to apply stain with a roller, but that was a terrible idea. Got my wife's best kitchen towel and now I'm rubbing the stain in. The picture below is maybe 20% of the wood and took about 30-45 min to stain. Not bad.
Built an overkill shelf above the sink.
Water plant is all plumbed and installed. Carbon filter, water softener, in line water filter, and water heater are all ready to go and working.
Next up:
Shiplap ceiling in guest house
Sheetrock and finish framing shower and small wall in bathroom
Shiplap ceiling in bathroom
Trying to get the shiplap done in the guest house before moving to the bathroom because once I finish out the bathroom, I won't be able to get the scissor lift through the door frames and I don't want to work from a ladder in the guest house. Real first world problem.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 12:58 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
The show of hands for regret of going with foam is pretty sparse. I'm cooling just under 2700' of barndo with 45% 12' ceilings 55% 10' ceilings with a 24k mini split. Takes 3 days to cool but will hold temp in every situation so far. You did right. Sucks about the leak, this was open cell on the roof I assume?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 1:04 pm to Wraytex
It's closed cell where the leak is in the shop. So there's that. I assume there is a screw hole in the roof that got missed somehow.
2" in the shop. The guest house has 6" open cell in the ceiling/roof and 4" on the wall.
2" in the shop. The guest house has 6" open cell in the ceiling/roof and 4" on the wall.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 1:33 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
Even with closed cell, it should be easy to trace the leak up the roof in the R panel channel/valley. Our guy gave us 10" open cell in the roof and 5 1/4" in the 2x6 walls.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 2:20 pm to WhiskeyThrottle
appreciate the update! looking pretty close in there! and are you doing shiplap in just the living areas or the shop part too?
Posted on 7/14/26 at 4:12 pm to Wraytex
Would have liked a little more insulation in the guest house, but objectively, the temperature inside the shop is identical to the outside temperature which is what I expect given I'm running the AC yet. This tells me the sun isn't heating the metal and conducting into the living space. Another saving grace is that the guest house is on the east side of the shop, so after noon, the guest house is progressively getting more and more shade. And in the evenings, the guest house feels pretty cool even without AC. So as far as efficiency goes, I'm in the shade during the hottest part of the day.
Posted on 7/14/26 at 4:13 pm to PistolPete45
Shiplap is just going in the living area and bathroom. I'll eventually put plywood on the wall in the shop up to the 8' mark and leave the rest exposed to the insulation after the 8' mark.
Posted on 8/17/26 at 8:15 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Latest update. The shiplap ceiling took me a few weeks to complete with my availability. Laid out the boards on saw horses and went to town staining. I could stain about 32 boards at a time before running out of room on the sawhorses. It took a bit to figure out trick to get the tongue to feed into the groove, but I was able to create a couple of jigs to help. I was able to do the ceiling entirely on my own. Use a block and wedge as one jig and then a jig to hold the opposite end up while I worked from the other side.
Wish I could use the AC out there but I don't have doors on the structure yet. And prepping the walls stirs up a lot of dust that I didn't want sucked into the return. So been I've been raw dogging it out there. Takes about an hour if I start at 7AM to be drenched in sweat.
Wish I could use the AC out there but I don't have doors on the structure yet. And prepping the walls stirs up a lot of dust that I didn't want sucked into the return. So been I've been raw dogging it out there. Takes about an hour if I start at 7AM to be drenched in sweat.
Posted on 8/17/26 at 9:09 am to WhiskeyThrottle
Thats awesome it looks great
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