Shop Build - How Tall Is Too Tall ?

[K. L. McReynolds]

The problem with the new growth framing lumber available today is the trees were grown so fast and cut so young, the resulting boards do not have the stability of lumber produced even 20 years ago. That means the longer the board, the more bend/wane/warp is happening, even with kiln dried lumber.

That means you will need to cull the bad boards, so buy from a store/dealer that will take back the bad boards. Might need to order 20% more boards than necessary to get enough fairly straight ones.

[fredhargis]

Well, 2 shops ago I had 9' walls. We moved moved and that shop had 8' walls. We moved again a year ago and i had the new shop built last Sept. with 10' walls. I've been doing the wiring and had to put in a partition walls to divide the building roughly in 1/2' I've got to say, the 9' walls are looking about right...10' is a little awkward to work on (bear in mind, I stand a towering 5'7"
). Still, after this is done I think I'll like the 10' walls....besides, the 12' ones will just take more: lumber, heat, insulation, etc. So I guess that's a long way of saying stay with 10'.

[BrentDH]

My first negative thoughts were as others have mentioned
 -  more volume to heat and/or cool
 -  lighting issues with them being too high  -   if you suspend them you kind of defeat the purpose of the high ceiling clearance
 
My first positive thought was:
I would really like to ability to store lumber vertically, but you can do that with 90+% of your wood even at 10'.  It would be so nice to get to the board you want without having to take the top boards off the stack first and find a place to put them temporarily and then rebuild the stack after you get the one you want.

I have just under 8' so I have no practical experience to comment from.

[Cecil]

You have lots of good advice re: heating, lumber quality, etc.  I will only comment on the roof.  You could reduce the pitch and save some overall height, but I live in the North-east, snow country, and I like a 12/12 pitch.  It is a bummer to lay, but that only needs done once every 40 or so years, assuming no moss damage, etc. A flat roof needs done every 5-8.  That has been my experience, FWIIW.

My 12/12 pitch roof, if I need to remove the snow, I can just drop a snow rake and pull.  I find that I climb and shovel the 6/12 pitch roof.  Further, I clear snow off the 6/12 nearly every year, but I have only cleared the 12/12 a couple of time in 20 years.

I don't know your location, but I am south of the famous Buffalo blizzards.  It is not unusual to see 18-36 inches dropped in a single storm.  On a rare occasion (once in my lifetime), we will even get 72 inches in a single dump.

[daddo]

12' with light tubes every 6' or so. Free light during the day.

[TomFromStLouis]

Daddo is thinking along the lines I am. My dream shop has tall walls with windows across the top letting in natural light. Take this thought of yours another step or two and you will be on the cover of FWW Tools and Shops issue.

[R Clark]

I have a shop with 12' ceilings.  Interior footprint is 25X44.  2X6 walls.  Concrete floor, insulated, propane heat.



I love being able to swing lumber and sheet goods around without worrying about hitting the ceiling.

I store long lumber upright.

I'll be installing ductwork for dust collection and it will be up high and out of the way.

Heat is provided by a 100K BTU propane furnace.  The furnace burns about 1.1 gallons per hour when running.  I've heated my shop for three seasons now for about $300 per season (40 degree maintenance temp, 65 degrees when I'm out there).

My vote is for 12 foot ceilings.

[EdL]

10' here, wouldn't change anything.

Ed

[MstrCarpenter]

My shop has 10' - 6" walls, (all the studs were the same length + shoe and dbl. plates) I've only felt the ceiling to be too low a few times; never too high. I don't think I would feel the same way if it was only 10'. I used 24' open web floor trusses, 13" tall, 19-1/5 O.C. and decked it all with 3/4 Advantec for a full attic. I have a 12/12 pitch, but it's on top of the attic floor, not on top of the wall. That gave me a few extra feet, but if I did it again, I would build the walls with 14's, and have a short knee-wall in the attic.

 
 B.T.W., I assembled "stick built" trusses (?) consisting of two rafters, a ceiling joist, and collar tie, flat on the deck. When they were all built, I just tipped them up, braced the top, and toe nailed them against the hurricane/rafter ties. By chance the 18' 2 x 10's were exactly 3-1/2" too short for a full plumb cut at the peak; perfect for a 2x4. My "ridge beam" is dbl. 2 x 4"s, which is what I used to space and brace the tops of the "trusses". The whole roof was framed with only a single 6' step ladder used to get up to the "attic" of the attic.

[Robert Adams]

Thinking about it more now after reading other responses...

       I would think about having an area that's 16' minimum height if you want to store lumber vertically  because lumber comes in 16' lengths and is often a little longer than that. 

        I like the idea of skylights however I am of the rule of thinking that roofs should have as few holes as possible in them. And the first hail storm you are worried about broken skylihhts...

          Heating will require a little more but cooling doesn't change much and actually is a benefit in many ways having tall ceilings. Hence why old houses in hot climates had high sceilings. 

           Enough room for dc pipe and other stuff up high so wrong in your shop doesn't feel like you are in an oil  refinery. 

          Also with high ceilings you can add ceiling fans. 


            So for me id say anything over say 17' it starts getting excessive however if it's taller you can put in racking and get a forklift...