Cost of new shop?

[Aram]

Not sure if this is an answerable question, or if there are way too many variables. Either way, I'll learn something.

I just moved from California to Oregon. I'm renting now. I'll buy a home once my CA rathole sells. There are a lot of houses with land and shops out here. But suppose I buy a place and need to have a shop built. How much would I expect to spend? I'm looking for a rough idea, of course.

How big? I dunno, 20 x 40? Assume that it would be a standalone building, wired for 120 and 220, insulated, and heated somehow. Stove might be ok. ("Prototypes" could feed the fire....) Single story, maybe 10' ceilings. Let's assume I want a sink plumbed in also, though maybe I could forego that. A couple of windows would be nice. I don't know how to build buildings and anyway I'll have a full time job, so cost would include materials and labor. I'm sure there are a dozen other things I should be telling you -- you'll let me know.


Anyone want to make educated guesses? Could it be done for under $30k? $50k? I don't have any sense of these numbers.

Also, how long would such a project be expected to take, done by pros?

How does cost scale with size of the footprint?

Thanks!

[Robert Adams]

My shop is 20x40 and it's nice but if I were building it would be wider than 20. 20' is just too narrow and makes the shop shop a long hallway and tool arrangement is poor. 

      Mine was here when we bought the house. 2 years old when we got here typical metal building 2x2 steel welded 3 pipe welded posts insulated 2 garage doors and one man door. If I were to have it built it would cost quite a bit and rough number here would be 30k. If I were building it would be much much less and bigger.

[Ray Newman]

Have no idea about building prices. But the first thing I would do is go down to the local building department/permit officet and find pout about easements, set backs, maximum building size, etc.

[Steve N]

I had the Garage Mahal built in SW Ohio a few years ago. It is entirely up to your contractor. I ended up having 32x48 built, only bid that size. But I threw variables at every one of the MANY contractors I had bid it. First was standard pole barn, believe me, I thought I knew what that meant, but there are many levels of just a pole barn, many, and at many price points. On each I threw in I would like it to have a shingle roof, and vinyl siding, plus an 8' wide porch half the length of the barn, so 24'. Only 3 gave me all the bids I requested.

The guy that built it was an Amish guy who traveled the furthest of all the bidders, he did everything, including a poured concrete floor for $18.500.00 Awesome workman, never a question that went unanswered, or anything resembling a dispute. The next closest was a guy out of N Ky who was a metal dealer, and I always had a thought the metal was odds and ends from many different jobs. He wanted 26K, no floor, and was sketchy about who was to assemble the barn. All the rest were higher, some sounded very legit, but were just too high. I am related to two of the guys, evidently no fambly discount




That was the building itself, electric and drywall were extra, and I got hosed on them. I also had about $4,400.00 in site prep, and fill before we could start.

[Dave Diaman]

Aram, as Robert said you will want to go wider than 20' that will give you a lot more options for layout. A few years ago when I was looking at building a shop he I priced out a 30x40 pole barn with a concrete foundation. The cost for the basic structure to get me under roof and insulated was about $17k. I had planned to do all the electrical work, flooring and finishing myself. The heating and cooling was going to be done with a mini split system. The insulation I quoted was spray foam so it should have been really efficient to heat and cool. I probably would have put in a small wood stove too but with my business insurance that may have been a problem. I would think with farming out all but some of the finish work you should be able to do it for under $30k unless you want to get really fancy with the structure.

[fredhargis]

Had mine built last Sept./Oct. This was a garage builder, and I showed him where it went...he did the rest. It's 32x50, 10' high, 6" deep walls (for insulation value) and roof trusses on 2' centers, a 6' porch on one side that is 24' wide. Cost for everything was $35K. I had the 100 amp panel installed with some other work being done (don't know exactly what that part cost) and my guess is that's about $1500 for my installation. I did the interior wiring, and spent probably $1000 on wire, outlets, switches, wall plates and the other stuff involved. I've insulated the walls ($450), and I'm going to have the interior drywalled...still waiting on estimates for that part. After that I'll insulate the ceiling and install heat. Not sure about the insulation but I'm guessing the heat will be less than $1000 for a ceiling hung unit. The hidden costs are things like yard repair from the concrete trucks, permits (I only needed one form the township, $100), plus any inspections (I don't need any). I also spent about $500 having gutters installed, then another $75 for tile to run a drain tile from the gutters to the pond. The hiccup I had was the concrete guys really did a 1/2 arse job, but the framers were an Amish crew and really did nice work. I put a partition wall in to separate the building into 2 rooms, did that myself and it probably cost about $300, plus $300 for the 42" door that will be in it.

[YSU65]

Hobby ww'er here.  I had a 26 x 30 stand alone built after retirement.  Wonder wife, I married well!!  I think it was 25 -27 $K for tree removal, concrete pad, shell and service to shop.  50 amp sub panel.  1 1/2 stories.  10' ceilings, 6" walls and ceiling, R19 insulation in walls and ceilings.  I did the wiring, lights, insulation, and dry wall myself.  Friends helped with drywall, i finished and painted it.  Picked up a new propane mobile home furnace on C-list for $450.  

For the drywall, I figured out the best and fastest way to get it up with minimal butt joints.   I could tape and finish it with very minimal sanding because of previous drywall work in the house.  I also hauled up 4 x 8 sheets of Advan Tech myself to the second floor for the flooring.  (Heavy and clumsy, especially when you are 70, about 70 lbs/sheet.  But I got it done!)   

Insulation is very important for heating and cooling the shop.   Without the heat on for several days, it never drops below 32F even  shirt when outside temps are 0-20 outside.  Heats up quickly, and holds very well.  I am not out there every day, but I average less than 100 gal of propane a winter.  

There are big trees around the shop, provide shade in the summer.  I never need AC.  In fact, when it is 85 outside, I have to wear a long sleeve because it about 70 inside.  In fact, I can't even open  up the windows because I get condensation on the cast iron surfaces because of the large temperature difference.     

Good luck.

[teetomterrific]

I just wrote the last check to my contractor a couple of weeks ago for my new shop. More expensive than I would have liked but I had HOA limitations I had to adhere to, (all new construction of permanent structures must be the same exterior style as the home and must be built by a licensed contractor). The building is 24' x 36' with a 10/12 pitch roof, full attic, concrete floor and 10' ceiling. The price included all, gas, electrical, insulation, drywall and paint. The panel is 200 amp. I had all the wiring pulled through conduit that runs to the attic so I could change it later if I need to. All 110 wall circuits are wired as 12ga 20amp and multiple circuits alternate along each wall. Any individual 110 circuit can be converted to 220. I preplanned where I want to put machinery and had 220 circuits pulled on 3 out of 4 walls. I also had a 75k BTU Modine HDS enclosed combustion ceiling mounted heater included. The grand total including an 1800 sq ft concrete driveway was $51,400.


I just etch prepped the floor yesterday and I will epoxy it next weekend so I can give it a week of dry time. I will be using Epoxy-Coat 100% solids epoxy. This cost another $999.65.





Sketchup Workshop Plan with Dust Collection and Tool Layout - 118MB

Tom

[gjohn]

I am having a metal building on a slab built at the moment. It is a 30'x40' on a slab with a 20'x40' awning off of one side. It has a 16' side wall so that I can add a loft. It will be insulated. It will have a 12'x14' overhead door and a couple of standard doors. The location was not terribly level so there was $2K in extra dirt work. The total cost is $32K. This does not include electrical or plumbing or heating/cooling. The location is in North Texas so the Oregon price may vary quite a bit.

[Ray Newman]

Teetomterrific: nice looking shop! And having it match the  house deign will enhance your property/resale value!

Have a question on the epoxy -- will the epoxy floor become  "slick" from any sawdust on the floor?