Help build my shop

Wes Billups

Member
Messages
72
Location
Central Ohio
This is really premature as we don’t even own an acreage yet, see this post for details on the land.

My wife and I made an offer on some land last night and we were discussing our plan for the property. Ultimately we’ll be building a home on the land but that’s 8-10 years out due to our kid’s ages and our current home’s proximity to the elementary school (2 blocks).

My dream is to build a dedicated stand alone woodworking shop which would be 30-40’ from the house. The land currently has no utilities so we’d be laying out a lot more than just the building cost. My first question is regarding the construction costs. What would everyone guess a 35’ deep by 40’ wide building would cost in central Ohio? I’ve told my wife I think we can build an insulated building, run electrical, dig a well, and install a leach septic system to the shop for under $50,000. The utilities would be sized appropriately for both the shop and future house. I realize there are a lot of unknowns in all of this but for those of you who have done similar things, am I in the ballpark?

I’m looking for input/suggestions on the shop details. My preference would be for the shop to have a poured foundation below the frost line and a poured slab floor. One item is that the building must be easily convertible to a garage. We’d also like to consider a small living quarters above the shop but this is definitely optional.

Based on responses to this I’ll be posting a lot more questions in the future.

Thanks,
Wes Billups
 
Wes, my parents are sorta, (my mom mentioned it not sure what my dad thinks yet), considering doing something similar in the next year. Build a shop/garage on land and then live in their RV (and travel in it) while the house gets built. Putting a "studio apartment like room" in the attic would be a great option as well. Don't know about cost, but I'm sure others will chime in to help with your questions. Larry M. and Marty come to mind as members who recently built shops, and Tod E. just moved into an apt. built inside his shop.....loads of experience here. I'm sure there is an angle to poke fun at Ned B. here somehow, can't think of it right now.:D:wave:

This should be a long and interesting thread. :thumb:

:lurk::lurk:
 
First off - would you like to adopt me? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

35 x 40 - wow. That's a nice size. I'm with Jeff on this one - I'll be watching this thread closely.

Some things that would impact the cost - how much and what will you be doing on your own? Will you pay someone else for a turn-key building, or are you planning on a lot of sweat equity?
 
what happened to making use of the existing 33x40 pole barn?
I would think that making use of an existing structure -- if it is in good shape, would be miles cheaper.
 
I'm probably about 150 miles away, in NE Ohio. I'm guessing that from 'central Ohio,' you mean somewhere in the vicinity of Columbus, give or take fifty miles...

The septic will probably run you about $15,000 ~ 20,000, depending on soil conditions, and your county's requirement. It'll have to be sized for the size of house you intend to build (Hint: build a bigger septic that you think you'll need, in case regs change, or you end up building a bigger house than initially planned.). Here in Mahoning County, a three bedroom house requires two 1000 gallon tanks in series, and 1100 feet of drainfield piping. It takes almost half an acre to install. My neighbor put in a new system a couple years ago, and it cost him almost $25K, but that included removing his old (45 year) system, too.

Electrical run cost will vary, depending on the number of poles you'll need. I only needed one for a 200 foot run. Cost $500.00 four years ago. Wiring may or may not cost. Some utilities will run the lines - within reason - to the meter box on the side of the building at no cost, but others will charge you by the foot for it. Copper wiring is way up in cost lately, BTW.

Underground wiring runs will be entirely on your dime, and can get pretty costly.

Phone and cable will probably be run for free, assuming above ground runs.

City water, or a well? Either way, the cost will likely be several thousand bucks. The well will be more, since you'll need a pump, and maybe filtration and softening.

For the shop building - a pole barn could probably be done for around $20,000. Anything more elaborate will be upwards from there. A nicely done, Amish-built barn will likely cost around $25~30,000 in that area, and would make a much nicer shop than a pole barn.

Overall, I'd think $50K for all might be a bit low. $60K might be closer.

Good luck with having your offer accepted! You'll love getting out of the city!
 
recipe!!!

Take lots of money ,even more time and then add more ideas, which makes it thicker and then let set till it rises,, knock it back down rethink and then build but will change as you go.:rofl:
 
For all that your looking to do, I'm pretty sure $50k would be low, even if your doing some of that work. Some of those costs could widely vary depending on the land you get (i.e. extra length on the leaching field, how deep for the well). Could help to ask when your looking at land to see if a perk test is on file with the county and ask the neighboring properties how deep their wells are. Let us know what you find...will be watching the thread as well...
 
what happened to making use of the existing 33x40 pole barn?
I would think that making use of an existing structure -- if it is in good shape, would be miles cheaper.

Wes said:
I’m currently trying to get some more details on the cost of getting a well and electricity on the site. We’d like to do this sooner rather than later as there is an existing 33 x 40 pole barn on the land. Our plan would be to use the barn for storage and in a couple of years move my basement shop into the building. After this is all setup begin the house construction.

Looks like that WAS his plan... Can we assume "building a shop" just means turning the existing pole barn into the shop...building it out? Maybe Not?
 
ok jim delaney is right on cue,, with his break down.. one thing i will add here tho is if were to do it again i would go with a wood floor, the cost i had in the concrete and the extra thick footings and such would have gave me the wood floor. and then you can get at every thing from underneath. and yes you can make it tough enuff to hold vehicles.. the electric in my opinion should be in conduit,, not romex. easier to change and better. the well is a nice thing and the restroom by all means!!!!! its get further away each time in the winter,, and sometimes i wasnt sure i was gonna make it but i am older than you so your a ways off from that part:rofl: feel free to ask anything you want and i will do what i can to ablige.. good luck and have fun..i have never looked back with regret.
 
Wow, thanks for all the posts so far. Since these types of threads have historically been my favorite it's kind of nice to be on the other side?

I forgot on the acreage thread about the pole barn. We realize it would be great for a shop but the location is such we can't seem to make it work with where we want to put a house. So our initial offer really doesn't take the value of the barn into account. We'll probably end up taking it down ultimately and rebuilding it near the back tree line for a tractor and other items.

I should have also mentioned I've talked to the neighbor who just built last year and his well was $4000 and septic $11,000. I was planning on about $20,000 for the utilities side and then $30,000 for the building. I'd plan on subbing out the foundation/poles then doing everything else myself. Anyone know what a poured foundation and 5" slab would cost for these dimensions. I'd love a wood floor like Marty's but think potential resale could be a problem plus my shop tends to be multipurpose, woodworking/metal working/mechanic work.

Thanks,
Wes
 
wes, i`m afraid your budget is unrealistic...50k might get you access, a well, septic and maybe the foundation......talk to contractors locally, talk to equipment rental yards and see what you`re able to do to provide sweat equity.....i`m guessin` but frostline in ohio should be 36" or more and excavating for footings, septic and power might cost a chunk?
 
your gonna be lookin at around 1K for the trenches and grading, and like tod said then comes the rest of it. take your sizes to t ayard and they wil figure up the materials for ya. then figure in what you can or cant do and then get estimates on that..
 
When we were going to build 4 years ago, I had Morton quote me 25K to put up the shell of a 24x32x10 shop with steel siding and a shingle roof. It included the concrete inside and an apron by the overhead door and man-door as well as insulation but no interior finish over that because I was going to do OSB and that wasn't an option they offered. It might have included the ceiling but I can't remember and it included a couple windows. No utilities. I also priced building it myself with a vinyl sided exterior and I want to say it was in the $10K range plus concrete.

Both were pole buildings. Here (only 3 hours from you) I believe you need a 42" footer for a traditionally framed building. The concrete costs are huge, so everyone builds pole barns here becuase all you need is a short "rat wall" underground in addition to the slab. I've even seen attached garages built as pole barns. Insulation is a little more difficult and usually you end up framing up the openings between the poles but its not a terribly expensive proposition. Or you could have it sprayed with foam.

BTW, you can move a pole barn. You might look into that before tearing down the old one if it is servicable. Even if you don't use it for a shop, you can always use more storage space for all the "stuff you need out here". I believe the way its done is to cut all the poles at ground level. I'm assuming you either bury new poles and connect them to the old ones, or use those metal brackets on top of a pier like a deck but I'm not sure. I remember a thread on the TractorByNet forum about someone who did this.
 
.....i`m guessin` but frostline in ohio should be 36" or more and excavating for footings, septic and power might cost a chunk?

I'm a bit North of Wes, but you're right. Frost line here requires 36" depth for footers.

Septic is expensive, too. $15~20,000 for a basic system for a three bedroom house is typical. Wes may need a bigger system if he's going to add the shop/barn into the septic.
 
For the life of me I can't find it on-line, but I read and saw pictures of a beautiful shop built over a 4 or 5 foot deep "basement" where there was room for wood storage, dust collection "pipes", and access to electrical lines to pop up through the floor in case equipment found a better place in the future.

The shop stayed exceptionally clean, and the basement access was a nice sized trap door.

take a good look at chris rosenberger's shop in smc shop tours its a ways back but it is what you describe been there myself and seen it first hand,,:thumb::thumb:
 
I’m not completely against a pole barn as my last shop was in one end of one and for the cost they can’t be beat. The issues I have with them is you end up spending so much money and time finishing off the interior walls. Plus they are really difficult to insulate unless you use the spray foam which then means you’ve got to frame up the interior walls. Plus I want to make sure the siding matches the house which will be lap siding, probably cement board.

A few years ago before we bought our current house I got a quote for the structural insulated panels. If I remember right a 24’ x 40’ building was $20,000 which included the walls and roof panels. This only included materials but the salesman said it’s really a diy job to put them up. What does everyone think of these for a shop? I really like the idea of a well insulated wall that would only need paint on the interior. I’ll call today and try to get some quotes on a foundation and slab. From what everyone is saying this may be the single biggest expense which may make a pole barn the best option and I could use the existing one which would make it even more reasonable.

Thanks,
Wes

P.S. Any links would be appreciated as my searches bring up tons of info which I’m slowly working through.
 
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