My first project in years. Go easy on me.

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I have been reading posts on this forum for a long time. I decided it was time to register and get some input. I was taught basic welding in high school(Mig and Stick). After four years in the military as an aircraft mechanic, I got a job as a welder at a company that builds pre fab metal buildings(6 years ago). Did that for a couple of years and now I tig copper at my new job(well I did, but got a management job and no more welding). I have wanted a shop for some time and finally had the land and money to do it. After pricing some buildings and calling around for metal prices I decided to fab and erect my own. Its a 30x52x11. Heres what i have done so far. Go easy on me. Attached Images
Reply:You're gettin there. Nice sized shop. You need that roof on there bad ..."The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:yes I know, It hasn't rained here in about three months,lol. I try to work and It won't stop raining.(on my days off anyway)
Reply:Looks like the begining of a great shop.  I too took welding in highschool and loved every minute of it.  After highschool I joined the army as an mp after 7 years of active duty I ended up switching to the reserves.  Havent done much welding since highschool but I'd love to get back into it.
Reply:It's not done and I'm jealous.
Reply:What type of steel gets used for this, at one time I thought about putting up a lean-to.
Reply:what are those short ladders for? scale reference? that is going to be a wonderful HUGE workspace, congrats!
Reply:The metal is 14 gauge 8 inch c-purlins. I'm putting a 14 ft. lean to off the back side. Dug the piers today. They are easy additions. I'll post some pics of how i'm doing it. Those aren't ladders on the ends. Its framing for windows. I didn't have the end walls complete when I took the pics. Got them done today. I'll try to post some more pics soon.
Reply:jcaro10894- 8 inch c purlins run about 1.50-1.75 a ft. around here. z purlins are a little higher. Build you a lean to. That way you can keep stuff dry without taking up shop space.
Reply:Nice shop!   How thick is your pad?    I just built a 30 x 50 x 12 last year.  The city made me get a structural engineer design the concrete pad which I thought was over kill, and so did the city inspector when he came out to do the rebar inspection before we poured the concrete.  My corners required a 2' ft cube and the center purloins required a 2 ft wide x 4 ft long x 2 ft depth, plus the 12" wide by 18" depth perimeter and an 8" slab with rebar in everything....The city inspector asked what the heck was we going to park in it ? We said nothing, just a work shop…
Reply:Wow nice!!Ya gotta spend money to make money!
Reply:Wow,just wow on the pad. Way over kill imo. Mine is fiberglass reinforced 4000 psi concrete 5 inches thick all over. I think it took 27 yards. We dont have inspectors here. I don't even have a permit,lol. Its a small town. I didn't use rebar either. I just formed it with a transit to level, squared it, put down some 6 mil plastice and poured it. After 6 loads of chert and a load of gravel for the base. I know I'll probably get hammered by some people for not using rebar and digging piers and all that, but thats the way everybody does around here. Actually most people use 3000 psi concrete on 4 in for there pads. I know it could be better, but everybodys I have checked has held up well.
Reply:Welcome aboard first thing    Great size shop. How high are your doors And are you putting a 200 amp service panel for electric. Well looks real nice you will enjoy for years.      VernonHomemade Belt Sander "LINK"http://s795.photobucket.com/albums/y...Belt%20Sander/
Reply:Thanks for the welcome Vernon. The doors are 9ft tall by 12ft wide. Note to all people thinking of doing this; You have to have 18" of clearance from the top of your wall to the top of the door. I was going to put 10 ft doors on it until I started quoting doors. I had built the walls 11ft for a 10 ft door. Wont work. Maybe this will help somebody building a shop with side doors. And yes it will have 200 amp service in it,and a 15 ft long bar, a bathroom, kitchen, heat and air, a projector,and who knows what else.
Reply:Holy havent  done a project in a while it doesnt look like youve missed a beat that looks like a sweet indastrucdable shop.Hobart mega arc 250 Airco dipstick160 air liquide cutting torches arc air gouger and so many more goodiesIf you cant dazzle them with brillants baffle them with bullsh$t
Reply:Your two inside rafter sets are not big enough I beam by code. They should be 12" x 19# beam. Remember, they hold up the roof half way to the next rafter each way, unlike the end rafters that only hold up the roof half way in one direction and have more columns under them.Instead of the purlane at the bottom, you should have base angle anchored to the slab. It would have saved you some money and would make it easier to seal it up.Other than that it looks like you have done an excellent job.
Reply:Thanks drami. I second guessed myself on my welds after thinking about it for a few days. Thats just how I am. Its tornado season here and its still standing after two bouts of 60 mph wind gusts. I think its going to be ok.
Reply:Is it cheaper to go the steel route versus just doing a wooden shop?
Reply:Bob I understand that the two center breams are carrying 33% of the weight each and the outside beams are only carrying 16.5%. I'm sure its not code, but like I said I dont have to deal with inspectors. If you notice, I did weld stiffeners in the middle two beams, not that it helps alot. I may put collar ties on the middle two beams also. That said, someone is building a 40 ft wide building down the road with the same set-up. I've already told someone thats I wouldn't do it. We dont have to deal with snow much where I live so I feel confident it will hold, but really a 12 in beam, or rather two of them for a 30 ft. span? that would be good and strong, but imo quite more than needed. And as far as base angle it going on there in addition to what Ive done. Im usong it as a rat seal/purlin I guess you would say. I do appreciate your input, thats why I posted the pics. And I also understand about code. With my dealing with mono-rail cranes, they test them to 50-60% over recommended wieght, which is good. It is so cob-job contractors dont kill anybody. But thanks again for commenting.
Reply:I can give you a breakdown of prices if you would like. Steel is stronger, spans further, and erects faster. IMO, yes. Exept maybe a pole barn. I guess it just depends on what  you want and how long you want to keep it. Personal preference.
Reply:Great shop. I'm in the process of setting up my new one. Same footprint as your. I went with a 10 x 10 main door. Double swing. Was way cheaper to build the door with baltic birch plywood, lumber and rigid foam insulation than to buy/get one made. Like less than half the $!!!! Plus with the double swinger, I have no tracks taking up head room. Big plus. I built stick frame with sheathing and metal siding and roof. Looked into prefab steel buildings but stick built was cheaper and easier up here. I'll get pics up as soon as if get her looking presentable!Good luck with the build.200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:I am interested in a cost breakdown if you don't mind. I think about my dream garage every day and you just gave me a lot of bad ideas.
Reply:ok taiden,dirt and gravel(6x loads of chert and 1 load of crushed, washed gravel) 1300$2x6's for concrete forms 100$grade stakes and rebar 100$concrete 2500$concretefinishing 750$steel 4000$anchor and connection bolts $200vinyl windows 3 for $340spray foam 3200$Tin 3800
Reply:i'll probably have closer to 15-17k in it. you buy a lot of odds and ends you dont account for.this is before electrical and plumbing(which  I will also do)
Reply:Originally Posted by Wstmrlnd89639ok taiden,dirt and gravel(6x loads of chert and 1 load of crushed, washed gravel) 1300$2x6's for concrete forms 100$grade stakes and rebar 100$concrete 2500$concretefinishing 750$steel 4000$anchor and connection bolts $200vinyl windows 3 for $340spray foam 3200$Tin 3800agreed Rugar,When people tell me I cant do something it takes on a whole different meaning.Price goes out the window for me sometimes. Its a challenge and I like doing it.
Reply:Seems to me like a good price for the size. Whereabouts do you live?
Reply:northeast alabam.dekalb co.
Reply:I lived and worked in pine level alabama for about 1 year plowing telephone cable in the ground for a construction company out of wetumpka,alabama.That's all I could come-up with  other than I am jealous of your steel building,we're like you on the rain,haven't had a good rain since july,got an inch the other day,just not enoughLast edited by dugndeep; 10-28-2010 at 11:59 PM.Maxus Pro-125 MigChicago Electric 90 amp DC flux-coreLincoln Electric AC 225 tombstoneO/A torchM/O mini-torch10 acres of flatland15 acres of holler
Reply:Originally Posted by Wstmrlnd89639agreed Rugar,When people tell me I cant do something it takes on a whole different meaning.Price goes out the window for me sometimes. Its a challenge and I like doing it.
Reply:EC7five send me your address and I'll just show you that I can send you a hundred dollars! lol, J/k.. But thanks for the comments.
Reply:Great shop, please post more pics."The reason we are here is that we are not all there"SA 200Idealarc TM 300 300MM 200MM 25130a SpoolgunPrecision Tig 375Invertec V350 ProSC-32 CS 12 Wire FeederOxweld/Purox O/AArcAirHypertherm Powermax 85LN25
Reply:Here are some updated pics of my building. Ive just about got it ready to put on tin and insulation. I finally got my lean-to done also. Attached Images
Reply:Something about that shop doesn't look right setting on your property. I think it would be structurally more stable on mine.  Box it up, mail it to me and we'll do some testing. Is tha going to be tho big rolls of insulation? Sort of platic lined on one side?"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living and the get rich quick theory of life." -Theodore Roosevelt
Reply:Well I was going to get it spray foamed. It was going to cost 3200$. I have found some "double bubble" insulation ( looks like bubble wrap with plastic on one side and tin foil on the other) for 85$ a roll. So I think that is the route I am going to go.
Reply:Could you provide some contact  info or a link for this bubble wrap type insulation?I would like to increase the insulation in my shop roof, this sounds interesting.thanksGlen
Reply:Originally Posted by Wstmrlnd89639Here are some updated pics of my building. Ive just about got it ready to put on tin and insulation. I finally got my lean-to done also.
Reply:looks great, i live in t-town, built mine 20x40 several years ago with sticks wish i had used steel.  by the way keep the wife and kids out or it will not be large enough once she sees all that space clear and unused i am just now getting mine back from being a storage unit in the back but one yard sale and i have lots on room to work without moving stuff.timJust some stuff in my shop.
Reply:That looks good to me & as mentioned something you can be proud of. The trouble with just about any shop is that one day it won't be big enough!
Reply:Yeah. Ive done told my wife its off limits. @worntorn I got the insulation from Glen Hancock in Section,AL. I don't have his number on me but I can get it for you. They are 6ftx125ft rolls. I got enough to do my whole shop for $510. I think its seconds, but I can't see anything wrong with it.
Reply:http://www.ecofoil.com/All-Products/...ble-Insulation  Here is a link to the insulation you were asking about. This is not where I got it, but its the same stuff. You can see from the site a 6ftx125ft roll is about $285 new. So $85 a roll is a deal.
Reply:Thanks, I'll check this out.Glen
Reply:Nice building, looks great so far.  When I built my shop here stick framing was cheaper and easier to insulate.Did you compare the cost of pre-fab steel buildings to designing/buying your own steel?Will you be covering the spray foam on the inside?"The reason we are here is that we are not all there"SA 200Idealarc TM 300 300MM 200MM 25130a SpoolgunPrecision Tig 375Invertec V350 ProSC-32 CS 12 Wire FeederOxweld/Purox O/AArcAirHypertherm Powermax 85LN25
Reply:Yes I figured the cost of the two. The thing with wood is I was going to have to use to use trusses to span the width of the building. And I was going to have to use several of them. If I was going to do wood I would have done a pole barn. The pole barn may have been a little cheaper, but after thinking about it I decided on steel. Either way there wasn't a whole lot of difference. And a prefab building was going to be more expensive and complicated also. Most of the prefab buildings have the girts on the outside of the base beams and that eats up a lot of space. Plus with a bolted connection you dont have a lot of room for error.There is really nothing to doing one of these with metal, the way I did it anyway. I post some more pics next week of the insulation and tin going on.
Reply:as for spray foam, that was my original intent until I found this bubble insulation so cheap. If this insulation does not perform well I may get foam sprayed over it in the future.
Reply:ok i dont mean to critisize your work looks great so far but, i build metal buildings for a living, just an example my crew has installed about 100,00 sq ft in the last 6 months. i only have one coment and maybe i didnt see it in the pics but all our slabs we pour we set an 1 1/2 inch sheet ledge around the whole thing that way our sheet metal will not allow water to run under then you wont need a base angle floor stringer. i am sure you have done all your homework but make sure your first sheet is dead on level or else your sheets will not meet up right in your j trim around doors and windows. if you have any questions or need help with anything just give me a shout and ill help out as mych as possible but looks like your heading in the right direction. oh and just so you know spray in itch will make your building abut 75% stronger.
Reply:@weldinglead- I agree on the rat seal. I wish I would have thought about it when I poured my pad. I anchored base angle to the slab to seal off the tin. I already have all the tin on the walls and part of the roof, I just haven't posted any new pictures. And your last sentence, I'm assuming you mean spraying an inch of foam will increase the strngth of the building? I knew it would stiffen it up some, but I got such a good deal on the bubble insulation I couldn't pass it up.
Reply:no when i say itch im talking about insulation thats wat we call it and your bubble wrap your talking about we call it roll out itch. the spray is the easiest to do but for the money roll out is the way to go.  on a 30x40 with 12' walls roll out itch saves my customers about 2000 thats a lot of money considering they are already in it for about 15k