New workshop build

[Wendelspanswick]

Still failing to see an advantage in using part of the old shop

It is useable for welding stuff together

Utterly hopeless for fixing a car due to height and space issues

The old shop IS NOT GETTING TOUCHED


If i had an unlimited budget i wold happily bin it but i have not got an unlimited budget

I agree with your thinking, I was in a similar position in our old place, the existing workshop was in a poor state so when I started to build a new workshop someone suggested I build it where the old one was.

Pro's:
None that I could see!

Con's:
Where do I store all my kit while I build new workshop?
Not being able to use my kit to build new workshop.
Old workshop getting in the way of setting out new workshop etc..

I just can't see any advantage in building a new workshop where the old one was if you have space to site it elsewhere.

 

[thinfourth]

And

I don't particularly like where the current workshop is.


And while i say it is pretty horrible

I am sure half of you would be utterly overjoyed to have the place i have

Just the scope for improvement is massive


So now we have settled on the old workshop is not getting touched


Could we please get it back on topic


If you were to build a workshop 7 x 12mtrs

how would you go about it?


And why?

 

[slim_boy_fat]

At the top of the slope it is on the concrete is 3 inches thick and you can see where the rain has washed it away

Sounds like some excavation might be needed to investigate the suitability of the site in terms of stability - you don't want your new build following the same fate as the old.....

From the wording in the quote, were you going to give us pics of the current set-up?

 

[brewdexta]

If I was going to rebuild mine I woukd pay more attention to heating and insulation. I used insulated panels for walls and roof but the base is concrete in a steel kingspan metaldeck pan. I would put under floor heating in at least part of the floorslab so I had a portion of workshop slightly warmer to work in and my better tools wouldn't suffer from condensation corrosion in winter. I would use an air or ground sourced heat pump to heat it

 

[Kent]

Actually when cash flow allows I am doing similar.

Here is my thoughts.

Build the bottom as if it were a new house. Top insulated steel panels on steel frame. Mesenine office to first floor Why? Because a change of use in future will make me around 3/4 million gross here at today's money

Sell up on retirement and move out of the eu if it's still going

 

[Kent]

If I was going to rebuild mine I woukd pay more attention to heating and insulation. I used insulated panels for walls and roof but the base is concrete in a steel kingspan metaldeck pan. I would put under floor heating in at least part of the floorslab so I had a portion of workshop slightly warmer to
work in and my better tools wouldn't suffer from condensation corrosion in winter. I would use an air or ground sourced heat pump to heat it

Forget air source up here. When you need the heat it will be at its very worst efficiency - might as well just heat it electrically
Most air source are reversed air con and don't give much life either
Ok for indoor pool area heating in mid summer that's about it

 

[brewdexta]

Forget air source up here. When you need the heat it will be at its very worst efficiency - might as well just heat it electrically
Most air source are reversed air con and don't give much life either
Ok for indoor pool area heating in mid summer that's about it

I thought the same until my brother run some holiday lets off of it, and he lives up in the north yorkshire dales. Wet underfloor heating, loads of insulation. He initially did geothermal for the first three lets and air sourced for the last one. He swears its cost efficient and he's a proper tight wad yorkshireman

 

[Kent]

I thought the same until my brother run some holiday lets off of it, and he lives up in the north yorkshire dales. Wet underfloor heating, loads of insulation. He initially did geothermal for the first three lets and air sourced for the last one. He swears its cost
efficient and he's a proper tight wad
yorkshireman

These are passive homes? You can Heat a good one with hardly anything at all
I also assume the let periods are the warmer months? This obviously adds up different on appliance life and exchange rates

Try it on a 12 months a year home
Ground beats it hands down ( provided the test period is done bob on)

Last winter we hardly had frost one previous wasn't much different. Though we recorded -27 a while back in the bad one with drifts over the roadside dry stone walls
On a workshop with big doors etc?

 

[Swift&Bold]

Would building the new one OVER it have any advantage?

 

[thinfourth]

Would building the new one OVER it have any advantage?

ONE single advantage

I would not have to put up scaffold in one area for reaching the walls

Apart from that

A massive pain in the ****

I have 2 acres of ground

Space isn't even vaguely and issue

 

[thinfourth]

Sounds like some excavation might be needed to investigate the suitability of the site in terms of stability - you don't want your new build following the same fate as the old.....

From the wording in the quote, were you going to give us pics of the current set-up?

That issue is purely down to the laziness of the bloke that built the shed

if you dig down 3 or 4 inches you reach very hard packed soil which is mostly rocks and clay and it isn't soft squidgy clay. its damn hard I can't make a mark on it with anything less then a 5 ton digger

If you want to go deeper then 2 foot then you are needing a pecker as we have had a 14 ton machine on site and it was NOPE you aint getting any deeper

 

[brewdexta]

These are passive homes? You can Heat a good one with hardly anything at all
I also assume the let periods are the warmer months? This obviously adds up different on appliance life and exchange rates

Try it on a 12 months a year home
Ground beats it hands down ( provided the test period is done bob on)

Last winter we hardly had frost one previous wasn't much different. Though we recorded -27 a while back in the bad one with drifts over the roadside dry stone walls
On a workshop with big doors etc?

He lets out the buildings 12 months of the year, generally busier in the warmer months but he still gets takers in Winter, some people just need their fell walking fix. He never gave me the details on which is most efficient however he likes both, I would assume the same as you with regards ground versus air in the north. I know the pipe density in the screed was very high to keep the water temp low. They are all dairy and byre conversions. He also has two chicken sheds converted into a craft workshop and retail space which I believe he also heats with one of the two sources, I think its air sourced too but I could be wrong, given its only occupied during the day that would make more sense. I'm going up to his farm in a few weeks, I'll ask him.

 

[Henrik]

Re heat pumps; a lot of houses in sweden are heated with air to air heat exchangers, and they supposedly work down to -15, so I think it will work basically anywhere in the UK.

 

[Kent]

I

Re heat pumps; a lot of houses in sweden are heated with air to air heat exchangers, and they supposedly work down to -15, so I think it will work basically anywhere in the UK.

Homes in sweeden are better built for extreme cold
Non the less efficiency drops rapidly with temperature - it cannot be avoided

 

[Wendelspanswick]

My current steel framed workshop is to be frank terrible

It leaks like a sieve, the walls rattle, the floors so badly laid the welder rolls itself away from the wall, the doors don't fit, its too cold in winter, it too hot in summer, its badly laid out.

Most of this is due to the idiot that built it not the fact it is steel

To rectify this it would need the following replaced

The roof, the walls, the frame, the doors and the floor which leaves erm not much

So plan B

Build a new one next to it

It will be 7mtrs wide and 10 to 12 mtrs long and high enough for a landrover on a 2 post lift.

I want it to be warm and light and generally a nice place to be


I am undecided on what is the best construction method

The budget is £15K but less is good

In the running we have

Block work walls and a timber framed roof with windows built into the walls and maybe some roof windows if eBay gods are kind

or

Entirely timber framed using portal frame

or

A steel building kit


So what are other folk thinking about what would be best

Have a look at my barn build, its a steel portal frame with blockwork infill and then it's going to be clad in timber.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/new-barn-project.54346/
I'm building mine from scratch but there are fairly cheap kits for sale on eBay if the sizes are correct.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152069633847

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252378497265

 

[Henrik]

Homes in sweeden are better built for extreme cold
Non the less efficiency drops rapidly with temperature - it cannot be avoided

This is true. I think basically at -15 or so it becomes uneconomical to run them, as the pumps use electricity etc for running fans etc etc.

 

[tinman123]

if it was mine and the ground was good id just dig out the size of the shed + 12" all the way round extra.
id lay down some hardcore, shutter it out with 6x3" and pour 30n 10mm chip for a base and power float it for a finish.
then id make my own shed out of rsj and use either timber or Z purlins at 16' or 20' spacing's.
id shutter my walls between the stanchions up to whatever height i wanted.
id clad it with 40mm insulated cladding ( you will find that ill be dear enough tack at 40mm never mind thicker stuff especially when you price the propper roof lights in it ).
it ill be warm and you could bolt the garage lift to the walls if you wanted to as they will be that strong, they will be waterproof too if done right.
and then id stick on an insulated roller door on it with a pedestrian access door as well.

it wont have any underfloor heating or frills like that but a small heater will warm it up on any cold day and it id be a lot cheaper to run on diesel than anything else given its a workshop.

 

[thinfourth]

Have a look at my barn build, its a steel portal frame with blockwork infill and then it's going to be clad in timber.
http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/new-barn-project.54346/
I'm building mine from scratch but there are fairly cheap kits for sale on eBay if the sizes are correct.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152069633847

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252378497265

I am liking those kits as it gives you the advantages of steel with wood

I am half considering a traveling gantry anyway which would need a hefty steel frame

 

[addjunkie]

Ive been through this over the last few years.

Considered steel insulated building. Cost of a kit wasnt so bad, bout the same size your talking, but if you go the insulated box profile route the price spirals. I went for a substansial wooden building in the end. Didnt insulate as every option i considered had pro and cons. I have partioned off my workshop end, with a ply lined stud wall, and access with freezer door curtain to stop dust. I have a log burner in the workshop end, heats up quick enough. My biggest regret was not making it a foot or so taller.

For the base it all depends what your going to have on it. I dug out a level base down to solid ground. Hard core base whacked in, the hired road forms, very easy to level up. Another regret not polishing the floor. It was jst floated, and annoys me now. Concrete is 6 inches thick i used rc35 think it was called with fibers in it. Should also have sealed the floor before it was built.

Helped a neighbour put up a steel building recently, there was just a concrete footing put in for each upright. The floor was poured once the shed was up.