In floor heat. Great in the shop on cold Northern Wisconsin winter days. The floor is warm when you lay on it.

Must haves include Refrigerator, Microwave and TV to watch Packer games.

 

For me you have the 'have to haves' covered with the gas, water, electric and concrete floor. You haven't said what the barn was made of. When I was building my 30x30 pole barn, I was told to go with a sheeted and shingled roof to keep the noise from rain from driving me insane, as well as thicker T-111 siding to help keep it warmer inside. Also, a clean storage/work room inside somewhere is nice to have as well as upstairs storage. But you can add that stuff when you are putting in the lift.

 

Put an insulate plastic sheet under the pad. I had that done when my pad was poured

 

Is the ceiling high enough for a lift??

 

Ceiling IS high enough for a lift!

 

"Put an insulate plastic sheet under the pad."

What the heck is that? Never heard of it. Pardon my ignorance.

 

I'm a few days away from starting my barn. 40x60. I'm going 10' ceiling in the 1st 24' and then 12' for the rest. The 10' area will be a "clean work Area" and the 12' area will be storage. The 12' area was planned for the post lift that my buddies are supposed to buy. I'll believe it when I see it.

I'm so excited, I can't wait. I keep going out there and looking at all the stakes in the ground and image all that room. I've been working in a single car gargage under the house for the last year. SWMBO can't wait for the noise and the smells to stop coming from that "MESSTANG"

 

Visqueen-thin plastic rolled material that keeps moisture from coming up thru the concrete. Common in crawl spaces & such.

Must haves-urinal & a wife detector ,
Sounds like you got a nice building planned.Congrats

 

Metal Barn - Metal roof
However, This is not a "Menard's Special". I went to a friend of mine at a smaller lumber yard, and she designed it. I told her it had to be insulated in the roof to keep condensation from forming. I never thought about the rain. Hmm. And, it's actually going to be a stick building instead of an official pole barn. I'm told this will help with the insulating. I'm also told the plan calls for the building to be sheathed. This is a bit more costly in labor, but should be better insulated and stronger. Again, my ignorance is showing.

I will copy all this down, and go back to the designer.

Thanks,
Brian

 

What kind of lights get somthing that gives you plenty of light in there.
what about a phone you dont want to have to run into the house full of grease to answere the phone.
could you just tip the floor a little to let the water run out instead of puting a drain in ( the first thing you drop is going to fall into it)

 

Insulation and heat? If so consider radiant heat for your slab. A good way to save money - DIY - http://www.radiantec.com/ This is what I'm putting in my basement and garage in my new house. The warm temp stays at floor level where you actually are doing your work. Saves bigtime on utilities.
I have a buddy that has his garage 55 degrees. When you're in there on a 15 degree day, the floor is something like 70 degrees. A very comfortable and energy efficient work enviroment.

Don't forget to make it tall enough for a future lift. They require about twelve feet clearence. You also need at least 6" of concrete where they bolt to the floor.
Don't think a lift won't be in your future. They are getting more and more affordable every year. SWMBO bought a refurbished one for me for $1000.
After watching me cut a rear axle out with a sawsall, with the car rattling around on jackstands, she said it was the cheapest insurance she could buy.

P.S. No she doesn't have any sisters *G*

Dan

 

I don't know the layout of your land, but if you're considering a drain--which is a great idea--now's the time to plan for it while you're having the slab poured. You could always install the drain and allow for pipe from the drain past the dimention of the slab, cap it, and then connect to the septic tank a bit later. In the meantime, you could cap off the floor drain also and not use it (obviously) until it's connected. In any case, unless you're garage is a long way from the septic tank or there are some other problems, the cost should not be that great.

 

If your roof and walls are sheathed prior to the metal roof and siding, you are as good as gold. Also, you may want to be sure you put gutters and down spouts to keep the water from working its way in. Lastly, the old 'rat wall' debate. It is said a vertical wall 4-6" wide and 24" or so deep, around the preimeter or the floor will prevent rats, ground hogs... from digging under and through time causing the floor to crack and cave. I had every opinion given to me on this. I only went down 8-10". We dug it really quick right before we poured.
You will love the space you'll have, I wish mine were that size.

 

I built mine outside of Milwaukee last fall, and definately needed a good heat source if you are going to work from Dec-April. Mine is only 1/2 the size, but my ex-Brother in law just did one, and without some kind of ceiling, all the heat went right up to the top - he was considering some kind of paneling or drywall to keep the heat down where he was working.. Good luck!

 

Oh yea. Now I know what you mean. It threw me a bit when Paul said "insulate plastic sheet"

Thanks.

 

Ok I have to give my 2 cents here .
Do not , I repeat do not run the drain pipe from the garage directly to the septic system, the greasy , dirty water will cause you much greif with your system down the rd.
what you have to do is install a seperate tank before you tie into your regular system. The tank will allow the solids to drop out and the grease and oil from entering the septic system.
I am going to do some estimating here but if you have just a 1000 gal tank installed you are looking at around $600.00 for the hole and tank.
By the way , this tank is what would be called a grease and sand trap .
You can actualy buy these from a plumbing supplier , there are smaller in scale and it's something you would be able to install your self.
The one I think you would need would measure about 24"x24" x 12" deep. Thses things are sized by the amount of water that would flow threw them. They cost about the same amount as the other set up I meationed.
If you want or need more info, PM me.
Good Luck.

 

I built my own pole barn and installed floor drains that simply pour out the back of the building. It's just water. You're not going to hook a commode to it.

I also installed Lexan skylights, and blanket instulation sandwiched between wood and siding. Cheapest time to do that for sure. Don't fool yourself thinking you'll insulate "next year".

Think about putting some poles down the center so you can build a loft for storage.

Look into metal roof trusses. They are no more expensive than wood, and offer more headroom for the loft storage.

Enjoy. Here's a picture of mine:
http://www.knology.net/~dorner/images/garagefinished.jpg

 

I figured I could worry about the lights after it's up. I thought I would just pitch one side of the floor, where I plan on doing any washing.

 

No nails to fasten the tin to the roof, make sure they use screws.
Nails will tend to pull themselves out over the years...

 

Possibly a floor drain, but that would require tapping into my septic

Pass on that....whatever might go down a garage floor drain is overwhelmingly not good for the health of a septic system. Covert installation of a French drain (if code does not allow it) might be an alternative. Otherwise, no drain or a recycling system would be in order. Can you tell I live in California? *G* I also have two septic systems on my property, one for the house and one for the shop.

As to the rest of the project.....flesh this out completely before proceeding. You're talking about a lot of money here. Planning errors/omissions now can be very costly down the road. This type of project should have a general contractor if you are unable (or don't have the experience) to oversee it and manage the different trades and inspectors.

The complexity of doing this right is why I bought a property with a building (including electrical and sewer) already in place.

On the face of it, I would establish a budget of between 40 and 60K for the project you envision to get you a complete bare building with electrical, plumbing and essential fixtures, including the outside concrete work. You can add your personal touches as time and finances allow.

I would concur with those who recommended radiant hydronic floor heat and a sub-slab vapor barrier. Well worth the cost, considering your location, IMO.

Good luck!

 

The problem is getting my township to pass the inspection. I don't think they would let me put in the drain, run it out the side, and cap it, with the PROMISS that I connect it to my septic sometime in the future. Already been thought of though. My buddy suggest I run it out the back, buried, and let it run out my back 2 acres just like I have my downspouts. After all, it's just water. It's not like I'll pour motor oil down there. He said I could block off the drain, put a skim coat on top, and park my car over it during inspection.

The barn would be about 200 feet from my septic. But all great points that I will eplore. Thanks

 

Never thought of rats! I will have to deal with mice though. There's a pair of Hawks nesting at the creek at the back of my land. They keep a close watch on everything that moves. Or should I say, that resembles a meal. My sister brought her dacshound(sp.?) over last year, and the Hawks started circling.

Thanks

 

I agree with what you said , but like I was saying in my previous post , it can be done and done properly and not cost an arm and a leg.
Having the ability to wash your vehicals and wash down your floor is something you will never regret.
There is very little maintance with a premade grease/sand trap. They are made to be very accessable and can be cleaned out by the home owner when ever it becomes neccessary. Disposing of the crude is no more difficult than getting rid of waste oil and we all have that to deal with.
My attitude here is at least put in the floor drain and allow your self the option for the future desire , that will only cost about $50.00 .
Nothing you can lose there is there?

 

Trust me you will have more than water going down that drain , no matter what you think now edventualy there will be undesirable liquids going into the dang thing !

 

Well I'm sure SWMBO will be thrilled to spend a couple of thousand extra dollars so I have a warm back.

BUT, if I could sell it to her as a cheaper way to go. Maybe combined with solar panels, it could be cost efficient.

I'm only about 30 miles north of Milwaukee, in Belgium. Of course, up here the farmers laugh at me calling my little shed A BARN. They say, "if you can't drive a Combine into it, it ain't no barn."

How reliable has radiant floor heating got? I have this fear of busting a leak while it's in the concrete.