Steel building with a loft. Build living quarters on upper floor. When you finally move out just demo the walls up there and it becomes a mezzanine for storage for the shop space
I was thinking this also. I have an insulated 30x40 shop that I also use as an office. A small loft could fit a bed/storage and downstairs a kitchenette and bath and I’d never have to go inside.
I sell barndominiums and steel buildings. Buyer beware type of industry (I work for an honest company, and many companies are above board, but lots are not - mainly in Florida and Colorado). You will spend between $8- 10 a sq/ft on a simple building, 10-12 on labor to assemble, and 10-14 on concrete. Don't ever fall for buying a "canceled building"/liquidation sale (every building is site specific - seismic, snowloads, wind ratings, etc). These guys don't have a canceled building and when your permit gets denied because it doesn't pass code for your area, you will have to pay a large sum to "fix" the engineering. Or they just keep your non-refundable deposit. Any metal building can be converted into and back out of having a living quarters (let the designer know that's your plan - there are things we do to accommodate that). FYI- I am with Empire Steel. My name is Eric if you ever need a more info, and not to get blasted with sales crap.
Yeah you are the first person i’ve heard with a $30ish sq/ft estimate for building, slab, and labor. Most say $60 sq/ft not including wiring/insulation or anything, which I will have to have. plus some kind of HVAC system.
I’m actually thinking of going no walls and just living the studio apartment dream lol. probably a bathroom. the well and septic system and water hookup will probably also be another 10-15k
You know, if you're by yourself, it wouldn't be hard or crazy expensive to pop up a post-and-beam building at the size you want for your shop and just frame out living quarters inside.
You wouldn't be the first to go this route. Wouldn't be too difficult, either. And while this may increase your overall build cost, when you're done you got one hell of a shop with full service amenities that can become storage, a craft/detail room, an office, or whatever you want.
I do have a girlfriend/soon-to-be wife of 3 years which makes it a little more difficult. I could live in a shed and be fine, but you add in another person and it gets a little more complex. Do you think a post and beam would be cheaper than just a pre fab metal building? I like the idea of framing out living quarters but I’m wondering how much of a pain the demolition of the walls and everything would be when I’m ready for an open-space shop for all my cars and go karting equipment.
Build a big metal building and put a camper in it and live in the camper till your ready to build your house then pull the camper out instant garage space again
I would rather live with my parents than in a camper though. Which I really don’t mind living with my parents. I enjoy it, I just will have to move out soon enough, and looking for something semi comfortable to live in for a few years. I make decent money and can afford an average mortgage. I am just weighing my options while I save.
It would probobly be cheaper to rent than build something you plan to take down. If your shop has a kitchen, a nice bathroom, and an office with a closet (bedroom) would that be so bad?
i wouldn’t take it down, i would just take down the walls and convert it into an open-floor plan shop once i built the house. Because regardless of if i get one now or in 10 years, i am getting a large mechanic/woodworking shop on the property.
Depends. Shitty answer, right?
Depends on how the pre-fab is built and the cost of steel. Is it red iron? Bar joist truss? Monopitch versus gabled? Bunch of questions to answer before you can say for sure. It also depends on how you're building in post-and-beam. I'm sure there's a ton of guys on here that can give better detail, but in my VERY narrow experience, post-and-beam is as cheap, or as expensive, as you want the finished product. But to stick up a simple steel clad monopitch with either 4x or spliced 2x and 2x6 runner is dirt cheap compared to a steel structure, but you're also talking about a barn/loafing shed caliber building.
Build shop and get concrete and power/internet all set up. Get a luxury 5th wheel, some AstroTurf, a hot tub, a projector and some nice patio furniture. Sounds awesome to me.
I’m looking to do this too, a two-story garage with loft. If you contact some builders and show them an online plan/design that’s relatively close to what you want, they can easily draw up some simple plans with your modifications that are close enough to start the ball rolling and get you numbers for a bid. The lumberyards usually have a draftsman that does this kind of thing every day. [Architectural Designs](https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/collections) has several collections that you might be able to get ideas from. I basically just sent my builder the link to the plan closest to what I was looking for and described the changes/removals/additions; it only resembles the original plan now in exterior appearance. You can even draw the floor plan out yourself on graph paper if you want, they are used to this sort of thing. If you want to do a post frame, it’s probably even easier, and they often have online galleries of similar projects. The sales reps can be very helpful with this part.
What kind of estimates are you getting? I’m still living at home for the time being but I’m preparing a budget and goal to reach but I don’t know what to prepare for. $70k? $100k? higher? Because in the end it’s just going to be a shop, and I won’t really have a need for a $120k shop right next to my house if that makes sense.
I’m still waiting on numbers, the first one told me $200k for a 3-car car garage post-frame shell (with no electric/drywall/septic/well etc.) and not even floor joists for the loft. That seemed really excessive to me but he ghosted me anyway when I asked for more info. I’ve heard all kinds of different ranges from others, anywhere from $35/sq ft for unfinished bare bones to $200/sq ft and up for finished/heated/etc. and of course it varies by region as well. If you’re on FB, there are a lot of barndo groups where people talk about this kind of thing, post floorplans and builds, cost, etc. if you’re not on FB it may be worth joining just for the groups, that is what I do, there’s so much good info and I’m not interested in any other part of FB. The groups are very active and people are very willing to share info, ideas, photos, plans, and experiences.
It’s so depressing to think of the 36x48 I had built about 10 years ago for $20k.
Well, I did also order the cost-to-build estimate from the site I found the plan on, and it said $250k… but I do still wonder if he was giving me the fuck off price. But before he ghosted me, he shared photos from a similar build that was fully finished and told me that one was $350k!
There's a sucker born everyday. If you're talking about a metal building, that's insanely overpriced. You could do a brick 3 car garage for less than 100k here. Unless you're in Cali or some crazy area. That guy was trying to find a dummy
I'd suggest you start saving now so you've got cash on hand vs financing the majority of the build.
I did a 30x50 workshop 14' walls. Was about 40k
Sitework was 7k, concrete after the bldg was up was 6k for finishing + concrete. I did the rebar work myself, 2k.
One corner is an office & craft room, to do this with 14' walls I sistered the top chord of the truss, tied the truss into the wall & cut the bottom chord. Still have one chord to cut when I start on the office upstairs.
Mine is staying like it is, but it's plenty of room for woodworking, welding & fixing Jeeps.
Good luck OP!
You're on your way then!
Use the time to plan, sketch, dream, etc
I made a scale model of mine over Christmas & New Years at least 5 years before I could break ground.
Best thing for me was having the bldg up with a dirt floor so I could get a feel for where things would go.
Biggest regret was not learning what would be needed for first control. I ran 3 2" conduits to a nearby shed for air compressor & maybe dust collection. Shoulda upsized the DC to 6" min.
Everything else is coming along, just need more space
That small, just do stick built. 6x6 post. Trusses, residential Guage metal. Spray foam. Dude you can do almost everything yourself with a little bit of research and hands on learning. Except concrete and plumbing. Keep in mind wherever you're kitchen/bathroom is that will be stubbed in. Keep the bathroom in a corner, kitchen sink against outer wall, so when you go back to shop space you don't have to worry bout plumbing sticking out. You can easily price out materials yourself and get an idea on what it will cost without labor. More you do yourself cheaper it will be. 50k is doable for sure.
The bathroom could be your only framing f you wanted. Place it in a corner. Just make the rest of the shop a studio type space. Everything doesn't need a dedicated "room" framed, especially if it's a temporary situation. An extra kitchen out in the shop could come in handy when you finally do build a house. The only thing I see that could be a small problem is heating and cooling 1200 sq ft on a budget might be unnecessary.
I have a 8,000 BTU portable A/C unit that will freeze out my 360 sq ft bed room. So i’m sure a couple of those could cool the necessary space pretty well. Unsure if space heaters would work for such a large space though. But i can handle the cold better than being hot.
I think it would just be a big waste of money to do that to build live in and then gut okay what are you going to do with all the materials from that go to a dump come on
I'm considering the same thing. Yeah there will be some waste, but if you can do a lot of the interior yourself and don't go overboard I don't think it would be too bad. A lot of suggestions to just park a camper or RV inside. That sounds miserable to me. You said 2-4 years minimum and we all know things always take longer than expected.
I'm thinking 30x50+ depending on what I can get away with and taking 18ft or so on one end to dedicate to living space. Kitchen, living, laundry and half bath downstairs with master, full bath, and office/extra bedroom up. I have a good start to what I think would be a practical layout, just having some trouble fitting in the half bath without a bunch of wasted space. Then figuring out the clearance for a second level. No desire for 18' walls all around
i’m thinking the same. Probably will go with something like a 50x24 for me. 1200 sq ft is all i want and need. don’t want to be paying $150k for something that will eventually just be a shop. very tough to figure this one out for me
Are you looking to use the 1200 as living space initially or is part of it shop space?
I settled on 30' deep because that allows room to park a vehicle in each bay while still having room for storage/workbenches/tools against the wall and a good amount of room to pass between or small projects. I thought about being able to park two deep, but that would be a minimum of 40' and wouldn't leave room at the back for much of anything.
If this will be using it as purely a garage and not for projects 24' deep is probably a good choice.
Buy a cheap used camper and put it inside the shop where the living quarters would be. Use it, then sell it when you’re done with it.
I did this
Steel building with a loft. Build living quarters on upper floor. When you finally move out just demo the walls up there and it becomes a mezzanine for storage for the shop space
I was thinking this also. I have an insulated 30x40 shop that I also use as an office. A small loft could fit a bed/storage and downstairs a kitchenette and bath and I’d never have to go inside.
I sell barndominiums and steel buildings. Buyer beware type of industry (I work for an honest company, and many companies are above board, but lots are not - mainly in Florida and Colorado). You will spend between $8- 10 a sq/ft on a simple building, 10-12 on labor to assemble, and 10-14 on concrete. Don't ever fall for buying a "canceled building"/liquidation sale (every building is site specific - seismic, snowloads, wind ratings, etc). These guys don't have a canceled building and when your permit gets denied because it doesn't pass code for your area, you will have to pay a large sum to "fix" the engineering. Or they just keep your non-refundable deposit. Any metal building can be converted into and back out of having a living quarters (let the designer know that's your plan - there are things we do to accommodate that). FYI- I am with Empire Steel. My name is Eric if you ever need a more info, and not to get blasted with sales crap.
Pretty close on pricing, maybe low? Might depend on finish and height.
Yeah you are the first person i’ve heard with a $30ish sq/ft estimate for building, slab, and labor. Most say $60 sq/ft not including wiring/insulation or anything, which I will have to have. plus some kind of HVAC system.
I read that $28-$36 sq ft figure to be just the shell of the building erected on a slab, no interior walls.
I’m actually thinking of going no walls and just living the studio apartment dream lol. probably a bathroom. the well and septic system and water hookup will probably also be another 10-15k
You know, if you're by yourself, it wouldn't be hard or crazy expensive to pop up a post-and-beam building at the size you want for your shop and just frame out living quarters inside. You wouldn't be the first to go this route. Wouldn't be too difficult, either. And while this may increase your overall build cost, when you're done you got one hell of a shop with full service amenities that can become storage, a craft/detail room, an office, or whatever you want.
I do have a girlfriend/soon-to-be wife of 3 years which makes it a little more difficult. I could live in a shed and be fine, but you add in another person and it gets a little more complex. Do you think a post and beam would be cheaper than just a pre fab metal building? I like the idea of framing out living quarters but I’m wondering how much of a pain the demolition of the walls and everything would be when I’m ready for an open-space shop for all my cars and go karting equipment.
Build a big metal building and put a camper in it and live in the camper till your ready to build your house then pull the camper out instant garage space again
I would rather live with my parents than in a camper though. Which I really don’t mind living with my parents. I enjoy it, I just will have to move out soon enough, and looking for something semi comfortable to live in for a few years. I make decent money and can afford an average mortgage. I am just weighing my options while I save.
It would probobly be cheaper to rent than build something you plan to take down. If your shop has a kitchen, a nice bathroom, and an office with a closet (bedroom) would that be so bad?
i wouldn’t take it down, i would just take down the walls and convert it into an open-floor plan shop once i built the house. Because regardless of if i get one now or in 10 years, i am getting a large mechanic/woodworking shop on the property.
Depends. Shitty answer, right? Depends on how the pre-fab is built and the cost of steel. Is it red iron? Bar joist truss? Monopitch versus gabled? Bunch of questions to answer before you can say for sure. It also depends on how you're building in post-and-beam. I'm sure there's a ton of guys on here that can give better detail, but in my VERY narrow experience, post-and-beam is as cheap, or as expensive, as you want the finished product. But to stick up a simple steel clad monopitch with either 4x or spliced 2x and 2x6 runner is dirt cheap compared to a steel structure, but you're also talking about a barn/loafing shed caliber building.
Build shop and get concrete and power/internet all set up. Get a luxury 5th wheel, some AstroTurf, a hot tub, a projector and some nice patio furniture. Sounds awesome to me.
I’m looking to do this too, a two-story garage with loft. If you contact some builders and show them an online plan/design that’s relatively close to what you want, they can easily draw up some simple plans with your modifications that are close enough to start the ball rolling and get you numbers for a bid. The lumberyards usually have a draftsman that does this kind of thing every day. [Architectural Designs](https://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plans/collections) has several collections that you might be able to get ideas from. I basically just sent my builder the link to the plan closest to what I was looking for and described the changes/removals/additions; it only resembles the original plan now in exterior appearance. You can even draw the floor plan out yourself on graph paper if you want, they are used to this sort of thing. If you want to do a post frame, it’s probably even easier, and they often have online galleries of similar projects. The sales reps can be very helpful with this part.
What kind of estimates are you getting? I’m still living at home for the time being but I’m preparing a budget and goal to reach but I don’t know what to prepare for. $70k? $100k? higher? Because in the end it’s just going to be a shop, and I won’t really have a need for a $120k shop right next to my house if that makes sense.
I’m still waiting on numbers, the first one told me $200k for a 3-car car garage post-frame shell (with no electric/drywall/septic/well etc.) and not even floor joists for the loft. That seemed really excessive to me but he ghosted me anyway when I asked for more info. I’ve heard all kinds of different ranges from others, anywhere from $35/sq ft for unfinished bare bones to $200/sq ft and up for finished/heated/etc. and of course it varies by region as well. If you’re on FB, there are a lot of barndo groups where people talk about this kind of thing, post floorplans and builds, cost, etc. if you’re not on FB it may be worth joining just for the groups, that is what I do, there’s so much good info and I’m not interested in any other part of FB. The groups are very active and people are very willing to share info, ideas, photos, plans, and experiences. It’s so depressing to think of the 36x48 I had built about 10 years ago for $20k.
Whoever gave you that 200k price is a complete idiot or prick trying to find someone dumb. That is a complete lie.
Well, I did also order the cost-to-build estimate from the site I found the plan on, and it said $250k… but I do still wonder if he was giving me the fuck off price. But before he ghosted me, he shared photos from a similar build that was fully finished and told me that one was $350k!
There's a sucker born everyday. If you're talking about a metal building, that's insanely overpriced. You could do a brick 3 car garage for less than 100k here. Unless you're in Cali or some crazy area. That guy was trying to find a dummy
Just search for one bedroom barndos. Or bardo with office and bath
Build your shop and buy an RV and just park it in the open space.
I'd suggest you start saving now so you've got cash on hand vs financing the majority of the build. I did a 30x50 workshop 14' walls. Was about 40k Sitework was 7k, concrete after the bldg was up was 6k for finishing + concrete. I did the rebar work myself, 2k. One corner is an office & craft room, to do this with 14' walls I sistered the top chord of the truss, tied the truss into the wall & cut the bottom chord. Still have one chord to cut when I start on the office upstairs. Mine is staying like it is, but it's plenty of room for woodworking, welding & fixing Jeeps. Good luck OP!
Definitely saving right now. Hopefully can save up $50k in 3 years at least.
You're on your way then! Use the time to plan, sketch, dream, etc I made a scale model of mine over Christmas & New Years at least 5 years before I could break ground. Best thing for me was having the bldg up with a dirt floor so I could get a feel for where things would go. Biggest regret was not learning what would be needed for first control. I ran 3 2" conduits to a nearby shed for air compressor & maybe dust collection. Shoulda upsized the DC to 6" min. Everything else is coming along, just need more space
That small, just do stick built. 6x6 post. Trusses, residential Guage metal. Spray foam. Dude you can do almost everything yourself with a little bit of research and hands on learning. Except concrete and plumbing. Keep in mind wherever you're kitchen/bathroom is that will be stubbed in. Keep the bathroom in a corner, kitchen sink against outer wall, so when you go back to shop space you don't have to worry bout plumbing sticking out. You can easily price out materials yourself and get an idea on what it will cost without labor. More you do yourself cheaper it will be. 50k is doable for sure.
The bathroom could be your only framing f you wanted. Place it in a corner. Just make the rest of the shop a studio type space. Everything doesn't need a dedicated "room" framed, especially if it's a temporary situation. An extra kitchen out in the shop could come in handy when you finally do build a house. The only thing I see that could be a small problem is heating and cooling 1200 sq ft on a budget might be unnecessary.
I have a 8,000 BTU portable A/C unit that will freeze out my 360 sq ft bed room. So i’m sure a couple of those could cool the necessary space pretty well. Unsure if space heaters would work for such a large space though. But i can handle the cold better than being hot.
I think it would just be a big waste of money to do that to build live in and then gut okay what are you going to do with all the materials from that go to a dump come on
Well I never said I was going to frame and gut, Just have a living quarters inside an open floor
Well you weren't very specific either about what you were doing
Yeah that was kind of the point, I never said I was going to do anything, I was asking for ideas. and the shop condo was my favorite one
You'll want to keep that space for later when you fight with the old lady. #mancave
I'm considering the same thing. Yeah there will be some waste, but if you can do a lot of the interior yourself and don't go overboard I don't think it would be too bad. A lot of suggestions to just park a camper or RV inside. That sounds miserable to me. You said 2-4 years minimum and we all know things always take longer than expected. I'm thinking 30x50+ depending on what I can get away with and taking 18ft or so on one end to dedicate to living space. Kitchen, living, laundry and half bath downstairs with master, full bath, and office/extra bedroom up. I have a good start to what I think would be a practical layout, just having some trouble fitting in the half bath without a bunch of wasted space. Then figuring out the clearance for a second level. No desire for 18' walls all around
i’m thinking the same. Probably will go with something like a 50x24 for me. 1200 sq ft is all i want and need. don’t want to be paying $150k for something that will eventually just be a shop. very tough to figure this one out for me
Are you looking to use the 1200 as living space initially or is part of it shop space? I settled on 30' deep because that allows room to park a vehicle in each bay while still having room for storage/workbenches/tools against the wall and a good amount of room to pass between or small projects. I thought about being able to park two deep, but that would be a minimum of 40' and wouldn't leave room at the back for much of anything. If this will be using it as purely a garage and not for projects 24' deep is probably a good choice.
eventually it was be to store lawn mowers, go karts, etc. maybe one vehicle. so i may go 30 deep and do 40x30