New Barn

[saylor1322]

So my wife and I started the process today of designing our new house with an architect. The goal is to build starting in April and we have about a 10 acre piece of land. So the deal is she gets to design the house (mostly) and I get a new toy barn.

So anyone have any photos or suggestions of must haves in the shop? Right now I am estimating its going to be about 45 x 70. On top of the snowmobiles we have a 23' boat that gets stored in there all year long, a couple 4-wheelers, lawn mower, dirt bikes, and a car. Right now the barn I have is 40 x 60 and its just a touch too small. Things I know I want are:
- Bathroom
- Floor drains
- Hot and cold water at sink
- Hot and cold water at a hose bib for washing trailers, sleds, etc.
- Bar? if I do this it may need to be larger?
- Need some solutions for storage of gear, sleds etc.

Anything else and of course photos help

[tnts4me]

If you haven't already check out garagejournal.com They have a gallery section that you can see lots if tiher peoples garages. I go there 2 or 3 times a day to check out the hot deals forum. If it pertains to a garage you can find it there.

[saylor1322]

Originally Posted by tnts4me

If you haven't already check out garagejournal.com They have a gallery section that you can see lots if tiher peoples garages. I go there 2 or 3 times a day to check out the hot deals forum. If it pertains to a garage you can find it there.

Never had heard of it before, thank you

[polaris bob]

In my opinion two must haves in a dream toy barn is in-floor radiant Heating and A/C.
A wall-mount Mitsubishi style self contained AC with a remote mount condensing unit elsewhere outside works fantastic in those kind of applications. No need for forced air ductwork and in-floor heat works SO much better than forced air in a garage / pole barn.

Motorized stacking shelves for the toys allows you to store off season toys above and in season toys below.

If you are considering a bathroom, and I definitely would, consider a small compact shower so you can wash off the garage grime before you go back into the house when necessary.

Another thing to consider is a high mount exhaust fan so you can pull two stroke smoke out of the garage after firing up in the winter time and pulling heat out in the summertime.

[SLOXC700SP]

This is mainly for safety,GOOD ELECTRICAL proper grounds and good installation,do not overlook a low level(floor level) exhaust fan for carbon monoxide removal those fumes lay low and build up fast.

[poopooforme]

x100 on the mini-split AC unit!!! Runs so cheap you can't afford not to be comfortable! Garage journal is great but I sure waste a lot of time over there.... I put three floor drains in my garage. I also put OH door on back side (7x7) for lawnmower, tractor, snowmobile ect... Wire that thing for 220 in places you don't think you need it. Down the road you will be happy!

[billp]

Originally Posted by saylor1322

So my wife and I started the process today of designing our new house with an architect. The goal is to build starting in April and we have about a 10 acre piece of land. So the deal is she gets to design the house (mostly) and I get a new toy barn.

So anyone have any photos or suggestions of must haves in the shop? Right now I am estimating its going to be about 45 x 70. On top of the snowmobiles we have a 23' boat that gets stored in there all year long, a couple 4-wheelers, lawn mower, dirt bikes, and a car. Right now the barn I have is 40 x 60 and its just a touch too small. Things I know I want are:
- Bathroom
- Floor drains
- Hot and cold water at sink
- Hot and cold water at a hose bib for washing trailers, sleds, etc.
- Bar? if I do this it may need to be larger?
- Need some solutions for storage of gear, sleds etc.

Anything else and of course photos help

to me a MUST have is in floor radiant heat. If you're the slightest bit ambitious you can do 95% of it yourself. If money is tight and you cant do the whole thing now at least put the tubing in the concrete and hook up the boiler later. I get all my radiant supplies from Blue Ridge company, they will design the layout for you and their prices on tubing and manifolds are by far the cheapest I've found. I've also found with radiant heat you dont need floor drains. Pitch your floors 1" in 10' toward the doors to get rid of the heavy water and the heat will take care of the rest. It wont freeze outside the door either. other than that hose and cord reels are real nice to keep things neat, make sure you run a heavy enough electric service to run a welder (if you have one), and make sure the wall outlets are a heavy enough circuit. last shop I built I told the electrician to run 20 amp circuits to all the wall outlets to power my 110v mig welder, I dont know if he did it or not or if 20 amp isnt enough, but if I'm welding continuously I will trip the breaker. One mistake I made was running my air lines from my compressor up into the ceiling, then to each air hose reel hanging from the ceiling. There's too much temperature difference and the condensation in the air lines in the winter is brutal. LED lighting is awesome too.

[Fun11cat]

If you go with in floor heat why not heat your apron out front no shoveling.

[favoritos]

Originally Posted by Fun11cat

If you go with in floor heat why not heat your apron out front no shoveling.

I have a heated driveway.

It is nice. I wouldn't do that project on the cheap though. Investing in good controls and correct sized boiler are key. I never let mine idle. It would cost a fortune to run. I do use a slab sensor tied with temp monitoring. It turns on when wet and cold.(snowing)

Honestly, if you have decent flat grade and some sun exposure, I'd save the money and just plain plow the snow. Ice is still going to be a challenge though, especially if the slab has high slope. We do seem to have more icing events lately. Snowmelt system did fix that problem.

[saylor1322]

Thanks everyone. Some of the things I had thought of was in floor heating and the floor drains. Didnt think about the air conditioning much because it seems that in the barn Im in now during the summer I more than often have both doors open so air would be useless, kids running in and out with 4-wheelers and dirt bikes constantly so air would probably be something that happens later if ever. I was thinking about a large industrial ceiling fan though to help move air.

Also I own a construction company and another separate Plumbing / HVAC company so I am certainly going to be hitting up vendors for low cost materials. so here is what I have so far:

- Radiant floor heating
- Bathroom, still undecided on a shower though
- Wash sink in addition to the sink in the bathroom
- Hose bib for washing trailers, sleds, etc.
- Floor drains
- Exhaust fans (hadnt thought of this but its certainly a must now that its been mentioned)
- 14' overhead door at front and back to pull through
- Motorized racks would be amazing but Ive never found any that are remotely affordable, anyone have any suggestions / links would be appreciated. But I also do have a forklift at our shop right next door so I can get toys and equipment up on stationary racks fairly easily

Something else that I am looking for direction on is interior wall finish. I currently have drywall in my barn and dont really like it. I was thinking of spray insulation on the walls with a T111 siding as a possibility. For the ceiling I was going to also spray insulate the roof but leave it open with no ceiling. One thing that I have noticed in the two barns Ive had with ceilings is no matter what you try it becomes a place for birds or mice to get in and live. What are your thoughts on that?

Also Favoritos how did you do the driveway heating and if you dont mind me asking what did that run you? How big is your driveway? I priced it for my dads last spring and it seemed outrageous.