Shop Building Ideas

boreality · Nov 24, 2011

As a large commercial building you could consider building some rental income into it. Like those industrial strip malls. If that wouldn't get in your way. Or house your illegal workers in the crawl space. Something like that. I suppose sharing with a mechanic could be a win/win.

My dream home would be a small living space and a huge shop combo. You'd be your own security and insurance.

How about basic construction. We got heating covered, what about metal building, framed, pole barn, styro/cement, earth ship, geodesic dome?

marlinspiker · Nov 24, 2011

A friend and mentor of mine out in Flagstaff had a shop/house. He was a consummate tinker and always working on something. He had a two bay garage with a loft for living space over top. It was a cool set up. I like to keep work and family separate though.

Jamin_Mayer · Nov 24, 2011

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... How about basic construction. We got heating covered, what about metal building, framed, pole barn, styro/cement, earth ship, geodesic dome?

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I'm going for steel framed building. I think the pro's outweigh the con's with steel.

I also figured I'd purchase the building personally (since I do business from my property) and rent it out to the business.

Good idea? Thoughts?

treecareinc · Nov 29, 2011

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I also figured I'd purchase the building personally (since I do business from my property) and rent it out to the business.

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Sounds good in theory... not sure how you're set up, but keep in mind if you buy it personally you are normally paying in "after tax" dollars. Rent payment made to you personally from your business have some tax implications as well... Our building is owned by a separate company and leased back to my tree business. This made sense to us from a tax and liability standpoint.

CPA is always the best source for reliable advice!

treecareinc · Nov 29, 2011

We purchased a new shop this year. I looked at many tracts of land and commercial properties. I realized very quickly to build what I wanted with property would be 500k - 600k at a minimum. I wanted an awesome shop... but just couldn't spend that kinda cash.

I came to the conclusion that I couldn't afford to build new and started looking for a used property. My dream was to buy a 30 acre farm and build a big steel building... With farm land at a premium and zoning on farm land being questionable for my operations I starting looking at urban options...

I was shocked... Dayton Ohio has had a large economic shift over the past 5-10 years and manufacturing facilities and trucking terminal / buildings were for sale all over the place. The prices were much lower than I expected...

A friend advised me to contact the the City's economic development department. They almost begged my to move into the City limits... paved the way for me... Hooked my up with a 4.4% 20 year mortgage and several other perks!!! I was shocked!

We ended up buying a 10,000 square foot building on 4.5 acres. It is fenced and in an industrial neighborhood. It has been a great move so far.

Here is the google view:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1000+Pruden+Avenue&ll=39.773823

The address is 1000 Pruden Ave, Dayton Ohio... it is the black roof with gravel parking area... Maybe someone more savy can get a better defined view...

I could of never touched facility like this with new construction... I could have never touched a facility like this without the current economic problems... I hope I can afford to heat it!

Just thought I would throw another option out there for consideration.

Tom Dunlap · Nov 29, 2011

TCI,

I'll bet that your shop is more centrally located to your client base too. Being close to work saves precious drive time, work time and exposure to vehicle accidents.

Nice score!

Paul Biester · Nov 30, 2011

acouple years ago we bought 4.5 acres and put up a conestoga pole barn,,,,40x60 w a 14' door.Put an office in w a second floor loft.We have plans for a conference room . we have a decent work staion and rope station. Still have a way to go for it to get where we want it..We created an llc that owns the property and leases it to the tree company which is an s corp.

Serf Life · Apr 23, 2023

ATH · Apr 24, 2023

Since it was bumped... I was hardly dreaming of moving out of the garage and driveway in 2011!

In 2020 I bought 5 acres. It had an old golf course maintenance shop that wasn't good enough to be worth trying to salvage. Got that torn down. It was 30x80. 2021 had a new pole barn built. New barn is 60x80 (18' side walls). Half is the slab from the old shop, the other half is stone. At some point it will all get a heated concrete floor. The more everyone donates to that, the quicker it will be done!

5 miles away from my house...unfortunately, that is another 5 miles away from most of our work ... but it is only 5 miles on a state route at 55mph with little traffic.

Expanded the drive and parking area with free asphalt grindings that the city dumped for free because they were on that side of town and it was much quicker to run to my shop than back to theirs...

It is great to have room to work on stuff, room to get loads of trees from nurseries, room for additional equipment, room to get to one thing without moving 7 others, etc....

It's nothing like what treecareinc has described above - especially with what they expanded into since he last posted in 2011. I think it was 2020 they hosted the ISA conference after party. Nice digs! But I'm very happy with what we have for where we are!

southsoundtree · Apr 24, 2023

My neighbor has a simple mechanic pit and gantry crane. Nice.

Serf Life · Apr 24, 2023

ATH said:
Since it was bumped... I was hardly dreaming of moving out of the garage and driveway in 2011!

In 2020 I bought 5 acres. It had an old golf course maintenance shop that wasn't good enough to be worth trying to salvage. Got that torn down. It was 30x80. 2021 had a new pole barn built. New barn is 60x80 (18' side walls). Half is the slab from the old shop, the other half is stone. At some point it will all get a heated concrete floor. The more everyone donates to that, the quicker it will be done!

5 miles away from my house...unfortunately, that is another 5 miles away from most of our work ... but it is only 5 miles on a state route at 55mph with little traffic.

Expanded the drive and parking area with free asphalt grindings that the city dumped for free because they were on that side of town and it was much quicker to run to my shop than back to theirs...

It is great to have room to work on stuff, room to get loads of trees from nurseries, room for additional equipment, room to get to one thing without moving 7 others, etc....

It's nothing like what treecareinc has described above - especially with what they expanded into since he last posted in 2011. I think it was 2020 they hosted the ISA conference after party. Nice digs! But I'm very happy with what we have for where we are!

Looked into heatpumps yet? Awesome tech

ATH · Apr 25, 2023

Serf Life said:
Looked into heatpumps yet? Awesome tech

I'm nowhere near that point...but I'll set up a GoFundMe if you wanna get the ball rolling as a "legacy donor". That would certainly buy some influence into heating type

Geothermal heat pump would be spectacular. Though I'd also look hard at an outdoor wood furnace that would heat water in a couple hundred gallon tank that would circulate into the floor. Wouldn't be a quick heat....but would keep it warm once it gets to temp.

Serf Life · Apr 25, 2023

We have one of the Mitsubishi wall mount heat pumps at home which did all of our heat last winter without issue. Friends have installed them in their woodshops and love em.

In Maine there’s rebate options for installing them too. I’d like a heated slab to keep temp above freezing and woodstove for longer days inside, but cost of install and operation may point to heatpump and woodstove. Planning on covering the workshop in pv which would produce ~16k kwh/yr to offset the shop and house.