Garage & workshop - metal or wood construction?

fireant911 · 07-05-2012, 01:23 PM

We would like to add a garage. Ideally, it would be a two-car garage, have a loft, and a workspace/shop. Roughly, the size would be at least 24' W X 30' L. I have just started to look and I am shocked at the anticipated expense of a traditional wood garage ~ $36K (and that is for just a basic, no frills space). On the other side of the equation, metal buildings can be put up on site (including poured concrete flooring) for WELL less than 1/3 of that.

Understanding that our summer's are hot, some sort of insulation will be required to make the space tolerable in the hot months but that will apply to either type of garage.

Can someone with first-hand knowledge/experience shed some light on metal garages? I am not talking about the flimsy, small units available at Lowes and Home Depot but 'honest-to-goodness' real metal garages. Several of our neighbors have large metal buildings for storing their farming equipment during off season but these are a lot larger than what I am looking for (I plan to talk to them also but I wanted to first solicite information from those that may already have the shop-sized garage rather than the industrial-sized units).

Additionally, any first-hand wisdom and "do's and don'ts" will be greatly appreciated in regards to the functionality of metal garages.

pavulon · 07-05-2012, 02:33 PM

maybe concrete construction is something to consider.

look 171 · 07-05-2012, 03:06 PM

While metal is great and cost effective, I just think they look like crap. Do you want your garage to match the architecture or your house? Most men don't care as long as there's a space to sort the toys and work on them. There's nothing like walking up to a pretty house with a industrial building sitting right next to it. I am not sure how much space you have there. Maybe its far away that it wouldn't be noticeable. Appearance is important.

pete3799 · pete3799's Garage

I agree...never liked the looks of the metal buildings. Plus owning a small forest it was cheaper for me to cut what i needed and have a portable mill come and saw them up.

URY914 · 07-05-2012, 03:34 PM

Hard to hang a picture in a metal building. Just saying.....

john70t · 07-05-2012, 04:09 PM

What about all concrete with a light-colored metal roof and small skylights?
Concrete seems to be a heat sink in the summer and winter.

fireant911 · 07-05-2012, 05:03 PM

I hadn't considered concrete blocks... however, that is certainly a viable possibility. After doing a cusory look at this option, I saw that there are 'dry stack' blocks that really speed things up (you pour cement into the vertical passages).

I agree that some of the metal buildings are tacky looking but since we have 1.3 acres here, it wouldn't have to be directly next to the house.

pavulon and john70t, thanks for introducing the third option. I will have to check that avenue to see how it can work (plus, get the wife's buy in).

johnsjmc · 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fireant911

We would like to add a garage. Ideally, it would be a two-car garage, have a loft, and a workspace/shop. Roughly, the size would be at least 24' W X 30' L. I have just started to look and I am shocked at the anticipated expense of a traditional wood garage ~ $36K (and that is for just a basic, no frills space). On the other side of the equation, metal buildings can be put up on site (including poured concrete flooring) for WELL less than 1/3

I think you should get some more quotes. I just built a 22x22 "no frills wood garage" with 1x2 applied to painted plywood walls to give it the board and batten look.and a floating concrete slab. Total cost under $6000 . That includes 2 -9x7 insulated doors ,excavation,slab,truss roof, shingles etc
With the economy the way it is I would think you could find someone on craigslist to build for you way less than 36K

Tim Hancock · 07-05-2012, 05:43 PM

If you have 1.3 acres, go metal and go bigger one can never have enough workshop/storage space. I have a 50' x 100' metal insulated hangar/workshop/garage and I wish it was bigger. Without airplanes to contend with, I would probably be somewhat happy with 30' x 50' or 40' x 60'. Spend the money to get up a big structure and as time money permits, you can add interior panels, insulation, windows, doors, partitions, rooms etc.

I have multi room independant heat, AC, running water, bathroom with shower office, a loft, an attic, internal seperating garage doors, paint booth etc that could all have been added over time.

nota · 07-05-2012, 05:58 PM

where ?
Jacksonville AL or fla
or in Huntsville, AL

tornadoes ? floods? wild fires? other?
do they have formosan termites locally ?

I guess steel beats wood if threats like above exist
I like cbs with a steel beam roof truss but metal sheeting is NOISY + HOT
SO IDEAL wood +

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Mr Hancock, you do not have nearly enough toys.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Metal, sprayed insulation, and be done with it...

Bill Douglas · 07-05-2012, 09:31 PM

Tim!

Eric 951 · 07-06-2012, 05:13 AM

I would go with metal. There are alot of choices when it comes to panel profiles and finishes, unless you purchase a complete turn-key which includes everything(purlins, girts, columns, openings, roofing/siding, and flashing). Even those allow for upgrades. Most "garage" size buildings use an R-panel or 1/2" corrugated profile for their sheeting. But other profiles are available for more $$$ You can go with blanket insulation in both the roof and sidewalls and run an interior liner panel for the sidewalls for insualtion protection and increased versatility(hanging things, etc.) the liner doesn't neeed to be full-height, just 8' or 10' would suffice.
Depending upon your needs, you may want louvers/intake fans in the sidewalls and a roof vent or exhaust fans in the roof to move the air. Thicknesss of the panels (gauge) will depend upon your structure, but the lower the gauge the heavier-duty the panels. I wouldn't go less than 24 for the roof and siding(22 would be better). Many pre-fabs use a 26 ga. as a standard.
Smaller buildings can be completely assembled using an extendable reach forktruck(lull) for everything--column setting, trusses, purlins, girts, etc.
Hope this helps.

MarkRobinson · 07-06-2012, 07:13 AM

M-panel is much better looking & hardly an upgrade depending on your area.

There is also thicker lay-in doubled plastic-sided purlin insulation that can be laid before the roof goes on to increase the R-value of the roof assembly.

You can also go in afterwards & stud walls & gypsum board to whatever height you want, for added insulation & "Picture hanging"

URY914 · 07-06-2012, 07:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkRobinson

You can also go in afterwards & stud walls & gypsum board to whatever height you want, for added insulation & "Picture hanging"

....and cost.

MarkRobinson · 07-06-2012, 07:23 AM

Of course "and cost". It's a different crew so the cost would be the same (roughly) since they have to mobilize & erect & complete either way.

Groesbeck Hurricane · 07-06-2012, 07:25 AM

Could go a bit more redneck than the above. I've been looking at used metal shipping containers. They can go fairly cheap. One row on the outside three sides, build roof off the top and add door structure to front and you could have cheap walls that are sturdy and provide you storage space on top of the internal space.

Other than that, go with metal construction. Make sure they weld everything together. Specify C purlin for exterior studs and specify a good grade. The home we built was metal using steel i-beams and substantial tube steel with 8" heavy grade c-purlin. Our wind load was 140+ and we heated and cooled ~2800 sqft for less than $100 month around Waco, Texas. Insulation was blown in 8" thick plus the metal buildings generally have an r-13 or better insulation backing installed. Galv-Alum roofing was fabulous and well worth the investment.

And they do not look as bad as some think. Drive around and take a look. You can easily put in a vynl facade later if you do not like the looks. I do suggest ensuring eaves are installed.

Metal Roofing | Mueller Inc

URY914 · 07-06-2012, 09:08 AM

You need to go here and spend several days reading up on garages....

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fred cook · fred cook's Garage

I had a metal garage built last year. The slab is 24' x 40', the shop is 24' x 28' with a
12' wide carport on the south end. I had the ceiling of the carport finished so that I can use the space above the carport as a loft/storage area. The roof has a 6/12 pitch and the roof and walls are alll insulated. There is one walk thru door and a 16' wide overhead door. The slab and building ran $20k. It cost me about $1k in materials to finish the inside of the building and put plywood down on the loft floor. The walls are
10' tall and the roof is 16' at the top. This year I added a 3 ton Trane a/c unit with the compressor mounted outside under the carport and the air handler mounted in the loft on one side where it would be out of the way. The a/c unit ran about $4k. The electrical for the building was about $1.7k. Here are some pictures.