Metal vs Wood Garage ? What would u do?

[69a100]

2.5 hours away, you must be lookin at Fernley/Fallon area as Reno is only 2 from V-vile. Congrats on getting out of CA. I'd sell out and get totally disconnected from that state if I were you. Metal or wood, you're going to have problems when the fires return next year, which you know they will! Good Luck

 

[Jesse6869]

I bought in gardnerville and keep house in Vacaville I work in San Francisco that’s where the money is at . Thank you

 

[4mulas]

My money on an acreage would buy a nicer looking metal one with spray foam insulation and drywall. In floor hydronic heating would be nice too.

 

[#41]

Metal is cheaper and better suited for large spans. It can be insulated and finished inside just like a wood structure can. Don't cheap out and get barn roofing with screws through it! Get a quality solid seam roof.

In considering heating also think cooling. You'll enjoy your time in the shop more if you are reasonably comfortable. You may want to wall off sections of the shop for working and painting versus storage. Different heating and cooling levels = save $ v.s HVAC the entire square footage. Use insulated garage doors and keep the number of them to a minimum. It's impossible to seal them well.

Definitely spring for LED lights!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Another detail worth mentioning, use roll up doors between shop sections so you can move from one section to the next without having to go outside.... I picked up four rollup doors from a Mini Storage, they are 5' wide & 7' tall..

 

[andyf]

Talk to a local contractor and get some ideas on cost and options. I went with a metal shop since wood couldn't do what I wanted. Wood works great for a smaller building but if you are going to build something fairly large then you'll end up needing steel to support the longer spans. I highly recommend radiant floor heat, full insulation in the walls and ceiling, and spend the money for wiring so you have plenty of outlets and lights.

 

[Jesse6869]

Yes I added leds to my garage now that was a big plus, also sectioning the shop vs garage seems as saving $ there.

 

[ckessel]

Since we are in a beach town, we went with stick built. We didn't want it to stick out like a sore thumb on aesthetics. Metal would have been way less money and far faster on the build. You can insulate metal buildings too. You can sometimes score on a metal building package that a customer flaked out on. There are the usual industrial looking units but there are some really bitchin looking metal ones too but they cost more. There is a manufacture in Paso Robles that makes one out of pre-rusted exterior panels. They use that for barns and at some of the wineries. When I saw a picture of it, thats what I wanted but my Feng Shui director, wife, reminded me it would look out of place here. With my new one, I have 1125 sq ft of space on the floor, 9' or so height on the short section which has our deck extension on the topside and the other side is 18' at the peak which will be the side my lift goes on.

 

[towtruckAl]

metal and insulate as needed , up here in ont metal building is cheaper to ins because of fire risk, my own garage was truck repair and welding shop so it is block , but if building myself ,would choose metal.

 

[furyus]

Depending on how big your garage is, use roll up doors. That gives clearance for when you have a car on the list.

 

[Jesse6869]

Yes I think the roll up doors seem better for clearance not sure about if they come insulated but I have seen regular insulated doors go up at an angle in I beam garages

 

[T2R9]

Yes I think the roll up doors seem better for clearance not sure about if they come insulated but I have seen regular insulated doors go up at an angle in I beam garages

That's how I ran mine. R19 Cloplays. Roll ups were $$$$ for insulated.

 

[yella71]

I like to build everything that needs to last a long time out of stone if you can . All other materials rot eventually.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

metal, 30 by 40, $20k plus concrete, spray insulation $4k

View attachment 1045428

This is a good looking building for reasonable $$. Is it red iron steel structure, or metal stud framing inside?

 

[mopar 3 B]

I built my shop with all metal 20x25 with the plan of it being a paint booth.
Looking back at it now I would have saved time and money using a wood frame. As for it being a paint booth after I got finished it was too nice to have paint spray all over everything so
I bought an inflatable paint booth which I would strongly recommend because it cost less than what it would have to buy vent fans for the shop I built hope this helps

You have not priced lumber lately have you? I have not priced steel studs as of yet but lumber is now over the price steel use to be.

 

[moparedtn]

For the budget I had back then and for the square footage I wanted (and get more, because it never winds up that you have enough!), I went:


It's been up over 15 years now and has been zero issues:

Colors match the house pretty much, although metal siding patterns aren't quite exact - close enough.
The doors are bigger than what they sell down at the HomeyDepot and are about 40 years old - they are solid wood, some inches thick, and heavy as hell (my brother found them in Atlanta when a customer was installing modern doors at their estate).
I got a spare door out of the deal too - and plenty of room when pulling the Ram in, which was the goal - all for $300.

Although the building is metal and has open web joists holding up the roofing stringers, it is anchored by massive 8x8 pressure-treated columns, set a minimum of 5 feet in the ground and incorporated into the floor/footer pour.
The building was built to a PE-stamped spec and is designed to withstand 140mph wind and the snow load is ridiculous - like Nanook of the North levels of snow load.
The garage is our official tornado shelter.
Not kidding...
Can you tell I wanted to do this once - ONCE?

Now, wish list?
Central heating.....someday.
A lift....ditto.
God willing, we'll get there one day - or my heirs will.

 

[Jesse6869]

moparedtn Correct, wood prices slipped my mind they went up tremendously, why the 8x8 wood columns is that part of the specs on that vendors choice. What company did u go with.

 

[moparedtn]

moparedtn Correct, wood prices slipped my mind they went up tremendously, why the 8x8 wood columns is that part of the specs on that vendors choice. What company did u go with.

The columns were exponentially cheaper in wood than what the equivalent would have been in steel - not to
mention, the steel columns would have been special order, taking time to get ahold of.
Of course, any time you go below grade with steel, there's that chance of corrosion and such, too.

In the end, time and money made me go with the wood ones (the specs gave a very specific choice) and 15 years
later, everything structurally looks like new with the thing - and damn solid.
The way the bracing design is at eave level, with cross-bracing as well as longitudinal, keeps the structure square
and gains those ratings for wind and load.

As you might imagine, those freaking HEAVY doors took a bit of doing to install and I thought for sure I'd have
to add reinforcement for them - but the specifications apparently allowed for such and in the end, all I had to do
to install them was to use the heavier hardware, hinges, rollers and such - not to mention the tracks.
3/4hp openers handle them just fine, too - and the building doesn't so much as shimmy when you hit the OPEN
button on the door remote.
I learned more about garage door installing than I ever cared to - especially about winding the springs on them!

As far as vendors go, it was a local company with a good reputation - but they learned a little on mine, too.
The design is basically a "pole building" design gone beserk and they'd never done one all finished off in the
soffits and such like I made them do.
They enjoyed the uniqueness of the job and I made sure they were well fed and watered the whole time, too.
I'm sure the same thing can be done with local builders around you, too - the basic design of mine is readily
available nationwide and is tailored to the region you're in.
Just make sure you get an architect or engineer to sign off on the specs if you vary off pre-packaged designs.
Good luck with it!

 

[Jesse6869]

All good info thank u so much

 

[Outlawd]

I built all metal 30x42 with 12ft walls for a couple of 4 post lifts to do the dirty work in. Then I added on a 24x30 with 8ft walls for a clean room for engine building type of work. That room ended up with big screen t.v.'s and a pad for friends to come watch football and drink beer, lol. One subject nobody has brought up yet is with all metal your phone and wireless internet is compromised or might not get connection at all as in my case...this might not matter to some just throwing it out there to consider on wood to metal decision.