Home/Shop must haves

[Miller Time]

I think there was a similar thread on her before but I am having trouble finding it. I am in the market to build a new home. My plan now is to build a "Shouse" or a shop with a living quarters attached. I am thinking 1400 sq' living area (3 bed 2 bath) and a 50x70 shop. I have never built a home before and am only 24 years old so I have limited experience on what to add in the home and shop. At this point I am just looking for advice on what people wish they had done different when they built their home or shop area. The shop would be all heated and mainly used to store toys with a bar area and room to work on whatever project I have at the time. Thanks in advance!

 

[mikef]

are you planning on having a family?

 

[eyexer]

Shitter

 

[LBrandt]

A sexie cleaner that works for cheap.Thumbs Up

 

[wjschmaltz]

Are you married or ever plan to be married? And kids? My life now is inconceivable compared to the path I was on only 9 years ago at your age. Greatest decision I ever made was not jumping all in on a “forever home” that would tie me down. That and it takes about 2 years of marriage before you know how far away from your mother in law you want to be.

As far as your question, add at least 33% sf to whatever size shop you think you need. Tall sinks/countertops - I’m 6’2” and my back hurts every night at my deep sink. Make your countertops as tall as possible that’s comfortable for your wife and do a small section a foot or so lower because toddlers/kids love to help. Make the spaces for appliance LARGE. I wish my fridge, oven, and dishwasher were at least twice the size. I would do away with 75% of my cupboards and have a very large walk in pantry.

 

[zoops]

Letting us know your approximate budget would probably help. Only thing that would give me pause would be to check on how resale is on these types of buildings. One thing I'd like in my house or garage is a dog wash station near an entrance so you don't have to run them through the house to wash them down in the late fall or spring when it's too cold to have water going outside.

 

[Kurtr]

Stripper poles

 

[Captain Ahab]

Shouses are typically built with cash as they aren’t the easiest to finance with a standard mortgage.

 

[Miller Time]

I am married and as of now we do not plan to have kids but would like to have the option later hence the 3 bedrooms. Our budget is roughly 280-300 thousand but I plan to probably insulate and sheet the inside of the shop myself to save money. We have the financing worked out and are not too concerned about resale since it we plan to stay it in as long as possible and it will be built on family land that I don’t see leaving the family anytime soon.

 

[CatDaddy]

A good wife and kids.....they are what make my house/shop a home!

 

[Duckslayer100]

Good on you for forgoing the chilluns. Best decision we ever made was not having the wife squirt out offspring as soon as possible. Gave us time to enjoy married life and do whatever the heck we wanted. Plus, I don't care what folks say: The money to take care of kids doesn't just materialize. No longer are the days of dad being able to make bacon every day while mama stays home to change diapers and keep the house in order.

As for your "shouse" I've seen a couple of these. Others are right: I don't think there's a market for resale, however if you're planning to stay for the long haul, who cares?

My coworker's brother lives in one. He built it himself. The "house" is on one end, the garage is in the middle, and the "man cave/cabin" is on the other end. It's kind of a weird layout when you first see it, but after being there for a bit it's actually super convenient. They host hunters quite a bit, and visiting relatives. These folks stay on the "east" end, while the wife and family are on the "west" end. Guys can get roudy and drink too much and stay up late without it impacting family life. Garage area is large and heated. It's where the utility room is with heating/cooling and hot water located. They have a mud room area for dirty clothes, boots and waders, and gambrels available to hang and quarter deer. Plus a spot for shop tools and whatnot.

If I lived in the middle of nowhere, it's what I'd want.

 

[7mmMag]

If you are thinking that you might have kids in the future that 1400 sq ft is going to fill up really fast. I would think about making the living quarters bigger, just my opinion.

 

[Dad]

Building a shop man cave now, I would consider SIP panels for all the walls, good tight way to build and have osb on both sides of it all so super easy to finish. Pay for good windowS, I would make house little bigger as well. To give you an idea, floor heat fully insulated 40x52x12 shop I am looking at 70k finished inside and out with 1 bathroom. I am doing a lot of it myself for now. I am also going with recycled steel and wood from a big barn on the farm for interior finishes.

 

[Davey Crockett]

I'm planning on building one in the distant future . My main thoughts are Garage doors and lots of glass to the south with a 2 foot overhang right above the windows , we have that set up now in our house and it feels good to sit in the sun in the winter and we capture some solar heat , In the summer the overhang keep the sun out and the house cool. Thinking maybe our living area would have a lower roofline than shop or else awnings above the windows.

 

[Auggie]

Dive-through garage doors. Never take the boat off the pickup!

 

[Lycanthrope]

you could build a shop and live in a mobile home, either attached or not, ive seen it done both ways...

 

[SDMF]

If you're doing any kind of on-line design/build/emulator, regarding the shop, double the lighting and triple the outlets. Shop outlets should be @ 52" or so to keep them from becoming buried behind whatever you eventually set up against the wall (@ 4' they're still behind sheets of plywood/osb, etc). Multiple outlets in the ceiling with drop-down extension cords are lots handier than cords all over the floor. 50Amp 220V "welder plugs" are way cheaper to add while you're building vs. after. Other than obviously a welder, some of the larger woodworking equip uses 220V as do metal lathes/mills. A 110V winch on the ceiling makes for a handy deer/critter hanger-upper.

 

[CrankB8]

Urinal in the Shop area...must have.

 

[SDMF]

Urinal in the Shop area...must have.

Meh, 3gal of anti-freeze in a 5gal bucket lasts for weeks. ;:;rofl

 

[Miller Time]

Thanks for the advice. I plan to have a full bathroom in the shop as well as a stall that is closed off from the rest so I can heat that warmer than the rest of the shop for whatever project I have going instead of waiting for the entire shot to heat for a couple hours. We found that we are building just inside the ETA zone for Bismarck so we have a few regulations to work around. We are considering a modular home detached from the shop now as well instead of having them combined since that will save us in concrete. Does any one have any experience with a modular home?