Sheds and Shops

[digger]

One thing I have found about building to work in is. After you build it and use it for a while you will wish you had built it bigger.

I know the feeling!

 

[kmcconaughey]

I know the feeling!
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Charlie, post some photos of your other buildings.

 

[digger]

Charlie, post some photos of your other buildings.

I don't think I've ever takin that many, LOL

 

[dschwandt]

Or in my case, wish I had finished more of it (like the other 75%) a bunch sooner, say 40 years, than what I did!!

 

[jriese]

i dont have pics of my shop but it 10x18 insolated it 2" blue foam board then plywood over it. then i put a propane heater from a house trailer warm up quick. led 4 lights.

 

[john.knutson]

i dont have pics of my shop but it 10x18 insolated it 2" blue foam board then plywood over it. then i put a propane heater from a house trailer warm up quick. led 4 lights.

Sounds simple and effective! Is it freestanding or framed within another room/garage? I have toyed with the idea of insulating a little section of my garage but it really isn't too bad even in our MN winter as long as I wear my insulated bibs.

 

[gloughery]

Did any of you guys build radiant heat in your floors? I’m considering a 3/4” pex hydronic system in my next garage/shop because I’m tired of the kerosene bullet heaters and drafty pole barn designs. Plus I usually have coffee cans of old gas with greasy parts sitting in a corner somewhere and don’t like open flames. Nothing beats warm feet on a concrete slab and knuckle arthritis is creeping in. I’ve read that a 3/4” water pipe can carry as much heat as an 8x14 air duct.

 

[dschwandt]

I put down 2" foam board under the slab in my shop when I built it back in '77.
It has worked out well and I have never gotten cold feet while working there in the winter.

 

[john.knutson]

Did any of you guys build radiant heat in your floors? I’m considering a 3/4” pex hydronic system in my next garage/shop because I’m tired of the kerosene bullet heaters and drafty pole barn designs. Plus I usually have coffee cans of old gas with greasy parts sitting in a corner somewhere and don’t like open flames. Nothing beats warm feet on a concrete slab and knuckle arthritis is creeping in. I’ve read that a 3/4” water pipe can carry as much heat as an 8x14 air duct.

That's my dream when we get some property and I can build a pole shed. I have heard great things about in floor heat but no personal experience.

 

[svonhousen]

I put 1/2” radiant pex in the floor of my shop. I use a water heater to heat the water. I keep the temperature at 55, and am quite comfortable. If I bump the temperature up to 65, I am actually in short sleeves. I used a viega manifold for the floor circuits. Each one is adjustable so you can balance out the heat from one end to the other. One of the best things about radiant heat is when you open the garage door to move stuff in or out when you close the door it feels like it is immediately back to temperature. USE foam insulation under the slab, as well as between the slab and the walls. pressurize the system when pouring concrete (it should already be from the pressure test). Have a couple of repair couplings on hand incase the concrete crew punctures one. You will get bubbles. I did not have it happen, but have seen it.

Sorry for the long post, but there is a bunch of information that I figured out while doing it. Ask if you have a question. Also.... I installed a warm water wash down fed from the same water heater that makes winter washings a lot better.

 

[gloughery]

Thanks for the info SV. Does it sweat inside when the outside temps get real warm and humid in the Spring? I can’t open my garage on those nice days because the humidity condenses on everything and my pole barn roof rains on my tools. What size water heater do you have for how long piping?

 

[Oak]

I too went with 1/2" Viega Pex in my 40x60 shop. I have a mono slab so it would have been harder to insulate under it and the local codes would not let me put foam under it. I had the #4/60 rebar put on 1' centers and just used wire ties to fasten to it. I have 8 loops around 275' long. Two of those loops will be on the zone for the MIL apartment and the other six will be in my shop. I too will use an outdoor tankless hot water heater to heat the slab. I had 75psi of nitrogen on it during the pour and got lucky with no leaks. 1 year later I'm still under construction.

 

[svonhousen]

The floor does not sweat, but unless I run an ac or something to dry the air everything metal sweats. I used an 80 gallon propane fired hot water heater. I had an instantaneous hot water heater that was part of a system, but they have such small water exchangers that they don’t like well water. I have 5 floor circuits, each about 275’ long.

 

[Oak]

Stephen, what temp do you run your loops? The other issue I'm thinking that might hurt me is the mass of my slab. We had a ton of rain in 2018 and a bunch of my ground was washed out before we poured + I have several massive grade beams and the shop side is probably 6"-7" thick. The 60 x 40 slab has 72 yards of concrete in it.
Here are a couple drone shots with the pex down before we poured.

 

[svonhousen]

O I used to monitor the temperature and kept trying to modify it to optimize the gas use. Then when the system with the instantaneous water heater and storage tank failed I put in an 80 gallon gas heater, and have played it more by feel. Since I started doing that the gas usage has been the lowest I ever had. I want to say the water temp is around 110. When I change temperature it takes an hour per degree of change. The mass of the slab is nowhere near as massive as yours, so I would expect yours to take longer for temp changes. However once upto temperature it really doesn’t take a lot to maintain it. i fired off my system in January and I believe it took almost a week to come upto temperature. But that is probably only how long it felt. the only downside to radiant is the dust. It dries everything out and the dirt off your boots or tires turns to fine dust quickly.

 

[sjanderson]

Did any of you guys build radiant heat in your floors? I’m considering a 3/4” pex hydronic system in my next garage/shop because I’m tired of the kerosene bullet heaters and drafty pole barn designs. Plus I usually have coffee cans of old gas with greasy parts sitting in a corner somewhere and don’t like open flames. Nothing beats warm feet on a concrete slab and knuckle arthritis is creeping in. I’ve read that a 3/4” water pipe can carry as much heat as an 8x14 air duct.

I don't believe you need 0.75", 0.5" should be fine/better. I used sell the stuff (wholesale HVAC distributor). The pictures of installs looked pretty good. Proper base prep is important, then 2" of foam, then the tubing can be stapled to the foam. Tieing the tubing to rebar is ok, but a pain.
Water heaters are NOT boilers, so if you have an inspector looking over your shoulder you could have an issue. The legit issue with water heaters is the size of openings restricting water flow. That being said water heaters are used all the time for DIY installs and many work.
Best heating source is a water to water Geo heat pump, then a wall hung boiler.
Try buying from a heating contractor, you will pay more, but you probably can get more product options (there are differences in tubing) and maybe a little design help.
Space tubing closer together by high loss areas (ie overhead doors) and keep circuits the same length (really important)

 

[kshultz]

Nice read about heaters. I wish I would've looked into it better before I built. Here are some updated pictures. Just a few touch ups to do and I'm done painting. I couldn't have done it without my gorgeous wife helping.

 

[kshultz]

Finally got heat in the garage. It's been a couple weeks now and it seems to be doing fine.

 

[mpatterson]

Got the furnace hung over the weekend while Les was home. Once again, the 149/loader unit was a big assist!
Slight adjustments are now in order due to the ceiling being a bit lower than before because of the new steel that wasn't there before.

WOW!!
Posting pictures is a bunch easier on this new format!!

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Shop looks awesome, nice job on furnace too! However, we do need pictures of what that Danco loader is attached to! I bet it's as sweet as the shop!