Ever purchased a pre-made workshop?

[clogs]

LBC,
before u jump in
take a look at ready made workshops from Steel......they advertise in ebay and old car mags plus the equestrian set.....
obviously you will want something smaller than below.....
i was looking at one that was at least 6 times the size of yours for £12,000,finished price, this came with a pedestrion door , roller shutter door almost the size of the gable end.....and windows.....with roof lights....steel panels insulated from the factory...usually 2 layers of coated steel with 40mm of High-dens foam .....no damp or condensation....
the reason I didn't buy was my personal transport costs.....
If I remember correct that was a delivered to a UK site.....
the firm did say thay would custom build for similar money....price would go up or down depending on what you want......
it would still need to be lined for shelving and cupboards and a base supplied but the main building would be done in two days....
that would be with a crew and machinery....at extra cost.....but I had a feeling they could supply an experienced crew if you dont know anyone tho.....
it's all lightweight colled rolled galv frames....think off Crash barrier type stuff bolted together.....
the maint is zero, all panels are PVC coated steel.....should be good for 25 years.....
it would still take two days for at least three guy to do it.....the size you'll want it could be built without any machines.....
Me and a friend covered a roof with the same materials...7.5m wide x11m long, it was done in a morning.....it was 5 m above the ground so we did have a fork lift to get the panels up....
then you could grow bushes etc to cover it up....
just an idea....

 

[clogs]

sorry Trevanion I was writing as you posted......

 

[Bm101]

I have a DunsterHouse similar to this:
Severn Log Cabin W5.0m x D4.0m | Log Cabins | Dunster House
It was at the house when we bought it. Proper touch. Mine sits on a concrete pad with some carp decking out the front that I need to replace. We all say we need more space but as a hobbyist that's laughable there's loads of space for me compared to the spaces some guys work out of but I wouldn't want to run a business out of it tbh. You're looking at a double garage size with a low ceiling. I put up a record air filter in there yesterday at the highest I could fit it on chains. I can walk under it (at 5'6" but it makes me want to duck.... ) I could be a lot more organised with stuff on wheels etc, etc. But professionally I'd be thinking about cost of space versus time and efficiency no doubts at all.

Lived here 7 years odd. I paint it every few years etc. It has decent windows and doors that keep it dry and free from humidity etc. Construction is 'decent'. Those are the positives.
I have a few machines including an ancient cast iron hand morticer and an industrial pillar drill. I'd have real concerns about the floor with much more weight than that. I wouldn't dream of putting a big metal lathe type weight in there without re engineering a concrete pad internally. Pushing my luck as it is I reckon.

To sum up...It's amazing as a hobby space. I'm pretty blessed.
If I was running a joinery (etc) business out of it I'd have to be thinking on my feet about the best ways to use space and I reckon I'd be looking for a better solution. I'm sure it's possible but that's not really the point unless circumstances are severely restrictive.
Hope this helps. I realise I have a limited knowledge of the needs of a professional.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Ollie78]

My Mum has had a large log cabin in her garden for about 10 years. It came as a kit and we built it ourselves.
Its 6m by 4m roughly.
The base was those plastic grids filled with gravel and then adjustable galvanised feet.
The walls are 44mm pine the roof and floor are sips with boards over.
We used wood preserver on it as we
assembled it.

The base design has worked very well.

The shingles were rubbish, the roof was too low pitched and so water was creeping back underneath. And not dripping into the guttering. I have since gone over it with high quality felt which is much better and added a upvc drip bead.

The design of the doors and windows was very poor, they sort of float in the opening with a trim inside and out. I suppose because there is a lot of movement in the logs. They have leaked and are in my opinion a rubbish design.

There is a good bit if bow to the roof despite using fairly big timbers.
The timber itself was not in my opinion particularly good.

For the money I would build either a complete SIPS structure on a similar base, This way you can use cheap but good standard double glazed doors and windows. Or even a traditional timber framed structure.

I don't think they are great value overall. Quick to build but so is sips or timber framing.

Just my experience.

Ollie

 

[LBCarpentry]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Some great links there. Think I’ll go it alone but try and come up with a zazzy design for approx 700 sqfoot, and price it up myself and see where I am from there

 

[morturn]

Five years ago, I bought a 9x4.5m workshop from Quick Garden and will say it is absolutely superb. The basic structure was far cheaper than I could build for myself, even with a premium for a nonstandard size. It was a lot less hassle too.

I did some of the work myself, their option of felt shingles was pants. They erected the basic structure with insulation in the floor. I had already prepared a level base for it to stand on. I then added facia boards, roof insulation and Cedar shingles, gutter and downpipes.

There are a couple of rules you must comply with when erecting log type cabins. The main one being allowing for expansion. You must not bridge more than three logs as such otherwise things can start opening up. So for my wood rack, I incorporated expansion slots etc.

I painted it with a decent quality paint system and after five years it still looks superb.

 

[space.dandy]

Thanks for all the input thus far.
I will need this workshop up and running ASAP as joinery is my income. Were it a hobby with time to play with, then it would be a completely different story.

So why don’t you split the difference and get a local builder to build one to your specifications? It would probably work out a similar cost to a bought one and be far superior quality.

Just as another data point, I have almost finished building my shed (6m x 2.5m) with the help of a couple of friends. Just the roofing left to do. Total cost so far, about £900 and three days of work. It doesn’t have to be very expensive or take a long time.

 

[aebersold]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Some great links there. Think I’ll go it alone but try and come up with a zazzy design for approx 700 sqfoot, and price it up myself and see where I am from there

Thanks for the replies everyone. Some great links there. Think I’ll go it alone but try and come up with a zazzy design for approx 700 sqfoot, and price it up myself and see where I am from there

LBC
l’m not a professional and no expert, but I’ve built a couple of workshops, one of which is normal shiplap type shed construction built with 3x2 framework. If you have heavy machinery and nice tools, I would recommend a concrete base and floating floor, eg celotex with 25mm t&g chipboard mr flooring, with a moisture barrier on the walls followed by whatever insulation and lined with ply. If it’s comfortable, you’ll want to be in it and your tools won’t go rusty !

 

[paulrbarnard]

I have a workshop of similar construction but more traditional shape to the one you posted. It's a very practical option. I put down a concrete slab and the shed was built straight on top. The floor is insulated as is the roof. The timber walls are pretty good for insulation and I have double glazed windows.
They go up fast. Mine was put up in a day. Here is a time-lapse of it going up

 

[HOJ]

Mine was put up in a day

Just like this guy: Shed in a day

 

[Trevanion]

You could do worse than take notes from this master craftsman:

Build to Fail, Fail to Build. What is this I don't...

 

[Glitch]

It's easy to just think of it as just a 'shed' but If it's your 'forever' workplace it's worth investing in something that is a great, healthy working environment. After all ,you'll be spending a lot of time in it.

Also, something that adds value to your new home, perhaps a potential annexe for the next owner (or you) rather than something that just works as a shed/shop.

Future proof it.

The best possible foundation, most likely a concrete slab? Perhaps other services such as water, ethernet, gas, sewer?
Well insulated and airtight. Good lighting and ventilation/filtering. Sink/toilet/shower in a future phase?

OTT for immediate requirements but think about future. You haven't mentioned planning and building regs so you might have to engineer it in a way where added benefits are better value to do now rather than later.

 

[PaddockWorks]

Hi all. Has anyone looked at sound insulation for a log cabin structure. Noting the warnings about movement I would be interested to hear how anyone has modified for sound dampening. I have a 5x5m Dunster House cabin recently completed which is a good space. I want to add something to dampen the sound for neighbours. My last shop was a concrete block building and benefited from thick yew hedging around it but that still have a good whine when routing mouldings.

 

[Terrytpot]

I’m currently looking to move house to somewhere with enough space for a decent sized workshop and one of the factors to take into account for me is how much would it cost to fabricate one as opposed to just buying one “off the shelf”. Whilst being more visually attractive the log cabin style buildings seem to have more than their fair share of negatives to consider especially when you compare the cost of them to something like this unless there’s something I’ve not taken into account?