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Metal Shop Buildings in Arkansas, Clear-Span Workspace Built Around the Work
Metal Dreams sets up working shops for mechanics, fabricators, woodworkers, farmers, and individuals who operate a business out of the back of their yard throughout Arkansas. Everything about the spec height, floor thickness, power, ventilation, door size, etc is different from a garage because, as mentioned, a garage stores things, a shop is where work is done. Before quoting any dimension we ask you what you’re doing inside. Made from coil from the USA and installed by our own Jacksonville crews with a 40 year panel finish warranty.
Clear-Span Framing Why There’s Nothing in the Middle of Your Floor
The steel construction advantage over wood becomes apparent as an absence. With rigid-frame and truss-framed steel buildings, roof weight is transmitted laterally through sidewalls and to the foundation; no interior steel columns are required. Any width of forty feet is forty feet to use. A 24′ boat can be pulled right in, swing a 20′ length of tube stock and lay down benches, lift, and welding table without having to route traffic around a post that is present. Shops constructed of stick buildings of the same size practically always require interior bearing points. Having one, all subsequent layout decisions are made in its favor.
Eave Height Is the One Spec You Can't Change Later
All of the other details of a shop can be adjusted post construction. Ceiling height can’t. A 2 post lift will require about 12 feet at the eave to get a sedan off the ground comfortably and 14 feet is when a sedan stops ducking when on a pickup on the lift. An overhead crane or chain hoist is the combination of a trolley and a lifting height on top of what it is lifting. Scales with rolling scaffold, a paint booth, tall shelving and a tractor with the loader will all have their own minimums. Two feet added at design time costs but a bit compared to the cost of finding out you needed it. We would prefer to over-ask now.
Planning Power, Air and Light Before the Frame Goes Up
Retrofitting a shop’s systems is always a more costly proposition than planning them and the difference is accentuated further in the case of steel construction because you are not just simply fishing wire through open stud bays. Make early decisions about the location of your panel, number of 240V circuits and their location, number and height of 120V outlets per wall, and the direction of the compressed air flow – overhead drops or wall run. Bench layout should be considered more important than symmetrical lighting task areas require more than aisles. Provide us with the plan, we will chase, block and penetrate the building instead of cutting after the fact.
Matching the Building to Your Trade
There are a number of different types of work and the spec follows.
Automotive and diesel Lift-rated slab, 12 to 14-foot eave, wide bay doors, strong ventilation, compressed air routed to multiple drops.
Welding and fabrication Non-combustible construction matters here more than anywhere. High ventilation, 240V, large clear floor for handling materials.
Woodworking Dust collection routing, generous lighting, insulation and climate control to keep humidity from moving stock.
Agricultural equipment Tall, wide openings for cab tractors and combines, gravel or heavy slab, minimal finish.
Home-based business Customer-facing entrance, office partition, restroom rough-in, and a floor plan that separates work from storage.
What Your Concrete Floor Has to Carry
A shop slab is engineered around load, not just area. The four inch residential pour handles vehicles parked on tires. It does not address the two-post lift that applies all of the weight of a truck lift to 4 anchor points and attempts to extract these anchor points from the concrete. The typical lift requires at least six inches of proper reinforcement slab; more slab may be required, and thickened footings under the posts. Throw on a loaded trailer, a press or a lathe and the needs shift once more. James has owned the concrete company Planit Dirt for more than 30 years and Metal Dreams is the steel department. Floor loading is a discussion held in house, not a spec issued to a subcontractor after the design.
Ventilation for Welding, Finishing and Running Engines
The one thing that is most easily overlooked in a shop budget is air handling and it is the one thing that will make or break whether or not it is enjoyable to work in that shop. Passive ventilation ridge vents with eave intake is a simple system that has the ability to take a lot of heat out of a metal building by convection alone and is relatively inexpensive to install. Welding fumes and solvent vapor are removed by powered exhaust fans. When operating engines indoors, make direct extraction plans, don’t hope that an open bay door will suffice. Spec venting, fans and their openings during design to fit the layout of panel neatly.
Lean-Tos, Mezzanines and Building In Room to Grow
Shops fill up. Planning for that is less expensive than replacement of the building. An attached lean-to on one sidewall provides covered outdoor storage for lumber, steel stock, trailers or a compressor, for a fraction of the cost per square foot of an enclosed space. Also prevents bulk material from entering the working floor. A mezzanine is a good option to utilize unused vertical space for an office or storage area, but the frame must be designed accordingly from the beginning – either the columns support the mezzanine or they don’t. Inform us if either is possible later. To frame it now would cost all but a few dollars.
Shop Sizes Arkansas Owners Order Most
30×40 One or two bays with bench wall. For serious craftsmen and work on the side.
40×60 Workhorse size. Two vehicle bays, a lift, a full bench wall and material storage with no crowding.
50×80 and up Multi-bay commercial work, fleet maintenance or equipment repair where machines are required to pass one another.
These are NOT a catalogue, but starting points. When you are trying to imagine what your money will buy, these are the footprints that come up most often in every building we quote, to your site, your setbacks and your equipment.
Zoning and Business Use Check Before You Build
Zoning is as important as building code, if the shop will have customers, employees or commercial activity. Businesses that are located in a residential zoning district usually find out about the enforcement through a neighbor and that a large accessory structure is allowed in a residential zoning district but the business within the structure is not. Different areas such as deliveries, parking, signage and hours can be controlled independently. Insurance needs may also differ if you use the property commercially and some jurisdictions may require a different route for the permit. We’ll supply engineered drawings for your submission. Be sure to check with your city/county planning office early to verify your intended use, as it sometimes dictates the footprint.
Shop Building Delivery & Installation Across Arkansas
We fabricate and install statewide from our Jacksonville yard and have regular routes of crews from Jacksonville north to Fayetteville, Springdale, and Bentonville, south to Pine Bluff, and regular crews throughout Central Arkansas, including Conway. Compared to covers or single garages, shop buildings are bigger and more complex, requiring several days to a couple of weeks to erect depending on the size, doors, and inside work. If the slab is included in the scope of work then cure times are planned from the outset of the project instead of being found during the project. One company, one timeline, one point of contact.
Get Your Shop Designed and Quoted
The discussion begins with three questions: What will you do in it? What is the largest object that will need to go through the door? What is the tallest object that will need to fit in the door? That and the remaining spec follows logically. A written estimate will be provided, including details on dimensions, framing, eave height, door types and sizes, slab specification, insulation and lead time, and no deposit will be required to receive this estimate.