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Shed Layout

A4L7E3X

Aussie
Joined
May 31, 2020
Member Number
1707
Messages
76
Loc
Geelong, Australia
I have been playing with Sketchup a bit to work out how big of a shed I need... I know, I know, no matter how big you build it you always fill it up with more junk... This is based on a 15m x 8m (50 x 26)
Shed Layout.png


The basic background of my situation is I currently live on a suburban house block, I have a 3m x 10m (10 x 32) shed here, but I'm looking at buying a bigger property and building a bigger shed, so trying to narrow down the land I'm looking at by filtering out those without enough room for my dream shed.

I don't currently have a lathe or mill, but it's something I'd like to get in the future, and building a shed like this is only going to happen once so i'm trying to allow room for these nice to haves.

Any must haves i'm missing in the above sketch?
 
Any must haves i'm missing in the above sketch?
Tube bender, sandblast cabinet, benchtop mounted sanders, grinders and other power equipment, storage for your lathe and mill tooling, a bunch of drawers for small parts, compressor if not getting its own outdoor enclosure, trash can, scrap metal trash can, parts washer/dishwasher, etc. etc.

Basically there's a bunch of shit that goes into a shop that does take up significant floor and/or benchtop real-estate that you didn't include and it will make a giant mess if you don't plan for it.
 
Are you planning on a window through the wall directly behind the headstock on your lathe (for long sticky-out things)?

The lathe and mill look tiny. No big deal if you think you'll only have little ones, and you can always move them.

I don't see a garage turtle. Gonna locate that outside?

Any woodworking gonna happen in there? It's so nice to keep wood and metal/mech stuff separated with a wall.

Separate outdoor storage for tractor, forklift, and junk you're not currently working on keeps the working space clutter free. Main garage with "lean-to" on either side are nice.
 
I wouldnt put the lathe with the through bore that close to the wall. Headache if you need to work on the geartrain or long stock. I'd also have a toolbox closer to them. Put the mill in the corner.

Shelves near welding area are going to get nasty from grinding dust.

Lots of wasted vertical, get cabinets above stuff
 
Are you planning on a window through the wall directly behind the headstock on your lathe (for long sticky-out things)?

The lathe and mill look tiny. No big deal if you think you'll only have little ones, and you can always move them.

I don't see a garage turtle. Gonna locate that outside?

Any woodworking gonna happen in there? It's so nice to keep wood and metal/mech stuff separated with a wall.

Separate outdoor storage for tractor, forklift, and junk you're not currently working on keeps the working space clutter free. Main garage with "lean-to" on either side are nice.
I have to ask, what is a garage turtle?
 
Id reconsider your 8m dimension, it doesnt leave very much for space in front/behind a vehicle. I have a 25ft deep garage currently and with my tool box in front it is tight with my mid size SUV in the bay. Fitting a truck takes pretty much the entire space with no room to move around. 10-10.5m deep would be way more useable.
 
Tube bender, sandblast cabinet, benchtop mounted sanders, grinders and other power equipment, storage for your lathe and mill tooling, a bunch of drawers for small parts, compressor if not getting its own outdoor enclosure, trash can, scrap metal trash can, parts washer/dishwasher, etc. etc.
Great suggestions, sanders, grinders etc would go on the benches near the welding area. Id like to keep the compressor outside. I hadn't gotten into the finer details of storage for all the toolboxes, drawers etc, just dumped those shelves in to occupy some space for storage. If I build with 4m high walls id like to have a small mezzanine for extra storage too.
In addition to the above, what kinda wimpy ass tool box is that? Leave room for at least a 60" box.
Just a random model in Sketchup. Currently I have a 40" Snap On stack with all my mechanic tools, a 26" Craftsman chest which is all electrical, and a 60" TMX (imported cheapy) which holds all the power tools, drill bits, taps and dies and paint guns...

You're right... I need to allow more room for toolboxes.
Shelves near welding area are going to get nasty from grinding dust.

Lots of wasted vertical, get cabinets above stuff
Good ideas :beer:
The lathe and mill look tiny. No big deal if you think you'll only have little ones, and you can always move them.
That mill I scaled to the size of a Bridgeport 2J, the lathe is just a random model on sketchup, but looked about in proportion for a small lathe.
The areas i'm looking at mostly don't have 3 phase power available so that will mean that mills, lathes etc will probably need to be small enough to run off a VFD.
Are you planning on a window through the wall directly behind the headstock on your lathe (for long sticky-out things)?
Id be happy to stick a "cat flap" in the wall for long work pieces.
Separate outdoor storage for tractor, forklift, and junk you're not currently working on keeps the working space clutter free. Main garage with "lean-to" on either side are nice.
A lean to or car port will be on the cards for sure, but that will depend on the specific block of land. The wish list is:

An attached double garage for the dailys and my bike, and storing Christmas decorations, camping gear, push bikes and all that bullshit I don't want in the shed

The shed

And a lean to or car port for the 4x4 and maybe some equipment (again, depending on the land and what I can justify buying...)


Currently I have 3 cars and a bike, plus the Mrs car, but id like to add one more car to that tally.
What im really trying to work out here is "I need a "what" by "what" patch of dirt to build a shed" when I'm looking at land... and living vicariously because i'm sick of working on the Rangie on a sloped patch of grass :shaking:.
 
I guess I'm the only one who remembers the "small shop layout" thread from the old site.

That pic was used by someone, and the graphic they used for the compressor (blue) had 4 feet and, well, looked like a turtle...
 
Currently I have 3 cars and a bike, plus the Mrs car, but id like to add one more car to that tally.
What im really trying to work out here is "I need a "what" by "what" patch of dirt to build a shed" when I'm looking at land... and living vicariously because i'm sick of working on the Rangie on a sloped patch of grass :shaking:.

Whatever size you think you need and double it...it's never big enough. That and do an attached double/triple garage for parking yours and the Mrs daily drivers plus the other random daily crap (mower, snowblower, tractor, whathaveyou). Keep the detached garage as a shop and don't mix the two up.
 
Whatever size you think you need and double it...it's never big enough. That and do an attached double/triple garage for parking yours and the Mrs daily drivers plus the other random daily crap (mower, snowblower, tractor, whathaveyou). Keep the detached garage as a shop and don't mix the two up.
Yeah obviously the bigger the better, but I'm trying to keep it within the realms of possibility. And yeah I'm very, very firm on having a "Garage" for daily cars and general storage and a "shed" which is for working on stuff.

Ok so version 2, now were talking...
Shed Layout v2.png

Shed Layout v2a.png

That's a 16m x 9m foot print, and I tried to think about it as a bit more of a modular layout with 4m wide bays. I'm thinking 4m walls and 3 3x3m roller doors (in front of each car and the fab area), and a man door in the last bay near the stairs, with storage mezzanine over that bay. Nuts and bolts and chemical / paint / oil storage under the stairs. This also keeps the fab area on the opposite end to the storage / cleaning / engine area, possibly even walled off. Compressor would still be kept outside.

8m depth could be possible too, but 9m does allow everything a bit more comfortably.

The modular theory allows if I'm in a situation where a 16 x 9 is unaffordable, It could start as a 12 x 9 (since everything I have now is crammed into a 4 x 10 I could easily work with that), and the extra fab bay could be either an extension of the main structure or even a lean to extension, since 4m walls over a fab bay probably isn't critical.

Appreciate all the thoughts :beer:
 
And here's a basic idea for the actual structure. One thing I would like to include but not shown is a concrete apron along the front of the shed to keep the gravel out.
Shed Design v2.png
 
9x9 doors (effectively 3mx3m) are VERY small to back a trailer in or even just pulling in a full size pickup. I'd aim for having at least one 12-16 foot wide bay.

Also, I see a sink...if you are plumbing anyway, do a bathroom with a sink, shower, and shitter. Not having to go in the house to clean up or have a movement is HUGE. In that same light, a utility room where you can put a small water heater, electrical, compressor, furnace/AC, is a good idea.
 
9x9 doors (effectively 3mx3m) are VERY small to back a trailer in or even just pulling in a full size pickup. I'd aim for having at least one 12-16 foot wide bay.

Also, I see a sink...if you are plumbing anyway, do a bathroom with a sink, shower, and shitter. Not having to go in the house to clean up or have a movement is HUGE. In that same light, a utility room where you can put a small water heater, electrical, compressor, furnace/AC, is a good idea.
A bathroom would be good... starting to get a bit of mission creep though haha. Honestly just a sink to wash hands and stuff would be a huuuge step in the right direction, but I do see your point that if I'm running water anyway it might be worth looking at. That said the sink might just be connected to a tank and drain into a bucket depending on where I end up so if that's the case a shower and a shitter wont be happening.
A utility room isn't on the cards, just not necessary in my area. This will be a steel building with no insulation (maybe just some foil on the roof to cut down some heat). There's no way I could justify the cost of A/C, and if anything there would be a pot belly wood heater for heat.
 
Stuck the mezzanine in, just because I'm having fun with Sketchup :emb:
I probably missed it but the height is key to layout. I'm in the same position as you trying to figure out the best layout for my new place. I'm guessing by what I've seen is that you're going for either a 12 ft or 14 ft sidewall, correct? I'll probably make a similar spinoff but I'm looking at 50' x 50' with a 16' sidewall. I'm trying to figure out what I put on a mezzanine versus down below.
 
Personally I would ditch the door on the left if that's going to be primarily a fab area. With the way you have it laid out now the entire front wall is doors and windows, and I have a feeling that the door on the left would probably turn into a "wall" area anyway. It's also close enough to the side that you won't be able to use the full width of the door anyway. You could also push the middle and left doors together since that small space between won't be too useful anyway and go with 4m wide doors instead. That would give you some overlap into the fab area while still providing much needed wall space.
 
I probably missed it but the height is key to layout. I'm in the same position as you trying to figure out the best layout for my new place. I'm guessing by what I've seen is that you're going for either a 12 ft or 14 ft sidewall, correct? I'll probably make a similar spinoff but I'm looking at 50' x 50' with a 16' sidewall. I'm trying to figure out what I put on a mezzanine versus down below.
That drawing is based on 4m (13ft) walls, and giving me 2.2m under the mezzanine and allowing for 250mm of thickness in the structure of the mezzanine. That gave me around 2.4m above the mezzanine at the peak of the roof and 1.6m at the end walls, assuming an 11 degree pitch in the roof.
Personally I would ditch the door on the left if that's going to be primarily a fab area. With the way you have it laid out now the entire front wall is doors and windows, and I have a feeling that the door on the left would probably turn into a "wall" area anyway. It's also close enough to the side that you won't be able to use the full width of the door anyway. You could also push the middle and left doors together since that small space between won't be too useful anyway and go with 4m wide doors instead. That would give you some overlap into the fab area while still providing much needed wall space.
You're right that end door would probably get very little use, but I thought it could be worth including just so if you 'had' to get another car in you could shove the bench up against the lathe and make enough room.

I could probably go a 3.5m X 3.5m door in the middle bay to open it up a bit, but I think 3m would be ok tbh. Standard garage doors around here are 2.7, and the maximum legal width for any vehicle or trailer (without special permits) is 2.5m. My dad built a shed a couple of years back with 3m doors and the doors have never been a problem. However his bays are 3.5m wide and 7m deep, which gets a bit tight.

Full size pick ups are very uncommon in Aus. Nissan Patrols and Toyota Land Cruisers are as wide as it's likely to get in my shed.
Although there have been a few Ram 1500s selling in the last few years...
 
That drawing is based on 4m (13ft) walls, and giving me 2.2m under the mezzanine and allowing for 250mm of thickness in the structure of the mezzanine. That gave me around 2.4m above the mezzanine at the peak of the roof and 1.6m at the end walls, assuming an 11 degree pitch in the roof.

You're right that end door would probably get very little use, but I thought it could be worth including just so if you 'had' to get another car in you could shove the bench up against the lathe and make enough room.

I could probably go a 3.5m X 3.5m door in the middle bay to open it up a bit, but I think 3m would be ok tbh. Standard garage doors around here are 2.7, and the maximum legal width for any vehicle or trailer (without special permits) is 2.5m. My dad built a shed a couple of years back with 3m doors and the doors have never been a problem. However his bays are 3.5m wide and 7m deep, which gets a bit tight.

Full size pick ups are very uncommon in Aus. Nissan Patrols and Toyota Land Cruisers are as wide as it's likely to get in my shed.
Although there have been a few Ram 1500s selling in the last few years...

Trust me, bigger doors are worth it...think about trying to back in a trailer with a car on it or that lathe or mill or materials or having a tow truck flat bed in or emptying a box truck, it's WAY easier with a bit of wiggle room.
 
9x9 doors (effectively 3mx3m) are VERY small to back a trailer in or even just pulling in a full size pickup. I'd aim for having at least one 12-16 foot wide bay.

Also, I see a sink...if you are plumbing anyway, do a bathroom with a sink, shower, and shitter. Not having to go in the house to clean up or have a movement is HUGE. In that same light, a utility room where you can put a small water heater, electrical, compressor, furnace/AC, is a good idea.

What he said about the doors - mine is 12' wide, and I wish I had gone bigger at times. 24' wide, 32' deep. the depth is about right, the width is about half of what I should have done.
 
You are missing the most important item.
The pike of old parts from past projects that might be reuse in a future project. The never ending growing pile.
You know actually at my dads place he has a crappy old 12' x 12' garden shed that we have moved all the junk axles, springs, engines, etc etc into. It's the best thing getting that junk out of the workshop!
 
One other thing that no one has brought up is a parts wash spot...Usually a solvent tank.

I have been watching for years and recently just acquired a small parts washer about the size of a washing machine.

Stuff to think about.
 
One other thing that no one has brought up is a parts wash spot...Usually a solvent tank.

I have been watching for years and recently just acquired a small parts washer about the size of a washing machine.

Stuff to think about.
Yea, it's there. It's on the front wall in the first pic then under the mezzanine in the last ones.
 
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