The barn
This project was special to us because when it was finished we would move into a spacious 1600 square foot shop space with sixteen foot ceilings and two large ten foot by twelve foot garage doors. In addition, the second floor was finished with 1200 square feet of office space. In the past we found that commercial space was always so limited and never exactly what we wanted, so we decided to save on leasing costs and build our own shop space instead. This way we were building equity as well as a highly functioning work space.
Construction
We framed the structure with 2x6 walls, 2x12 joists, two steel beams, and 2x12 rafters, insulating with fiberglass in the walls and ceiling. We used the zip system for roof sheathing and Advantech sheathing on the walls. We installed an asphalt shingle roof, vinyl windows, and pre-primed pine trim and clapboards. Shiplap pine was used for the interior walls of the shop and fire rated sheet rock for the ceiling. We then installed v-match pine on all of the office walls and ceilings and twelve inch shiplap pine planks for the office floor.
Style meets function
This project, like many others of its kind, is never as straightforward as just building a building. Yes, we needed to keep costs down to stay on budget, but we also couldn’t sacrifice design. As is often the case, it was a matter of balancing our current and future needs, potential rental capacity, and resale.
The exterior is finished with a beautiful 5/4 trim package with traditional clapboard siding to stay consistent with New England’s historic finishes. We chose to install box returns to offer nice detail and crown under the soffit for traditional finish. For a higher level of curb appeal, we chose barn style garage doors and painted them black. Copper gooseneck barn lights mounted over each garage door brought it all together. We use LED lights throughout to keep energy costs down. We installed two propane powered heaters, one for the shop and one for the office.
We built out our shop to meet all of our needs, including mechanical work on our trucks, cabinet and built-in construction, prefabrication work, metal fabrication, and painting. We now have dry storage for our equipment, and with a temperature controlled shop, the quality of our finished product is higher than ever before.
