Written by Rocky Mountain Metal · Reviewed by Micah Hostetler, Owner · Based in Penrose, CO, serving Colorado.
Lay out a shop around how work moves: vehicles come in the big doors, an open bay leaves room to walk around, and benches line the doorless walls. Settle doors, bay depth, wall height and power before ordering.
Key takeaways
- Put overhead doors on the wall the driveway approaches, out of the snow-slide line.
- Keep one bay completely clear from door to back wall.
- Twelve-foot sidewalls minimum for a shop; fourteen for a lift.
- Plan a continuous bench wall with plenty of outlets and no doors in it.
- Light, power and heat are far easier to plan now than to retrofit.
Where should the doors go?
- Overhead doors on the driveway side, sized for the biggest thing that will come in. See detached garage sizes. Two doors side by side on one wall keep the other walls free for benches.
- A drive-through door on the back wall is worth considering for trailers and long material.
- Walk doors near where you'll park and near the bench area.
- Keep doors out of the roof's snow-slide line, or add snow retention over them.
In a steel building, every door and window opening is framed when the building is ordered, so this decision comes before the order, not after.
How deep should the bays be?
A working bay is a vehicle's length plus room to open the hood and doors and walk around. Thirty feet deep is comfortable for a full-size truck; forty lets you park a truck and still have a project behind it. Keep at least one bay clear from door to back wall. The temptation to fill it is exactly why you build a shop bigger than you think.
How tall should the walls be?
Twelve-foot sidewalls are the practical shop minimum: room for a raised hood, a loader bucket, tall shelving and good light height. Go to fourteen feet if a two-post lift is ever possible, and sixteen for an RV bay or a mezzanine. Height is set at order time and can't practically be added later. See how much does a metal building cost?
What makes a good bench wall?
One long wall with no doors and no windows below bench height, dedicated to a continuous workbench, tool storage and cabinets. Plan:
- Outlets every few feet above the bench, on more than one circuit
- A dedicated 240-volt circuit or two for a welder and compressor
- Task lighting under the cabinets
- Compressed-air drops if you'll plumb air
Steel framing members fall at set spacing, so tell your electrician and cabinet installer where they are.
How should I light a shop?
- LED high-bay or linear fixtures on separate switches by zone.
- Natural light from windows above bench height on the non-door walls, or translucent wall panels where available. Roof skylights are a common leak point on metal roofs.
- Light-colored interior liner panels make the same fixtures go much further.
How should I plan power?
A subpanel sized for growth, with conduit stubbed under the slab to the middle of the floor for a future lift, welder or island. Add a generator inlet and an EV charger circuit while the trench is open. See getting power to a detached shop.
Do I need insulation and heat?
A Colorado shop you'll use in January wants insulated walls and roof, insulated doors with good seals, and a heat source. On a steel building, insulation also controls condensation and the thermal bridging of the steel frame, so ask about insulation options when the order goes in. Full detail in how to insulate and heat a shop in Colorado.
What about the floor?
The slab is poured to the building's engineered drawings before the manufacturer's crew arrives. Ask for a vapor barrier under it, a thickened pad wherever a lift or heavy equipment will sit (per the lift maker), and a floor drain if you'll wash vehicles inside. See how to prepare your site.
Where does storage go?
A mezzanine over the bench wall or one end of a bay gets seasonal gear off the floor; it needs wall height and its own engineering. Wall shelving and overhead racks handle the rest.
What's a layout that works?
A 30×40 with 12-foot sidewalls: two 10×10 overhead doors on the 30-foot driveway wall with a walk door beside them, one bay kept clear front to back, a second bay for the project vehicle, a 40-foot bench wall opposite the doors, a subpanel by the walk door, windows high on the long walls, and a heater in the corner. Scale it to 40×60 and add the RV bay or the lift. See workshops.
Rocky Mountain Metal sells steel-framed metal buildings only. We lay the shop out with you during the site visit, order it from 1st Choice Metal Buildings and Carports, and oversee the project while the manufacturer's crew from Texas installs it. See our service area and request a free quote.
Frequently asked questions
Which wall should the doors go on?
The wall the driveway meets, oriented away from the prevailing wind and out of the snow-slide line. On a gable building, doors on the gable end stay clear of snow sliding off the eaves.
Should I get one big door or two smaller ones?
Two smaller doors leave wall between them and let you open one bay at a time in winter. One wide door gives a bigger clear opening.
How much insulation does a shop need?
Enough in the roof to stop condensation at minimum; full walls and roof if you'll heat it. See insulating a shop.
Can I add a lift later?
Yes, if you bought the wall height and poured the slab for it. Plan the thickened pad and the height now even if the lift is years away.
