When I was designing/planning our house, I decided to build a shop almost as an afterthought. When I had laid-out the footprint for the house for the third time, I determined I had room for a 25x25 shop. As we started leveling and excavating for the house, I had plans drafted for a 30x40 building.
I decided to use the same construction as the house, 8 inch ICF blocks, 9 courses or 12 feet footer to top plate. Trusses for the top with 16 inches of blown insulation. Floor is 6 inch poured slab with a flake/epoxy top. Outside to match the house so it looks nice!
The result was great. It is comfortable year-round. This list is our January temperatures (Closest NWS site):
| Date | High | Low |
|---|---|---|
| 1-Jan-25 | 43 | 15 |
| 2-Jan-25 | 47 | 28 |
| 3-Jan-25 | 37 | 28 |
| 4-Jan-25 | 29 | 24 |
| 5-Jan-25 | 25 | 4 |
| 6-Jan-25 | 10 | -8 |
| 7-Jan-25 | 20 | -8 |
| 8-Jan-25 | 24 | -7 |
| 9-Jan-25 | 32 | 12 |
| 10-Jan-25 | 32 | 12 |
| 11-Jan-25 | 39 | 11 |
| 12-Jan-25 | 35 | 7 |
| 13-Jan-25 | 30 | 2 |
| 14-Jan-25 | 31 | 9 |
| 15-Jan-25 | 36 | 7 |
| 16-Jan-25 | 44 | 19 |
| 17-Jan-25 | 40 | 26 |
| 18-Jan-25 | 29 | 11 |
| 19-Jan-25 | 15 | 2 |
| 20-Jan-25 | 13 | -2 |
| 21-Jan-25 | 23 | -13 |
On the morning of Jan 8th, the thermometer on my work bench said 46 degrees. Five days below freezing with 3 nights below 0.
This morning, after -13 last night, it was 45! Although I have two Mitsubishi mini-splits, I haven’t used them for heat since Feb 2024.
Openings in the shop are:
- Two 3-0 doors with windows.
- Four 24" high x 72" wide windows.
- A 12’ wide x 10’ high Clopay insulated door with 1 row of windows.
Lots of natural light inside.
This is the south-east side:
This is the west corner:
Applying the seal coat for the flake:
I am real happy with the building.
Gene
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