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My wife and I are planning to move to Maine. Probably south of Bath in the coastal area. You fine folks have made some good suggestions on heating systems and now we need some more advice. We are looking at both purchasing an existing house or possibly building one. We have no need for a large place a small (1200) sq foot house-2 or 3 bedrooms will be fine. What we do need though is a separate shop building-heated of course. My wife works with metal-forging, welding, casting etc., and I have a complete wood shop. We want to have a shop that’s approximately 20×40′. Because there will be torches and sparks in her metal area we will need some sort of fire wall between it and the wood shop. Only need single phase 220 for our machines and water would be nice.
The question we have is since we are going to be using torches and a forge would it be wiser in the Maine climate to build the shop out of block with a block firewall or are one of those metal buildings advertised in the back of magazines capable of being adequately insulated and safely and economically heated-probably oil. Our goal is to have a safe, warm place to work in the winter. We have ruled out a wood barn as being too combustable. The properties in our price range all have several acres. As part of this inquiry what can one expect to spend for a block building of this sort? Finally, does anyone know what the average sq ft cost for building a cedar sided home is in the southern coastal region of Maine.
I realize these are a lot of questions but we are trying to have as many questions answered before we start talking to realtors.
Ken
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Depends on what you have for a budget. The best system I can think of would be to use radiant in floor heat in a monolithic slab. It could be a metal building with foam sprayed on insulation. To supply the heat you could use an oil fired boiler which is standard but consider also locating a Hasha hut between the house and the shop. This is a large mass of masonry with a large wood box for fire. The mass of the masonry stores heat long term but the mess and danger of the fire is outside the house and shop. pumps transfer the heat to the floor slab. I have installed plenty of heat in slab for homes and know of boat shops where they love working over it. No complaints.
*Ken,Piffin knows. My great regret is that I didn't incorporate heating tubes in the slab for my shop as it was being built. If I did it right, the link takes you to my pictures showing my shop being built in Virginia's Northern Neck. It's 28 ft x 42 ft. Footings and slab cost me $6,000 or so; materials including trusses added another $6K to get to the weathered-in stage with no plumbing or electricity or HVAC. All labor free (my son and I). Why not build a wooden building and a fire-retardant space with conventional building materials? Good luck.Tom TWC III "The Shop at the cottage" 12/17/01 8:55pm
*Perhaps you can incorporate the excess heat from the forge somehow into your overall heating plan. Depending on how many hours a day and how big the forge is, there could be considerable impact on heating needs for both shops.
*Hi Ken,Coupla points.."a separate shop"..attach 'em,It sounds as though you need a well appointed shopwith an attached living space!Are you going to do the work or pay others?20x40? thinny thin..doncha tink?in so. me....ooowwwee, dats alotta munn a!!
*Just down the road (Rt. 1) from Belfast going towards Camden in the coastal community of Lincolnville is a Windsor chair maker. He has been advertising in Fine Woodworking for several issues - his buisiness is for sale - he has a debilatating illness. You should check it out - if nothing else, he's a craftsman so he can probably answer a lot of your questions - and he lives there!
*I might suggest that sparks and flames do not go well with sawdust and solvents.I would have 2 garages, 26x26, put up. One for you. One for her.
*Ken, an attached shop is nice but I'd have a talk with with your insurance agent ......... you may find the rates much higher with an attached shop.
*IRS likes it detached too.Mine is over 14" hard packed inch minus, monolithic slab. Conc block stemwalls upto 4' with posts at doors. Frame wall above and ten foot cieling. Too many shops get built with 8 foot cieling andthen poke holes in it handling material.We have lots of carpenter ants so the prevailing wisdom is to keep the wood at least 18" above grade.I know the windor chair place and don't know him one way or the other but don't necessarily agree with the principle that he would understand buildings because his focus is on furniture which is a different area of carpentry skills from building science.
*What's wrong with 2x wood-framed construction with drywall on the inside? My firefighter cousins report that whenever they get to a fully-involved house fire, there is always a defect in the drywall (light fixtures left out, attic stairs left open, remodel in progress, etc). But that continous drywall keeps the fire within the room where it started.Not sure about the combustibility of foam sprayed onto a metal building. Put a sample under her torch and see what happens.
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My wife and I are planning to move to Maine. Probably south of Bath in the coastal area. You fine folks have made some good suggestions on heating systems and now we need some more advice. We are looking at both purchasing an existing house or possibly building one. We have no need for a large place a small (1200) sq foot house-2 or 3 bedrooms will be fine. What we do need though is a separate shop building-heated of course. My wife works with metal-forging, welding, casting etc., and I have a complete wood shop. We want to have a shop that's approximately 20x40'. Because there will be torches and sparks in her metal area we will need some sort of fire wall between it and the wood shop. Only need single phase 220 for our machines and water would be nice.
The question we have is since we are going to be using torches and a forge would it be wiser in the Maine climate to build the shop out of block with a block firewall or are one of those metal buildings advertised in the back of magazines capable of being adequately insulated and safely and economically heated-probably oil. Our goal is to have a safe, warm place to work in the winter. We have ruled out a wood barn as being too combustable. The properties in our price range all have several acres. As part of this inquiry what can one expect to spend for a block building of this sort? Finally, does anyone know what the average sq ft cost for building a cedar sided home is in the southern coastal region of Maine.
I realize these are a lot of questions but we are trying to have as many questions answered before we start talking to realtors.
Ken