Mine is a 30x60 typical post frame building. It is divided into two sections. shop is 24x30 and has a single 8x7 garage door. It is insulated and has a two barrel wood stove. The 36x30 side is not insulated and is used for storage, boat, lawn equip. It has a normal 2 car garage door. It has 9 ft ceilings.
Things that I would do differently now that I have lived with it for seven years:
Go with 10 foot sidewalls
My tractor barely fits. I actually have to throttle down so the little flapper on the exhaust doesn't get stuck on the door.
When you have regular garage doors you have a header which robs door open height. I could have had a taller door with the 10 foot instead of 9 foot. Also, when I had a slide in camper I couldn't back into the shed with the camper on, so it had to stay outside.
Insulate the whole thing
It would have cost less than $1000 more to do the whole thing. The insulation is sandwiched between the tin and the girts. You can insulate after the fact but it is a pain and doesn't go in neatly. This is assuming you are doing a pole shed. It is also more expensive to do after the fact.
Concrete the whole thing right away
I did the shop part first and left the storage side dirt. I eventually did the other side but then I had to haul everything out and deal with it again.
Go with a 40x60
It doesn't seem like much more but that extra 10 feet is 25% more space. Also, it allows more "stuff" to be along the walls and still be able to pull vehicles in behind the stuff. Plus, you can double park. Can't do that in a 30 foot deep.
If not using sliding doors, go with 9' tall doors.
See above.
Allow for two post lift
This really kills me now. I want a lift. They are less than $2K for a decent two post. The insulated shop part has the garage door right under a truss and the uninsulated part has the two car door. Plenty of room for the lift, but....it's not insulated.
If not a lift, consider putting in a "drive over" pit when you do the concrete work. You can change oil, even drop a transmission with a tranny jack in a nice pit. Super cheap to do if you do it when you are building and before concrete. Not cheap to do after the fact.
Have water plumbed in, possibly a bathroom
Another thing that kills me now. What was I thinking? Plus, now I have installed underground sprinklers so I can't trench a line to the shop from the house. The bathroom can wait, but get the water and sewer at least roughed in.
Well, there you have it. Not that I haven't given this any thought since I built it.
I do have a new central air conditioning unit ready to install this year. Free hookup on the unit from a buddy. Mmmmmm, AC in the shop.
