Build new or rebuild my existing shop?

I have a 24x24 shop that was built in 1985 that I need to decide to repair or replace. Issues are: When the previous owner built the building it was put on a floating slab, it was built too low and water floods the floor, the concrete has cracked and moved pushing out one of the walls about six inches on the bottom, the overhead door is only seven feet high so on occasion mufflers need to be removed prior to entering the building, both the walk through door and the overhead doors need to be replaced, it needs new shingles, it is on the bottom of a hill, and now the insurance company told me that starting next year they would not insure it unless I repair it. I built a 36x64 pole shed about eight years ago that is filled to the seams. So I have a few options. First would be jack up the building and remove the existing concrete, add about two feet of fill and pour a new slab. Possibly add in-floor heat and add a lean-to. Second would be tear the building down and build a new one. Third would be add onto the pole shed for a new shop area. The problem with this is the location to the driveway and the terrain of the land. Fourth would be clean out the pole shed and insulate part of it for a new shop and then build another storage building. The problem with this last idea is I would like to have in-floor heat and a floor drain and do not want to break up the concrete. Another issue that I need to think about is that the plan is to build a new house at another location in the next ten years and I could build my dream shop at that time. What would you do?

Were it mine I think I'd patch it up for storage and build a new one. I never seem to have enough room. I built a 28 by 40 four years ago that I live in the upstairs. I've got in floor heat and love it. I wish I'd built it taller. Like yours it only has a seven ft door and it limits what I can fit in here. It like it high enough to accommodate a tractor with a cab.

I would place a lot of emphasis on energy consumption I would want something for the long haul which will cost a minimum once I am retired. When I sold my business the 40x50 x17 warehouse became my shop. I paritioned off a 16x22x10 inner room that I heat, and heat the main part only when needed. Saves me a lot.

Build a new one. You have to build new pad anyway and put on a new roof. A couple of years ago I remodeled about 2/3 of my 40X48 pole constructed cattle shed into a shop. The building is strong but I did have to replace the steel roof. Inside, I put in a double sided insulated divider wall, a ceiling and I had to stud the outside wall with 2x8's to match the thickness of the poles. Half the floor was cemented so I had to cement the other half. I did all of the labor except the cement. I had some other 'shared' labor helping me with the roof sheets and the ceiling sheets. I wired the whole works myself using conduit and I plumbed it for water. In the end the only people I paid to do work was the cement and the trenching and in the end I still had $35,000 in a 32X40 shop with a 16' ceiling that slopes down to 10'. There is a 18'wX14'h overhead door in one end and a 9'X9' overhead door in the other end. I was working with an existing building so I was forced to have the tall door on the north side and the floor slopes from north to south so a little bit of rain comes in under the big door and runs in a little stream across the floor.

All the time I was doing this project I kept thinking for maybe $25,000 more I could have built a new one with a floor that slopes the right way and a big door on the south where the cold north wind can't blow on it. The $5000 I have in the water and gas trenching and the boring in of electricity would have been spent on a new one anyway along with the roof I wouldn't have put on the cattle shed if I wasn't turning it into an insulated shop. Come to think of it, the roof was in the $2500 range, so in the end around $7500 of what I spent on this project would have gone into the new building anyway. Just my .02 worth. Jim

I'm in the same boat. Mine's 24x24,eight foot sidewalls and full of junk. I modified the rafters up front and raised the doorway to nine feet then put double rolling doors on it,each 8 foot wide,so it's a 16 foot door. I can get all of the non cab tractors in with the mufflers on,but the cab tractor won't go unless I let the air out of the tires.
The 40x40 tool shed is in the right place for a nice shop and is high enough to get the big tractor in. I could build another toolshed and fix that old one up to what I want. Or I could add on to the front of the existing shop and make it 36 or 40x24 and make the addition higher. That was my original plan,but the more I think about what I really want,building a new shop next to the toolshed is what I really want to do,then it'll be exactly what I've been planning in my mind.
Biggest trouble is,the electricity is in the old shop and I'll have to run all the way from the basement to where I want the new one. The water is right close to the new location though. I wanted a lean to on the side of the new one too,toward the road,so I can show off some of the tractors that I don't use right along.
It sure is tempting to just modify the shop I have though.

If the foundation is gone then you basically ARE building a new shop. Do it right and enjoy it.

With that many structural and location problems I would not rebuild the old shop, I'd build a new shop in a new location.

Can you can make some low cost repairs to the old shop and use for the building for storage or an extra garage for another five to twenty years? Maybe break off a foot or two of the wandering concrete slab and repair the pushed out wall. Fill in the gaps with crushed gravel

I own rental places. Many have the same problem. Drive ways are higher than garage floor. Water runs in. I purchased a Terramite T5C. It's very difficult to raise a garage floor, so your only choice is to lower the dirt around the garage, make water run away from it.

I had to do the same with the last house which was built on the lowest point. Water from neighbors 40 acre field ran towards the house the last time in 08 we got 10 inches in 24 hours. That require weeks of work removing tons of top soil, making a drainage system all around house and pole barn. It's a mess doing it, but really a person's only option. Drain pipes can't handle 10 inches in 24 hours. When we get even a few inches is a short time, I have steams draining 10's of thousand of gallons of water away from house and barn.

Start moving dirt. Save your old garage and build a new pole barn of the dirt you moved.

Sometimes people make things worse by installing a paved drive. Water then runs down the drive to garage.

You have a lot of options, the existing shop and site and all the others you mentioned.

I would "value engineer" each, weigh in the advantages such as the site and so on, compare and then make a decision. There is nothing worse than a building that just does not function for an owners needs, let alone having drainage and site issues.

If the existing building site is ideal, you can improve the conditions of the site to perform as needed, then you can consider what may be salvageable, compare the labor to salvage against new construction costs. My point is, maybe you take a spread sheet, fill in all the blanks and see what pencils out. These are simple buildings with specific features you may want or need, nothing complicated, so you should be able to "pencil in" everything conclusive, then see what makes the most sense.

Ideally, you want that home and shop now, so you can make use of it, however none of us (or that I know live in anything remotely ideal LOL!)

So given its 24'x 24', common type of wood frame construction, you need to do a lot of work under it, is it worth the labor to salvage? That thing could be down very quickly and the remedial work to the site commenced immediately, and the only loss is the value of 30 year old lumber, of how much is compromised, vs new material and what, a few days or less, (depending on how its done) of labor to erect/frame it. That labor will easily cancel out with the labor to salvage, shore up, reinforce, jack, and then you still have to work around it. Concrete is already a loss, site has to be corrected anyway, shingles are done, as well as the doors, at a glance it would make sense to start from new.

If the existing location works with improvements, it may very well make sense to look at the obvious.

How is the roof? The rest of it sounds pretty far gone! If the roof is good and it is insulated you could jack it up a couple of feet and put a new foundation with a 2 foot block wall. Then you could put in some higher doors.

With every thing you said it needs you might be father ahead to build new. If you build new and can afford it build it twice the size you think you need.If you build one the size you think you need now down the road you will run out of room.

"...it was put on a floating slab, it was built too low and water floods the floor, the concrete has cracked and moved pushing out one of the walls about six inches on the bottom...".

I'm not going to tell you what to do, but if it were my shop, that alone would be enough for me.

Good luck in your decision.

Mark

I don't care how big the shop is, it's never big enough. They will always fill to max capacity.

My nephew could only afford a 24x24. So he built in in such a way that later he would extend one end and make it a 24x48.

But you are right, never big enough. But the smaller, the easier it is to heat and cool.

I think someone else mentioned it as well. Thinking of your future move. Can you use the sm. building for storage of some of the stuff from the big barn then make a "better shop" there? If not then the repairs you pointed out were the most expensive of all building areas. I would build the new one. I would concider the placement and lay out so it can be modified easily by a new owner when you move. I agree with the heated floor. that is the one thing I didn't do in my 30x40. Also make sure you insulate now it wont happen if you wait. there will be to much stuff on walls later and you wont want to move it. good luck