I'm considering tearing down my outbuilding and building a shop.... with the wife's consent. Just curious how big the "average" shop is. I'm looking at 24x24 but that could go up or down.
That would be a good size shop for one person. This might be better served in the workshop forum but what has been stated already is good information.
I built the current shop I am in with my son back in 2013. I have a Medicare card in my wallet so I am not starting out with woodworking.
A couple important inputs to repeat:
Put up high ceilings. Avoid the 8' ceilings as a result of bargain stud prices(93" bargains).
Insulate if you have the money.
Think about OSB interior walls. Its cheaper than drywall and you can hang things easier.
Put in as many electrical outlets as you can. Make sure you put enough 220 outlets.
If you use Duke Power take the power from your house. Do not let them talk you into a separate line. Its more expensive per watt and its 20/month on top of what you use. It is a rip off. To add insult to injury.... you are stuck for 3 years on the deal.
I wish my shop was bigger. My wife always says to people who visit " if he built that shop 100 x 100 he'd fill it up with junk and trip over things before he'd move it."
I hate to admit she has a point. The smaller shop is more efficient in some ways but space is very nice. If I had a bigger shop, I'd probably offer classes that I can not support with what I have. Oh well. Hindsight.
This is the building that I built with my son Connor. We had some moments when "he pulled on the crosscut saw and so did I"
Looking back on it we had some great memories.
The frame was from a house from the 1950s that was demoed. Everything but the siding is used. Shingles mismatched overages put to use.
Connor's dog Archenta as a young pup.
This was the first hammerbeam shop I copied and built with 3 other guys for a couple of blacksmiths. The original that you see in the photo was over 140 years old. Durham county would not approve the plans without an engineer evaluation that cost 1200-1500 bucks. I had the timber, plans and access to a crane for a 1 day assembly on the frame. No luck.
Wish I had the energy to build just one more frame but the bones and the back are getting tired.
Best of luck