RCLC 40’x40’ Pole Barn (1 Viewer)

[WarDamnEagle]

If you're going to work in the shop then you want fairly bright and even lighting distribution. I was looking for 100 foot candles at 30" above the floor as a goal. Lighting model says I should have around 110 with the fixtures and distribution that I chose and I can tell you that it is bright but not overly so. I only use the dimmer when I, for example, needed to see the laser line on the walls for running stripes. I even have very good light under a car when it's on the lift.

22k lumen fixtures are not an optimal size for 14' sidewalls. You won't get the full dispersion and with only 8 or 10 fixtures you will have considerable shadowing. You should really consider 15k or even 12k fixtures with twice as many as you are planning. You're obviously spending a lot of money on this building; I wouldn't underbudget for lighting.

If you're using the building mainly for storage then it probably doesn't matter and you can add specific task lighting as needed (e.g. over a workbench).

Again, just a friendly suggestion based on a lot of research and modeling for my shop which, again, is also 40x40 but with 16' sidewalls.

 

[Jdc1]

Thanks for the input, these are the recommendations from Hyperlite. Ordered 4 extra to tweak the pattern and will adjust as necessary.

 

[PAToyota]

The siding and roof are 29ga.

That's mighty thin... I hope hail isn't too frequent in your area.

 

[Jdc1]

That's mighty thin... I hope hail isn't too frequent in your area.

We’ll find out….

 

[PAToyota]

I've seen significant damage done to material that thin.

 

[PIP]

I've seen significant damage done to material that thin.

No big hail here, but 29g with sheeting underneath is pretty tough. No sheeting and it's really too thin.

The biggest downside to thinner steel is how it buckles and wrinkles so much. It's never nice and flat like thicker steel will be.

On the upside, the thinner steel does a great job bending and flexing around crooked framing. Part of my shop is 50+ year old barn I partially reframed and straightened out. I should have pushed it over, but I didn't. I finished an office portion of it with sheetrock- Looks great! I left the power pole posts exposed and it turned out nice. The other 1500 sq ft of the interior I tinned walls and ceiling with 31g white liner panels. I was able to stretch and shrink the wall panels laid sideways so the panel lines lined up with the floor and the ceiling. In some cases there's 1.5" stretch in 8 feet! And you can't tell unless you're looking for it. I don't think I could do that with 26g or thicker material.

 

[Jdc1]

There was significant discussion with my builder on steel thickness. The roof is textured as well which gives additional protection from the elements. No turning back now….

 

[Jdc1]

Concrete, subpanel, gutters and overhead doors are in.