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Thread: A Hangar Design Thread

  1. #1
    Eric Page's Avatar
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    A Hangar Design Thread

    I want to build a hangar, but I don't know much about the process. I'm hoping those of you who've done this can offer some advice.

    I'd like to survey the field here to see what others have built. If you own a hangar, could you describe as much of the following as you care to about your hangar?

    - Size of hangar: L x W x Ceiling Height
    - Type of foundation and floor
    - Type of construction: stick-build, pole-barn, metal pre-fab (straight wall or Quonset)
    - Type & size of door: sliding/folding (2-piece or multi-panel), overhead lift (one-piece or bi-fold), fabric roll-up, hydraulic or manual operation
    - Additional doors: man-doors, roll-up garage type
    - Interior build-out: additional rooms for shop, office, storage, bathroom, etc.
    - Windows: type/size, number, locations
    - Interior finish: vapor barrier, insulation, drywall, interior walls and doors, epoxy/tiled floor
    - Exterior finish: Metal cladding, T1-11 siding, clapboards, shingles, paint or factory coating
    - Mechanical: electrical service and wiring, plumbing, air lines, lighting, HVAC
    - Approximate total cost

    - If metal pre-fab or pole-barn, who did you buy from? How was the experience with them?

    - Any features you particularly like?
    - Any features you wouldn't bother with again?
    - Any features you wish you had purchased?
    - How do you like your hangar door?

    - Have you modified or added anything since initial construction?

    - Any other advice on hangars?

    Many thanks!

    Eric
    Eric Page
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  2. #2
    Byron J. Covey
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    Answers within quote.

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Page View Post
    I want to build a hangar, but I don't know much about the process. I'm hoping those of you who've done this can offer some advice.

    I'd like to survey the field here to see what others have built. If you own a hangar, could you describe as much of the following as you care to about your hangar?

    - Size of hangar: L x W x Ceiling Height

    50' wide 60' deep 12' ceiling

    - Type of foundation and floor

    Florida, slab on grade

    - Type of construction: stick-build, pole-barn, metal pre-fab (straight wall or Quonset)

    Concrete block, trusses, stucco, shingles

    - Type & size of door: sliding/folding (2-piece or multi-panel), overhead lift (one-piece or bi-fold), fabric roll-up, hydraulic or manual operation

    40' Horton, 110 MPH (code requirement) Stack Door http://www.hortonstackdoor.com/stack...escription.htm Translucent doors. Allows use of all 12' of ceiling height. Some neighbors with 12' ceilings can not use the entire height for their amphibs, because they have bifold doors.

    - Additional doors: man-doors, roll-up garage type

    Single car rollup garage door in rear right corner. Should have bought insulated door, instead insulated it myself.

    - Interior build-out: additional rooms for shop, office, storage, bathroom, etc.

    Rear 18' enclosed w insulated 6" stud wall. That divided into a 32" workshop and an office area.
    Workshop has a window to hangar, an exterior people door to hangar, and another garage door that is directly across from the exterior garage door. Hangar has windows along both sides as well as across the back. Exterior door into the office area. Lots of fluorescent lights in the workshop.
    Office area has a bath with shower, and an office / kitchen area. No stove, but refrigerator, kitchen sink and cabinets. Exterior door that opens out the left, rear onto a 10' by 16' porch.
    Storage area above office ceiling.

    - Windows: type/size, number, locations

    36" wide by 48" high windows, two down the right side, one in hangar, one of which in workshop, three on left side, one in hangar, two of which are in the office /kitchen looking onto porch, two together in the workshop, behind work bench. The window located above the kitchen sink is shorter.

    - Interior finish: vapor barrier, insulation, drywall, interior walls and doors, epoxy/tiled floor

    No VB, workshop and office interior walls insulated with 6" glass. Doing it again, and $'s permitting, I would add 1" foam in the office area, and cover it with drywall. Have a split heat / cool / dehumidify system in the office area and in the workshop, primarily for dehumidification here in the summers. Drywall on interior partition wall, all interior walls painted. Flat on interior of concrete block, and semi gloss matching on hangar side of partition wall. Gloss white on partition wall inside office and workshop. Tile floor in office / bathroom.

    Important here in this climate: Entire ceiling, painted white, and lots of insulation. I don't recall the R value, but about 9" deep blown in insulation.

    - Exterior finish: Metal cladding, T1-11 siding, clapboards, shingles, paint or factory coating

    Stucco, shingles. Residential airpark, where hangars must match the house.

    - Mechanical: electrical service and wiring, plumbing, air lines, lighting, HVAC

    Split HVAC system for shop and office / bathroom. Lots of GFI-protected outlets, especially in the workshop. Hot water heater and well system pressure tank in corner of workshop. Basic fluorescent lighting in the hangar, lots of same in workshop and office. Traditional lighting in the bathroom.

    - Approximate total cost

    Don't ask. Contractor built the building, including the ceiling. I did all the interior work.

    - If metal pre-fab or pole-barn, who did you buy from? How was the experience with them?

    NA

    - Any features you particularly like?

    I live in a residential airpark in north central Florida, on a 5 acre wooded lot. I have a patio and a fire pit behind the hangar porch that is a gathering spot for friends and neighbors. (I need to finish this posting soon, and go put on the coffee and light the fire for our every Friday morning "coffee by the fire pit.") The hangar / firepit / office is major socializing location.

    Since the area is totally private, and one gets really sweaty doing yard work here in the summer time, I installed a shower head on the back wall of the hangar. People thought that I was nuts, but I use it frequently in the summer.

    - Any features you wouldn't bother with again?

    No

    - Any features you wish you had purchased?

    Epoxy floor. Very expensive. Also a slab on the side of the hangar for fuel tank storage.

    - How do you like your hangar door?

    Like it very much.

    - Have you modified or added anything since initial construction?

    Did all the stuff beyond the basic building myself. Had just retired, so I was able to work on it 60 hours per week until it was done.

    - Any other advice on hangars?

    See comment above about making it a place for socializing.

    Many thanks!

    Eric
    Do a search for workshops. There are some really nice examples, with lots of details about layout and construction.


    BJC

  3. #3

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    The first thing you need to do is see what the building codes are for your locale. Look at "barns". I purchased an Erect-A-Tube building, 48'x48' with a 48' bifold door. Hired the steel erectors and the concrete contractors, and then did the finish electrical and inside myself. In 2002 $$ the foundation was something like $6000, the floor was another $3000, the steel and door was ~$35K and erection was another $8K. My wife and I put down white Hard Deck epoxy. Turned out great. I did electric and sheet rock. Building inspector signed it off. You can add up the $$.

    Erect-A-Tube provided drawings with an engineer's stamp on them so the building inspector had no questions when issuing the permit.

    The bifold door was about 40% of the cost of the kit.

    Best of luck,

    Wes

  4. #4

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    as to floor ....most building codes require concrete floors

  5. #5
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    My hangar inside dimensions are rougly 50' wide by 36' deep and 17' tall. The door (Schweiss Bifold) is 45' wide and 14' tall (12' clearspace). A row of clerestory windows over the door and around the top of the three exposed sides of the hangar provide natural light. The floor space is roughly 2000 sf. Two storage rooms and a workshop in the back bring the sf up to 3000. The local building codes keep the residential
    hangars pegged at 2000 sf of actual "airplane" area.

    The construction is stick framed with drywall inside and stucco and stone veneer on the outside. The floor is polished concrete with hydronic heat. There's no air conditioning, but I have a portable moving cool unit when needed. There are normal man doors on the side that allow you to the ramp and one in the back that takes you to the deck and hot tub. A stairway leads up to the house proper. There's a laundry room and bathroom just at the top of the stairs.

    The whole house is fed with 400A service backed up with a 80 KVA generator. Heat is provided by geothermal heat pumps. The generator, hot water, cooking, and fireplaces are fed with a 1000 gallon propane tank. I've got two ceiling mounted combination halon and dry chemical fire extinguishers over where the airplane is parked. The hangar is big enough for my airplane and the boat on the trailer.



  6. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Page View Post
    I want to build a hangar, but I don't know much about the process.
    Other folks will surely disagree with this, but it's based on experience in three states. I'll double down on what Wes hinted at.

    DO NOT BUILD A HANGAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Don't even say the WORD hangar.

    You want an equipment shed. That's all. An equipment shed. Like folks keep their boat trailers and combines and tractors and garden machinery in. An equipment shed. They don't usually require hard surface floors and fire sprinkler systems and eyewash stations and air conditioning and multiple routes for personnel emergency egress with multicolored lighted signs and floor mounted battery backup strobe-marked walkways and minimum electrical service regulations and wastewater pollution prevention and reclamation systems and you get the idea, right?

    AN EQUIPMENT SHED.

    And for darn sure don't pave the "ramp" and "taxiway" and "tarmac" or you'll need a complete catch basin water runoff mitigation system. Plus pay higher taxes on the improvement.

    Your mileage may vary.
    Last edited by Mike M; 02-14-2016 at 05:13 PM.

  7. #7

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    Not sure if how hard the ground freezes where you are at, but here in MN, I seen some t-hangars built with a 'floating' concrete floor. Big mistake, in the winter the floor rises and jams the doors. The fact that the doors are the kind that are made up of several parts that slide to side does not help.
    Minnesota

  8. #8

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    That's why we pay the extra for bifold doors in snow country. Sliding doors jam in about 10 different ways once the temps drop below freezing.

    And the above post about checking the correct box on the building permit application is really good advice. I built a barn. A neighbor was unable to stop talking to the building inspector about how he was going to build an AIRPLANE HANGAR. The building code for official airplane hangars assumes a commercial building and requires explosion proof light fixtures and other expensive accessories not needed by you and I. I think he was forced to spend 50% more than I did. The lesson is, as noted above, build a barn or a machinery storage building with a big door for your big machinery.

    Best of luck,

    Wes
    N78PS

  9. #9
    FlyingRon's Avatar
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    Well, the building department isn't going to be fooled around here by claiming you're building a farm equipment shed if you are on an airport. That being said, North Carolina as I aluded above relaxes the requirements for 2000 sf hangars to the point where it's not much different than a garage design wise. Even the couple of neighbors who have gone the commercial route haven't had that much problem. Notably you have to have a higher fire rating.

  10. #10

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    I find all the requirements hilarious when I look at what I'm renting out at the County airport.

    Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining one little bit - but they are just metal frames with banging sheeting bolted to them with even louder banging sliding doors at the slightest breeze. And they cautioned me against running my air compressor at the same time as other equipment as it will pop the circuit breaker for the whole row of hangars.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

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