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Build your own hangar

jeremiahd

Member
I plan to build a hangar at an airport (O16 at Garberville), and wondered what advice people can give me. I'd love to find a Port-a-Port hangar, but they're out of business. It seems most hangar companies don't sell doors, and vice versa. I'm worried that I get a door that doesn't fit if I buy separately.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!
 
I have built a couple hangars, first was metal from a company that no longer is in business. Had rolling doors that went sideways arount the inside of the wall.
Doors were a major PITA.

New hangar is wood framed, except the steel header and support beams for the airplane door. I used a Higher Power door------nothing but good to say about that door. The door is specifically engineered to fit the opening-----they tell you how to measure 6 or 7 ways and fill out a form that is used to design the door. https://www.hpdoors.com/

Larry Stevens http://www.vansairforce.com/community/member.php?u=24013 is someone you could talk to about a hangar. I spoke with him at length a few years back, seems like a nice product (but our airpark restrictions made a traditional metal hangar a poor choice vs. the wood framed one).
 
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Build the biggest hangar you can afford and add more lighting and electrical outlets than you think you will ever need.

I have built a couple hangars, first was metal from a company that no longer is in business. Had rolling doors that went sideways arount the inside of the wall.
Doors were a major PITA.

...
I have those doors and I HATE them! I can't express what a pain they are, not to mention you need three feet along the side of the hangar to walk the doors open.
 
Build the biggest hangar you can afford and add more lighting and electrical outlets than you think you will ever need.

Yep-----and add a bathroom if you can.

Insulation and heating/cooling---if you can.


I have those doors and I HATE them! I can't express what a pain they are, not to mention you need three feet along the side of the hangar to walk the doors open.

Are you pushing the doors open, or pulling them?? I pushed them open, only needed about 6" clear. Is your hangar by ASI?

metal-storage-unit-ipic4.jpg
 
Hangar build advice

The best thing I did when building my hangar was to add a central I-beam with a trolley and an electric hoist. It comes in handy all the time, in ways I never dreamed of when I put it in. Even if you don't add a trolley/hoist right off the bat, add a beam that you can go back and put them on later. You will never regret it, and your back will love you for it.

The second best thing was to add a good quality epoxy floor - not the home depot sort, but high solids from a paint vendor. I used Sherwin Williams. Love it. Cleans up so easy. It makes a huge difference.

I put in a Hydra-Link door made by Air-Side (airsidedoors.com). I'm very happy with it. Very sturdy, and well made.

As others have said....

As large as you can
HVAC if you can
All the electrical outlets you can
Plumb for air if you can
 
Best advice I can offer is build it behind your house !
And a one off bifold door isn?t that hard to build , use nylon straps & not wire cables, put the Drive mechanism down on the bottom of the door so you can work on it , I haven?t done anything maintenance wise to mine in 20 years
 
20 years ago a bunch of us that owned property on our airport built Miracle Truss hangars. They were pretty simple to build and used steel frames connected by locally sourced dimensional lumber. I think we built mine in a week or two. I personally helped with two others. To the best of my knowledge all have held up well. I bought the entire kit including the bifold door from Miracle Truss. They are still in business.
 
Best advice I can offer is build it behind your house !
And a one off bifold door isn?t that hard to build , use nylon straps & not wire cables, put the Drive mechanism down on the bottom of the door so you can work on it , I haven?t done anything maintenance wise to mine in 20 years

Pictures please! bill (at) repucci (dot) com
 
...
Are you pushing the doors open, or pulling them?? I pushed them open, only needed about 6" clear. Is your hangar by ASI?
...

The way mine were built (I bought the house and the hangar was already there.) is that you have to pull them in as the end panels are not in the track at the top and the panels "flop" in and out when being pushed.

Either way, you can't put or hang anything against or on the wall.

The only advantage of this style door is that they are cheap and they open all the way.

The one thing I really don't like about them is when it rains and the wind is blowing against the door, the rain runs down and under the door.
 
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The best thing I did when building my hangar was to add a central I-beam with a trolley and an electric hoist. It comes in handy all the time, in ways I never dreamed of when I put it in. Even if you don't add a trolley/hoist right off the bat, add a beam that you can go back and put them on later. You will never regret it, and your back will love you for it.


And make sure the structure is strong enough to handle any weight you'll be hanging from that I-beam...............
 
the end panels are not in the track at the top and the panels "flop" in and out when being pushed.

Either way, you can't put or hang anything against or on the wall.

I removed the piano hinge from the door-to-door setup, and hinged the man door to the upright frame member. The hinged door now tucks out of the way, and the tracked doors will roll much better. Also, space the "C" channel track at the top out from the side walls an inch or so. Now you can push the door without it banging on each upright column.
 
FulFab in Ohio makes hangars and they make their own doors in their factory. They have been doing this for more than 60 years. Their door motors ride on the truss above the door, which lessens the weight on the door during retraction and when sitting idle closed. They have a crew that erect the building on site. I built a row of 10 nested T?s at my airport (HAO) and the guys erected it in 5 days. Of course the pad and ramp was already installed - according to their specs. We had bids from several other hangar companies, and nothing else came close. Building erection costs from other contractors was double what FulFab charged, and the other contractors were quoting 1-2 months for the build. If you are anywhere near Ohio, consider FulFab.
 
Port a port

Bracket (Pomona) kicked all port a ports off the field. They have been moving several to chino. I was told they had a number of them they are selling?you might contact the airport for a used one
Bob
 
There is a great You Tube video online of a Port-A-Port hangar being blown over at San Luis Obispo by a CRJ doing an engine run.
 
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Epoxy floor

The best thing I did when building my hangar was to add a central I-beam with a trolley and an electric hoist. It comes in handy all the time, in ways I never dreamed of when I put it in. Even if you don't add a trolley/hoist right off the bat, add a beam that you can go back and put them on later. You will never regret it, and your back will love you for it.

The second best thing was to add a good quality epoxy floor - not the home depot sort, but high solids from a paint vendor. I used Sherwin Williams. Love it. Cleans up so easy. It makes a huge difference.

I put in a Hydra-Link door made by Air-Side (airsidedoors.com). I'm very happy with it. Very sturdy, and well made.

As others have said....

As large as you can
HVAC if you can
All the electrical outlets you can
Plumb for air if you can

+1 for the epoxy floor. I used SW Armor Seal 1000. Oil and gas stains are no match for this stuff and it resembles a white mirror
 
check them out! Awesome, self supporting door...

Yep, I've been wanting a Higher Power door for over 12 years now. Just emailed them right now to ask for a current quote. I already have manually open swing open doors I designed and they work great but for the next hangar I think I'm getting tired of manually opening them.
 
floor

I looked at that product but the reviews on Lowe's.com scared the *x*x* out of me.

I have tried a bunch of different floor coverings, with varying success.

I have not been impressed...it is not so much the occasional puddles as it is the rubber from the tires. Usually when spinning in a tight circle or a sudden stop. Grabs the floor coating and lifts it. As soon as one spot is lifted, it's over...
 
I guess I'll have to keep manually closing my doors for now. Just got the quote and WITHOUT shipping, installation and the metal covering (which for the same size door as I have cost me almost $750) the door is almost $11,000 !

I knew they were expensive but I can hire my neighbor to open my door for me for that price and I'll help stimulate the economy :)
 
Why is it that paint that's supposed to be for a floor comes off.

But if you spill some and don't wipe it up immediately, it's there forever?
 
I've done 2 garages, and you get what you pay for on floor coverings. I tried the behr one part covering from Lowe's or home Depot, it was $70 for each car in the garage. So a3 car garage cost 210. Even with an acid etch and proper prep it peeled in under a year and looked like ****. The next one I did I used the stuff from epoxy-coat.com. It was about 600 for a 2 car garage with the optional clear coat top. The only time I got it to peel was when I accidently dropped a spinning 4inch angle grinder on it. The clear coat deteriorates in the sun, so the 6 inches by the door yellowed after 2-3 years, but it didn't peel. I think they sell epoxy-coat products in Lowe's now.
 
Epoxy floor

We just did 2400 sq ft of my company's floor with Sherwin Williams Armor Seal 650 (2 part epoxy system). It took about 1.5 hours with 4 of us (a guy mixing, a guy squeegeeing, a guy cross rolling, and a guy spike rolling) and cost around $3,500. This is in a very high traffic area that includes moving product with equipment that has steel casters as well as high fork truck traffic. This is the same stuff I put in my hangar. Just thought you guys would like to see the finish.
y4m3fA-G6pv4Jnatsqi3Qt4uSi7GopaNwmmXGvgQAXpr39AWwmooGFO7pGGvl-nTixjwCZm6l9JHPNgG-XeP9XrGR9qW5F4VyFpSEhdShrRiAv4WJxzGVvPsIzShgbqYM0-Symrm3ZGzI1bGVWNktIlvOrGGbux0oHK3NF-nPR32P0v-s1oWHaAh20c-E5NCaWgL-kevVt5XQvKzQzYAvRKXw
 
Both my hangars have Hi-Lift doors with auto-latch. One when I built second hangar in 2003 and the other to replace door of my own design in 2016. I really love these doors.
Just checked the invoice. The door (40' X 12') was $5,451 plus $702 for the auto-latches.
 
Mine has Hi-Fold doors 40X14. They fit up against the outside of the building on the gable end and take up no extra headroom. That is, you don't have to build the walls higher than needed just to provide headroom for the door because the hinge is above the door opening on the outside. You do have to double the gable truss and brace to the next truss back. (Hydraulic doors are great if you can afford them.)
https://www.hi-fold.com
They come as a frame and lift mechanism. You add the sheeting, lights or translucent panels and insulation to taste.
Desirable hangar features:
At least a 3'0" walk door (in side wall not in big door) or 4'0" if you can swing it.
Better lighting than you think you need
Windows on each wall for light and cross ventilation
Lights (by that I mean what you think of as a fixed window) in the big door
Lots of power outlets
Concrete floor
Air compressor
Water (and all the amenities)
Heat (and maybe air conditioning)
Insulation
Enough Room so you can roll a tool chest around the airplane
Note - if you use overhead radiant heat have a high enough sidewall so you don't cook your airplane - I think you need 8' or so but check this out on your own.
 
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Mine has Hi-Fold doors 40X14. They fit up against the outside of the building on the gable end and take up no extra headroom. That is, you don't have to build the walls higher than needed just to provide headroom for the door because the hinge is above the door opening on the outside. You do have to double the gable truss and brace to the next truss back. (Hydraulic doors are great if you can afford them.)
https://www.hi-fold.com

They come as a frame and lift mechanism. You add the sheeting, lights or translucent panels and insulation to taste.............SNIP............

I agree, The Hi-Fold doors are great!
 
could a few of you who bought hangars please explain rough costs? I understand snow-load and hurricanes matter, but I don't even understand basic range. what should a decent 1,000 sqft hangar cost in CA, NY, or FL, electricity, plumbing, door, flooring etc., by the time it is all set and done?

/iaw
 
could a few of you who bought hangars please explain rough costs? I understand snow-load and hurricanes matter, but I don't even understand basic range. what should a decent 1,000 sqft hangar cost in CA, NY, or FL, electricity, plumbing, door, flooring etc., by the time it is all set and done?

/iaw

32'x 32' is pretty small but the price will depend on many more things than just snow loads. Want a pole barn? Want red iron? Want a flat roof? Want wood or metal trusses? Etc....
 
make it 40' by 40' then. just some basic quotes. can $50k buy a nice hangar in CA, FL, and/or NY? $100k? $200k?
 
make it 40' by 40' then. just some basic quotes. can $50k buy a nice hangar in CA, FL, and/or NY? $100k? $200k?

In East Texas, outside of city limits like here at my airport, you can easily build one for way less than $50k. It really depends on how fancy you want to get.
 
could a few of you who bought hangars please explain rough costs? I understand snow-load and hurricanes matter, but I don't even understand basic range. what should a decent 1,000 sqft hangar cost in CA, NY, or FL, electricity, plumbing, door, flooring etc., by the time it is all set and done?

/iaw

Metal buildings are inexpensive. I had a 40'x40' one built seven years ago. Grading was $5k, 5" 5000psi slab on sand with 18" footing $17k, Butler metal building with 14' manual roll-up door, skylights and insulation $25k, labor $11k. It really depends on the features you want; a few grand here a few grand there, it adds up quickly. Long unsupported spans get pricey, lots of heavy iron. If it's already paved, you can have a port-a-port towed in pre-fabbed for not much money.
 
thx, dan. useful. under $100k, most of the cost will be airport land. now I need to talk my airport into granting me some land...
 
Both my hangars have Hi-Lift doors with auto-latch. One when I built second hangar in 2003 and the other to replace door of my own design in 2016. I really love these doors.
Just checked the invoice. The door (40' X 12') was $5,451 plus $702 for the auto-latches.

Just installed a Hi-Fold 44'X12' bi-fold door on my hangar. Installation involved positioning the complete door in place (fork lift recommended), drilling and bolting the 7 hinges to the header, connecting the power and I was in business. Door measurements were spot on and no adjustments were necessary to the cables or latching system. The price for the door was $6,715 not including exterior sheeting. My hangar has a 12' ceiling, and I am able to get 11'5" opening height on the door which is quite impressive. 5 week lead time, delivered on schedule. Excellent quality and nice people to deal with.
 
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