Shouses (Shop Houses) in Michigan

A shouse, or shop house, is a building where the shop comes first and the house sits alongside or above it: a heated bay for the truck, the boat, the tractor or the snowmobiles, and a full home under the same roof. We design and build shouses in Michigan on steel or post-frame structures. The questions that matter are the ones a garage never raises: how the shop is separated from the living space, how much of it is heated through a Michigan winter, and where the big doors go so snow off the roof does not land in front of them.

Frame drawings stamped by the manufacturer's professional engineer

Sized to your site's snow and wind loads

Start your project

Where a Shop House Fits on Michigan Land

A shouse suits the way a lot of rural Michigan lives: equipment that needs a dry, warm place in winter, a boat or a camper that needs a tall door, and a hobby or a business that outgrew the garage. Putting the shop and the house under one roof saves a second foundation, a second roof and a second driveway, and it means a January morning starts with a short walk instead of a scrape.

What it asks for is planning. We separate the shop from the living space with a fire-rated wall and door, keep fumes and noise on the shop side, and size the heating for a big space that loses heat every time the door opens. Zoning matters too: whoever zones your land may limit the size of a building or a home business, so we check what your zoning allows before the shop grows.

Shouses, Living Area and Michigan's Plan Rules

The shop bay in a shouse is not living space, and in Michigan that matters on paper. Plans for a detached one- or two-family home of up to 3,500 square feet of living space do not need an architect's or engineer's seal, and the figure counts habitable space only: a garage, storage, a basement, an attic or an open porch is not part of it. A shouse with a modest house and a big shop can stay under the line. And the living quarters are a home, not a farm building, even when the shop serves the farm, so the whole building is permitted and inspected as a house.

Shouses: how the work runs

Four stages, in this order. The sequence matters more than it looks: settling the zoning, the septic and well permits and the building permit before anything is fabricated is what keeps a Michigan build from stalling.

What the shop is for

Vehicles, equipment, a woodshop, a business? The use sets the door sizes, the eave height, the floor thickness and whether the shop needs a floor drain, heat or its own electrical service. We start there, not with the square footage.

Layout and separation

We place the living space and the shop so the fire-rated separation, the entry between them and the ventilation work, and so a noisy compressor or a paint booth is not against a bedroom wall.

Frame, doors and roof

Steel or post-frame, sized for your site's snow load. Big doors go in walls where roof snow will not slide down in front of them, which on a gable building usually means the gable end or under a sheltering eave.

Heat, insulate and finish

The house is insulated and finished like any other; the shop gets the heat and insulation its use needs, from a heated slab to a cold bay. Licensed trade contractors handle plumbing, electrical and HVAC in both halves.

Snow and big doors

Put the doors where the snow will not bury them

NOAA notes that the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and the south shore of Lake Superior get far more snow than the rest of the state. Snow sliding off a steel roof lands in a heap along the eave, and on a shouse the eave is often exactly where somebody wants a garage door. We orient the building and the doors to your site so the shop opens in February, not just in July.

Shouses across Michigan

In Michigan the question that matters is which local unit your land sits in. Who zones it, who issues the building permit, which health department permits the septic system and the well, and who reviews earth changes near water all vary from one place to the next. The service area pages set out who does what for each city and county we cover.

Barndominium builders across Michigan.

Every city, township and county in Michigan has its own answer on zoning, permits and septic. The service area pages set out who does what.

View our full service area →

Before you commit

What actually decides the price

Square footage is the number everyone leads with, and it is rarely the one that moves a barndominium budget. These four do.

How much of the shop is heated

A heated shop needs insulation and a heating system sized for a big volume and big doors. Heating only part of it, or leaving it cold, is one of the biggest savings available on a shouse.
Overhead door size and count

Tall, wide doors for an RV or equipment need heavier framing around them and insulated door panels if the shop is heated.
Separation between shop and house

The fire-rated wall, ceiling and door between the shop and the living space add material and labor, more so when the living space is above the shop.
Shop floor

A thicker slab for heavy equipment, a floor drain, or in-floor heat each add cost. They are cheaper to put in at the start than to add later.

Shouses in Michigan: common questions

7 questions we get asked most often about building in Michigan. If yours is not on the list, ask it directly.

Start the survey

What is a shouse?

A shouse is a shop house: one building with a working shop and a full home under the same roof. It is a kind of barndominium in which the shop is a main use, not an afterthought.

Does the shop need a fire wall between it and the house?

Plan on one. We separate the shop from the living space with a fire-rated wall, and a fire-rated ceiling where the house is above the shop, with a rated door between them. The building department reviews the detail on the plans, and the exact requirement depends on the layout.

Can I run a business out of my shouse?

That is a zoning question for whoever zones your land. Zoning rules for home businesses often limit size, employees, signs and customer traffic, so we check yours before the shop is sized.

Does the shop count toward the size limit for house plans?

No. Michigan's 3,500 square foot threshold for plans without an architect's or engineer's seal counts habitable floor area, measured to the outside of the exterior walls, and a garage or storage space is not habitable. The living part of the shouse is what counts.

How big should the shop be?

Measure what you want inside it, with the doors open and room to walk around, then add space for a bench and storage. Most people who build a shouse wish the shop were bigger; few wish it were smaller.

Should the living space go above the shop or beside it?

Beside it is simpler: a single-story house, an easier fire separation and no stairs. Above it saves footprint and foundation, but needs a stair, a fire-rated floor and more attention to noise and fumes.

Can the shop be heated separately from the house?

Yes, and it usually should be. Separate zones or a separate system let you keep the shop just above freezing while the house is warm, which matters through a long Michigan winter.

Sources

Keep reading

The pages that answer the next question this one raises.

Barndominium With Shop

The plan-side version of the same idea: a home and a working bay under one roof.

Read it

40x60 Barndominium

A footprint that splits comfortably into living and working halves.

Read it

Are Barndominiums Worth It?

The shop-plus-home case is the strongest one for this building type.

Read it

Ready to put shouses against a real plan? Start there and the rest follows.

Start your build survey

Tell us about the land

Tell us where the parcel is and what you want on it, and we will come back with who has jurisdiction, what the land needs before it can be built on, and a realistic budget range. Starting the survey costs nothing.

Start your project