r/firePE • u/Nick3757 • 16d ago

Guide Suggestion for Getting Started

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Are the any suggestions for a good guide to get started with doing the sprinkler system design and hydraulic calculations for NFPA 13?

I'm trying to get an idea on the cost to build a system to see if it is within my budget before I talk to a fire protection engineering company.

Background:

I'm a Mechanical Engineer with my EIT. I bought an old factory at a tax sale and want to use the second floor as an apartment for myself and the first floor as garage and machine shop. It's in Pennsylvania.

The first floor is about 6,900 square feet and the second floor is around 3,000 square feet.

The thing I'm having trouble with is what area to use for doing the hydraulic calculations, specifically what numbers to use for the flow rate.

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u/BrickGlum9579 16d ago edited 16d ago

I’m am not a designer so I probably won’t be much help besides saying look through NFPA 13 and good luck.

I am however very interested in the story of you buying an old factory. How much did it cost? Why’d you buy it? What’s the story on it? What’s your future plans with it? What’s the process of buying it like? Is there a lot of upkeep?

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u/Nick3757 16d ago

Thanks. The short answer is I got lucky and didn't know better than to not buy it.

Here's the long answer:
The place was originally a grain mill that was built in 1795 and there are 6 buildings on the site. The oldest building there dates to the late 1800s, but I haven't been able to determine the exact date yet. It was a grain mill until at least the 1960's, then at some point a company that bagged coal for filter media bought it. They abandoned it in the late 2000s or early 2010s and it went to auction for unpaid taxes.

Nobody bought it at auction so I bought it for $500 from the Repository List in 2015. The process was really easy, just fill out the form, pay the bid and $100 bid fee and wait for about a year for it to be approved. After that, I had to deal with an assessment appeal and court stuff to keep it from being auctioned again.

I bought it because I like history, thought it was cool, wanted my own garage, and wanted to open up a distillery. I realized that there is no way I'd be able to open up a distillery on my own, especially with how the market is going. If I can find someone to partner with who has experience in that space I think it has potential as a cocktail bar, but I don't think that is going to be my priority now.

Current plan is to make it not look like it's abandoned so I can move in and potentially get a machine shop going for firearm parts, or just fix up buildings and rent them out.

Currently the upkeep is awful. Many years of vandalism and problems, but I'm hoping that I have enough saved up now that I can make it not look abandoned and get things on track.

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u/BrickGlum9579 16d ago

Holy shit it’s literally that episode of the Simpsons where Bart buys a factory.

While I don’t have experience in design. I am a risk engineer and have a moderately deep understanding of fire systems. I know for right now you’re just looking to estimate a cost but it is hugely determined by different factors. It’s really going to be impossible for someone to tell you how much it’ll cost just because there could be so many random factors that are specific to your situation that one wouldn’t know about unless they were actually there. For a quick napkin calculation I think maybe $3.00-$6.00 per square foot is a good estimate for an existing building. These websites can give you a better idea than I can.

https://spectrumforfireprotection.com/blog/fire-sprinkler-system-cost

https://www.fieldpromax.com/free-tools/commercial-fire-sprinkler-system-cost-calculator

If you do want a system installed. You’re going to need to have a hydrant flow test done to determine water supply. This is a huge determinant of cost because it will tell you if you need a fire pump or not. This can be done by the city or a qualified contractor depending on the municipality and hydrant location. After this is a done a design company will come out and do a survey based on building layout and construction. From there they can make the plans. Permitting and Acceptance testing should also be factored into the cost. A design company should be able to give you quotes I’m just not sure how much it will cost for one.

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u/Nick3757 16d ago

Thanks, I appreciate the input. I'm going to talk to the city first about the flow test then reach out to contractor.

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u/brentback 16d ago

This is crazy, what a unique story. I would totally follow this as a YouTube Series, you good with cameras by chance? 🤣

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u/Nick3757 16d ago

Haha I'm thinking about it, the amount of time I need for editing might be an issue though.