how would you design a garage?

[craigandlynda]

if you were starting with a blank slate, how would you design and build a garage? we live in northern minnesota near canadian border. have flat, compacted area of ground near house. need one bay to work in, and one bay to park/wash/lite service. have pickups and cars. toolboxes. air tools. desire sink w water supply. flourescent lighting not always practical, below zero temps hinder flourescent tubes. need to build on a budget- every dollar in the building is one less dollar in the mopar...any ideas?

[suntech]

Lesson 1: at least twice as big as you think you need!!!!!!

[dkn1997]

search the web for garage plans and you will find a ton of them.  that could get you started. 

[Silver R/T]

http://www.garagejournal.com/

[HKCharger]

2 story so you could put a lift or two inside.

[HKCharger]

And I might add, I want a garage like Sw's!

[HKCharger]

here are some pics of SW's garage--

[HKCharger]

[craigandlynda]

silver R/T, thanx for the link to the garage site...lotta great ideas in there...wondering about the wood floor idea i saw in one of the entries there...think that would work? wonder what variety of wood?

[dd44068]

Very large and full of chargers

[General_01]

Build it two story and put a tall door in one stall for working on cars. Put a lift in this stall. Over the other three stalls build a mezzanine, or loft, for parts storage. Thats what I would do if I could build it the way I want.

[craigandlynda]

i like that...what would be the lowest cost building method for something like that? frame, or all block...or?

[General_01]

To be honest, I really don't know. I would look at pricing for those plus going the pole barn method. Depending on what kind of finished look you want inside. The frame route would be the easiest to finish the inside as well as run all your electrical wiring and insulate, but I am not sure if it is the cheapest way to go. I would think the pole barn might be the cheapest if you are not thinking about finishing the interior and insulating it. It also depends on what you can do yourself and what you have to hire out for. Frame you can do yourself. Block work you may need to hire out for that unless you do it for a living or know somebody.

[ITSA426]

As a Minnesotan I gotta tell you hot floors are a good choice if you're building from scratch.  With off peak electric rates to run the heat source it becomes downright affordable.  Get a ceiling tall enough for a lift if possible, lots of light and it needs to be at least twice the size you think it does.

[BigBlockSam]

a toilet .

[Chatt69chgr]

Put compressor outside in insulated enclosure.  They make a lot of noise and produce a fair amount of heat.  I suppose you could devise a way to capture the heat for winter.  Run black iron pipe air pipe along ceiling and slope to allow for removal of water from compressed air.  Then place drops at strategic points around shop.  If you have money for only one drop, then put Tee's in with pipe caps for later drops.  A 200 amp distribution panel would be nice.  And then run exposed Carlon electrical PVC along all walls with plenty of 110 and 220 outlets.  Also outlet for welder.  Heat source could be a unit heater mounted high in one corner---probably gas.  A sink/bathroom would be real nice for cleanup before going back into the house.  I think you could have a steel beam bldg with steel siding put in for a pretty good price.  You could pour the slab yourself and then have the bldg set up and then finish the inside yourself to save money.  A loft in the back would be good for storage.  There is never enough room at floor level for this what with roll about tool cabinets, stationary machine tools, etc.  Plywood walls are real nice for attaching things later.  Fire code may prevent this.  Might require sheet rock.   Be real careful if you put a gas hot water heater in due to gas fumes being ignited by the gas pilot.  Might want to put it outside in a insulated space too.  What you can do will obviously be limited by $$ but you will only build the bldg once.  You can add interior stuff later if you have planned for this ahead of time.  Almost forgot---a garage door that rolls up into a drum would be nice but may be too expensive.

[craigandlynda]

wow great thoughts and ideas...thanx guys...next step, is go sit on santa's lap....

[hutch]

Lesson 1: at least twice as big as you think you need!!!!!!

Yep,  No two car garage will fit two cars plus work bench, tools and floor work area.  I hate my garage.

[Mike DC]

Storage is a BIG, BIG deal for guys like us.  I think it's the biggest issue that gets missed in these shop designing sessions.


The need gets underestimated sometimes because a lot of these "dream car garages" to use as examples weren't really built for guys like us.  Guys who seriously wrench & restore vintage cars on-site.  I don't know anyone with a big custom-built vintage car shop that doesn't clutter up half their floorspace at any given time with parts.  (And that's usually just stuff involved in the job they're doing at the time, let alone longer-term stuff.)

So decide ahead of time whether storage is gonna be a big part of this deal or not.  If you tend to have multiple cars heavily torn apart at once, then your parts-storage needs are gonna overwhelm the thing and you might wanna think about making seperate plans for some of that job.  (An area that's built purely as a parts bin doesn't need climate controls, insulation, great lighting, etc.)


Either way, you'll probably want at least a few yards of convenient room inside for "counter top" storage.  Stuff you're working with just during the current job alone. 




And if you make any kind of loft or second story that's involved in storing parts, then I'd think about getting in and out of it conveniently.  Try to make the stairway pretty heavy-duty and at least a foot wider than normal domestic specs.  (And make sure you've got a little room to turn around at the top & bottom of the steps too.) 

I've seen some garages with the second story having a big door to the outside world on one of the walls.  (Not for a deck or anything, just nothing on the outside wall below it).  It's good to get big stuff in and out of the second-story on occasion.  Like backing a pickup truck bed up to the wall below it and manually lifting stuff through the doorway for example.  You don't need the indoor stairs to be so big & strong if you can get big stuff in & out of the second level through this kind of external high doorway when you need to.

[craigandlynda]

more good ideas.thank you!

[hutch]

and what DC Mike said.  Storage is big. I never toss out old parts or parts that I find that I know I am going to need.  I have boxes of them taking up space in my shed and garage loft.  If you want a two car garage, build a 4 car garage.  If you want a 4 car garage, build a warehouse.   

Show rooms are one thing, a garage is something very very different.

[BigBlockSam]

50  x 60 feet . so i can fit all my toys .  tunes, i got to have my music . a drain in the middle near an area where i can wash things .under floor heat would be nice plus I'd like to incorporate solar and wind power to it . a lift  IS A MUST! a loft for storage . big compressor outside in a separate enclosure . a serous work counter that i can hammer on.  enough power outlets to keep all the cars plugged in . all my cars have on board batt tenders. an area with a couch that opens to a bed, computer , bathroom , frig   and TV . to rest and hang with buds when there visiting or just to hide from the wife  . a kick ass blasting cabinet and a parts washer . . front and back drive through electric doors.

i want to make it look cool but the main reason for having it is to store my cars , bikes and work on my new projects .it would be cool if it looked like a barn. i like that . Rene


http://amishhorsebarns.com/horsebarn_photogallery.htm

[Todd Wilson]

Lesson 1: at least twice as big as you think you need!!!!!!

Thats the best advice so far!   

Storage, high enough for a lift and radiant floor heating would be the 3 things I would focus on.  A work area ahead of where the cars will be parked would be nice. If you had the space and $ a sink/toilet area and dont forget the beer fridge.  If you are planning on having a comfortable shop to work in during winter and summer then  insulation is something to consider. Walls ceiling and doors.


Todd

[Todd Wilson]

here are some pics of SW's garage--

NIce photos with some impressive cars but its obvious the guy is a rich weenerhead that I doubt gets his hands dirty.  I believe the question at the start of the thread is asking for ideas on how to build a garage/shop area where things will be repaired and restored.


Todd

[BigBlockSam]

weenerhead

please watch your language   

[kamkuda]

Here is my shop  25 x50, Plywood on the walls were great and I later added Slatwall to hold tools.  Additional ceiling height helps when you add a hoist.  My height was 10.8 which meant my hoist options had to have the chains run under instead of ontop.
It is a pole barn that is inslulated.
Welder option is important, Mine is set to work in the should or outside.
Half the Shop is interlocking brock (landscaping family) and I put concrete on the back for the hiost.  The concrete floor is much nicer and easier to finds parts that you drop.  The work bench is 25 feet long an d sometimes that does not seem like enough.

Good luck

[Old Moparz]

If your town doesn't have any zoning restrictions on height, try to go with a second floor if possible. The benefit would be that it takes up less area on your property, you gain storage space or even a finished room. The overall cost could be substantially less & you can almost double the square footage by having the second floor. Think about it in terms of excavating & backfilling less & using a lot less concrete for floor space. You will need a roof no matter how high the building is & the only major cost difference will be larger ceiling joists, adding wood flooring upstairs, & some additional exterior sheathing.

I designed a second floor for my garage & have no idea how I'd function without it. 

[craigandlynda]

guys, you have been great.... i need to show these pics to my wife...get her reaction...let her know this is why she wont be getting that paris vacation...lol....actually, i want her to see how nice a garage can be...she needs to see ideas, not just visualize mentally...

[bzabodyn]

In the grand scheme of things, 4-post lifts are not that expensive when taking into consideration how much you are going to spend anyways... I just got a set of plans drawn for my new house I'm about to build - three car garage w/ the one car door 10' tall, two car door standard 8' tall, one car door has lift access - 11' ceilings throughout - eight foot wide "L" around front/left side (tall door side) with two separate workbenches and double-stacked cabinets along the walls - I want to say it's like 1100-1200 sq ft total... left 24' long "footprints" for vehicle parking and then 8' around front/left side like mentioned...

I wish it was about a year from now and maybe I could show you pics! Just need to find that money tree!

BZ