Building a garage - any suggestions?

[TX58]

I built my shop/garage last year, 24x30. Plan to add another 20x25 this year, you never have enough room. I had never built anything like this before but my dads old 20x20 garage was falling down already and I needed the space to house my projects. Wish he was alive today to see it, he would love how big it is. I chose to build it with a sloped roof high in the front ( 14ft. ) and lower in the back (12ft.) with 24 ft. 2.5x 8" purlins 3 ft. Apart for the roof. Covered in metal on the exterior and plywood inside.Makes a nice large shop area to work in. I then added a 8 x 20 office/ restroom on the side with a/c heat, double shop sink, mini fridge, 32" flat screen tv/ DVD combo,microwave, and 20" monitor security DVR/ 4 camera surveillance system, and a motion detection alarm system. Put a desk, office chair, and bookshelf with all my manuals and favorite car books. Have plenty of automotive related signs,posters,decals,and diecast all over the place. I also built a 20 x24 metal carport over the front of the building and office. Shop has 8 ft. Roller doors ( prefer 9 ft. But got these really cheap because there're bright yellow) 2 in the front and 1 in the rear. I installed 4 ceiling mounted radiant heaters in the shop this winter and My 80 gallon air compressor and small water heater are housed on the side behind the office. Have a gas grill to BBQ on nice days and just added full lighting under the carport to be able to work late if needed. I love this building but if I had to do it again I would have

Built it bigger
Built it higher slab and ceiling. Office has had water damage after a week long rain storm
Install lift ( plan to do this soon )
Larger doors
Install a shower
built a spray booth ( really want to learn more automotive paint and body)

You be surprised what you can do when you put your mind to it. It took me 3 months to remove the old garage, build a wood fence around the back and sides, then build the main shop and office. March 3rd made a full year since I started. All the money I spent over the years renting storage rooms and mini warehouse's was a waste. I built the whole thing with what it cost me to rent for two years. Build your dream shop and enjoy
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[Trekster]

There has been some great advice. I built a 20 x 25 shop at my old house and built a 36 x 40 at my current house. If you can afford it and there is enough room, go bigger now. Also, get the biggest door you can. I've used shops that had 2 - 8 or 9 foot doors instead of a 16 or 18 foot door. You'll be happier with a taller and wider door. Good luck.

[Chevette]

One more thing, Zammer mentioned a drain, "if allowed". Make sure you build to code. Some of the comments so far have code issues. For instance many cities/counties/towns/etc require fire rated finishes such as fire rated drywall (especially if the garage is attached to the house). Welding, grinding and cutting with a plasma cutter or Oxy-Acetylene are obvious fire hazards and in many locals can require special attention to codes. In many areas "pits" not not allowed. You could potentially build a fantastic garage with many code violations. If in the future your garage met with disaster such as fire, or other damage, the insurance company will do their best to get out of paying for rebuild/repair. They can used a code violation to get out of paying your claim. Check your local code requirements.

[pvienneau]

Awesome stuff, keep it coming. I am in the city and restircted to the 25 foot across because my yard is only 36 wide total. I need the 5 on each side due to regulations and ease of passage around the garage. The depth is 20 so as not to use the complete backyard. I am considering making the height on the first floor so I can put in a lift. What do I need for height for the smallest lift?

[ryanmctee]

Finally a thread I can give some real world advise on. I've built two garages/shops on my property (myself).

I built a 30 x 30 with 9' ceilings. Great for woodworking, but currently I have my truck in it in peices and it's way too small. Would NEVER build a garage this small again. I also built a 20 x 50 with 16' walls for my motorhome. Great for that, but not very good as a 'shop'. My neighbor has a 40 x 60 which seems like a great size. ?The rule here is build it as large as you can afford and fit on your property.

Make sure to stub in 220 power for compressors, welders, etc. Stub in a gas line, phone, computer line, everything you can think of even if you have zero plans of using any of that now. Guaranteed it will pay HUGE dividens down the road. Take it from someone who has been there before.

Consider putting flourscent lighting on the walls and ceilings. People think I'm crazy for having lights on the walls, but think about it; when your working on a fender for example and the light is shining on the top of the car, it makes alot of sense to have light coming from a wall vs. a ceiling. Last thing to consider, don't drywall. Sheet the walls with a nice plywood and paint them white, this way they reflect light, and you can nail anywhere and get holding power.

Good luck!!!

[zammer]

If you can have at least 12 ft ceilings for a lift you will be very happy. Get 3000 psi concrete also for a 4 post lift. If getting a 4 post get the taller model if possible giving you around 84" so you can easily walk under it. I got a pro park 8 plus for around 2800. Love that thing
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[G&R's57GMC]

You never can have enough garage space ! Same goes for shop space !

My house came with a 30' x 40' garage and 2 attached carports 1 on the end and the other on the back with a drive through. It has 8' high doors and a flat ceiling at 9'.

So I added two new buildings to it. One is in line and the other is out back. I enclosed the carports giving me a 6 car main parking garage. One of the former car ports triples as parking/car wash/pass through. The other former carport serves as a 1 car garage/ storage area and indoor entrance to the shop out back.

I was limited by setback reg's so I only make the shop 24' wide. I made it 34' long to line up with the carport.

The other building is 24 x 30 and serves as a parking garage for my trailer and 3 cars and is where the air compressor is. How did I get 3 cars and a trailer in there? The trailer is only 18' and next to it is a Bend Pac 4 post lift with one truck up and a car below and my van across the front.

The shop has a 12' top plate height and a cathedral ceiling along the sidewalls it has a 24" shelf for storage and at the front a 48" deck for more storage.

Its constructed with a 24" concrete stem wall and 2" x 6" x 10' framing. The floor is 4" thick at the far end and 6" thick in the middle for the Bend Pac 2 post lift. The lift is 12' 4" tall.

The walls and ceiling are packed with insulation and the shop stays comfortable most of the year without having to use the heat or a/c. When I do heat it set at 60* and 65* cooling. (Gas & Electric)

I installed outlets at 48" high every 4' . They are on 4 breakers, I also installed a 220v outlet on its own breaker. The lift has a breaker as does the HVAC unit. The lighting is 8' florescent all around. Theres even a 52"ceiling fan. Air is plumbed in from the other garage. Cable and stereo wiring also. Phone is wireless.
Of course all the garages have vacuum ports to the central system.

Like I said, You never can have enough space ! The place is now full and I'm having a garage sale .

[G&R's57GMC]

Before and 10 years later, shop front now.

[rgunlock]

Haven't seen this suggested yet, so I'll chime in. Pitch your roof steep and get as much loft/attic space as you can for storing parts, seldom used supplies, and stuff like ice chests that tend to accumulate in the shop. If you've got room, put in a real set of stairs so you'll actually use the storage space.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by pvienneau

I'll ask my builder

garages are 4 walls and a couple of trusses, easiest building to build.
save yourself a pile of $$$$ and build it yourself.

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by Chevette

One more thing, Zammer mentioned a drain, "if allowed". Make sure you build to code. Some of the comments so far have code issues. For instance many cities/counties/towns/etc require fire rated finishes such as fire rated drywall (especially if the garage is attached to the house). Welding, grinding and cutting with a plasma cutter or Oxy-Acetylene are obvious fire hazards and in many locals can require special attention to codes. In many areas "pits" not not allowed. You could potentially build a fantastic garage with many code violations. If in the future your garage met with disaster such as fire, or other damage, the insurance company will do their best to get out of paying for rebuild/repair. They can used a code violation to get out of paying your claim. Check your local code requirements.

Amen, as an architect I have made a lot of money off of folks that did not want to spend a couple of hundred dollars for a quick Code consultation or contractors that "knew" the Code. If it is attached to the house you do need a fire wall and rated door between the house and garage/shop. It needs to extend from the footing thru the roof to the bottom of the deck in most jurisdictions. Ratings vary by jurisdiction, usually it is one hour assembly. In my area the Building Officials are customer friendly when it comes to residential construction and welcome consultations.

One other thing that caught my eye is that it sounds like it is going in front of your main living structure? If so check with your zoning department, many do not allow accessory structures or garages to be in front of the living area. When I built mine I needed to get a variance because my house sits so far back from the street. I was limited to not having it any farther towards the street than any existing home within two blocks of mine and had to get approval signatures of all the existing homeowners within two blocks.

[watahyahknow]

town counsils can be real spoilsports sumtimes
in the netherlands the rules and regs are allmost as bad as in germany , they have so mush rules that some of them contradict eachother
a friend of mine had a home that was on the monument list and it started to sag because the foundations where starting to rot
he got a bit fed up about trowing money and time away on drawings only to have them rejected by the citycounsel so he rebuild the front facia of his home in one weekend using old reclamed bricks exactly the way it was and when the aprover came to see wat was happening on monday he mentioned he didnt needed to redo the facia anymore because the cracks magicly disapeared

[oldcouple]

Pretty funny considering in the 40s some nut case was knocking down houses all over Europe bent on world domination and he never applied for any permits.

[TX58]

My shop was built by me and my design but all electrical and plumbing are to code. Had pros handle that stuff. Also it's in the hood ,commercial property. All the neighbors were pleased to see me do something with my parents place. I even get people that stop by and want their cars repaired or painted. They look at me crazy when I tell them I built it for my personal use only.
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[Rusty Hooker]

and it's good for having the odd wizz too..



Best advice ever!
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[DransportGarage]

Just a couple of suggestions:

1) If you will ever install a lift, plan its position now. Then make the concrete 6" at the post locations.

2) When you plumb your air lines, do it like the picture below. Make sure the vertical pipes come from the top of the horizontal pipes, and that the horizontal pipes slant downward to the vertical drain pipes.

I recommend plumbing the air system with copper. Copper conducts the heat out of the supplied air, cooling it and causing the moisture to leave it. Never use PVC, even if you find stuff that can withstand your max burst pressure. It keeps the heat and moisture in the air.

Good Luck!
Bob

[_Ogre]

that is one nice man cave G&R

[G&R's57GMC]

Thank's, Ogre.

[magicoolbus]

As I read thru the posts, I might have missed this, so forgiveness in advance. With respect to lighting, don't forget, there are times when you will be working in garage with garage door up. This often blocks ceiling lighting, making portions of garage dark, especially when sun goes down. My garage door has windows in it like most, I planned a few lights to shine thru these windows when the door was up. However, wall mounted accent lights for this area would have been a great solution too.
I also designed my trusses for attic storage, i ended up with a 8 wide, 5 tall, 35 long attic accessible by a staircase. This also gave me some storage area under the staircase, i put extra fire prottection and a steel door and that's where I keep my gun safe.
Some things the city made me do: 5/8 drywall on walls that faced house for extra fire protection. Also, I was limited in roof height, it couldn't exceed the roof height of existing dwelling.
I have seen several posts that focus on ethernet, cable, etc. I did all those, but also put in audio for the stereo and also wired for a tv with all the required surround sound speaker locations. I put an 110 outlet up on wall about 7 feet up with all of the connections to speakers nearby. also beefed up the structure to ensure mounting safety for the big plasma.
I also specified 2x6 construction with fully insulated walls, attic and roof. My heating and cooling requirements are completely handled by a sanyo wall ac unit. http://us.sanyo.com/HVAC-By-System-T...ir-Conditioner
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[watahyahknow]

whell if youre lucky the suportbeams for the rooftrusses go under the door if not you could make the door go over the lighting by installing electric guttering about 10 inch below the ceiling to wish you hang the fluoresent lighting

[Chevette]

"I put an 110 outlet up on wall about 7 feet up with all of the connections to speakers nearby. also beefed up the structure to ensure mounting safety for the big plasma".


My big plasma is mounted on a cart, much like the one my welder is mounted on.

[watahyahknow]

so youre garage doubles as a mancave

[solidaxel]

I found some good info on the Garage Journal Board .com for my LONG waited garage.
One more inspection and I can start moving in all my cars and trucks !!!

[zenchal26]

x1000 on the 9'or wider doors I have 8' doors and they are too close.

[vjjack04]

I built a 24x34 shop a couple do years ago. Lots of good suggestions here. One thing I did was build a "stem wall" off the concrete floor footing area. It is 12 inches tall and the base plates are on that. It raises the height of the overall structure and privdes the ability to wash the place out without getting the wood or drywall wet. Also, I built the garage space as 24x24 with a 10x24 office in the back....great space with tv and couch....(total exterior walls 24x34 as mentioned).
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