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I've had my MaxJax Lift for about 10 years and this weekend I was going to rebuild the power steering valve on my '63 Corvette. I decided I should finally get some safety stands, that on occasion I've thought about buying. The problem is that the correct size under-hoist stands for the MaxJax...

I am going to buy a 4 post lift. I have adequate space for most any lift, but obviously don't want to waste space if it's not needed. The 4 post lifts come in many sizes: standard, longer length, wider width, various lift heights and clearances. What are the pros and cons of the various sizes?

My garage has a flat concrete slab with 2x6 walls. Unfortunately, the slab has some low spots that pool water in a few areas. The slab is 44x60 and the low spots are fairly large but relatively shallow, maybe a 1/4 inch of standing water in the deepest areas. It's not a big issue since it's...

My building is 44 x 60 with 12.5 ft walls. There are three 10 ft high garage doors with high lift track. In planning my lighting, I've been struggling with minimizing the number of light fixtures obstructed when the garage doors are open, so that I can have adequate light while working with the...

My garage was built on a monolithic slab foundation. The walls are 2x6 with the pressure treated bottom plate on the slab. There are a couple interior walls where they used regular lumber for the sole plate, wish I would have caught that. There is no fall for water to drain, so if I hose out...

I have 3 doors planned for my build, a 16 ft, an 18 ft and a 12 ft. I had planned them all to be 8 ft high and my estimate was around $3000 total. At the last minute I decided to frame out for 10 ft high doors on the 16 and 18 wides, and kept the 12 ft door at 8 ft high. That change increased...

Walls went up yesterday (12.5 ft). Looked pretty racked, but I figured when they sheathed it today they would square it up. I shouldn't have assumed. Drove up to the build site and the wall was visually racked to me from 50 feet away. I happened to have a plumb bob and hung it up on a random...

I know it's been discussed a lot, but I'm still conflicted. My auto shop is 44x60 with attic trusses creating a 14x60 second floor. I've whittled it down to two options: 12'6" walls (12" studs with an extra top or bottom plate beyond the 3 standard) or 14' 4 1/2" (14 ft studs with a bottom and...

Worked out my issues with slab prep and thickness, finally good weather and no glitches. Slab went down nicely, and power troweled to slick finish. Here are the pics from today:

Very beefy construction and big. The company that made it (Lau in Dayton OH) is still in business. I sent them a pic and they said that model hasn't been manufactured in over 50 years. They didn't have any more info on it. I oiled the fan shaft bearing and the electric motor bearing front...

How thick does a slab need to be to support a 2 post lift, 6 in? What tolerance is reasonable? My slab is supposed to be 6 in but I pulled a string level across the forms and the measurements vary from 4 to 6.5 with most falling in the 4.5 to 5 range.

The cost of running electrical from the road to my shop, about 300 feet, is looking to be pretty expensive. I have natural gas close to the shop, and I've thought in the past it would be nice to have a back up generator for power outages. What if I just put in a generator for electricity?

Getting ready to pour a 44x60 6 inch slab. Concrete contractor wanted to pour a 6 slump mix. Too wet. I said no more than a 5 slump. He said to pour it that thick will require a pump truck at an extra $750. My general contractor agrees and says pump trucks are routinely used on his house...

44x60 slab to be poured tomorrow, but weather service calls for 50% chance of storms. The concrete guy says he'll make the call in the morning. I said I need to sign off before concrete goes on trucks. They didn't like that, but I figure if there is disaster, it'll mainly be my but in the...

It's hard to find details of the cost of build. I think I'll give the specifics on my build to help others estimate, and to hopefully start a useful thread on specific cost. My build is a 44x60 shop with 8x60 porch, originally planned as a pole barn with slab, but my zoning required footings...

Got an estimate for an installed Mitsubishi mini-split for my shop build. $8500 for a 3 ton unit for the shop/garage area and a 1 ton unit for the finished office space. I figure I can get 2 large window units in the shop and a smallish one in the office for a about $1500 or so and "install"...

I'm building a 44x60 ft shop for auto restoration, but I want the building to be versatile for me as well as any future buyer with differing needs. I'll be spanning the 44 ft width with engineered trusses. The walls will be framed 2x6 stud walls on footings. I'm conflicted on the building...

I bought a vintage Maytag washing machine today for my shop. I'm always hand washing towels and stuff, this will be easier, better, and way cool. Note the roller wringer. No plumbing need either, just fill it up with a hose, and gravity drain it. $145 and works like the day they made it.

I'm building a 45 x 65 x 12 shop building on footings and a turn down slab. I'll be using conventional 2x6 wall framing, engineered clear span trusses (a mixture of scissor an attic trusses). It will be used primarily for auto restoration and storage of my collector cars. I got bids from 3...

What is the best way to insulate scissor trusses? (Normally, the ceiling is the most important part of the building to insulate, but there will be no ceiling...) Fred