Garage #2, the little blue warehouse (32x15) - a clean slate!

Just before the recession, they started building a large warehouse divided in 92 smaller units. It was completed just as Lehman collapsed, and so did the market for these. Three years and a few price cuts later, I couldn't resist anymore, so I bought one. I got the keys last tuesday. It's the one immediately to the right of the drain pipe in the middle of the pic.



Although situated along the way home from work, it's located about 20 minutes from home, so I intend to use it mostly for storage. That should free up the garage at home enough to be a dedicated workshop, instead of divided 50/50 workspace/storage as it is now. Even though the blue garage is tall enough for a lift and my home garage is not, I still prefer to work at home. Though maybe I'll keep a few large rarely used tools (like the lathe I want) in the blue shed.



It's an all steel construction, brand new, well insulated with sandwich panelling all around and a bitumen roof. The main door is 10' wide, 11' tall and well insulated. There's no heater, but I do have 230V @ 16A and running water.

Inner dimensions, clear of doors and walls: 31'10" x 14'4" (9.70x4.36m)
Height is mostly 15'8" (4.78m) and up, with one ceiling beam just three inches below that (at 4.70m).
Floor is an industrial strength 7" slab of concrete. With that and the height, I can build a second floor in at least half of the unit, which would be good to provide all the space I'll ever need. If I ever think I need more, just tell me to quit hoarding



My intention is to create enough space for three or four cars in there, and a collection of spare parts. Maybe a lathe, maybe a lift, not sure. Stuffing all that on the ground floor will fill all floor space immediately, but utilize only 5 out of 15 feet height... so I definitely want a whole or partial second floor in there.

Actually I'm still undecided between three options:

(1) No lift, a second floor over the entire unit. Code requires at least 6'11" ceiling height, which is easily attainable within the total of 15'5, even allowing a foot for the floor construction itself. It will feel cramped though, with such low ceilings, but I won't spend much time there anyway. Not much space would remain for stairs or any sort of parts lift though, and I do want engines and rear ends up there. Also, I'd be missing the one opportunity of having a full size lift of my own. On the other hand, a total of 900 square feet of storage space would be sweet as...

(2) A 2-post or 4-post lift suitable for permanent parking near the main door, and two cars shoehorned into the back. The lift could hold just one car and leave the bottom free for a utility trailer, or stack two cars. Tight spacing does not matter - it's storage only, remember? Shoehorn city. A second floor only over the back half, resulting in a total of about 675 sq ft floor space.
There should now be about a 16'x4' space left beside the lift, for stairs to the 2nd floor and perhaps a lathe. A 4-post could be used to lift heavier parts up and down, if I temporarily move outside the car(s) that was on it.

(3) The ambitious one. A 4-post lift near the door, and ramps to attach it to the 2nd floor so I can store two cars up there, and have all my parts storage conveniently on the ground floor, saving me a LOT of trouble hauling parts up and down. First thought was "I'd need to beef up the 2nd floor a lot for that", but on second thought maybe not so much. After all, engines, transmissions and rear ends add up, too. So either way there will be a lot of weight on the 2nd floor. I will have to work out the details on this one, to see if it's feasible.

Cool little space but is there any power in the unit ?

NUTTSGT said:

Cool little space but is there any power in the unit ?

Click to expand...

He has "230V @ 16A and running water."

Congratulations of your new acquisition! Before I finished reading your post, my first thought was sort of a combination of your (2) and (3), a big loft in the rear, accessed a 4-post lift and a pull down attic stair (if code allows). But your ambitieus plan of parking two cars in the loft?

I'm a little jealous. I was looking at a similar "shotgun" garage (24' x 66') on Friday, but you have to buy the house next door, too.

Correct, I have power, one 16 amp 230 volt circuit, single phase. I guess that's roughly equivalent to a single 30 amp 110V circuit.

Ah, so "loft" is the right word here, thanks. Didn't really know what to call it, so I simply called it a second floor. While I think my english isn't too bad, I'm not 100% up to scratch in building terminology, so expect me to struggle with that some more down the road

It's a shame you couldn't get that 24x66 garage - that thing looks huge!

I like the idea of doing the permanent parking (car storage) out of harm's way up in the loft, so all ground floor space remains clear for parts, or even as a work area if I ever feel the need.

I've worked out the height difference. Allowing 1 foot for framing and sheeting, and a 1 inch margin for error, the code allows me to install the loft floor surface at any height between 8' and 8'5". Not much of a choice, really. There are options to raise it a bit higher, but not lower.

The 4-post lift I have in mind is a smallish mobile one with casters. Unfortunately that also means it isn't very tall at only 6'3", tops of the runways. That means the ramps will have to bridge a 2 foot height difference. Judging by trailer ramps and such, that shouldn't be a problem, but I'd like a smoother ride up than that, so I won't put undue stress on lift and loft when driving up or down. Of course I could easily brace both, to alleviate that problem, but I'd rather smoothen the ride AND brace them, than take chances. I'll be taking a closer look at some trailer ramps tomorrow... and work out the horizontal space I have to work with (max ramp length).

I'm very fond of my dust-free non-absorbent epoxy floor in the home garage, so I decided not to change the winning team and call the same supplier for this one. I can drop a hammer on that stuff from 3 feet and not chip it - it will only chip if it's hit so hard the concrete under it gives way.

To my surprise, he wanted to see for himself whether the surface would do, for an epoxy kit just like the one I have in my home garage, so he stopped by last thursday. He decided it had to be sanded and primed before applying epoxy. Still assuming I wanted to DIY like in my home garage, he suggested where to rent the equipment etc., then I asked... so how much for you to do it? We agreed on a price and decided on a slightly different type of epoxy (a bit darker in color but even more wear resistant). Since another scheduled job had been delayed, he had a bit of time on his hands and the materials in stock. So my garage could be done on monday! Wow. Probably saves me a whole weekend of messing around with chemicals, renting and hauling heavy machinery...

Because of night temps in the 30F (0C) range, I temporarily put up a little 2kW electric heater so the epoxy would set. Surprisingly, it managed to heat up this tall garage to about 60F (15C) within a day. I knew it had insulation all around, but that good?

At the end of today, he called to say the sanding had been a bear, and he only managed to get the primer on - the actual epoxy coat will be put on tomorrow.

Of course I stopped by after work to take a peek, unfortunately no real camera on me.



Oooo... shiny!

The primer is not a thin and penetrating one as I sort of expected, but actually pretty thick - looks much like pure epoxy resin.

It's dry, but still looks like wet ice! Need to bring my ice skates tomorrow, I guess



Looking forward to the finish coat tomorrow...

Do you have any update how to organize this space ?

Nice space!

Whoops.. updates long overdue.

Epoxy floor completed (pics ****, two tubes is clearly not enough light)





The texture is antislip, made by mixing a lot of sand into the epoxy. I would've preferred a bit less, but oh well...

Then there's the 4 post moveable lift







Want sambal with that?

Does not need to be bolted down, and fits nicely in the corner when not in (heavy) use.

Still dragging my feet a bit about the loft though. Seems I need a few steel beams to support 7ft joists (effectively splitting the loft in half), so each joist can take a corner of a car as a point load without issues. That's not so easy with 14ft joists.

However I lack the equipment to work with steel, and it's a lot more messy to drill, grind and weld metal than wood, much more likely to damage the floor.

Another issue is what to use for (space saving) crossbracing. I cannot tie to the walls, they are basically a weak sandwich panelling. I could tie into one corner roof post, but that's not enough.

That's a real nice space! Use it well!

very nice set up! what is the height under the lift when it ia fully raised?

nice space you have there

Two words of wisdom, move the lift away from the wall another 1 1/2 feet, so you can open the doors on the other side and stuff like that.

And two: Shelves, add as many shelves as you possibly can.