12' x 20' Motorcycle Workshop - Planning Stages

I've been scheming for quite a while about getting the parts, supplies and tools for my never-ending vintage bike project out of our garage (a raised ranch with a drive-in basement) and into a dedicated workshop. The good news is that we have a long corner lot with plenty of room for a shed, almost a whole vacant lot.

Unfortunately, my municipality limits outbuildings to no more than 250 sq. feet. In order to gain as much work space as possible while staying within these regs, I thought about putting in some box windows. I called the city planning department, and they confirmed that the square footage spec is area in contact with the grade, not the overall shadow. Cantilevered extensions would be fine as long as they were otherwise to code.

So I knocked up a design for a 12' x 20' shed with box windows that accommodate a window seat, a 4.5' x 18" deep work bench, and a separate, closed cabinet area (for flammables, chemicals and aerosol cans). The window seat and man door would face the street. The side with the overhead door would face toward our current driveway and the existing garage. The back has the higher, wider box window and A/C unit.

I drew this up as a portable shed on skids, but I have not ruled out a concrete slab foundation instead.

Please point out any boneheaded ideas, mistakes or omissions you can find in these screen grabs. I'm no architect; neither am I terribly experienced at construction, so suggested changes would be welcomed. (Ignore the slightly bizarre shading and artifacts my drafting program sprinkled in here and there.)

I just recently built a 10x16 shed for my KTM - I did the same pre-construction wondering and modelling on the computer prior to raising a hammer.

I think the size will be great for a motorbike. You asked for comments so here goes:

- overhang: I would highly recommend incorporating overhand on the gable end and eaves to protect the entry from rain (I'm in BC where it rains a lot) and to give the shed a nice proportion.

- I'm not sure what the window boxes give you. For the added hassle of constructing and finishing the exterior of each, I'm just wondering if they'll give you the extra space you're hoping for. I put a shed dormer on mine for additional light and I'm really glad I did.

- same for built in cabinet. I think an inexpensive traditional cabinet (bought or made yourself) would give you much more flexibility over time.

- insulate. I did and I'm glad it did. I also finished it with drywall, flooring, and paint. Feels less like a shed and more permanent.

- door location. What I did was to figure out where the bench would go and work back from there. My door allows for the workbench along the entire back wall, then a bit of extra walking space, then the door. If its too much in the middle you end up with 2 smaller walls that might restrict future shelving, etc

- vaulted ceiling. On a small space if you can vault the ceiling it will feel so much bigger.

- on my 10x16 I used 3 skids. 5 on a 12' might be more than needed, but I'm no expert and its always better to overbuild in my opinion.

- is there any slope to the property? If so, work backwards from where you ideally want the garage door elevation to be and dig down the other end if needed. Do proper drainage, etc.

- electrical is good. More lighting is better.

- if you are using a traditional garage door it might impact upper storage, etc. I used out swinging carriage doors and I'm happy I did. You can open them up and it doesn't make the space feel enclosed at all.

Have fun with it - this size of project is pretty straightforward and simple. Stick with your gameplan and just ink things through. You'll be pleased with what you can build!

Matthew.

As was mentioned, I'd use carriage doors, and would be hard pressed to put in a standard door, I'd rather have the wall space personally. Are you planning to finish the ceiling? I'd leave it open to put in some shelving for more storage.

I'm interested to see how this goes for you. Good luck

A couple thoughts -- I just built a 12'x20' shed last summer. It's a good size, really, adequate work space as long as you're a bit creative. Mine's workspace for a car, so you'll be ahead by doing a bike in there.

If at all possible, work in some storage space up in the rafter area -- mine is a bit overboard with a full size loft up there, but whatever you can carve out will be handy. Even bikes seem to explode to many times their size when you're restoring them, so somewhere to keep the rarely-used bits is handy.

I went with double carriage/shed doors on mine (swing out) so I wouldn't take up any interior space. Skipped a separate man door as well, to keep wall space open for other things.

Mine is on a concrete pad since I work on cars and may have a lift in there. I'm very glad I did it that way but it did increase the costs. For just bike work something on skids might be just fine, and will be cheaper.

One other tip from my experience -- really think through your interior layout *before* building. I've got at least one thing to change now (attic ladder location) that I should have figured out before the build. So do as much pre-planning as possible.

Good luck, looks like a nice little space you've got planned out.

Could also do a roll top door vs carriage doors if they aren't your style.

964haus said:

- insulate. I did and I'm glad it did. I also finished it with drywall, flooring, and paint. Feels less like a shed and more permanent.

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I plan on insulating with R-11 fiberglass and finishing the walls and floor, although I am not sure if I will go with gypsum drywall or just do a combination of pegboard and OSB treated with Flame-Stop.

I will definitely have an electrical panel and plenty of outlets. An electrician buddy has already offered to help with that part. If my budget can handle it, I would love to put in a series of directional, recessed LED ceiling fixtures:

964haus said:

- vaulted ceiling. On a small space if you can vault the ceiling it will feel so much bigger.

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My thinking was to have a finished ceiling with a hatch for storage above. First of all, since I am not a professional builder, I thought that trusses with cross-beams near the bottom might provide a bit easier to construct consistently, offer more stability during construction and more strength overall. Secondly, it would be easier to insulate at the ceiling level, which also keeps the heated volume down. I am planning to use electric heat, probably an in-wall unit, which is simple and easy and compact, but not the most cost-efficent. The downside is that anything stored in the "attic" is at the mercy of the elements.

964haus said:

- if you are using a traditional garage door it might impact upper storage, etc. I used out swinging carriage doors and I'm happy I did. You can open them up and it doesn't make the space feel enclosed at all.

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My tentative plan is a roll-up commercial steel door, just to avoid the hassle of trying to build my own carriage doors (and then having them sag or drag). I know these steel doors transfer a huge amount of heat both in and out, so that's all up in the air at this point.

Oh, and part of the reason for the man door and the box window on the front is to add some architectural detail simply for curb appeal. My wife is hesitant about ending up with something that looks more like a shipping container or a giant shoebox.

Tanshanomi said:

My tentative plan is a roll-up commercial steel door, just to avoid the hassle of trying to build my own carriage doors (and then having them sag or drag). I know these steel doors transfer a huge amount of heat both in and out, so that's all up in the air at this point.

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You can get insulated ones. I plan on installing an insulated roll top door on the back of my attached garage so I can get the lawn mower/snowblower out without having to move the car.

drooartz said:

A couple thoughts -- I just built a 12'x20' shed last summer. It's a good size, really, adequate work space as long as you're a bit creative. Mine's workspace for a car, so you'll be ahead by doing a bike in there.

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Yes, I've read your whole build thread, and it helped convince me that this was doable, and that I would end up with a useful space. It has been very helpful to me; thanks for taking the the time to create it.

drooartz said:

If at all possible, work in some storage space up in the rafter area -- mine is a bit overboard with a full size loft up there, but whatever you can carve out will be handy.

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I'd love to add the sort of loft space you built into yours. Unfortunately, city code specifies no more than 15' total height above grade, so I am limited in what I can do topside.

Assuming this is really intended to be a motorcycle only shop, I'd consider and entire different set of dimensions or different building orientation and different roof type.

I'd look at 15' deep and 16' wide or turning the building 90 degrees and putting in a larger garage door on the long side. I'd also consider going with a with a shed roof.

When you go with a deep building for motorcycles you implicitly set yourself up to have to shuffle bikes around to get a bike a bike in the back of the garage out. You also set yourself up to be working deep in the garage away from the ventilation of an open garage door.

A shed roof on the building would give you the opportunity to create high out of the way storage by either building a mezzanine, or using wall attached shelving or pallet racking. This type of roof would also allow to install windows high up for sunlight to light the entire space, and for ventilation without losing wall space, which is always at a premium in a small space.

Very good points, Ray. But I've never been able to swing more than one project bike at at time, so this is more of a workshop for a single bike than a "motorcycles" (plural) workshop. One thing I was cautioned about was making sure I have my lathe as far as possible from grinding, cleaning and sandblasting equipment — that grit from those sorts of operations can really do a number on your machinery. Here's an earlier 2D floorplan I came up with that shows a possible interior arrangement:

I think 12' is to narrow for you layout. Just not enough room with cabinets and equipment on both walls. I would think about 14 x 18. I have 5 ft around my lift and it's nice. Your layout will be less than 3'. Think about some ceiling support too. It's nice to have a hook in the ceiling to hook a strap too. When i work on swing arms or rear shocks I use a strap all the time. Wheel stands are good but sometimes you can't use them.

Windows that open a must in a small shop. The roll up door is a great idea. Like others have said they make insulated doors but there pricey. I put 2 new ones in at my work and they were 4k each for 14 x 16

If your 2D layout is correct, you have no room for the door and bay window shown in your 3D rendering. There are two things I think you need to carefully think about in your design, the amount of wall space and the shape of the clear floor space.

Let's assume that you need every bit wall space that you have an whatever you put against the wall will be no more than 2' deep. In your 12x20 this means you will have a 8x18 clear space in the center of your current layout. If you side load the garage door, you get a 8x10 next to an 8x8 area of clear space. A bit too shallow a workspace for motorcycles. OTOH if you went with a 15x16 with the garage door on the long side, you'd end up with a 8x13 next to a 4x11 area of clear space. Depending on what kind of bikes you work on different open space in the center is going to work more efficiently for you. If you work on choppers, because of the length of the bike, you definitely are going to want the 8x18 clear space. At the other end of the spectrum, if you work on sportbikes the 8x13/4x11 space is probably going to be the nicest open area to work in.

Of course, the 15x16 (62' of wall) layout has 2' less wall space than the 12x20 (64' of wall) space which means walls space will be at a premium, but it also cost slightly less to construct. In either case, given how much stuff you want to fit into the workshop, I'd strongly consider going with a higher ceiling so you can use taller shelving in the workshop. Ideally this would allow you get your parts and tool shelves to be above your equipment and would maximize the amount of wall space you would have for a door and window.

FWIW

I'd also consider going with a with a shed roof.

911mike said:

I think 12' is to narrow for you layout. Just not enough room with cabinets and equipment on both walls. I would think about 14 x 18.

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I did some playing around with some 2D sketches, and I think you're right. I couldn't do 14x18, because that puts me just 2 sq. ft. over the legal max (thus I'd never get a building permit). I could go just slightly shorter on the other outside dim; say 17' 9" (for 248.5 total sq. ft.) But then I thought about the extra hassle of adding that extra, odd 21", when flooring and siding come in 8' lengths. Seven 4x8 sheets neatly covers a 14' x 16' area if you cut one in half.

I compared the 14' x 16' layout with the 12' x 20' and discovered that it's not functionally much different, even though it's about 7% smaller. In the diagrams, the extra square footage amounts to wasted space (shown in blue hashmarks). Basically, all the extra square footage does is keep me from having to roll the welding cart out of the way to get full access to all the clear space around the (removable) JD2 bender. I'm not sure the extra square footage is worth increasing my materials cost.

I would build it to the 14 x 17'10" max. The small additional cost for a few half sheets of sheeting is very minor. Most siding is in 12 ft length so your going to stagger seams anyway. I think you will enjoy the additional area.

What type of floor are you planning on?

911mike said:

I would build it to the 14 x 17'10" max. The small additional cost for a few half sheets of sheeting is very minor. Most siding is in 12 ft length so your going to stagger seams anyway. I think you will enjoy the additional area.

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Yes, I should definitely build the max allowed. That extra space could be a lot of nice shelving. As my wife said to me last night, "You're only going build it once, then you're stuck with whatever you've built." Nobody ever thinks, Gee, I should have made it smaller.

911mike said:

What type of floor are you planning on?

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I'd prefer to pour a concrete slab, but that's is a lot of additional work (most of it pretty grueling physical labor) and added cost, plus the fact that as a permanent structure, it would then raise my property tax assessment. But having the floor closer to grade would make wheeling a non-running bike in and out a lot easier.

If I just build on skids, I will most likely just leave the bare plywood floor and treat it with Flame-Stop.

I know the concrete is a good chunk of money but I think it's really worth it. Depending on your local codes you may need rat wall and this that is the case pour the rat wall and floor together and then conventional stick build on that. Up here in Michigan we need 48" rat wall/footings.

Last night I put my quad on my lift and used the extensions to make it 54" wide. Man did that extra 24" eat up working space. It reminded me of your build. Glad I have the extra room.

I played around with every configuration I could think of, and the needed stuff fits into the suggested 14'x17.5' square better than anything else, even including some exotic layouts with 45-degree corners and a T-shaped floorplan.

When the city came around to assess mi casa en wheels, they said that the biggest I could go, with the shed I built, without being taxed was 10x20, <200 sqft. Might want to look into the same thing if it applies. Tony
P.s. I use my 10x12 as my do-all motorcycle shop and workplace.

thouk said:

When the city came around to assess mi casa en wheels, they said that the biggest I could go, with the shed I built, without being taxed was 10x20, <200 sqft. Might want to look into the same thing if it applies. Tony
P.s. I use my 10x12 as my do-all motorcycle shop and workplace.

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, my local code lets me go up to 250 sq ft without a paved driveway. I went to talk to the planning and codes folks at city hall and they were very forthcoming, pleasant and helpful..

I can sympathize with you. One thing I'm not seeing is additional room, either floor space or shelving to put your bike parts. Either UPS will be sending you something or you will need to remove parts off the existing bike. Nothing worse than doing damage to parts when you kick them across the floor or step on them.

Roll up doors are for cagers. Use a four foot metal commercial man door (they're out there, see my workshop thread) and you'll get back some wall space, plus you won't need a separate man door to get in and out.

You can easily get just about any PTW through a four foot door without doing the mirror dance.

WoodsTruck said:

I can sympathize with you. One thing I'm not seeing is additional room, either floor space or shelving to put your bike parts. Either UPS will be sending you something or you will need to remove parts off the existing bike. Nothing worse than doing damage to parts when you kick them across the floor or step on them.

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I do have some shelves for smaller parts, larger stuff will have to go up above in the loft.

A good while back there was a thread on the WERA board of little work areas. Some were pretty neat.

This pic is from that thread, although I don't remember why I saved this particular one, don't think it was the best.

iagsxr said:

A good while back there was a thread on the WERA board of little work areas. Some were pretty neat.

This pic is from that thread, although I don't remember why I saved this particular one, don't think it was the best.

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Thanks for the photo. If those are 1-foot square tiles, it looks as though this is only about 12 feet wide. Gives me a good idea of what sort of space I am actually looking at.

Read just a part of your first post and thot... "Wow! What a totally Great idea!" Here's what "popped out" to me:

Tanshanomi said:

...my municipality limits outbuildings to no more than 250 sq. feet. In order to gain as much work space as possible while staying within these regs, I thought about putting in some box windows. I called the city planning department, and they confirmed that the square footage spec is area in contact with the grade, not the overall shadow.

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Thought an underground shop would be really cool... but you'd need a nicely positioned hill to bury the "rest of the shop" and it'd be pretty expensive, so I re-read it, then noticed the rest of the above post and this pic...

Cantilevered extensions would be fine as long as they were otherwise to code.

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Got to thinking a slight variation of your first idea might work out to get you what "feels like" a wider shop... if you try playing around with making your "window" area wider, higher, and deeper than the window in that pic... then you could (potentially) recess your entire "workbench" from along one wall next to your bike work area... to right outside of the building.

Just making your "cantilever" look more like a bay window on the side of the shed should look better to the wife and inspectors, too. (Think I'd call it a "Bay-Window-Workbench" tho... "Bay Workbench" sounds kinda... odd.)

Should be possible to do it on both sides of your shed (flanking your bike work area) if you want even more space, but you'd need to figure out what tools would be usable in a recessed area. Probably the drill press and the grinder; maybe the blaster or the washer (if you could take the legs off and figure out how to incorporate them into the cantilever of a bay).

Granted, you wouldn't have as much storage under recessed workbenches... but depending on how high you built your shed, you should be able to put some high racks or cabinets around the outside edges of the shop and recapture a lot more than you'd lose. You would still have nearly 1/2 of your "regular" under-bench storage space with a 45 degree angle on the bottom of the bay-window areas... 1/2 of what you'd have if the recess went all the way down to grade (and more than 1/2 if you went with a shallower angle, like 30 degrees).

(I looked at this pic for a reference to try to figure out what you could move around, but don't have any way of playing around with it, and can't see the pieces in person. When I'm home and doing stuff for the wife I'll draw the room out on graph paper (she likes to move furniture around in all the rooms), then cut out a scaled representation of everything that goes in there, and let her move it around until she's happy.)


Thought maybe if your floor socket (for the bender) was in front of a recessed work area (or maybe if you had 2 or three sleeves in different places) you wouldn't need the floor space in the back for the bender and could put non-move-able stuff back there. (Right now, I'm in the process of trying to figure out how I can put wheels on as much of my heavy stuff as possible.)

Hope that gave you something that'd help


As a "PS," thought I'd throw the rest of this out... feel free to poke fun, disregard, or "throw it out" yourself if it's not helpful...

Even if you don't have the $$ or the resources now, it would be easy to incorporate other "grand ideas" in the plan... things that you can't do now, but that you build for... so later you can come back and add later with minimal $$, a little time, and some work.


Not sure what would work for your budget, but if it were me, I'd think about if I'd ever consider using that space to pull a car engine (to fix my vehicle), or unloading a bike (with no wheels) from the bed of a pickup, or unloading anything heavy. I'd try to build a little higher now, then sometime down the road try to pick up an overhead bridge crane. I know it sounds expensive... and it is if it's "bought." However, if you can build it, then it can be much less (looks cool too). You'd just need to find a few pieces of scrap I-Beam, set & bolted up on pre-positioned plates (planned & incorporated now), attaching a few wheels, one more beam, a few more wheels and a chain-fall... and then for low $$ you'd be able to move thousands of pounds with little more than elbow grease and a couple of straps or chains. I've unloaded pallets of supplies with one, pushed over a pallet jack, and saved myself a lot of aches and pains.

Any update on this? Interested to see what you decided on layout,

CantWait2Ride said:

Any update on this? Interested to see what you decided on layout,

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I hit the easy button and decided to have a 12'x20' pre-fab shed delivered. For the difference in size, cost and functionality, I couldn't justify the time and hassle of a custom design and build. I was also influenced by something a friend said: "Do you want to spend the next twenty years working in a building that was built by an amateur?"

A similar unit (nor mine):

Tanshanomi said:

I hit the easy button and decided to have a 12'x20' pre-fab shed delivered. For the difference in size, cost and functionality, I couldn't justify the time and hassle of a custom design and build. I was also influenced by something a friend said: "Do you want to spend the next twenty years working in a building that was built by an amateur?"

A similar unit (nor mine):

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Sometimes the easy button is the best. Post some pics of the interior when you get that finished. My suggestion is make it flexible ....... working in smaller spaces often leads to rearrangement of that "perfect" layout.

Okay, while trying to get a permit for the shed I'd picked out, I learned that the city "might not" approve anything over 120 sq. ft. in my side yard. I have to make up a to-scale site plan and submit it to the planning and zoning dept.

I'm glad I haven't bought gravel yet.

I saw this small outbuilding online and I think it makes good use of the window seats I originally proposed.

"Most counties allow for a storage building of 120 sq. ft. floor space without a permit.... We are building 120 sq. ft. buildings and adding window seats which do not count in the square footage. Window seats add a lot to a building. They make the interior more useable and spacious and they make the exterior more interesting."





http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/2013/02/bodega-portable-buildings.html

I gotta question how useful those window seats would really be in a garage/workshop setup. I underwent a similar project this past spring. I purchased a 14 x 20 prefab and installed it on a concrete slab. I was originally going to go with a 12 x 20 but am glad I went the extra 2 feet.

Good luck with your project.

chenner said:

I gotta question how useful those window seats would really be in a garage/workshop setup.

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They could be built to provide a standing-height workbench with cabinets under them without narrowing the workspace inside.

Tanshanomi have thought about adding on to the house? Yes the cost would be much more, but you should be adding value to the house in the long run.

If you are allowed 250 sg. ft I would surely go the maximum. If you went 15' 9" square you end up with 63 lf of exterior wall(that needs insulation and int./ ext. covering as compared to 64 lf of wall in a 12 x 20 building with 10 square feet less usable space. Top it off with a gambrel roof, and end up wit almost double the square footage.

CantWait2Ride said:

Sometimes the easy button is the best. Post some pics of the interior when you get that finished. My suggestion is make it flexible ....... working in smaller spaces often leads to rearrangement of that "perfect" layout.

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So what shed and model did you go with and how much? I'm looking to do the same. Thanks -D

If you have a drive in basement I'd put the motorcycle shop in the basement, that's perfect. Your service box is probably in the basement, you already have heat and a/c and you wont have to walk thru the snow to get to the shop in the winter. If you do build this with a concrete floor have the floor poured with a pit for your lift table to sit in. I just had a pit put in my garage floor for a lift and now when I'm not using the lift it's level with the floor. Out of the way when not needed and very easy to push a bike on it.

Three years and three months later, I still haven't gotten a shed. I hesitated to pull the trigger on a pre-fab shed at the last minute. Instead, I did what crab suggested: just work out of my basement. Unfortunately, that hasn't been an ideal situation—

• Paint, fuel, solvent and other noxious fumes inevitably rise into the living areas upstairs. Despite an exhaust fan, it's still an issue, especially because you then have nowhere to go to get away from them.
• Fabrication also make a lot of loud grinding and screeching noises that are not welcome in the house a lot of the time.
• In a crowded basement, it is hard to maintain space exclusively for bike work. It's hard to keep the rest of home life from encroaching. I continually find myself working in a smaller and smaller corner of the basement, and my work area is usually strewn with home repair projects.
• We have some very nice things in the basement that I really don't want to cover with crud. Likewise, swarf and grit have this amazing ability to migrate through the house, no matter how vigilant I try to be.
• I wouldn't put it past me to do something truly stupid and negligible. If something did go horribly wrong, I'd prefer not to immediately burn down my entire domicile.

I've gotten really close giving up my hobby out of frustration, because I never have an opportunity to accomplish anything meaningful on my bikes. This past week I said to my wife that I needed to just face reality. I was ready to trash all my bikes and parts, and call it quits when my lovely wife suggested that we first revisit the idea of a separate workshop just for my bikes.

So, I'm back to toying with this idea. Buy a pre-fab shed? Build a mini-garage on a slab? I don't know...

So I'm going to come at this issue from a military planning perspective since it's what I know best. What will meet you mission requirements at the least amount of cost and down time. Given what I have read so far, buying a prefab would get you back in the game the fastest and meet most if not all of your needs. Not to mention that a prefab can act as a decent baseline that you can then modify in the future to meet you specific needs. Given the limited scope of what you need the space for, I find it hard to justify doing a custom small garage and slab project.