Biggest Shop/Garage Regret?

[f575gtc]

Ok just a topic for discussion.

What is your own biggest regret about your shop/garage. Something you bought that if you could go back and pick something different you would. Or a remodel you wish you had though out differently, etc.

My regret is my air compressor, not the type or capability, but it's size. I have a 18CFM@175psi pump being powered by a 5hp motor, but I only have it going into a 60gal tank that is rated to 155psi max, so I need to cut off the pressure at 150psi. The recharge is still fast, it takes maybe 25-30 seconds for the tank to fill up to 150psi from the 120psi kick on, but it feels like the reserve is somewhat low and I am not using the pump to its fullest capability.

If I could go back and re-do it. I would find a 80gal or 120gal tank capable of holding 200psi and put the pump I have on that. Now it just doesn't seem cost effective for my uses to go find another tank, especially considering I paid $200 for the original air compressor, paid $350 for the pump, and sold the original pump for $45.

 

[AceofSpad3s]

That I put my shop in my garage, the person the previously owned my house had a work shop in the garage so I put it were he had it. I got 1 light bulb and in order to get any electricity to power anything I gotta pulg a power strip into like a 15ft extension cord to get power to my tools. It is absoluely freezing,the top of my drinks freeze in about 5 minutes of being out there. Rat **** in the insulation,I have to climb over cars to get anything, no walls, just studs.

Luckily this was only about 4 months ago when I put stuff in there so in the spring I am going to move all the stuff in a storage room in the basement to the workshop and set up my workshop in my basement. It is amazing, it actually has: lights,walls,a ceiling,no rat ****,it is like 60 or 50 degrees, ELECTRICITY!!!, outlets every 6 ft. I can actually put my mini fridge down there too.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Shop would be taller & bigger but I didnt nave the room for it.

 

[whitetrash1]

My only real complaint about mine is it only has 1 electrical outlet. I'd add more but I refuse to put money into a rental

 

[SpyderGiant]

Not coating the floor when I bought my house and not shaving the ridiculous painful texture off of the walls and repainting the garage. I only had 3 days from closing to move from our rental property and when we had family help us move, every single box went into the garage and not into the house. It took me over a year to get all of the boxes unpacked. One day I'll get to sanding the texture off, but I'll probably never do the floor.

 

[67King]

Air compressor. Way too big. Bit 80 gallon, 2-stage monster. Of course, this was nearly 8 years ago before the cordless tools became so prevalent. I rarely use air any more, and though it is nice to have for my bead blaster, and for paint, I could get away with much less.

 

[f575gtc]

Lol so the opposite of my problem

 

[doojus]

Put me in the air compressor category too. Got a little 10 gallon unit because I didn't want to make the space for a bigger one. Went to fire up the die grinder for a project, spent half an hour waiting for the compressor to catch up.

In reality making space for the right unit once would have been much less trouble than making space for the right unit combined with finding someone to buy the old unit.

 

[cabin fever]

didn't make it bigger.

 

[shanny19]

In 1989 I let my Grandpa's anvil and forge go to auction when he died.

 

[ibedayank]

not having the $$$$ to buy all the tools I want to fill it

 

[Kracin]

biggest regret is not buying something that was more ready. my situation provides very little time for project work at home. and i'm paying the price of not having a solid garage and house right now. 20k more in house and i could have avoided the hassle.

 

[BJ42LX]

Too small.

 

[E.rodz]

Biggest regret is by far NOT BUILDING TALLER CEILING FOR A LIFT! AND NOT PUTTING THE IN FLOOR TUBES IN THE FLOOR WHEN I POURED THE FLOOR!

 

[nfk]

I would have went 2' taller and 10' longer. (But it would have really cramped my yard.)
I would have used attic storage trusses instead of regular trusses.
I think if i had to do it over again I would have put in floor heat.

 

[bcradio]

Too short for a full sized lift... would love to have one

 

[Loscaldazar]

My biggest regret is buying the Harbor Freight 44" tool chest (bottom, top, and side drawers).

No really.

It's way, way, way too small for what I need now, and I could have had a 72" for about the same price (and about same storage), with the option of later adding a top chest from somewhere else.

 

[E.Marquez]

Biggest? that we bought the newer house with the smaller 2 car garage on 8 AC with a "plan" to build me my 60x80 shop "later" and not the slightly older house that had a 40x80 shop already built.

Later keeps getting delayed by life......I dont want to be to old to enjoy my shop when i finally build it.

 

[canuckian]

no in floor heat.

 

[Montosi82]

Not putting in floor drains. Next time..

 

[LXCam]

My anodizing line, 3k wasted.

 

[DieselSaves]

Biggest single beef I have with our shop lay out is the fifty or so feet of countertop with full depth drawers underneath. Sounds good on the surface and it took years to finally complete and it looked good at first but equipment parts in a 12" deep drawer get heavy fast and small stuff always filters to the bottom. The surface gets cluttered up with bolt bins, charging stations, tool bags, and unfinished projects.

I have become a huge fan of shelving, upright cabinets, castors under everything, and rolling work areas that need to be cleared between each project.

If we were honest at the outset we would have admitted to being unorganized and built our storage to help fix our mess and not to make it worse.

 

[bwitt]

Not fully insulating the walls and ceiling when we bought the house. The garage was empty when we moved in, now there's 10 years of accumulation covering the walls. Cost of insulating the walls now is very minor vs. the work to actually tear it all down and start over.

 

[CobraRed]

No where to park my cars. I know it's trivial to care about a dirty car, but i have a nice shop where even old paint cans stay dust free and well lit whilst my new mustang sits outside.

 

[Nermal43]

Not insulating before putting the plywood on the walls.

 

[Eldogg]

I regret renting a shop for almost 10 years now. (wow I can't believe it's been that long) I could have built one many times over for what I've paid in rent.

 

[bobcatdan]

Not buying a 3 ton compound Dake arbor press on CL for $200. Other then that, I'm pretty good so far with what I have. The new house came with a second 24x24 heated and finished interior, pretty good for a turn key shop. Still working on fine tuning thing so I can limit the regrets. About the only limitation I have now is 8' ceiling makes skid steer repair work on the side hard, especially in the winter. I knew that buying the place thou. The truck and tractor fit so that is what matters to most right now.

 

[Benw455]

I built a 30X40 with 10' ceilings, should have went with 12'

 

[sanddan]

I built a pole barn style shop. My biggest regret was listening to my wife and not going taller. She didn't want it to look "too big" so I went with 12' eves instead of 14'. Sure wish I could change that now.

 

[brownbagg]

10 ft wall height

 

[littleponderosa]

Several. Should have bought a bigger compressor. Should have installed a 100A sub for the welders & compressor instead of 50A. Should have removed some of the workbench from the previous guy. Useful, but not really so some of it has become storage. Should have moved the stoker the day I bought the place, instead it takes up just @ nearly 10' of one of the bays and should be exactly where I put the compressor/welder area. If I had done that, my laydown area would have been much easier to work with, instead of having to go vertical everytime out.
Just really wish I had a shop to work in and a garage to park in. Trying to accomplish both in one area comes with limits. And a place for all the decoys.
I probably shouldn't complain. 30X40 with 3 overheads but only 8' walls so it is damn short.
Bill

 

[toolman9w]

Not enough organized storage. Want to rip it out and start over.

 

[goforride57]

I did radiant floor heat. I did a floor drain. I did 12' walls. I did not do a bathroom. I plan on adding a 1000 sq ft addition and I'm making sure to put one in.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Got a good deal on a Quincy 7.5hp compressor with probably less than 20 hours on it. Unfortunately, it's a three phase motor. I was mistaken on how easy it would be to either come by three phase power, buy a single phase motor, or get a phase converter. By the time I do one of the latter, I'll have in it about what a new one would have cost. Not the end of the world, though. I can think of worse problems to have.

 

[Kentuckian]

I built my 42ft wide x 36ft deep concrete block garage in 1999. It is 14 blocks tall so I've got plenty of height for my van. My only regret is not building the garage at least 4 ft deeper. I can pull two full size vehicles nose to tail but there is not enough room to walk in front or behind them. The big kicker is I had plenty of room to the property line and could have easily gone another 10ft deeper.

Moral of the story, measure the length of vehicles you would someday like to own or ones you think you may be working on.

 

[hangfirew8]

Adding one too many workbenches.

I've since corrected the problem by getting rid of the last one. It seemed a great deal, $75 for a several hundred pound woodworker's bench, hand made, of MDF and White Oak. However the moment I got it into the middle of my shop it took up all available floor space, I could barely get around it. I did one woodworking project on it, and then it became a large, unmanageable storage shelf.

After 2 years of squeezing sidewise past it, I had had enough, put the word out and gave it away for free. Then I bought a 40" 9-drawer cabinet with deep drawers, put it against the wall and moved most of the stuff into that. Now I can move around my shop, my other shop tables have free space on top, and I can get stuff done.

 

[panknuckshovel]

Asking the neighbor kid to do a flame paint job on the walls. 11 year old kid at the time and he did such a nice job I dont want anything blocking it.

 

[vartz04]

Not just paying someone to drywall the ceiling right after I moved in. Walls already had OSB and insulation but ceiling was bare. It's insulated now and half the drywall is hung. God only knows when I'll do the rest

 

[brianh]

So far no regrets I was working in a 600 sq foot shop for years when I built the 40x60 5 years ago I loved the space and still do. I feel fortunate to have it.

 

[Kev442]

Interesting that several want more storage and several want/got rid of some. Put me in the got rid of some. The blueprint flat file and the full depth storage rack on top was just too big and in the way.
Got rid of the flat file and cut the other rack to half depth and hung it on the wall . Much happier. I think the 30 x 60" movable bench with the small vise on it is history, to be replaced with a second HF 4 drawer cart.