Garage defined....

[941designs]

I have noticed here that most "garages" really fall into one of two categories.

1. A place to park a car, and NEVER make any messes in it

2. A place to park your PROJECTS and where you grind, cut, weld, and create things


So which best describes you?

A garage which is more museum-like, or a garage where your blood, sweat, and beers are left behind.

Discuss....

 

[bop_pa]

Park the projects. But I have been trying hard to get the wife's car in there for the winter so I don't get the stink eye. But I do like having room to work.

 

[nicksnothereman]

I have noticed here that most "garages" really fall into one of two categories.

1. A place to park a car, and NEVER make any messes in it

2. A place to park your PROJECTS and where you grind, cut, weld, and create things


So which best describes you?

A garage which is more museum-like, or a garage where your blood, sweat, and beers are left behind.

Discuss....

3. A place where I smoke my first cigarette of the day and have a ton of incidental tools, shipping materials, stored stuff, and garbage cans in. Oh yeah that's where I put my ladder in. There has never been a car in there except when I'm working on my own car (or someone elses) but that's usually just the front end so I can get light in there.

 

[larry_g]

From my perspective a garage is for parking, a shop is for working, a shed is for storage and a barn is for animals. I have a shop and a barn.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[D-Spec]

4: The place where you store your project car and pile mountains of stuff on it because you never drive it. Richard Rawlings says non-moving cars indoors become work benches.

 

[JMartel]

My car hasn't been inside the garage once since we bought our place last summer. It will only go in when it needs maintenance, and probably not longer than a day or two.

 

[bottom feeder]

In my case a "garage" (place to park the cars) does double duty as a "shop" (place to work on projects). Which means that the space is always a compromise.

 

[Streetbu]

If I had more $ they would be both for me. Ideally I want a garage that is ONLY for the cars that are driven daily. Then a garage/shop where I can work, fab, fix, repair and in general a man cave.

 

[waggie]

garage is space to park cars.

once the cars are moved out of the garage, there's a large, blank floor space. that open space is temporarily converted to shop space, but it's still a garage.

it is very much like your Dining room table. Mostly, it's a table used for dinner, but sometimes, it's a conference table, and your dining room becomes the conference room. Some times, you bend over the girl you brought home over the dining room table and use it as a ..... but, it's still a dining room table.

 

[Aquaticbob]

Garage is where the cars park for sure to me. I can't stand having a garage and not parking inside of it. I can't tell you how many times I've cleaned out a garage spot for my car because other people have stacked stuff in a spot thinking it's a good storage place.

The garage is also the place where shop related activities take place as well. Preferably not injuring the cars that are parked in there. I move my car out when it is necessary as to not injure it

 

[mikegt4]

Mine is a shop that I park my project vehicles in while their waiting their turn, sometimes it's a long wait. It seems that every time that I free up enough space for a DD I find another project.

I never could understand guys that put down Racedeck floors, paint stripes around the walls and install expensive cabinets to hide everything so that all you see is clean shiny surfaces. Probably the same guys that have a clean desk at work.

 

[Fizbin]

Both!

The house came with a 2 car garage, so I put up a wall between the bays and now one side is for parking and the ther side is for working. Best of both worlds.

 

[zkling]

2.1 Machine shop and general home repair. Heavy abrasive cutting and grinding is done outside along with mig and stick work. Car work is done in the driveway on jack stands. Even if nothing was in the garage, the space is so narrow that most cars can't open the doors once inside the garage. Although some stuff may be old, everything is used. I'd put it this way, if you walked barefoot you would end up with chips in your feet. Then again there is no heavy coating of grime or grit like some shops.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Part garage for parking, part staging area for my business, part wood shop, part repair garage. I haven't restored a car since I built the garage and started working on restoring my house.

It looks like an old barn from the outside as well, so it basically hits the whole gamut in some fashion. Plus there is a studio above.

I don't buy that guys with clean spaces don't work on their cars, and I don't buy that being well organized is a bad thing. Lots of those guys seem to be OVERACHIEVERS as far as I can see, and have very full lives.

I haven't restored a car since I started my house project, and I miss that, but I would be a real slacker if I let the house slide just so I could play cars. I am impressed with the guys who can do it all, although I also wish I was still at my old place working out of the old carriage shed. It had a charm that painted walls and floors can't match, IMO.

 

[ew1]

Mine is half a bar and half for projects such as typical DIY car work (oil changes, break jobs, etc) and general work around the house. I don't weld or grind, etc. I also do some woodworking but I use the driveway for that. I have a mobile work table and table saw I roll out to the driveway then shut the door to keep the dust out.

 

[bugnout]

Both. I store two vehicles almost every night. They get to spend the night in the driveway when I'm working on a project.

 

[Gary S]

My projects are parked in there. My daily drivers are in there to keep them out of the weather, and I work in there.
Yes, that means my garage has dirt and grease.

 

[Steevo]

I differentiate between "garage" and "shop".
My garage is attached to my house and is where we park our daily drivers, and where I keep my household "DIY" tools and supplies such as plumbing, woodworking, painting, etc., as well as a place to store some of my stuff. I do some woodworking projects in the garage or in the driveway, depending on the season. No sawdust is allowed in my shop.

My shop, which my wife and MIL call my "toybox", is where my active projects, tools and shop equipment are kept. This is where I do my mechanical, welding, fabricating and other vehicle/equipment type work.

Notice that I never mentioned yard equipment or garden tools. Those belong in the garden shed.

 

[Thumper68]

Mine is a shop, the only reason it has a over head door is that I need to pull a vehicle in to work on it. The only time I allow a vehicle in over night is if what ever is in need of TLC takes longer than a day, or now that the cold and snow are here I will pull one in the night before working on it to let it drip dry, so nice sliding under a nice warn vehicle and not having **** dripping all over you.

When I built it I set up two main work areas the side with the over head door is vehicle metal fab, the other side is wood working. The drill press, bench/pedestal grinder are in the middle as they are used for both activites.

 

[Mechtech]

I have a garage, I park 3 motorcycles in it and a plan to set up for some reloading in the future. The car has never been in it and my truck was only inside once to prove it was possible. (had 1/4 clearance front/rear and could just get out of the drivers side)

I hope to have a detached shop someday and if somebody would give me 60-70K (maybe 80K) I would be very happy to give back the change.

 

[hippie2cams]

Mine is still a construction zone/ garage as it is still not finished. I still have to do the ceiling and then trim all the walls and ceiling and finish the restroom, and a lot of painting. It was built in 2008 and it has been worked on since. I do it a section at a time as I am able mostly by myself so that's why it is so slow. One hunting accident which broke my ankle on right leg took a year to heal and had a heartblock situation that required a short hospital stay and pacemaker inserted has slowed my progress somewhat, but it continues. just finished installing my heatpump for summer cooling and winter heat, boy what a difference that made. Mine is for parking my two motorcycles, both harleys and everything else that won't fit in the house. I still need to build shelving and lots of things still need to be done .have to move everything out of way for work to be done and then move it again to work another area. But like I said it's getting better all the time. One day it looks good next day it is a disaster area.

 

[TxFig]

I have 2 "out buildings" (the house does not have an attached garage of any sort).

One I call my "shed" that the use fits the name - a 20x30' 3-sided steel building on a concrete foundation where I store my tractor, lawn mowers, and various other "outside tools" (garden stuff). On the outside of the shed is another structure that is my chicken coop (the chickens only live there at night; during the day they free range).



The other I call my "barn" is a 30x40 enclosed steel building on a concrete foundation located near the house. It has a roll-up door, 3 regular doors, 3 windows. I am currently in the process of insulating it and walling the inside (both walls and ceiling). This "barn" houses no animals - it is used as a workshop (wood working as well as a place to do repairs on my cars & tractor), a place to store & build my beekeeping equipment, has a hoist to hang deer that need skinned & quartered, and is where I host a monthly poker game (w/ 3 tables).

How's that for breaking the "mold" what to call a building vs it's use?

 

[Jay Sco]

3-car garage here. 1/3 gets a car parked in it. 1/3 is for shelves,workbench, projects. 1/3 is a sit, relax, watch movie area.

So all of the above for me.

 

[Cdn2usa]

Both

And I will have the only key.

 

[zmotorsports]

My "garage" is attached to our home and is where the wife and I park our daily drivers, lawn/garden equipment, bicycles and occasionally our motorcycles.

My "shop" is detached in the back yard and is where the magic happens. This is where the tools and equipment are and is where all of the builds, repairs and/or fabrication takes place.

We park the motorcycles in the shop during the summer months as we ride them quite often and easier to ride out of the shop vs. moving a DD to get the motorcycle(s) out. If I am going to be doing a lot of grinding or heavy fabrication work the motorcycles will reside in the garage as well.

My son parks his Jeep in the shop if there is an open bay just so he doesn't have to scrape windows in the winter. If it is full of work such as paying jobs then he parks outside.

Mike.

 

[T-Mac]

My wifes challenger is parked and covered in one corner,my powerwagon is parked and covered in the opposite corner,my sons dart is strewn all over the rest of it prepping engine and trans for install+prepping body for paint so both storage and "productive mess"+the random a.t.v.or motorcycle.

 

[upndown]

I differentiate between "garage" and "shop".
My garage is attached to my house and is where we park our daily drivers, and where I keep my household "DIY" tools and supplies such as plumbing, woodworking, painting, etc., as well as a place to store some of my stuff. I do some woodworking projects in the garage or in the driveway, depending on the season. No sawdust is allowed in my shop.

My shop, which my wife and MIL call my "toybox", is where my active projects, tools and shop equipment are kept. This is where I do my mechanical, welding, fabricating and other vehicle/equipment type work.

Notice that I never mentioned yard equipment or garden tools. Those belong in the garden shed.

You mean snow shovel! Brrrr..... Nice looking place Steevo!

 

[rburke65]

I am a hard working guy and I have a hard working wife have been blessed with good paying jobs. That said, I have an attached 2 car garage, where we park our 2 daily rides. It gets more crowded by the year with stuff. We do have a garden shed, and a pole barn where the wood, lumber, wiring metal, chain saws, picks, shovels, spud bars, compressor, an old pick up, my '65 impala, and her Sky are parked. And I just finished a shop where I will be able to do my welding, pounding, grinding, etc.

 

[jclem40c]

Wife wants garage to park HER daily driver and HER 1985 mustang LX ragtop with a
5.0 HO mill (ice cream getter, gotta go fast b4 it melts ya know) and I need a sanity
shop. These, as you all know, are totally incompatible soooo 28x36 with 12 foot ceilings
and a lift for me. This shop is home to 2 milling machines, 2 lathes, drill press, buzz box,
mig, surface grinder, shear/brake/roller, tool boxes, tire machine, wheel balancer and the list goes on and on. I found a small space in the welding area and had a phone call from
a homeless plasma cutter and I just can't leave him out in the cold so i think ill invite him
in. Oh yes also a GE monitor top fridge housing some Guinness and JD, ice and coca cola. I
B happy, SWMBO happy, everybody happy. Like Phil says Happy, Happy, Happy.

 

[Autorotica]

From my perspective:
a garage is for parking
a shop is for working,
a shed is for storage
a barn is for animals.

lg
no neat sig line

Larry, I hope you don't mind that I added some spacing in your post. I like your definitions very much.

I have a garage, a shop and currently I am working on a shed...
Chris

 

[crewchief888]

my 19x22 is a garage.
wifes DD is parked in it during the winter
my harley is parked in it year rou8nd.
s-10 blazer has to stay parked in it, no valid registration

toolboxes and fab stuff stays out there. i leave my POS riding mower outside.

i keep all the DIY and woodworking stuff in the basement. i have a reloading/storage room next to the laundry room.

 

[phred]

My 22x20 is both. Attached to the basement where the blast cab, welders, torches, saws, drill press are all located. The planned (in city review now) 24 x 40 will be both as well. I need lots of room to work and store vehicles. currently have for drivers, 1 project of mine and 2 Im doing for other people. The little 22x20 is taking a beating.

 

[upndown]

My 24x20 just pulled out of the driveway on a Trailer..

 

[Syberia]

Garage gets used for parking cars... mostly. Sometimes I'll pull a car out and use the floorspace for work, but most of my work gets done on the breezeway between the garage and the house.