MMehler
Active member
First, I'm new around here. I've been checking out a few of the picture and lift threads and its time to start getting input from all the members of this board. I'm looking for some advice along the way.
This first post will be a bit long-winded, I'm not normally as wordy on boards. So WARNING.
Here's the scenario:
The wife and I have recently purchased a lot to build our long-term house. My father is an architect so we're designing a house from scratch, which means I get MY garage
My idea of a good long term plan was to have a nice lot and build a house with a 3 car side load attached garage and then later add a perpendicular detached oversize two or three car later. Well, as plans go, we purchased a small oddly shaped lot. Let's just say I'm giving up acreage and garage space for other amenities that this lot brings to the table.
So, what I'm looking for is advice mostly on size/shape of my garage (though I'm limited in my options) and then what sorts of amenities I want to plan for in my garage (ex: outlets, storage space/shop supplies etc, concrete thickness, ceiling height etc etc etc). My budget is not defined, but is certainly far from unlimited. I think my goal is to figure out what my ultimate garage might be and then determine where to cut back so I can afford to actually build the thing.
The older I get the more hands on I am becoming with my vehicle maintenance and have even started work on restoring a car with the help from some awesome friends. So my tool collection is growing and a lift is in my future.
My wife and I each have a daily driver and then I have two weekend/autocross cars that are convertibles. Currently the priority in our two car garage goes to the fun stuff and the dailies sit on the driveway. I don't plan to ever house my daily in the garage. If my wife's fits, cool, if not, she'll live, its not a priority for her. I also have the aforementioned restoration project that has a home at another site, but I would love to move it home, and one day it will need to be parked indoors as its a leaky old British roadster. Oh, and I have slow race car that sits at my friend's race shop, but it would be nice to bring it home occasionally as well.
So we're talking about a three car side load garage. A single and a double door. The shape of the lot dictates that the single will be in the front and off set from the double toward the rear. I can make the double extra deep, and possibly make it deep enough to house two short roadsters. The largest of my non-daily cars is only 13'2" long, so I figure a 35' deep garage would give me the ability to have two cars in tandem with a couple feet and in front, behind and between them. Our budget will likely dictate how deep I actually make it.
If I can't make it deep enough for two tandem then I definitely want the ability to have a storage lift. I would prefer to have a 2 pt lift for maintenance with wheel removal, but a 4 pt for storage and some maintenance will do. Drooping suspension for storage makes me nervous.
Current sketch attached below.
If I can have the garage that deep I'm not sure which side I would put a lift on. Though if its that deep I don't feel the need to have a 4 point.
So, thoughts? Suggestions?
I assume I should probably build the biggest damn garage I can build, too much is not possible.
This first post will be a bit long-winded, I'm not normally as wordy on boards. So WARNING.
Here's the scenario:
The wife and I have recently purchased a lot to build our long-term house. My father is an architect so we're designing a house from scratch, which means I get MY garage
My idea of a good long term plan was to have a nice lot and build a house with a 3 car side load attached garage and then later add a perpendicular detached oversize two or three car later. Well, as plans go, we purchased a small oddly shaped lot. Let's just say I'm giving up acreage and garage space for other amenities that this lot brings to the table.
So, what I'm looking for is advice mostly on size/shape of my garage (though I'm limited in my options) and then what sorts of amenities I want to plan for in my garage (ex: outlets, storage space/shop supplies etc, concrete thickness, ceiling height etc etc etc). My budget is not defined, but is certainly far from unlimited. I think my goal is to figure out what my ultimate garage might be and then determine where to cut back so I can afford to actually build the thing.
The older I get the more hands on I am becoming with my vehicle maintenance and have even started work on restoring a car with the help from some awesome friends. So my tool collection is growing and a lift is in my future.
My wife and I each have a daily driver and then I have two weekend/autocross cars that are convertibles. Currently the priority in our two car garage goes to the fun stuff and the dailies sit on the driveway. I don't plan to ever house my daily in the garage. If my wife's fits, cool, if not, she'll live, its not a priority for her. I also have the aforementioned restoration project that has a home at another site, but I would love to move it home, and one day it will need to be parked indoors as its a leaky old British roadster. Oh, and I have slow race car that sits at my friend's race shop, but it would be nice to bring it home occasionally as well.
So we're talking about a three car side load garage. A single and a double door. The shape of the lot dictates that the single will be in the front and off set from the double toward the rear. I can make the double extra deep, and possibly make it deep enough to house two short roadsters. The largest of my non-daily cars is only 13'2" long, so I figure a 35' deep garage would give me the ability to have two cars in tandem with a couple feet and in front, behind and between them. Our budget will likely dictate how deep I actually make it.
If I can't make it deep enough for two tandem then I definitely want the ability to have a storage lift. I would prefer to have a 2 pt lift for maintenance with wheel removal, but a 4 pt for storage and some maintenance will do. Drooping suspension for storage makes me nervous.
Current sketch attached below.
If I can have the garage that deep I'm not sure which side I would put a lift on. Though if its that deep I don't feel the need to have a 4 point.
So, thoughts? Suggestions?
I assume I should probably build the biggest damn garage I can build, too much is not possible.