Garage vs Shop

[Lou N]

All,

I'm in the beginning phase of planning for a shop on my property. We have 1.5 acres, but they way it's laid out leaves only a couple of spots that work. Right now the northwest corner of the property is probably the best choice. However it's only 25' from the back of the house. I'm concerned that it will look too crowded, but my wife and neighbor (who has a similar setup) think it would be fine.

The other consideration is should it be a stand alone shop for woodworking and metal fab and no auto work, or should it be a combo garage shop?

I have a three car garage already and if I could get the woodworking tools and the metal stuff out of there I would have room for a four post lift with two bays left for other auto stuff. The one drawback I see is needing two sets of hand tools, but I'm sure there are others...

Anyway if any of you have stand alone shops and do your car work in a separate garage I would like to hear your likes and dislikes. Also any opinions on placement on the property would be welcome.

Thanks,
Lou

BTW I should have mentioned I want to build a single story, approx 24' x 30', with carriage bi-fold doors, similar to the shop in the new Fine Woodworking shop/tools issue.

Sorry for the dark pics it was getting late.

Lou

 

[DCarr]

Is your current garage attached to the house ? The biggest problem I had with doing car work in my " Basment Garage " was the odors bothered my Wife. She could smell a fly fart in the garage.

So .... when I built my shop I have it set up tool wise what is going to happen where. Machining area, Car Repair / parking & a wood working area.

 

[Bob Pekny]

I tried to combine a metal fab shop with a woodworking shop and found the worry of welding and grinding sparks and wood dust too much. You just can't sweep enough. Had one garbage can fire from grinding sparks. Went out the next day and bought the red habor freight fire safe cans.

Ended up building a seperate wood shop.

Bob

 

[gsport]

you should easily be able to do your shop... i've got just over an acre with two shops, plus the two car garage on the house.. big shop is 45x60 with a lift, small shop is 28x43 and heated... only down side is having two sets of tools, and still walking back and forth for something in the other shop.. (really it's not a bad thing)

 

[Lou N]

Thanks for the replies. The three car garage is attached, but I don't have to worry too much about the odors. I was also concerned about welding sparks in the wood shop, definitely a consideration.

I'm going to call the county tomorrow and find out what the required offsets from the property line are. More to come...

gsport, nice setup BTW

 

[sledzz]

I put a wall up in mine with two 36" doors and keep my chop saw, table saw etc on one side that is un heated to keep the majority of dust out of my main area.
The other side is heated and that is where i spend most of my time tinkering on whatever project I have at the time. I wouldn't worry about it unless you are a full time furniture builder/welder. 25 feet isn't much of a separation from your house but it doesnt look like you have much of a choice. Make your shop look great and then it will be something pleasant to look at.