Getting a 24'x24'!

[BellyUpFish]

Not as big as I'd like, but the wife promises a 30x40 if I can live with 24'x24' for the next 5 years.

Builder is hoping to start digging tomorrow.

Those of you with a small shop like this, any suggestions right off the bat?

I know I want front and rear doors..

Just looking for tips from the "been there done that" crowd.

 

[Kevin54]

My advice is to talk the wife into just a little larger. Although a 24' x 24' is nice, when two cars are in there, it gets tight. Also with a 24' deep garage, if you have a bench up at the head of the garage, there is not much room to walk around the car. 28' deep is a good depth. At 28', I had my fullsize extended cab, 8' bed truck in it and was able to walk around the front but not the back.

If you have smaller vehicles, which almost everyone today has, then try to talk her into a wider garage. At least a 28' wide if not a 32' wide. With that, you can offset a large garage door, park her vehicle off to the side, and still have a man door in the fron. You can then put a workbench along the side for your ride and still have room to get in and out without banging **** up.

And if you set on going with a 24' square garage, and if you are putting a block or concrete foundation in, with footers and such, go taller than an 8' ceiling height. If you have a guy laying block, go up at least 4' above grade then build an 8' garage on top of that.

And by all means, make sure you post up pics from start to finish.

 

[Jeffksf]

18' wide door instead of the standard 16', it makes getting stuff in and out with everything easier, especially if you have 2 cars in it.

 

[bdamico]

plan lines for sink, plenty of electric (including in ceiling for reel), lines for tv, plan your lighting, air if you're using, good slope on slab

 

[musgofasta]

I would do as much as you can to make this one "expandable" into what you ultimately want.

20x30 with the land already marked out where the other 20 feet would go. Doing a fullsize garage door on both ends would allow you to essentially take off the door and add on more depth as time/money permits down the road.

 

[BellyUpFish]

All good stuff.. We are planning on building in 5-8 years.. Planning being the key word.

It's just for my toys, house will have a 3 car garage for my DD, her DD and whatever else winds up in there..

Going to talk to the builder tomorrow and see what happens.