Have a shop? Tell me your thoughts

[sickboi55]

I am in the design phase of a shop build. The door on the right will have a 2 post lift. I am looking for input on the distance I should go with between the gable wall and the door opening. I want enough room to move past the lift but ai don't want so much that it takes away from any other usable space.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Have you checked your township/county restrictions? My township only allows 18ft height but the county allows 30ft. I'd go as tall as possible. Mine is 30x40x18, the max permitted. I knew it was too small before I started, but that was all I could get.

 

[DBS5Window]

You need at least 3ft. Think about if you would have to pull axels out of a rear differential.

 

[sickboi55]

Have you checked your township/county restrictions? My township only allows 18ft height but the county allows 30ft. I'd go as tall as possible. Mine is 30x40x18, the max permitted. I knew it was too small before I started, but that was all I could get.

I am limited to 16ft total height.

 

[sickboi55]

You need at least 3ft. Think about if you would have to pull axels out of a rear differential.

I think 5ft is the way to go

 

[kabinenroller]

Are you planning to vault the roof joists to allow for a vehicle on the lift? How tall are your side walls? I would allow at least 4’ clearance between the lift and the gable side walls.

 

[sickboi55]

Are you planning to vault the roof joists to allow for a vehicle on the lift? How tall are your side walls? I would allow at least 4’ clearance between the lift and the gable side walls.

The side walls will be 12 foot. The trusses wont be vaulted. The lift I am going with should fit, it requires 12 foot ceilings.

 

[ericm]

How wide are the doors? Looks like 12'? A typical car is 6' to 7' wide not counting the mirrors. My HD truck is 7'. Assume a 7' wide truck with 3' long axles, centered in a 12' wide bay. If you pull the axle the wall needs to be (7'/2)+3' or 6.5' from the center line of the bay to get the axle out. If my math is right you don't need a lot of space beyond the 12' bay.

Three feet is enough to open a car door a reasonable amount for a long door, maybe all the way if it's short.

 

[sickboi55]

How wide are the doors? Looks like 12'? A typical car is 6' to 7' wide not counting the mirrors. My HD truck is 7'. Assume a 7' wide truck with 3' long axles, centered in a 12' wide bay. If you pull the axle the wall needs to be (7'/2)+3' or 6.5' from the center line of the bay to get the axle out. If my math is right you don't need a lot of space beyond the 12' bay.

Three feet is enough to open a car door a reasonable amount for a long door, maybe all the way if it's short.

You are spot on. The doors will be 12 foot wide.

 

[firebirdparts]

You need at least 3ft. Think about if you would have to pull axels out of a rear differential.

This is what everybody says, and I guess it's about right for 4 post lfts. You can't get a 2 post lift close enough to the wall to stop you from pulling out an axle. A 2 post lift is really wide, and axles can't really reach that far (you be the judge here). In that case your limitation will just be the minimum distance between bolts and the edge of the concrete. You need to add to that whether you want space to walk around the lift on the wall side, and whether you want cabinets hanging on that wall. That's really it.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I am limited to 16ft total height.

Around here, you also have to no taller than the dwelling.

You will need scissors trusses or better yet a true ridge beam.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I think 5ft is the way to go

I vote at least 3 feet at the lift column. That way you can have cabinets, rolling or stationary along that wall with a gap at the lift column if needed.

 

[CraigStu]

Look up specs for lifts. Most 2 posts are 11-12ft wide to the outside of the posts. So that will line up great w/ 12ft wide doors. I would want minimum of 2ft outside of post to wall just so I can walk past it rolling a tire. I'd prefer 3ft but could live w/ 2 if needed. So that says make the right side of the right door 2-3ft from the wall. But there may be code rules on that vs proper header support and whole building wind resistance. I know my SIL built a small garage w/ 2 doors and he had to run the header all the way to the outside wall. Not a big deal but good to know in advance.

 

[cannuck]

One of our shops (on best bud's farm) has 12' walls and an 8k 2 post lift. All I can say is do whatever it takes to build 14' walls with low slope roof of some sort. Crouching under a car or truck trying to do heavy work such as trans and transfer case R&R is not fun at all. I would (and often do) just lift a foot or so and work from a creeper - but even that gets pretty old pretty fast. When I built my back yard shop I was limited to 8' walls, so cheated a layout that had center 1/3 width bay open to 10' under crane hook (about 12 to bottom of tension members). Get everything pushed as far as you can while you have the luxury of doing it up front - you will thank me in a decade of so.

 

[adsinnott1]

My lift post is 2 ft from the wall. You get the 2 ft, plus the column width, plus how far the vehicle sits in on the arms from the post. Usually makes it about 4 or 5 ft from the side of the car to the wall. I have pulled the axle out of my truck without issue. Depends on the size of your door opening to answer your question, but make sure at a very minimum you have 2 feet from lift column to wall. More would not hurt if you can spare. My door is a hair over 9 ft wide and the lift is about 6 inches off from being centered. The end wall to door opening is about 3.5ft.

 

[finn]

You probably need a little more than two feet, preferably 32 inches, like a narrow door opening, but don’t forget that the power pack likely occupies that same space, depending on orientation.

 

[Gutman]

I envy you as a clean sheet design is always best. Maybe I'm looking at your dilemma differently, but I'd consider using much of the upper part of that right wall for storage, as in maybe shelving/pallet racking, so I'd figure in the appropriate width to support its placement. I think that approach might reduce the opportunity to use up other more valuable space on the left end of your shop for storage. With pallet racking you can plan shelf heights and upright placement to support the lift and your usage, and move less frequently needed stuff up and out of the way.

I'm in a situation where my shop came with the house and I'm not sure of the mindset for it's design, layout, or usage by the two previous owners. I'm in the midst of trying to make it functional for me (after 7 years of putzing around it haphazardly).

 

[NUTTSGT]

I am limited to 16ft total height.

Keep in mind you depth of that building with roof pitch to correspond to that height. Once you get to a certain roof pitch, you'll want metal rather than shingles.

Just throwing this out there.


Also, out house garage I put two block between the overhead door openings, not 16" this gets the cars farther apart on the inside. . . for door swing.

 

[Fixr]

I will strongly echo the advice to increase ceiling height above the lift. 12 feet is not enough for a lot of pickups and vans. I'm not a builder, but I would guess that you could probably do it by substituting just a few vaulted trusses above the lift.

 

[sickboi55]

I appreciate all of the feedback. Unfortunately there is no option for different trusses with this builder, and any other builder is $20k more, minimum. And at a 32 foot depth and a 3/12 roof, I cannot go higher with the walls. Currently I have a 65 Cadillac coupe and a 96 Chevy C1500. My measurements indicate I should have enough room underneath.

 

[kwb]

Depends on local building requirements as well. You may need a shear wall at the corner. It can be engineered around but not without expense.

 

[ArtisanFarms]

5' is a nice workable minimum for the side. Any less and eventually you'll be tripping on something that is sitting along side the lift. Make sure to give yourself room for stools, tools, parts and other items along with a path wide enough to push your tool cart.

 

[larry_g]

My thoughts? You need to tell us what the intended purpose of the building is. Are you strictly working on a PU and a caddy? doing any metal fab, wood working, storage of stuff? It all plays into the layout of the building. To me the biggest mistake I made in my building was to have the OH door to close to the side wall. It severely limits the the use of the side wall and confines any rig in that bay I want to work on. I do agree with your guess of 5 feet from the door to the side wall. Open the doors of your rigs and then measure the width with the doors open and add a 2-3 feet to that so you can walk between the open door and the sidewall. That is my idea if your doing auto repair on full sized cars/trucks only. Now if you have a whole list of other things that the building must do for you then you adjust from there.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[sickboi55]

My thoughts? You need to tell us what the intended purpose of the building is. Are you strictly working on a PU and a caddy? doing any metal fab, wood working, storage of stuff? It all plays into the layout of the building. To me the biggest mistake I made in my building was to have the OH door to close to the side wall. It severely limits the the use of the side wall and confines any rig in that bay I want to work on. I do agree with your guess of 5 feet from the door to the side wall. Open the doors of your rigs and then measure the width with the doors open and add a 2-3 feet to that so you can walk between the open door and the sidewall. That is my idea if your doing auto repair on full sized cars/trucks only. Now if you have a whole list of other things that the building must do for you then you adjust from there.

lg
no neat sig line

This will only be used for car and motorcycle builds/repair. So some light fab but no woodworking.

 

[u2slow]

I am in the design phase of a shop build. The door on the right will have a 2 post lift. I am looking for input on the distance I should go with between the gable wall and the door opening. I want enough room to move past the lift but ai don't want so much that it takes away from any other usable space.

My 12x14' OH door is only 1' off the side wall. This was deliberate to offset the door as much as possible in the 21' building width. In hindsight, I would have been fine with a 10' wide door and 2' to the sidewall.

On that skinny side, I have a combination of rolling toolchests, 12", 14" and 18" shelving. There's enough room to squeeze between the 12" shelving and the 2post lift column. Higher up the wall I stepped the shelving out to 24".

 

[sickboi55]

Measuring my vehicle doors, I think 5 feet will be perfect and leave me room for tools or movement.

Thoughts on the distance between the 2 doors?

 

[My Old Tools]

Have it framed in red iron, then finish to match the house. You can clear span the whole thing and make it any pitch you want.

 

[sickboi55]

I have priced all options and for what my town requires vs cost, the stick built is the best option.

 

[Glemon]

I appreciate all of the feedback. Unfortunately there is no option for different trusses with this builder, and any other builder is $20k more, minimum. And at a 32 foot depth and a 3/12 roof, I cannot go higher with the walls. Currently I have a 65 Cadillac coupe and a 96 Chevy C1500. My measurements indicate I should have enough room underneath.

I have fairly low ceilings and a lift I got a few years ago after many years of working under jack stands. Would I love an extra foot of headroom? Sure, but having a lift is so much better than not. Doing a brake job sitting on a stool, pulling a long exhaust pipe with room to angle it every which way and leverage or cut anything stuck, you should be happy.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Measuring my vehicle doors, I think 5 feet will be perfect and leave me room for tools or movement.

Thoughts on the distance between the 2 doors?

I like about 3 feet or more to give room between the door tracks for a cabinet, shelves, small piece of equipment or such. An air hose and cord reel and welder receptacle near the door for outside work and for near the rear of the car is another suggestion.

 

[OccupantRJ]

In thinking of your shop layout, try as much as possible to let an item incorporate another item(s) to at least get dual usage out of it. Two examples would be this roll-out heavy steel work table/metal drops cabinet storage under my welding table/ mechanical work bench. It is made of 1/8” with 1/4“ steel top and can be used as needed in or out of the shop. It has a floor brake to keep it in position in use, and can substitute as a second portable welding table or support for long work pieces. It has been a valuable asset. It would also work under a car on a lift to support heavy assemblies.

 

[shoot summ]

My feedback is more from a curb appeal point of view. Do you have options to rotate the shop 90 degrees and set it back from the house? From a front view you get a lot of garage doors in the view, and a lot of shop.

 

[sickboi55]

My feedback is more from a curb appeal point of view. Do you have options to rotate the shop 90 degrees and set it back from the house? From a front view you get a lot of garage doors in the view, and a lot of shop.

Due to setbacks and accessibility, that is the only option.

I am one of only 3 houses on a dirt drive, so not many people to please. It will be painted to match the house though.

 

[bb29510]

depends on how big your belly is, you know you going try squeeze through there

 

[Worsedog]

In my opinion, which is likely not worth much more than you've paid for it, would be to put the lift in the left hand bay and eliminate any clearance issues.

 

[nadogail]

My little shop is in a 2 car detached garage at the house my son lives in. I have a Compressor, Drill Press, Band Saw, Jointer, Miter Saw, Arc Welder and a some various and power and hand tools.
Creature Comforts include a Toilet, Small Refrigerator, Radio and a space heater. The repurposed kitchen sink with both Hot & Cold water is nice.
I am grateful to have it, PM me if you would like a tour.