Help me lay out my new garage/workshop.

[ScotWithOne_t]

Hi everyone. First post here on garagejournal forums. I'll probably be posting more questions and reading a lot this summer when I build my new house this summer. New shop will be part of the attached 4-car garage. My current shop is in the basement and is 13x18, so this should be a bit of an upgrade, even if I have to share it with the cars. Garage will have to house two daily drivers, and a track/fun car. The track car will not be used that often, so it can be positioned off to one side with some back-and-forth jockeying to give more space for the shop and tools. This is the layout I'm thinking about.

There's an unlabeled workbench/table/cabinets on the right hand wall that I haven't figured out yet... probably house my table top tools like my belt/disc sander, drill press, and band saw.
I love how my Rigid tablesaw has a built-in mobile base so I can shove it against a wall when not in use, so I'll apply that concept to all large items such as the outfeed/assembly table, a future jointer, etc. Basically, when I need to do work on the car (or just to make it easier to pull in and out) I can shove everything over like this.

The sheet wood storage/panel saw would pivot so that sheet goods can be inserted from one end, much like this
The empty space in front of the two SUVs is where all of the lawncare stuff will go until I build a storage shed, so that area is unavailable for shop space.
Additionally, there is a small corner in the basement which I plan on using for a combination of storage, and non-messy workbench type stuff... so not much woodworking except maybe some painting/finishing... more like a crafts/hobby workshop. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18505467/House/garage3.jpg

Any suggestions? I would love to have a 30x30 dedicated workshop, but reality dictates otherwise. Anyone with multipurpose garages have any tips? One thing I am considering as maybe a future investment is a 4-post lift to get the hobby-car off the floor, but the overhead door would pose a problem. And do lifts get the car high enough to walk underneath, or would I be banging my head on the rails all the time?

 

[ScotWithOne_t]

hmm... the imgur links are coming up broken. Here are teh direct links withoug img tags

http://i.imgur.com/Qvl8hZY.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ujV6qkF.jpg

 

[ndm]

No worky

 

[happy2rv]

Any suggestions? I would love to have a 30x30 dedicated workshop, but reality dictates otherwise. Anyone with multipurpose garages have any tips? One thing I am considering as maybe a future investment is a 4-post lift to get the hobby-car off the floor, but the overhead door would pose a problem. And do lifts get the car high enough to walk underneath, or would I be banging my head on the rails all the time?

Pictures still aren't working, so I can't say much about the layout.

With regards to the lift, it won't help for using a lift for storage, but if you install a jack shaft opener instead of a traditional opener, you can use a lift for working on vehicles. Pull in on the lift, lower the door, and then raise the lift. This assumes you have enough ceiling height to make things work. Others have talked about modified tracks to have the garage door follow the roof line. I had trouble finding an installer that would make that work, but you might have better luck. Another possibility would be roll up doors, but you might have trouble finding one that is appropriate for the house.

As far as the height, I guess it depends on how tall you are. The direct-lift propark 8 lifts to a height of 72 1/2 inches and the runway thickness is 4 1/2 inches leaving 68" under the rails at full height, according to spec's. However, that's slightly misleading. While it does raise to that height, it needs to be lowered to the safety stop for safe work or storage. The bottom of my runways rest at 67 1/8" on the top stop. That's still plenty for me at 5'5, but still in prime head bumping territory for a lot of people. The propark 9 specifies a height of 84" and I would assume similar drop to first stop but it's runways are 4 3/4" meaning it the bottom of it's runways should be a little over 78 1/4 inches. Obviously I would recommend verifying that these measurements are still accurate before making a decision. Also, hopefully obvious is that you will need enough ceiling height to be able to raise the lift to it's full height to get the max storage height. In other words, you have to raise the vehicle at least a couple of inches above the stop before lowering it back down and on the safety stops.

 

[ScotWithOne_t]

hmm... maybe imgur is having issues. I rehosted them on my dropbox.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18505467/House/garage1.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18505467/House/garage2.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/18505467/House/garage3.jpg

 

[ScotWithOne_t]

Pictures still aren't working, so I can't say much about the layout.

With regards to the lift, it won't help for using a lift for storage, but if you install a jack shaft opener instead of a traditional opener, you can use a lift for working on vehicles. Pull in on the lift, lower the door, and then raise the lift. This assumes you have enough ceiling height to make things work. Others have talked about modified tracks to have the garage door follow the roof line. I had trouble finding an installer that would make that work, but you might have better luck. Another possibility would be roll up doors, but you might have trouble finding one that is appropriate for the house.

As far as the height, I guess it depends on how tall you are. The direct-lift propark 8 lifts to a height of 72 1/2 inches and the runway thickness is 4 1/2 inches leaving 68" under the rails at full height, according to spec's. However, that's slightly misleading. While it does raise to that height, it needs to be lowered to the safety stop for safe work or storage. The bottom of my runways rest at 67 1/8" on the top stop. That's still plenty for me at 5'5, but still in prime head bumping territory for a lot of people. The propark 9 specifies a height of 84" and I would assume similar drop to first stop but it's runways are 4 3/4" meaning it the bottom of it's runways should be a little over 78 1/4 inches. Obviously I would recommend verifying that these measurements are still accurate before making a decision. Also, hopefully obvious is that you will need enough ceiling height to be able to raise the lift to it's full height to get the max storage height. In other words, you have to raise the vehicle at least a couple of inches above the stop before lowering it back down and on the safety stops.

Good call on the jackshaft openers. I have a feeling I'll probably skip the opener all together on the "workshop" side of the garage, since it won't be opening and closing all that often. That'll allow be to put a storage loft (albeit a very shallow one) above the door for storage. Maybe I could rig up a pulley systems so it could be dropped down.

I think a lift is probably just a pipe-dream due to the ceilings being only 10' or so.

 

[happy2rv]

Pictures are working now. The only thing I can think of is, for me, wood shop and car shop don't really go together. Although I've done light wood work in my garage it makes a mess and gets all over everything. If you're going to do any significant wood working, I would consider dust management/collection system and possibly partitioning the daily driver section of the garage from the workshop side. You would still have to move the track car out to do much in the workshop though.

 

[happy2rv]

I think a lift is probably just a pipe-dream due to the ceilings being only 10' or so.

Yeah, definitely wouldn't buy you much for storage, unless you're storing a sports car. Google says average car height is right at 5'. So, You could only raise a 5' car 5' before it hits the ceiling, this assumes no obstructions (don't forget light bulbs/fixtures). That would leave around 4 1/2 feet under it for working or parking underneath but you still have to account for lowering to a safety stop. Many sports cars are a little over 4' which changes the equation slightly.

Another thing to consider, is that the lifts take up a lot of room and even though 4 post lifts don't have to be bolted down and even come with casters, they are still a pain to move. In your situation, the lift might be more in the way than helpful.

 

[ScotWithOne_t]

TBH, it's going to be more "car storage" than a car-shop. I do way more woodworking than wrenching. I've thought about putting up a wall in the middle, but that would make it difficult to get the car parked up close to the wall. I suppose I could always use dollies, but that's kind of a PITA. I suppose I could do a sort of "soft" wall, which would basically be a plastic curtain made from 6+ mil poly.

I have a harbor freight dust collector in my basement woodshop now, and it does a really good job of keeping dust to a minimum.

 

[matt_i]

I'd play around with the two daily drivers and some chalk lines in a parking lot, just to make sure you are comfortable with opening the doors and such. Pilot probably no problem but the full size SUV typically has big long doors.

Also, if you could build the left side 2 feet more out, you pickup an entire wall that can be used for storing stuff. It looks like you have 18" right now, the 21'-18' then /2.

I don't know if you have kids or if its in the future but their stuff takes up *a lot* of space and can't just be chucked into the yard constantly

 

[_Stang_]

Are you sure the vehicles are to scale? Looks like a lot of room around the expedition length wise for 23' deep. Download sketchup and do it in 3D. There are models already built in their 3D warehouse that you can import.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[ScotWithOne_t]

I'd play around with the two daily drivers and some chalk lines in a parking lot, just to make sure you are comfortable with opening the doors and such. Pilot probably no problem but the full size SUV typically has big long doors.

Also, if you could build the left side 2 feet more out, you pickup an entire wall that can be used for storing stuff. It looks like you have 18" right now, the 21'-18' then /2.

I don't know if you have kids or if its in the future but their stuff takes up *a lot* of space and can't just be chucked into the yard constantly

Can't go wider. Original garage per the plan was 40' wide and 24' deep. I went +2' in width to get an 18' door in lieu of a standard 16', and then added 2' to depth. Standard 16' doors require parking too close together, as that is what I have now. I have to pull in at an angle with my Acura TL next to teh Honda Pilot. Ford Expedition is drawn in because I may buy one in the future, so I definitely want to make sure I have more room than currently. I figure with the 18' door, I should have enough room for a larger SUV.

And yes, I have kids. Right now i have a couple small storage sheds. I'll eventually build at least a 12'x12' shed in the future to hold bikes and stuff as well as lawn care stuff.

Are you sure the vehicles are to scale? Looks like a lot of room around the expedition length wise for 23' deep. Download sketchup and do it in 3D. There are models already built in their 3D warehouse that you can import.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

I drew it in AutoCAD, so everything is to scale. I pulled te vehicle dimensions off of google. The SUV side of the garage is 25' deep inside. An Expedition is 17.25' long, so that leaves 7.75'