Home office in your garage??

[LIUNARep]

New guy here, I read a lot but haven't posted. Being a newbie I hope that I don't get flamed too bad for this one but.......do any of you have your home office in your garage??

I have an oversized 2 car attached that I am considering splitting to convert half for office space. I would lose half of my garage but the beauty would be the fact that my Harley would be the centerpiece to my office.

Any insight? If you have your office in the garage I would appreciate pics if you have them.

 

[rcleaver]

I'm fairly new here too. From what I've seen you don't need to worry about being flamed. These are a bunch of friendly helpful guys.

I'm planning on building a new detached garage, probably next spring. I want an office in it, among other things. It seems to me that I'll also need a kitchen and bathroom, to make it completely useful. I keep working on a spreadsheet to help with the costs. It's not that expensive if you don't overdo it. I will probably use low end materials for the kitchen and bath. I'll probably also include a utility room with a washer and dryer, laundry sink, furnace, electrical panel and water heater.

If your garage is attached, you may not need all this. But my garage will be at least 100 yards away from the house, and may be built before the house and allow me to live there while I build the house.

If your garage if detached, you may want to add on to it. Others will tell you from experience that you can't have too much space, and you're better off planning for more, not less, space.

 

[Stouttrout]

I have never seen a flame for a question posted here. Great site!! My grandfather did this years ago so he would have man cave for his RC planes and office. It was really cool and worked out great. It had 2x4 walls that where insulated and a 4 foot swing out door in the front. The door was I think made of 2x4's as well and insulated. It Allowed him to get his planes in and out easy. He had an AC wall unit with a Heater on it.

Be sure to post up some pics when you start.

 

[LIUNARep]

I was being a bit sarcastic on the flaming thing, it is rather obvious that everyone here is most helpful. I was just saying that most guys are trying to increase the size of their "guy room" and I am thinking of using up most of my space for an office.

Thanks for the info so far, keep it coming.

 

[JTFormula]

I went to go look at an old FLH a guy had for sale a couple years ago and he converted his garage into a office/den type room. The garage door was replaced by a french door so he can bring his Harley in and out without issue and let in a lot of light. He had industrial office type carpet in there that wears like iron. He had a desk, a TV on a stand, A couch, and beer fridge. The bike was parked about 3 -4 feet inside the room but near the doors. Under the bike he had a metal pan to catch the drips. It was actually a cool idea. This might be something for you to consider.

On a side note the guy was a Born Again Christian and gave me a sermon while I was there. When his wife stepped into the garage, I thought she would tell him to leave me alone. Instead she said "Oh good, your giving him the talk" - I thanked him for his time and took off before I found myself with a robe handing out flowers to people at the airport.

 

[sberry]

I have my office in my shop.

 

[e-tek]

Couple guys have some beauty offices in the garage here. Hopefully they reply!

 

[JebNY]

I thought of converting part of my shop to an office/light project area a few years ago but came to my senses before I started putting up walls. Make real sure you want to sacrifice shop space for office space before you start. You really don''t need a big office, I know a fellow that runs a very successful body shop with an office that is about 5 foot square.

Depending how your shop/property is situated I would put a small lean to addition out the back or side and tuck in a small man cave/office. As almost everyone one on this board will tell you your shop will never be to big. Mine is 30X48 with the center 24' two story and I wish I had made it just a little bigger.

Jeb

 

[Brad54]

I've got a 32x40 shop behind my house, with 12-foot walls and its own 200amp electrical service.
When I had the shop framed in, the Man Door and one window are in the front left corner. These are for the office I've finally gotten around to framing.
The office is 10x10, with 7-foot wall studs. With the studs, the sill plate and the two headers, it's 7'6" tall inside. Since I'll be sitting all the time, I won't miss the extra foot that 8-foot wall studs would provide.
The extra foot was utilized above the office, with a loft. Right now I have open rafters. With 12-foot walls, I have about 4-feet of clearance between the ceiling of the office and the rafters. I'll put a ceiling in the rest of the shop, but above the office it is open to the roof (with insulated fiberboard from Home Depot against the roof joists above the office). Essentially what I've done is walled off a room above the office, with the rafters running through it, that gives me a 10x10 storage area. I can stand up there, but must duck between the rafters.

Just outside the office door going into the shop, it's stubbed for a urinal and running water. I have a deep plastic utility sink. With a parts washer and blast cabinet in the shop, I don't see using the sink for much more than cleaning hands and rinsing out cups, etc.

I'm a freelance writer and photographer, with an office in my home right now. I did this same work for 4 years a while back, and decided then that I really need two exterior doors between me and the office. At the end of the day when everyone else goes away from the work place, I still tend to sit and check email, work on stories, etc. I've got the office framed, wires run, and 90-percent of the insulation in it. Need to get out there and finish it!

-Brad

 

[must8657]

i built what will become a home office in my garage. my garage is ~35x45 and we took one corner and put in a 3/4 bathroom and then a main area for the office. total is about 12X20. currently have a friend that recently got divorced who is living out there (he paid for the materials). when he moves out (he is in the process of building a house on some land he owns), i will turn it into an office. i also have a furnace and a/c hooked up so i can keep it close to a constant temp. i plan on storing my chemicals and things like pressure washer in there over the winter.

 

[e-tek]

This is one I was thinking of, belonging to John Z.....it's awesome on many levels:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2343

 

[autoist]

Link doesn't work.

 

[e-tek]

Link doesn't work.

Thanks - works now...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2343

 

[Mikea57]

I have a 24' X 26' detached garage with an upstairs and I will be putting an office upstairs that I'll do video editing, audio recording and voiceover work that I do on the side now. I haven't started getting any planning done yet because I'm not sure about the availability of funds thanks to the economy. It will get done, I just have to be patient.

I'll have plenty of questions though on the build out when the time comes!!!

Mike

 

[Ezzie]

Yup... I'm currently building one. It's the upstairs of a 15' x 32' 2 story I am building inside of a 60' x 100' x 16' 6" storage building.

 

[LIUNARep]

This is one I was thinking of, belonging to John Z.....it's awesome on many levels:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2343

Holy Moly. Ditto e-tek.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I have a detached 2 car garage with an office..........................I call it a steno pad and a pen!

 

[sam 8]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the idea, I am building a little 8x10ish office in my shop. It gives me a place to sit down, read a manual, do a parts list, goof off on the latop away from the house, etc.
I am also about 20% into writing a book, and there is no better place to go if I want to write and need to hide.

 

[BECC]

Typing this is my home office shop. My business office is about 30 miles north and I need somewhere to spread out plans (I'm a contractor) and do work. I just built a wall desk and still have to install the pull out table for the printer. Made mine with left over wood from the house and some other jobs. My radio is out there, I hate working in a kitchen (I end up snacking) and catch hell for farting.

Here is a photo - the blotch on the wall is a color from a bunch of left overs mixed together (ughhh). The floor is acid stained, and I stained the one cabinet door to see how that would look - not sure.