Introduction and Garage Question

[SN95ohh]

Hello! My names Robert and I'm an engineer in Texas who loves racing and having an awesome shop space!

I've been renting houses for 9 years now so any shop space I setup in the garage was always temporary. Because of that I have never had a really efficient clean space. Now we finally just purchased a home of our own with a 3 car garage! Roughly 20'x30'. I'm super excited to build my permanent shop space and share it with you all. And hopefully grab abunch of helpful tips along the way.

My first issue with the garage is that it has a 2"x2' raised section of concrete that runs along the back width of the garage. Does anyone know the reason behind this? This causes some problems for me if I want to pull a car in forward facing and use an engine hoist. I would love to break it out if possible or atleast breakout enough space in front of one car. What do you all think?

 

[66Caprice]

Welcome aboard!!!!

 

[The Cobbler]

Welcome !
is that a common wall to the house? it may be a dam to keep water, spilled fuel etc away.
It would be a lot of work to remove that in my opinion, for what you would gain. can you build a bench & storage on top

 

[SN95ohh]

Welcome !
is that a common wall to the house? it may be a dam to keep water, spilled fuel etc away.
It would be a lot of work to remove that in my opinion, for what you would gain. can you build a bench & storage on top

It is a common wall. I do a lot of car wrenching and this ledge will make using a jack or engine hoist a pain from the front.

 

[Grimpala]

It is a common wall. I do a lot of car wrenching and this ledge will make using a jack or engine hoist a pain from the front.

If the garage is only 20' deep you're not going to be pulling a car all the way in and using a hoist anyway, so the door will be open. Pull the car in as far as needed and use the rest of the floor for the hoist.

I have an almost identical setup as you and I pulled the engine out of the Chevelle in my single bay from the side.

I would not recommend that you demo that portion at the front of the garage, especially if your slab is post tensioned.

Where abouts in Tx are you?

 

[SN95ohh]

If the garage is only 20' deep you're not going to be pulling a car all the way in and using a hoist anyway, so the door will be open. Pull the car in as far as needed and use the rest of the floor for the hoist.

I have an almost identical setup as you and I pulled the engine out of the Chevelle in my single bay from the side.

I would not recommend that you demo that portion at the front of the garage, especially if your slab is post tensioned.

Where abouts in Tx are you?

I was afraid everyone was going to say no lol

I'm in central Texas

 

[Corsair4360]

Our garage has that and was built in the late '70's. Personally I hate it and would never buy a garage with it. Building a new shop without the nefarious step

 

[CombatNinja]

My understanding of those stupid 'steps' is that they are code for gas appliances like water heaters so that if there is a leak, gas 'pools' in the lower section and will not be as likely to ignite. See it in a lot of garages, new and old. I hate it and would never want one.

Anyway, I'm with Grimpala, you are not going to accomplish squat in a 20' deep garage without leaving the *** end of the car out the door anyway, so what difference does it make? Any builder who makes a garage only 20' deep should be shot. 20' x 30' is a triple in theory. Only way that works is if you have NOTHING on the walls and modestly sized cars.

 

[SN95ohh]

I agree 20' deep is BS and shouldn't be allowed. But up until recently I had been sharing a two car garage in a rental with a friend for the last 5 years. I accomplished a lot of motor swaps and fabrication in my little half. This space now is all mine and huge improvement. I also have a shed in the backyard that freed up a lot of space in the garage now too. I'm hoping to be really efficient with this space and leave the floor wide open.

 

[CraigStu]

I wonder if it would be possible to pour more concrete to fill the rest of the floor and bring it up to that level?

 

[Stuart in MN]

It seems like those raised portions of the floor are more common in the south and southwest US, where people often have their water heater or washer and dryer in the garage.