Laying out 2 buildings for work?

[2ltime]

Hey all, it's been awhile since I posted but I keep browsing threads. In particular some of the tool ones have cost me quite a bit.

I am in the fortunate position to buy a home with 4 garage bays! But, it is 2 buildings. One is an 'oversized' single, about 15ft wide by 32 deep, 10ft ceiling with one door on the gable end. The other garage is 32 wide, 24 deep, 8ft ceiling with 3 individual doors on the none-gable end.

My dilemma is this- I want to set up one for working, and one for storing parts and cars. And I can't decide how to do it.

The single garage would make a great workshop, with just enough room for a lift, but it's a little small for having a car all apart. Not to mention, only a few outlets.

The 3 car garage has a sub panel, and a few 220v outlets, but I think I do not need so much storage space.

I have 2 cars I work on, a '48 Buick and a '94 Miata, along with a daily driver and several toys that normally park in-front of the Miata and take up the rest of the space for it's side.

My current train of thought is that tools split between 2 buildings would stink, but is not the worse. Maybe I setup 1 bay of the 3 into a working bay, then just try to keep the other 2 clean for storage. The one bay should be large enough for simple jobs, like oil changes or brake lights, then use the big garage for engine out type services?

Do any of you have 2 separate 'shops'? Any tips or tricks for someone who is way overthinking this?

 

[brownbagg]

layout, its doesnt matter, most shops are push the **** in and slam the door

layout changes every 15 minute, so here your layout, four walls, roof, door, thats it. toolboxes dont matter. the best layout, a big open space with nothing in it

 

[no704]

Hard saying without a layout. Keep the fab shop as far from the wife as possible.

 

[NUTTSGT]

How close are these buildings to each other ?

 

[Lou's Garage]

I currently work out of 2 buildings. I have a 2 car attached 23x28 deep and a 30x50. The 30x50 was originally intended as storage but as time goes on it is morphing into something else. I envision my situation evolving into something like this: the attached will become an area to clean and perform "daily" maintenance on the cars, an electronics workshop, and a base station for home repair while the larger building will house the vehicle repairs. It's 120' or so, door to door from one building to the other so I am in the process of duplicating what I need (I already had a lot of extras) and just hustle back and forth for lesser used items. I don't use a lot of compressed air these days but I will need a second compressor for tires etc. I'm thinking of just getting something small as the compressor that I have is modest but adequate for almost everything I do.

This has been a gradual situation (2 years since the 30x50 was erected) but right now we're situated with one foot in each garage. Example: today I will be changing the generator carburetor on the motorhome in the "barn" and tomorrow I have a service scheduled for one of the "fleet" in the attached garage (we have 10 vehicles in the immediate family).

Hope something I said is helpful.

Lou Manglass

 

[CraigStu]

I'd use the oversized single for storage and the larger one to work in. The large one has electricity already and that gets to be real important. My attached is 28Dx32W and it works out well.

 

[Joemctag]

Can either one be added onto? Shedroof carport, walls or open, door into existing, etc. where you start with some roof and a few columns, put in racks , cover some sides, maybe slab at some point.
Sketch or pictures?

 

[Garcky]

Nice problem to have, it seems to me. I think I'd focus on the single bay building for your shop. Since it's 32' deep, you can have all your tools, etc. on one end and still have room for the vehicle you're working on. You'd also be isolating that workspace from other uses for the other garage. If you need storage, put up a partition wall in one bay of the larger building.
You can expand the electrical capacity of the single bay building a lot easier than trying to squeeze everything in a shorter bay in the other building.

Just my take on it.

 

[slow]

Is heating either shop a concern, as that would be a big impact if I lived where it was super cold during winter, as the single car is likely cheaper to heat than the 3 car.

Personally, I would love to have a dedicated parts storage garage, that also would keep 1 or 2 project vehicles. Keep the daily drivers in the 3 car garage with the least amount of "stuff" in there, Only toolboxes and nice storage/cabinets.

 

[2ltime]

Wow, thanks all for the replies!

I agree with some, a lot of times the layout changes for every job, so as long as there is space it’s not a bad problem!!

And I don’t have to worry about heating it nearly as much as cooling, this is in South Carolina.

Both have electrical, the 3 car has a 100 amp sub panel, and 2 of the runs are out to the single car. I think in the single car, all outlets are one circuit, the lights another.

Lots to consider, I think ultimately I will have to run more electric to the single. There are 2 slots not being used in the box, hopefully I can pull from that. Probably storage in the triple, work in single will be best. Most of my tools are cordless, my lights are all LED. And I can leave the compressor in the 3 bay and just plumb it to both. Biggest drawers will be a lift and a/c

 

[NUTTSGT]

Wow, thanks all for the replies!

I agree with some, a lot of times the layout changes for every job, so as long as there is space it’s not a bad problem!!

And I don’t have to worry about heating it nearly as much as cooling, this is in South Carolina.

Both have electrical, the 3 car has a 100 amp sub panel, and 2 of the runs are out to the single car. I think in the single car, all outlets are one circuit, the lights another.

Lots to consider, I think ultimately I will have to run more electric to the single. There are 2 slots not being used in the box, hopefully I can pull from that. Probably storage in the triple, work in single will be best. Most of my tools are cordless, my lights are all LED. And I can leave the compressor in the 3 bay and just plumb it to both. Biggest drawers will be a lift and a/c

Both of those last two things might be a need for 240V.

 

[tomtomgt356]

Wow, thanks all for the replies!

I agree with some, a lot of times the layout changes for every job, so as long as there is space it’s not a bad problem!!

And I don’t have to worry about heating it nearly as much as cooling, this is in South Carolina.

Both have electrical, the 3 car has a 100 amp sub panel, and 2 of the runs are out to the single car. I think in the single car, all outlets are one circuit, the lights another.

Lots to consider, I think ultimately I will have to run more electric to the single. There are 2 slots not being used in the box, hopefully I can pull from that. Probably storage in the triple, work in single will be best. Most of my tools are cordless, my lights are all LED. And I can leave the compressor in the 3 bay and just plumb it to both. Biggest drawers will be a lift and a/c

Do you currently have two circuits to a detached building? When was it built? I don't know if that was ever allowed by code or not, but current code only allows one circuit to a detached building (to my knowledge). if you are planning on electrical upgrades to the detached, I would go with a 60-100 amp subpanel and run everything in there off of that.

 

[2ltime]

Do you currently have two circuits to a detached building? When was it built? I don't know if that was ever allowed by code or not, but current code only allows one circuit to a detached building (to my knowledge). if you are planning on electrical upgrades to the detached, I would go with a 60-100 amp subpanel and run everything in there off of that.

Both buildings are Detached. I’ll upload photos tonight. The bigger building was built first, and has a 100 amp sub panel to it. The smaller building seems to be fed from this sub panel, not from the house. It looks like they ran 2 circuits, but maybe it is one. But again, it looks like 1 circuit for lights and one for the outlets. House was built in 85, large garage was built around 1990, secondary around 2005

 

[2ltime]

Here are the panels. First walk through I missed that there was a second panel. Well, at least i’m assuming that smaller box is a smaller sub panel. So the 100 amp is in the 3 car, the smaller box is in a large single garage and fed from the main. House only has 150 amp main panel so I bet I can pop things if I’m not careful. But easy enough for me to keep track of whats running, it’s not like 7 people live here it’s just me and a dog