Planning and Researching Garage Designs

[Pluribus]

Moving from the contemplation phase to the research and design phase right now, and thought I'd throw out some of my ideas. Part of what's keeping me in analysis to paralysis mode is that there are a few oddball constraints I'm dealing with on my property.

First, I'm probably going to be starting out with no power to the building. It's going to be about 300' from the house, which is somewhat sketchily wired as it is. The transformer is about 1/4 mile away, and getting 200 amp service to the shop would require bringing in service from there. Can you say, "budget destroyer?" Because of this, I'm shooting for lots of natural light in the design through orienting a long wall with windows to the south. I figure I'll use some form of portable generator to power tools as needed in the short term until I can afford to set up power.

While I'd love to build around 2,000 square feet, the cost would be too much unless I go with a pole barn, and I'm just not a huge fan of them despite the initially attractive price. From what I hear, by the time you fir or frame for insulation and wall surfaces, the cost isn't much different than stick built. I'm also in a very wet area with over 40" of rain a year and lots of water in the soil, so I've never liked the idea of sticking wood in the ground, even ground contact rated stuff. Sure, it would probably last MY lifetime, but I'm not crazy about it.

Another reason to keep things in the 1,200 square foot range is that I do have other buildings on the property to use for storing lower value items. I say that because they are quite a ways from the house and in less secure locations. Of course, they have all the power I could use. Thankfully, I have lots of space to play with, and I can plan things like orientation and approach to work in the existing space.

So far, I've sketched a few designs on the back of my Dilbert desk calendar pages. I'm trying to learn Google Sketchup, but I'm afraid my literacy is sub-5th grade level so far. If possible, it would be great to have a partial upstairs over part of the shop. My goal is to have room for a 2-post lift in the future, so at least part of it will need a high ceiling. The dashed lines on some of these show where a room might fit.

A single pitch shed roof has the advantage of lots of window potential on the south wall, and I've seen some really attractive buildings with that design.

While I love the lines of a monitor barn, seeing all the effort and material in trusses that's required for a clear span building, I think it would be cost-prohibitive.

I'm considering asking for "Sketchup for Dummies" as a gift this year, so I won't have to subject folks on this forum to drawings like the above. Your ideas, experiences, etc. are welcome and much appreciated.

Edit: I'm open to steel-frame buildings if they are cost effective after insulation, etc.

 

[LutzTD]

do a layout with your intended purpose, put your tools and future tools in and also doors and whatever you are working on, this will help with the building. the purpose should drive the design.

also, 300 feet from the house seems like way too much walking to me, can you expand a closer building or replace it, or even move a closer building to the 300 foot site. Im only 75 feet back from the house and the running back and forth for tools and such is a pain

one thing to note, Im getting 150feet of buried line to my meter, which is a seperate one from the house for about $400 installed, have them come out and quote it if its a second meter the price might surprise you.

mine so far is single pitch, but my purpose was two fold. I wanted a large southern exposure for solar, and I am doing mine as a phased project, eventually I will have a more traditional shape.

 

[Pluribus]

Thanks for the tips. In addition to planning my intended uses, I'm trying to pick up as many ideas as possible from others' builds on the forum. Lots of great ideas here! As for distance from the house, not much I can do there. My "house" is more of a cabin, and it's down in a gully with a creek. Shoot, I have to walk 150' up a hill just to get to where I park my car!

Consider yourself very lucky on the service cost in your area. Here, it's a LOT more, and they require you to supply conduit and do all the trenching yourself on top of that. No direct bury for extension of primary lines allowed. I looked into it once before on another property that required about 800' of run, and they were looking at $11k for the cable and setting a transformer. I still would have had to dig 3' down and supply conduit and a pull rope.

The expansion capability is another reason I'm considering the single pitch roof as well. After this, I'll check out your build.