Shop Decisions: Out-building or attached/basement

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Looking to take advantage of the collective knowledge and experience on here...I know this initially comes across as an odd question, but hear me out. Our current house is a ~1200 ft2 ranch with half finished basement/2-bay garage underneath. The garage has spilled over into the basement and a shed. I can't park the truck in the garage unless I do some extreme shuffling. It's a tidy little setup with good compressor, excellent lighting, a nice epoxy floor, as as much organization as I can reasonably do. That's what I'm working with.

We bought a piece of land last year and are in the process of designing a fresh home build. The plan was always to build a separate detached garage to house an eventual shop (wood/metal and auto/moto). There are other reasons why we need a different house, but the garage was a big part. Just not possible on our current lot.

That said, I'm having second thoughts on building a separate out building. Call me cheap. Call me lazy. You'd be right on both accounts. Here are my thoughts:

-3 car attached garage. Room for wife's car, my truck, and either the motos or a play car in the future. A good sized garage...full size quad cab, room to open all vehicle doors, and leave a hitch mounted bike rack on the vehicles.

-Walk-out basement. Not sure what to do with it yet. Likely guest room, utility, storage, etc. Entertaining the idea of putting a shop in the basement.

There are some very obvious reasons why working under the house isn't a good idea. Namely metal work (welding, grinding, chemicals)...not to mention noise. I'd also like to have an auto lift down the road, which is complicated by this arrangement (though it can be down in the 3 bay, of course). I'd also need to have some duplication of tools to serve both locations. I'm sure there are other gotchas I haven't thought about yet.

But, I've gotten spoiled walking down a flight of stairs to the shop without having to walk out in the cold. Since the basement is mostly buried, heating load is much less. No worries of freezing liquids in the garage as it rarely gets below 40F in the garage portion on the coldest days. If we do it right, we could do a garage door in the walk-out side and add some 9' ceilings to give adequate clearance for the dirt bikes on the pneumatic lift(s). Power is already in the house, as is easy access for plumbing. Less roofing/structure/taxing. Did I mention I'm lazy? But seriously, I'd hate my laziness to keep me from using a shop on the coldest winter nights.

I'm sure I'm not the first person to contemplate this...so, all thoughts are appreciated!

 

[ItsNemo]

At least a two car attached for now, build the outbuilding later when funds are available and you aren't so lazy

 

[matt_i]

When I lived in a subdivision I had a walkout basement and a lot of stuff migrated into the basement. I mostly did woodwork down there and had a lathe for turning metal.

Eventually I got into bigger machinery that wasn't worth the yeoman efforts to install in the basement and I moved to separate outbuildings with concrete floors level to the driveway. The one I have currently is attached to my house by roof, but has a solid firewall/drywall separating them (unpenetrated by any doors). So its just a short walk across the driveway.

Keeping the shop at 35F for the winter was a lot less addition to my utility bill than I expected. You could always install a wifi thermostat and ramp up the temp before you decide to go out. I find that getting up to 55-60F is very pleasant for a few hours' work.

 

[1-3-2-4]

55F would a treat in the winter! I rarely hit that temp, even in our current garage...good idea on the WIFI thermostat, I like that.

Definitely doing an attached 3 car garage. The costs aren't that much higher than doing two, and I know we'll use it. That will hold me over for a bit, but the equipment question is the big one. I have many of the supporting metal/wood machines needed to support a machine shop, but I've stopped short of buying the mill and lathe due to space constraints. I desperately need that capability in my life. Sick of outsourcing work I could do.

 

[cheechi]

I have a two car garage used for parking and yard tools, and a full basement partly finished. The unfinished area is about half shop half general storage/laundry.

The garage and a sunroom (originally a covered porch) are on a slab and there is no basement below them. There is a deck I can go out, around, and down into the basement door. How you orient your walk out basement and how close the door is to the garage is going to be key. That is the single biggest complaint I have about my setup.

When we moved in originally I wanted the garage to be my shop and so all my tool chests are there save for one. Almost all my hand tools are there etc. I have been getting by with 'spare' sets in the basement as I do more with wrenches in the garage than in the basement. My basement is primarily a wood shop with an electronics bench. So my crappy meter is in the garage if I need a quick check of something but I have to go all the way down and get the good meter if I need speed or accuracy.

My outdoor tools are split about half and half, there isn't room for the mower anywhere but the garage so it and the backpack blower are there, and all the rest of it tools included are downstairs. My intent is to keep the fuel oils all heavy chemicals in the garage in shelf & cabinet, I often need to go up and get some to work in the basement.

Planning is the single most useful thing I'm hoping you get that from my examples above. At some point maybe I will be able to add a carport under the existing deck and move things closer to the existing basement door, but that's a long way away if it's even an option. I am planning a lean-to/'attached shed' for mower storage and a patio near the basement door but that isn't a reality yet.

I don't need full on AC where I am, you may feel different, but an open window and fan is a necessity. Wouldn't want to do it in a totally underground basement with no windows at all. I have a fireplace but my chimney is old so i can't build a huge fire and heat even as much as 1/3 of my shop space. So much of the working space is centered in the 'room' where the fireplace is, to maximize its effectiveness. Maybe someday I will size/price a window unit to go into one of the smaller windows I have, but probably not. I can get up to 60, a few feet away but the rest of the basement is high 40's low 50's and basically does't move from that no matter how long the fire goes. This year was a little different since we only had a few really cold weeks but I still wish I could have a blower of some sort and get some more coverage.

so you need to plan out really well what you are going to do and where, what tools and supplies you need redundant, how are you going to store it all, and then if you have a really good idea of that, go for it. If you can do it, have a man door in your garage that you can go out, to covered patio or something, and then into the basement door from there.