Shop or Garage

[Steve W.]

Looks like there are not enough options to answer your poll correctly.

The GARAGE is attached to the house and is intended for parking cars.

The SHOP is detached, and is where work is done.

When I was building the SHOP, it was much easier to use those two terms to tell the wife which direction I was headed, as the tools were still stored in the GARAGE until the SHOP was closed in.

Now, the GARAGE is still intended for parking cars, but in reality, no car has made it into that space for about 20 years. There are a few motorcycles in there, in various states of assembly, along with a bunch of **** that is being stored, pending sorting for disbursement to various family members.

The SHOP has all the tools, bike lift and the three daily-driver motorcycles. There is some storage and a TV area in the upper level.

.

 

[Brent T]

Mine is an attached "garage" that doubles as my shop. Then I have a small "shed" that I store all the lawn tools, etc. in. If I had more room and a more forgiving HOA, I'd use the "garage" to park cars and build a "shop" to do work, then the "shed" to store lawn tools, etc. As it stands now, the garage does double duty. At least it's an oversized 3-car, so space is not a big issue. My biggest complaint is all the dirt / dust, etc., from the "shop" projects makes a mess of the "garage". Also, a lot of times I have to move the cars out of the "garage" so I can use it as a "shop". First world problems . . .

 

[Augus7us]

Shop...

I personally feel that a shop has a purpose and a garage is more general or utilitarian.

Since both can be detached (or not) and both can be a shop, consider this. If you have a space and you store pool toys, yard equipment and some tools. You use this space to fix things, the occasional project and changing oil. This is a garage to me, this is how most peoples attached and detached garages are used.

Now conversely you have someone that has a space full of woodworking tools. You can't pull a car in, there are no lawn or pool toys and if the owner is out there you generally know what he is working on. This doesn't mean there are no car tools or the occasional lawn mower or something like that, but you know what is being done in there. This is a shop to me.

There are always exceptions and some that come to mind on here are the folks that are extremely efficient with space in their two car attached and have both shop equipment and typical garage stuff, while also parking a car there. I have several neighbors with 30x40 outbuildings that just park there cars and store junk in them.

 

[olytdi]

I would like to pose a question to my fellow garage-journalites.

I know this is not life altering or earth shattering and it may be semantics or a Ford vs. Chevy type of discussion and really has no relevance to many but it's more of a curiosity of mine than anything. I was browsing a few "other" sites the other night and I stumbled across a thread on jalopy journal asking "shop or garage" and I realized that although this is "garage" journal, so it may be automatically assumed, but I've not seen that discussed here and when I did a search I didn't come up with any similar threads. So, I'm curious if you refer to your work area as a garage or a shop?

Also interested in what you consider a garage or shop if you don't consider them the same?

Personally, I've always considered a "garage" as the place to park my daily drivers and is attached to the house whereas a "shop" is where the magic happens, or work gets done rather. A shop is where the tools and equipment are housed and things get built and/or repaired whereas the garage is a place of storage for daily drivers, lawn & garden equipment, bikes, stroller, etc. Now most don't have both but it still has me curious as to whether you call it your shop or garage and why? My son has always called ours the "speed shop" which I have found to be kind of cool because for so many years we ran our small performance shop at our last place and we liked to build speed related toys.

Just thought I'd throw up a quick poll and maybe we'd start a discussion prior to the weekend and see where it takes us.

Thanks.

I'm in the garage is a smaller box you park cars in and maybe have some shelves and a freezer. The shop is where all of the projects, repairs, creations, and fun happens. In my mind, the garage makes it possible to have a shop without a bunch of cars in the way!

 

[oldmachinenut]

I suppose its totally dependent on what type of available space is at your disposal. My "shops" where in garages for a lot of years until I built a true shop 20+ yrs ago. Now the collection has grown so much, there ain't a garage big enough to deal with it. So I guess that relegates me to always needing a shop...

Darn the bad luck.

But I guess that didn't answer the question now did it Mike. For me I guess the defining feature would if the garage has a welder in it. IF SO, its a shop

What do you call it if you have 5 welders?
Asking for my Wife, she said “who needs 5 welders”

 

[clutchee]

Shop, we built it first to house our homes as we both had our own prior to meeting. Built it stored stuff in it till our house was built.

Now house has carport so, yes, we call shop a shop…. If that makes sense.

 

[Lt CHEG]

I built my house, garage and shop all at the same time, on previously unimproved land. My garage is attached to the house and is where we park our SUV, a car and some lawn related tools like shovels and rakes. It is 28’ wide by 24’ deep. I can fit my truck in there but it is tight. I also built a 36’x 40’ detached building. It holds my truck, and will hold my next tractor as well (I sold my last tractor so I could downsize and will buy another when the market cools off). I have a bay that is currently generally empty, where I have a 2 post lift and work on vehicles. I also have a roughly 14’x30’ area that has my woodworking tools, work benches, and some of my shop tools. In my last job where I had a take home vehicle I parked it in the work bay and would pull it outside when I wanted to work on stuff, or sometimes just left my take home work vehicle outside. My attached garage is my garage and my detached garage is my shop. Even though I store a vehicle (and sometimes a tractor) in there, most of the space is set up for shop space, amd just generally working on stuff so it is definitely my shop.

 

[nadogail]

Our Daily Driver is garaged at my house, my workshop is in a two car garage that is only 25 feet from my house. My son rents that house from me and he thinks that I have a Workshop in his two car garage, the reality is that he gets to park his car at night in my Workshop.

 

[Motorman55]

I call it "MY WORKSHOP" and the wife calls it "THE GARAGE', where she insists that I make some "space" to store her bicycle and gardening tools/supplies. Its really an 'ATTACHED SPACE'.

 

[Steve from Socal]

The terms seem to be interchangable here with the notion that a garage is part of a house. There are garages under high rise buildings, multi-story parking garages, drive out basements etc. Anyplace vehicles are stored, serviced, repaired, or housed in general could be considered a garage.

Do I call my building a garage or shop? Shop, because while I have vehicles stored, car projects and do repairs, these are only part of what the shop is. The first pic looks a lot like a garage as far as the vehicles. The next pic looks like a shop with a truck parked in it, is that a garage because the truck is there?

 

[LXCam]

What do you call it if you have 5 welders?
Asking for my Wife, she said “who needs 5 welders”

I’d answer. A happily married man honey. Cuzz I don’t ever have to....




come into the house

 

[rharman]

My shop is in the garage. Basically, we have a 3-car garage but only a single double door and we park both cars in that section.
It was designed so that the 3rd "stall" aree would be for my shop.

We both just say "I'm going to the garage" when I head out to the "shop".

 

[MushCreek]

We have a one car attached garage, and it's primary purpose is to park my wife's car, so it is a garage. My shop (which is in our barn) is primarily for working on stuff, so it's my shop. Then, I have a small shed for the outdoor tools. I do park my old Miata in the shop to keep it out of the weather, but in a perfect world, I'd have a big enough garage to park it in. Some day I hope to have a carport to keep most of the weather off of vehicles.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

I have an oversized three car, 26 feet deep and build out area I call my shop.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I learned a valubale lesson with my 1870's forge which was built "horse-sized", not "car-sized"...

You can ALWAYS use a garage as a shop, but you can't always use a shop as a garage.

 

[cstmg8]

Ditto, 3 car attached is the "garage". Detached building housing tools and projects is the "shop".

 

[bugnut]

attached is garage separate is shop

 

[HogDude]

And the winner is....
Each of you who posted pictures and comments. Thank You!

 

[Jackfre]

Next week I am moving out of my 1000 sq ft (sob), level floor dedicated shop. It is collapsing into a two car sloped floor (again, sob) garage. The garage will never see and automobile as I have to much machinery and gear. Technically it is a garage, but it is my shop so I will call it a “Garashop”.

 

[dfiler2]

I have a garage and a shop, neither is connected to the house. Garage is used for parking cars in and the shop is used for projects. I didn't participate in the poll because to me there are different uses for the buildings but that is just in my situation, I can see for some people they might be the same building.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I tell the wife I'm going out to the garage as I refer to it as "My garage" then there is the "house garage".

In all actuality, I should refer to mine as The Shop.

 

[Metallitubby]

It depends who is asking. For tax/county purposes, it is considered a "barn". For conversation's sake, it's a "shop".

 

[4 FN 27]

Our place, there is an Upper and a Lower Garage. Parking only...that is not to say it was always that way. Before the Shop was built the Garage somewhat double down as a shop at times.

The shop...well it is a shop. Car Shop and Fab Shop in separated rooms. 3rd room for storage which include parking of cars, trucks, trailers, equipment and attachments.

Then there is the Shed. 40 x 64, dirt floor, no lights, no electric, a broken window, mice...all things bad. It came with the property. I leave it the way it is for 2 reasons.

First when people ask if I can store something for them I can say yes and show them where their items will go. They usually don't ask again.

Secondly, when we built the house, one of the City Planners tried to strong arm me telling me I had to remove the "shed" because you cannot have a shed in front of the house. It must be set back from the front of the house or the finish of the shed must match the house.

We burnt down the old Farm House which was in front of the Shed and it work out better to build the new house up on the hill just north and east of the old Shed. I knew the Codes before we built and knew we were Grandfathered in, thus I told him to pound sand...that was after I told him I would put the Red Siding the Shed had on the new house. .

He messed with us for 2 more years until he was voted out of office. He got really PO'ed when we brought 3-Phase power up from the main county road a 1/2 mile away...he had the Water Shed and County Health Dept pay us routine visits during his terms.

 

[bmwrd0]

Shop. It is an 11'x13' room in the basement where I have my South Bend lathe, AMMCO shaper, hand woodworking tools, and anything else that doesn't cause too much stink or dust. There is a garage out on the alley, but it is sized for a model T, which would have been the current car when it was built. I don't really like parking on the street at my own house, but that is the situation right now.

Long term plans are to put in a carport off the alley.

 

[LeonardY]

I don't make a distinction. I park in my garage and I work in my shop. They are the same space. I also have a office/studio. Funny thing is my office/studio could have been a third car garage when my house was being built.
Do I wish I had a separate spaces? Sometimes. But It has never really bothered me.

 

[4 FN 27]

It depends who is asking. For tax/county purposes, it is considered a "barn". For conversation's sake, it's a "shop".

Here anything over 120 square feet not attached to the house is call a Detached Residential Accessory Building.

Under 120 sq ft: Storage or Tool Shed.

Other building types include:

Detached Domesticated Farm Animal Building

Agricultural Farm Building

Non-Accessory, Non-Dwelling Structure (by CPU only)

Heaven forbid anything be titled as a "Barn" in a "farming community" that has more horses and livestock than people with in 12.5 miles of downtown St. Paul.

 

[don long]

Like most folks here I have an attached garage. When we bought the property the attached garage was the only garage on the property
However it wasn't a garage it was a wood shop big enough to park 6 cars, 3 wide and 2 deep. The problem with the house was it only had 2 bedrooms so the wife didn't want to buy it. I really wanted this property so I promised her that I would build her 2 more bedrooms ,taking up some of the room in "her" garage ( I had plans of my own for a garage) It now is a 2 1/2 car storage room. No cars have ever been in the "garage"
I built my garage and converted a horse barn into my shop

The garage



It's behind the house

The shop




It's out behind the garage

In conclusion
The garage is where we party and the shop is where I spend most days working for the garage

 

[softailgarage]

Growing up and living in SoCal for 55+ years, a "garage" was the attached enclosed area your cars were parked in. A "shop" was usually a space in an industrial complex. There wasn't a lot of homes with detached "garages" that could act as a shop. For me, this "theory" all changed 12 years ago when I joined GJ. Suddenly the vehicles were parked in the driveway and the 2 car "garage" became my "shop" and so it has and will always be that way...until I hit the lotto and can afford both.

 

[Metallitubby]

Here anything over 120 square feet not attached to the house is call a Detached Residential Accessory Building.

Under 120 sq ft: Storage or Tool Shed.

Other building types include:

Detached Domesticated Farm Animal Building

Agricultural Farm Building

Non-Accessory, Non-Dwelling Structure (by CPU only)

Heaven forbid anything be titled as a "Barn" in a "farming community" that has more horses and livestock than people with in 12.5 miles of downtown St. Paul.

Mine had to be named a barn due to an odd ordinance in the tiny community I built my house in. No building can be placed "in front of" the home facing the road. Due to the topography of my property, I had nowhere else to build the shop, so naming it a barn tfor the county is just a stupid hoop to jump through.

 

[zmotorsports]

It depends who is asking. For tax/county purposes, it is considered a "barn". For conversation's sake, it's a "shop".

Funny you mentioned for tax/county purposes. When we built our last shop back in the early 90's the county was quite stringent on their definitions so I called it a "detached garage" during the build just to keep the city, county and inspectors happy. No one really questioned anything when I was installing a gas heater and quite a substantial amount of electrical in it and I'm sure at least the inspector knew what was going on but he never questioned anything. Once the final inspection was done and everything cleared for tax purposes I called it my shop. When I applied for my "conditional use business license" and had to appear before the city planning commision to explain the purpose for my business and they asked where I would be performing these repairs and performance work I simply said the shop in my back yard. They were pleased with the answer and didn't want me working out of the home's attached garage because it could be seen from the street and against city ordinances.

Odd because they surely didn't enforce the city ordinances with my white trash Sanford & Son neighbor when he started dragging home 15+ cars and stacking them in his yard.

Fast forward to late 2016 when I applied for the building permit for the shop at our new home and I again thought I had better call it a "detached garage" to appease the city but as Pat mentioned above, the city and county called it an "accessory building". However, when the inspector started coming by and seeing all of the electrical, gas line, etc. he immediately started saying what a nice "shop" this was going to be. It seems the new city I live in really doesn't care as long as everything is to code and it follows the subdivision's CC&R's (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions).

The neighbors seemed to know from day one it was going to be a shop and didn't really seem to care either as long as it was built following the proper CC&R's. Now 6+ years later it doesn't seem to matter and we have a few other neighbors who have built detached shops/garages/accessory buildings as well.

Thanks for all those who responded. I just thought it would spark some conversation and was interesting to read through everyone's comments.

 

[HogDude]

I don't make a distinction. I park in my garage and I work in my shop. They are the same space. I also have a office/studio. Funny thing is my office/studio could have been a third car garage when my house was being built.
Do I wish I had a separate spaces? Sometimes. But It has never really bothered me.

office/studio made me think of the first Iron Man movie. Tony Stark had a brass pole in his private jet. Sorry (if your significant other reads these).

 

[no704]

A garage has a sloped floor. A shop has a level floor.

 

[38Chevy454]

Built my 50x70 as a shop with garage parking. Mostly because added one large bay for motorhome parking at one end. Rest is divided between parking/storage for my old cars and junk high quality used parts, and my work area with lifts, big workbench, toolboxes, welders, etc. I call it the detached garage, but it is my shop as first priority and parking second. Probably should start calling it detached shop.

 

[Imatk]

I have both.

 

[sonoronos]

If I could I would have both.

If I could only have one, I would have a garage, which I would then sometimes use as a shop.

 

[rmmiller]

All depends on who you talk to here, if you are building detached and talking to permitting it's a detached garage. If you call it a shop they consider it a place of business and want more for the permit, a business license and you have to have the proper zoning! I am in the same camp though, garage is attached and the shop is the oasis in the back that I do not have.

Not sure exactly how you would classify what I have now, it's about 1300 square feet of attached "garage" with one large bay (460 sqft) walled off from the rest and outfitted for working on my project car. I also have a garden shed for all the yard **** that has no business in the garage. Whatever you call it, it works for me and the neighbors have no idea what is in it.

 

[slow]

I have an attached garage, and call it a garage. If I ever get a detached building, or rent/buy a space somewhere to work on cars, it is a shop. I even call my office warehouse/dyno bay the "shop"

 

[Swanny1953]

So a common theme seems to be similar to all Jacuzzi's are hot tubs but not all hot tubs are Jacuzzi's, all shops can be garages but not all garages can be shops.

I can buy into that. Our attached garage houses the 2 most used daily drivers. We call our additional building the "big garage" as it both serves as parking for my car collection, has a "man cave" portion as well as the shop where maintenance, etc. work takes place. Some pics are in the thread referenced in my sig line.

 

[Mezz2006]

Personally, I've always considered a "garage" as the place to park my daily drivers and is attached to the house whereas a "shop" is where the magic happens, or work gets done rather. A shop is where the tools and equipment are housed and things get built and/or repaired whereas the garage is a place of storage for daily drivers, lawn & garden equipment, bikes, stroller, etc.

I tend to agree with you. A shop is where the work happens, it may or may not also be considered a garage. My dad has a wood shop, it is in the basement of his house, below the garage. I also find myself calling large garages/shops "Sheds" due to the phrase "Pole Shed" and most are a secondary structure.

 

[Monza Harry]

What do you call it if you have 5 welders?
Asking for my Wife, she said “who needs 5 welders”

Well I "NEED" the 4 + oxy-accetalene set-up, and plasma I have, so everyone! No? Bring your own PPE to that discussion. Harry