Should I build or not???

[crawler07]

Hi Folks, Im not sure this is the proper location for this question so if it doesnt belong sorry.

My house is about 7 yrs old now, we attempted to build a detached two stall during construction of the house, but it didn't go as planned actually that plan fell apart......Literally.

Anyways, I have to come up with a way to make a living since the industry I work in has all but tanked (just a matter of time now).

I was a motorcycle mechanic for 18 yrs professionally but have been working on bike, atv's and sxs for every bit of 28 yrs now. So naturally I've been thinking about going back to wrenching (havent really quit) on others peoples machines.

So I would like to work out of my house which has a double deep 4 stall garage under it, but the problem is any fumes from bikes or chemicals want to rise and go into the living space so thats not going to work.
I work on my bikes down there currently, but in the winter I wait for a warm day and go outside to do this,again this will not work with customer's bikes as it would cause long turn over times.

So the thought is to build a detached 25'x40' garage for working on customer's bikes and use the current garge for storage ie bikes and larger tools.

My delima is I don't want to exceed market value by spending more money on my property than I can get out of it later. Im not sure how to figure out if adding the detached garage will be something that increases my home/property value.

I was thinking I could get an appraisal of my home/property as it sit's now and then ask the appraiser if I added the detached garage could I get my $$$ back.

maybe you Guy's-Girl's may have a better Idea....



Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

[My Old Tools]

In general, additional buildings beyond the attached garage don't add much value. They will get taxed, but they don't increase the selling price by much if any. They may or may not increase the marketability of the property. If you use it exclusively for business use you can depreciate the building and recoup some of your investment on your taxes.

 

[sberry]

Seal up the ceiling and vent. You dont have to be a pig either. My shop is big but I am careful about some of it. I walk out the door or doors open for brakekleen, gas same way, aint gotta spill it all over all the time. If I had the available room to do the work would do that wayyyyyy before building out for it. Start up slow, build some clients, work out some bugs with the nature of your biz before going in to money on speculation.
I am not much on small engines but motorcycles have a lot more range for service opportunities. Thats not bad, its a little specialized, might be able to shop parts not everyone knows how to do.

 

[thunderalley3]

I am not sure where you are located but the first thing to do is see if you can run a repair business from your home. I know it will not happen where I live, have a neighbor who retired from the mc business, added two bays to his home garage and got shut down, fined etc. within a month of trying to do business from there. The neighbors got wise real soon when there were people dropping bikes off in the morning. He played the "friends stopping by" for a little bit. The city finally pulled in the police, ran all the plates and vin numbers and shut it down.

Also all of the parts suppliers will not sell to you unless you have a storefront, hard to make a profit when you have to pay retail for parts.

 

[Jagmandave]

Where you are can make a BIG difference to all of the questions you asked....whether you're in town - where in town, country etc....

 

[ace10]

Construction is extraordinarily spendy these days.

 

[Chevy-SS]

For your situation, I would absolutely NOT build anything, unless you have gotten the business up and running in your existing space, and you absolutely need to have more space.

Fix up the existing work space. Seal off one area for smelly stuff, and maybe even add some powered ventilation to the sealed area, or even the whole basement. Much cheaper and easier than building new.

 

[nadogail]

IMHO, It depends on your location. When you share that, the forum might be able to give you some useful answers.

 

[coljar]

For your situation, I would absolutely NOT build anything, unless you have gotten the business up and running in your existing space, and you absolutely need to have more space.

Fix up the existing work space. Seal off one area for smelly stuff, and maybe even add some powered ventilation to the sealed area, or even the whole basement. Much cheaper and easier than building new.

^^^This is what I would also do^^^^in your situation.

 

[Don1357]

you can get/build a fumes extractor to not just vent but to **** the fumes out. That way you can start getting your feet wet with what you have, without having to invest any money.

Definitely look up your local ordinances for that sort of thing. I am sooooooooo happy to live in Alaska and outside of the city, I can do just about anything.

There is a livelihood to be had working on your own. My mechanic works off his home's 2 car garage but his rented home has a large parking area (rural home). he seems to be booked pretty solid.

 

[metlmunchr]

My house is 2100 sq ft living space plus attached double garage. The original owner also built a thousand sq ft detached with exterior finishes to match the house. Detached has 4 inch slab, 100 amp power, fully wired with ample 120v outlets and 3 240v outlets. Also has water and a sink for hand washing.

We looked at several houses of similar size in the same area when shopping. Based on sq ft prices, we paid nothing for the detached garage. Been here for 30 yrs, and if I sold it tomorrow, I'd likely get the same nothing out of the garage unless I was willing to wait months (or years) until a buyer came along who happened to be looking only for a house with a detached garage.

A detached garage you can use to make a living would be an investment to your own advantage, but, they're not generally an investment in the normal sense of adding much value at resale time.

 

[pmiranda]

I would definitely try to seal up the work space and use ventilation before building a new structure when finances are tight. If nothing else, it should have been sealed right in the first place, and you'll enjoy the benefits even if you do end up adding new structures or going back to working off site later.
Is it already finished out with 5/8 drywall, all seams taped, and everything painted? All cracks, holes, corners, etc. closed up and caulked or otherwise sealed? When you get that far, a energy-recovery ventilator can be used to get you constant fresh air and get rid of the bad stuff you don't want in the house or constantly breathing while working. Maybe look for one that allows you to set up a slight negative pressure.
If you've got any combustion devices (heater, water heater, furnace, etc.) in the garage space, you need to make provisions for them to get fresh air and send exhaust to the outside.

 

[matt_i]

Bottom line is you are building your building for the next person as they are going to get the great deal.

I feel like there's an asymptotic gain but its on something like a 30 year time window.

I'm also going to offer my opinion that being rural also makes a small difference as typically there are more "things" to store vs. living in a subdivision.

Just talking MI there are a ton of 30x40 post frames out there for storing things out of the weather and also naturally also some have heated workspaces in them too.

I agree with others, taking a $30k-50k+ plunge into an extra working space is a choice fraught with peril. Figure out how to spend less and get your side operation working to see if its viable.

 

[kaymccampbell]

If you've already got the space, do it there. If you're under house garage space is properly drywalled, then fumes will not get up through that, and the only thing left is by the stairs. If you double airlock the access to the upper floor, add a small vent fan to create negative pressure on the shop, then you'll have no problems. I live over my shop, and have no problems. You may also want to isolate the heat plant for the upper floors, if it has ductwork.

 

[MushCreek]

First, as others have said, find out if it's legal. Nothing worse than spending all of that money only to have a busy-body neighbor shut you down. You also have to move an active business immediately.

Building a building is worth it IF- one, it's legal. Two, you can make enough money to make it pay off. If your business makes enough money to pay off the building in a few years, it doesn't matter what happens at resale time.

Personally, I doubt it's worth it. Look into a rental building, then do the math to see how many months of rent you'd have to pay to equal the cost of the building. As others have said, it would be cheapest to use the space you've got, but you really need to do all of the steps mentioned before starting work. I had a home machine shop in our attached garage, and the smell of cutting oil permeated everything.

I built a good-sized barn for a shop at our place. I could probably quietly run a business in there, but I'm retired now. I know I could never get my money back out of it, but I'm not going anywhere unless health forces it. I built my shop for my own use and pleasure.

 

[crawler07]

Wow thanks for all the input.

The garage has a fire rated drop ceiling in it currently, and Im not a pig in the garage actually I keep a very tidy space. But when you spray chemicals (really is a must) in a shop such as chain lube, carb cleaner, contact cleaner or use a parts washer or even change motor oil (usually has gas in it) or need to drain old gas from a bike that had been sitting for a while your going to get smells.

I'm in WV, the area I live in is residential/business and their are at least 4 other mechanics shops (cars) in my area, I will get a business license and do this on the up and up.

the walls are block so no plans to drywall, I have no heat at the moment. I could easily cut into the first floor duct work and get heat but that would just make the situaton worse. I will be installing a ventless gas heater this winter even though it doesnt get that cold down there. Im guessing due to 2 sides being under ground.

maybe a fume extractor could be a good route? I also do some welding down there so the fume extrator would be great for that too.

 

[pmiranda]

I use brake cleaner and other solvents in my garage all the time and the smell never gets in the house. But it's painted drywall and I imagine unpainted block, with edges uncaulked or with aging caulk is going to be more porous. Is the drop ceiling airtight? I haven't seen one that was but I haven't seen any outside of office spaces where the tiles just drop into tracks with no gaskets or sealant.
In any case, I'm sure you'll get it sorted and I hope it goes really well. I think you'll like being able to work without a long drive to and from the shop.

 

[Krash Kadillak]

You gotta make a living. I wouldn't worry about 'over-building for the area' down the road. Do what you have to do NOW. For one thing, you need to make sure you can run a business from your location Check your zoning and what you're allowed to do.

I would also try to figure out some way to get the business going without tacking on a lot of debt for yourself when you're just getting started. See if you can work with what you have NOW, at least for a little while. Buy a big shed if you need to, for a couple thou.......

If you just don't have enough space at your property right now, look around for a shop you can rent. Doesn't have to be HUGE.......And street traffic might bring in some business.

 

[jd_1138]

You gotta make a living. I wouldn't worry about 'over-building for the area' down the road. Do what you have to do NOW. For one thing, you need to make sure you can run a business from your location Check your zoning and what you're allowed to do.

I would also try to figure out some way to get the business going without tacking on a lot of debt for yourself when you're just getting started. See if you can work with what you have NOW, at least for a little while. Buy a big shed if you need to, for a couple thou.......

If you just don't have enough space at your property right now, look around for a shop you can rent. Doesn't have to be HUGE.......And street traffic might bring in some business.

Plus one. If you need to make a living and can legally run a repair shop on your property, then go for it.

Hopefully you can make the existing garage work in terms of fumes, but if not, another garage wouldn't be bad. Who cares if you don't recoup 100 percent of its cost when you go to sell? You might make hundreds of thousands as a bike mechanic making the net loss on the garage not mean much.

And you might stay at that house the rest of your life or pass it down to a child, so that's a lifetime of use you will get out of the improvements.

 

[firebirdparts]

My delima is I don't want to exceed market value by spending more money on my property than I can get out of it later.

That's a pretty cruel limitation to put on a business.

 

[crawler07]

Im going to make a go of it in the existing garage with the help of fume extractor. In the summer fall and sping it wont be that big of a deal its winter that's going to be the challenge.

Firebirdparts, I guess your right I was initially lookin at it in the wrong light. If I get over run with work (which would be great) and do not have enough room for customer bikes (no so good) then I will go down the path of building a garage with little to no concern about resale value.

Thanks for the help, I will post some pics of the space im dealing with later if anyone is interested.

 

[niget2002]

I'd start with the fume extractor. As your business grows, you'll need more space. Hopefully at that time building costs will be closer to back to normal.

As far as resell, shops don't add value just like pools don't. If a person wants a shop, then they're looking for property with shops. If they don't, then they aren't.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

 

[Showkey]

This been hashed and rehashed in the GJ ..........Don’t agree that shop or an extra stand alone garage don’t add value. Certainly not $ for $ but the new norm for a an up to date home at minimum is an attached 3 car garage. At a certain price range a 3 car is expected.

In many areas an additional detached 2-3 garage is also the norm for over 50% for the homes. A reasonable estimate that a $60k detached garage would add $20-30k to the property that sells for $250-$500k.

 

[Tduby]

This been hashed and rehashed in the GJ ..........Don’t agree that shop or an extra stand alone garage don’t add value. Certainly not $ for $ but the new norm for a an up to date home at minimum is an attached 3 car garage. At a certain price range a 3 car is expected.

In many areas an additional detached 2-3 garage is also the norm for over 50% for the homes. A reasonable estimate that a $60k detached garage would add $20-30k to the property that sells for $250-$500k.

I do agree with you that they are almost expected the problem is they don’t want to pay for them everyone thinks garages are cheap and no matter how nice they are someone wants something different. You could build a nice 6 bay garage with a lift and perfect mechanics garage and the next guy won’t like it because he can’t park his RV in there.

 

[ericm]

In all the years of working in attached garages I've never had a problem with chemical smells getting in to the house and bothering the family. The only time that's been a problem was when I converted a back room into a paint booth. It was only attached by a door, but the door wasn't weather sealed. But spray painting makes a lot more fumes than cleaning a carburetor with carb cleaner. Unless you have someone in the family who is especially sensitive it shouldn't be a problem.

But the business license and zoning might be.

 

[crawler07]

In all the years of working in attached garages I've never had a problem with chemical smells getting in to the house and bothering the family. The only time that's been a problem was when I converted a back room into a paint booth. It was only attached by a door, but the door wasn't weather sealed. But spray painting makes a lot more fumes than cleaning a carburetor with carb cleaner. Unless you have someone in the family who is especially sensitive it shouldn't be a problem.

But the business license and zoning might be.

My garage isnt attached to the side of the house its under the house, smells rise up trust me. I havent decided on what extractor im getting but have been seriously looking into them.

 

[joey1320]

I would consider building a "Fumes Room" with a good ventilator pushing any fumes to the outside and high above any windows. Enclosing the whole basement would be a pain so a smaller stall within it may be a better option and ultimately easier to seal.

 

[Don1357]

I'd start with the fume extractor. As your business grows, you'll need more space. Hopefully at that time building costs will be closer to back to normal.

As far as resell, shops don't add value just like pools don't. If a person wants a shop, then they're looking for property with shops. If they don't, then they aren't.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk

I would say you need a warm, vented, and cozy space to work on even during the winter times. Bikes being stored? They don't need to have it so nice. If the business takes of by all means build a building to store bikes but it doesn't need to be insulated nor heated which will lower the cost substantially.

Don't forget to look at your insurance needs! One accident could put you under.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I could easily cut into the first floor duct work and get heat but that would just make the situation worse. I will be installing a ventless gas heater this winter even though it doesn't get that cold down there.

The heating system needs to be kept separate from the living quarters for fire safety and to prevent carbon monoxide or other fumes from getting in the house, and a ventless heater can create carbon monoxide problems as well. I'd recommend a vented heater.