To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

When building a shop/garage........

Eric24

New member
Joined
Nov 17, 2013
Messages
3
Location
Arlington, WA
Need some ideas..

1. What are some must have items/options
2. What are some things you wish you would of done.....
3. Etc....

Thanks,

Eric
US Army
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

Aquaticbob

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 3, 2013
Messages
488
Location
Seattle
Need some ideas..

1. What are some must have items/options
2. What are some things you wish you would of done.....
3. Etc....

Thanks,

Eric
US Army

Depends on what your focus is. Woodworking would be vastly different from pure automotive. I'd say go to the garage gallery section and look for builds that are focused around your interest. Then you can go through and create a list of things you do and don't like and see what other people might have wished they would have done.
 

Krodad

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 25, 2006
Messages
304
Location
Iowa
figure out where you would want a trolley/hoist (and you want one) and work the bearing support into the design. Much much cheaper to build in than to do it later. Or if you want a crane, deal with the pad for that when you do the floor.

Oh, and build it at least 50% bigger than you think you will ever need :thumbup:
 

Shadowdog500

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
9,825
Location
Down the shore
Build it as big as you can!!!!!

Look around here for ideas, there are plenty.

Best thing I did was to put this covered porch by the door. Gives me a place to sit down and vent, relax, drink beers with friends, etc. it also keeps you out of the rain and gives you a place to put your stuff when you are fumbling for the keys to get in.

Chris

9ab0eec2.jpg
 

catsteve

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 20, 2010
Messages
195
Location
Australia
More power.
More outlets
Get 240V. 415v if you can.
Run a dedicated line from your box to the garage. You don't want to have to 'share' with the house.
Have a trip box easily accessible in the garage.
Its amazing how many things you might want to have running at the same time.
Think lights, compressor, power tools, radio, chargers, more lights, fans, grinder, heater.
Tell your sparky that you want to be able to run every powered device you own simultaneously.
 

Ray916MN

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
1,066
Location
Orono, MN
Building a shop means you are building a building to meet your needs. Make sure you know what your needs are.

Layout your shop by function, so you have work areas which fit your needs. This is particularly important if you want to do disparate work (eg. wood work, machining, vehicle service/repair, parking/storage. A shop layout which has you repeatedly walking from one side of the shop to the other to get something done *****.

The larger the shop, the more you want to plan for using tool carts. For example, a mechanical cart that contains drills, grinders, files, hammers and mallets, a metric cart and a SAE cart can make it much easier to get a job done and save allot of back and forth to a big tool chest. Tool carts can also provide some temporary work or storage space. Folding tables can also be invaluable in creating temporary work or storage space.

If you do multiple projects at the same time, plan for temporary project storage space. Shelving for components and bins to keep parts from a partially completed project together make it easier to set projects aside while waiting for parts or outsourced tasks to get done and make it easier to restart work on a project later. I use a whiteboard to keep track of what needs to be done to complete projects and have an area where I store parts for projects as they come in. This makes it easy to see when I have all the parts or outsourced tasks done so I can complete a project.

Pay attention to access. Plans which stack parking of vehicles, lawn equipment and other stuff so to get one thing out of the shop, you need to move other stuff are a pain to use and leaving open space to be able to get things in and out past other stuff, wastes space. Space efficient layout will combine space for access with space needed for work clearance.

Don't just focus on floor space. Make sure to plan your wall space and vertical space. Wall space is critical for things like workbenches and shelving. Vertical space is much less expensive than floor space to build. To minimize costs, consider and plan for making good use of vertical space.

Make sure to consider orientation and exposure when siting your building. Facing north, can help keep a building with the doors open cool in the summer, but can create ice and snow problems in the winter. Facing south will help naturally light a building with the doors open, but in the south it may make the interior of a shop much hotter in the summer.

Without stating your needs it is hard to provide good answers to questions about a workshop. The best answers to questions will always depend on what the objective is. The opportunity to meet your specific needs (objectives) is what you get and want to take advantage of when you build a shop.
 

Red Leader

Well-known member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
2,688
Location
Denver, CO
Once you get the basic out of the way (size, floor space, building type, etc) I would highly recommend you check out The Asylum, Michel's place, and of course, Jack Olsen's shop, to get some really creative idea's on what to do inside your shop.

It's a good idea to build around a purpose, so like others have mentioned, deciding what you want to do out there and working around that as a design element. I will say that having a rolling workbench has been great (for re-organization and cleaning), having more lights than you think you will need, and building your electrical more robust than you think you may need (including 220v, etc). A lot of guys like to have a separate compressor room. Some will even build their shop around being able to install a lift.

Great ideas abound, so check out the gallery and soak it all in - but it may take you a while!:thumbup:
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

zcar751

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 15, 2013
Messages
831
Location
Knoxville, TN
Will it be a DYI build or will you have a contractor so many issues.
Read and Read and Read all the different builds.
 

Kevin54

MEMBER EMERITUS
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
29,341
Location
Urbana, Ohio
Cable TV, Cat5 or 6, a lot of separate circuits for lights, a lot of outlets, tall ceilings, a drain or two in the floor, overhead storage, outside lighting, security system, outlets in the ceiling, outlets in the corners in the ceiling, one switch to turn on minimal lighting so you can see your way around at night without turning on every light.

Take pictures of the framing from inside. Take pictures of where your electric wiring runs. Take pictures of any plumbing that may be hidden later. If you have to run any circuits later and you have finished walls, pictures will come in VERY helpful.

Before you have any piece of equipment starting, have a notebook loaded down with what you want. Once the equipment moves in as far as any backhoes, dozers, Bobcat, check off what you expect and get done. If the garage or pole building is detached and you are tying into your house panel box, make sure you run some underground conduit with a large diameter. This will allow for any future wiring to be ran. Add in some twine, or even run some CAT6 wiring, and maybe even some 12/2 w/g through the conduit for future use.

Add in some telephone jacks around the perimeter of the building on the inside. Add some outlets on the outside. Add some outlets under the soffit in a couple key areas. Add some outside floodlights to point down the drive and to also point out back, point towards the house.

If you have to run electric from the house out, add a switch IN the house that you can flip to light up outside lights of the garage. That way, if you are in the house and hear some strange noises, you can flip a switch in the house and light up the perimeter of the building. Anyone that would think of breaking in would be scared shitless once the lights came on.

There is probably a lot of others that I can't think of at the moment, but wish I would have done when I built my garage.
 

jaker10

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
371
Location
Bartonvillle Illinois
If you are going to have a metal roof and in the snow belt put snow brackets on it. I just came in from blowing 6 inchs of snow from my drive. Twice I had snow slide off the roof and had to remove it. Last year I said piss on it and didn't do anything with it and then I had a 8 inch hard pack lump in front of door. I think this spring I'm going to get a price to have them installed.
 

Josh Kinzey

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
89
Location
Raleigh, NC
3 phase power is something I wish I would have done.

My work bench is 24 inches wide by 16 feet long. I did that because it was a single 4 x 8 sheet of bench top material ripped in half. I should have spent the money on a little more material and gone 30 inches wide.
 

rburke65

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
12,349
Location
Canfield, Ohio
I agree with Shadowdog500....I debated over should I do a full attic or a porch? At my age....65.... Screw...I did both. Love, love, love my porch. I get a lot of use from it, and lots of compliments on it. Take shelter from the ain, sun, BS with the neighbor, just bought 3 Adarondeck chairs...for next year. And yes, do a search....this has had a load of previous talk. And yes....it's never "big enough" or tall enough. And yes, it's going to cost you twice as much as you think. But you will never regret taking your time and building what you want....even if it takes you a while longer to get it. Good luck.
 
Last edited:

Josh Kinzey

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2007
Messages
89
Location
Raleigh, NC
Also, one of the only things in my life that I have no buyers remorse on is my Atlas 9000 lb lift. It seems like everything big that I buy, there's a part of me that wonders if I made the best decision:

Big screen TV? Yep, small part of me wonders if that was the best move. Corvette, same deal. Convertible Chevelle? Yeah, a part of me questions that as well. The 2 post lift? No doubt what so ever. It is probably the only thing I have ever bought that was 100% free from buyers remorse.
 

MRFORDMAN1994

Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2013
Messages
23
Location
Jackson,Michigan
Make sure you have enough work space. When i built my garage i was only thinking of how much floor space i needed to fit my tools in, now i have large projects that need to be finished but wont fit in my shop. I also didn't consider the headroom i needed, i only have 8 feet of headroom with little wall space to make use of and i cant fit my F150 in to work on it. There are a lot of things to consider so take your time planning your work space.
 

MScott

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
1,616
Location
Eastern Ontario
Make sure you build it 12 - 14ft high whether you intend to have a hoist or not. It's almost impossible to raise the ceiling later if you change your mind.
 

sctattooer

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
466
Location
Myrtle Beach, SC
I only wish I'd have bought a bigger piece of property. I've outgrown my 26x30, and want to build another shop out back, but the setbacks wont allow for it. :(
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom