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Wish I would have

mkoskinen

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2008
Messages
8
I have a 2+ car garage and i just got done tearing out the drywall, insulation, and replaced the floor with a drain. This garage will be used for wrenching on my vehicles, parking for 2 vehicles and storing all the minnesota neccessities. I already put in can lighting and plan to install more electrical outlets, 220v, and a heater.

My question is what things did you do that you love and what do you wish you did differently.

Thanks in advance.

Mike
 
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RossABQ

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 5, 2010
Messages
4,140
Location
NM
Wider garage doors. My garage is at an angle to the drive, and has two 9' wide doors. I wish they were 10' wide, it would make a big difference.
 

Makoto

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 24, 2012
Messages
640
Location
Houston, Tx
I've been taking my time refusing to compromise so I can't speak to what I wish I'd have done differently.
 

jloehlein

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 18, 2012
Messages
191
Location
Richmond, VA
Like
- Outlets at 53" (above workbench height, above plywood sheets)
- Outlets every ~5'
- 3/4" plywood walls so I can hang things EVERYWHERE
- workbenches on wheels or light enough to move around
- lots of light
- ceiling fans
- hose reel in center of garage, hanging from ceiling - i can basically have air everywhere from that one hose without a lot running across the floor
- electrical reel in ceiling - no need for extension cords

Wish
- built it bigger
- more insulation
- ability to switch some lights on separately - I have six 6-bulb, 54w T5HO fixtures in my 32x40 workshop and they're all on the same switch. having that amount of light is great when I need it, but they put out a lot of heat. In the summers, I wish I could just turn on the two center lights.
 

ChevyEFI

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Joined
Sep 2, 2012
Messages
8,716
Location
Phoenix, AZ
One thing mentioned in the garage gallery here in one of the build threads was in-floor lights. Depending on what chassis and driveline work you do . . ,

And MN - heated floors possible for you?
 

Israeli

New member
Joined
Jul 21, 2017
Messages
2
Like

- ability to switch some lights on separately - I have six 6-bulb, 54w T5HO fixtures in my 32x40 workshop and they're all on the same switch. having that amount of light is great when I need it, but they put out a lot of heat. In the summers, I wish I could just turn on the two center lights.

This^^^^
 

JRC3

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Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Messages
12,481
Location
Southwestern OH
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Wish
- ability to switch some lights on separately.

I bought a house and the garage had 4 different switches for the lights. I put those switches on a master switch. They can be controlled as a whole or individually. Eventually I will redo everything but will keep the master switch and multiple design.

One cool thing about what the previous owner did, was put a light above the raised garage door towards the header. When you're just sitting and talking with a beer, the light cast out on the driveway and off the ceiling. It's pretty cool ambiance. Butwhen the door is down, it casts extra light downward on that end.
 
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slimcake

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Joined
Sep 27, 2016
Messages
929
Only thing I am thinking I left out is air conditioning. Which will get resolved next spring with a mini-split system... So many led lights with 5 zones to turn on and off. 3 drains. Utility sink and water hyd with hot and cold lines.
 

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DCarr2

Banned
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Dec 12, 2015
Messages
1,339
Location
Akron NY
I wish I would have just bit the bullet, rented the scissor lift, and bought the insulation and insulated my ceiling prior to moving all my **** in... now its gonna be a real chore to put the ceiling in
 

Aberdale

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 13, 2009
Messages
1,380
Location
Ohio
The one thing that I'm really happy with was separating my vehicle storage (3 car garage) from my workshop (40x60 separate building). With all of the metal working, grinding, welding, sanding, and paint prep it really makes a dusty mess, and it gets everywhere. I also have a separate shed for the lawn mowers and garden tools. That keeps the smelly dead grass smell and clippings out.

I like that the cars and motorcycles stay relatively clean.
 

mechanic217

ALLIANCE MEMBER
Joined
Jul 30, 2010
Messages
184
As posted above, I really am sorry not finishing everything before all the tools and cars got moved in.
 
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rburke65

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Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
12,349
Location
Canfield, Ohio
I wish I had dead headed the radiant floor heat manifold and electric boiler by the utility's closet where the drain, water and breaker panel and drain are located....dah......dumb ***.
 
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kaymccampbell

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Joined
Feb 27, 2015
Messages
29,471
Location
Upstate New York
Love - 200 amp service, heat, full insulation and drywall, lots of outlets, lots of light, garage doors with insulation and windows, full bath, dumbwaiter, vent fan, dust collection.
Wish - the bays were 2' wider.
 

JRC3

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 30, 2014
Messages
12,481
Location
Southwestern OH
Wish - the bays were 2' wider.

That's everything, you should always go a little bigger than you think you need...Deck, driveway, garage, workshop...

I just redid my driveway gate and instead of going 12', the exact width of the driveway and what the old gate was, I went 14'. That extra foot on each side just feels so much roomier.
 

-Brent-

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Joined
Dec 23, 2009
Messages
4,709
Location
Utah
A couple things I put in that I didn't realize I was going to like them so much were wiring the space for audio and putting an outlet on a timer.

Wants:

I'd really like a fan, I just don't know where I'd put it.
Mini-split, hopefully by the end of the year
 

Wcs6363

Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2016
Messages
11
As I'm getting older...crawling under cars *****...so would give my left nut for a hydraulic lift.
 

PelicanPines

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Joined
Apr 30, 2014
Messages
38,107
Location
New Jersey, USA, Earth, My own reality
Epoxy floor... I'm soo angry I didn't when I had the chance... now I would need two containers dropped in the driveway to store whats in the garage to do it... so angry...

Also... more outlets... I put in 5... with 1 220v... wish I put in 10 ...

Also... more lighting controls...
 

ptgarcia

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Joined
Nov 15, 2016
Messages
1,202
Location
Alta Loma, CA
When I bought my house, in the garage I wish would have replaced the mismatched and falling apart drywall and coated the garage floor before moving in. Now it's full of **** and will be a major pain to accomplish.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk
 

brownbagg

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 20, 2006
Messages
5,208
put about three courses of blocks under the walls, to give a little height and no wood on the floor so i could wash the floor down
 

MikeF2316

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Joined
Dec 29, 2012
Messages
9,605
Location
Thornhill, ON
I just wish I had a much bigger garage. Something barn sized would do...

Tommy

(Large) barn sized, raised up about 6" above the surrounding grade to keep it dry, at least 1 foot high concrete knee walls, floor and knee walls epoxied, enough height for a lift/mezzanine, half bath, insulated, heated, air conditioned etc, etc.

In short, the summary of this thread. I don't think there's one thing mentioned here I wouldn't like to have.
 
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