[vanwyk4257]

Well, I received the blessing from my wife last weekend to go ahead and build a garage out back (it might have helped that I have two F-bodies in the garage at the moment and she's parking outside (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif) ) so I am trying to work out the details on design, size, layout et al.

I am thinking of doing a 24x30 with 12'foot walls to allow me enough height to install a 2 or 4-post lift down the road.

My thought is to put a 16x8 overhead door off to one side of the 30ft. wall which will face the house and then have a 3ft. steel service/entry door as well.

I want to have room to park two cars inside and still have a decent workshop space for working on engines, etc.

I do plan to insulate the entire building and will be running natural gas and electricity (110V only most likely) to it. Heat will be from a 90%+ efficiency furnace, i.e., forced air (my dad's in the business so I can get one cheap).
I also plan to finish the interior walls and ceiling with OSB as opposed to drywall just because it will be easier to live with, i.e., I can bang into it with tools, parts etc. without doing any real damage, and if I do manage to punch a hole in a sheet it will be easier to replace. Finally, I am anticipating putting a loft area in the trusses for storage with a pull-down ladder.

I am looking or any input with regard to the size (I know you can never build too large) based on the aforementioned parameters, will it be large enough?

Also, I would welcome any advice or input with regard to layout etc.

Thanks in advance for the input guys!

[vanwyk4257]

Wow, lots of good ideas, thanks guys!

I can technically only build up to a three car garage according to the bylaws, which is pretty vague, but I don't want to run afoul of the neigborhood either. I will probably figure out how big I can go and push the envelope as much as I dare within my budget. I definitely plan on pouring a pad next to the garage to park my trailer on. I'm not going to bother with a floor drain since I won't need to wash a car in the garage. Running water would be nice, but we're on a well and it would be a pain to run water from the house out to the garage. Frankly if I need to wash parts I'll just run up to the garage on the house where I have running water and a floor drain. A basement under the garage would kill my budget, and probably wouldn't fly here anyway. I do plan on using probably a 6/12 pitch truss so I have some decent loft/storage space for stuff to keep it out of the garage.

This garage will be for car stuff only, the snowblower, lawn tractor et all would all stay in the attached garage on the house.

I do think I will probably do one overhead door, and will probably put in at least one window so I can throw a window air conditioner in if it get's really warm, but for the most part I can just open the overhead door if it gets really warm. For security and just for the neighbor's viewing pleasure I will keep the overhead door, service door and window all on the side of the garage facing my house, it will be easier to keep an eye on that way. I'll probably put a couple of motion detecting lights on the front corners of the garage to deter anybody from snooping around, plus there's a street light close by so the area is pretty well lit as it is. The nice thing is I will be able to drive right from my driveway across a short stretch of lawn to get to the garage so getting in and out will be easy with no real hills to drive up or over.

I may be putting the plan to build on hold however if a piece of property I'm looking at is priced right. It's 4-5 acres and would allow me to build a nice house and a substantially larger garage/shop later on, plus I could plan for all of it right up front at the construction phase so we'll see what happens. I plan on sorting it out one way or the other within the next month or so.

Again, thanks for all the input guys, it is very helpful! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[mitchntx]

I'll probably put a couple of motion detecting lights on the front corners of the garage to deter anybody from snooping around

Translation:

Lights that come on that make it easier for burglars to spot the good stuff. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[vanwyk4257]

I'll probably put a couple of motion detecting lights on the front corners of the garage to deter anybody from snooping around

Translation:

Lights that come on that make it easier for burglars to spot the good stuff. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

You mean the lights that make it easier for me to draw a bead on them with my pistol! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)