[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!

[T.O.Dillinder]

24 x 30 is the size of my garage. It is also 2 stories.
Consider a loft to accomodate extra storage and work space for the smaller stuff.
I have a 9 foot ceiling and have been looking at taking out some of the second floor floor to make room for a hoist.
I have 2 huge work/fab benches with another 4 foot long workbench.
Run a gas line to the garage for heating. Or consider a woodburning stove.
There are now corn cob burners in our neck of the woods for a more eco-friendly heating source.
I am able to fit, and work on three vehicles comfortably.

[vanwyk4257]

24 x 30 is the size of my garage. It is also 2 stories.
Consider a loft to accomodate extra storage and work space for the smaller stuff.
I have a 9 foot ceiling and have been looking at taking out some of the second floor floor to make room for a hoist.
I have 2 huge work/fab benches with another 4 foot long workbench.
Run a gas line to the garage for heating. Or consider a woodburning stove.
There are now corn cob burners in our neck of the woods for a more eco-friendly heating source.
I am able to fit, and work on three vehicles comfortably.

Thanks Todd. I'm thinking I will go 24x32 right now. I have my wife's cousin who is a builder working on getting me a quote right now less concrete/flatwork to see what I will be looking at in terms of materials cost. I will probably have someone set the posts and from there I will just build the garage myself with my father. I will definitely run gas to the garage, I plan on sticking a regular 90+ percent efficiency furnace in the corner with an exterior fresh air intake for the burner so I don't have to worry about fumes or using solvents inside. I figure once the entire building is insulated a furnace like that should heat the place up nice and toasty pretty quick during the winter. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

[marka]

Howdy,

24 x 30 is the size of my garage. It is also 2 stories.
Consider a loft to accomodate extra storage and work space for the smaller stuff.
I have a 9 foot ceiling and have been looking at taking out some of the second floor floor to make room for a hoist.
I have 2 huge work/fab benches with another 4 foot long workbench.
Run a gas line to the garage for heating. Or consider a woodburning stove.
There are now corn cob burners in our neck of the woods for a more eco-friendly heating source.
I am able to fit, and work on three vehicles comfortably.

Thanks Todd. I'm thinking I will go 24x32 right now. I have my wife's cousin who is a builder working on getting me a quote right now less concrete/flatwork to see what I will be looking at in terms of materials cost. I will probably have someone set the posts and from there I will just build the garage myself with my father. I will definitely run gas to the garage, I plan on sticking a regular 90+ percent efficiency furnace in the corner with an exterior fresh air intake for the burner so I don't have to worry about fumes or using solvents inside. I figure once the entire building is insulated a furnace like that should heat the place up nice and toasty pretty quick during the winter. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

Is 24' the depth or the width? If its the depth... Consider growing that to 30' or 32' as well. 24' sounds like a lot of room and you can make it work, but by the time you put a bench or other tools in front of the car that 24' is down to 21', and with even a smaller car like a camaro you're talking 16' nose to tail. That leaves you a whopping 2.5' in front and behind the car to work on either end, which speaking from experience isn't a lot.

In terms of heat, consider electric as well. I dunno whats going on where you live, but heating oil and natural gas are through the roof where we are (Youngstown area). Electric is easy to install, no flame, etc. It does mean you'll need 220vac to the shop, but IMHO you'd be a bit daft to not do that anyway. Way too much shop equipment wants 220vac... Off hand, it'd include any decent air compressor, welder, lift, and some machine tools & tire machines. If you're dedicated enough to want a shop, you're going to want some of those...

I dunno if anyone makes electric radiant floor heat, but that (to me) would be a neat way to go.

Speaking of the floor, it won't cost you all that much more to go with thicker than the standard 4" or whatever it is residential garage floor. I'd want at least 6", maybe 8", with high strength concrete & mesh. This is one of those things where its pretty cheap to overbuild it initially and really damned expensive if you need more later on.

I'd also have more natural light, as long as you don't have theft concerns. Decent windows on the outside can also make the building look nicer.

If you go with a single door, make the door wider than 16' if you plan on pulling two cars in side by side. 16' is pretty tight even on a residential garage, let alone something where you're going to need to work around each of the cars. 18' minimum here.

Mark

Oh yeah... On garage door height... Make the garage door as tall as you can, given your sidewall. Again, this is a huge PITA later on if you have something taller you want in the garage like a trailer, RV, really big tow vehicle, etc. If you plan on a lift, you also want to be able to put a vehicle up on the lift with the door up...

This post has been edited by marka: Mar 25 2008, 04:06 PM