[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!

[z28tt]

Ditto on the 220V. Your future air compressor, welder, plasma, and lift will require it. It's not any more expensive to run 220V vs 110, and gives you extra capacity down the road. I personally wouldn't install an extra meter, but our utility charges a "per meter" fee of $30/mo anyways. Might as well only pay that once for the house. That being said, install a 100A breaker in your main panel, and run the 4 gage (I forget exactly) wire to a sub panel in the garage. That minimizes your wiring runs, and copper is expensive these days.

Lots of outlets everwhere along walls, between doors, junction boxes in ceilings for lights & fans, etc.

Radiant floor heating would be a dream (a good friend is building his 40x40 shop right now in New Hampshire, and has it!). Drawback is if you're cheap and don't plan on keeping the garage heated at 50 full time through the cold MI winters. Radiant floor heating takes a long time to heat up the shop, so it's not as good for an on-demand system (but great for the baseline cooler temp, so then you just need to raise it another 10-15 degrees to be comfortable).

I personally would ratehr have less windows - less for neighbors to look into. Use transom windows above the garage doors, and lots of flourescent lighting inside. Generally, my doors are closed from Nov through March until it warms up. Less windows = more wall space for storage, and figure $500/window too.

Think of where the doors will face. It's nice not having the door face the street where anyone driving by sees what goodies you have.

Run a few 2" PVC condiuts in the foundation as wire/plumbing chases for the future - TV, warm water, etc... I wish I had a hose spigot with warm water to make washing the cars in winter easier.

Have a separate room for messy stuff like chop saws, cleaning parts, spray painting, grinding, etc.

Slop sink/bathroom would be nice. It's a pain to go back inside the house, take off the shoes, try not to get the doorknobs greasy, just because you've had 3 cups of coffee and need room for more! Minifridge is a must.

Epoxy the floors before you move in. If the foundation is poured, I think you can wait 30 days before painting. Put a vapor barrier under the concrete as well.

I like having the 2 garage doors instead of one, since it spills less heat if it needs to open in the winter. Have a normal 36"x80" person door as well, leading to the back yard, basement, or patio.

It's nice to have room to put the trailer in there if you're loading up for a race. I can *barely* fit it through my 9' wide doors if I take off the fenders, and even still the tongue is 2' past the garage door.