[00 Trans Ram]

I'm probably going to move and build a house in the next year or so. When I do, I'm going to build a standalone garage/shop. What would you guys and gals include? I know I've heard things like a balcony for parts, white floors for light, etc.

The size will probably be between 750 and 1000 square feet. I'm also not going to spend a gazillion dollars on it.

Suggestions?

[CMC#5]

Building a garage is like building a race car...its pretty hard to stop spending money! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool2.gif)

Things I learned doing mine:

Make sure you know what the floor treatment will be before you pour. Many builders will do a machine troweled finish by default, which means a lot of added work later if you want to epoxy or even stain and seal.

Decide if you want to operate 220V equipment concurrently. I have separate circuits for lift, welder, compressor, RV so all can run at once.

Outlets are much handier at shoulder level than at floor level. I ran two circuits along the wall at shoulder height with outlets every four feet. Run a strip down the centerline of the roof too for drop cords.

Run two coax and internet lines from the main house. Someone will put a screw or nail through the spare and this keeps you from having to dig it out of the wall. Labor is the expensive part. 100' of wire is practically free. I did this and sure enough one line was cut somewhere, so I was ok. (time and material work...if you contract at lump sum disregard this)

A toilet and a sink are worth every penny. Make a little stall sized room for the toilet. Get a big industrial sized sink outside that area.

You can build shelves out of 2x4s cheaper than any alternative.

OSB was the cheapest wall liner I could find, so I went with it. I sprayed the whole thing white and it took a pile of primer and paint (about 2/3s coverage listed on the tub is what I got) Add up the cost 'cause it might be cheaper to go with one of the various sheets of wall...stuff that you can buy that don't require paint.

Most of the lifts I've seen only require 4" of 3,000psi concrete. don't stress on that part. Besides, adding a bigger baseplate to the lift is easy and much more flexible than determining exactly where the lift should go so you can put 6" of concrete right there.

Spend the money to get the things that are "built in" now. You can defer a lift for years. You cant defer the size of the building.