Help Me Design My Garage

mustangdave · Dec 4, 2004

I'd say 28' as a depth minimum; I have cars that are over 20' in length and to be able to walk behind and in front of them with a tool box up front,(drawers open of course), that would be a minimum number. Consider putting a small ventilated room on the outside for your compressor because they are ungodly noisy. You can't have enough electrical or air hookups! I have one air hookup and 100' of hose that is always tangled up. There are places I have to use extension cords where I could have had outlets. A drive on lift is nicest but the "pit" will be much cheaper. You will need to use concrete blocks and cement I would think. Put a drain it before pouring concrete. If building on a slab, be sure to leave the concrete elevated a couple of inches to keep water out. My dad made this mistake and it's flooded every time it rains.

65stanger · Dec 4, 2004

You might also want to consider a room on one side with racks and shelving for parts storage!

pabear89 · Dec 4, 2004

Think Twice the size.
Ya need a place for the finished Stuff.

But make it with a Lift.

PB

reenmachine · Dec 5, 2004

The more ceiling height the better. Mine's 11'6" and it severely limited my choice of lifts. I got a Ben Pearson 9000ADJ (the ADJ stands for adjustable height) and at its tallest setting it just fits. I still get full height and can walk around under a car no problem.

Almost every lift manufacturer specifies a minimum 4"-4.5" slab thickness for proper lift mounting (for a 2-post lift). Keep this in mind when spec-ing out your slab.

Don't forget the 220/230V outlets! Most welders, plasma cutters, etc. have somewhere around 6-15 feet of power cord.

Here's one to think about -- I have a large steel I-beam running laterally across the ceiling. Pop on a trolley and chainfall hoist and you've got a rock-solid engine hoist. Pros: not screwing with the cherry picker. Cons: can only translate side-to-side, not forward and back. You have to roll the car for this. If the car's not a roller....OK, I still use the cherry picker a lot.

I've got one 30+ foot wall that's all cabinets with workbench on top, then pegboard, then layers of shelves all the way to the ceiling. The shelves are hung from the beams above, not the wall, so they can hold heavy items. You have to use the ladder to get to them, but that's fine for longer-term storage stuff.

For drainage, I've got a ~4" x the entire width of the garage drain with a grate over it right inside the overhead door. Makes for easy hosedown & sweepout. Oh, also key to the hosedown thing is having the bottom foot or two of the wall be cement blocks or similar before the drywall starts.

This bad boy keeps me toasty on the coldest winter days (it's been in the single digits lately in the morning here). It's gas-fired and has a thermostat for control.

Platonic Solid · Dec 6, 2004

For storage, I currently have 20' of industrial shelving, though I'll likely double that. They're miniature versions of wearhouse pallet racks:

BUYRACK.COM

Nice setup reenmachine. Got any pics of that drainage area? I like that idea.

I'm having a problem determining my property line in the back yard. The map says it should be 240', but when I measure between the 2 corner markers (1 is a piece of rebar (sp?) - the other a 1" pipe), I get 260'. 20' is quite a bit to be off. I'd really like to avoid paying for a survey since around here it's $2,500 for an A2 survey!! Does anyone know if I should be measuring a horizontal line from the corners, or do I measure following the angle of the land?

reenmachine · Dec 6, 2004

Platonic Solid said:
Does anyone know if I should be measuring a horizontal line from the corners, or do I measure following the angle of the land?

I don't know for sure, but I know that surveyors use direct line-of-sight measurements (often with lasers). I would think that you should measure a horizontal line from the corners, like you would picture a line on a map looking down on the property. Think about it -- the angle of the land can be changed, but the position of those two markers in the horizontal plane is absolute. That makes sense to me, and will probably take care of the 20' discrepancy.

65stanger · Dec 6, 2004

reenmachine said:
I don't know for sure, but I know that surveyors use direct line-of-sight measurements (often with lasers). I would think that you should measure a horizontal line from the corners, like you would picture a line on a map looking down on the property. Think about it -- the angle of the land can be changed, but the position of those two markers in the horizontal plane is absolute. That makes sense to me, and will probably take care of the 20' discrepancy.

You're forgetting your HS geometry. If the plot shows 280', and that was line of sight, then measuring the actual distance along the downward slope should be longer as that's the hypotenuese of the triangle.

reenmachine · Dec 6, 2004

65stanger said:
You're forgetting your HS geometry. If the plot shows 280', and that was line of sight, then measuring the actual distance along the downward slope should be longer as that's the hypotenuese of the triangle.

No, you're forgetting your elementary school reading. j/k

He said that the plot shows 240', not 280'. My statement holds.

302 coupe · Dec 6, 2004

but if the drawing shows 240, and he measures 260....65 stanger could be right. The measurement should only reflect horizontal distance, it does not include extra footage due to elevation change(hypotenuse). If you measure 260 horizontal, and the drawing shows 240, you have a problem.

65stanger · Dec 6, 2004

reenmachine said:
No, you're forgetting your elementary school reading. j/k

He said that the plot shows 240', not 280'. My statement holds.

Oooops, my bad.....dang it, where did I put them bifocals?

Well, knowing the plot measurement, and his measurement, if we knew the height difference we could confirm the accuracy of where the corner marker is!

Too much thinkin' for one day, time for this geezer's nap!

1320stang · Dec 6, 2004

Platonic, I also have AutoCad 2002 at work and home and would be willing to look at and give you some ideas as well as Oboe.

I've got a BS in Industrial Construction Technology and have been in the Construction Industry for 20 years. I've built, designed and engineered stuff. Worked for Architects, Mech./Elec. Engineers, Commercial Construction, Telecommunications Industry, Home Construction... Plus I'm wanting to build my own shop someday soon and have been collecting all kinds of idea to incorporate. Give us an idea of materials your wanting to use, budget, your construction experience (and those that will be helping you) or if you're hiring the hard stuff out and willing to do some of the other stuff. Also need to know what kind of code restrictions you have in your area, all I need is a building permit, no inspections and I can wire and plumb it myself.

One idea I have is a split level shop that the lower level is more for storage, but the upper level over the lower level has a wood deck and is more wood shop and parts storage area and the other half is concrete floor for parking the vehicles and heavy toolboxes. Imagine a 2 story building that the lower level isn't as deep as the upper level.

ForceFed70 · Dec 7, 2004

Platonic Solid said:
Good point about the stairs. I hadn't thought of that.

Since I've never done media blasting, what special features, if any should I be incorporating into that bay?

Much like paint.

You'll want extra ventilation and lighting. The dust from media blasting gets EVERYWHERE! So a well sealed area with good ventilation is a must. Your lights will get covered with media and won't shine as well, so you'll want to double the amount of light you'd normally have. Consider flourescents mounted on the walls. Because of the massive amounts of dust, try to keep this area as far away from your painting area as possible.

Also... for the paint area, get some infrared heaters. You know.. the ones that you feal most when you look at them. Like cafe's and restaurants use on their patio's. These work great for curing paint.. almost like a baking booth.

Platonic Solid · Dec 8, 2004

Sorry it’s taken a while to respond. I didn’t realize I’d need a Masters in Computer Science to install a new graphics card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) in my PC. I’m still fighting constant lock ups.

The Lay of the land dimension is 260’ (the hypotenuse), which was measured with a 300’ tape measure lying on the ground. I haven’t completed the topographical survey yet so I can’t tell you how much the land slopes (not that it would be a consistent angle anyway). For sake of argument, if I assume the slope to be a consistent angle that’s 260’ long and the adjacent side (horizontal corner to corner measure) of the triangle is 240’ long, then the angle between them would be about 23º, cos(A)=adj/hyp, which is entirely possible. I didn’t realize 23º could make a 20ft difference.

Thanks for offering to take a look also 1320stang. I don’t expect I’ll be sending anything to you or Oboe until after Christmas. Tis the season. The topographic drawing is a 3D wire-frame and will have an outline of the house and a proposed garage. The final concepts will be rendered by my son in 3D Studio Max. The budget is in the $100,000 area, which includes relocating my current driveway. Building materials are up in the air. The goal is to get as much space as possible (per $1) without depressing my property value, thus I must maintain exterior aesthetic appeal from the front.

Though I’m no stranger to carpentry (completely gutted and remodeled my rental house), I also have to be realistic about the amount of time I have available. So contractors will be hired for most major tasks (excavation, foundation, framing, siding, roofing, driveway). I will do all electrical, plumbing, finish carpentry, insulation. My father has built 2 houses, but he lives in Florida now so I don’t think he’ll be available to help me here in CT.

kirbyalaska · Dec 9, 2004

Platonic Solid said:
I didn’t realize I’d need a Masters in Computer Science to install a new graphics card (ATI Radeon 9800 Pro) in my PC. I’m still fighting constant lock ups.

The Lay of the land dimension is 260’ (the hypotenuse), which was measured with a 300’ tape measure lying on the ground. I didn’t realize 23º could make a 20ft difference.

The budget is in the $100,000 area, which includes relocating my current driveway.

1. Check to see if they have any updated drivers on ATIs web site. That might help you out. Also, make sure you have uninstalled all the software your old video card might have used. Lastly, run Windows Update to make sure there isn't a service pack or something for Windows that you need. One of these should solve your problem...I used to be an Engineer for Gateway. Now am unemployed.

2. Are you measuring from the street or did you locate the pins at the front of your lot? The city usually gets a right of way at the front of your house and that may explain the 20 ft.

3. $100,000???!!!! HOLY SH...!!!! That will be a killer garage. You better be posting updates during the build and the finished project. You guys are just making me jealous. I have a 15x23 that I am struggling with and I don't even have any toys to fill it with.

Platonic Solid · Dec 10, 2004

kirbyalaska said:
1. ... updated drivers on ATIs web site. ... uninstalled all the software your old video card might have used. ... run Windows Update.

2. Are you measuring from the street or did you locate the pins at the front of your lot?

3. $100,000???!!!! You better be posting updates during the build and the finished project. ... I don't even have any toys to fill it with.

1. I followed all ATI's instructions, which included everything you stated, plus update MoBo chipset drivers. The only recommendation that I didn't follow (cause I'm not cumfortable doing it) is updating the MoBo Bios. I did, however, solve the problem with much painfull research. The "Timing Setting Mode" in the "Advanced Chipset Features" screen of the AMI MoBo Bios had to be changed from "fast" to "normal".

2. It's the back of my property. No street involved.

3. $100k is not unrealistic. Don't think of it as $100k, think of it as a $600 a month investment (worst case scenario, though I don't plan on financing all of it) that I get to enjoy playing with. My only investments are in realestate. Within the next 5 years, a developer is putting in an 18 hole golf coarse (course?), which will have a very nice effect on property values around here. I will post pics as things progress.

Help Me Design My Garage

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