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Dream garage - suggestions?

Mastiff

Mastiff

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My new house has a pretty big garage already, but I'm going to grow it even bigger. In the end it'll be basically an extra wide and deep 2-car wide, 2-car deep deal, like 28'x60'. It'll have two 9' doors on the front, and a single 16' door in the back. I plan to put most of my benches and stuff in the middle, so I can have four vehicles parked, nosed in toward the benches.

I plan to get insulated doors, and insulate the walls and ceiling and cover with galvanized steel panels ("barn tin"). Since this is an attached garage, I plan to plumb gas in there for a heater (it gets cold here). I plan to route all electrical externally in conduit and also route compressed air in pipe so I can tap in in various places. I'm still thinking about how to house the compressor so I don't have to hear the noise at full volume - maybe an insulated box of some kind.

Any suggestions for other features I should think about while I'm still in the planning stages?
 
If it was me... I would install a lift if I could afford it..... a shower, sink, and toilet.... Run A/V comunication out there... I would eather build a outside closet for the compressor, and insulate that real well.... Are you pouring the cement.... what about the floor heater (I seen it on This old House and I think it's hot waterrunning thru tubing under the floor)... A cold floor always made it hard to work under my vehicles...FLoor coating (to make cleanup easier)... storage in rafters, what about an I-beam boom lift, & a hard top lift.
 
in our hvac shop we built an L shaped sheetmetal wall and insulated the inside with duct liner. the top just lays there at a slant so heat can escape. it works pretty well.
 
Cmoe said:
If it was me... I would install a lift if I could afford it..... a shower, sink, and toilet.... Run A/V comunication out there... I would eather build a outside closet for the compressor, and insulate that real well.... Are you pouring the cement.... what about the floor heater (I seen it on This old House and I think it's hot waterrunning thru tubing under the floor)... A cold floor always made it hard to work under my vehicles...FLoor coating (to make cleanup easier)... storage in rafters, what about an I-beam boom lift, & a hard top lift.
Click to expand...
Good ideas. I will consider running some plumbing. Probably don't want to use the space for too much, but maybe a utility sink. I considered cable, but I don't care to watch TV, I'd just maybe want computer which I can get with the wireless router.

I did also think about the in-ground heat, but I'm only adding some cement, not all new. plus the $$ is probably prohibitive.

Putting a lift in would be awesome, but I'm constrained to an 8' ceiling, so not much use. I am thinking about integrating some sturdy places in the rafters for hoisting though...
 
ah...forget it..

I was going to say add a lift too...and taller doors,I have a 10' door on my garage,and wished a few times it was 11 or 12'..it has the height to fit one!--its nice to be able to drive a pickup in with a slide on camper,a lifted truck,or an RV--but since you only have 8' ceilings,thats out..
.....why put 9' doors if the ceiling is only 8' tall..:confused:

I wish I had indoor plumbing,shower, and a toilet --but that would have added several thousand to the build costs,and more complex foundation,etc..the radiant heat in the floor is a good suggestion,wish I did that..but make sure you dont drill any holes in the tubing when installing a lift, tire macine,or bolting shelves down!..:doah:

Our building codes here require an attached garage to have fireproof sheetrock,covered with plaster,on all walls and the ceiling--and "fire doors" between the house and garage...not sure if tin would be allowed..better check your codes before buying anything!...:crazy:
 
my neighbor put a lift in his garage....
his garage is fricken huge... 2 car garage with 12' doors... however 18' ceilings.... can go 4 cars wide.....

mainly see what you need.. and try and fit it in there.... and on your budget.....

I started my garage organizing...

neighbor on left and bro on right...
Garage1.jpg



my other bro is in blue

Garage2.jpg


I finished painting the walls....
hung up a punching bag.... still need to make over the garage door organizers.... to get some of the crap off the floor.. I have so much less than what you see in the garage now.. cleaned up alot...
Garage4.jpg
 
Mastiff said:
Putting a lift in would be awesome, but I'm constrained to an 8' ceiling, so not much use. I am thinking about integrating some sturdy places in the rafters for hoisting though...
Click to expand...

If you put plumbing in, you must heat it. Frozen pipes suck.

Put in an exhaust setup for welding. sucking down weld fumes suck too.:haha:

I would suggest 8' tall doors if they will fit. That's what I did on mine...
 
Mastiff said:
I plan to plumb gas in there for a heater (it gets cold here).
Click to expand...


This could prove to be a fatal mistake. I've only recently started considering what is necessary for heating and cooling a garage in a non-California locale, and I think that anything with a flame, or spark source (gas, oil heat, etc) is going to be a bad choice for a garage.

There are plenty of combustible fumes created in a shop and it doesn't seem smart to add an ignition source like that. So far, the only thing that I've come up with is a forced hot/cold air system that taps off the house. I doubt I'd run a "return" though because I wouldn't want the garage smells circulating through the entire house!!!!

Food for thought....that garage site (link provided earlier) probably has good ideas and solutions for this question already. :thinking:
 
Greg72 said:
This could prove to be a fatal mistake. I've only recently started considering what is necessary for heating and cooling a garage in a non-California locale, and I think that anything with a flame, or spark source (gas, oil heat, etc) is going to be a bad choice for a garage.

There are plenty of combustible fumes created in a shop and it doesn't seem smart to add an ignition source like that. So far, the only thing that I've come up with is a forced hot/cold air system that taps off the house. I doubt I'd run a "return" though because I wouldn't want the garage smells circulating through the entire house!!!!

Food for thought....that garage site (link provided earlier) probably has good ideas and solutions for this question already. :thinking:
Click to expand...


my bro... guy that was in the blue shirt... works for a fireplace company and I asked him to get me a price on the gas units.. that you hang up on the wall and he said.. NO I WILL NOT GET A PRICE NOR WILL YOU INSTALL ONE!!!!
he too is worried about fumes and stuff... so I will eventually go with baseboard heat or ceramic (electric)
 
you just wait until I post my pics. ;)

btw, I do have 10feet high doors, and a 17ft ceiling. ;) :haha:

I just had to sell a few years of my life off....
 
reznor makes a hanging heater with a sealed combustion option.
 
Mastiff said:
Good ideas. I will consider running some plumbing. Probably don't want to use the space for too much, but maybe a utility sink. I considered cable, but I don't care to watch TV, I'd just maybe want computer which I can get with the wireless router.

I did also think about the in-ground heat, but I'm only adding some cement, not all new. plus the $$ is probably prohibitive.

Putting a lift in would be awesome, but I'm constrained to an 8' ceiling, so not much use. I am thinking about integrating some sturdy places in the rafters for hoisting though...
Click to expand...

There is always a time that I've ended up watching a game while working on my sh!t... Easier to do it now then have to try after your done.... a stereo is also great.... and a Phone... the reson I sugested the shower is it will keep the inside shower cleaner and the wife happier... Depending on you floor plan of your house alot of times it's realy easy to add 3 more fixtures on you plumbing...Don't forget the man fridge (mine would be full of pepsi and water, since that is what I drink)...

I also woundered about the gas heater... I now I've seen it before... But code is going to let you know what is acceptable... What kind of roof line are you installing?
 
heat..

I've had 2 wood stoves in my garage for 10+ years with no problems..but I dont pull gas tanks out or spill gas very often either!..I think having the stoves air intake high off the floor helps a lot to avoid fumes from being inhaled and ignited..one barrel stove I made has 3 two inch pipes for air intakes that could be run outside the building if desired to reduce the chances of a fire from fumes being ignited..

Many guys I know use "torpedo" heaters and I wonder how they have managed not to burn the shop down,or die of lung cancer from inhaling diesel fumes all winter..I dont like the propane ones either..costly to run, and dangerous..

Infra-Red heaters mounted on the ceiling work well,and are safe--but they heat people and objects,not the air itself..once you are under a vehicle,its like the sun going behind a cloud,and you freeze...:rolleyes:

One guy I know uses a hot water heater (electric) to run baseboard heat in his garage..expensive,but safe..another guy has an outdoor wood furnace,and only the hot air is ducted into the garage..he loves it,and it also heats his whole house too..

I think the in-floor radiant heat is best--its safe,can be plumbed into an existing oil fired or gas hot water boiler in the house,and there is nothing better than lying on a WARM concrete floor when its cold out!--despite my stoves getting the shop up to 80 degrees or more,the floor still feels like a block of ice!~..:mad: ..only drawback is chopping up the floor if a pipe leaks, or is accidentally drilled into for whatever reason..:crazy:
 
Compressor - build an insulated closet for it, with an exhaust fan to vent the heat build-up. Insulate the door, but don't make it difficult to get in to drain the tank periodically.

Heating/cooling - I'm thinking about a heat pump for my next garage. Set it for 78-80* in the summer, and 65* in winter, and LEAVE IT ALONE. Comfortable working temps, no combustion issues to speak of, and pretty energy-efficient.

Hoisting - In the place(s) where you intend to hoist, double-up the rafters and the studs under them. Use a spreader bar OVER two sets of the doubled rafters, and connect the hoist to the spreader bar. No worries about over-stressing the garage structure this way, plus you get redundancy in case something breaks somewhere.
This assumes you're keeping the hoist fixed. If you want it movable, you could incorporate an I-beam into the roof structure and use a rolling trolley on the bottom flange of the I-beam to attach the hoist to.
 
I have electric heat in my shop, have tried propane, but it creates a lot of moisture. The electric keeps it dry, and with the price of propane its about the same cost overall.
 
Lights and sealer

What do you guys recommend for lighting? I want to have enough light for a change. Is there something better than huge flourescents? At my old place I had a grid of 100 watt bulbs, but I don't think I got much light per watt that way.

Also, what have people had luck with as far as concrete floor sealers? Right now I'm leaning towards a clear sealer like they use where I work. It seems pretty durable, and when it does get scratched up, it can be touched up without looking too bad. The floor paint seems too fragile, even the two part nasty stuff - and when it gets scratched, it's really obvious.
 
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