ideas wanted

Don't know if I am lucky or not but with the house Wendy and I have just bought and move to later this year, the double garage is condemned. I am amazed it is still standing actually so no cars of mine going in there. Just need to build a new garage.

Space is fortunately not a problem and the size will be budget generated as opposed to space limited. About 1000 sq ft as a target. So excluding big enough to get a race track inside what would you guys out there suggest as things to design in to a new garage?

Any ideas?

Malcolm

[Mark Worthington]

www.ultimategarage.com

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI> Four-post lift and plenty of ceiling height
<LI> Structural steel beams to avoid lally columns
<LI> Epoxy coating on the floor
<LI> Lots of light
<LI> Built-in compressed air
<LI> Refrigerator stocked with beer
<LI> No floor drains[/list]

[JayT]

Mine is 24 x 38, I recomend increasing width to 25 and length to 40 - your 1000 sq. ft. I went with two post, need 12' height. Include water - cold & hot, heat/cool, good amount of electrical power. Garage doors 8h x 9w. I put office in "loft" area. Use the area as office.

[jtcompton2]

Malcolm-Depending on where you are, plan for some sort of heat for cold weather work. I have a gas heater, and keep my garage at 55 degrees in the cold stuff, and bump it up to 65 when I work out there. Really nice in winter months. Also, insulate the walls well to keep the heat in. More than the usual number of electrical outlets, and running water would make a nice addition. Use the attic for real storage and parts (remember lights), and keep the main floor reserved for cars and projects. Remember the wiring for stereo speakers, and coax for SpeedTv!

Good luck-Jack

[BOB JONES]

Malcolm-I recently constructed a new workshop for my cars.The two main areas I gave consideration were structure insulation,heating and air conditioning.(No more condensation)

[40 Bud]

Drop downs from the roof for air and electrical, lots of lights and use the high up space for spare wheel and tire racks. High shelve cupboards are hard to see into. Lots of cupboards with workbench tops. If you are going to have things like paint, cleaners and any other flamables a fire rated locker would be nice.

[Bill Bayard]

Malcolm,

1. Sturdy work bench w/vise & bench grinder
2. Stout overhead beam for a chainfall
3. Plumbing! W/C in particular!
4. A floor pit, instead of a lift(not the
elevator variety), as they are safer,
and create no ground clearance issues.
5. An abundance of shelving
6. Refrigerator (stocked, of course)
7. Stereo (mood music is a necessity)
8. Heat & A/C (insulation)
9. Plenty of lights and electrical outlets
10. Compressed air plumbed throughout
11. Allow at least 500 sqare feet of space
for the "junk" which will mysteriously
appear from nowhere!
11. A Second mortgage on the new house, so
you can afford the new garage!


Bill

[Howard Jones]

Cable TV so you can watch all the "damn car racing" you want to and the wife can watch her TV in the house . Just make sure yours is bigger! Don't forget the couch.

[gt40ford@juno.com]

Malcolm,

A hoist that runs on tracks from your ceiling would always be a welcome blessing for your garage. It reaches anywhere and will always be appreciated each time you use it. My GT40 body is in a hangar right now for fiberglass work and the guy has that kind of overhead hoist there. It's awesome.

Have fun!

John

[Eric]

I agree with John, I put an I-beam running from 1 side of my shop to the other, right in the middle. It holds my house up and i put a trolley on it with a chain hoist, it works excellent for pulling/moving motors, moving my frame around, and hoisting my slot car track out of the way etc. It is one of my favourite tools.

[Brett James-McCall]

Malcolm,
The one thing I would suggest is making sure you get a seperate feed from your Meter, or have a completey new line installed. Whatever you do don't run it through you current fuse board I'm in Germany at the moment, and will send you a picture of what I did.

Oh that as well as places for stuff like compressed air, pillar drills, sandblasting cabinets, parts washers, toll cabinets and some extra storage space... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Brett

[Bigend]

Don't forget to leave some space for the chicken plucker! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Wow what a great response, thanks to everyone, especially Jasper and that damn chicken plucker. I ain't buying it Jasper! Although if I did it would be a tool you don't have so that would be neat....

House already has a zillion mortgages on it to buy so one more for all these good useful ideas seems a good idea.

Had a foundation quote done this morning for 25ft by 55ft deep enough to take a second storey, should I ever get permission for that. See what it costs in a couple of weeks time.

cheers again

Malcolm [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Bigend]

Malc. I have found the book I referred to recently, "How to design and build your own Auto Workshop".
If you would like you can borrow it anytime, you don't even have to buy the chicken plucker!
Regards, Jasper and the crew. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[JayT]

After spending the day drinking water - it was hot and this is how I lose the "holiday" weight - Bills suggestion for a WC is very, very important!!!

But I disagree with his idea of a pit - had one and it was not a flexable as my lift.

[JP]

Malcolm,

I'm in the same boat. Well almost. My house has a separate 2 storey garage. The 2nd floor is more of a loft area that has been boarded.(needs lighting etc). I intend to coat the ground floor with epoxy, put up a heap of fluro lighting, a garage dry, and then kit it out with all the gizmos etc.

I use the 2nd floor for storage of spares, wheels, tyres etc.

Sounds like your garage will be bloody big!

Good luck.

Regards,

J.P

[Gregg]

All great ideas. The only thing I would add is a toilet. Good luck with the construction.

[Bill Musarra]

Along with jack stands and other things, look into getting an engine lift of the two ton variety. You can use it to pick up the front or rear of the car for any quick under car work, remove engines and or transmissions. I used mine to get the car onto a wooden stand that gets everything up to working height. During a build that will save your back. Mine cost around $140 and had a balance bar thrown in. Most lifts will go for $1500 to $2500. If your limited on space as I am it folds up to take up about 2 sq. ft. of floor space.
Bill

[David Morton]

Desoutter make an excellent overhead track system as part of their electric(low voltage) screwdriver system. It also allows mains power, air,and a whole host of goodies
with inertia reels with variable poundage to withdraw any tools back up again. The screwdrivers are brilliant with variable torque and can possibly fit up to 13 mm sockets (1/2inch) all powered by a multi outlet transformer. The overhead rails can be as long as you like with various slider fittings - some with caribiners, some with airline attachments. I had a system previously and I've just specced a replacement one for the garage in this house though her indoors has thoughts about moving.
(a gt40 thing ie if I can have toys she can have a house she wants !!!!).
It must be wonderful to build a garage from scratch.
I guess a speaker phone might be good or a bluetooth type cordless. ie the latter can be used in the car as well.
Dave

[snakeeyes]

When my wife and I bought some property a couple of years back, the first thing I did was build a 40 x 60 garage building...it was completed over 18 months before we built our house. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] That was a wise move on my part because I undoubtedly would have come up with ways to spend the "garage money" on other matters had I not built it first.

The most useful addition to the garage has been the two-post lift I installed. It was money well spent and has made some very unpleasant tasks such as transmission installations, undercar line running, etc. much less painful (and time-consuming). Also very handy are electrical outlets every ten feet, and "strip outlets" above the workbench area. I prewired for 220v in three places, which made hooking up my lift a breeze.

I do not have a chain hoist but wish I did. I also do not have drop-downs for air lines but think that is an excellent idea. Also, you cannot have too much lighting; there's nothing worse than working in a dim garage.

I have a CD player that I bought at an electronics store for less than $100. I hooked up some leftover speakers from a now-deceased surround sound system and now have a nice stereo to listen to. After the lift that is actually my most-used and -appreciated addition. I also have a TV and VCR but don't use those much.

A small refrigerator comes in very handy, especially for sitting around and staring at the cars after a day of working on them. The WC idea is good, too. I have all of the pipes run for a toilet and sink, but haven't hooked them up yet; at the least you can do that for future additions.

A parts cleaner comes in handy. A good idea I got from somewhere was to have two work benches, one a "dirty" one and one a "clean" one. The "dirty" has a grinding wheel and drill press, next to the parts cleaner; the "clean" one is off by itself. Disassemble stuff, grind/drill on stuff, clean stuff in the cleaner at the "dirty" bench, then reassemble it all, etc. at the clean bench where you won't have metal shavings, etc. getting into things.

You cannot have too much shelving. Also, a storage closet can be invaluable in storing oversized parts, greasy transmissions, etc. or other stuff that would be an eyesore out in the open.

Some sort of floor treatment would be desirable. I haven't done it yet--2400 sq. ft. is pricey!--but I am looking at flooring from Racedeck (www.tuffdeck.com). I have heard good things about the stuff and like that it is not a coating, but tiles that can be replaced (or removed and sold) if necessary...

Have fun! Get yourself a Griot's Garage catalog and start drooling--