Garage - What features would you select?

[Malcolm]

I know you like engine work Ron, and what I picked up today may be of interest. I managed to find an engineers surface just before it was being skipped. About 30 inch by 14 inches on 4 inch legs. A true flat surface. Bloody heavy, I cannot pick this one up at all, had to get a trolley out to move it. Possibly good for head work, piston and other measurements?

It is sad to see so much working machinery get scrapped. I know its not viable to a business to run old gear and it doesn't make sense to try and sell it as prices are crazy low. But I did a deal and should end up with a bigger better lathe, band saw, fly press, and pillar drill.

 

[Rick S.]

since you are going to have broadband, I'd put in a couple of IP addressable cameras and connect these to the ethernet router. Then, when you are away on travel you can check up on your toys thru the internet.

one of my friends has a bridgeport mill in his garage...

and two lifts, machine shop, engine dyno...oh yea, it's also 7000 square feet...

 

[Ron Earp]

Finally!!!! Some progress. The builders have started with the footings being dug and shored up, hopefully next week the foundation will start. Maybe this thing will actually come to pass!!

 

[Gary Kadrmas]

Ron,

I read through some of the old posts about suggestions to accessorize your shop, and I thought of this:

Find a commercial warehouse development project, ya know, where construction companies are putting up huge warehouses. Take a visit to the on site construction office shack, and hunt down the General Manager for the project. During the winter months, the construction companies usually install temporary ceiling hung heaters (usually natural gas) to keep the inside of the warehouses warm to keep the water pipes from freezing. When a tenant signs a lease, the general contractor removes the ceiling heaters and they usually sell them to the first person that makes a bid towards the purchase. These heaters are ususally anywhere from 50K BTU to 150K BTU, just depends on how the warehouse is configured.

Depending on the heater size, deals can be made and bought for a sizable savings. I got mine for $250.00, and it is 90K BTU (converted to propane), installed with a wall mounted thermostat, and works great. Want heat, walk up to the T-stat, turn it up, and in about 10 minutes, your shop is WARM.

Just a thought!

 

[Ron Earp]

Hey Gary,

It is a good thought but here in NC cold isn't the enemy, heat is! We have about one cold month a year, and this is it. By mid-Feb we'll be hitting some 55-60F daytime highs and 35-40 lows at night where I live in the central part. By March we'll our first 80F day, and from there until November again it is pretty much hot.

So, I've got a buddy who'll be getting me a used AC/heat pump on the take and installing it for me. Nothing fancy, but the shop will have AC, heat too, but I imagine the AC could get a work out.

It'll get a lot of the ideas on the thread but the first thing in will be a lift. I just haven't figured out what kind of lift yet. There is a company here in Greensboro that sells and installs them. I hope to go up there and have a look at various types and figure out what is best.

Size wise the garage won't quite be as big as I've love, but it is as big as we can fit on the property. Looks like it'll have inside dimensions of 26' wide and 35' deep. I'd love to have some of the garages I've seen on this website, but we'll try and make this one cozy and functional. I've still got the garage built into the house, basically a 2.5 car wide and 22' deep, but Julie's car is going in that area and it'll house my "fun" car. This garage we're building is mainly for racing efforts and a shop.

 

[Jim Cowden]

Ron

If that is the size of the floor area you are stuck with I would put a shead on the back or a mezanine to store equiptment and parts so you keep as much work area as you can.
I guess you are already thinking the same.

Good to see progress.

Jim

 

[Ron Earp]

The entire upstairs of the garage will be for storage. While it won't be habitable, the entire area will have a floor, so about 900 sq ft of storage. I plan to put lots of my parts of there and get up my re-loading equipment as well which is sitting around gathering dust. About the only thing it won't be good for is engines, but I can handle one or two of those with the floor space I've got. Already wish it was bigger, but we'll make the most out of it.

I've got a 16'x16' powered, light, and floored area under my house that is like a tiny "shop" that I will setup my press, mill, grinders, saw, blast cabinet, parts washer, and a few other things in. That area isn't huge, but it'll house all that stuff with careful arranging if I get all the car parts out of it, which is what it houses now. Fenders, subframes, rear ends, and all that crap has sort of ruined the usefulness of that area.

 

[Gary Kadrmas]

Ron,

I will be revamping my shop this summer. I plan on putting up walls to separate different areas of the shop to end up with a "dirty" area, a "clean" area, and a "park and storage" area. My shop is 40' X 72' with 14' sidewalls, and a 12' wide mezzazine level on the far end of the shop that I will use as an office.

Not sure how you could do the different areas of your work space, but keeping dirty and clean areas separate is very high on my priority list for my summer projects.

Good luck with your progress with your shop. I vote for a two-post lift, but, any lift you can put in your shop is better than NO lift!!!!!!

 

[David Sturch]

Look's like it will be a fare size Ron. I could live with it. I would add some turbine vents for the summer to keep the air moving in the attic and don't skimp on the insulation. The less your heat pump has to work the lower the cost and the cooler in the summer. One more thing to have are the car dollies that go under each wheel. Cars that are not used much can be moved around by hand and you can store them in tight areas to free up the space you use most.
Dave

 

[TonyM]

Hi,

I'm in the process of building a new garage also, I wondered if anyone had suggestions on what to put on the floor.. I wanted to use an epoxy product but most recommend that you don't apply them for at least 6 months on new concrete. I can'twait another 6+ months so I was looking at the interlocking tiles and spoke to a couple of places that sell them, they didn't recommend setting a four post lift on them or dollying a four post lift around. So, what else is there, I see large sections of ribbed rubber mat are available that aren't supposed to wrinkle or bunch up but I'm not so sure......

Anyone have any ideas...? Ron, want do you plan on using?

Thanks,

 

[Kevin L]

One of the things we did in a garage that has turned out to be a big improvement is to leave a 4x4 cut-out in the ceiling and then installed one of these:

The Attic Lift

It removes the need to climb a ladder to get things up into storage and adds a lot more utility to the attic. The lift is a bit slow but the capacity is nice.

 

[Ron Earp]

Tony, I'm going to use the same stuff I used on the house garage. It is an epoxy flooring material that is the same thing the flying club used in our hangar. You etch the floor, put down a primer, then put down a color coat, then another color coat. Takes like three days to do it, but the one I put down here at the house looks great. The one in the hangar looks better, but we buffed it to get that finish.

The one I did here at the house was on a 3 year old floor. However, the hangar floor was recently poured when the club built the hangar and I'm certain there wasn't a 6 month wait before we put that coating down. I'll get the name of the system here and post it as well as check on that waiting period. I was hoping to do mine within days of garage completion.

 

[Ron Earp]

The Attic Lift

Holy smokes, that is right on. Will have to look into that!

 

[Steve C]

Ron,

I don't understand how the tiles can work out but, many use them ( doesn't water run off from wet car or even condensate drain from A/C ,oil, ect seep between the cracks or into the open mesh of some types and accumulate under the tiles causing dirt and mildew build up?

Well due to that concern when I built the new garage 8 yrs ago went with Benj Moore industrial epoxy and as you can see from pics below after lots of engine, tranny, suspension work to the Cobra over the yrs the floor just needs a sweep or quick wash and it's clean. I do use plywood under jack stands and cardboard if a major job but, no real day to day precautions.

Steve P2125

 

[Pete]

Ron,
My shop is 24 x 36 x 14 ceiling. These pics should give you an idea of space usage. I can still get a 21 foot boat and trailer in the door where the bike is and my truck in the other. I put a lot of things on wheels to help move things around if needed. I'm right in the middle of shifting things around as these pictures were taken.
Pete

 

[TonyM]

Ron,

I don't understand how the tiles can work out but, many use them ( doesn't water run off from wet car or even condensate drain from A/C ,oil, ect seep between the cracks or into the open mesh of some types and accumulate under the tiles causing dirt and mildew build up?


Steve P2125

From what I have seen all of these tiles have feet, so to speak, so the full tiles doesn't sit on the floor and there is an air gap. This is one reason why you can't put high preasure loads within a small area on these floors, such as a trolley jack or a unsecured 4 post lift. The air gap is supposed to keep the subfloor dry as any amount of fluid spilt should just run under the tiles, if the tiles are the perforated type, and out of the doorways. By code garage floors, that are within close proximity to a house must have a pitch towards the doors to allow gasoline etc. a place to exit rather than pooling. The non-perforated tiles, according to the manufacturers, have a tight enough seal, when locked, that would not allow fluid to get through the connecting edges, so the fluid stays on the tile, I'd need to see that to believe it..!! I also noticed that these tile manufacturers, such as RaceTrack, push the fact that they are great for building a temporary pit area outside on dirt, sand and grass etc. more than they do as a permanent surface on a concrete floor in the garage.

 

[TonyM]

Tony, I'm going to use the same stuff I used on the house garage. It is an epoxy flooring material that is the same thing the flying club used in our hangar. You etch the floor, put down a primer, then put down a color coat, then another color coat. Takes like three days to do it, but the one I put down here at the house looks great. The one in the hangar looks better, but we buffed it to get that finish.

The one I did here at the house was on a 3 year old floor. However, the hangar floor was recently poured when the club built the hangar and I'm certain there wasn't a 6 month wait before we put that coating down. I'll get the name of the system here and post it as well as check on that waiting period. I was hoping to do mine within days of garage completion.

Just found this info on the web, it suggests a minimum of 30 days.if under 4 inches thick, mine will be closer to 6 inches...

If applying epoxy coating over a new pour, it is suggested that you wait a minimum of 30 days before coating. For concrete over 4" or 5" thick it is suggested that you allow even longer for concrete to cure. To test if concrete is fully cured, (or if there is still moisture present), tape a 4' x 4' sheet of clear plastic in middle of floor and leave in place for 24 hours. If not fully cured, moisture will be trapped beneath plastic sheeting and surface of concrete will appear dark or wet in that area. Remove plastic and allow to fully cure. Repeat test once every 3-5 days until there is no noticeable difference in concrete appearance beneath and around plastic sheet.

The surface of freshly cured concrete may sometimes have a milky-white residue. This is called concrete efflorescence, and must be removed prior to epoxy coating application. Efflorescence is the deposit of salts, (calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium, chlorides and sulfates), which rise to the surface of concrete. Heavy accumulation of the efflorescence can be removed with a stiff brush, residual salts can be removed by washing with clear water.

 

[Chris Duncan]

The floor anchors is a good tip. Chassis torsion tests anyone?

Dog house outside for the compressor makes is much quieter another good one.

The newer small dia fluorescents are good just make sure the fixture has a cold starter, the cheapy "shop lights" don't and the bulbs don't last when it's under 50F.

South facing windows if no skylights, natural light is nice.

Draw a floor plan and position all your anticipated stuff, if you don't know architecture you might go online and get an opinion on door and window positions. (that is if you don't already have one involved) But if you can build a 40 well a garage is easier.

Your measurements might not make most efficient space of a typical garage layout. You position the cars with a certain amount of space then position all the work benches etc. not too far away. Most stuff is better against the wall. So you may end up with some "dead" space with it being that long. Unless you put up an entertainment/bar/lounge area or something like that.

Storage is not a good idea for this kind of garage except for things your going to use frequently or body parts etc. Put the clutter in a detached storage shed. Unless you put some in the attic but only if it's spare room.

A nice big strong metal cabinet is good for chemicals paints etc, all in one place, safer from fire when the sparks are flying, and keeps the fumes down.

The only trolley hoist that's worth it moves on both the X and Y plane but it's pretty extensive to rig, not cheap, and messes with ceiling hanging air and elec lines. The cherry pickers with the floor legs that fold up don't take up much space.

I'm biased because I built 3 major projects in a 14'x22' garage (and it really taught me to be efficient with space), so when I moved and got a 22'x24' it was and still is BIG. I'm sure you're aware property taxes go mainly by square footage, so all the storage in the "unfinished" attic and in non-permanent foundation out-buildings(doesn't count to sq ft.) is prudent.

I'm sure by now you've seen the catalogs that sell all the neat retro signs and stuff. Just got a Speedway catg, now their doing it to. Neon is cool (imho).

 

[Ron Earp]

Remove plastic and allow to fully cure. Repeat test once every 3-5 days until there is no noticeable difference in concrete appearance beneath and around plastic sheet.

I'll have to check on that too, this make 100% good sense. If I need to wait some time I can live with it I think. I know we'll have at least a 6" slab, it could be that we do have to wait months to coat it. Everything I own is castered and rolls around so it wouldn't be a huge deal if I had to roll all that stuff out.

I don't think the tile systems would be all that great. I really work in my garage - dump motors, weld, spill oil all over, use stands and jacks all the time and so forth. We did about five motor pulls/installs last year, maybe a couple more than that, I can remember spilling transmission and diff oil a few times. If I'd had those tiles the oil is going to get under them at some point and you'll have to clean them up. The epoxy floor just wipes right up and you keep on gettin it.

Economan that garage size is about right on what I'll end up with I think. Your ceiling is higher though for sure and that is quite nice. No garage is complete without a motorcycle - see you've got one there!

 

[Thomas Rouw]

Noone mentioned,

Biga** rocksolid workbench,

even better make that 2, 1 each wall, one for working metal, on for working clean.

I also have the compressor staionairy, and have put a steel line against the wall which has an outlet every meter or so, note my garage aint big or anything, just stuffed with usefull gear.
2x 16A 220v (europe) outlets is enough to do everything welder to Lathe

Grtz Thomas