Garage & Car Barn Thread

[alsancle]

Hemmings (which is becoming a real afterthought these days) has a blog story with some interesting garages.  One of the guys is in Europe with all American cars.

 

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2021/07/09/readers-share-their-private-automotive-retreats-and-offer-advice-for-creating-yours

 

[John Bloom]

I can read those type of articles all day long. I get ideas from all of them.   Temp control, security, moisture and pest control, and above all.....safety engineered into all of it.  I wish I had 100 % confidence about where I’d ultimately end up. We have plans and dreams, but have yet to make that decision. I know I won’t be staying in Illinois when I retire. 

I know I’d rather have something smaller and architecturally attractive vice a bigger ugly box. 
 

 

 

[Paul Dobbin]

   June 19th was "National Drive Your Ford V8 Day"  sponsored by the Early Ford V8 Club of America.

   I called all the V8 guysin the county and we drove up the Cullasaja River to Peek's Creek and the

   Ford Barn for this picture.

   A 34 Fordor a 35 Fordor a 36 Tudor, a 49 F-100 and a 49 Lincoln, the to the Motor Company Grill

   for lunch.

   

[alsancle]

My brother with a lot of coaching from yours truly is building car barn down in Florida.   I gave him his choices and he decided on Morton.   Right now he is looking at around 40x60 but I think it might shrink because of budget considerations.

 

But the real reason I posted was I didn't want to pee on Kerry's garage heat thread.   But the fire station comment made me think of this which is for sale about 8 miles from my house within a city neighborhood.

 

Virtual Tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=JJpZA4cKLXJ

The historic Cambridge St. Fire House is for sale. Used by owner-users Quality Contracting for 18 years, this building is ideal for anyone needing to load or store vehicles or equipment in the same building where they occupy office space. The building provides easy access to I395 and 290 and is centrally located in Worcester. In addition to lower level storage/service space, there is a fenced in, gated lot behind connected to the property where vehicles and service equipment can be securely stored. A Kitchen and 2 full bathrooms are included in the office space as well. This is flexible space that could serve a wide variety of office and industrial needs.

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/534-Cambridge-St-Worcester-MA/22260391/

 

[Paul Dobbin]

The fire department building in cute but more than 50% of it is not suitable for vehicles.  The upatairs and tower are a waste of space and money in my opinion,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5%

[TAKerry]

That along with an old Caddie ambulance and one could go into the Ghost Busting business.

 

Seriously though.....That is a beautiful building. Make the second floor your living space and you have a nice garage below, Or, store a few of your old cars and turn the upstairs into an information centre, open once a month as a museum, OR put your cars on the ground level, store your motorcycles on the second, OR.............................

 

Renovation cost would be great. I would bet the hose tower is open. There is probably a stair system to get to the top then the hoses were hung to dry out, hence a clear space from top to bottom. We built one fire house that had a decorative hose tower that served no purpose. It did add a significant cost to the project but some of the old timers insisted on it.  I hope it gets put to good use, buildings like that will never be built again, cost prohibitive. That thing would be 10 million for a 2/4 bay garage. 

[SC38dls]

My father in law was the reason firehouse hose towers became obsolete. He was a third generation fireman and also sold fire equipment. He invented a fire hose dryer. All fire houses had two sets of hoses. After a fire they used a pulley system ( not stairs) to hang the hose to dry so they didn’t rot. His invention was made from an old refrigerator he put a series of hangers in and hose couplers. This was hooked up to a heated blower. It could dry a hose in minutes instead of hours. He sold the patten for a few thousand dollars and bought a house. Almost every firehouse in the US used his designed dryer. He went on to be one of the most successful salesmen of fire trucks in later years. 
dave s 

 

ps I was his favorite son in law. 

Edited January 20, 2022 by SC38dls (see edit history)

[alsancle]

I must have posted this one back when it was for sale.  It was less than 1/2 the price of the fire-station and directly across from the train station parking garage.   Fairly good sized lot and a industrial car sized lift that went to the second and third story.  I had these fantasies of the cars downstars and a man cave upstairs.

 

The problem was that you were quit a few stop lights away from getting in the clear on nice roads.   Basically dead in the middle of a city.

 

https://www.telegram.com/story/business/2019/10/27/architectural-designer-sees-future-in-vacant-canal-district-building/2433701007/

 

Edited January 20, 2022 by alsancle (see edit history)

[Guest]

16 hours ago, alsancle said:

My brother with a lot of coaching from yours truly is building car barn down in Florida.   I gave him his choices and he decided on Morton.   Right now he is looking at around 40x60 but I think it might shrink because of budget considerations.

 

 

 

 

 

 Have your brother have a talk with a builder.

 I was planning a 80' X60' building and my builder told me that a 70' x100' would only cost $2000 more.

[alsancle]

4 minutes ago, Roger Walling said:

 Have your brother have a talk with a builder.

 I was planning a 80' X60' building and my builder told me that a 70' x100' would only cost $2000 more.

 

He needs to keep it reasonable so it doesn't overwhelm the house.   I'd agree with you if you have enough land to hide on the back 40, so to speak.

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, alsancle said:

 

He needs to keep it reasonable so it doesn't overwhelm the house.   I'd agree with you if you have enough land to hide on the back 40, so to speak.

Typically, buildings in the 5,000 to 10,000 square foot range enjoy the lowest cost-per-square foot. At 10,000 square feet and above, the square foot price begins to rise again. Straight-wall designs require lighter, less expensive steel columns.

 

https://www.rhinobldg.com/how-to-cut-steel-building-costs/#:~:text=Typically%2C buildings in the 5%2C000,lighter%2C less expensive steel columns.

Edited January 20, 2022 by Roger Walling (see edit history)

[stretch cab]

While not a very large garage I am very blessed to have this 24x30 building behind my house.  I am currently putting in a concrete ramp and side parking area.

The inside is not finished but hopefully by the end of summer it will be all wired, insulated and drywalled.  I'm not sure what type of floor I will go with as the building is off the ground with wood joist and plywood floor system at this time.  I would like to go with the old style 2" oak strip flooring but may go with a fire retardant flooring of some type.

I do have a smaller shop that I use for dirty work so eventually the larger building will be my man cave/museum.

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, stretch cab said:

While not a very large garage I am very blessed to have this 24x30 building behind my house.  I am currently putting in a concrete ramp and side parking area.

The inside is not finished but hopefully by the end of summer it will be all wired, insulated and drywalled.  I'm not sure what type of floor I will go with as the building is off the ground with wood joist and plywood floor system at this time.  I would like to go with the old style 2" oak strip flooring but may go with a fire retardant flooring of some type.

I do have a smaller shop that I use for dirty work so eventually the larger building will be my man cave/museum.

 

 

I like it.  It has character.   Will the floor support the weight of a car?

[Steve_Mack_CT]

AJ before you buy a property that is a "short drive" from home you might ask Tom about his misadventures.  The great pooper lady caper is a standout, not sure his summer of torture ever made it to this forum but he has some stories to relate about his neighbors...

[alsancle]

9 minutes ago, Steve_Mack_CT said:

AJ before you buy a property that is a "short drive" from home you might ask Tom about his misadventures.  The great pooper lady caper is a standout, not sure his summer of torture ever made it to this forum but he has some stories to relate about his neighbors...

 

Steve,  any properties I buy will be a short drive away in Florida.

[stretch cab]

1 hour ago, alsancle said:

 

I like it.  It has character.   Will the floor support the weight of a car?

At this time the floor is 3/4 T&G OSB on 2x12 floor joist.  I think the joist are 16" OC.  I had my 53 Chevy Convertible, 31 Ford Rdst. 36 Ford Fordor, Model T and another Brass era car in there without problems.  Not much room left but the floor held them all without problems.  I plan to beef up the floor when I finish the inside.

 

[39BuickEight]

I was able to earn a promotion at work last month, and as a result, I work from home now.  My commute is through my first floor of cars to my office upstairs.  I have a radiant heater that keeps it in the 60’s on days like today when it’s 20 outside.  I have a portable a/c that keeps it around 80 in the summer.  It’s 24x40 with a 12x40 loft.

Edited January 20, 2022 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

When I built my barn/shop I used attic trusses over what I call the barn (where I park my work truck, tool/material storage. Its unfinished but the cost was minimal. The space looks about the same as what you (buickeight) have. You have given me a bit of inspiration. Looks nice and cozy.

2021-08-19_09-25-45 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

[39BuickEight]

21 hours ago, TAKerry said:

When I built my barn/shop I used attic trusses over what I call the barn (where I park my work truck, tool/material storage. Its unfinished but the cost was minimal. The space looks about the same as what you (buickeight) have. You have given me a bit of inspiration. Looks nice and cozy.

2021-08-19_09-25-45 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

Your building is amazing!

 

I’ve enjoyed finishing my space over the past few years. The flooring was repurposed from my in-laws, the paneling came used from a local business, the trim was bought as “scraps” from a local thrift store, my desk was from a public surplus auction, etc.  I did the same in the garage area below with the metal on the walls.

 

I splurged on my desk chair at the request of my neck and back :-).  I do need to find a small love seat/sofa/futon to replace my camping chair. 

Edited January 21, 2022 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

Thanks, what is shown is the 24 x 24 barn where I park. I have a 24 x 40 shop behind where 'the magic happens'.

2018-06-18_10-48-55 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

2018-09-04_02-51-56 by Kerry Grubb, on Flickr

[Paul Dobbin]

36 X 58  with sissor trusses an 3 big doors, a office and a bath gave me enough room to hold six car and a DP RV.  Witout the RV 8 cars a lift and a work area,   The 36' depth made getting two cars end to end easy at each 10' wide door,    Probem was carving out enough of the mountain to build it and still having easy access.

Built it before even starting the house and lived in the RV in the barn while buildong the house.  The office served as guest quarters.

Foam insulation came later with gas heat, making it a year round playroom.  In the closed end I built a General Store front to display

all the signs and junk gathered in the first 40 years of this hobby.  A short UTV ride (200 Ft) from the house and bump the heat up to 55 degrees and I'm happy as a clam in my barn/shop.

 

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by Paul Dobbin
spill chex (see edit history)

[edinmass]

On 1/20/2022 at 1:46 PM, alsancle said:

 

Steve,  any properties I buy will be a short drive away in Florida.

There goes MY neighborhood!

[edinmass]

Your garage and bank account are NEVER big enough...........

[TAKerry]

Paul, Your garage is beautiful. With heat and indoor plumbing I would give the house to my kids and move into the barn!

[Barney Eaton]

My shop was built in 1997 and done before the house.   The cement truck had only one way in and that was where the house would be, so we started on the shop before the house. 

It is 44 long and 24 deep.   the 18 ft garage door is positioned on the end of one side,  22 ft of the ceiling is 12 ft for the lift and the other 22 ft is 8 ft with a 22 x 24 room above. 

The garage must look like the house to meet building codes.     Around 2011 I added the steel cover and poured a concrete floor for it at that time.. the steel portion is 13 ft wide (restricted by a 

tree that I did not want to remove) and 32 ft lone.    It works well but it would always be nice to have something bigger. 

 

Another post talked about a garage that looked like a house......we have a very similar garage in our area.... over where the rich people live (gated community, golf course)  some wealthy tech guy built a 

garage for his exotic cars,  he purchased the lot next door (on the golf course) and applied for plan approval,  they finally approved it but, it must look like a house and be constructed so it can be converted to 

a house if someone buys it in the future.  The kicker is he must pay homeowner association fees for the garage on a separate lot. 

 

 

[John Bloom]

AJ, you started this post 5 years ago. I love the thought process each poster shares, as well as the facilities “built, planned, dreamed about” that get populated to the thread.  I think I have bought every book related to this topic that has been sold.  So many things are a hinderance to this popular dream so many of us have (finances, where you want to live when you retire, ZONING DRACONIAN RESTRICTIONS).   My current “garage” is 30x36 and has a large sliding door that opens entry into an additional 17x26 area. It is also taken up with yard tools, lawn tractor, snow blower, make shift gym my son assembled when his gym closed with Covid.....  too busy for my tastes.   I can’t get too excited about transitioning it into my long term solution for several reasons, but the main one is I don’t intend to stay here when I retire (Illinois)..... and I only want to do this undertaking one time and then dig in till they bury me.   
 

I’d be interested in hearing from the guys here who have built their destination shop/garage, what is the one thing you “wish you had done, or would do differently”?

[TAKerry]

Could question and lets leave the 'build it bigger' out. We could all use more space. 

 

Although my shop/garage has been 90% complete for 4 or 5 years now, about the only thing I wish I had done was to add some rudimentary plumbing. Water would have been easily enough however a drainfield is out of the question. It would be nice to have a bathroom but I am only 50 from the house so its not that big of a deal. My shop is constantly evolving. I finally got electric hooked up in June and am just now getting all of the outlets installed where I need them. I added shelving high across one wall, but like all shelves, most of the stuff there could probably thrown away. I need dust collection yet and heat. I did not really pre plan the layout, only had an idea. I find that stuff gets moved around a couple of times before it finds a permanent home.

[alsancle]

John, the number one hindrance between me and my dream barn is the fact that I live in Massachusetts. I really wonder sometimes if I want to stay here for even half the year. If you don’t live here you would never understand.

[SC38dls]

AJ - we lived in Chicago burbs most of our lives. Great access to the city restaurants, shows, museums and lake front Good night life in general with being out in horse country on our five acres but near the city.  We up and moved south to Lexington KY 20 years ago. A few decent restaurants, an OK symphony but nothing like Chicago. Beautiful rolling horse farms and we had fifteen acres surrounded by some of the biggest horse farms in the industry. Three years ago we sold and took off for Aiken SC. Again a few good places to eat but close to Savannah GA, Charleston SC and Atlanta GA. So plenty of choices. Plus we have the weather (got a 1/4 inch of snow today - first time in 3 years, it melted in a couple hours) plenty of room to build what you want, very low taxes compared to IL or KY. Not the greatest old car area unless you are into muscle cars but some good cars and great people. If you really want the better weather do it. You can always go back north and rent a place for a month or two when you want to. I didn't think I was going to like it but having good driving weather 95% of the year and decent temps in the garage all but a few days a year has been great.  I'm at the age the big garage isn't in the plans again but finally getting to know some other guys so I have access to three lifts and a number of guys that know what they are doing with a car.  The north is killing itself  with taxes and restrictions, with the weather only getting worse why stay? Build the garage then the house Do it sooner rather than later and you will enjoy it more.  I'm sure you can find a better neighborhood than being too close to Ed. 

dave s 

Edited January 22, 2022 by SC38dls (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

39 minutes ago, alsancle said:

John, the number one hindrance between me and my dream barn is the fact that I live in Massachusetts. I really wonder sometimes if I want to stay here for even half the year. If you don’t live here you would never understand.

AJ, I’m sure there are some unique things about your situation in Massachusetts that makes you doubt staying for the long haul. As for me understanding.....let me just mention that I live in the northern Chicago suburbs. If you were to articulate the main points of why you don’t want to stay there, you might be looking at me as I shake my head up and down with each point you make. I’m going to get out of here.

 

we flew to Tucson last night (home for my wife and her happy place).  I think we will make this home base when I retire (target date in the next 4-5 years). We also have a cottage on a lake in Indiana (home for me and my happy place). I think we will summer there....maybe even early May to Halloween if I can persuade my wife.  The lake place doesn’t have land to build what I want for cars, but there is so much freedom to do what you want in Indiana.  The price of homes on the other side of the road from our cottage that are not on the lake is about 25% of what the homes on the water are. I’ve contemplated buying one of the homes on the other side of the road within 100 yards of my house and tearing it down and building what I want there. All the utilities and services are already on the street. People are pretty live and let live in that area and as long as I built an attractive facility I don’t think anybody would stop me.

 

Morton has some customization options that look attractive and I would like to build something that looks nice from the road, has all services available (gas, electric, water, sewage), and can be walked to from the front door of my cottage or a very short ride in a golf cart. I really don’t want to have to get in my truck and drive 10 minutes to the facility where I keep the cars. 
 

let me also mention that my lake house and my main home in the Chicago suburbs would appraise for similar value. The property taxes on the Chicago home are about 17,000.  The Indiana lake house 2,300.

 

Lots of dynamics in play with this decision. One thing for certain. I’ll be leaving northern Illinois. 

[alsancle]

I would love to live in Indiana. How big is the lake?   We have a Lakehouse here in Massachusetts. But that has the same problem as my main house. It’s in Massachusetts.  When the kids were little we were on the lake, which is why they could all swim like fish from the time they were two years old. It really was a good time.

 

I have not been to Tucson, I’ve been to Phoenix/Scottsdale many times. Just not my cup of tea, at least that area of Arizona. It reminds me of the surface of the moon. I’m really thinking about the lakes region of Florida.

[John Bloom]

The view from the back of our place.  1600 acres.  I crave the simplicity of the place and community.  Very level headed sane people all around me down there. 

 

[alsancle]

3 minutes ago, John Bloom said:

The view from the back of our place.  1600 acres.  I crave the simplicity of the place and community.  Very level headed sane people all around me down there. 

 

 

My experience with people from Ohio/Indiana is that they are very nice.   Not like the pricks I'm surrounded by.    A 1700 acre lake is pretty good sized.   Are there any limitations on the size of the boat?

[John Bloom]

Good people and you can have any boat you want.   Lots of pontoon boats, I/O runabouts, ski boats, and wave runners.

there are a couple guys on the lake with open ocean cigarette boats that are loud. We all laugh and talk about those guys.

[Paul Dobbin]

We retired in Florida in 2000 @ age 55.   Tried to buy property on Lake Chatuge on Hiawassee GA for 7 years, with prices going up daily,

Flat land easy enough to have a big car barn accessible by a RV pulling a car trailer and lakefront was not possible.  We moved north into

the North Carolina Mountains and found no suitable lakes, but mostly steeper property for our car barn.   Bought a property on a ridge with spectacular views and carved out the mountain and built the  barn in 2008.   

In 2012 we built our house while living in the barn in The Roadhouse.   In the middle of that we went to Florida and sold our Florida pool home

and barn in less than 24 hours.   

Mountain life has been great with my dream barn, posted here yesterday afternoon. Regrets?:  Yes, We should have retired at age 50!

Edited January 23, 2022 by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)

[JMAV8FORD]

I drew the plans for our house and garage in 1969, built the house and garage in 1970, moved in and been here since then.  I started with two two car garages side by side, then built the rest of the house around the garages.  One of the garages is for the modern cars (life is easier when they are inside) and the other garage is the restoration shop.  I did not want to go outside to a separate garage to work on an old car.  Across the driveway is a 24 x 54 storage garage that initially was full of unrestored old cars, and is now full of restored old cars.  The key things were the in house restoration area and a separate storage garage.  All this in rural Pennsylvania where you can build what you want.

[John Bloom]

4 hours ago, alsancle said:

I have not been to Tucson, I’ve been to Phoenix/Scottsdale many times. Just not my cup of tea, at least that area of Arizona. It reminds me of the surface of the moon. I’m really thinking about the lakes region of Florida.

Tucson is quite a bit different than Phoenix. Much smaller, a college town, surrounded by 4 mountain ranges. “Lakes region

of Florida”......my first year after dental school was at the Navy base in Orlando Florida (long since closed).  My wife and I did the PADI course and did our open water dive in lake Baldwin near the base. Maybe a 30 acre lake.  After we finished the dive in the lake, maybe to a depth of 25 feet, someone mentioned to us that there had been over 50 alligators spotted in the lake “some of them large”......

I still shudder thinking about that. 

back on topic.  My wish list for a garage would be to have a wash station in it. Any forum members integrate a wash station into their facility?

 

 

 

[ex98thdrill]

On 1/19/2022 at 6:27 PM, alsancle said:

My brother with a lot of coaching from yours truly is building car barn down in Florida.   I gave him his choices and he decided on Morton.   Right now he is looking at around 40x60 but I think it might shrink because of budget considerations.

 

But the real reason I posted was I didn't want to pee on Kerry's garage heat thread.   But the fire station comment made me think of this which is for sale about 8 miles from my house within a city neighborhood.

 

Virtual Tour: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=JJpZA4cKLXJ

The historic Cambridge St. Fire House is for sale. Used by owner-users Quality Contracting for 18 years, this building is ideal for anyone needing to load or store vehicles or equipment in the same building where they occupy office space. The building provides easy access to I395 and 290 and is centrally located in Worcester. In addition to lower level storage/service space, there is a fenced in, gated lot behind connected to the property where vehicles and service equipment can be securely stored. A Kitchen and 2 full bathrooms are included in the office space as well. This is flexible space that could serve a wide variety of office and industrial needs.

 

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/534-Cambridge-St-Worcester-MA/22260391/

 

Without sounding cynical, I'd love to have an old firehouse as well because I have old fire trucks which would really add to the character.

 

Two things I would caution you about buying an old firehouse are:

1.  Lead paint.

2.  Asbestos.

 

It could cost you a fortune to mitigate that.  If you ignore it and decide to sell the property later, that issue could come up and bite you as the seller.

 

Again, I'm not against buying old firehouses.  but that's something you need to think about.  I bought a 40x66 building off of E-bay from a company by the name of Steel Factory Direct.

 

Granted due to COVID, costs have gone up, but back in 2015 I designed my building and bought it with the insulation for $36,000.  Granted that didn't cover the site work, concrete, electrical or overhead doors, but I got a heck of a building for that money.

 

Morton wanted $108,00 for the same building.  Morton is wood, and mine is steel.  With a wooden pole barn, your ceiling height is usually whatever the height that your eaves are, where with steel your ceiling height goes all the way up so you have plenty of room for a lift.  Granted Morton would've stood the building up, to where in my case we stood the building up ourselves, but we saved $70,000 for what I think is a better building.

 

My father disagreed with the 14' doors, but when my building is 66' deep, there aren't too many vehicles money can buy that won't fit in the door.

 

My father also disagreed with the double leantos, but once it was done, he loved them.  I have 14' doors and have a leanto clearance of 12'.

 

If I were to do it again what would I do different??  I'd have gone four feet wider inside and two feet wider under each lento.  

 

My leantos are 16' wide by 66' feet deep.  The thoughts were to where I could empty the barn out and put everything under the leanto and keep it under cover.  Where I screwed up was that I forgot to factor in the structural steel to where I can't get two cars wide under my leanto.

 

As for leantos, I'm glad I went 16 feet wide.  Had I gone 8 feet wide, it would've been too narrow to use.  By having leantos 16' wide I have 14' of clearance so my pickup hooked to the car trailer will fit underneath the lento and have room to have all of the doors open and still keep everything under cover.

 

Should I ever need more building, all I have to do is put siding on two sides and an overhead door in the front.  If I did that, I'd be able to almost double the size of my barn.  The only problem is that I don't want to give up my leantos!!  The car trailers don't need to be stored indoors, but by keeping them out of the leantos, they still aren't in the way of anything and they're not out in the elements either.

 

My building is right on the main website for Steel Factory Direct.  

[Barney Eaton]

There are many great places to live (retire).   Many thing to consider,  one of the main considerations is health care.    

We don't think much about it when we are young and healthy but if you are of retirement age,  that automatically means you are getting older. 

Along with that goes the possibility of something (health wise) going wrong.    If you find a beautiful, inexpensive retirement location,  it probably means you

are somewhat remote.......... that also means you are further away from doctors and hospitals.........keep that in mind when looking for that retirement oasis. 

[alsancle]

10 minutes ago, Barney Eaton said:

There are many great places to live (retire).   Many thing to consider,  one of the main considerations is health care.    

We don't think much about it when we are young and healthy but if you are of retirement age,  that automatically means you are getting older. 

Along with that goes the possibility of something (health wise) going wrong.    If you find a beautiful, inexpensive retirement location,  it probably means you

are somewhat remote.......... that also means you are further away from doctors and hospitals.........keep that in mind when looking for that retirement oasis. 

 

My rules have been:

 

1.  Within 1 hour of a major airport

 

2.  Within 30 minutes of a tirsheary hospital.

 

3.  Within 10 minutes of a major grocery store.

 

We'll see if I can pull that off.   I