Jim Bollman Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Our first house only had a two car garage. Everyday cars never go inside unless you are working on them. Build shelves so stuff doesn't take up space on the floor. Go up if you can. One of the first things I did was beef up the roof rafters and added some extra support. Floored over what was accessible and built shelving. I was young then and I built a little cart with rollers so I could scoot back and forth to get things. Collect small cars When I could afford it I added an extension on the back of the garage, it wasn't large but it allowed a couple of small cars and a lot of storage on shelves. I only cut one car size entrance into the addition so I could use the wall that was left to have shelving on beside and a bench on the other. Build a loft if you have the ceiling space. In the addition I built a loft that was 6' off the floor and was 5'X12' in one back corner. This allowed me to park a small car under it and a lot of stuff on top. Put pegboard up on any free walls, you can hang lots of things on pegboard and get it out of the way. Probably more but that is what I remember from my first shop. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivguy Posted January 26, 2022 Author Share Posted January 26, 2022 Wow! There has been a lot more interest in this thread than I would have thought. We always want more, of course. I had a job that would allow me to transfer around the State and I spent years investigating different areas and scheming how to maximize the move. I told my Wife that we wouldn't transfer once my oldest started high school, kids today seem to have more trouble with fitting in than I did when growing up. I attended four different grammar schools and two high schools. I can't say that I ever fit in, but like I told my kids, you only need one or two good friends anyway. We stayed put, the oldest went through h.s. attended college for a while then moved out. That left enough room for her younger siblings to have their own rooms. Now the house was big enough for us. Finally the last kid has left, and it's just the two of us and the cat. So the house is now plenty big. It's the same thing with the garage and driveway. A two car garage, two driveway spaces, and a couple of parking spots at the curb in front. Not to mention the 9 1/2 ft. side yard next to the garage, where I currently have a car stored. My plan is to cut down on the number of projects. I never had a plan to really do a complete restoration and I've almost always bought cars that were in running condition. I want to make my space more useful, flexible, re configurable. Kind of a poor man's version of Jack Olsen's 12 gauge garage. Yes, I have considered moving. Just discussed it with my Wife when we were in the Central Coast area last week. But the longer we stay the more the house is worth. The plan would be to buy without selling. And we like it where we are. Okay, enough of the real estate talk, just going to discuss what can be done to the garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 14 hours ago, Avanti Bill said: I have plenty of land and would love to build a nice toy shed. The problem is that when I go to my engineer and talk about a permit he hits me with the reality that it will cost me nearly $100,000 to see if I can get a permit. Then I can expect about $100,000 to $200,000 in stormwater management before I pour one footer for the building. I really only wanted to have $150,000 in the whole thing as opposed to the $400,00. I have a three car in house for our daily drivers and then a two car detached for my shop and one bay for a fun driver. I rent a heated 40X60 industrial building from a friend for $3000 per month everything included which under my current building restrictions and excessive building cost may be cheap. At least I can get my truck and trailer in it and 6 other cars although that makes it tight. In our area one can expect to have $100k in fees and engineering before the foundation is even started. 98% of it is ridiculous. A permit for a new home used to be $800 or so and you start building. All of those houses were built to standards, with adequate site planning and are still standing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 10 hours ago, Rivguy said: Okay, enough of the real estate talk, just going to discuss what can be done to the garage. Time to raise the roof to make room for one or two storage lifts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Yes, Mark that is about what we would have to do here as we are on an L shaped lot. The problem here is Zoning and Height restrictions. I could go double deep but again building code restrictions. Hedge indicates 3' past my property line. Beyond is hospital parking with stadium lights! The front of my truck is where my property ends. A little over 10' from my garage to the neighbors. The killer for me is that there is a wooden 1930s 2 car garage across the alley from my garage on an extended lot that the owner will not sell. There has never been a car in the garage for the 37 years we have lived here. Mostly junk and some old toys for the first 20 years. Now hardly anything except wisteria vines and bamboo. Visible through the picture of my 1925. It has a basement and a pit! The building was salvageable as late as 5 years ago but now will probably need to be torn down and it is starting to lean back from since the center post between the swinging doors rotted and sunk. The doors could not be opened unless the roof header could be jacked up. In the last 20 years the hospital one block away has bought up over 60 properties within that block. Close to 40 houses were torn down with their garages to house at least 50 cars. More paved parking! Another went down last week with a 2-car concrete block garage larger than mine. Presently we have hospital parking lot on two sides of my L shaped lot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Henderson Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 A 24' x 24' extension was added to the rear of my existing 2 car garage, but when that got full ("never too much stuff, just too little space!") I bought a nearby residential property with a detached 36 x 28 garage at a courthouse foreclosure auction. The house is rented out separately and I retain the garage for my use. The decrease in the rental income from the property caused by excluding the garage was negligible, I got more space almost for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kelso Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 This is probably going to get me in trouble but it will not be the first time, I have broad shoulders. You guys working out of tight quarters, making do, and adjusting to the needs of your restoration, even working out of your goat shed, I restored part of my first Model T in a chicken coupe. You are the life blood of our hobby. The post from the expensive show in Florida, that🙃's the belly fat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesR Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 Quote How do you deal with your suburban two car garage? I have a couple of rental spaces. Beyond that, I deal with it philosophically. I have three old cars and only a two car garage (which my wife uses half of.) If I had more space I would have more cars...which I wouldn't have time or money to work on. I also couldn't afford license, insurance, etc. If I had an acreage and a large barn or utility building - something I've told myself I wanted in the past - I'd have a fleet of perpetual junkers. Before we bought our current house, we looked at a cool old place in town that garage space for four cars. If we'd bought that place, I'd own at least one more car than I do now, and maybe more, so I'm glad we don't live there. Also, I've come to appreciate my two car garage. I've learned recently that it's one of the few attached heated (slightly) garages in our area. The heat makes it bearable for winter work, but I supplement it with a space heater. Garages heated by house heat became a building code violation sometime after our house and garage were built, so it's slightly rare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlier Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 (edited) When I was looking for a house 30+ years ago I decided to have one built. The builder at that time had about a dozen different designs to choose from. I decided on a split level home with a two car garage with two separate doors. This gave me the biggest garage compared to two car garages with a single garage door. After my house was built I added additional electrical outlets in the garage as well as insulation. I also covered every unfinished wall with pegboard as well as shelves up high. The forced air heat/ac for the bedrooms above the garage runs through the garage so I cut a hole in the duct and put a closable vent in. So I had a climate controlled garage year round for the price of the vent. From April to November I keep two of my old cars in this garage. From November to April I move them around so I can fit them and what used to be my 20 year old daily driver VW Beetle in there during the winter. When it snowed the Beetle stayed in the garage and I used my 4WD truck with snow tires for work. The plan was to keep driving the Beetle and when it reached 25 years old to put it in HPOF or spruce it up a bit and put it in class judging. Just before Christmas last year a distracted, idiot, driver rear ended me and totaled it. That ended those plans. If things workout the Beetle's modern replacement might just fit in that spot. I also have two other old vehicles that I keep in a Lock & Store 10'x30' unit. Unfortunately, that facility was sold in the fall of 2020. Since then, the new owner has raised the monthly twice. Once by 15% and less than 12 months later by another 20%. He is planning an expansion to add more units so no doubt the rent increases will only continue. Sadly all the other facilities in the area are about the same price and private rentals from little old ladies are a pipe dream. In the past I have given some thought to buying a 2nd enclosed car trailer and using both trailers to store the cars current in the rental unit. I might have to revisit that idea soon. Edited January 27, 2022 by charlier (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthcranbrook Posted January 26, 2022 Share Posted January 26, 2022 How do I deal with my small two car garage? Plymouth on the right. Plymouth on the left, crap everywhere else. New cars watch through the window. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Jake Moran Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 On 1/25/2022 at 12:41 PM, John_S_in_Penna said: While you're in the built-up area, consider renting some space in less developed areas. You could use it for your shop, or for a few extra cars, or even for household storage. It would give you the "breathing room" that might be helpful. It's always handy to have what you love close to you. Consider renting one bay of a widow's 2-car garage, near you, for extra car space. One friend did just that. And I agree that moving to a less expensive locality will improve your life. Small towns are friendly and safe and can be much less expensive. Sell your small $1,000,000 house and get another one for $100,000 or $200,000, and invest the remaining $800,000. Here's a representative small house currently for sale in Indiana for $72,000: Or if you want something larger, with 5 acres, here is one for $285,000. Don't get used to exorbitant prices! I have tried the rent a space and will probably have to go that route again. Problem is, I am seeing garage space for $200 or more per month. So, $2400 to $2500 to rent space to store a $12,000 collector car? For me that does not make sense. I had outdoor rental for $40 per month, I think it went to $65 for 2 cars, a 1948 Packard and a 1949 Chrysler, this benefited the elderly couple, but he died, she immediately sought to sell the home and furnishings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B Jake Moran Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 I had a 3 car heated and air conditioned man cave garage in Madrid, Iowa. Problem was, the home was 910 square feet. Small for sure, so we upgraded to a nicer, bigger home. In that search, my (ex) wife would note if the homes we were looking at were sufficient for the hobby. "Sure you want it, it has a nice garage" So I went "fine" and we bought a nice older home with a crappy falling down 1940's 2 car garage. Then when we amicably divorced, I bought another nice older home with an attached 1 car garage that would not even fit my 2019 Toyota Tacoma! I mean seriously, that house was built in 1952!!! I had no old cars after the divorce sale. I sold my 1976 Cadillac and my 1993 Allante. Then I became coupled with my fiance' and we have purchased a nice suburban home, with an attached 2 1/2 car garage. Problem is - you guessed it - my 2021 Toyota Tundra basely fits and my fiance's 2019 Chevy Blazer fits fine but I park outside. Together they won't fit or we would be squeezing to get out. ** I have no had a collector car now for 3 years and I do look and research. Issue now is I can't collect just one car, so even if I bought a modern collector car, I am still going to search for a rental garage. I have also considered looking into buying a home and renting the home out. I am in suburban Des Moines Iowa. So I look on Realtor.com in a search of Iowa. I plug in my parameters - price, garage size (at least 2) and away I go. If I bought a $65,000 home, put a mortgage on it for say $850 and got a rental price of $750 then I would call that a decent deal. I can't find much below that price point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 We bought an RV storage facility about 10 years ago with a 20x30 heated building. A little extreme, but it works. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkV Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Well I have a 3 bedroom ranch house near LA with small house and relatively large (for ca) property. I lucked out as my driveway goes into the backyard, with two car garage facing the backyard. The paved area can fit 4 cars deep by 4 cars wide plus two cars on my addition to the driveway and three in the driveway out front. I’m currently adding a 20x28 garage in the backyard area for a combined storage and office area in the dirt area in the photo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 In the world of garages, there are as many ways to do it as there are cars. This morning, I had a meeting with two gentleman who are building a 750,000 square foot garage. Yes, that IS correct. It’s an interesting project that I am going to be able to give input to as far as function, design, and facilities management. I expect when finished it will be the most imposing car facility on the planet. I can’t share the particulars. It’s going to redefine the term garage. To say it’s going to be epic is an understatement. It will be announced in the coming days....and I expect it will make quite a stir............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 28 minutes ago, edinmass said: This morning, I had a meeting with two gentleman who are building a 750,000 square foot garage. Since they must have thought of everything, are there any insights from this project that will help the original poster and answer questions about using or augmenting a 2-car garage? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Good of them to get that money back in circulation.😁 Seriously, that will be something to behold! 865 ft+ square. If square. Or about 18 football fields. I think! Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 43 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said: Good of them to get that money back in circulation.😁 Seriously, that will be something to behold! 865 ft+ square. If square. Or about 18 football fields. I think! Ben Everything is BIG in Texas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broker-len Posted January 28, 2022 Share Posted January 28, 2022 Built this about 25 years ago 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 2 hours ago, edinmass said: Everything is BIG in Texas! A clue! Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivguy Posted January 29, 2022 Author Share Posted January 29, 2022 I finally cleared out my garage enough to park two cars inside. I just finished several days of big household projects that i'd been promising to do since last year. Now I can get started on building my garage table! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8E45E Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 The garage and the basement (aka, my carpeted parts department) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NigelPearson Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 On 1/26/2022 at 12:19 PM, Jim Bollman said: Collect small cars 😁 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hidden_hunter Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 On 1/26/2022 at 9:54 AM, 8E45E said: Can you BUY a similar building in an industrial area which is already zoned for it, and lease out the office part? In Melbourne the traditional industrial areas are shrinking and making way for housing, so you can't even pick it up for that cheap 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pfeil Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 If all you have is a two-car garage this is the only answer for a small investment. Now you have space plus a lift to save your back! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlier Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 A few years ago at the AACA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia there was a session given about decluttering/organizing one's garage, etc. That was one of the most attended seminars that I have every attended. LOTS of good information along with some shocking before & after photos. Hopefully, sometime in the near future this seminar is given again by this individual. From the looks of some of the photos in this thread some of us (myself included) could use it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivguy Posted January 31, 2022 Author Share Posted January 31, 2022 Getting rid of clutter is just so hard. All that stuff is bound to come in handy- someday! Realistically though, those extra nuts and bolts, springs, hardware, washers, bushings and brackets, etc. do save the day sometime. I've got two shelves of plastic coffee cans filled with this stuff and I'm never going to get rid of it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Just now, Rivguy said: I've got two shelves of plastic coffee cans filled with this stuff and I'm never going to get rid of it. Me too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve_Mack_CT Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) The one bit of good advice I have followed was never throw anything away that pertains to a car you currently have. At times really odd or obscure parts, or even parts of parts, can be difficult to get even with more common cars. Has helped me more than once! Edited February 1, 2022 by Steve_Mack_CT (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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