Garage Ideas

[kuhner]

Next spring I plan on getting started on building a new garage. So far plans are for a conventional one story 28x40. Room for two vehicle storage and one space for work shop use.

Whenever I visit someones garage I am always on the lookout for some little detail that is really clever to incorporate into mine. A couple that come to mind are hot water radiant floor heat, or shiny galvanized sheets to cover the interior walls (sounds weird but worked well for this guy).

So since many of us on this forum have been around garages for along time, do any of you have any good ideas to incorporate or bad ideas to avoid?

greg

[Guest Indiana_Truck]

First thing you need to do is add on! You can never have more space than you will fill up in a short time.

Bob

[Guest 1959olds]

If, at all possible, consider some of the following: floor drains that are sloped to the middle with the drain screened and running outside. This will allow snow and ice, depending on where you live, to drain away from the cars. You will also be able to wash your car inside if need be. Run 1/2" galv. pipe with air hook ups around the whole garage so you don't have to drag hose everywhere. The same applies to electrical receptacles, you can't have enough!

[Guest]

You need to build it about 500 miles East of your house, so I can store my cars in it.....

Thanks, in advance!

[Paul Dobbin]

1. Figure at least a double bay for the work area.

2. A laundry sink. Running water inside is a must,

even if it drains to the ground out back. (hose

bib over a sink)

3. If you don't have a bathroom, at least have a pee

tube to the outback.

4. Have an intercom from the house to the garage. Have the

house doorbell ring in the garage too.

5. Separate the finished cars from the work area. Even if

it's a curtain. Sometimes, like painting or grinding

the mess travels.

6. Buy more lights than you think you'll need, Old age

steals your vision.

7. In Florida mine has A/C, in Ohio I'd have heat & A/C.

8. Put the windows up high for the light.

9. Lots of shevling to keep the floor empty. It makes it

so much easier to keep the place clean.

10. Cross ventilation the work area. East west gets the best breeze.

FINALLY. Like everybody else says make it bigger than you think you'll

ever need. You'll still be jammed in a few years.

[Jim Bollman]

Here are a few things I did and should have done in my 48' X 30' shop.

1) I used flake board or peg board on all walls. This allow lots of places to hang things either from pegs, brackets, nails, or screws, since you can mount things anywhere without concern about stud location accept very heavy objects.

2) painted shop walls/ceiling white for more light

3) use the cold start florescent fixtures, the double 8 footers are the best bang for the buck. Besides starting when it is cold without flicker they put out more light per foot.

4) skip the overhead door to the outside in the shop area put a large overhead door between the shop area and the rest of the building. Gives you a lot warmer shop without the outside overhead door. (I live in upstate NY)

5) go deeper, you always have benches or some large equipment and you can quickly get to short in the work area. In the storage area you may gain more car storage by putting two cars front to back. I wish I would have went a few more feet deep.

6) If your plan and location works for two story in at least part of the building it gives you a lot of cheap floor space for extra parts. My building has the center 24' a full two stories. Besides storage I have my air compressor up there and pipe air down.

7) I agree with the shelves I have lots and could use more. Don't forget high shelves for things you don't need to get to often, lots of wasted space up high.

8) figure how many outlets you think you need then double it. Some ceiling outlets can be handy for dropping power for trouble lights and battery tenders.

9) a track for a chain falls is nice, I have plans to put one in and haven't. At least put a couple of reinforced lift points where you are most likely to use them.

10) If you have any plans of expanding your collection and don't want to add on, be sure you have enough ceiling height for a lift storage system. (I'm starting to look for one now)

11) don't let any of your daily drivers inside (especially your wife's), bad habit that will be hard to break when you need the space.

12) double wide for the work space is a good idea, mine is only 12 foot wide and it is tight at times. I leave the big overhead door open in warm weather for more space.

More will probably come to mind as soon as I hit send.

Good Luck

[Dave@Moon]

A few suggestions that haven't been made as yet:

If you plan on installing a blasting cabinet, plan a space for it away from any windows (and neighbor's windows!) with a dryer vent installed in the wall for an exhaust port. Otherwise plan the garage with as many windows and skylights as possible for ventilation and light.

Dryer vents can also be used (with the proper hoses) to vent engine exhaust through walls or garage doors.

Also if you plan on doing any home powder coating (or think you might), wire the building with 2 220V circuits because most air compressors operate on a lower amperage circuit than the baking oven you'll need for the powder coating process.

Enjoy it!

[Guest DeSoto Frank]

Plan your bays wide enough & deep enough so that when you get a car in there, you have plenty of room to walk around, with the car doors open ...

Our present two-car garage (c. 1940) is essentially a "wooden tent" - a weatherboard structure, minimally framed, and just big enough to put a car in...I can barely squeeze out of the car after parking, even though the door is touching the inside wall!

With such tight quarters, I'm pretty limited to how much work I can do on a car...

If you've got "Carte blanche", give yourself plenty of room...enough for a Caddy, even if you're presently only into Metropolitans....

[palbuick]

No matter what size you plan for your garage. it won't be enough. If you have enough room, extend your foundation another 20-30 feet, You can always add on later, after you run out of space. The extension might be used for a paint booth, large enough for a sandblast cabinet and storage,or another car. Electrical outlets and lights, the more the better. If you have a big compressor, run air lines everywhere. I used 1 1/2 PVC pipe all around garage, and 3/4" drop lines to regulators, like electrical outlets air outlets at several convenient locations. Use epxoy paint on the floor. Garage insulated with 1 1/2" stryafoam and covered with plaster board, Peg board used half way up on walls. My work area is heated 30 X 30 and with the stryafoam insulation area stays warm in Winter, and about 15 degrees cooler than other half of garage in summer.

Jimm Schilf

palbuick

[ex98thdrill]

Being in Ohio, you might want to consider how you pitch your roof. In our case, we pitched the roof wrong and all of the snow slides off (metal roof) and goes right in front of the doors. If you can't change your roof, go with seamless gutters. If you don't, you'll be sure to have water dripping in front of the doors when it rains.

All of ideas I've seen already are right on the money. Consider making it high enough to install a lift. You can buy a brand new lift for $2,000 - $3,000 and you can find used ones for even less. They are great for doing oil changes, detailing chassis, and you can't ask for a better method when it comes to lifting car bodies off of the frame. You may want to build it a little higher so that you can frame your ceilings and have loft space above your car storage. This will be of a minimal cost in comparison, and will clear up precious floor space. With this in mind also goes the issue of needing 220v power.

[kuhner]

Excellent ideas! keep 'em coming.

Looks like size does matter. I am some what limited in area, so I may be able to increase the length (at the expense of my wife's beloved blueberry bushes and apple trees), the depth is the real problem.

Different ideas on the type of pipping for my compressed air. Plastic, galv. metal, I thought of copper.

Never gave the idea of a bake oven or a blast cabinet a thought.

Typically how much height do I need for a lift? what would be the least I could get by with?

greg

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Stay away from PVC for compressed air. If it ever fails, it will fail catastrophically. I wouldn't want to have to dodge shrapnell, even it it was plastic. PVC is fine for water. Water looses all of it's pressure when expanded just a fraction. Air is another story.

[Guest imported_DaveZZZ]

I agree on the copper for compressed air. I am responsible for a lot of the engineering on the C/A system at work, and we use only copper and stainless. Iron sheds too many particles (bad for tools) and PVC isn't safe. Stainless is probably too expensive (we use it in pharmaceuticals), leaving you with copper as the best choice.

-Dave

[Dave@Moon]

Campbell-Hausefeld markets (or at least used to) an aluminum compressed air line kit. Has anybody used one of these?

[ex98thdrill]

For the lift, I'd check with the various manufacturers. I'm sure most of the manufacturers have websites, so that should be easy. We bought a 9,000 lb lift brand new from Eagle and caught it on sale for $2,500 delivered. Ours is an 220v electric floor mounted lift that has safety locks every 3 inches? It has the offset posts so that you can pull up to the lift and open the doors to get out of your car, and if I'm not mistaken we needed 12 feet of clearance. Remember if you put a floor mounted lift in, you won't be able to drive your car and open the doors to get out of it unless you get the offset posts (unless you don't mind pushing your car forward to get the support arms under it). If you decide to put the lift in, you'll never want to use a jack and a creeper again. Like I said for changing oil, detailing chassis before a show, brake work, lifting and placing bodies off and on frames, etc. you can't beat them. They make doing tire rotations a lot easier too.

If you can get by with a 7' overhead door to get your vehicles in, went with 12" floor joists for your loft, and gave yourself adequate head clearance in the loft, you'd have more than enough room for a lift if you build your work bay with an open ceiling.

.....Another good part about having a loft is that you can convert it into an apartment and live in it should the wife throw you out of the house

....Remember that if you are going with roof trusses, your inside height of your shop will almost always be at the same level as your eaves. If you go with rafters, it'll give you some more head room.

[Jim Bollman]

There are several heights for lifts. The one I was looking at only lifts 63" off the floor but still better than a creeper. The ceiling height depends on what you are lifting. My rough calculations were that I could lift all the way with one of my cars and almost all the way with the other with my 9 foot 6 inch ceilings.

This was a 4 post lift so the doors were not a problem but if you wanted to do wheel work you needed to add a different bracket to convert it to a frame lift. I don't remember the brand, I looked and several on the web and decided I wanted to see one in person before I bought.

[Guest Skyking]

When buying garage doors, always remember to buy insulated ones. It will save on heat & air.

My garage has a full loft. It's great for detailing & storing all the small parts.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

DaveZZZ writes:

" Iron sheds too many particles (bad for tools) and PVC isn't safe."

OK, i'll take your word for it because i really do not know. BUT, i have noticed that PVC has pressure ratings up to 150 PSI at 100 degrees F or something like that. SO why is PVC not safe as long as we're only pushing 125 PSI which is about enuf for any home type shop??????

As for the "iron deposits" i have rarely seen a compressor unless it had a steel tank. I worked for a Buick dealer back in the 70's that used iron pipe for the entire shop in the Detroit area and the pipe was probably pre WWII. We never had any problems.

Copper is stronger?? Do we nned to specify some wall thickness greater than household plumbing use ???? House hold water pressure is rarely over 60 PSI that i know of. I've just never liked copper for pressure applications.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

Intercom in garage:

Just run a phone line to the garage. if u want to call the house or visa-versa just dial your own number and depress the hook. The phone will ring at BOTh locations. When u hear it stop ringing u will know that the other end has picked up and release the hook. Works for me here in Tennessee. This of course also works among other phones scattered thruout the house. Saves alot of yelli8ng back and forth or having to run up and down hallways or acroos the court. As long as the phones are all connected to the same line running to the house it will work. The independent Intercomm hocus pocus is just a sham. Never had one to work a damn in over 3 different houses i've lived in and they were ALOT bigger than this one. Learned to use this regular tele trick from a half retarded house keeper i once had at the bigger house. Went on for over a year until one day i asked her how she was calling me on my own phone from inside of the same house when i knew that all of the other lines were busy. What an epiphany!

[Guest Hal Davis (MODEL A HAL)]

Packard V8,

It's not that PVC won't hold the pressure. It's what happens when it doesn't. It could fail by being hit with something or a manufacturing defect or an installation defect. It doesn't matter what causes the failure, but if it does fail, little pieces of plastic go flying throught the air at very high velocity. Not to say metal pipe can't fail too, but when it does, it usually just gets a hole in it or a split down the seam, no flying shrapnell. The reason PVC doesn't do the same thing with water is because a liquid is not compressible. Compressed air at 125 psi has to expand to 8 or 9 times it's original size before it's pressure is down to atmospheric. While it's doing this expansion, it's carrying sharp pieces of broken PVC pipe with it.

Put a filter at your drops and you don't have to worry about any cotamination from metal pipes damaging your air tools.

[Guest imported_DaveZZZ]

Hal is correct about the PVC. Some PVC is rated at up to 400PSI, but it is very brittle, and as the pressure rises inside it will actually be more brittle.

I wasn't trying to say you can't use iron, and you are correct that most compressors will have a steel tank, but I would avoid it because it isn't good for tools, if you paint it won't help there, and the filters available aren't all that good. I know because we often have to filter our air for pharma use, and nothing at Sears is going to capture more than the largest particles.

We're getting far afield here, but what happens is that compressed air drops moisture, which is why you get so much water out of your tank when you drain it. In an iron system, the pipes will provide a lot of surface area to get rusty, and that's when you'll really start shedding particles. Now, your filter might work OK, but if you are shedding like crazy, you can "blind" the filter, which is a bit different than clogging a filter because it actually pushes particles through.

Again, this isn't "the sky is falling." Use what you like, but I am anal about this stuff, so I would go with copper. In the big scheme of things, 100' of copper pipe isn't that expensive. 1/2" should be fine for 150PSI + 15 SCFM. As a comparison, we use 1" for a 100HP system putting out 150PSI + 70SCFM, 600gal receiver tank, and if your system is bigger than that I want to see it!

Oh, and we are using run of the mill household water pipe.

-Dave

[Guest Skyking]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Intercom in garage:

Just run a phone line to the garage. if u want to call the house or visa-versa just dial your own number and depress the hook. The phone will ring at BOTh locations. When u hear it stop ringing u will know that the other end has picked up and release the hook. Works for me here in Tennessee. </div></div>

Great idea Packard, I have to try that. Right now I have a wireless door bell in my unattached garage with the buttons in the house. When my wife wants me she pushes the button and rings the chimes, then we both pick up the phones and talk. Sometimes for whatever reason, the chimes don't always ring.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

DaveZZZ and Hal. Thank u for the explanation on the PVC. The compressibilty issue never dawned on me. I've not yet strung any drops in my shop but it is something i've been passively thinking about in recent months. Been collecting PVC for the project but might rethink the idea now. Actually i've been also considering just stringing a long hose since i only need one drop.

[ronbarn]

I've had PVC air piping in my garage for 16 years, but it has a rating in excess of 600 psi. I do not have a cold weather problem down here in Alabama and have heard that cold temperature can cause brittleness. Am surprised that no one has mentioned the correct way to design an air drop. I use the approach described in the TIP catalogues. I placed my compressor outside on a concrete pad and built a cover and used lattice for the sides to promote air flow. The air flows up high into the inside of the garage and runs around the ceiling to pretty much prelude being hit by some flying object. From where the main line enters the garage, the pipe sloops downward at a slight angle (about 2-5 degrees) to each drop. The drops have a ball valve at the end to drain water. A T-connector is located about a foot above the drain valve. Off of the Tee there is a short horizontal line (about 6 inches) then an elbow with a short (again about 6 inches) upward and another elbow with a short horizontal line to the regulator/filter unit. This may sound complex, but it easy to build and it works great. All drops have common style quick disconnects for interchangeability of tools.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

TYelephone as intercom disclaimer:

My sister who lives in another region of the U.S. advises me that the method i described above for using the Tele' as an intercom does not work for her. Works with BellSouth tho because i use it nearly every day as i described

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

U mite want to double or even triple one of the ceiling rafters to facilitate slinging a chain fall. Even if u do not like to use a chain fall for pulling engines its still handy for loading and unloading other heavy objects. Double a 2x6 rafter for engines up to 500 lbs. Probably need to triple it for engines over 500 lbs. Use a support pole for spans over 12feet. Maybe one of our resident engineers can guide us better on specs for this but what i've outlined above is what i use with good results and do not feel it is the least bit 'overbilt'.

If your local regulations require a seperate electrical meter for 220 in a detached garage u can get around that by simply running an OVERSIZED WIRE 110 service from the house to the garage. After inspection the wires can be swapped at the HOUSE service box to send 2wo 110 legs to the garage and then rewire at the box in the garage accordingly. That way u can get 110 AND 220 to the garage without added monthly expense of a meter. OF course this does not mean that u can run air-con,welders,compressors all at the same time in the garage (i've never tried all 3 at the same time) but for a home shop running one at a time should not be a big issue.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

Need a good RECESSED anchor point in the middle of the floor with a small cover plate. The anchor will allow for tieing down frames or other bent objects so they can be streightened.

[Guest Randy Berger]

PackardV8, not a bad idea. My friend had to install two anchor points in his garage floor as that was the only way to hold the frame down on a Packard while reinstalling the torsion bars.

YFAM, Randy Berger

[Guest rcirilli]

I built a 32 X 40, it's not big enough either but here are some things I did right. I am in PA and had a company from Ohio build me a pole building. They put up the poles, rafters, roof and covered the sides. I then had a cement floor poured and had a slight slope of about two inches from rear to front, just enough for water to go out the two wide overhead doors. I then installed siding myself. Later I put in the wiring and light and doors. From the outside you would never know it is a pole building and my cost was about 15.00 a square foot. My doors are on the narrow side giving me maximum depth. If you want the phone number for the contractor let me know. PS go 10 or 12 foot high on your walls so you can use a lift. Pennies additional cost.

[ex98thdrill]

That's true, but if you have a lift, you can wrap chains around the arms on the lift and use that for pulling engines as well.

[special55]

I am in the process of building a 26x28 detached garage. I have an attached garage so the entire space will be my shop. I would have went bigger but I live in a subdivision and this was the biggest building the TWP. would let me construct.

My walls are 11ft tall for future lift. If you are planning on a two post determine were it will be located prior to pouring the floor so you can ensure the cement is thick enough. I live in Michigan so I went with 2x6 construction for the added insulation. My door is 8ft high with high rise track so that it runs closer to the ceiling and will not get in the way of a vehicle on the hoist. Door is 2in. thick fully insulated.

I can already see that I regret not putting a bump out in one of the rear corners for compressor/furnace. I would highly recommend one or plan on having your mechanicals in the attic.

All the other suggestions look great. I wish I would have found this forum about 6 months ago.

Great info guys.

[brad54]

My shop is 32x40. Here are some of the things I've done (and am doing: not finished yet)

Two overhead doors, one 7 feet, one 8. The 8 footer is in the middle of the 32 foot wall, with tracks going all the way to the ceiling to clear a lift in the future.

12 foot walls, with trusses--No poles in the center of the shop!

4x8 sheets of white pegboard from the ceiling down, with corrugated steel siding (same as mentioned earlier) down the rest of the way to the floor (4 feet). The steel keeps sparks and floor jack handles, etc. from getting into the wall. White p-board is about $12 per, but after hanging drywall, taping, mudding and painting, the cost is about the same, and time savings is HUGE.

In the back right corner I built a 4x6 closet, with 2x6 studs, 7-foot ceiling, and an exterior storm door. This is my air compressor closet. It's ventilated, and I will probably wire in a small fan for cooling. Heavily insulated. When the compressor kicks in, it's muffled. Otherwise you can't hear yourself think. 2x6 ceiling joists above the closet, with 3/4-inch plywood floor and there's a 4'6" tall loft for storage. Closet also store cleaning supplies, rags, extra flourescent bulbs, etc. Also gained two more corners to stick stationary tools in the shop (drill press, grinder, etc.)

Running water, will put small 5-gallon tank above office loft (9x11 office in front, next to overhead doors). Keeping the office ceiling at 7 feet (like the closet) gives extra foot of loft storage.

I found a full-length to-the-floor urinal! Center piece of the shop! Don't go with a toilet--every toilet I've ever seen in a shop was disgusting. They seem to collect dirt and, let's face it, our wives have a point when they gripe about us hitting the bowl.

Oven for powder coating.

Lots and lots of outlets. I've got 2-gang outlets spaced every four feet, with one half of the outlet on one circuit, the other on a different circuit. A pain to wire, but I can have my old Coke machine plugged into one, and the bench grinder plugged in right next to it and not trip a fuse. First four outlets share 2 circuits (1A, 2A,3A,4A/1B,2B,3B,4B) and the second four outlets share two circuits (5A,6A,7A,8A/5B,6B,7B,8B) running down the wall.

Three outlets spaced out on the wall three feet down from the ceiling. Clock, TV, Drop light on a self-retracting real, lighted signs. You'll use them.

I also have a few 220v outlets spaced along the wall so I can move a welder and plasma cutter around when I get one, and the stove is wired for 220v. In a small shop, put the stove on casters and store it out of the way when not in use.

Shelves: HEAVY DUTY. Go 2 feet wide. A typical cylinder head is about that long, and that's probably the longest thing you'll slide on a shelf. You can buy industrial pallet racking that's 2 feet wide--it's not too expensive to custom order from a racking company, believe it or not. Don't go with the 3-foot stuff that's commonly available: you end up double-stacking things 2 deep on each shelf, making it harder to use/see stuff, and wasting precious floor space in the process.

"Tune" your shelf space. I made one shelf only 8 inches to the shelf above it, to set intake manifolds, valve covers, etc. on it. You won't stack stuff on an intake, so if there's 12 inches of dead space to the next shelf in the spot you set your intakes and valve covers, you're wasting space. Say your shelf is 7 feet tall: 7 shelves space a foot apart would work, but if you make one shelf only 6 inches for intakes/valve covers, you gain a free shelf for small boxes. Do that on a wall that's 12-feet tall, and you find a lot of "free" shelf space!

Smartest thing I ever did: Bought plastic tote boxes that are 24 long, 12 wide 12 high from SAM'S club for 4.95 each. Bought $125 worth. Neatly stores everything. The boxes fit on my shelves perfectly too, making the back wall of the shop (where the shelves are) neat and orderly. Space the shelves to leave only a couple inches between the top of the box and the next shelf: If you save only 2 inches (horizontal) per shelf, after six shelves you have an extra foot (horizontal) which can give you an additional 12-inch shelf. If your shelves are 10 feet long (mine are 13), you now have 10 "free" feet of horizontal storage space for items 12 inches tall. Plan out and maximize your storage shelves so you don't have wasted space.

Make some of your storage shelves with the first shelf three feet off the floor. You can set engines, bench seats, wheels/tires on their side under the first shelf.

Anywhere you're going to put storage against a wall (behind shelves, lofts, etc) use plywood instead of pegboard or drywall. You'll push something into the wall at some point, and plywood will stop it, drywall will punch through.

Think about having a main work table instad of work benches along the wall. Work benches become storage for drill battery chargers, organizing bins, etc. A work table away from the wall with access on all sides is nice. Along the nearest wall behind the table, put a 12-18 inch wide counter for storage of battery chargers, drill bits, etc.; All the junk you have to move now every time you need to work at your bench.

I think I'm going with 4foot light tube fixtures, only because spare 4-foot tubes are easier to store than 8 footers.

The only window is in my office, because I don't want prying eyes to see what's in the shop, and more importantly a window costs wall space. All you can hang on a window is drapes! I'd rather look at vintage signs, etc.

Finally (finally!) put a fire escape on the back wall (exterior house door), or somewhere across from the overhead doors. If something bad happens, you don't want to have to run through/past something burning to get out of the building. And put well-labeled fire extinguishers in the shop: get the little "Fire Extinguisher" signs that hang above the extinguisher and point down to it like are in public buildings, etc. You may know where the extinguisher is when it's needed, but your buddy probably won't.

Hope this wasn't too long: I put a ton of thought into mine, and couldn't find a good source for any of it. Luckily, my work takes me to a lot of pro shops so I picked up a lot of tips.

-Brad

[ronbarn]

Brad54 made one very good point that I hope was not lost in the long list of excellent suggestions. I used to have almost all of my stuff in cardboard boxes. I bought a few of the large boxes suggested by Brad, but they tended to get overstuffed and heavy. Then I went to Dollar General and bought a whole bunch of "clear" plastic boxes of various sizes. I use a box for no more that one or two items for the same vehicle. And then I label each box. They are stackable and make the storage look very organized - because it is! The only drawback is that some of the boxes will break (after all they are cheap) with frequent use, but they are also cheaply replaceable (after all they are cheap).

One other idea I don't think I mentioned is keep on the lookout for thrown away storm doors. Make a "shadow box" and use the door as the front of a display or storage cabinet. The storm door cuts down the dust build up and you can easily see and get to the contents. Besides it's fun when you have a visitor looking at the contents and all of sudden they exclaim, "Hey that's just a storm door. What a clever idea."

[Guest Indiana_Truck]

One idea I use in my shop that has not been posted is I take old empty plastic containers, like the ones grated cheese comes in for pasta, and run a screw up through the center of the lid into the bottom of a shelf over the work bench. I use these to store nuts & bolts and other small items and when I work on a car I use one to put the bolts in so I can find them when I need them. You can have a few lids to put on them and set them inside the car or on the shelf or you can hang them under the shelf and put a tag on them with tape. I only use the clear ones so I can see what is inside each one. When I need a bolt I just grab one with bolts of about the size I need and take it to the car with me to find the one I need. I have seen this done with baby food jars in years past but they were glass and we all know what happens to glass jars in a shop.

Bob

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> I have seen this done with baby food jars in years past but they were glass and we all know what happens to glass jars in a shop. </div></div>

I did this with baby food jars back at my old garage. (I had a neighbor as a kid that did this and I thought it was a good idea.) Even if you're not concerned about broken glass, don't do it.

Baby food jars have lids these days that are meant to be spun on and off very briefly, as little as 1/8 of a turn will do it. but only once or twice at most. They generally have fine threads (which can be quite numerous) that cut into lids that are internally coated with a vinyl-like material that accepts the threads as they turn in and out,... <span style="font-style: italic">but only for a while!</span> After a few opening and closing repetitions the lids become <span style="font-weight: bold">VERY</span> tight, and even using three heavy screws in the lids I was still ripping the lids off the wooden joists trying to open the jars or rescrew them closed. Not a success.

[brad54]

Yeah, I tend to get a little excitable when it comes to setting up shops!

On the storm-door idea, I've done a variation on it: I got a metal 3-shelf book shelf from an office, and made two Plexiglass doors for it, attaching them with hinges and cabinet latches from Home Depot. As mentioned, dust will get on everything, so the doors keep my books clean, and easy to view through the doors to find what I'm looking for. (Also keeps garage trinkets on display clean!) Always have a bookcase in your shop for reference materials. The Plexi was expensive five years ago, (very, actually), but I've long since absorbed the cost and have really benefited from the doors.

Again, along this same line, if you've got a bolt bin or organzing cabinet for fasteners and such, put a door on it. I've noticed while digging through magic bolt boxes that you frequently get filthy rummaging through the fasteners. A lot of it is shop dust, not car grime on the recycled bolts.

And for guys building a shop, never start working on the car in your new building until your shop is finished! I've been in dozens of 15-year old shops with bare stud walls, no insulation, a couple of light fixtures run with extension cords, "temporary shelves" nailed to the walls (or 2x4s nailed between studs) and things hung on a big nail driven into a stud. The mistake is they all got the building framed, and then started wrenching on their cars, and "someday" to finish the shop never gets there.

-Brad

[ex98thdrill]

Ron,

It's funny you mention storm doors. To take that idea one step further.... In my house I have a very large diecast collection and rather than spend a ton of money on those clear plastic showcases, I basically built a closet and picked up some used sliding glass doors in the same way that you acquired the storm doors. In the case of storage for in the shop, you can do the same thing and the advantage that you get is that you don't have to lose floor space to allow for the doors to swing open. ....Just an expansion of another good idea.

[Al Smeraldo]

When we built my son's 30x40 garage we put radiant heating in the floor. The tubing was expensive ($600) but is well worth it. If you are going to do this plan carefully where you want equipment to be bolted down. You don't want to drill holes in the tubing later. We have 12' height to the trusses. When the floor was poured we had 6" deep pads poured where the lift posts were to go the rest is 4".

[kuhner]

I planned on the radiant floor heat, but didnt think about what happens when you need to bolt something down. Good advice.

Tons of good advice on this thread, thanks to all.

greg

[Tom M]

Man you all must live on farms to build such big garages. My new add on garage was only 14'x22' that is the outside dimensions. So after you subtract the brick, wall thickness it left me with roughly 13'x21'. Well at least old Bessie is here now instead of having to pick her up then drive her back to storage place after working on her.