Garage build lessons learned/ideas

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ivegotmoxie

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ivegotmoxie
I’m planning on building a 28x40 2-bay garage to store and wrench on my vehicles. Planning is at the concept stage and I’m looking for some ideas or lessons learned from people who have built a garage and said to themselves either: “really glad I did that”, or “wish I had done that”.

Thanks!
 
Just wrapping mine up now. Only one thought.

Include lots of electricity and lights. We put a plug every 4 feet, and 2x 220v plugs (1 for the generator and 1 for an a/c). Very cheap and easy before the walls go up.
 
Dont go overboard and build a 'Garaj-mahal'. Its a rabbit hole and after you have said so many times 'we might as well', you end up with a per sf price rivaling luxury construction.

A few things are must-haves:
- HVAC
- insulated door panels
- if you are not in snow country, no 'lip' at the garage door, complettely level poured floor.
- commercial epoxy floor with some grit added.
- outside compressor shed with air lines along the sides of the garage
- outlets, more outlets,outlets hanging with reels from the ceiling between the bays, then add some more outlets
- dedicated 240V outlet for a welder
- lots of lighting with those shallow LED fixtures, but put it on a few separate circuits. You don't always need 'paintbooth bright'.
 
weilke said:
Dont go overboard and build a 'Garaj-mahal'. Its a rabbit hole and after you have said so many times 'we might as well', you end up with a per sf price rivaling luxury construction.

A few things are must-haves:
- a car lift
- HVAC
- insulated door panels
- if you are not in snow country, no 'lip' at the garage door, complettely level poured floor.
- commercial epoxy floor with some grit added.
- outside compressor shed with air lines along the sides of the garage
- outlets, more outlets,outlets hanging with reels from the ceiling between the bays, then add some more outlets
- dedicated 240V outlet for a welder
- lots of lighting with those shallow LED fixtures, but put it on a few separate circuits. You don't always need 'paintbooth bright'.
Click to expand...

FIFY :D
 
INSULATE, INSULATE, INSULATE. Even if you don't intend to put in HVAC. I built my hangar and garages adjacent to each other. After the first summer I'm thinking "why the hell is the garage do damned hot and the hangar is cool." The hangar is about 6' lower but then it struck me. The hangar is spray foamed (it is heated in the winter) and boy does that make a difference in the summer. A couple of Big Ass fans keeps that quite comfortable.
 
weilke said:
Dont go overboard and build a 'Garaj-mahal'. Its a rabbit hole and after you have said so many times 'we might as well', you end up with a per sf price rivaling luxury construction.

A few things are must-haves:
- HVAC
- insulated door panels
- if you are not in snow country, no 'lip' at the garage door, complettely level poured floor.
- commercial epoxy floor with some grit added.
- outside compressor shed with air lines along the sides of the garage
- outlets, more outlets,outlets hanging with reels from the ceiling between the bays, then add some more outlets
- dedicated 240V outlet for a welder
- lots of lighting with those shallow LED fixtures, but put it on a few separate circuits. You don't always need 'paintbooth bright'.
Click to expand...

i agree with your list but not so much your statement about not building a garage mahal. Garage mahal is awesome!
Oh and I’d add making the ceilings very tall to accommodate lifts. I will someday demolish our detached two car garage and rebuild a three wide, two tall six car garage in its place but it is nearly impossible to start a project like that right now.

In the meantime, I cosmetically redid the garages we have with paint, floors, lighting, electric upgrades and cabinets. My other tip is to really think through the sequencing and plan ahead for long lead time aspects.

Here is the before and after.
 
weilke said:
Dont go overboard and build a 'Garaj-mahal'. Its a rabbit hole and after you have said so many times 'we might as well', you end up with a per sf price rivaling luxury construction.

A few things are must-haves:
- HVAC
- insulated door panels
- if you are not in snow country, no 'lip' at the garage door, complettely level poured floor.
- commercial epoxy floor with some grit added.
- outside compressor shed with air lines along the sides of the garage
- outlets, more outlets,outlets hanging with reels from the ceiling between the bays, then add some more outlets
- dedicated 240V outlet for a welder
- lots of lighting with those shallow LED fixtures, but put it on a few separate circuits. You don't always need 'paintbooth bright'.
Click to expand...

I haven't done a dream garage, but that seems like a good list
I would add
-good lighting around the perimeters of the cars
-if there's an attic, real stairs...not just a ladder.
-I'd think about plumbing in my shop vac as a "central vac system", or maybe even a proper dust collector system.
-I'd like to have a bay set up as a wash bay, with a good drain, place for a pressure washer, etc...
-As an RV'rer I'd love to have a bay with high roll-up door and deep enough for my motorhome.
- to work on cars, I'd like to have a center trough, if not big enough to walk under, a more realistic might be just a foot or two deep with sliding grating that could be pushed out of teh way.... good height for getting a creeper under low cars...unless you're looking at a lift that is.....
 
Yes, 6in 'pads' for an asymmetric 2 post lift and enough overhead for said lift space are nice. Be sure to use a garage door that doesn't use horizontal tracks.

(and down we go the rabbit hole)
 
good point about the garage door and tracks. I'm thankful in my current house that the overhead doors are high enough that there is no concern about operating the door when the car hood or rear hatch is open
 
Brad W said:
-As an RV'rer I'd love to have a bay with high roll-up door and deep enough for my motorhome.
Click to expand...

My first house had a 'RV bay' with a side motor garage door, 42ft length and shop space along the side. The owner prior to me had added a 4-post lift and a compressor in the basement. It was epic.

- to work on cars, I'd like to have a center trough, if not big enough to walk under, a more realistic might be just a foot or two deep with sliding grating that could be pushed out of teh way.... good height for getting a creeper under low cars...unless you're looking at a lift that is.....
Click to expand...

I have the last oil change pit built in our county. Unfortunately it's too wide to drive my 911 over it so I had to add wooden ramps on both sides. It really only gives you access to the center of the car and unless it's a full setup with access from below, it's pretty cumbersome to get in and out. Flat floor, squeegee, and a 2 post lift is what you want.

A wash bay is major construction headache. You can't use drywall, you stick with water proof outlets etc. I would wash outside and the pull the car in for drying/detailing.
 
If you're really doing work on vehicles, you need a lift. I'd rather work in an unheated space under a lift than a nice warm shop lying on the floor.

I don't like floor drains. In my experience it's too hard to keep them from getting contaminated by oil, antifreeze, and oil absorbent. Maybe I'm just messy.

Not having to listen to the compressor is nice. Less of an issue now days that most of the power tools are battery operated.

I wish I had more bench space and more clearance to walk around. My shop is pretty small. I don't get to hung up over lights as you're going to need a portable light under the vehicle or under the hood anyway. Electrical outlets again not a huge deal with battery tools. I wish I had an outside electrical and air outlet as I work on a lot of equipment that won't fit inside. A battery charging station and place to organize those tools is important.

One place to put lots of light and outlets is over the workbench. Have a good vise.
 
Excellent advice above. Especially (from my experience-where my garage also doubles as my shop) electricity and lighting. And I'll add from (negative) experience, do the epoxy floor, but DO NOT do the colored flakes. They look great. But I have actually set down a screw and couldn't find it. The colored flakes (mine are gray & black) are excellent camolflage.
 
ivegotmoxie said:
I’m planning on building a 28x40 2-bay garage to store and wrench on my vehicles. Planning is at the concept stage and I’m looking for some ideas or lessons learned from people who have built a garage and said to themselves either: “really glad I did that”, or “wish I had done that”.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

We added a 2 car garage about a decade ago and I added a roll up door to the back so I could access the backyard with equipment without going around the house. Agree with other suggestions around more, more, more lighting and insulating. If you live in an area where it snows make sure you do something with the floor, the first winter we had the garage I looked like Bambi on ice when coming in after using the snowblower.
 
jsstevens said:
Excellent advice above. Especially (from my experience-where my garage also doubles as my shop) electricity and lighting. And I'll add from (negative) experience, do the epoxy floor, but DO NOT do the colored flakes. They look great. But I have actually set down a screw and couldn't find it. The colored flakes (mine are gray & black) are excellent camolflage.
Click to expand...

There is some truth to this but if you look from an angle (get your eye as close to the ground as possible) it isn’t hard to find things. Worst case, a powerful flashlight sweeping its beam from floor level will help find almost anything. But ok, it’s a legit downside to the colored flake epoxy floors. I still really like the look and durability and am willing to put up with it.
 
Lots of stuff on garagejournal.com to peruse. One of the best things to look up is Jack Olsen and the 12 Gauge Garage. Jack has done well on maximizing useful space in a very tight garage. Here's a good start:
 
Lots of good advice above. Random comments:

To me, most important would be height and width. Standard 2 car garage is too narrow to fully open the doors on the cars and have room for anything beside them. That's annoying forever. Best tip a friend gave me was making his 2 car garage about 4 feet wider. It went from 'nice' to 'amazing' to work in. Similar on height, but not as critical.

Pretty sure in some places you can't put a floor drain in and meet code. Not a big deal anyway, you're not going to be washing a car in there.

Epoxy floor is great. I wouldn't put any grit in it. Just attracts dirt forever. Keep it clean and dry, it's fine.

It's impossible to have too much electricity. I'd suggest a small sub panel.

Absolutely insulate!

Make sure the space between the ceiling and roof is ventilated adequately. I don't care what the latest guidelines are, you need air flow to get rid of the rot risk, at least in the northeast.

If you want a dedicated work space for machining, welding, bench work, whatever, plan the space for it. See my first point.
 
Insulate everywhere and get insulated doors as well. I can pull in a vehicle that's been up to operating temp, close the garage door, and an hour later the garage is warm enough to work in short sleeves in the middle of winter. Get a larger garage door than standard, both tall and wide. Put in some windows that can let in natural light, but not big enough for someone to break in/crawl through. Attic storage. Run lots of LED light bars, I have 8 in my 26x30. Think about what lights get blocked when you raise the garage door and position accordingly. I have 4 wall outlets and 1 220V welder circuit. I would have 2 more wall outlets, but my garage is a pull-through design with full size garage doors on front and rear (which I love because I have a carport behind it for additional coverage).

The one thing I probably should have done in mine that I didn't worry about at the time was an extra walk through door. I have one going into the house, but a second door off the rear would make it a lot more convenient when I'm going out to the back yard without opening up the full garage door.

If you can afford a mini split HVAC system, do it, as I put off a lot of projects in the summer due to excessive heat.
 
ivegotmoxie said:
I’m planning on building a 28x40 2-bay garage to store and wrench on my vehicles. Planning is at the concept stage and I’m looking for some ideas or lessons learned from people who have built a garage and said to themselves either: “really glad I did that”, or “wish I had done that”.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Join the Obsessed Garage facebook group if you're on there. He also has a youtube channel
 
Albany Tom said:
Pretty sure in some places you can't put a floor drain in and meet code. Not a big deal anyway, you're not going to be washing a car in there.
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I had floor drains (and heated floors) in that 'garaj-mahal'. It was required to have an oil separator. Not a big deal, except that you tend to bring a lot of sand along with the snow caked into your wheel-wells. End result are drain troughs and and a oil separator filled with a oil-sand slurry.....

Every floor guy will tell you that he can create that perfect slope to the door or the drain. My experince says otherwise. Hence my suggestion to get a flat poured floor, cover it with commercial epoxy and buy a big squegee.
 
ColoPilot said:
A beer fridge. What good are all the electrical outlets, car lifts, floor drains, and work benches if you don't have easy access beer?
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Absolutely. Also a couch and a TV so when you go to 'work on something', you don't have to sit on some uncomfortable chair.
 
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