my recently finished shop is 24x26 and it could be a little bigger. its not bad on the depth 26 but the width of 24 leaves a little to be desired. i have a big stand up compressor but i built a small out room next to the shop to house it so its nice and quiet. i also ran a 3" pipe from wall to wall for pulling motors, i have to put a brace up when i do but its worked out great already. i did vault the cielings and it makes quite a difference as i think i could put a lift in if i could afford it.

 

They are supposed to start building my garage in the next two weeks. We have a double sized city lot 75x120 frontage with the house on one side, the garage was as large as I felt I could go without overpowering the house: 24x24 1 and 3/4 story with a 12x4 bumpout for the stairs to 2nd level. Under the stairs in the bumpout will reside air compressor, powdercoat oven. Upstairs will be my woodworking tool storage/workshop/studio. One bay downstairs will have an assymetric 2 post lift, 10.5' ceiling height to the bottom of the floor joists + 16" joist depth (open trusses so there is no intermediate posts or beam required, 18'x8' oversized door. I don't believe a garage is for parking cars in, but for working in so we have 2 outbuildings for lawn mower, storage etc. and will have a 12x24' parking pad behind it for parking an enclosed car trailer. I also like an unobstructed floor so all cabinetry will be off floor. The garage will have it's own 220V service, heat and AC.

 

Axracer makes a good point about getting the non-truck, non-shop stuff out of the way and into a garden shed, attic, closet, or dumpster. That saved tons of room in my garage. Kiddie toys, bikes, trikes, etc. always seem to reappear, however...

Once the place is clear, here is the absolutely "got to have" list that I'm building towards. It will all fit in a 26 x 24.
1) Work bench
2) Tool storage cabinets/pegboard/whatever
3) Compressor (as big as you can afford, two stage oil lube is best)
4) Welding kit
5) Lots of storage shelving (paints, equipment, truck parts)
6) Media blast cabinet (once you've gone there, you'll know why)
7) Parts washer
8) Water close by (utility sink best, outside hose will do)
9) Fire extinguisher and smoke detector
10) Flourscent lights across the whole ceiling
11) At least three 110V power outlets, but more is better and on a different circuit from the overhead lights if possible.
12) At least two 220V outputs on their own 30A circuits. (run compressor and welder)
13) Place to put a good jack and four jack stands
14) Place to put a garbage can
15) Oh yeah, and something for tunes and cold beverages...


Rob

 

No Kiddies to worry about, my wife is as big a car nut as I am, so no problems there either. Will run phone and cable (for internet, I don't need TV for entertainment when I'm working) out there as well as security system and video surveillence. I will have to consider the built in security "devices" idea as well. Being a jeweler and having one of my outbuildings broken into twice makes me very security aware.

 

I went all stealth with my shop plans. I convinced the family that our farm shop needed to be large enough to fit our old Kenworth semi-tractor, or our combine into.... 14' high door, gobs of space, 220 service, heated slab..... We sold the Kenworth, and the combine usually gets serviced outside. But any of the F-series we have fit "beautifully". Now, if I can only keep everyone else's trucks and equipment out for a solid month or so, I can finish my project truck!
Some of my favorite features:
Heated slab (radiant flooring, fed from the water heater that also provides hot water to the sink and shower.... toilet only has cold, of course!)
220 service outlets inside and outside
formed concrete pit
metal halide lighting
16' workbench
waste oil heater
more wall cabinets than you can shake a stick at
loft over the workbench for parts storage
8x12 LOCKING tool storage room for "my" roller cabinets
...... and I am working on finishing the install on my 9K lift.......

If I "had" to, I could live there, and if I ain't careful, I just might!

 

Mine is 50' W x 33' D

"American Barn" with 15' ceiling in the centre section

Toilet and wet bar with H + C water + two outside taps

8' x 33' Mezanine across back wall

3' x 33' work bench across back wall, under mezanine

Two 10" RSJ (girders) across the centre section 14' apart so I can lift bodies or chassis onto the rotisery.

18 cfm (or bigger) compressor....soon to be outside

3 250W Sodium Vapour lights + LOTS of Fluro's + Portable 500W spots on stands

double outlets every 4' + overhead outlets every 10' + double outlets recessed into the front of the bench + overhead above bench + in the mexanine + outside

Partitioned off panel and paint bay with Lots of fluro's + heat lamps + drop down plastic sheets to cover entrance + walls to stop overspray

Bar, Pooltable, stereo, TV, model display cabinets (recessed into walls) and fridge

I put my tools on toolboards about 18" x 12", which hang on french cleats (timber split at 45 degree with one half on board and one half on wall) run french cleat all around the shed and you can move the tool board wherever you are working. + a cart on wheels with french cleats to hang the boards on for when you want them closer to the work.

Oxy, Arc + Mig.....want a tig too

Want a plasma cutter

Benchtop metal sheer, would like guilotine + folder + english wheel + bead roller

20 ton H press

My next shed will be bigger, but this will do for now !

Mark

 

Mark, is that fridge full of frosty Fosters? Ya need any help tilting a few? Any Norton's and Matchless thumpers in Oz? I must get down there and ride bike in "Kiwi land" and "Oz". Nice garage, I can fill it with all the crap i've saved over the years, stuff you'll use some day.
Carl....=o&o>....

 

Fosters is Australian for Cats ****. Nobody here drinks it. We EXPORT it

Kind of like Mexicans and Corona......they send it overseas and drink Pacifico or Dos Equies instead.

Funny coincidence, but I used to be into Matchless and AJS thumpers myself. Had a series of G80S 500 singles and a 350 or two. Mostly 52 and 53. First years of the jampot rear end and full width brake hubs. Wish I still had one......I could build a nice rigid bobber

Bad news mate, my shed is full of the crap I collected

Current stash includes 48 F1, 27 T Roadster, 37 Roadster Ute and a 51 Victoria.....all HalfDone of course

Now a nice rigid PanHead with a springer front end would probably squeeze into the shed, but apart from that there aint any spare space. Although a mate has asked me to collect three 59A flatheads from his place....and it would be rude to say no..... And there's that 53 F100 in a wrecking yard an hour away that could fall victim to the crushers if I don't save it......and

What I can't work out is why I am always broke

 

HalfDone, on the Matchless I've got a 61 Typhoon 600 (G80TCS) with competition mag. Treat the 48 F-1 well or i'll have to go to Oz and bring it home as I have a love for them. Many Norton singles around like a 19S 600 thumper? 750 / 850 Nortons?

Carl....=o&o>....

 

By the way halfdone, what do Aussies drink?

 

Probably imported Budweiser, for the same reasons we drink Fosters. It's "imported" and they have funny commercials.

Rob

 

Not many Norton Singles here. You see a few Commando's and the occasional Atlas.

Fosters is made by Carlton United Brewries.

They make a range of beers that include, in order of popularity: Carlton Draught, Melbourne Bitter, Victoria Bitter, Carlton Light, Carlton Cold, Carlton Black.

Whatever dregs is left in the vat after they have made them is shoved in bottles and called Fosters

Other brewries/beers here are Tooheys, Hahn (owned by carlton), Cascade, XXX, and a bunch of smaller local ones.

Most of our beers are 5% or higher alchohol.
Our lights are light alchohol (2%) NOT light calorie like yours

We have heaps of imported US beers, but they are expensive (as is our domestic compared to yours) Millers and coors seem to sell the best

When I was in CA in 1999/2000 I QUICKLY discovered I didn't like many mainstream US beers. I usually drank Dos Eques or LaBatt. (Mexican and Canadian I believe)

Or Newcastle Brown Ale, Harp etc at the Irish Pubs that are everywhere in the Bay area.

I also discovered a couple of local "boutique" brewries around San Jose and SF that made a nice drop.

I like Mickey's Heavy Larger from Milwaukie (how do you spell that?) In the short, green "wide mouth" bottles that look like handgrenades, but it was hard to find in CA

Sierra Nevada and Samuel Adams had a couple of nice Pale Ale's too

I like my beer, but even I can't stoop to walking around the Nationals carrying a huge cup of Bud.......a guy's got to protect his reputation.....and taste buds

Mmmmmm beeeer......damn, it's 8 AM and I've already cracked my first stubbie open......this is going to be a bad day

MArk

 

Coors had a mystique and reputation here in the East back when you couldn't get it west of the Rockies, but now that it's distributed nationwide it's been recognized as the used toilet water it is. Most of the major brand domestic beers here hardly deserve the name IMHO, they are flavorless, said to be designed to appeal to a woman's taste, i.e. the woman will pick it up at the grocery store for her and her SO only if she will drink it.

 

"Kind of like Mexicans and Corona......they send it overseas and drink Pacifico or Dos Equies instead."

You mean Budweiser... (union beer)

Sam.

 

Mark, I wish I knew you were in San Jose / San Francisco California as I'm in Alameda, an island in San Francisco Bay. With 9 bikes, BMW's, Matchless and Norton's (international show winners) i'm nuts. Email me and i'll send a few bike photos as I can't get thru this forum for photos. Good day mate.

Carl....=o&o>....