Finally Starting To Plan A Garage(need some wisdom)

[Blue85]

Starting to plan my garage, crappy part is in town i can't build anything bigger than 645sq ft, so basically that means 25x25 or 24x26 etc. what do you guys think would be the best route? I'd like to be able to store one truck on 1 side and park my regular truck in the other in the winter. Should i use one wide door, or go with 2 10fts, think i'll build 12ft cielings just in case i have a higher lifted truck someday, the biggest hurdle is that i have to hire someone to do the footings, and pour the slab etc. Don't really know much about that end of it, but the framing i'll do myself. I plan to have my garage built and heated by October this year, seems like a while but i am on a budget. Thanks in advance for your input!

[Palf70Step]

My own preference would be 2 seperate doors That way you can have a bit more space between the vehicles. It's a pain dealing with some of the restriction when you build. I would double check all your ordinaces before you begin, including power, water and sewage if you plabn on having any of those in the building. One option you might have (if permitted) is to build it taller, then you can build like a second floor inside to store stuff and get it off the ain floor. My shop was a metal building that I purchased, but I had them to all the foundation and setup. I did all the land cleaning and a friend helped with the foundation (dirt) work. A friend and I did all the electrical. Sounds like you got a good idea.

Oh yeah another idea to give you some more work area, is put a covered carport type area in front of the doors. It's like having some extra bays when it comes to routine maintence and what not. Good luck on your project.

[Ron 586]

I vote for 24' wide 26' deep. 10' walls or 12' if you can get away with it. 2 overhead doors 10' wide and as tall as walls will allow. Entrance door on side. From there plan your work area (work bench, toolboxes, compressor, welders, and bolt bin) if you have all that stuff. Put in as many electrical outlets as you think you will need then double that. When you get a plan you think you can live with then get estimates and see if it's affordable. Have fun with your build and enjoy it when you can get in it.

[see ten]

You can see my garage in the background of this picture. It's 25ft wide and 30 ft long. My opinion is wide doors are cheaper than paint and fenders. That door is 12x10. At 25 or 24 foot wide work space is going to be tight with two trucks in there. I know it can be done but my bud has a building the same size with two 10x10 doors and is always pulling things in at an angle so he can work around them. A door three feet from the wall leaves plenty of room to open a door or swing the handle of a floor jack. Also a buiding less than 30ft long will be tight when using a cherry picker. I know you can let the back of what you are working on hang out a little but that really sucks when it's freezing outside and you are trying to run a heater. A 20ft wide building that was 30ft long would still bring you in under your restrictions. Slap a 12ft wide door right in the center or slightly offset like mine and you would be good to go. Store one out of the weather and pull it outside when you have another project working. Anyway take your time and do your research, it's like anything it will be cheaper to do it right once instead of having to rebuild it later. And the covered awning/carport built outside the door is a great idea. I would think that would work good on days it was raining and you wanted the door left open.

[Billla]

Some Great wisdom here from Palf70Step. I had (and lost) a 64x80 shop, and I leared some key points that I think apply to any garage space. I'm comfortably in a 3-stall today and honestly I have most of the room I need.

Definitely with figuring out where everything goes in advance - in the 3-stall I just built I forgot to put in a faucet and outlet on the front for car washing...

Otherwise, below are Bill's Rules for Happiness in a Small Garage:

Rule 1: Floor space is king. Shelves that attach to the walls vs. sit on the floor, EVERYTHING on wheels...however you do it, think long and hard about how to get stuff OFF the floor

Rule 2: Height is your friend As Palf70Step said, this is primo storage space. My current shop is only 11 ft high...but there is no part of the ceiling that's not holding something. I plan to rebuild the 3rd stall to be as high as I can get away with to allow room for a lift and even more storage.

Rule 3: Don't store anything in the garage you don't have to. Kids bikes, lawn mowers, that extra paint from the house...everything you put in the garage is space lost. Sheds, carports or just leaning against the back of the house...get everything OUT that you can.

Rule 4: Storage, Storage, Storage. Find a shelf system that works for you and build more shelves than you could ever use. You'll use 'em.

Any other hard-earned knowledge from the group?

[magnethead]

yea, shelves and rafters are your friend.

don't ask the square footage..It's up close to 4 digits.

[Green Machine]

Put a decent slope on the floor so you can hose it out properly. If you are planning a concrete driveway, make the driveway about 1/2 inch lower than the floor and sloping away for best drainage. Consider burying a steel pipe in the floor for the garage door to seal against. A floor drain would be nice too, but the water alway seems to drain away from he floor drain, seems some contractors don't set it low enough, 2 doors is best for room and strength. Consider beefing up some of the trusses or some area strong enough to lift an engine or something heavy with a chain hoist. Might want to plan an exhuast fan to keep it cooler in the summer or remove fumes from the garage.

[Blue85]

Was thinkin of integrating a Steel I-beam and sipports into the roof and walls to run a trolley and chain hoist from

[PanelDeland]

My plan if it ever happens is a 24X32 with 2 10' wide doors in one end and 1 12' wide door in the side at the other end.That comesout to 720 sq.ft. but 22X30 is 660 sq.ft. maybe you could get that passed by planning.Or 22X28.I would also go for a 10-12 ft.wide second floor for a storage loft.The integrated beams sound like a good idea.I would also put as many windows as allowed for ventilation and light,you want to bar them so you keep your tools.Also build a lean-to style compressor and lawn shed to keep your floor space yours.

[pritch]

Just remember one thing: An orderly garage is a sign of a disturbed mind.

I was in the middle of building a jet ski trailer.
This is mine. 32 x 32. The I have a trough drain in the floor. I had to do it that way because I went the monolithic footing/foundation/slab route. I used a single slope rafter, 3/12 pitch, giving me 7' to the ceiling in the back and 15' or so at the front. I went with 2 10' x 10' doors and a man door between them. I wanted taller doors, but with the way the roof is sloped 12's wouldn't fit. If you are going to hire out your concrete, make sure you get someone that knows what he's doing. Nothing worse than a bad concrete job. Everything else you can fix, but a bad floor is forever. Get a quality sealer on it, too. I would recommend something like Ashford Formula (brand name-I'm sure they have a website) it is a surface hardener and sealer. I use it, and oil just wipes away. And make sure you lay out where you want your utilities to enter and get the sleaves in. Put in twice as many as you need, because you will later decide you need more.

[LUV2XCLR8]

Great thread, we are fix'n to add on to our house, we are converting our
wasted garage space (2 Cars 20x20) into a den / guest room, and going
to add on a new garage to replace it. (3 Cars 30x36) My old garage has
11' ceilings and that was a huge plus, the new one will be raftered, they
don't build w/ trusses here, so I will be able to put in a lift. (25' ceilings)

[jimfulco]

I'd go wider on the doors. A 10' door is not nearly as wide as you think it is. At least mine wasn't.

[Blue85]

Yeah its nice to have a wide door to be able to back a car trailer right into the garage sometimes.

[79BIG10]

Great ideas mentioned here and I'll throw in one more- Install plumbing. If anything pour the slab with the rough in plumbing set for cold water inlet and waste water for shower and toilet. This will save you a headache later thinking man I should have done this before. You will save time by just going in the garage bathroom rather than in the house. Your wife will love you for not going back and forth on the carpet with dirty shoes. Plus if you get really dirty you can take a shower with the addition of a small water heater.

Plus you can live out there if you're like me and need a "doghouse" for a night or two.

[Blue85]

Ben thinkin about plumbing, just hafta make sure i put the pipes in below the frost line

[mbgmike]

Go and rent or lease a shop. Keep your house and garage clean. Hey you don't have the room..

[redneckgirl]

When we built ours we opted to go with one large door, because we knew that we would never actually park 2 vehicles in there. We had to build smaller than we wanted because of zoning. We went with a 24x24 with a 6x12 bump out in the back. We put a standard exterior door on this little room, so that when we put the air compressor back there and shut the door, you can work and actually hold a conversation in the garage even while the compressor is on. Plus there was room for a laundry tub and shelves, to try and keep clutter out of the shop. We also opted for a small attic to store alot of unessential stuff out of the way, with a pull down ladder for easy removal. There are currently parts up there for our rebuild that we didn't want harmed while we worked on the truck.
It works well for us.

[Blue85]

So, I never did get around to building the garage, time just didn't allow for it, but now i am planning own buying my father in laws acerage from him and dont have to worry about size restrictions and can pretty much build anything i want. now do design something wild, thinkin 35x26 with a 12 x26 closed in lean to for a compressor and storage of my shortbox, or mabye a 12 x 35. I love the fact that there is now no size restriction, but there is still and always will be a cash restriction, so nothin too radical. I am currently dismantling an old 24x19 shop out at the farm that the roof fell in on due to a poor rafter design, so I want have to buy as much lumber. anyways i'll shutup now and go design some more

[72LoBurb]

I would also think about in-floor heating. If you haven't had the opportunity to work in a shop with in-floor, you are missing out.
Think about having a nice warm floor to lay on when the nasty Canadian cold is blowing around outside your shop.
Even if you can't afford the boiler etc, right off the hop, put in the tubing for it and add the boiler later, when funding allows.

I already have shop envy and you haven't started planning.....MMMMM, no limits!!!

[glock35ipsc]

If you get the land, plan on as big as you can. Then build it bigger!

I built my shop 30' x 40'. At the time, I thought that was plenty big. But now, I am ready to add another bay to the north side (left side in the bottom pic). It will also be taller. As is, my sidewalls are 10' I will go no lower than 14' on the add-on so that I can put a lift in there. Floor size of the add-on will be 24' x 40'. i will basically keep the existing part as is, and the new addition will house the welders and machine tools. Basically is will be a fab/machine shop.

Also, as has already bee said, PUT OUTLETS EVERYWHERE!!! My posts are on 8' centers, so there are outlets at each post. My work bench is along the back wall, and most of the outlets around that area are 4-plea outlets.

Once built, add extra 2x4's to the rafters, get an attic ladder, and use the attic area for storage. Noting extremely heavy, but you can get a ton of stuff up there!

Shelves and racks are a must have too. Hang/shelf everything that you can.

Spend the money and insulate it when it is being built. I also installed a 220v window type A/c that I got at closeout at Sears. Keeps it around 70-75 in there on the hottest days! I picked up a 100,000 BTU propane furnace real cheap, and I have never been cold in there.

So, mine is 30' wide and 40' deep with 10' side walls. But if I could do it over again, it would be 60' x 80' x 16' minimum heigth.

One more thing, if you have a floor poured, pour yourself a pad in front of the overhead doors! I still need to do that, and should have done it when I built the shop.

[Blue85]

Glock, did u design and build the shop urself? Very interested in the wall and rafter system, looks like it uses a lot less lumber than a convential stud wall and trusses every 24"

[glock35ipsc]

I basically designed it, which is to say I decided on what size I wanted, where to put the windows, and where to put the roll-up and walk through doors. It is a pole barn style. Very easy to build, although I hired someone to build them (I built this and a 24' x 32' garage at the same time). Having someone else do them also meant that they were responsible for pulling the building permits and making sure they would pass inspection.

6" x 6" poles on 8' centers, with 2" x 6" girts placed on 24" centers. The truss's are also on 8' centers.

I mentioned insulation at the time of building because I only had the roof insulated, thinking I could save some $$$ by doing it myself. Well, I did save $$$, but it took a long time before I ever did it. What I used was the 1-1/2" foam board that I cut to fill the gap between the girts. It is the same stuff used to do stucco siding, and I got it cheap! Something like $125 for enough to do everything with alot left over! Then one of these days I can/will put plywood or sheetrock inbetween the 6"x6" posts and everything will be flush - that is, the girts and insulation.

It was fairly reasonable to do, although wood and expecially steel prices have increased since I built this. I already had the windows (bought the wrong ones for the basement). Total cost including roll up doors and walk-through door, including installing my windows was $12,300. To have the floor poured was somewhere around $1500, but I can't remember for sure.

Pole barns are simple, yet strong and quick to put up. Both of mine were built in less than 2 weeks.

[Pickles]

ours is the same size as Glocks, 30x 40 x9 but only has 1 door 12ft in front and 16ft in back ,wish it had 2 on the same side(40ft side). As most say built it bigger, because it is never big enough the first go around.


Margaret

[Blue85]

Glock, I Don't have any experience with pole barn style buildings, would you mind takin some more pictures of the header and roof system, mabye some more construction details?

[glock35ipsc]

For now, here is some stuff I found on the net.......

Kinda big file, but good detail:
http://www.clearybuilding.com/materi...gRendering.pdf

Good pics during construction:
http://www.diypolebarns.com/pics.php?barnID=Bonnie

My shop is a Lester building:
http://www.lesterbuildings.com/

I thought it was kinda funny that Sutherlands would have a Pole Barn video, but it actually shows some decent construction shots:
http://www.sutherlands.com/video/PolebarnVideo.wmv