Ifyou were to build a new garage/Shop what would you add to the plans??

[Van Huskey]

Outdoor rooms (or sound-proofed rooms) for anything noisy.

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That was my first thought, I am adding this to my shop for the air compressor, HVLP and vacuum pump.

Thought needs to be given to electrical and DC concerns and I am adding a full shop French cleat system so I can hang things easily and move them when the need arises.

Add 50% more lighting than you think you need.

A taller than normal roll-up door.

Get magazines, books and watch videos about other peoples shops, it is rare I do not get one great idea.

[Chuck Gallup]

Hello All!
First post. Great thread.

I'm precisely in the planning stage building my first ever and last shop so this thread grabbed me.
I'm not sure which is more fun? Planning a shop? Building a shop? Or making money from a shop you build? I choose the latter.

This was an enjoyable thread to confirm my greedy self serving wants and needs.
All good points.
Here are some of my ideas for a one/two man shop:
o In-floor heating a must!
o Open space in the middle and the ability to move machinery a must.
o a common height for tools and tables.
o Castors and Home Depot like close quarters material movers.
o Control of/or pattern to the location of electrical/air so that future work is not stopped, halted or cause you to burn down your shop with a careless screw or nail.
o I like eves....or a shed roof. Monitor style. No matter what.....some things must be done outside. Keeping the sun and weather off is all that is needed at times.
o flat concrete

For the longest time I was adamant I needed 14' door openings and ceilings.
The hardships suffered recently by me and many in my area have convinced me you need to do what you do best ... and be very efficient at it! A part time wood shop / metal shop / diesel repair and such don't make good bed fellows. Wood dust in an engine is just as bad as gas or hydraulic oil accidentally sprayed all over your foam sign project.

I've just recently rejected the 14' doors idea which opens up more common engineering and less costly building methods.

For many years I owned a concrete pumping/crane service and pumped many many shops. Always green with envy, I'd talked with my customers later....most were sorry they had gone with 12' doors because they can't get a big rigs in the shop. Many were far younger than me and just starting out.
I ran big rigs. I spent spent many a night working upside down under a frozen rig to be ready to go in the AM. Burning hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter....and always dirt raining into your eyes.
I'm just not going to do it any more! Nor do I want my buddy's slobbering smoking diesel rig in my clean dry shop when it's -20ºf while he gives it an in-frame rebuild. I'm done working in diesel, grease, dirt and hydie oil for little fun and little profit.
Instead, I'm substituting 14' doors and lower ceiling height for living/rental space in a monitor style barn/shop. I'm sure there is somebody out there that gets up early and comes home late and loves the sound of a cnc router torturing wood on a Sunday morning and pay me for the privilege? ;-)

This is what I have in mind:

[Matthew Curtis]

Radient heat in the floor? Isn't that going to be expensive for set-up and to use??

[Don Jarvie]

Hey Matt, You asked

Radiant heat is on of those "nice options" you spoke of. Depending on where you live (cold weather climate) and how much time you are going to spend in the shop (daily) it may be will worth the extra money.

[Chris Padilla]

Overhead crane/lifting doohicky.

[David Hostetler]

Considering I am cramming my shop into a 1980s undersized 2 car garage (18x20 with 8.5ft ceilings) I would make the thing bigger... Not stinking enormous, but bigger. I would LOVE a 24x32' shop with at least 10' Ceilings, 12' would be better!

Make sure the building is designed and built for heating / cooling efficiency as best as possible. Lots of insulation, radiant barriers and such. And include central heat / AC into the design. Folding, insulated coach doors, or a single slider instead of dual overhead doors. would be great, as would at least 200 amp electrical service, with 40 amps dedicated to 220V.

There are things I LIKE about my current setup that I would carry over. Those include using the wall rack setup for bench top type tools. Now having said that, If I had the space and money, I would upgrade to one of those Grizzly 12" planer / jointer machines so that would kill the need for 2 of them, and the bench grinder / sharpening station would be permanently mounted on a purpose built bench next to the lathe. All that would really leave is the Ridgid sander... Seems a lot less effective when you think of it that way I guess...

I would have a much bigger compressor, and compressed air piping through the shop, and easily twice as many shop lights...(twice the space, twice the light right?

And yes, a 3/4 bath (who wants to go back into the house smelling like sweat?) and a small beverage fridge are must haves if we are going into dream land. Of course the adult drinks stay in the fridge until the work with the tools is done for the day...

I would also like some sort of ruggedized notebook PC for viewing things like project plans and other misc ideas while in the shop, and a good 5.1 audio setup to go with it to drive some tunes as needed...

[Chip Lindley]

I would certainly include in-floor hot water heating!

I would also add a Gambrel "barn" roof with a heavy-duty 2nd floor for the air compressor or dust collector, or lumber storage or a finishing room, etc. etc...

I would also include an electric I-beam hoist! Now this guy has the right idea:

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Matt, 14 yrs ago I built a 32 x 50' out building. Not all of it is shop, there's a 3 car garage in the front and a 17 x 22' mantown room over the garage. Shop is in rear measures 32 x 28'. If I were to do it again and I'm echoing what others have already said, I would have added in order of importance:


1. Radiant floor heating in the shop. I was under the impression that I would need a complete new oil furnace when all you need is one of those little wall units.


2. At least a 1/2 bathroom. A full shower would be nice too, if I had this I would have little reason to come back into the house!


3. Run 4" PVC conduit in the slab for dust collection. (I did do it for electric).


If you don't want to spend the $$$ up front for all of these creature comforts, AT LEAST rough in the plumbing. Especially for the bathroom. Hope this helps. Have fun!

[Chris Padilla]

Chip, yeah, THAT lifting/hoisting doohicky!

[Joe A Faulkner]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1277521723

[Ed Labadie]

I would include A TOILET!

Yup, definately need a terlit. Female guests don't like going "behind the shop" in January.

Ed

[Matt Armstrong]

I'd like to have a finishing room/area a lot of the time. It's annoying to have to stop all other work because some varnish is drying.

[Art Mulder]

I am working on getting a new detached garage built that will be my shop. It will be approx 22 X24. What all would be must haves in the plans, or nice options to add?? I am just looking for ideas.

(insert umpteen responses that can be summed up as: BIGGER BIGGER)

Sometimes I think that when it comes to shop design, people here just forget all about fiscal restraint.

My basement shop is about 11x22(ish) and sure I'd like it to be a bit bigger, but frankly I think that 22x24 is a pretty nice size for your average hobbyist. (disregard all of this if you're talking about using it for your career.)

I think a wood floor would be very nice, but a lot of folks worry about resale when building a structure like that, so concrete floors (ie: standard garage) tend to win out.

I would suggest dropping in a conduit for cat5e/telephone when you trench to the house for power, since a phone or computer could be very handy in the future.

I also agree with the insulated closet idea for Dust collectors and compressors. Reducing noise is a good thing!

Scissor trusses can give you more headroom without requiring taller walls.

I like natural light, so I favour windows, but other folks worry about security and prefer few to none. That's a YMMV situation.

You could frame the garage door, but then fill it in and just have a regular door. For resale then, a future owner can easily convert it back into a regular garage, but you don't need the garage door yourself.

[Ben Hatcher]

If you put in enough skylights, or properly located windows, you could probably work most days without turning on a single light.

[Alan Lightstone]

1.) Lifting Hoist - Oh yeah, big thumbs up on that one. Extra credit for I-beam hoist.
2.) Finishing Room
3.) 220V everywhere
4.) Cyclone in attic/soundproofed room. Also, compressor in soundproof room with it.
5.) 1/2 Bathroom
6.) Cleanup sink
7.) Good lumbar storage area
8.) Good sound system.
9.) 6" conduit in floor for dust collection.