I realize these questions have been asked many times before but I have a bunch of specific questions I need some help on. My wife and I just returned from our first visit to Marysville, OH where we will be moving in February. We looked at a few houses with the main goal being to find something for my family as well as my shop. I am currently spoiled by having a separate 20x40 building which contains my shop and offers plenty of space. The original plan was to find a house with an unfinished walkout basement. After visiting we realized that there aren't many walkouts. If we are unable to locate an acreage in our price range we are thinking of building but can't figure out how to fit my shop into a 3 car garage.
Question #1: Could some of you who have dealt with this give me some ideas on a house design which allows for shop space on the first floor?
Question #2: We are also thinking about going with the basement idea and building a 4 ft wide staircase to make moving machines and materials easier.
Question #3: For those of you who have recently built detached shops. What would a good cost estimate be for an insulated 2-1/2 stall garage/shop? If we find a large enough lot we'd consider putting up a 24 x 32 shop.
Please let me know all your opinions as I would really like to decide on an action plan by December.
Thanks,
Wes Billups
P.S. I'm sure there will be many more questions prior to our move.