Garage Considerations

bwalvoord

bwalvoord

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For a number of reasons, not the least of which is my freshly restored coupe coming home one day in the next few months, we have decided to build a garage. I've convinced my wife it's for her 2011 550 but something tells me she won't want to walk to the detached garage in the rain and will opt for parking right by the front door. All this is to say that having never owned (or lived in a house while actually owning the cars in it) a garage, I ought to carefully consider what to put in it. First on the list (and probably first off as the budget creeps) is a lift. If for no other reason, I can fit another care under it should time and budget allow. Other than that, I would appreciate any suggestions.
 
Car lift is definitely #1, make sure the lift goes high enough and your roof allows for it, and then you could definitely fit a car underneath.

Make sure you have the proper power for proper pneumatics. Small compressors just don't cut it, well depending on what you want to do, but now is the time, so just put the big power in there.

Make sure you have enough work space (large bench) on top of simply fitting your cars in the structure...what to do with that engine/trans when you pull it?

Lastly, plan for expansion. There should be one wall with no power or water that you can cut a doorway into and potentially expand your garage by adding more room onto the structure.

Everything else can be handled later.
 
I drooled over lifts for my shop for ages. I had a deposit on a Revolution lift, but my garage does not have the clearance. I have spent many hours contemplating lowering the floor and now it is raising the roof. Since I do not like building inspectors or tax assessors I have held off going through with it. The one I fancy at the moment is the Bend Pak 9000 pound one. I'd make sure you get one from a reputable company. Don't buy a cheap lift that doesn't meet lift association specs. They are pretty well all made in China now. The Good and the not so Good. The other thing you might want to plan for is an air Compressor. If you want to bead blast or use a decent amount of air for painting, etc. , 5HP is the minimum. Make sure it has a cast iron cylinder. Plan on having excellent exhaust fans if you want to play with anything that makes the air bad to breathe. Lighting is key to a shop. I went with a whole bunch of daylight flourescent overhead tubes. Lighting is very even. if you plan on heating with electricity or might do some welding get a 200 amp panel in the garage . Insulation where I live is very important. I had the shop spray foamed before finishing the drywall. My garage doors are also filled with foam. A large steel covered work bench is great to have. I recently completed this and it was a great moment in shop enjoyment.
P1060991.jpg


Friends often ask me what I build in the shop....mostly the shop is what I build. I should put a plant around the E9, as it might as well be in a living room.
Other things that make it more capable and comfortable. Small fridge, Oven, Drill Press, eye wash station, stereo, security camera, alarm, first aid kit, emergency backup lighting and a life long collection of mostly used tools. Heat, AC. incinerating toilet, Water tank, small office, old MAc Lampshade computer, lot's of fire extinguishers. It is easy to get carried away with the garage. My house has been neglected for a few years now.
 
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Make sure that the slab is thick enough to support the surface load of the lift. It is painful to change it later.
 
Make sure you have space around the lift for the posts and that it does not wreck the rest of the usable space. My friend has a 20 x 35 foot shop with a lift. The lift takes nearly half the width. There was some problem with putting the post too close to the wall. He could put three cars wide before, now only two... But he loves his lift.

Having a 220V power drop near the lift post is also helpful.
 
And a tasty Alpina air cleaner!!!!

Nicad said:
I drooled over lifts for my shop for ages. I had a deposit on a Revolution lift, but my garage does not have the clearance. I have spent many hours contemplating lowering the floor and now it is raising the roof. Since I do not like building inspectors or tax assessors I have held off going through with it. The one I fancy at the moment is the Bend Pak 9000 pound one. I'd make sure you get one from a reputable company. Don't buy a cheap lift that doesn't meet lift association specs. They are pretty well all made in China now. The Good and the not so Good. The other thing you might want to plan for is an air Compressor. If you want to bead blast or use a decent amount of air for painting, etc. , 5HP is the minimum. Make sure it has a cast iron cylinder. Plan on having excellent exhaust fans if you want to play with anything that makes the air bad to breathe. Lighting is key to a shop. I went with a whole bunch of daylight flourescent overhead tubes. Lighting is very even. if you plan on heating with electricity or might do some welding get a 200 amp panel in the garage . Insulation where I live is very important. I had the shop spray foamed before finishing the drywall. My garage doors are also filled with foam. A large steel covered work bench is great to have. I recently completed this and it was a great moment in shop enjoyment.
P1060991.jpg


Friends often ask me what I build in the shop....mostly the shop is what I build. I should put a plant around the E9, as it might as well be in a living room.
Other things that make it more capable and comfortable. Small fridge, Oven, Drill Press, eye wash station, stereo, security camera, alarm, first aid kit, emergency backup lighting and a life long collection of mostly used tools. Heat, AC. incinerating toilet, Water tank, small office, old MAc Lampshade computer, lot's of fire extinguishers. It is easy to get carried away with the garage. My house has been neglected for a few years now.
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Outstanding

Great feedback so far. I did consider a pit since my back yard is on a bit of a slope. There may end up being a crawl space or a very thick slab of concrete.

I am a little surprised, however, that no one mentioned a place to sleep!
 
Garage/Shop

I am coming up on my one year anniversary of my garage. It is 45x60, with a lift and a large air compressor. Have most of the tools available, welders, bead blasters, large work bench, etc. I have a good mechanic friend that put me on to a lift, and it has been super. 9000 pound capacity, more that enough, yes made overseas, but he has used them for 10 years with no issues. He owns Stett Performance, a tuner, and glad for his advice. Lift delivered was less than $1800.
 
Ah, building a garage. I had three different engineering designs for the foundation due to the subsoil (or should I say landfill/garbage dump) next to my house. Ended up with a floating trench 8' deep and 3' wide filled with several tons of stone, covered with reinforced concrete, then concrete block on top supporting the garage floor (which is a pan supported by seven steel ibeams covered with reinforced concrete). Structure would not support a lift, so I don't have one.

I planned for a workbench, fridge, etc., but wish I had thought about electronics a little more. There is so much good automotive reference material on the web that I now have one of my old computers out there, and I have an old stereo too. Wish I had planned space for those.
 
TodB said:
Sooner - tease us with a few garage pics please.
Click to expand...


Oh yea! Love to see this!

I hope you're looking to build a "working" garage instead of the "ultimate garages" as seen on TV. Those are for posers that don't know how to hold a wrench. Bunch of sissies with too much money.....
 
A lift is great. Figure 12'+ head room. I have 10'6" and it is tight on height stacking Vern & Athena or the M3. My garage is a 'T' shaped timber frame 24'x 50' with a centered 24'x24' ell attached to my house.

Advice:
24'x30' minimum.
Radiant floor heat.
Outlets every 6 feet.
Install a lot of lights.
 

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I'm afraid I probably fall into the third category of posers with not enough money. I know more about writing software than changing the oil. That being said, the coupe has touched a nerve and the process of resorting it, although my role is mainly to source parts, has completely changed why I like cars, bimmers in particular.

My house is straight out of the '22 sears catalog, although its had a few renovations over the years. A wood beam and post would be appropriate if not a little costly. Great advice so far, please continue.
 
I would say one of the most important things is planning the slab.. Plumbing, any drainage, any electrical and a couple peers for a lift. The slab can be poured with debarred or nylon reinforcement and just dig a couple deeper areas for the peers. Lifts mount with anchor bolts drilled into the concrete afterwards, so you don't have to worry about putting then into the concrete when its poured. You might also consider forming some boxes into the slab for recessed lighting on the floor to shine up under the car on the lift. I also changed all of my shop lights to the single screw in bulb sockets, since you can get fairly high output bulbs and they tend to last longer than the tube type. Most of all, they are WAY easier to change. 8-)

Dan
 
Garage Pics

I will post soon, still have some carpet to get down in the game room, and clean up before pics. Nothing too fancy, just good workable space
 
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