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Let's Design Mickey' Garage

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I'm jealous! I have a 1.5 car garage... The site you are building on looks absolutely fabulous!!

Just a few ideas:
1. If heat is important, consider putting foam under the slab. There is an article in the current issue of Fine Homebuilding on this topic; but basically put down 6" of foam and a vapor barrier under the concrete. I have no experience... just passing on the idea.
2. Epoxy floor paint. If you want to paint the floor, do not let any cars sit for an extended time for the required 3(?) months. They all drip just a little (even if rainwater dripping from the engine) and the tires leave some sort of oily film. I LOVE my garage paint - just moved from Charlotte to Pittsburgh and painting the floor was one of the first projects. My experience: https://www.britishcarforum.com/bcf...age-floor-I-must-be-bored&p=302164#post302164
3. Bells and whistles are nice, but remember they need to be maintained and mice and other critters like the warm shelter. Bathrooms and showers are nice, but you will have to clean them; they provide a moisture source for bugs, etc. Not saying not to have them, but realize they will take maintenance time.
 
A mechanic around here that I tend to hang out with from time to time has a large garage that he built mostly himself, and while large, has some nice design features.
1. Heated floors: All the floors are heated and the warmth through the floor also takes care of general shop heating. He has heaters that are independent of the floor system but rarely uses them. Installing the piping in the floors was costly but he built the rest of the system from parts he found for cheap or free. The heat in the floor is a hot water system fed by 2 Hot water heaters mounted on a shelf near the ceiling, that he found for free. Water is circulated by a small pump perched between the tanks. Up on top of the tanks is a valve that t's off to a floor drain to drain air or to drain the system. A separate t and valve ties the heat water into the shop water supply so the system can have water added to it.
2. Air and power are mounted on retractable spools mounted on the ceiling between the bays. Always an air hook up and a trouble light within arm reach.
3. One bay is separated from the rest of the shop by a wall and a man door. If you need to bring something in or out in the cold, it can sit in the separate bay to warm up without affecting the temperature in the rest of the shop. Also, depending on the wall treating, can be used as a wash bay with a drain in the middle.
 
Mickey if you're into decorating I would suggest you do a musical theme. Doug and I did his garagemajal in an aviation theme. Cabinets on side walls are overhead bins from an airplane, closets for workclothes and other stuff are first class cabin storage, kitchenette is an airplane galley, seating for 'media room' are first class seats, etc. Anyway as I said it is a garagemajal but when we could finally afford to do it, we just had fun with it. The so-called media room was extra ceiling height because of the lift. The back of the garage is set aside for an office, mechanical room, kitchenette, full bath and sitting/sleeping room. I know chest-pounding but we had a grand time. I would suggest lots of windows and perhaps you want to run air-lines (no pun intended) and stratigically placed floor outlets. We also did a water drain which caused the county no amount of 'you can't do that because of oil intrusion. We worked around it. When we diesigned our garage we sat down and said what will we want to do in it, what would we like to do in it. This was the basis for everything we did and so far we haven't said which I did this, or didn't do this. The planning was a big part of the fun. So, have fun with it and don't rush it...
 
judow said:
The planning was a big part of the fun. So, have fun with it and don't rush it...
Click to expand...

Agreed - Janet and I have enjoyed the planning of the house, and the garage is a similar venture. I really appreciate all the ideas y'all are tossing my way!
 
I didn't see any comments about the floor treatement (unless I missed them).

I just had my engineering lab gutted and refinished. One of the things I insisited on was epoxy floors.It's much harder to do this on used or previously painted floors. But on a new floor it's perfect and looks great basically forever. Super easy to keep clean....our custodians love it.
 
A word of caution about floor outlets. Although this is not a commercial garage, they are prohibited in commercial garages. The reason is a lot of the fluids we use every day on our cars will have gases that settle in the lowest point. In the case of floor outlets that's the lowest point.

Pluging in even a drop light that is turned on can produce a spark. We all know what sparks and gas fumes do.
 
aeronca65t said:
I didn't see any comments about the floor treatement (unless I missed them).

I just had my engineering lab gutted and refinished. One of the things I insisited on was epoxy floors.It's much harder to do this on used or previously painted floors. But on a new floor it's perfect and looks great basically forever. Super easy to keep clean....our custodians love it.
Click to expand...

Couple of folks mentioned doing that, and I'd already decided on it.

And as for floor outlets, I hadn't thought of them, but don't think I'd need them anyway. Thanks for the heads-up.
 
Gads, why would you want to put in floor outlets????
 
I can see where floor outlets would be handy, but not necessary for me.
 
If you have a lab where nothing gets spilled.
If you have to wash the floor , a little harder to do
 
DNK: Floor outlets for the lift so that it was direct wired and allowed extra outlets, also in the corners by the doors (the 2 outside doors, not center door). These are used for the electrical tools as most of the time the wall outlets either can't be reached because of the workbenches (already used for radio, battery charging, etc and ususally there is so much stuff either up against the walls or on the workbench that it is easier to use the ground plgbs in the corner. I thought it wasn't necessary but it has proven to be very useful. They are capped.As to the floor we used a concrete stain on the raw concrete so that the floor looks mottled. Then Doug coated it with an epoxy a couple of times. Now he does the epoxy coating every other year. They look great, have been easy to keep clean and require very little care.If I didn't cathch it a wall shop vac is recommended and placed so that you can reach everything. Don't forget the fire extinguishers. I found out that there are extinguishers specifically for a garage. Anyway I think know Doug's garagemajal better than my kitchen. Yes guys I even know what a leaf spring is. Not sure I needed to know, but I do. Compliments of restoration of '50 Dodge Pilothouse truck. I know not British but don't tell our esteemed leader.
 
Hope you never store gas or have a gas appliance in it.
Heavier than air gases tend to be flammable and outlets spark a little when plugged in some times.
 
Jay,

HOLY CR*P! - that thing's nicer (& cleaner),& worth more than our house!
...... and then add the contents.
Way to sterile for my tastes.

- Doug




3798j said:
Looks great Mickey. My builder did the 6mil vapor barrier too. Makes quite a difference in the dryness of the interior. I wanted to (and subsequently did) do a two part epoxy floor cover. That's something I'd recommend. Oil and coolant spills are no big deal. But, because of new concrete "gassing", if that's a route you're considering, make certain you wait 2-3 months before applying.
Did my workbench and storage cabinets from someone else's no longer wanted kitchen cupboards.
If you're on the fence about insulation, take my advice and do it before you fill it up. It's no fun hanging out in the garage in winter unless it's able to retain whatever heat you've got.
I put the workbench smack in the middle. Underneath the bench there's a 50" retractable air hose reel.
Put in the pub table,TV and poker table. I don't just work in the garage.
And thanks for the kind complements...Don, it's not that big of mowing job.

Here's some interior photos.





Click to expand...
 
Mickey,

They two best pieces of advice I ever got abot our garage are-
1.Put all of your outlets at least 4 feet up from the ground.

2.You can never have enough outlets.


- Doug
 
AngliaGT said:
Mickey,

They two best pieces of advice I ever got abot our garage are-
1.Put all of your outlets at least 4 feet up from the ground.

2.You can never have enough outlets.
- Doug
Click to expand...

While there's no code for height of outlet installation, there probably should be. Mine will be bench height for access, may install one or two at a lower level to avoid having an extension cord trip someone (me!).

And I'll have plenty of outlets.
 
I'd echo the idea of locating your compressor in a separate enclosure outside the garage. Really keeps the noise inside down. I've seen these air piping systems that allow you to have air outlets spread around the shop, just like electrical outlets. No personal experience with them, but they seem like a really good idea: https://www.rapidairproducts.com/rapidair.asp Up here in New England, radiant heat with forced hot water run through pipes in the slab sounds really attractive. I lived in a neighborhood built in the '60s where the contractor chose to use this form of heat throughout the main house in a number of ranches built on concrete slabs with no cellar. Twenty years later there were a lot of neighborhood horror stories of people having to jackhammer their living room floors to repair the copper pipes that had sprung leaks. I've seen some new garage systems around here lately where the contractors are using pex pipe, but don't know how what the lifespan of that is buried in a slab.
 
Update - walls are up! Trusses and roof supposed to go on today!

garage.jpg
 
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