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Permanent Garage Advice Needed

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cold start ballasts in your flourescent fixtures, they are worth the extra bux. New England cold can wreak havoc with those fixtures in an only part time heated garage.


mark
 
When I made my retirement shop I included the following.
10 inch thick walls and 18 inch ceilings - insulation is cheap!
White steel lining the walls and ceilings.
8 foot overhead doors doors.
36 inch wide entry doors.
LP heat. Keep the shop at least at 55 at all times.
Thermopane windows. One of those large windows must be located directly over your workbench preferably facing south west. The sun must be allowed to shine in.
Use dual 8 foot 75 watt fluorescent bulbs all around the perimeter.
Make all the electrical boxes have 4 outlets each. Run one phase on one side of the shop and the other phase on the other side - that way you can always have 240 when you want it.
Use a minimum 3/4 dia steel electrical conduit for all wiring. Run at least one row of outlets down the ceiling. 240 up there will be used someday ( milling machine etc ).
I live in central Wisconsin. You are welcome to visit and get some more ideas.
 
Here's my one car shop.

You can find lotsa info on www.garagejournal.com
d564f541.jpg
 
I used to work for Morton Buildings Inc. (NFI)in their advertising department. For those that don't know them they are a national building company that does custom design/build structures. My job was to drive around the country and photograph(portrait and architectural) and videotape (tour and interviews) premier properties and their owners.

Most of my time was spent with Custom horsebarns and indoor riding arenas since I grew up on a ranch and know how to deal with 'horse people'. I did get to check out some really nice suburban garages and farm shops though.

In those, I had a chance to see many of the different heating options in use. In floors are really nice if you are going to be bringing in a wet car as they eliminate puddles. Infra-red heaters also do pretty well with that. The other great advantage that infra-red has is that it can also warm your tools. If you have ever picked up a cold metal tool in a shop only heated by forced air you can understand the benefit of not having to wear gloves to hold your tools. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I was at one Farm shop in Minnesota that had both infra-red and an in-floor matrix. Above his office and toilet he had built a 'cafe' of sorts. In the winter all the local farmers gathered at his farm shop for their morning coffee gathering. Where they could sit and talk about the weather and politics and then go tinker on either the brand new combine or one of the antique tractors. They could do either in shorts and a t-shirt if they wanted to (Farmers in shorts- yeah right) during a blizzard. Pretty nice place really.

Sorry, a little memory lane trip there with a slight bit of 'on topic' info. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif
 
I know a few people with radiant floor heat. It is a little slower in regaining the heat after the door has been opened, but everything else makes up for that small inconvenience.
I walked into one last year with ice cubes for toes. Within five minutes, I realized my feet were toasty. No more heating your tools up before handling them. Working on the floor is very comfortable. Heating costs, as I've been told are lower. I don't believe the installation costs are that bad. You need tubing for the grid, a hot water heater and a thermostatic unit. It's definitely worth looking into.
 
Look into a floor heating system. My friend ran a series of hoses before pouring the cement. This circulates hot liquid and now he heats his entire shop using a hot water tank. Very efficient and comfortable. It is slow to heat up, but can maintain a constant temperature very economically.
dave
dave
 
One thing everyone FORGOT! An extra room in the shape of a DOGHOUSE! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grouphug.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/lol.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif
 
If you don't have a phone how in the heck are are you going to order pizza???
 
Thanks guys (I'm thinking its mostly guys that responded) for all the great tips. And also for some of the wishfull thinking too. Perhaps I should have constrained my question a little more (bank manager, spouse etc.)

So I have updated my "wish list" with the following:
- sky-lights and double-glazed windows
- min. 8ft ceilings with I-beam for a chain winch
- flourecent lighting around the parimeter and oversized/extra conduit
- lots of outlets
- infra-red heating

Some of the things I will NOT be including are:
- Telephone
- T.V.
- Wet bar with fridge
- radiant floor heating (love the idea, but on a slab, it is very inefficient - you end up loosing half the heat to the sub-soil)
- Bathroom (don't want to worry about freezing pipes in the winter so need to keep plumbing to a minimum. Also expensive)
- Jacuzzi, media room, squash court, etc. etc. (and probably not the girlie calandars - see "constraints" above)

I am still up in the air on a 4-post hoist (no pun intended). I am really geting quite good at lifting the car with a trolly jack and 4 jack stands - I have super-heavy duty "AC Hydraulics" ones with the flat rubber tops).

Anyone got opinions on the type of floor to use? Is floated concrete O.K., or is an epoxy finish worth the extra?

Thanks again for all the valuable advice (and the humourous advice too).

Rob.
 
The infloor heating when properly installed will loose no heat to the sub soil or perimeter due to the fact that there is a reflective isolation blanket installed directly below the cement and below the glycol runs. Lots of the the newer garages in our neck of the woods have in floor most do have and additional on demand forced air heat booster to heat the room back up after the opening of doors.
I would still run in a sump drain because of no matter where you are you will get dirt, sand, mud snow melt on your floor. The water supply and sump drain make for a clean shop area. Remember " A clean shop is a happy shop"
Coated floors will also make for speedy clean up. Check first with your cement supplier for their recommendations on this first though, as I think that cement needs to breathe ??
 
Allow room to install a compressor, so that it will not interfere with you layout. Make sure you have ample power coming in to run it as well, even you do not install at this time.

Then you can start to think about allowing for the air lines, etc.
 
Put in a air compressor and plumb in several places around the garage. Get a good supply of air tools.
 
Don't forget a sound system. Speakers in the ceiling pumping out your favorite tunes as you merrily work on your favorite toy. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
convective heat (circulated hot water) in the floor is cheap, while you are pouring it, could always do final hookup later.

Has any one seen the HGTV series on extreme garages? Some people have way to much money & time. (I'm soooo jealous!!!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

I love the web! See link. Might have to cut & paste.

<u>https://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/spcl_prsntn/episode/0,1806,HGTV_3909_12511,00.html</u>
 
Don't forget a trap door. You'll need a place to hide when the wife comes looking for you with the to do list. You may want to consider special locks on the doors. Something to prevent her from dumping stuff on your work bench.
Epoxied floors are nice but be sure to add something to the paint that will provide traction when the floor is wet. Epoxy is very slippery when wet, and even worse if there is oil.
 
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