Garage/shop Ideas

CJohnson

WKR
Joined
Mar 28, 2019
Messages
347
Location
SC
I’m building another house with plans for a detached workshop/garage. I figured this would be as good a place as any to get some input and ideas on do and dont’s.

I live in SC. I’d be storing my tractor and boat inside. I do a little bit of contracting work on the side. I’d definitely like to have a dedicated space for wood working, welding, storing hunting stuff. Thinking about doing an in-law suite or something similar up top.
 
If you build it..... "STUFF" will come!

No matter how big that you think you need...…. build it bigger.

My minimum width for a garage is always at least 28' wide. When you're deciding on how high to build the walls, remember that the higher the walls are.... the farther out you can go with your lean-to additions.

My current shop is 28'X36' with a 14'X36' lean-to. Way to small.
 
I just added motion sensing LED 4600 lumen linkable lights to the basement. Not sure how i got by without em. But now i can see how dirty it is lol
 
I did a 28x30 build a few years ago. Unfortunately was limited by setbacks on property. Attic trusses were only 15% more than standard trusses. Went with a 10/12 pitch roof that gives me a nice 14x29 room upstairs with 8ft ceilings. I spray foamed under the roof and r19 fiberglass in the walls. Probably should have spray foamed everything. Really made a difference. Remember to plan your main electrical panel out, so you can run plenty to the new building.
 
Do a basic room up top, keep plumping and a bathroom on the first floor. Then you have 2 doors to the bathroom, one from the garage and one from the yard. Super handy when throwing parties in the yard and not wanting little kids running through a woodshop full of power tools/sharp objects. Also, not having a bathroom in the upstairs helps deter super long term visitors that may or may not be welcome to stay super long... if your picking up what I'm putting down...

Run plenty of power so your not reliant on extension cords for your equipment.

A lean-to would also be a great space saver for the garage perfect for keeping a car or boat out of the weather.

Faucets on opposite ends of the building. Super convenient to have running water without running all the way over to the other side of the barn. If you do a lot of hunting/fishing, adding a full up outdoor sink setup in the lean-to for all your field prep work.
 
Welcome. I live in the Lowcountry. For me 30 x 40 is the bare minimum and probably too small. I have a 6000 square foot garage/shop at my warehouse in North Charleston. After using that for the last 13 years, if I ever build my ultimate shop at home it will have to be 50 x 40, and that will feel small!

Sharing space with your tractor and boat means a good 20 x 25 section is off limits to your shop. So I would factor that in. Also go tallest ceilings you can stand. Mine are 16 feet and I never wished for less. I know that's too high in a neighborhood, but 10' is really nice. Make the whole front side all doors if possible, with at least one double door if the design will allow it. You only need to insulate/heat/cool the upstairs, so all the doors won't hurt you.

I recommend an outside staircase to the upstairs. That gives resale value for use as a rental unit. Your going to pay housing taxes if you install a bathroom, so you might as well make it a potential income source. Even if you never rent it, it will increase your sales price.
 
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Go as big as you can afford. I have a 40x40 and agree it is easy to fill up. mine has 3 “bays” each with their own door. Covis has turned one bay into my gym and another into an indoor basket ball court for my kid So things can get tight For reasons you won’t anticipate.

you won’t regret high ceilings. 12 or even 15 feet. I have 12 feet and bought some metal shelving off a guy closing down a textile factory that can go up to 9 or 10 feet. Great for storage.

+1 for the lean-to idea. I added one a few years back to handle overflow behind my garrage. It holds trailers and atvsm deer stands and a bunch of odds and ends that I don’t need often but hate to get rid of. Great place to let you de clutter the garraage.
 
Do a basic room up top, keep plumping and a bathroom on the first floor. Then you have 2 doors to the bathroom, one from the garage and one from the yard. Super handy when throwing parties in the yard and not wanting little kids running through a woodshop full of power tools/sharp objects. Also, not having a bathroom in the upstairs helps deter super long term visitors that may or may not be welcome to stay super long... if your picking up what I'm putting down...

Run plenty of power so your not reliant on extension cords for your equipment.

A lean-to would also be a great space saver for the garage perfect for keeping a car or boat out of the weather.

Faucets on opposite ends of the building. Super convenient to have running water without running all the way over to the other side of the barn. If you do a lot of hunting/fishing, adding a full up outdoor sink setup in the lean-to for all your field prep work.


That was my concern with having too nice of a living space up top...I do love my mother-in-law...but...
 
I'm jealous of all the space you guys have. With my setbacks on a city lot, my max building size is 15x36, 1-1/2 stories. We made the upstairs into an AirBnB rental, the main floor is an office and garage. I wanted space for a shop, so we dug an 8+ ft full size basement.

Since there was already concrete on five sides at the garage end of the basement, I added a concrete wall and Sturdy Safe door to make a vault. It took a while to get permits as no one in Denver had ever put a basement under a garage and one person didn't like it even though it was 100% to code.
 
That was my concern with having too nice of a living space up top...I do love my mother-in-law...but...

Sell it to your spouse as a cost savings measure as well. Its cheaper and way easier to just run plumbing into the first floor.

But, you can set it up to where it will be easy to add it to the upstairs if you really have to later down the road (keep that part to yourself). I may have been born at night, but it wasnt last night... :)
 
I had a metal shop put up at my property (I'm about 2 hours from SC). I don't have living quarters in mine, but I have roughly 1200 sqft' of enclosed storage and a lean too off the side. The lean too runs the length of the shop, plenty of room for a boat. My shop is roughly 15' tall at the center, 8' walls, 2 roll up doors (8' tall if I remember right), LED lights on the outside and inside. Not including the fill dirt I had to bring in due to it being on a slope, I was only $14,000 into it with the slab and electricity included.

There's some good deals on shops if you look around ... Even better if you can do some of the work yourself.
 
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