Suggestions for building a garage?
TECH Resident
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 835
Likes: 0
From: aiken ,sc
garage
Originally Posted by Speed Demon
I am planning to build a garage at my house.
I looking at the kits from 84 Lumber and plan to build it myself (with help from friends)... 38' wide by 30' deep with two 16' x9' doors. Plan to have a 12' ceiling height for future installation of a lift.
Right now I am getting estimates on pouring and forming the concrete slab.
Has anyone else built a garage themselves and if so do you have any suggestions, ie. layout, any pitfalls, or foresight for future additions to the garage.
thanks,
Brandon
I looking at the kits from 84 Lumber and plan to build it myself (with help from friends)... 38' wide by 30' deep with two 16' x9' doors. Plan to have a 12' ceiling height for future installation of a lift.
Right now I am getting estimates on pouring and forming the concrete slab.
Has anyone else built a garage themselves and if so do you have any suggestions, ie. layout, any pitfalls, or foresight for future additions to the garage.
thanks,
Brandon
i also have oil heat 150,000 btu,s with blower, this year it was easy to add the ac,as the blower and stuff was there costs me about,300 year in oil ,i live in new york and run my bussines out of there with tool room plus bays and office its about 1500 square feet, uninsulated block, but 8" insulation in roof ,those are big doors your killing alot of wall space, mine are 10 wide by 8 high,car on trlr fits in ,dont think you need more than 12' doors Last edited by NRC-Motorsports; Dec 31, 2003 at 08:16 PM.
If you have any hope for a lift, go with a thick floor (4" is too thin, IMO), and 12' ceilings are just barely passable. I'm hoping to put a lift in my shop. But, I'm not too sure about the concrete, as I did not build the shop (previous owner did). Mine's a 30 x 30 shop (with a 20 x 30 shed area), and it's barely big enough for 2 cars, tools, and parts. It fills up fast! 
And here's my 225 feet of concrete launch pad 
-Andrew
And here's my 225 feet of concrete launch pad -Andrew
Originally Posted by Reckless
Nice shop Mitch! Is that mower modified yet?
Baskett has some very good words of advice ... make sure when you pour the slab, the contractor knows what your plans are so that the proper reonforcement can be made.
Agin, mine is 24x54 and not big enough! You can never build it too big and it costs twice as much to add on as it does to build it now.
TECH Addict
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,797
Likes: 101
From: Mefis
No kidding, you can never get it big enough. My dad's is 20'x40' and it is too small.
20' tall, sloping to 12' tall. 5 cars can fit in with the two lifts.
Oh yeah and you need a bathroom in your garage. Your wife will hate you for running inside the house to use the BR if you are greasy.
20' tall, sloping to 12' tall. 5 cars can fit in with the two lifts.
Oh yeah and you need a bathroom in your garage. Your wife will hate you for running inside the house to use the BR if you are greasy.
Excellent info guys.
In response to several of the posts. The concrete guy is placing rebar in the fiber mesh concrete. Also I plan to place column footings where the lift posts will be. The footings will be filled with 67 stone and concrete on that.
I'll look into alternate door sizes, good point.
In response to several of the posts. The concrete guy is placing rebar in the fiber mesh concrete. Also I plan to place column footings where the lift posts will be. The footings will be filled with 67 stone and concrete on that.
I'll look into alternate door sizes, good point.
On the concrete issue. Talk to the local pourers, you may be able to do it in sections, using their leftovers. My buddy and some friends also, have saved lots of money this way. The pourer comes off a joba dn has a few cu yards left, drops it off, you level it. Charge was minimal sometimes free for getting rid of it. Definately have some good ideas in here though.
BTW, mitch, nice setup!
BTW, mitch, nice setup!
Launching!
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 199
Likes: 20
i built garages on the side for several years and worked @ a lumber yard, the dimensions you chose are kind of odd, is that the largest you can fit on your lot. make it simple, osb/plywood comes in 4x8 sheets how about a 32 x 40 if you can swing it. also check into standard truss sizes, some trusses are not that common and cost much more, check out local lumber yards/contractor supply places, you may score a real deal on trusses there, make sure they include tar paper in the quote, some places dont realize we want our garages to be as nice as houses, the last garage i built for my father used a roof made out of steel building supplies, vaulted ceilings with skylights, makes a tremendous amount of storage space above with the ceiling open.
get your supply list from 84 and start shopping around for the best prices on each item instead of buying it all from them, all lumber companies have loss leaders, (cheap items to bring people in off the street), and then gouge you for other items in the whole kit,
get your supply list from 84 and start shopping around for the best prices on each item instead of buying it all from them, all lumber companies have loss leaders, (cheap items to bring people in off the street), and then gouge you for other items in the whole kit,
Dang,
Excellent point on the size, but they just dug the footings Friday.
I'll have to get the tape measure out and see if it's anyway to set the block work out further on the footing to make the building to 40 wide.
I'll also check into the materials like you said. Good points also.
Thanks for the information.
Brandon
Excellent point on the size, but they just dug the footings Friday.
I'll have to get the tape measure out and see if it's anyway to set the block work out further on the footing to make the building to 40 wide.
I'll also check into the materials like you said. Good points also.
Thanks for the information.
Brandon
Originally Posted by indyjps
i built garages on the side for several years and worked @ a lumber yard, the dimensions you chose are kind of odd, is that the largest you can fit on your lot. make it simple, osb/plywood comes in 4x8 sheets how about a 32 x 40 if you can swing it. also check into standard truss sizes, some trusses are not that common and cost much more, check out local lumber yards/contractor supply places, you may score a real deal on trusses there, make sure they include tar paper in the quote, some places dont realize we want our garages to be as nice as houses, the last garage i built for my father used a roof made out of steel building supplies, vaulted ceilings with skylights, makes a tremendous amount of storage space above with the ceiling open.
get your supply list from 84 and start shopping around for the best prices on each item instead of buying it all from them, all lumber companies have loss leaders, (cheap items to bring people in off the street), and then gouge you for other items in the whole kit,
get your supply list from 84 and start shopping around for the best prices on each item instead of buying it all from them, all lumber companies have loss leaders, (cheap items to bring people in off the street), and then gouge you for other items in the whole kit,
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Topdon ONE vs. Artidiag 800 BT2: Which is the Diagnostic Tablet For You?
Pouria Savadkouei
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 299
Likes: 0
From: Savannah, TN
Has anyone looked at www.steelbuilding.com or built a steel building? I priced out a 38'x48'x13' with 2 16'x10' doors, 1 12'x10' door, 1 3'x7' entry door, 2 electric openers, gutters, vents, 8 10' light panels in the ceiling, and foil/bubble/poly interior wrap for $13,700 delivered.
Mine is a metal building ...
24x40
1 18'x10' door w/ opener
1 10' roll up
1 3/0 pass door
8 8' double tube lighting fixtures
roof vent
12x24 awning
200 amp service
insulated
under $9K erected
didn't include foundation work.
24x40
1 18'x10' door w/ opener
1 10' roll up
1 3/0 pass door
8 8' double tube lighting fixtures
roof vent
12x24 awning
200 amp service
insulated
under $9K erected
didn't include foundation work.
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
From: Fort Davis TX
24x30x10 Steel Building
1 16x8 overhead door
1 dual door opening
6-8 6ft fluorescent lights
100 amp service
running water
will have overhead storage and this is being added on to a 20x20x8
Most of our junk will be in the old building and this will be the work staion.
We poured the cement on saturday, their is no codes or anything here so we have about a 5'' footing with 3/8 rebar vertically every foot and 3/8rebal horizantly all the wya around. Then wire mesh in the actual poor.
1,300 for the cement plus 500 in forms and paid a cement pro to put a slick finish on it with the power trouwl. Steel building 3,300 delivered we already had the doors from previous jobs.
so a little over 5,000 and we are on a 7k budget, so the rest goes towards some new tools
1 16x8 overhead door
1 dual door opening
6-8 6ft fluorescent lights
100 amp service
running water
will have overhead storage and this is being added on to a 20x20x8
Most of our junk will be in the old building and this will be the work staion.
We poured the cement on saturday, their is no codes or anything here so we have about a 5'' footing with 3/8 rebar vertically every foot and 3/8rebal horizantly all the wya around. Then wire mesh in the actual poor.
1,300 for the cement plus 500 in forms and paid a cement pro to put a slick finish on it with the power trouwl. Steel building 3,300 delivered we already had the doors from previous jobs.
so a little over 5,000 and we are on a 7k budget, so the rest goes towards some new tools
They can be built for cheap, that's for sure.
Notice you are in Ft. Davis. Beautiful contry. Have/had a distant relative that lives there. The dad was a border patrolman who patrolled via airplane. Many years ago he crashed and died.
I miss visiting out there ... it's a small town ... thought I'd fish a little.
Notice you are in Ft. Davis. Beautiful contry. Have/had a distant relative that lives there. The dad was a border patrolman who patrolled via airplane. Many years ago he crashed and died.
I miss visiting out there ... it's a small town ... thought I'd fish a little.
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 213
Likes: 0
From: Central Va
when i was in service, we had a hangar problem with birds shitting all over the planes. so what they did and i always remembered this as what NOT to do. they painted the floor white which was ok as it did help out with brightness and they put grit in it for traction, well that grit was gone in about 4 months time also the painted floor WITH the grit was slippery as hell if anything leaked on it, they also put ALOT of new lighting in the ceilings and they aimed it all over the place, upwards downwards just about any way you could imagine. in a garage i think extra lighting would always be a must. i knew one guy who had lights on the sides about 3' and 6' up on the walls he claimed it helped him detail his car.
7 Second Club
iTrader: (5)
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,064
Likes: 0
From: Grove City Ohio/Port Washington L.I sometimes
I just added a 30x40 pole barn onto the back of my existing pole-barn.It's a 30x80 now with water,phone,heat,concrete floor and 230 volt electric.I did little of the work myself and ended up spending $9500.00.That is with upgraded 2x6 roof trusses,30 ton of gravel and 21 yards of concrete.My floor is from 5.5-7 inches thick and has both rebar and wire mesh.I have 9 8 ft flourescent lights and 24 electrical outlets total in the finished building.It is freakin HUGE and I love it.I have room to park all my stuff and not worry about the kids scratching one of my rides.
On The Tree
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: Illinois
Here's my garage 24'x36' it's as big as the county would let me bulid.
I used scissor trusses to give me extra height.
Got the drywall done on friday spent most of today putting on primer.
I hope by next weekend I can start the fun stuff putting up cabinets and getting organized.
I used scissor trusses to give me extra height.
Got the drywall done on friday spent most of today putting on primer.
I hope by next weekend I can start the fun stuff putting up cabinets and getting organized.
Last edited by Rat_Fink; May 1, 2004 at 09:14 PM.
