Decided to build a garage. Now the fun begins.

[South VA]

Congrats! I love garage projects.

I have a 25x40 shop on my Colorado property (7250' elevation). I chose to do in-floor boiler-fired radiant gas heating. It doubles as a snow-melt system for the first 30 feet of concrete on each end of the building. You are correct - it is pricey - but a wonderful luxury to have in winter. I have used hung forced-air units in other garages (Hot Dawg, as someone else mentioned) and they work great. That should work for your size space and intended use, and they run about $1100 for the unit itself.


One thing I would STRONGLY recommend is to not skimp on lighting. In fact, I encourage people to essentially double the amount of lighting that a typical contractor thinks you need. I like my workspace to be lit like a surgery suite - and the older I get, the more I love good lighting. I use 8' LED fixtures similar to this, and place one between each car stall, between the end stalls and the walls, and directly over any workbenches etc. Cheap to run the wiring when doing the install, and a PITA to install after the fact.

Keep this thread updated, and good luck!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Metalux...76-Lumens-4000K-UNV-Voltage-8SL8040/305053569

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Thanks!

I love garage projects too! Sounds like you have a really nice setup. Where in Colorado do you live? Front range, Central, or Western Slope? 7250’ is high enough to get serious, sustained snow. When I lived in Eagle County we often didn’t see the lawn until April, and sometimes had drifts that persisted until late May.

And I’m with you - the older I get, the more I appreciate good lighting. It’s critical. LEDs have changed the lighting game for the better, and I’m also looking at long LED fixtures. I’ll be doing most of the wiring myself, so I won’t be limited by the contractor’s preferences.

One suggestion that the guy whose garage inspired me to finally go ahead with this project was these:

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They’re expensive, but work really well. I’m thinking I’d combine them with tube - style LEDs.

 

[South VA]

One more thing. If going with overhead garage doors, I encourage using the high-mount option on the overhead door tracks / rails. Mount the rails as close to the ceiling (or angled if your ceiling is sloped) to give yourself as much overhead clearance as possible, especially if planning for a lift. Any garage door company installer should know how to do this. Not common, people often overlook this detail, but a game change for overhead clearance, and very little extra cost.

Another very good suggestion. Thanks!

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

When Dad had our shop building built in the early 80s, he talked to a lot of people and builders about what he wanted and what would be the best way to do that. We ended up with a 40x80 metallic building, 14' high in the center. The front roll-up door is 10' wide, and tall enough to get a wrecker with a car on it in(that's how we got the totalled Burb in and out). The front bay holds a Suburban; I've worked on several of our Burbs in it. It's tight, but there is just enough room to work. Most recent service was the front brakes and upper ball joints on the current Burb in October 2018. Since then, we've had to use this space for storage, but my plan is to make enough room by organizing and selling more parts off, to be able to get either of my trucks in there for service. Gravel driveways are not good for under car service! BTDT, too many years.....
What my uncle did when he was planning his garage, was to park his pickup where he wanted a bay to be, then open both doors. Then the wife's car, open both doors, then his T Bird, open both doors. That gave him enough space for working on the vehicle and walking around it. He bought a whole block in their small town, with the intent of building a house and this garage. I've only seen pictures, but he was able to build the structures he wanted. I'm pretty sure the garage has some type of heater; they're near the Sangre de Cristo mountains between Albuquerque and Farmington, New Mexico. So it does get pretty cold....

 

[Keeper]

hows about incorporating some gravel based lean-to's off the sides.... very handy

 

[South VA]

That would be a good time to trade 2 of your 10' doors for one 16' or 20'.

I hadn’t considered combining doors for a larger door. I’ll have to give that some thought.

Move your stub wall out to fit and have a welding outlet on that wall. You mentioned a tractor, you may need to work on implements you want to do indoors. If you can afford it, go with 6", driving heavy equipment on 4" isn't great. Plus, you won't get as many cracks either. Concrete always cracks but you can control it when done properly.

Never having welded anything, I still plan on having a welder at some point. That’s good advice.

The concrete contractor that I’ll probably go with (assuming he ever comes up with a bid!) does great work. I saw a two-year old garage floor he did and all the cracks were in the saw cut relief joints.

I’ll have to ask him about a 6” slab, but that change might put it out of reach for me, financially. The JD tractor weighs just over 7,000 lbs, which hopefully a 4” slab could handle. The implements all weigh much less than that. We use it for blading the gravel driveway, and bush hogging.

If you look closely, you can see where they made the expansion cuts with a soft cut saw which helps keep the floor flat and level. The floor in my 30'X60' (still too small) is pretty much zero bubble level. The door slabs are sloped a little.

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That’s huge! I hear you that it’s still too small, though. I’d like to go larger myself, but can’t realistically do it.

In the desert, I'm more concerned about venting heat. These roof vents are way better than the "whirlybirds" plus you can close them from the floor. I have 2ea 16' X 10' commercial grade doors with 12' eaves for clearance. HTH

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I hadn’t thought about venting heat. Of course we don’t have the heat that you do, but it’s still worth considering.

 

[South VA]

hows about incorporating some gravel based lean-to's off the sides.... very handy

Good suggestion, and I’ve considered doing it on one side. Two sides of the building will be 10’ from a goat pasture fence, and one side will be fairly close to a septic leach field. So space is somewhat constrained. But a lean-to would be perfect for parking our two mowers.

 

[OutlawDrifter]

Get on garagejournal.com and do some browsing, lots of good info. I've got a thread over there for my 36x40x14' pole building.

The more insulation the better. 4" cement with 1/2" rebar is good, that's what mine is and I carried all my loaded toolboxes and heavy stuff in with a JD 4430 w/loader.

Agreed on light, lots of it.

I wish I would have stubbed out water and a drain line in mine, for nothing other than a bathroom and maybe hot water to wash stuff inside in the winter.

For heat and AC I've got a 3-ton heat pump. It does a great job. For air circulation I use an Air Pear, works awesome for keeping the heat off the ceiling in the winter time, and you don't lose ceiling height with the drop required for a standard ceiling fan.

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[South VA]

When Dad had our shop building built in the early 80s, he talked to a lot of people and builders about what he wanted and what would be the best way to do that. We ended up with a 40x80 metallic building, 14' high in the center. The front roll-up door is 10' wide, and tall enough to get a wrecker with a car on it in(that's how we got the totalled Burb in and out). The front bay holds a Suburban; I've worked on several of our Burbs in it. It's tight, but there is just enough room to work. Most recent service was the front brakes and upper ball joints on the current Burb in October 2018. Since then, we've had to use this space for storage, but my plan is to make enough room by organizing and selling more parts off, to be able to get either of my trucks in there for service. Gravel driveways are not good for under car service! BTDT, too many years.....

Sounds like you’ve got a pretty nice shop - and I understand how storage needs sometimes outweigh vehicle needs. Good luck with your plan for getting it back to being a garage!

What my uncle did when he was planning his garage, was to park his pickup where he wanted a bay to be, then open both doors. Then the wife's car, open both doors, then his T Bird, open both doors. That gave him enough space for working on the vehicle and walking around it. He bought a whole block in their small town, with the intent of building a house and this garage. I've only seen pictures, but he was able to build the structures he wanted. I'm pretty sure the garage has some type of heater; they're near the Sangre de Cristo mountains between Albuquerque and Farmington, New Mexico. So it does get pretty cold....

Wow, a whole block for a house and a garage. Your uncle clearly had his priorities straight!

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Sounds like you’ve got a pretty nice shop - and I understand how storage needs sometimes outweigh vehicle needs. Good luck with your plan for getting it back to being a garage!



Wow, a whole block for a house and a garage. Your uncle clearly had his priorities straight!

It's quite a house. Two stories plus a basement. And he was able to do a lot of the work on it himself. He worked for the local electric co op and made good money, so he could afford to pay for the stuff he couldn't do. His wife's family came to northern NM with the conquistadors; she considers herself more Spanish than Mexican and is kin to most of the area.

 

[South VA]

Get on garagejournal.com and do some browsing, lots of good info. I've got a thread over there for my 36x40x14' pole building.

Thanks - I’ll check that site out.

The more insulation the better.

I wish I could justify upgrading the insulation, but at this point I’m happy to be able to insulate it at all.

4" cement with 1/2" rebar is good, that's what mine is and I carried all my loaded toolboxes and heavy stuff in with a JD 4430 w/loader.

Wow, that’s way heavier than my JD 2520!

Agreed on light, lots of it.


I wish I would have stubbed out water and a drain line in mine, for nothing other than a bathroom and maybe hot water to wash stuff inside in the winter.

For heat and AC I've got a 3-ton heat pump. It does a great job. For air circulation I use an Air Pear, works awesome for keeping the heat off the ceiling in the winter time, and you don't lose ceiling height with the drop required for a standard ceiling fan.

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That Air Pear looks like the ticket! I’ve never seen such a thing!