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OT: Who all lives in a warehouse/shop?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by TexasHardcore, Aug 6, 2007.

  1. The house and big shop I've been renting with my friend has been sold and we've got to go. We've ac***ulated alot of car **** over the past year or so and now it's got to get liquidated, separated, and relocated. He's headed to another place and I've got to go on my own. Austin ****s and I can't find anything I can afford with a garage within 50 miles of where I work because everything is overpriced and under built. These god damn out-of-staters are moving in and raising the prices of everything. Can you believe a piece of **** old house in a town of 3,000 people on a tiny corner lot with no garage or parking with junky houses next to it goes for $285,000 in this area. ****!

    I came across a shop I think I'm going to rent and live in the office area. It's 1,200 sqft, Central heat & air inside, 2 bay doors, dock bay, insulated, well lit, 120/240 equipped, and has a bathroom area and 2 offices that will be my "apartment". I'll need to toss in a stand-up shower, but it used to have one, so it's easy. This place will have enough room for all my ****, and a few cars inside. A little over 4 miles one way to work instead of the 23 mile one-way drive I've been making. It's cheaper than any house I've found, and the landlord said he doesn't care what I do with the place as long as I pay my rent on time and don't catch the place on fire. I'm going to pull the trigger on it tomorrow and drop damn near my entire measly savings account on this place just to have a place to call my 'home' for a while.

    Just curious who else does this, and what do YOU have to say about it?
     
  2. BigRed390
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 483

    BigRed390
    Member

    Cool! I want one! We all joke about living in the garage or shop, but to actually do it would be great!
     
  3. That's my eventual plan, I commute 130 miles a day. I want to find an old abandonded shop out near 290 (Houston), or maybe the Heights.
     
  4. LowFat48
    Joined: Aug 28, 2005
    Posts: 910

    LowFat48
    Member

    If its good enough for Burt munro , Its good enough for me .....
     
  5. 31whitey
    Joined: Jan 2, 2007
    Posts: 2,214

    31whitey
    Member

    Steve McQueen lived in an airplane hanger
     
  6. wvenfield
    Joined: Nov 23, 2006
    Posts: 5,667

    wvenfield
    Member

    I live in the doghouse quite often.
     
  7. Lobucrod
    Joined: Mar 22, 2006
    Posts: 4,121

    Lobucrod
    Alliance Vendor
    from Texas

    The wife and I are looking into buying a place near weatherford. Only thing on the place right now is a large metal building. We plant on putting an apartment in one corner of it. If things work out we will either buy a good sized motorhome or build a small house next to it. Small as in no room for our five grown kids!
     
  8. Redneck Smooth
    Joined: Apr 19, 2004
    Posts: 1,344

    Redneck Smooth
    Member
    from Cincinnati

    I'd do it in a second, but I bet the woman who pays half the mortgage would have a problem with living in a warehouse...
     
  9. hotrod1940
    Joined: Aug 2, 2005
    Posts: 4,064

    hotrod1940
    Member

    When I was young I had a factory and I built a two story apartment in one end and lived there with my wife and three kids. The kids are grown now, but they say that was the best time of their life. We were on ten acres and they each had a horse. I had room for all my toys and the tools to work on them. I had to call the place a watchmans quarters to satisfy the county.
     
  10. donzzilla
    Joined: Oct 15, 2006
    Posts: 142

    donzzilla
    Member

    I lived in a big house with my 25'x75' shop in the back, right outside of Philadelphia. I had had it with car and motorcycle painting and we went into the vintage motorcycle clothing business. That took off like gang busters. We were running out of room very quickly. Anything around that was big enough was rediculously priced.

    Our solution. We found 60 acres in Brackney, PA out in the sticks near the NY border. We put up a 50'x104' pole barn, rough cut siding, tin roof, just basic cover. Over insulated it and put top of the line doors and a very few windows. We put a 20'X35' "efficentcy apartment in the back, complete with all the bottom line appliances that the chain stores had to offer. A good heat and ac unit and we were in. Grant it it's a mail order business and it can be opperated just about anywhere. But for under 2hunnert grand we have a show place out in the sticks. In Philly something like we have here would be well over a couple million bux.

    If I had to I could still drive under a half an hour to any kind of work needed. A lot of the locals laugh that I live in the back of a pole barn, but the 20' walk to work in the AM is nice.

    I don't miss the city at all, Don
     
  11. LUX BLUE
    Joined: May 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,407

    LUX BLUE
    Alliance Vendor
    from AUSTIN,TX

    I did this for around 8 months after my Divorce.

    pros-
    not hard to get to and from work (my little apartment was upstairs where I worked.)
    never had to worry about upsetting the neighbors-didn't have any
    got a ton done on my car real quick...which was a plus considering my only car was in about 200 peices, and shipped around the country.
    showering was purely optional on the weekends...

    Cons
    it takes a special breed of woman to spend the night in a garage.(reguardless of how cool your room is.)
    No Neighbors= easily trapped in or under something. (keep that cellphone nearby.)
    although you got your car built quickly, it is now an obsession, cause you lost a bit of your mind on those long *** nights. That's a different kind of quiet friend. (thus explaining why I like my olds so much.)
    and you're never really "off work"....you're just not "working"
    if you plan on keeping the custom shop thing going, but as a primary job, make sure you get out once in a while...or else the next thing you know, you're that guy that talks to himself all day.
     
  12. Bluto
    Joined: Feb 15, 2005
    Posts: 5,113

    Bluto
    Member Emeritus

    I have lived in a shop building since 1994. Mrs Bluto joined me five years ago

    We are in the process of rebuilding a house built in 1820. Most of the house .... entry and kitchen will be open from the ground to the 2nd story rafters

    Once you get ustta things being open you can't really go back

    I forgot about Harvey livin in Santa Paula.........thanks for reminding me
     
  13. Shifty Shifterton
    Joined: Oct 1, 2006
    Posts: 4,964

    Shifty Shifterton
    Member

    #1, you'd be cooler than ****

    #2, looked into it a few times, and you may run afoul of zoning ordinances by having a residence in a commercial property that's not zoned for apartment rental.

    good luck
     
  14. FLAT-TOP BOB
    Joined: Aug 19, 2002
    Posts: 1,968

    FLAT-TOP BOB
    HAMB O'dex Editor

    i have been planning one for the last 20 years!

    we just started it in jan. of this year. 60 x 120 and it will have a 30 x 60 house inside and on the south end. i hope to start the house part in the next few months. maybe in the next year or two we will be moved in after dreaming for 20 years.
     

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  15. you *******!
     
  16. Mercmad
    Joined: Mar 21, 2007
    Posts: 1,383

    Mercmad
    BANNED
    from Brisvegas

    Your post is an exact duplicate of my situation here on the other side of the world.I live in what was formerly a body shop( panel beater)The front part,the office is a two bedroom ,kitchen bathroom outfit ,which was originally an WW2 army hut..it's been sold from under me and i need to move in a few weeks,but it's been great,i could bang away on cars all day and night and not upset any neighbours( who are mainly car repair places anyway) .
    The cost of all houses in my area has gone from 200,000 average to 500,000 in 12 months.This has been driven by real-estate agents who ,of course,get a bigger commision on a higher house price.
    I can't afford house rents in the Brisbane area ( $300 and up) so I decided I would move out to the country,Guess what? the ****in real estate companies are jacking prices of really terrible houses in the bush too.
    I have been looking for another Factory to live in,but Asian investors are moving in Quickly and buying industrial realestate at more than market prices.As a result rents have to rise so these ****heads can recoup their "investment".( 2,000,000 investment means 2000 per-month rent..)
    One thing you have to remember living in a factory is that you will have near neihbours who will be seriously noisy.One off my neihbours is a recording studio which must record some of the worst music in Australia.
    Be prepared for a lot traffic at odd times,trucks pulling up at 2 in the morning,unloading ,loading,strange people hanging around ,large empty buildings are also spooky at night so fill it up...:D
     
  17. breeder
    Joined: Jul 13, 2005
    Posts: 10,948

    breeder
    Member Emeritus

    larry, pagin scarrylarry....you need to break out your house pics again!

    our plan also is to build a large shop on some nice highland ground [tired of the low land here on our farm] ...

    apt. in the end....pay it off....build a house!for her!
    ima make some of the walls easily removable so i can arrange it into my shop office...and leave a small apt in it for quest!
     
  18. Casey
    Joined: Nov 8, 2005
    Posts: 3,293

    Casey
    Member Emeritus

    buy land!
    live and work under a tree.
    till you can afford more !
    outside shower`s save water in the winter.
    sam`s has a great awning for 300 buck`s!
    take`s a couple of year`s of roughing it , but not having any rent in the long run is worth it!
     
  19. KustmAce
    Joined: Dec 6, 2004
    Posts: 411

    KustmAce
    Member

    I work so much in a warehouse I might as well live here.
     
  20. Judd
    Joined: Feb 26, 2003
    Posts: 1,894

    Judd
    Member

    New a guy in Indiana who was starting a bike shop in a 1 room store with a tiny room on the side he had barely enough room for a cot in. We came in one day and he had a woman shackin up with him, He was my hero from then on!
     
  21. synthsis
    Joined: Mar 29, 2006
    Posts: 1,899

    synthsis
    Member

    I came very close to buying a large airplane style building right before I found my house. I'm better off at the house me thinks.
     
  22. zgears
    Joined: Nov 29, 2003
    Posts: 1,576

    zgears
    Member

    I useto live a shop in Portland for $300 a mo. kinda geto but......
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 1, 2014
  23. Evilfordcoupe™
    Joined: May 22, 2001
    Posts: 1,832

    Evilfordcoupe™
    Member


    I dig it. You beat me in size....we just bought a shop 70 X 100 X 30 and the plans include a studio on the 2nd level at some point.

    -Jason
     
  24. Dakota
    Joined: Jan 21, 2004
    Posts: 1,535

    Dakota
    Member
    from Beulah, ND

    Be careful , if its in an industrial area it may be illegal to "live" there. thats the way it is here anyways.
     
  25. Verbal Kint
    Joined: Aug 4, 2004
    Posts: 3,221

    Verbal Kint
    Member
    from Washington

    I designed and drew up 700 sq ft apartment for my buddies 6000 sq/ft shop. Way cheaper per sq/ft that any home in that area would have been and an easier permit process than the typical residential hoops I've had to h***le with. The only drawback so far is he has found the utility costs (power/sewer/water/garbage) are more expensive than residential rates, that will likely change when he gets his final permit to occupy and its rezoned commercial/residential.

    s.
     
  26. Searcher
    Joined: Jul 8, 2007
    Posts: 620

    Searcher
    Member

    Yep...and here it is.
    A friend of mine lives in it now.
    If I wasn't married, I'd be in a Hanger or something that you could pull a car into. Lot of guy's ( single ) live this way.
    I'll have to figure out how to get a bigger picture to post on this Hoaky ***ed MB.
     

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  27. BrandonB
    Joined: Feb 24, 2006
    Posts: 3,571

    BrandonB
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from nor cal

    Dirk Pitt lives in a warehouse/hanger. He's my hero.
     
  28. 41woodie
    Joined: Mar 3, 2004
    Posts: 1,146

    41woodie
    Member

    Currently living in an old livery stable built in 1893, 7000 sq. ft. Upstairs, 3500 sq ft apartment/home two bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, BIG rooms and high ceilings. Downstairs 1000 sq ft office and 2500 sq ft garage with another full bath. Walls are 16 inch thick solid brick.
    Lots of room for hobbies. If I knew how to resize and post pictures I'd show it off a bit.
     
  29. shoprat
    Joined: Dec 23, 2006
    Posts: 1,109

    shoprat
    Member Emeritus
    from Orange, CA

    I've been in a 1200 sq ft warehouse for almost 11 yrs. I love it,
    and wouldn't change a thing. Do most anything I want. I got all
    my **** in one place. All the toys get attention and the Girlfreind
    thinks it's cool. Illegal though, keep the F.D. away.
     
  30. Not really a warehouse but our shop is the same size as our garage.......I am sitting in the office looking out at my T thru French doors.............call it "split level" to satisfy the man.Most of our living space is above the shop
     

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