I'm so frustrated due to lack of work space. I have a 2 car attached garage. In this garage is a mill, lathe, drill press, bead blast cabinet, 2 mig welders, tig, gas, plasma cutter, pedestal grinder, pedestal buffer, motorcycle lift, tool boxes, battery charger, floor jacks, jack stands, etc etc. I'm getting ready to reframe my Essex. I've got to take the car apart and have room to build the frame. I have a 12X16 shed, it's full of tools, equipment and motorcycle stuff. It was a lot easier when I was restoring and repairing old harleys, didn't need as much room. I was thinking of getting one of those canvas type one car garage tents and putting it around back just to store the body parts. Has anyone used one of these. I see a lot of builds here and most of the pictures appear to be in large shops. Who else here builds in tight quarters. I'm curious as to how you go about it. Oh yeah, there's still harleys to do in between the car stuff. And my wife, all she says is, "I've got a brand new car and I can't even put it in the garage". Just venting a little. I gotta do something. Ken
I had exactly what you have + a 6' brake & 36" stomp shear. Oraganization is the key. I utilized my walls & ceiling also. When I sold a hotrod that I had built 2 yrs. ago I spoiled myself and added on a 36' x 36' to it and never looked back. People won't believe that all the equipment used to fit in the old part. You do what you gotta do.
Ha-Ha story of my life..throw in some kids bikes, lawn equipment, patio furniture....and you have no room for cars. Me and some freinds were all in the same boat so we got the opportunity to rent a 3000 sq ft building with a hoist , a big 3 phaze compressor, and a 1 bedroom apt above it for 450 a month. Cost us $113.00 each month for rent, theres no heat....but we got a barely used 300,000 btu torpedo that runs on diesel is quiet and not too smelly for 500 bucks. Heats the place up in minutes and we run a thermostat on it. With heat, electrical , it runs about 140 each per month in the winter and less in the summer when we dont chip in for diesel. I could have built a 26 x 30 garage and still not have enough room and the loan payment would have been more than 150 a month for the next 20 years. BTW My wife has never parked a car in the garage in our 16 years of marriage
I use a ShelterLogic 24' long, X 10' Wide, X 10' tall. I'm up North where it battles the Winter. Cost was around $800 or so. Downside is you can't lean anything like a hood up against it, since the wind will whip the material in and out. If you get one, you'll have to put something down the middle to act as a "bicycle rack" to hold all the parts up, so they don't lean on the walls. Maybe price using 2x4's and ribbed sheet-metal roofing/siding, to see if it's cheaper or not.
The guys working in their open backyards would kill to have what you have, it's all relative. I think a person could have a 20,000 sq ft shop and the projects and tools would expand to crowd you out of that eventually. We have two 2700 sq ft shops, side by side, and we have to keep them cleaned up or we start tripping over stuff. Don
My shop is 10,000 sq ft and it has 15,000 sq ft of cars and stuff in it. It makes no difference how big or how small it will get filled up it's just the way we are.
simple answer NOT ENOUGH i have a "garage" that is made out of cinderblocks its 20x20 on the outside and like 18x18 on the inside throw in tools 2 cars and other stuff its easier to work on the driveway...which is what i do you can see my garage in my avatar ever measure a 60 t-bird?
When I first started building cars, I worked in a 1 car garage behind my Dad's house. I now have a 40x50 building with 30x30 of that for shop space. Still too small. But if I had it bigger, I'd just have more stuff in it anyway. I have a 30x40 pole building on the other side of town just for storage of parts and future projects. That building looks like an episode of hoarders.
A small storage building can help the lawnmower and some tool that you don't use often can go in their. I also work in a two car garage and have to push things out and then back in once I get done But it still beats the back yard and a lean too.
Like most of us, who run out of room, I find myself deciding whether or not to buy something based not on whether it is a bargain or if I want it but whether or not I am willing to give up the space to store it. I loaned my cherry picker to the neighbor to swap engines in his Ford Ranger and am in no hurry for him to bring it back. I would rather borrow one as to own one. John L
I have a 3600 sq ft. shop and had to build a 12X24 room off to the side for the machine tools and small stuff. It's easy to heat and I find my selfe in there more than out in the main work area.
I build in a 24x30 garage and it's big enough.. I have a running model A and a project model A going all the time.. When they're both done(sorta) I sell one and move on to the next A.. My shop is easy to heat, has pop/beer machine, good jazz and a comfy seat.. I'm a happy hot rod builder....
we all complain about space.check out my club brothers thread and then talk.i have a have a three car garage and he gets more done then me! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=629142
We have a 40x50 shop that is two stories, plus an attached garage for the daily drivers. We still don't have enough room, and have to squeeze between vehicles and projects. I am not whining, just living a dream that I thought I would never have. Four years ago I had a 28x34 and was getting by OK.
I have a single car detached garage and ran into the same problem. Last year we had the garage completely redone and I put on an addition. The addition freed up a ton of floor space. The picture of the inside of my addition show's what it looked like when I just got my cabinets in place but it's much more full now. I have my mig and plasma cutter under my work bench and I added peg board and shelves. Next year we are putting up a 30X40 garage so the wife will reclaim this garage as her own again!! LOL
Lol. You guys are making me jealous. I literally have a single car garage. And no shed. I share the gArage with bikes mowers my 31 And a ton of equipment. I keep a lot of parts and tools in my basement and bring them up when they are needed. I am used to working with what I've got so its not that bad. But I am jealous of everyone with a bigger garage
LOL..you guys had it made...here is my car outside so I could expand my closed in carport (with no floor) by a whoping 3 feet on the side and 3 feet on the front. After I got the car painted in there, I realized I couldn't assemble it and walk around the car! Second pic is inside what I used for a temporary outside paint booth for parts. Large rubber trash bins with locking lids make good outside storage for whatever fits in them. The cabin tent btw, is 12x 22, can be found for 120. or so. The Texas wind and sun will tear it apart in about 3 months. This would work great as a paint booth for any of you with big, uncleanable barns. Probably made big enough to get a car in, I didn't need one that big, and probably too expensive fpr one time use.
48 x 48, a high side 24 x 48 and a low side, put together in the middle....and its Full..2 lifts, milling Machine, lathe, 2 stage IR compressor, Mac tool box bigger than a Falcon Van.....Now I rent a 3,000 barn just to keep my driving cars in....someday....maybe....add on a 24 x 64 just for "done" rides.....on the high side old shot in front of the shop...
Working out of a two-car attached garage. Have my O/T car in it along with my toolbox, workbenches and equipment. I work on my 61 in the driveway. Wish I had a bigger garage, though. Don't know what the hell I'm gonna do when I'm ready for a lathe & mill!
It was a whole lot easier doing motorcycles. When I live in N.Y. I had a one car garage. There would be as many as 10 Harleys in there at one time in the winter for overhaul and repair. I had a 10 ft. counter against the wall in the kitchen. Sometimes there would be 4 or 5 engines on stands on that counter. My wifes friends would always be asking what the hell is this stuff. I looked at it as art. Nothing like a bunch of chromed out knucklehead and panhead engines to look at while you sip coffee in the morning. That house had a full basement. I used to lug a lot of crap down there. Ken
Well it's supposed to be a one car garage but I haven't had a car in it for 8 years. It's been overtaken by the welder, torch, drill press, belt sander and band saw and a work bench. I'm seriously thinking about buying a shipping container to set beside the garage and set the shop equipment in with the exception of the welder.
WISH i had a 2 bay. I have up my 20 x 20 detached when we moved. ended up with a single bay that's barely large enough for the chassis of my 34 PU. at least the tools are in the dry. makes building difficult and has largley stopped all side work I normally do but it is what it is--the wife likes the house
When first maried I worked outside year around on my projects as I lived in a trailer park. First house moved up to a 24X36 detached garage. Lived there for 24 years saving for my wife's dream house and my dream shop. While there I had a forced vacation stay in the hospital for almost 5 years (accident,severe head injury). Finally, we were able to build her house and I'm now in a 40'X80' 2 story shop. We've been married 48 years........ life is good. Frank
I'm building my car in my front yard. When i need a hard surface i roll it around to under the single car carport when I'm done i roll it around to my front yard so my wife can park her mustang under it. My other carport has a dirt floor and I'm getting ready to make a floor out off railroad ties and ply wood so I will have a permanent hard surface to work on. my and motorcycles are in my shed that I got off an old box truck they use to be in my living room. anything major I load the car on a trailer and off to my uncles shop. But im cool with it.
My car is at my son's house about 25 miles away - he has all the tools that I do not - compressor, air tools, welder, lifts, handtools, grinders, drill press etc. Even so, his is a small 2 car garage, with my 57, a honda 4wheeler, his willies jeep project, and 3-4 motorcycles at any one time. But we make it work. I just joined the HAMB social group Build it yourself (Small garage w/minimal expensive tools) to get some ideas on space and tools. Plan your work, and work your plan. Bill
The Jalopy Journal
