Art & Inspiration Shop Space, how much is enough

Yeah, me too. Mine is connected to the house on two sides with a steel roof, 16 x20 ? I think. I’ve put together several cars in it, worked on dozens more. Still use the yard on occasion. I also have a 22 x 30 covered parking area adjoining that, gravel floor for now, hope to pour concrete this year. It parks 4 vehicles nicely.

But how much storage does one actually need? How many project cars will you ever get around too? How many extra parts will you actually use? I’ve never had that kind of almost unlimited storage, nor do I want it. My money would be better invested in things I will actually use instead of piling up until I die and then a bunch of scavengers coming in and buying it for pennies on the dollar. Every week you see an auction somewhere of some dead souls collection who thought he was going to live forever. Lots of viable parts and cars go to scrap. I just don’t understand having stuff just to have it, my stuff has a purpose, if that purpose changes or doesn’t happen, I get rid of it.

 

I am just happy to have a two car garage. One half is used as a man-cave for me and my boys, the other half is for working on cars…

 

My shop is 36.5x60 with 18ft walls and some upstairs as well down one side and one end. Total of 2930 sq ft. It is jamb packed! Original plan was to add to the south side for more parking. I have a '40ft boat in the middle of it. I decided to give away the boat and not add to the building, saving me a TON of money and taxes and quit gathering more shit!
There is never enough space no matter how big the shop. I am finally learning to trim it all down. I turn 70 in a few months and have slowed down more than I expected!

Why 36.5ft? The drill rig got the pole holes 6" off so rather than redrill the contractor asked if I wanted another half foot of width? Of course!

Dave

BTW, I have four 10x10 doors and a man door on one side and one 16W x16.5H door on one end.

 

I used to want a huge heated shop with room for numerous projects and finished cars. Go to enough auctions and estate sales and see someone's treasures that they worked so hard for and spent so much money storing go for pennies on the dollar...it's pretty humbling.

I have a 22x22 main bay with a 12x22 side bay for storage and fab equipment. The main bay fits one car plus a few welders, welding tables, vise, etc. Keeps me focused on ONE thing at a time.

It would be great to change oil inside without kicking something out, but it works for now. I've considered getting a 4 post for the project bay so I can put it overhead in case another quick project pops up.

You can only spin wrenches on one thing at a time. For me more space leads to more accumulation weather I like it or not. Spend more time shuffling stuff around, buying, selling, trading instead of actually getting projects I care about done.

Long story short, use your resources to do what you want (that you can realistically follow through with) and get it done!

 

My opinions and why.......... This is if you don't have unlimited space and funding.

Its all about maximizing the usefulness of what you build. Take advantage of the space above your shoulders.

You need one central area which should have a ceiling 12'-13' high. (Mine is 12'6") Thats what a 12 ft stud with 2 top and 2 bottom plates gave me. This is so that a lift (or 2) can be installed and raise the vehicle high enough to work.
I would also suggest building a homemade crane within the building as it will allow not only easy engine removal but raising bodies off frames and putting frames onto work tables. I use my crane constantly and when done, it basically doesn't occupy floor space as much as a cherry picker. The uprights can be used to mount fans and tools and even a tv. Learn how to wire an outlet yourself and put lots of 4 plug outlets in as you build. They are cheap if you do them yourself, and you never have too many outlets. I would recommend at least every other stud.

You can attach "lean -tos" to the central building but at a lower height. Saves the cost of one wall and the lower ceiling is all that is needed because you don't need another lift. Heating it is cheaper because there is not as much to heat and the heat stays lower. I have a workbench and a bunch of cabinets that I aquired at auctions and off Facebook in the leanto..........and provided 2 overhead doors so whole vehicles could come inside if needed. (Depends on the span of the leanto) I filled mine with a workbench and other tools so no more vehicles with my 13 ft span. The point here is that you can take a lot of the tools you may use in your main shop and put them on wheels. Store them in the leanto and roll them out when needed. In my case, I also have a couple of permanent tools in the leanto....a 4ft shear and a 4 ft sheetmetal brake. But I have several other large tools that I can simply roll into the main shop when needed. Insulate well.




Left side of leanto

Right end of leanto

Additional detail of right end of leanto



Additional detail of left end of leanto.

The idea here is that I can store stuff so its not always in my way in the main shop and I don't need a high ceiling. I can also work in here on things like engines and transmissions because I have a workbench that has a SS tray on top to catch oil and debris and an incorporated engine stand in the workbench....eliminating the floor space of a full engine stand.

As you can see, all of this stuff doesn't need to be in the way in the main shop, and makes great storage and even additional workspace for certain things. I'm a big believer in incorporating cranes into ones shop...both small and larger ones. Its hard to believe just how handy they are....especially as you get older.

Here is a crane we built in my son's pole barn using the two post lift and some pallet racking as part of the support. Cut two 4" I beams (NOT H beams) 20' long. to do this. Then two supports and a heavier crossbeam at the front.
The heavy beam was long enough to make a cantilever in the next bay, so we added a counterbalance by pouring concrete in a form against the wall. Now things can be unloaded in the other bay with no loss of usable space. He put an electric hoist on the cantilever and his wife even uses it.




Small crane and trolley in my lean to


Carport on end of Pole Barn with yet another crane


So, my suggestion is to not only create additional space, but to incorporate pallet racking and cranes to make it work for you.


You can also incorporate work bench space into pallet rack and have storage as well.
Hope this gives you some food for thought.

 

I dream about a huge shop, so your plan sounds great to me.

I know this funny guy who once was commented on the mess in his shop/barn, "I built it so big and got to work on filling it and I seemed to forget to that shelves existed." Whenever I see a mess in my little shop, I think of him.

He could do a lot more with his awesome space if he had shelving/organization.

 

We all have different points of view on this stuff, but to me its nice to have the tools and space to enjoy my life while I can. Its not only room to work, but if you have a small space, where do you park your driveable cars? You can't take the junk with you, but if you leave money behind..........what good did it do you? I can't begin to tell you how many times I look thru the junk I have and come up with stuff to make something.......and it would not have been made if I had to buy all the stuff when I wanted to make that thing. I'm enjoying my life doing what I want, and all that stuff just enables me.............but I respect that others don't want to do that.

Always reminded of the old joke about the lady whose husband died and left instructions behind that his fortune was to be buried with him............so she wrote him a check.

 

Your shop is like the Bat Cave, "all things with labels on them". Bam Pow.

 

My shop is 50 x 52 with an 11 1/2' ceiling. I have a wall dividing it into 2/3rds, 1/3rd. On the 1/3rd side I have a paint booth in the back, on the 2/3rd side I have a drive on lift, lathe and mill, and space to park and work on cars. Even with all that space I have to be careful about buying more stuff that takes up floor space. I recently sold a tire changer that I rarely used to free up space for a metal shear I bought.

 

I decided some time ago that i needed less stuff instead of more space.

 

Personally, I want enough space to pull my daily truck and flatbed trailer inside without having to move my other projects and stuff out of the way. I want an area for my fabrication equipment, and enough room for 2 lifts and to park at least 4 project vehicles(not stored on the lifts). I also want a 20' deep mezzanine area for storage on 1 end, and a bathroom.

I've been working with a contractor on the plans for a 40'x60'x16' shop with a 20' lean-to on 3 sides, so a 60x100 concrete pad. One walk-through door on each end, and two 12x12 garage doors on each end so I can drive straight through. I may only do 1 garage door on each end, either way it's pricey, but I want to buy once & cry once.

 

I don't know for sure but, I think the Hapy Hipi guy is on the right track.

Does he buy cars and then build buildings for them, or, does he build buildings and then fill them with cars ? A conundrum.
Mike

 

I've always felt that the concept of having a house with an attached garage was an ill conceived concept..............


I always thought it would be far more helpful to have a LARGE garage with a small attached house. How many of you guys have a room or rooms in your house that almost never get used? How many have a garage with unused space?

 

That contractor has gone the extra mile with that shop rendering. SW of Austin is a nice area. I would not mind having open sided storage if the weather was more vehicle friendly. I just want enough space to get everything under roof. I hate seeing cars with potential out rotting in the weather (mine included). I may not be able to save every great find, but I can start with the ones I have and then pass the ones that aren't keepers along to someone that will take care of them. Some of the non-classics might be fixed up and gifted to someone in need. We can share our skills and blessings with those who might just need a little help.

 

Its the only way I can remember where things are...............and that I actually have them.

 

I mean it's better than my 8'x8' shed

 

The rendering is from Mueller's 3D builder on their website, it's just a visual for the pre-planning stages, and I'm likely using a different manufacturer due to cost and availability. I'm the licensed contractor so I'll be doing the foundation myself, and have the shell erected by the contractor. Then I'll finish it out with electrical, plumbing, insulation, the bathroom, and mezzanine on my own as well.

The covered lean-to's are an expensive add on, but in the Texas heat, they are non-negotiable, and I can always wall up the one side if I felt it was needed, but I'm planning to park an RV trailer there to live in while I build the cabin on the property.

 

This is my thinking also. I've lived inside a warehouse for 5 years, and I've lived in several houses with attached garages. I've spent many sleepless nights worrying about fires. So with the new build, the shop is slated to be 100' from the cabin for that very reason... If the house goes up in flames, at least I still have the shop, and vice versa.

FWIW, I have 2 spare bedrooms in my current house, both are only used for car part storage and BMX bikes. I don't need a lot of room to eat & sleep, so the shop will be 2,400sqft, and the cabin will be under 800sqft.

 

I'm trying to get more organized in my garage. I found when I moved into a larger garage, the amount of stuff and disorganization multiplied exponentially. I'm getting back on track, though.

I've never liked attached garages. No matter what, the smell and sound seems to make it's way into the house. Our current garage is attached to the house by the roof only (breezeway), and I like it a lot.

 

A 1,200 sq ft would be perfect with enough height for a lift, with storage space above.
In reality, this is it for now (370 sq ft) plus my 1.5 garage for welding/fab stuff, but I have to move my vehicle out to make space. Believe it or not, but I had a 79 IH Traveler frame in there and was installing a 5.3/4L60 in it.

 

Plant me face down. I want to see where I'm going...

 

Richard Poncher told his wife "... if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of your life." Shortly before he was interred, his wife instructed the funeral director to place him upside down in his casket, which he did.

 

Those lean-tos are excellent for a dirty to clean workflow, too.
Pressure washer at one end, next a blasting area, then a solvent tank and hot tank.
Hose the project down, disassemble and clean chunks and then have it ready for inside modifying, storage and fitting before paint.

 

The unused rooms in the house have painted panels, cleaned and painted parts and those boxes that come in the mail at great expense.

To do that though you either need a very understanding spouse, or no spouse at all.

I think I may have stepped over a line when I brought a new, clean engine stand into the house to slowly put together the I6 engine for my FED. Its the only clean space I have, but every time I walk past it I pull my collar up to cover my red neck.

Cheers,
Harv

 

I see that with Derek on VGG. Lol!

 

My shop has 3 sections, original 24x24 garage then a 30x30 section added on to the front of that and that section has a 10" concrete floor because of the floor pull frame tie downs added in with boat chains under the concrete that a link sticks out of the concrete along the edges of the wall to tie chains too.

The last section is built onto the side of the 30x30, this section is 15x30 and has garage doors on both ends, this way if you wanted to you could pull a car or truck into it with a tow truck or a pull rope you can just pull straight thru the building, it's second use was a paint booth too.

So I guess around 1800 Sq feet, still not big enough, of course if I could get my kids crap and friends stuff out of it might be big enough then.... but I doubt it....

..

 

Is that a Pole Barn Constrution? Looks like it is... Nice size
Looks like your on the Bay

 

I'm building a 24x31 carport with a 10x31 lean-to. My lift is going out there. My basement is my shop and it's 1,250 square feet. I had thought of building a shop that would be climate controlled then figured I didn't want to be put in the situation of having to work to pay the utility bill. So if weather is bad I can just work in my basement.

 

Yes, it is.
It is on the Bay (Grays Harbor).

 

Like Lewk said in his El Camino build thread, "I'm like a gas. I fill up whatever space is available".

2 1/2 years ago I built a 40'x59 1/2' garage at the meat market, which is as big as I could possibly make it. A few people pointed out to me, no one ever builds a shop and then comments that they should have made it a bit smaller to save a few bucks, or should have waited a few years to do it. Only that they should have made it bigger, or done it sooner.

That building is just for parking and hanging cool shit on the walls. I have 14 cars parked in there now but I could get 16 in if I really have to, which I might. The original meat market building is 1200 square feet where my office is, it's got a bathroom and some workbenches and shelf space but I have to run a business out of there.

I've also got a 24x36 building which I intend to be the work shop, it's where I've always done my work but now I don't have to work around a bunch of cars parked in there eating up most of the available space all the time. I figure it's the perfect amount of space to work on one car at a time. I've also got a couple of semi trailers with shelving built in to store parts that don't need to be in the workshop.

This needs to be enough. I've already got too much, but I feel like if I had double the space, I could fill it and not want to get rid of anything.