Building a garage... need advise

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Get rid of that crap before it gets you hurt. The use of PVC for air lines has been discussed before, and it's a bad idea.
Oils from your compressor, the constant high/low pressure cycling, and other factors, all contribute to fatigue of the piping, and when it lets loose, it'll send plastic shrapnel at high velocities whistling through your shop.

Roger

 

They both have their place. I'd rather swap a rear end with a 2 post than a 4 for one. I'd rather do exhaust on a 4.

 

14 foot ceiling ...two post lifts are affordable and make doing some jobs less a pain in the ass. Zman is right...4 post and just right for exhaust work, you know the ride height. My two post has an 11000 pound lift capacity. I'm never going to work on anything at my home that weighs over 11000 ponds

 

I just finished mine 2 years ago - I used an 84 Lumber 26x30 "kit" but used 2x6x12' side walls to bring it up. I also went with a ridge beam ceiling and not roof trusses so I would have enough room for a lift should I ever get one again - it's 13' 9" from floor to my collar ties - not too bad.

Couple suggestions: one, put in skylights. Gives you nice, natural light, keeps you from working in a "cave", and it actually makes the place feel bigger; two, insulate your concrete slab and make sure you put in a proper vapor barrier. My shop stays cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter; put in ceiling fans so that if you have a high ceiling, heat/air will move around nicely and you'll be kept in a nice, gentle breeze which is nice to work in.

Hey, there are alot nicer shops but I built this "on the cheap" - materials were less than $8K, labor to put it up and modify it afterwards was less than $4K. I did all of the wiring, trenching for electric and stuff, insulation, and interior finishing myself to keep the costs down. If you PM me your email address, I can send you a link to my Webshots and you can see the build.

If you do not do a bathroom, at least plumb it in for one. I've run in water, natural gas line, telephone, and cable, but I didn't plumb it for a bathroom and I'm kicking myself. My buddy who is in heat and air business did find me a nice used 2 1/2T heat pump and installed it last year - now I'm upgrading to a gas furnace w/air so the space heats up quicker! Living in southern VA that air really feels good!

Good luck and have fun!

 

Stay away from ridge vents and go with a fan instead. I was standing in the building on a windy day and had snow blow under the ridge vent and fall on my freshly mdeia blasted frame.

 

eBay sells prefab metal construction garage kits cheap. All engineering comes with kit. Slab floor and electrical and you are ready to go.

 

Beware: Some metal building kits may not be rated for the snow load of your areas. Check for your local snow load code.

I'm in a fairly lax county and yet I had to upgrade from the standard building engineering specs.

 

Epoxy coat the floor.

Make a good effort to keep the floor clean from the time it is poured until time to coat it.

Usually, by the time the building is complete, the concrete should be ready to coat.

I built a new garage/shop about 5 years ago and used U-Coat-It. I was so pleased with it, that when I built a new house 2 years later, I used the U-Coat-It product on all the garage bays (all 5 of them).

Do it right when new and you won't regret it!