I lived in a rented warehouse for 5 years. Just moved into a real house a few months ago. My situation was different...I was broke, and needed a cheap place to live and enough room to store all of my cars, projects, parts, tools, equipment, etc. I had less than a month to find a place to live as my roomates and myself were being forced out of the house we were in because it got sold. I found the warehouse while just driving around the outskits of town. It was a 1200sqft warehouse with 2 big roll up doors and had two offices, a small bathroom and a kitchenette. I turned 1 office into a bedroom, the other was a closet/storage. I built a small room for a stand-up shower and the refridgerator. I told myself it would be a temporary thing, but I wound up staying there for over 5 years. Since it was a rental, I couldn't do any major upgrades, renovations, add-ons, etc. Plus I had to sort of hide the fact that I lived inside from the businesses in the other warehouses surrounding mine. It worked out pretty well though, it was cheap, and I had a bitchin garage. Here's some old pics...the little room you see in the corner was the add-on I built for the shower/fridge and was the entrance into my office/apartment...
I know a lot of people living in apartments and none of them have renters insurance. The apartment complex has it for their buildings, but that dosen't cover your stuff. Two friends lost all of their stuff due to a fire. They told me they couldn't afford the ins. I asked, "How are going to afford to replace everything." No answer.
I owned several renthouses and people would leave all kinds of stuff behind. One left their broom and I was thinking, "you're going to have to buy another!"
I've rented commercial /retail space with a rear garage and added an apartment more than once. Each time I moved out it was due to a marriage. Now that whats-her-name #3 decided it wasn't working I'm searching for a commercial building that can be adjusted for living. I"m much more comfortable spending money on my tools and toys. Of course that probably explains why there's been 3-X's.
I wouldn't mind it, If set up right. In fact, My dream place would be a 3k sqft shop with 2-3 beadroom loft. I'd dig the shit our of it. I have a hammock & toaster over in my little work place, I'd be lie'n if i said i didn't spend many nights there already.
Man if you are single, I say go for it. If you are not, Forget it! women do not dig it, even if she tells you she does, It is a lie and you will pay for it later. My buddy built a 40 X 80 shop and sectioned off a 1/3rd of it and put in what I thought was really nice living quarters, him and his wife lasted a whole 18 months there, before the divorce, and he had to sell because of the settlement.
Gotta have the right kind of girl and the right kind of place to pull it off. Its not for every chick Just the cool ones. Engine hoist makes her smile every time she hears the words now. Now if the plan includes a cot next to your tool box, well its probably not going to work out so good in the long run.
I have been looking at two places to buy that would serve very well as a shop/ retail/apartment combo. One is a converted church, the other is a building with a partially built apartment in the basement. Both have room for 4 cars with a lot of outdoor storage.
I had a couple of friends that did that. Of course they built on their own property so no zoning law issues. Your might have an issue with that in your location or in the lease. My one buddy had his living quarters built in a loft with granite and hot tub and full kitchen.
In the early 80's, my friend had his house up front of his shop. He had a second entrance so it was legal...hot tub grotto, garden on the roof and a lot of expensive cars. Dang, it was nicer than my house at the time.
I lived in my shop for nearly ten months. Here is how that happened, and it wasn't necessarily by choice... My house and shop got destroyed in a tornado in May 2003. It obliterated the shop and damaged or destroyed nine vehicles plus one tractor. Amazingly enough, a parts car on a trailer and a restored A-C Model B tractor were completely untouched! Another car I have was not at home that day and was also untouched. We bought a fifth-wheel RV the next day and parked it on the property, and moved on in. After about 30 days or so, the house and shop were razed, and we left the slab for the new shop. It took another 30 days or so for the shop to go up (38' x 65', the footprint of the old house/shop). We had the electricity run to the shop and then moved the RV into the shop. We lived like that for another six and a half months - me, my wife and kids. It wasn't until our sixth month without a house that we had a new bathroom built in the shop, where the old bathroom was. Then, the living arrangements were considerably more comfy. But once the house was finished, we couldn't wait to move in!!! Living in the shop sounds like it would be cool, but believe me, for us it was solely for the immediate convenience of it. The bathroom made it more palatable. Plus, we were able to oversee the building of the new house directly. It's not something I'd care to repeat, especially with two kids, living in an RV in a shop for nearly ten months! We sold that RV about six months after we move in the house. So, living quarters inside the shop??? As a temporary measure, sure. As a permanent living arrangement, no way. The house is the house, and the shop is the shop. BUT, a bathroom is absolutely a mandatory thing inside a shop!!!
With 50% of marriages failing it is never a bad idea to have a plan B. A lot of us have heard those words "Get out" and we were forced to move out of our happy home and find someplace else to lick our wounds. Having our shop all set up would make the move a lot easier. Our shop is actually set up so a person could survive there if they needed to. In the office we have a futon that is a couch by day but can fold down to make a pretty comfortable bed. There is also a recliner where I take a lot of naps during a work session. We have a full size fridge and a microwave, and a gas grille that we toss burgers and stuff on some nights when working late. It is also air conditioned, and we keep lots of beer an water in the fridge. There are two tall closets where we keep our work clothes, a stereo system, and it is carpeted. In the shop itself we have a shower and a washer/dryer, plus a laundry tub. The shower is nice because we can get rid of any grime before driving home, and the laundry keeps us from having to drag dirty work clothes home for washing. It's also good for washing shop rags and the sheets we keep over our cars. There is also a bathroom with toilet and sink. Guys can survive with just the basics and if I ever had to I could live very well with just the things we have at the shop. It is always a good thing to have a backup plan in life, because you never know. Don
I did it for a year until my GF said see ya if we don't move, well we moved, sadly she is gone now so I'm thinking of selling my house and 5 acres and move a travel trailer into my new shop and do it again... not the GF though! Who need 5 acres of grass anyway!
GOODLUCK!! Not a bad idea. Sometimes it feels like I live in mine anyways shit get so busy. Have a shop at home for car/boats/bikes but I keep work at our business shop. Kinda best of both worlds.
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