I posted on @J.Ukrop 's roadster build post about a building he spotted in his area. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-san-francisco.1204990/page-145#post-15428274 Since I had a link, I decided to check the local commercial buildings and found this. Sure would be nice, but it's not cheap even out here in the sticks! https://commercial.century21.com/listing/3555-n-state-route-89-chino-valley-az-86323-REN030650136 The demographics of the area are interesting, too. Strangely, I've been in the place and wondered how the owner could afford to have that much tied into a place and expect a return on his investment. So is there a place near you that you'd love to have if the lottery hit?
I'm always looking at commercial buildings and thinking what a cool shop/garage that would be. A new garage has been on the agenda for a few years now, but when the time comes I'm sure it will be just another metal building. Hopefully I can at least make the inside half as cool as Flat Top Bob's. LOL
If we’re talking money no object it have to be this about half a mile from home. Now the art department of the university, it was originally built for Herbert Austin as a car dealership.
A dream garage means different things due to the age of the dreamer. A smart guy gets something in his 40's so he can use and enjoy it for many years. Us real old guys will have limited use period. I have built 7 trucks in 13 years. The last year is the 1st that I haven't had a real project. I would want a 40x80 with a real paint booth and enough light to cause normal people to wear sun glasses. It would have at least one area with tall side walls and a really good 2 post lift. Also a full length gantry crane, laser leveled. How about one stall with a drain pit for washing. Also the concrete needs to be laser finished so it's really level. I have spent untold hours trying to level frame jigs through the years. And a good bathroom with a shower and how about real good heat and air. Speaking of air, drops and power drops on a real accessable amount of locations. And lets not forget and adequate amount of insulation so the utilities don't send us to the poor house. One end would be for machine work and dirty stuff so a petition might be necessary to assist in the other areas being easier to be clean. Aren't dreams fun.
I spent yesterday afternoon organizing my dream garage...it's not very big (compared to what I've had in the past), so I have to keep after it. I'm happy being limited to having one car that needs work. If I had more room, I'd just have more useless stuff sitting around. btdt The neighborhood I'm in now is not one that I'd feel comfortable doing the sandblasting/bodywork/painting stuff that I did at the old place. So, that's another fullfilled part of my dream (yeah, I really don't like doing that stuff)
I’d like a 40’x80’ work space with all the necessary equipment plus a nice two bedroom apartment at one end so I wouldn’t need to go far at the end of the day.
This building has been sitting empty for a few years. I have more than enough room on my property, run some decent electric and heat I think that would be more than enough for me.
I have a buddy that lives about a mile out of town on a nice blacktop road. The place he owns is 5 acres and has a really nice house on it. He spent years building his dream shop building. It has 3 very large work stalls and a full on paint booth. The dual air compressors have their own section behind the shop and the entire work space and paint booth are hard plumbed for the air. The entire inside has sheet rock walls and a 14' ceiling, with tube radiant heat, AC, and cement floors. The building has abundant electrical outlets and lighting. He had a collection of projects (stored in another building on the grounds) to work on when he retired. Everything was set up for his retirement on his 65th birthday. About 2 years before his retirement he started having some health issues. He was forced to retire at 64 with full blown COPD and was already using medical oxygen to walk more then 50'. He is in his 70s now, still living at his house, but he has sold off all of his projects, and hasn't been in the shop for several years. He doesn't leave his house any more, except to do medical stuff. Someone is going to have a nice shop, if he doesn't have to sell everything off, or mother nature doesn't claim it before they get it. A dream shop is one you can use to do the things you need to do, at the time you need to do them. It should be capable of being altered to handle the needed task at the time its needed. Don't assume you will want to, or be able to, do anything when you retire, the odds are against you. I did most of my building between the ages of 25 and 62. When I retired (at 62), I had about 3 years worth of projects to finish. My shop is now a 2 car garage where my wife parks her car, and I park my truck. Not much work happens there anymore.
Past 60 and no closer to my dream garage than I've ever been. I've designed it, though, because that's my professional training. It's about 1400 sq. ft., brick masonry construction, with a deep-soil roof garden on a concrete slab over — which is due to how it fits into the rest of the building. Which is another discussion.
Well, that sounds interesting, & right up my ally, since I was especially taken w/"alt"-building-styles in(& since) the early 70's. Marcus...
I’m currently working on building my dream garage all by myself. It’s a huge project that requires a lot of time, effort, and patience, but I’m determined to make it happen. Every step forward brings me closer to the finished product, and I’m confident that one day I’ll be able to stand back and admire all the hard work that went into it. Along the way, I’ll also be reaching out to prosoco customer service to help me with some of the more challenging parts of the process.
Thats the route I took, and I was about your age when I started building it. I offered my services to a friend whose family was building a home for their parents. They were tradesmen and knew how to frame and electrify it. I spent a couple weeks working for free and gained a lot of experience........and a source for info when I had a question. My wife and I built our home first and then later built a metal building. I call it my "pole barn" but its actually framed like a house and then the walls were stood up. Hired someone to pour the floor because I wanted a good flat surface and it was not something I could do .......I knew that because I poured my basement and my driveway. Then I put purlins between pairs of roof trusses so they stood up......like a saw horse. Hired a crane to come sit them (40' long) on top the walls and began putting the roof in place. Anyway, it has lots of insulation and lots of electrical outlets and plenty of light. If I just paid someone to erect it, I could not have finished it the way I did. Sweat equity goes a long way toward getting your dream shop..................Best of luck to you. This looks complicated, but its really pretty easy. Just fasten the walls together on the ground and stand them up. Then sit the trusses on top. Or have someone sit them on top for you. Took the crane about 2 hours to sit them in place and leave. Then added a leanto later .........
I'm in the process of building mine now. Some may have already seen this and tired of my endless ranting. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/dust-bowl-speed-shop-world-headquarters.1306720/ Mine is 50x120x18. I have a house being built in the front 1/3, the last 2/3 is mine...... I have been planning this for 40 years.
This old service station just popped up for sale in Zeeland, MI. I think it used to be an old Texaco station
My dream. Sometimes it’s every thing I want and then some and other times it is a work in progress that seems to have no end. Total floor space 72x45. 42x45 storage space with 16 foot below the rafters. 30x30 heated with a 2 post lift 14 foot to the floor joist And a 14x30 paint room also 14 to the floor joist. 30x45 second floor over the shop and paint booth. Also has a 15x30 deck that has 9 feet under it that is sided for tractor parking. There is a lot to do still before it is finished.
Great buildings guys. Here's my 30'x52' 16' walls with a half bath. The end of the building has a french door and a couple of windows facing the Bay. New build, moving in soon.
That's my wife's dream garage @40FORDPU...a garage at the lake so she can sit on the deck on the house drinking her coffee while I'm in the shop. LOL
63, I've been at this spot 37 years. Started with the 2 car attached. After an apartment and a rented garage, I thought I had it. Then after a few years, if you threw a dime in, it wouldn't hit the floor. I built a 24x32x10 with doors on 2 sides. Then after a few years, if you threw a dime in, it wouldn't hit the floor. So I built this 40x64x20 w/10x40x10 porch. Dedicated shop area, office, "showroom", parking, storage closets, a den and space to party (those were the days). Now, my crazy dream is that I'll see it finished. Mike
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