Projects Old buildings for shops

I have my eye on an old Chevrolet dealership closed down in the early 90s Was a tractor dealership before it was Chevrolet. Showroom, parts dept, service area, lube pit and even an upstairs living area. maybe someday..........

 

damn, i couldnt even afford to be poor in california. bad enough in alabama

 

My wife and I bought a quonset from the railroad about a block from the house. Hell to heat with no insulation, but radiant works well. Had to add a clean room as the walls leak. Otherwise, 3200sf for nearly nothing including the land underneath. Have to be careful about what hangs on the walls. P***ing freights produce a good amount of vibration.

I would stay clear of used gas stations unless you are ABSOLUTELY convinced that all leaking fuel and chemicals have been fully remediated. Lots of horror stories about guys owning superfund sites caused by long dead predecessors.

 

Good point about old gas stations with tanks still in the ground, or any other ground contaminent.
Once you stop the leaky walls, you should be able to find somebody who sprays adhesive added insulation. With energy costs as high as they are today, it would pay for itself.
Dave

 

Our building that we are in actually came from Mare Island Naval base in Vallejo. The building was probably built in the 1940's sometime and then moved to its current location in the 1970's. Concrete portions were added along the bottom of the building and the building was built on top of the concrete to make the building taller, with the addition of taller doors it was used as RV repair and service in the 70's-90's sometime when the RV repair closed down. We started repairing the building and fixing it up in early 2000's. We're not done with repairs and improvements, but it's hard to find time to do everything!







Our most recent addition, the south wall. I plan to build a logo sign with old school Vegas style lighting on it.

 

The boys in Concord (Iron Lords) are set up in a mid-40's front-end alignment shop!

TRE Cool!

 

I like the country living with your own building idea. I have a 30x50 with over 40 acres to expand on. The best part about it is you can walk from shop to home, work late, visit your shop at odd hours and still interact with the kids/family while at your shop. I don't work for hire, its just a hobby shop but I love being right next door to the house!

 

Well living in the back roads of america does have some good points to it. I live in Nebraska in a little town of 300. 25 years ago I bought what use to be a 1923 Ford Motor garage and converted it in to my shop. Total cost was 4,500.00.
Just had the Bones Boys at it for lunch on there way to the salt this year. They thought it was a cool building.

 

Truly Old School!

 

I had an old Pontiac Dealership as my shop from 1977 until 1989. I Froze my *** off in the winter and damn near died of Heat-Stroke in the summer !!! Damn I miss that place !!! >>>>.

 

Nice readin in here.

Pacificustoms that shop is beautiful, the things I would do for something that nice. haha.

I want to find a place for a nice shop somewhere, but around here its all 500k+ or ****. Just gotta get lucky sometime I guess.

 

I bought an old schoolhouse (2500 sq. ft.) on 1/2 acre in Utah. 2 big cl***rooms with chalkboards and book shelves. I ended up building a 40X40' steel shop out back. I get bonus points because it's a 4 hour drive to Bonneville. Wayno

 

Please post photos if you can! I LOVE cool old buildings.

Even though it has a red brick veneer I made my 2 car detatched garage look like an old Texaco station.

 

24 x 53ft, new gas furnace, dehumidifier, new wiring, new insulation, new plumbling, only two exposed walls. Cool hot rod neighborhood and completely un***uming from the outside, so it won't attract unwanted "attention".

$5100 a yr.