[Modern Wedgie]

My dad is in the process of building a garage. Of course I have made sure that certain components are accounted for when creating this garage, such as space for a lift and shelving/cabinets/workbenches for working on projects

What should I add? Any ideas for equipment?

 

[mikester]

Some other friends of ours are basically blowing out and rebuilding half their house (living room/kitchen/dining area) in order to accomodate a 5-car garage ! And yes, he's going to have a lift. Lucky guy....

 

[khamai]

RULES for Garage Building...

1) NO garage is ever big enough (look at Leno's!!!)

2) Think 220V with enough power to light Vegas and plugs everywhere. Compressed air everywhere (exterior closet for the compressor so you don't have to shout over it) and a toilet.

3) Ceiling height, at least 10 ft if not 14 (especially with a lift). Lots of lighting, enough to nearly burn your retinas.

4) Sealed floors - painted or something. Clean-up is so much easier. Drain in the middle for hosing down stuff.

5) More storage. At least double what you think you need!

6) READ #1!!!

Thanks for letting me fantasize...
Kiyoshi

 

[hermanslotus]

Well if you want some really nice ideas contact my friend Steve at The Ultimate Garage.

www.ultimategarage.com

He did my garage and it's one of the featured garages on his web site. He does this full time for a living and is the best in the business.

Best of Luck,
Mitch

 

[rtking]

I agree with the list of items from Khamai. I might add:

1) Make sure you wire for either single-phase or tri-phase 220V power (depending on what your lift requires.)

2) If using epoxy flooring, make sure to use grit. I didn't on my old garage and that floor was slicker than wet frog's fur. I landed on my ass many, many times.

3) Consult a lighting engineer (Russ is one) to calculate proper amount of lighting you'll require. My garage rivaled daylight.

4) If building the garage from scratch, you may want to consider building a ventilated and insulated room for the compressor. This will cut-down noise both from the neighbors as well as inside the garage.

5) Higher roofs are worthwhile. At minimum, it gives you enough height to fully lift the vehicle and walk underneath. And if you won't use all the ceiling height, you can build-in a mezzanine to store parts.

Bob

 

[MattG]

Make the garage greater than standard in all dimensions to allow extra room for cars. This is especially true with the depth of the garage - a 30' deep garage will leave a very nice space for a workbench and area to work on the cars. Use single-wide garage doors, as these allow you to space out the cars a bit (ie, greater than the 10' spacing common in garages), and usually gives a nicer appearance from outside.

As others said, design in *plenty* of electrical capacity! Several 30A, GFCI plugs on each wall. Use plenty of lighting. If possible, plan the space for the workbench and include extra plugs and lights there.

Add a sink! A small bathroom one can be used for this and look much nicer than your traditional laundry tub - though much less functional, of course. Depends on how the sink would be used.

Drywall! Gotta have it fully finished.

Pay special attention to the surface people will see when you look up in the garage. Is it sheetrock? Exposed rafters? If exposed structure, I recommend painting it white to reflect light.

Tile floor!

 

[mikester]

Also, you can get some ideas for some cool garage goodies here:

http://www.griotsgarage.com/index.jsp

 

[mikester]

Black and white checkerboard ! I considered it but ended up going the "granite look" epoxy route (with a bit of texture for safety). I still love the look of the checkerboard though.

 

[rtking]

I used Griot's Garage epoxy... great stuff! I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Except for my current garage, I used RaceDeck's plastic tile. It's OK... but if I had to do it over again (and probably will), I'd go with epoxy and be finished with it.

Bob

 

[MattG]

Another thing - if you get your common, steel garage door, I recommend getting an insulated one. Not that you *need* it, living in So Cal, but the extra wall it provides on the inside results in a smooth, clean look to the inside of the garage door and helps add to the overall aesthetics of the space.

 

[MattG]

Don't forget to consider the garage door opener. Most of the models look bulky and really ruin a nice garage. Either get one of the slim ones (mount just above garage door, nothing hanging over the cars), or stick with a manually operated door for the ultimate in simplicity.

 

[atyclb]

drainage in the center

hot water

lots and lots of lighting

 

[Modern Wedgie]

Unfortunately, I have to deal with an HPOZ (Historic Preservation Overlay Zone). As such. I am limited as to what the exterior looks like. I ahve no problem with height, as the HPOZ requires a tall roofline to go with the "look" of the era So I have plenty of height, even potential for a loft.

The problem is with a garage door. The HPOZ doesnt want a "new" looking door; rather, they want a "barn" style door. I have found a few ideas online for wooden doors that "look" authentic but still roll up. Expensive though. I want something that rolls up so I can have it roll to my 10ft ceiling

 

[mikester]

Oh and don't forget about the "trapeze".

(To help AW get in and out of the car, right ?)

 

[TimMullen]

Make sure that the garage floor is plenty thick and use re-bar for structural strength if you are planning to install a lift - especially a two post lift.

 

[MickOpalak]

Bathroom with shower, comfy couch, fridge, loud stereo, satelite TV system that gets Speed, wet bar & beer keg.

 

[Gromit]

He needs a Poll Position archade machine

 

[agent.5]

I will make sure that the floor is absolutely flat. It is probably not a problem in San Diego, but here in San Francisco, most houses are built on hills and the floor tilts.

 

[TimMullen]

I will make sure that the floor is absolutely flat. It is probably not a problem in San Diego, but here in San Francisco, most houses are built on hills and the floor tilts.

Actually even in "flat areas" the garage floors usually slope "out". If you plan on working on cars a lot, a really flat floor is an advantage - water doesn't flow out, but the car will be level for checking fluids, doing alignments, etc.

 

[TotallyGreen]

Bathroom with shower, comfy couch, fridge, loud stereo, satelite TV system that gets Speed, wet bar & beer keg.

this man is a genius.