Garage building!

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

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

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!