dawgcatching

My wife and I have decided to start looking at houses sometime this winter or next spring. I currently live at the eastern edge of the mountains, and moving 10 miles north out past the edge of town gets me warmer temperatures, more sun, and faster access rural roads for driving and cycling. The temperature differences can easily be 7-9 degrees, and it is much drier out there. 2 feet of snow on the ground at my house that will not melt is usually 6 inches out there, and melted away by 2pm most days.

I would like to do a motorsport-specific garage, something like the great Eduardo has. His garage seems like it would be a really sweet place to hang out! Great lighting with an amazing collection of classic car racing culture items on display. Throw in a keg or bar and a garage like that would be epic.

I would also like to have a bay that I can eventually install a lift with. I will need to garage 2 cars: my wife's DD and her "fun" car. Perhaps a 3rd at some point if funds allow. I also have a bunch of other stuff that is non-car related.

If you were me, what kind of garage setup would you prioritize if you were house shopping? I would love to have a "clean" garage that is simply an indoor parking area and an extension of the house, and another space that is for storing tools and working on cars. Is a double height garage better (assuming a lift is installed) or do most of you have a "trophy" garage and a separate bay that is not physically attached.

jhbrennan

I'd make sure I had lots of electrical outlets including 240v (or whatever) for your Mission E

Balr14

If I had the money, I would prefer a 3 car attached garage and a second large storage building. I have a 2 1/2 car garage and there never seems to be enough space for everything. My storage building is big enough for one car, but it's full of lawn equipment.

captainbaker

Space is king. We have a three car garage with one car inside. facepalm. Make sure the floor can support some sort of lift. Make sure you can run power to different locations. I have a bunch of Gladiator garage works cabinets bolted off the floor. I would prep the flooring first, run electrical second and then hang cabinets. Make sure you filter in a good compressor in the mix. Something you can run air to the garage and out.

dawgcatching

Does a typical lift run on 240? It would be sweet to have a wash bay, especially as we rarely get above freezing in the winter months.

Balr14

Most lifts run 220V 20 amp. I have seen some that run on 110V but they are really slow and don't raise very far. I would not do a wash bay inside a garage, unless you plan on heating it. Ice is not good for floors.

GoatFarmer

240V for compressor too although battery technology is getting better. You can get away with a smaller compressor these days. I have a 2 stage compressor on a 240V 40 amp circuit.

If money is not a problem, then you can do radiant floor heating.

GTS Sully

We're in the process of building our retirement home on 5 acres down in Palm Coast FL. The 2-car garage on the house will be 25x24, so larger than normal and will house our daily drivers. For my GTS and 335is we're building a carriage house that will have a 2-car garage that is 25x23, and a shop area behind the garage area that is 13x25. Heck, we may end up adding a barn to the back of the property as well at some point.

Petza914

Good lift discussions in this thread - https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...estions-2.html

A tour of my current garage setup in post #88 of my Cayenne widebody build thread here - https://rennlist.com/forums/cayenne-...project-2.html

I just purchased the adjacent property next to me with plans at some point in the future to add an extra deep, 6 car garage there - 3 double doors (or possibly an 8-car with 4 double doors) and here are some details on my plan in case it gives you some ideas. One end bay will have double doors on both sides and will be for the boat trailer and where the Backyard Buddy lift that's in my current garage will be. It will stay empty except when working on a car - no more moving cars around when one needs to go on the lift, and and one can sit there with a project in process without another having to stay outside. This double door concept will let me pull straight through, unhook the trailer, and drive out the other side - no more backing the trailer / boat into the garage. The opposite side of the garage will have a wash bay with a floor drain, and probably collapsing exterior doors inside (like a large closed in porch if you know what I'm talking about. This way I can close off that area to wash a car, but then collapse the doors back open again and only have them occupy about one panel's space in each direction. The floor in the garage will be polished concrete that's sealed with Shark-grip additive so less slippery when it's wet.

The area above the two double sections (not the one withe boat and lift) will have a finished upstairs - 1 bedroom with full bath (like a mother-in-law suite), another half bath, a man-cave room (pool table, big TV, couches, etc), a dance studio for my daughter, a project room for my son, and maybe a craft room for my wife. What would be cool from the man-cave room is either a clear floor or windows in the floor to see down into the garage, but it will probably just get hardwood instead. All the roll-up garage doors will have Liftmaster jackshaft openers with high-lift tracks that follow the ceiling, like in the current garage. The ceilings will be 12' in the low part and full height over the section with the boat and lift.

I will run compressed air ports throughout, fed by an 80 gallon 2-Stage compressor and there will be a 2 hose recoilers at the center of each double bay where I duplicate the current dual-line setup I have now - one line with inline oiler for most air tools and one line with an additional air dryer for sandblasting, welding, plasma cutting, inflating tires, etc. I'll add a refrigerated air dryer to the main compressor before the split off, which I don't have in my current setup (I use a dessicant dryer for the dry line today).

The garage will have a drop ceiling to keep it quieter and to gain access below the floor in case anything upstairs needs work - central vac line, add a cable drop, etc. With the drop-ceiling, the lights will be the drop in grid type so they will be flush with the ceiling (think office building). I did that same setup in my current drywall ceiling, but cutting the holes to mount them was a real pain so going drop-ceiling in the next one.

You need 20A service to all the outlets and you need lots of outlets. I will have 3 hardwired 240V outlets - one for the compressor, one for the MIG welder, and one for the plasma cutter, plus a 4th 240V receptacle in the workshop bay just in case.

Since the bonus room won't be over the workshop area, that will get a ceiling exhaust fan to be able to move any trapped exhaust out the ceiling, and possibly a couple skylights. The whole thing will have heat & A/C and the other bays will probably have either a large ceiling fan each or one Big *** Fan in the center. Of course there will be a large sink. I'm planning to add a powdercoating oven, stand-up blast cabinet, and some other goodies I don't currently have the space for.

Good luck with your project.

Wayne Smith

Pete ... that sounds amazing.

Just as a thought, I'd add a bathroom with a shower. Maybe a couch or two 8)

Beyond that, well (to be) done!!!

Petza914

Thanks Wayne. We'll see if we ever get there financially, but for now we have a nice buffer lot from the neighbors that we'll clean up a bit, and my 11 year old son will have a place to ride his dirt bike around.

Dennis R. Cliff

There is no such thing as too much space in a gearhead's garage! A smooth, oil resistant floor is a good idea. If you are adding a bar, etc. then how about some patinaed leather furniture on a Persian rug. Lots of good lighting. Wall and ceiling insulation and a good source of reliable heat are desireable. In my garage-workshop I make a lot of power tool noise, therefore proximity to non-gearhead neighbors can be a problem. A first aid kit for when you place your thumb on a high speed cutoff wheel, and several fire extinguishers placed where you can get to them quickly for when welding spatter ignites something.

SpeedyD

I'm still undergoing a slow and drawn out process for renovating my garage. Was going to do it this past year but ended up prioritizing a yard renovation and adding yet another car... The current space is 1,100 sq ft with 16ft ceilings. My own steps are: electrical (LEDs, likely going recessed, which at this ceiling height means 16 of them), a high lift opener system for the doors to make room for a 2 car lift, more electrical to support a) the lift and b) a 105k btu gas heater, R49 insulation in the attic space above, mud work and paintwork, garage door (wood) refinishing, which I am doing mostly by myself, new polyurethane floors, and some relatively minor carpentry work... also already has in-wall speaker system and a TV wall mount, as well as wrap around slat wall. Final touches will be to replace the window treatment with a simple protective/UV glass treatment.

The goal is somewhere between a showroom style and functional. We will see if it finally gets done in 2019...

Tj40

Two things - make sure it's 'oversize', the worst garage are the ones modern developers put in where you have 6 inches of clearance to open a door, my current 2 car garage is just over 20 feet wide and about the narrowest that is practicable for 2 cars wide IMHO. Secondly if you want a lift you really want at least 12 feet of headroom - I have 10 and I know some people have lifts with 10 foot ceilings but it is tight and I've dropped the idea of getting a lift.
As people have said space is king - I'm 23 ft deep and its nice to be able to park the 997 and have a decent amount of space in front for a bench and cupboards..

pbarch1

10 foot tall ceilings, that way you can get a normal lift