xupkid2

I'm looking at building a new home with an additional 2 car garage with 13ft ceilings so I can have a lift. Since I've never had a lift before, I'm wondering if anyone has any "Tips" you could share about building the garage. Want to make sure I don't have any "forgot that" moments. The garage is currently 19 wide x 21 deep. I'm thinking of going to 25ft deep. Either way i go im going to have to close the garage door to be able to work on the car. Wife wont allow any more on a monstrosity than where Im currently at. Any info that can be shared on size would be great too. This garage will be attached to a regular 2 car garage so there is some space to the side vs having a wall. Any info or hints you can share are greatly appreciated.

Thank
Brian

zedcat

Decide the lift you want and work out sketches. 13 ft ceiling is good. Width will be a consideration. Max width on a bendpak 2 post assymetric is 12 ft.

pour the slab extra thick where the posts will anchor.

check power requirements- 220v 25 amp likely needed. Also other equipment? compressor, etc.

water sewer connections?

attic storage?

layout driveway, sidewalks carefully.

Those were the key things I went through building my garage.

LuigiVampa

You want "high lift" garage doors otherwise you won't be able to open your garage doors when a car is on the lift. the garage doors have to basically go straight up and then curve a little at the top to clear your lift.

certz

I hate you. I am stuck in downtown Chicago with no garage and you are building a garage-ma-hall. I hate you.

HiWind

Check out garage journal forum for high levels of detail

TexasRider

I am revisiting the same thing. I have a big garage but I need more storage space and a high lift as well. I had layed this out a couple of years ago to be another free standing garage behind the existing one, and moving my parking apron for the trailer etc even deeper. My 25 foot depth on the existing garage needs to be more in the new one though.

Kein_Ersatz

Consider putting in some "spare" PVC conduit and boxes in the floor for use in the future when you want to run "something" from one side to the other or to the middle of the floor.

Consider the slope of the floor for drainage. where will fluid go and how does that relate to the lift footprint. You want level floor under lift, but sloping floor to where for fluids, hosing, etc.

Natural lighting options (roof lights?) and windows, yet security concerns.

If working with doors closed, then ventilation or HVAC.

Fun times.

paradisenb

If I were building I would make the ceilings 15 feet high. That way I could put a truck on the lift and walk under it. Garage doors would be roll-up style with side mount opener.
I would install 6" concrete with 5000 PSI compression strength, very low water content to insure minimal latents. This will provide approximately 500 PSI tinsel strength. This will prevent coatings from lifting the concrete and tools from easily chipping the concrete.

Power will be critical. Everything in my shop would be dedicated. This may require more Amps coming into the house or a dedicated feed for the garage. I would put the lights on their own circuit, standard 120v/15a sockets on 1 or 2 dedicated circuits with 4 sockets/outlets at each box (eliminates power strips). I would give myself at least 1 dedicated 120/20a and 2 240/30a outlets/circuits, plus 1 hardwired 240/30a for the lift.

Heat and AC is a must. Again dedicated power. I think 18 SEER units only require 120v/15a.
Power is critical I would leave room to grow.

User 52121

Brian definitely go with 25' deep. 21' deep is only 6" deeper than your truck is long. Think of Big Mac's garage...

69gaugeman

+1 TONS of recommendations there.

Also, Put lighting on the walls. Makes for working on the car much more enjoyable. I recently fell in love with LED lights that fit into fluorescent fixtures. You have to remove the ballast but the light is amazing. Get the highest wattage (9 or 13) and prepare to be amazed. No cold temp start issues either and much less power consumption. Being the redneck I am, I just wired directly to the bulbs and put extension cord and plug on it.

Also, put lots of plugs on the walls. You can not have too many. I put one every 4-6 feet.

Consider running air line in the walls as well. Looks much cleaner.

Deeper is better as it allows you to have a work bench at the end of the garage.

pontifex4

The garage I built is a similar size (20x29' outside dimensions = 19x28' inside the drywall), and this is all from my experience:

I chose and bought the lift first. This meant that I could be sure about the width, height and concrete specifications. DO NOT put the lift too close to the wall. You will hate it. Allow 24" from the finished surface of the wall to the outside edge of the column. More if you think you'll want to walk through there holding a wheel. I only did this by accident, and I'm very glad I did, rather than go with the 18" minimum specified in the lift manual.

You will probably want to have your bench and tool boxes just ahead of the car. When I park my longest truck on the lift, I have just over six feet from the nose of the truck on the lift to the wall. Tool boxes are 24" deep. A useful bench depth is 18". If you can't turn around with your elbows out in the space you're considering allowing in that floor plan, I think you should reconsider your design.

All these adages about putting outlets and air lines everywhere are fine, but if you don't get the position of the car when it's on the lift right, you'll be cramped, and that's way worse than needing to use a 15' extension cord instead of a 6' one.

pontifex4

A couple of photos. Note that this is a custom asymmetric 10k lb. narrow lift -- suitable for cars and trucks, but a little less flexible than a regular width model. I thought I would want to use the space beside it, but so far I have much preferred the space ahead of the car at the far end.



And a shot of the high-lift door that others have mentioned (this was another custom piece, and it was likely a bit of a mistake, since it only allows about three inches above the surface of the door when it's up, which isn't enough for standard fluorescent light fixtures -- in retrospect, I would have run the track another 3" lower so that it would clear standard fixtures there).

KaiB

Very nice, but I would have hassled the builder for leaving the house wrap beneath the window header up top. It should be taped to the outside until the window is installed, then dropped over the window flange and taped down.

DER951

If you're using a garage door opener, include that in your clearance calculations. I have 11-1/2 ft floor to ceiling, with an opener on a 10 x 10 ft door, and am able to lift my full size half ton truck to where I can walk under it.

You don't need to figure on the total height of the vehicle, just from the bottom of the chassis to the highest point. That takes more than a foot off the "height" of my pickup.

Also consider low clearance under the vehicle. My Porsches need to be driven up on blocks so I can swing the lift arms under them.

pontifex4

Ha! We did everything ourselves (even the concrete and the wood part of the garage door) and I have to admit that that's one of the few things I didn't look up on the Internet first. It does make sense, though.

+1. I also find this frustrating.