[Marqed97]

Howdy-hey forum-folks,

After 12 years of living with no garage or falling-apart garage, I am finally in a position to be able to build a new one. Hooray!

I am a fleet mechanic for the city I live in, mainly police and fire vehicles. I do a fair amount of side-work at home, thus a nice garage is important to me. Mostly I do the real PITA electrical/electronic diagnosis and repair that dealerships seem to hate...or charge huge amounts for. The odd remote starter, the occasional contract job for the local PD on 'discreet use' vehicles, and so on.

The footprint I have to work with is 36x26. That would leave one 10' parking spot along one side and 6' to the property line on the other. The current garage is a 24x22 with a 12' addition on one side that is...umm...rotting off, basically. There is no saving this garage, the slab is cracked into 9 pieces and they're all moving in different directions on soggy ground.

We get down to -25f in the winter here, and I get some wicked wind off of Lake Superior 6 blocks away. I have hot water heat in the house, and will likely have 4-6" of foam board under and around the slab, with several 200 ft 1/2" HEPex in the slab for heating. I haven't done an accurate heat loss to decide the particulars yet, too many variables left to clean up.

But the rough plan is to maintain 50* with the in-floor, and have a gas or electric ceiling-mount shop heater to bring the temp up to 60-65 while working. The garage will be its own zone, with antifreeze, heated from the house boiler thru a heat exchanger. I intend to bury a 3 or 4" run of PVC from house basement to garage to carry electrical, phone line, audio/video, and the heating supply and return.

The service drop will be upgraded to 200amp and drop to the garage, to a 200a panel, then run to the house as a 100a subpanel, basically.

I hope to have at least a section of the garage with a 12 ft ceiling so I can installed a standard 9000 lb 2-post hoist. I could probably get by with 10'6" if I had to.

What I'm really wondering, before I lay down exact plans and get the process going, is...

For those of you that have built yourself a garage/shop, or remodeled your garage/shop, what would you do differently, what do you regret, and so on? I don't want to go through this and think "Aw, crap, that's what I should've done."

Thanks!

 

[rjniles]

Run 4 conduits back to the house:
Electric
Heat
Low voltage
Water
Also sewer if you are planning a sink or toilet.

Install a Ufer ground when the slab is poured.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ufer_ground

 

[joed]

I agree keep the stuff separate. Maybe combine the heat water and the potable water in the same conduit. It will help keep the water line from freezing.
Definitively keep the electric and the low voltage separate and as far apart as possible in the trench.

 

[jlhaslip]

Wisconson weather would be similar to what we deal with here. I used a thickened edge slab for my 24 wide by 26 deep garage in Alberta where we can get minus 30 C temperatures and had zero issues with cracking. Of course I had no in slab heat.
And I built with 9 foot studs only, not 12 ft, but the weights would be similar.
Of course, with the in-slab heat you would be using, it would be prudent to isolate the slab from the cold with styrofoam on the perimeter and also under the slab, too.
The thickened edge slab avoids using a frost wall or piles. Not sure if your jurisdiction would allow them, but they are common here in Western Canada.
If required, I can send you a drawing of the slab design I used. PM me if you would like a copy.

Oh, and put in lots of receptacles. Mine were placed about 4 feet off the floor so they were handy to reach and not hidden. Also, run a 220v 40 Amp plug in case you add a welder.

 

[47_47]

Built a 36'x 28'x 10' last year. Put in 1 36"x 36" dh on each 28' gable and 2 on the 36' back wall. Should have added more for natural light and a cross breeze.

Only put two front carriage lights, switched from either house or garage. Should have put them in the soffits. Should also have added another 3 way set-up for dedicated outdoor floods when I built. Maybe I'll add them this year.

Should have gone bigger than 3/4" for low voltage wiring. I ran one phone, both oh door aux openers and alarm wires. Filled the conduit, but had to double up an alarm zone in the garage to keep a spare wire.

I would go with the tallest oh door you can on the bay with your lift. You don't want to have to close it to use the lift.

Trench drain with cast iron grates and an oil separator?

Check your set backs. 6' to the line won't fly around here, unless grandfathered in.

 

[78Vette]

I build my 50x30x10 almost by myself, except trusses and concrete work.
Figured 10 foot ceiling is all i need and wish i'd have gone at least 12, if not 14 to allow for a hoist.
Didn't put insulation down before pouring concrete.
Didn't bother with a washroom.
Should have build larger. (never big enough by default)

If 36x26 is all you have room for, I'd go higher and have a "office as well as storage" upstairs.

 

[firehawkmph]

Three years ago I added a 36' X 28' deep addition to my existing 56' X 28' deep shop, making it an Ell shape. I used scissor trusses so my inside ceiling is 15' at the peak. The door for the bay with the lift is 10'W X 8'H. If I had a few more feet, I would have put in a 12' wide door, but I have a 16' door in the same wall. I had the track made to follow the pitch of the ceiling so it doesn't get in the way of the vehicle on the lift. I can put my Ford E250 extended van on it and lift it high enough for me to walk underneath, and I'm just about 6' tall. I bought a Bendpak 10000# asymmetrical lift with the connecting rail at the top so there is nothing in between the two towers on the floor. Thicken the slab to 6" where the lift is going to be. I put in a 100A sub panel for the addition. It has circuits for the lift, which is 220, a 220 air compressor, 50A 220 circuit for my tig welder, and four separate 20A circuits for outlets, and a separate lighting circuit. I also put in air lines in the wall with various outlets around the space with a hose reel right next to the lift. Used the Rapid air setup, worked fine. Also pre wired and installed a surround sound system for music.
Mike Hawkins:smile: