Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

[Two Lane Blacktop]

If there's anything that all Car Junkies need even more
than more cars, it's always more *space*. -- ;)

So, let's build a budget *Car Junkie* garage together!
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Some basic starter questions:

What building material(s) & method(s) gives you
the most sq. ft. for your buck? What dimension(s)
(or ratio) is most cost effective & purposeful for
garage use? What ceiling height? What utility specs?
What style roof? Lighting?

Are there *pre-fab* garages you've used and/or like?
There are 100s of companies making them, & then you
put them up, on your prepared slab. How about the
"quonset-hut/airplane hangar" units?
============================================

Enclosed space to shelter & work on our cars
is a universal gearhead need, so know your expertise
will be reaching a lotta interested folks, both present & future.

Have fun with this thread & thanks for pitching in
on this budget *Car Junkie* garage build! ---

[DanStokes]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

The basic question is "how many Carjunkies will be using it? (Or how many Carjunkies will fit on the head of a Hemi - oops, wrong thread). Size is determined from there. How many square feet for each person, etc. flows from there. I'd suggest something like 400 sq. ft./carjunkie - that's 20x20 and should be enough for a car and tool boxes, etc. Plus maybe some common space with bathrooms, hoists, parts washers, bead blasters, etc.

I used a steel kit from Kentucky Steel Truss Buildings and have been very happy with it. I found the directions a bit of a pain (this was my first all steel building, so I was unfamiliar with the terminology), but it was fairly intuitive. My brother Dave and I raised the whole structure, and I hired a crew to install the siding and roofing (afraid of heights!). It's 30x40 (feet for you Europeans!) and it's worked out pretty well except it's too small, given that it has to house the lawn and garden stuff and the woodworking shop. Remember that a steel building MUST be insulated or you can't work in it in the rain if you want to hear yourself think. Mine has blanket insulation between the structure and the siding/roofing, and I'll try to add more as funds allow.

I'm assuming that this shop will be located in Wilmington, NC, of course!

Dan

[milkovich]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

40'x60' - anything smaller and you can't do donuts in your own shop.

14' ceilings to clear the lift. 16' and you can have an 8' mezanine for additional storage.

6" concrete - the lift needs 4" minimum 6" optimum. Especially if you're going to be running a tow motor in there and stacking skids in the pallet racking.

Personally, I think you need a detatched spray booth and a detatched "dirty room" for sanding. I hate all the dust and crap that gets on all my stuff.

In everypart of the country there are pros and cons for stick/pole/steel/block buildings... I vote we put this thing in Ohio. Y'know... for the children. :P

[VTJUNK]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

I know of two garages built recently with heated cement floors. The guys that own them say it's the best feature of their shop. It is expensive initially, but well worth it from what I hear. Of course not everyone here lives in an area where heat is necessary, but I thought I'de throw that out there.

[smallblockjay]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

Cool thread. We've actually been looking into re-financing our place (8 acres) and doing some improvements, to include a nice shop. I was thinking something around 30x50 with two large roll up doors and one regular walk through door. Also thinking about having a new AC put on the house and use the old Master Cool on the shop. Also will have a small toilet room with a sink. If I really get energetic, I might have a small (2'x4') shower stall built in it. I'm thinking about 30x10 foot area on one end for storage and the other 30x40 area for the two large bays for working area, which would make each bay about 30 feet deep and 20 feet wide.

Still in the planning stages, so input is always good. When we're ready to go, we plan on choosing exactly what building we want and having a slab poured for it. Hopefully it won't take long to get the building up, but have to plan on one step at a time. Money's too tight. There's an old adobe house falling down that I plan to have removed and the shop put in it's place. Water, septic tank and electricity already there. We have 3 seperate electric services, which means we get 3 electric bills each month. :o We will use one of them for the shop so it will have it's own drop. The other will be for running the well to keep the pond full ( ;)) and other accessories and the third runs the house. Also already have a phone line and satalite TV.

[Two Lane Blacktop]

A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage Video!



"HEY, What's he building in there??!!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMUiLlHOHMg&NR=1

[DanStokes]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

A couple of tips from building several shops -
- Trusses (both steel and wood) get real expensive past a certain length - the actual price per foot increases. For my building, I think it was 60 feet in steel - couldn't build that big anyway.
- In both Michigan and North Carolina, the requirements go up exponentially if you install a bathroom. A wash sink is fine, but, according to inspectors in both states, once you add a john the space becomes potentially habitable space and different requirements then apply (insulation, venting, etc). I've heard of people adding a bathroom after the inspector leaves following the final walk-thru, but of course no Carjunkie would ever sidestep the law.

Stuff I've run in to.
Dan

[Doggins]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

you guys need to check this out
http://www.garagejournal.com/

[Schtauffer]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

I recommend post frame construction (pole building) for simplicity of construction and overall value per dollar. Standard construction with real concrete footers and block or poured concrete foundation walls is a higher quality building, but a pole building is unmatched in value per dollar. The best place in the Mid-Atlantic region to get a pole building in www.rigidply.com bar none. I do garage doors for about 50 different pole building contractors, and the kits that come from Rigidply are by far the best. They make their own laminated posts (in this huge microwave press thing with a million volts, its really cool) that are more durable and true than a regular solid wooden post.

Stay away from the metal quonset buildings. They are cheap, and not all that entirely difficult to construct, but you get what you pay for. You can install electrical, plumbing, heat, insulation, and *ahem* garage doors on these buildings, but it is difficult. And they are known for blowing over in bad storms and collapsing from ice. There are a number of satisfied owners of these buildings, but most guys that I've talked to that have them hate 'em.

You can get a lift in a 12' building, but the posts will probably sitck up in the trusses about 6". It's not really much of a problem unless you are not willing to box around them. A 14' building is nicer, those make for more storage room. A 16' building is necessary if you are pulling in big trucks. Another alternative is getting a 10' building and putting scissors trusses in where the lift is going to be. This is very cost effective unless it is a large building; scissors trusses for a long span get expensive quick.

Figure on a 12 x 22 bay for parking or storage. Of course, we Junkies need wrenching room, so that does not apply. For wrenching, give yourself at least 16 x 30. Less than that, and you run out of room for an engine crane, not to mention a workbench, engine stand, and toolbox. Using that, figure how many cars you want to be able to have in the garage at one time, and do the math. If you get any larger than 60x100, you're in commercial steel building territory for value per dollar. Wood buildings cost more per square foot at that level than a steel building. Ceco makes a good steel building. www.cecobuildings.com

Put your garage doors in the eave if you want a separate door for each bay. Multiple bays can be serviced by one door, but there are some compromises that come with that, unless you have a larger building kinda like the Car Junkie's shop in Burbank. Get overhead doors that are at least 10' wide. The height of the doors should be 2' less than ceiling height, i.e., a 12' building should have 10' high doors, a 14' high building should have 12' high doors. I would go with 12' wide doors if they are 12' high; anything tall enough to require 12' high doors will need the width to clear the mirrors.

For heat, consider a drain oil furnace. They are hard to beat in the long run.

Sheet the outside of the building with ribbed steel, and the lower 6' of the inside if you do anything that makes sparks. The rest of it can be bare insulation with a plastic liner, drywall, or OSB. I'd go with OSB.

For buildings with high ceilings (16' or more) go with those large round lights that take a while to turn on. Not sure what the electricians call them, but they make a lot of light. They don't work in buildings with lower ceilings, the quality of the lighting gets real funky. For lower ceilings, go with flourescent lights on the ceiling and on the walls about 4-5' up off the floor.

[thevic24]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

iam an electricion and would be glad to help out with any electrical needs.
( i do live in fla though, but will do whatever i can.)

[DanStokes]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

Mine worked out cheaper in steel, due to hurricane requirements (I'm only about 0.8 miles from an Atlantic inlet, and less than 4 miles from the big water, so the max requirements apply). Kentucky Steel Truss was the only company that would guarantee the wind load IN WRITING. Which the inspector required. I'm sure other companies are good as well. I couldn't get any of the wood building companies to put anything in writing. My trusses are 8' on center, which is really close for a steel building, but that got the wind load rating that I needed.

My building is 12' at the eve, and the hoist fits fine. I've had all of my vehicles, including the '88 F150, all the way up to the top and there was PLENTY of clearance. With the angle of the ceiling, the minimum clearance over the hoist is probably 11 feet or more - the peak is 17 feet. My old shop in Michigan was just under 10 feet at the eves, with scissor trusses (makes a vaulted ceiling) over the hoist bay, and it was fine for cars, but I had to be really careful with the F150. Don't own a 4wd, so I can't address that.

Later
Dan

[Nik]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

About 8 or 10 years ago my friend built one with a nice sized pit for working underneath the cars and changing the oil. Didn't cost a whole lot to add and it definitely made life easier.

Nik

[DanStokes]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

You have to be REALLY careful with a pit, and most jurisdictions won't allow them anymore. The problem is that gasoline vapors (or almost any other flammable vapors, for that matter) can collect in them and something as simple as a dropped trouble light can set the whole thing off. It happened near us in New Hudson, Michigan when I was a kid. A guy dies and the building and the car he was working on were totaled. The solution is to ventilate from the floor level of the pit with a kaboom-proof fan of some sort (sealed motor, pneumatic, etc) and with the price of hoists coming way down (mine was $1700 including shipping) it's hardly worth the hassle.

Just a thought, and my experience
Dan

[Schtauffer]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

My dad's shop has two pits. I hate them. It is ironic that its safer to lift a car in the air than dig a hole under it, but it is.

If an east coast Junkie shop gets off the ground, I volunteer to help with garage doors.

[milkovich]

Re: Let's Build A Budget *Car Junkie* Garage!

What kind of lift did you go with Dan?

Size? Good? Bad? Ugly?