Show me your garage

I'm currently in the planning stages of a detached garage, and just want to hear any ideas/suggestions from others willing to chime in. Throw up a pic of your garage as well if you have any.

Right now I'm planning on a 28'deep x 36'wide garage with a 9' door and a 16' door. Roof will be attic trusses to give me storage over the whole 36' length. It will sit on a block foundation and the floor will be poured concrete. I am investigating the idea of installing an I-beam across the 28' length to use for lifting the boat, engine, or for any other project where I need overhead lifting.

I'm not planning on finishing it out with insulation and drywall right away to save some cost. I will do those things and time & money allow.

Lets hear any thoughts from those of you who have done a grage/shop project. What did you do that worked well, what would you do differently, ...etc...

I have a 40x80 polebarn. 54 feet cold, and a 26 foot heated shop. We have an enclosed heated stall on one side towards the left rear corner of the cold area for storing my wife's car. The building is 14' high at the bottom of the roof. That enables me to have a mezzanine area on top of the car stall for storage. 12 foot door allows nearly anything to be backed in there, including a towered up SuperAir. I put 200A service in so any power is a non issue. I store 4 boats with plenty of room to keep the plow truck and other crap inside in the winter. I have water back to an outdoor hydrant.

My oversights or mistakes (whichever way you want to look at them):

-no indoor water, just outdoor.
-no bathroom (Mrs. Wakeslayer hates this)
-high efficency furnace, this is a problem in that: a) I do not have a floor drain and they make a LOT of water when it is cold out, b)I can only turn it down to 50*. You cannot let these freeze as you will crack the heat exchanger. If I had a normal furnace, I would actually use less propane by keeping it at a lower temp. Not exactly high efficiency in my case.



As Tim said above, go bigger than you think you will need. The more space you have the more stuff you will accumulate. I don't care what you think now, that will always happen.
Get a nice inexpensive used fridge for beer.
Upgrade a TV in your house, and put the old one out in the shop. DirecTV adds dishes at no charge, and another reciever is only $5 per month.

I have a phone line run to my building and used to be able to get internet access, however, the wire broke underground and the bastard phone company wants $1500 to fix it...   Not worth it in my opinion.

Agree on the I beam, that would be awesome.

I would probably go with the separated space pole barn space like you have Mike, if it weren't for the covenants of the addition. They're not allowed.

Great ideas so far guys, thanks for the input.

81nautique wrote: Tim's pretty close but he forgot the coffee pot and the fridge for later . Both are essential for extended garage stays.

Come on, Alan- he's asking about construction questions. I figured the beer fridge/kegerator was a given! I love the cable tv and internet idea too. Having an office to house reference materials and other paperwork would be ideal.

Craig-

I did not read all of this, so it may be a repeat.

My dad's shop is built with 2x6 walls. On the outside of the studs there is a 1" piece of foam and then steel siding. In the middle of the studs it has fiberglass insulation. On the inside of the garage there is another 1" piece of foam and then T-11 siding over it. In the summer the shop stays about 65 without A/C. In the winter it really never falls below 45 in there. It is very inexpensive to heat.

You might consider this when you design yours.

Tim

Craig,
I thought I'd mention the "I" VS "W" because I got busted the other day. I'm old school too!!

Per the charts, regarding the "W" beam (I almost slipped there!!) it's the 32' span and not the load that designates the 14" height. If you went to a 30' span, then you could drop down to a 12" height. FTI, a - W1422 (lightest 14" W beam) beam at 32' will give you better than the 2 to 1 for 3 tons.

Hmmm...didn't know there were any codes on the minimum height for a given span. You have an electronic source I can peek at?

I was really not wanting any taller than a 10" beam...I think I run out of height below it as I mentioned above with the trolley and hoist. I may have to look at a higher ceiling or scrapping the beam idea altogether.

As always Pete, thanks for the info.

Craig,
You can do some searching for beam loading but I've never been able to find anything of value. I don't feel the load charts are published anymore due to liabilty issues. They want you to hire a certified structural engineer!! My info is out of engineering reference publications I've had for 20 years. The loading charts aren't code related.

Regarding the height issue (under the hook) keep in mind you only need 5" to 6" of beam below your ceiling. Check the min. beam height needed for the hoist trolley you plan on using.

Edit: Try to squeeze the foam slab insulation and pex tubing in now. It will really pay off later. It's not that big of a cost.

8122pbrainard wrote: Regarding the height issue (under the hook) keep in mind you only need 5" to 6" of beam below your ceiling. Check the min. beam height needed for the hoist trolley you plan on using.

Hollywood wrote: You can mount the beam above the joists, it'll take away storage but you can lift all the way up to them them with hoists and hardware out of the way.

This is the whole reason I started this thread...thanks fella's.

I don't know why but I had stuck in my mind to keep the beam all below the ceiling. Mounting it up into the ceiling as you've suggested would give up a little storage, but it would really only make a small divider up in the attic. You could still step over it easily.

Craig,
I mentioned the 5" to 6" below the ceiling just incase you ever wanted to drywall the ceiling. BTW, the W beam in that position will interrupt the wall double cap plates. Your framer would then need to add auxilliary cap plates on the outside of the wall in the boxed eaves. They should extend at least 5' on both sides of the beam.

Go as high as you can. My garage(36x32) has the 14" beam but unfortunately building it with guidance from my father (who didn't believe in height) I lost considerable height under the beam. We actually took out 5 floor joists to allow enough height four a 4 post lift. I would go for the radiant floor heat if you plan to run the heat all winter. Oherwise you'll need to drain. I have forced hot air and it's only on if I'm going to be out there working. Plenty of light, piped air, and electrical receptables are a must. 10ft wide doors minimum. Trimed out, a 9' door is aboy 8'9" and backing a 8'6" trailer in can be tight.

WakeSlayer wrote: I have a phone line run to my building and used to be able to get internet access, however, the wire broke underground and the bastard phone company wants $1500 to fix it...   Not worth it in my opinion. Agree on the I beam, that would be awesome.

You need a wireless router Mike, I've been known to float in the pool with a beer and my laptop.

Tim...interested in hearing why you think raising the beam into the attic a little bit is a bad idea. You would still be able to use the beam in every way that you would if it were hanging down completely below the ceiling.

It really just depends on your needs. A trolley system gives you the flexibility to move things around after they are hung but a beam in the attic will be fine for lifting Pete's 8,000 lb boat straight up.