Three years before I bought my house the garage roof had collapsed from snow. One thing that survived and protected the sidewalls was the 4"X12"s that made up an engine hoisting frame built in to the walls. These beams span the width of the garage 14' and are about 7.5' high and 5' apart. They rebuilt the entire garage roof and the hoist frame remained. Though I don't do automotive engine work I do hoist just about everything else to work on it. Tractor, mowers, tractor attachments... Handy!

But if I were refitting my shop I would definitely install a working drain in the floor. My floor has a drain hole but it freezes up in winter and will only take 2-3 gal. of water in summer. I believe it leads to the gravel base under the slab and not to a proper drywell.

Second I'd make sure I could raise the temperature to at least 65 deg. in winter. THAT is on the to do list before long. Good luck on your renovations and keep us posted on the project.

If your bringing power in, you can never have too many 110v plugs or too many lights.
Mike

I agree with Mike. If you can run a 100 AMP subpanel you can do just about anything you want out there: 110 or 220 volts including an impressive air compressor if you wanted one.
Steve

I'm looking for one of those automotive lifts...seems here lately I have been doing more car repair than anything...if any of you have ever replaced the rack and pinion AND the heater core in a 1999 Ford Taurus in the same week, you have an idea of what I'm going through. Next week is a transmission rebuild in a 1992 Cutlass.....ouch. That, along with some type of heat for my shop, is the top of my wish list. I sure wish I could have 480 3-phase electric out there...but they won't run it for a residential customer. I could get all kinds of nice equipment from my regular job that is getting tossed if I only had 480....enough to have my own machine shop....talk about Heaven!

The absolute, without question, don't even think about it, requirment in my shop is my radio.
Prewire all the speakers before you put up the walls, one in each corner is probably enough. There is nothing worse than listening to some shitty radio, expecially when a good tune comes on.
Also, a "beer" fridge to keep things cold/milk for coffee etc.
Also, a urinal is a nice...don't laugh, you will thank me later.
And also a stainless steel sink with hot water.

SnuffyinAtlanta, You'd have to find an electrician that knows how, but you can get 3 phase 240v out of a 3 ph motor being fed 240 single phase. I forget how you get the 3 ph off the taps in the motor junction box but I know it can be done.
Mike

I'd favor the shop in the house basement, but only at 12', is there room for a car lift - and these are damn nice and not that expensive..
But a 12' high basement ???
In a 28 by 56 modular, there would be plenty of room for the icebox, sink and urinal(better than a bottle !!)
I looked at one house a while back, with the house heat boiler in the garage - another good item.. Some heat is imperative.

Another nice idea is a section of rebar embedded in the concrete floor as an anchor for pulling things..

Okay, so I'm hearing: Warm, comfortable, power, radio w/surround sound, high ceilings, fridge for beer.

So I should move my tools, benches, and put a car lift in my living room?!?

Thanks some great ideas: I've long suffered from no heat, poor power supply, no beer, not enough outlets, too few lights, too little space for projects and a lot of unused space. Went to the saw mill and picked up a bunch wood stock and shelved every, realistic, area and now have nice open space where I need it.

I have a walk out basement and best thing I ever did was to remove sliding doors and replace with pair of French doors. With both open I now have 68" clear opening and can push in all of my equipment. Gross square footage in basement is over 1700 and have two workbenches, one for mechanical (mowers, engines, etc.) and other is electronic (have my scope, freq meter, power supplies, etc.)

"So I should move my tools, benches, and put a car lift in my living room?!?"

I would like to do that. But Hippyette says if I do then HER hog is going in the dining room. The dining table would go in the bedroom. The bed to the garage and that's where I would be sleeping..

{{gwi:321512}}

No big suggestions on design. But place the power outlets at about 3 to 4 feet above the floor (if your codes allow it). That way you do not have to be crawling over and under stuff to plug something up. When I wired my dads wood working (16' x 32') shop from a sub panel. We placed the outlets 16" below the ceiling and on every other stud using 10/3 wire. Each walls outlets are wired to a seperate breaker and the air compressor on its own. For He can only use one tool at a time so they are no danger of overloading a single breaker.

I would plumb mine with copper air lines. I want a quick connect or two at every bench and work area.

i ran a 100amp service to the garage. i ran the line in pvc pipe 4ft down and at the same time i ran phone line & cable. so we have a phone computer cable tv a super loud stereo and a fridge. oh yea a few tools also...

I just moved into a house with a double detached and insulated garage, the first play r...er, garage I have ever had believe it or not. I am waiting to get an overhead heater (free) installed then the fun begins.
I am going to recreate a portable bench I built years ago. It was made from 3/4" plywood about 60"x48"x24" give or take. The top edge of the sides sloped toward the floor starting at the half way point. The top was a sheet of plywood with a couple of barn hinges screwed to the centreline halfway back. The hinges were fastened to a crossmember at the top of the slope so the top was a see-saw. I fastened a hinged flap to the end of the top just past the end of the box so that it reached the floor.
I could roll a tractor onto the tilted top then it would tip level as I moved the machine forward. I then kicked the hinged flap into the vertical position. I put a stop at the front of the ramp/top. Kick the flap out and roll said tractor off. I painted it with a thick coat of grey floor paint.
A solvent tank and washup sink is next on the list. Already got the compressor. This is fun.

The Hippyette Harley belongs in the living room, IMO.
A beautiful vehicle.If it resides in a garage, then this area should be completely conditioned, and the floor should be wood..

An old steel kitchen sink would be nice in the "dream workshop/garage".. Then an overhead trolley set up to a shower area where the heavy cleaning can commence ..

I would make a way to move things on wheels if possible. Construct cabinets that are dedicated to a function - e.g. welding, sanding, wrenching. Outlets galore! and scrounge for lights, lots of lighting. Sneak a north facing window if your handy. I've gots lots of ideas, just bad about getting them in the physical universe. Good luck!

I have a 9 X 4 RSJ (Steel I beam) running from front wall to back wall sitting on top of my wall plate. I have a hoist dolly in it with a 1.5 ton chain winch that I can slide from front wall to back. Really handy for lifting heavy things i.e engines, mowers etc.
Shadow boards on the walls with all handy tools hanging there makes finding tools easy & fast.
TV cable running to the shed is also good when you want to watch the game & "work" at the same time, wink wink. Great too if you have kids and they insist on helping dad in the shed! Cartoon network for sure....
A swing in the shed to entertain the kids when they're helping dad...... on a wet day worth its weight in gold.
Ditto with dethrides suggestions... I have wheels on everything, makes cleanup much easier. Also on the lighting, you can never have too much. I have 3 double 5ft fluorescent lights and plenty of times they are not enough.
Run a minimum 8 core alarm cable from your house to your shed and you can tie it in with the house alarm system if theres a spare zone on it. You can tie in a smoke detector too but this can be a pain if you do welding or the likes...
A nice option would to have the compressor outside in a built to measure soundproofed outhouse for when it kicks in.

K

I just had a shop built (40 x 40 x 16' eaves) and am in the process of outfitting it. I had a separate 200 amp 220V service run. I have the plumbing in the slab for a sink, a shower, and a toilet. I will run the water through the walls when I can find the waterline to tie into. I need to get a sewerage ejector and lay drain line to get the plumbing to the septic system. I have a couple of steel crates that CNC machine lathes were shipped in from Japan. The tops will make chicken or pheasant coops for my wife. The bottoms are a lattice work of 5" steel channel. One will become a work bench (2 ft 8 in x 19 ft) for the grinders, drill presses, vice, etc. and a heavy work table (4 ft x 19 ft) on wheels for the chop saw and welding work. I plan to countersink the chop saw into the table to allow longer pieces to be cut easily. The other base (6 ft 8 in x 16 ft) is in limbo (maybe a heavy trailer). I plan to weld a 40 ft length of W12 x 16# I-beam to the overhead I-beams as a track for a 2 ton overhead hoist centered with a rollup door. There are plenty of outlets and overhead lights (2 used 8 ft fluorescents, free from work, they were being replaced and would have been scrapped) now in the future workbench area, with more to be added on the other side. Still to be added are overhead lights (at least 4 more 8 ft used fluorescents)(I was given 12 total). I have a welding maching receptacle in the front and back (near the workbench) of the shop and am currently building a wheeled cart for the welding machine and torch. I also plan to put in an electric heater for the work area. I plan to build storage shelves so I can empty my garage and park the car and truck in there (Isn't that a novel idea?). I also have an old refrigerator that my sister-in-law didn't have room for, so I am temporarily (mayber for years) housing it for them. The shop will house the tractor, riding lawn mower, and the popup camper, but should still have plenty of work space. I can get plenty of scrap steel pipe from work, but can only carry 10 footers in my truck. I need to borrow a trailer to carry longer ones (up to 20 ft or so) or have my company drop off the longest ones (up to 32 ft). So I have plenty of projects using pipe in the near future. Now if I could just finish the shop.

Great thread anytime - and I just moved to a place with a 3 car garage which I've claimed. A few points:
1) Consider plumbing in vacuum lines too.
2) I like old office file cabinets for storing small power tools etc.
3) I'm currently keeping the shovels/chainsaws/etc. etc. in an outbuilding, and trying to get the main garage set up as a woodworking shop.
4) Three phase conversion is easy to do, but harder to do safely. Just feed your 240V to one phase leg of the largest three-phase motor you can scrounge, and you'll get your other phases from the other two phase legs of the motor. To get 480 you take your output from the 480V taps. BUT you need to be careful with breakers and isolation - google this, and maybe get a smart electrician in.

Just got a call from my excavator to start on my two story 24x26 shop/garage/studio. Bathroom and "nice" studio work area upstairs and full concrete walls below with a walkout double garage door. I'm seriously thinking of putting in a utility sink down for grubby "Boraxo" hand washing, etc.

As to plumbing for the compressor, I've heard that PVC can handle the pressure and, if placed high or protected, is the way to go. Opinions?

I plan on plenty of electrical outlets and not the cheap ones. I know from my present garage that lots of larger equipment, or even a Skil saw, will slowly eat up a cheap outlet. Since my electrical will be coming down from the ceiling because of the concrete walls, I like the idea of leaving them high on the wall. Or maybe a high/low for each so that, if the bottom one is covered by junk, there's still an outlet.

Since I'm going to have concrete walls, it looks like cabinets are the way to go. Years ago, I scored on some sturdy restaurant shelves that are wire racks and adjustable in 2-inch increments. You can't put little tiny things on the shelves (good) and dirt, sawdust, etc, falls through the shelves so that only the floor needs a vacuum/sweep.

I'll have a single beam across the garage (26' GluLam) so that there's no center post. But I'm pouring a flush column support in the middle of the slab so that I can put in a "temporary" column when needed. If I want to use the beam to hoist 1,000# out of the truck, I put in the temporary post and hoist away.

That reminds me of what a friend did. He cast some big eyebolts and cleats around the edges of his shop slab. He did autobody work and straightend frames by chaining them to the attachment points and using a hydraulic ram or block and tackle. He told me later that he ended up using those points for lots of other stuff, like bending rods and pulling apart rust-frozen equipment. Hmmmm.

Mark

IMO, 24 by 26 is not big enough !
My neighbor's "garage" was larger and taller than his house,a regular 28 by 50 ranch..
Two stories however is excellent, an economical and sensible use of space..
Go for the 12' ceiling height for a future car lift - or room for a SUV...lol.
I use black pipe for the air; I have heard nothing on plastic being strong enough, black pipe ,IMO, is inexpensive..
Mark, you have planned well, this should be a dream work shop...
I wonder if a pit is a good idea ??? It is less expensive than a lift and takes up little real space....

I put in baldhead cabinets in my garage / workshop and I love them. I use it for my business as well so all my tools are organized. I bought them direct from the manufacturer in Scottsdale. Check out their website at www.baldheadcabinets.com but call the Scottsdale location and the manager there was great dealing with.

Here is a link that might be useful: PHX CUSTOMS Wholesale Auto Acc.