I started out in a 1 bay 24x36 with a 2 post lift lol

I vowed to over build because the small shop was a cluster fuck. We went 80x120. 12 foot walls on a 4 foot curb. (keep in mind we had farm equipment as well, hence the stupid high curb) We had a 30x30 paint booth with down draft ducts in the floor and a 50x30 man cave / office / shower room

3 months into it the entire thing was packed fucking wall to wall with shit... Size isn't a big deal bud... no matter how big it is, you will fill it.

However -- One of the best things we ever did was run electrical in the floor for recessed lights. cut out 5" deep for the fixture to sit in and lay 3/4 poly over the top of the opening. made working under cars and under the lift sooooo much easire

The key I've found is to have a separate building for storage. I try to keep the garage only limited to ongoing projects/automotive work. I'm still clearing out my late father's old stuff, three years later, because he did NOT share my same mentality.

The tractors, boats, rakes, shovels, ladders and seasonal stuff get tossed in a separate location all together.

I've started drawing up the plans for my next big project, my new home/garage.

In floor power sounds cool, but did you ever run into worries about moisture/liquids sneaking passed the poly? Curious, because I may steal the idea.

If you're building from scratch, in floor heating would not be difficult to integrate either. I know it doesn't get super cold where you are, but it's still advantageous in many ways.

The ground 56 degrees here year round. I already have plans for a storage building too. I have a half acre of wooded area behind the shop.


My dad had a really nice setup that i worked out of until i got out of school so i know what how this shit goes. I'm just happy to have my own now.

10/10 would leave as many skuffs/brodie marks as i could untill i got kicked out

The shop had in floor heat. Wood boiler setup.

Also, the design was flawed at first. They did collect water under the lift due to snow melting. We fixed the problem by making sealed plexi cases for the lights to be enclosed in. That worked well but did make an ugly glare if you looked down at the lights. If i were to do it all over again I would set it up like this:
I would mount the inside a plexiglass box and seal it like I did previously, and then have them all set in placed and pour the concrete around them. You can get the gasket kits anywhere. Make the top have a screw down cover so you can change bulbs. Also! Run conduit before you lay the concrete. I had one light that died and the wiring fried under the concrete somewhere about 3 months after the shop was complete... Talk about being pissed off ripping up half your shop floor to replace a damn wire...

On the light topic. Correct pitch to the floor is key to keeping these working with no issues. The sealed boxes never gave me trouble but i'd never want water sitting on top of my case either.

Also, if I were to ever build a new shop. I'd coat the concrete before anything happened. I hate oil stains and once they are on the concrete, there is no getting them out... At least with a sealed surface you can remove them.

Lastly -- 4 post lift or dont bother. (Speaking from a diesel truck guy) I don't much care for an 8000lb rig on a two post. 4 posts can be a pain in the dick for some jobs but is well worth the hassle. When i came to those (brakes, wheel bearings etc) i'd simply use a floor jack and jack stands

Awesome, great points! Thanks

I personally dont have a problem with a really nice 2 post and a heavy truck. My friend's shop i use has a 12000lb commercial lift and we throw 6.4L F350's on there np.

BRZ

theres no 16 yr old girls in here xip, sry

This post was edited by CarsAndKush on Dec 13 2014 12:16pm

I don't know much about cars.. but I drove one of my nco's 2000 z06 yesterday.. said he got a new cam, tune, stage 3 clutch (ridiculous) and i forget what else, but put down 475whp. I fell in love with that thing, so much fun.