Building a Garage, debating the size?

[747mopar]

Build a garage mahal, seemingly never big enough,
build as big as you can afford & then some...

Unfortunately I can't even afford this but it'll get done.

 

[747mopar]

I have $1800 in my floor system including the pex.

My $10,000 quote is the outdoor wood burner, plumbing and all.

 

[Budnicks]

Unfortunately I can't even afford this but it'll get done.

I can relate, always my conundrum too...
I either have time & no $$$ or a few $$$'s saved
for the car especially/or a project for the house & no time,
never seemingly both...

this was supposed to be the start of my shop 42' x 28'
haven't touched it since, until ol' Pops quits RV-ing/traveling &
I get rid of the RV trailer, probably boat too, if I live that long...

 

[747mopar]

You going to frame it in? I've seen people do that, quick easy way to build a garage for sure. I'd think a foundation wouldn't be as big of an issue either with the light weight? I've got a boat too, 1970 Sea Ray..... sometimes I wish it would catch on fire and disappear.

 

[Hemirunner]

My $10,000 quote is the outdoor wood burner, plumbing and all.

That's incredibly expensive. Mine is electric. I'm converting to gas this fall. Even after the conversion, I'm all in at $2600. Considering the labor to cut wood, I don't see you ever getting the $7400 difference back.

 

[eldubb440]

when I built mine, I did a basic pole barn, 30 wide 40 deep, sliding door front and back....... I have 5 full size cars in there including one on a rotisserie with room to work....... 8 years later, I added an 18 foot wide addition, it required dropping down 2 feet and a retaining wall. ...... 2 years after that I dropped a 40 foot cargo container on the other side cut a hole in the wall for a roll up door and loaded it with shelving and parts..... next move is a 24x24 pad in the rear with a lift, thinking putting a car port over it

 

[jason79]

If you're open to suggestions I have a few for you. I am a contractor. Had my own business for 15yrs now. We build Alot of post frames and shops. First do radiant heat. There is no better heat for a shop, period. Second loose the wood burner, you can add that later. Hanging heaters are terribly inefficient, but really good at heating the air above your head. 55 degrees in a shop with a hanging heater is cold. 55 degrees in a shop with radiant heat is nice for working. The difference is your body heat is pulled out by walking on that cold slab of concrete. Radiant heat, warm floor, warm feet, or body if your working under the car. If you are determined not to do radiant, at least insulate under the concrete and run the lines. In a few years when you change

your mind, you can buy the boiler and manifolds. Here is a pic of my shop, I run radiant heat off a wood boiler. Keep it at 55 all winter. By the way, I like your shop design, looks great.

 

[747mopar]

I'm hearing you on the cold floor deal, the garage I work in now is only heated while I'm in it (weekends) so your feet freeze the second you quit moving. My thoughts were to just keep the garage at 55 all the time so the floor and everything in it never gets cold. All of you guys seam very relentless about the radiant floor so I'll check into the pex but have a question, what's it cost to heat a garage for a month and what options are there for boilers. I've seen the insulation put under concrete, any particular type better than another?

I'm trying like hell to keep this from snowballing like everything else I do.... my wife has gotten to the point where she just rolls her eyes when I spout off an estimate.

 

[Hemirunner]

There are those that have never worked on a heated floor, those that have floor heat and those that wish they had it! Lol

 

[747mopar]

And those who just want an air conditioned garage.

 

[Hemirunner]

I have central air in mine this year for the first time and it is great to work in when it's really hot and humid. We agree there!

 

[gdrill]

There are those that have never worked on a heated floor, those that have floor heat and those that wish they had it! Lol

LOL, so true!

And those who just want an air conditioned garage.

Now this is me. I'm good in the winter but the summer is killer.

 

[jason79]

For insulation there are 2 options. You can use 2" rigid foam or a reflective bubble roll type. I have used both and can't tell a difference. If you pour walls and insulate inside the wall before you backfill, insulate under the floor, and have a well insulated and sealed building, your heating cost with radiant is next to nothing. The biggest thing with radiant is to set it and leave it. Raising temp takes a long time. On the flip side that warm concrete holds heat very well. To give you an example of heat loss, we lost power on a -34 degree night (without wind chill). It was an hour before I hooked up the generator, shop dropped 1 degree. It was 90 degrees warmer in my shop than outside. For your shop an on demand wall mounted water heater would work no problem. Super easy install since you can set the water temp on the heater, no need for mixing valves.

 

[eldubb440]

if I had it to do again....... I would go go radiant heat, no doubt

 

[Budnicks]

You going to frame it in? I've seen people do that, quick easy way to build a garage for sure. I'd think a foundation wouldn't be as big of an issue either with the light weight? I've got a boat too, 1970 Sea Ray..... sometimes I wish it would catch on fire and disappear.

It has 12" pillars 6 ft down for anchoring,
after removing a bunch of the gravel,
I'd poor 6" of reinforced concrete...
Aluminum/sheet metal .25ga. stud frame the sides & back,
it's self supporting, add some shiplap panels or maybe even more tin/steel
I'll add a side double 2 x 3'0" steel security door &
2 commercial roll up doors a 12'w x 12'h & 12'w x 14'h,
a 4 post lift & a 2 post pref., on the high side, it's over 14',
with a pit on the lower side, sump just in case & a steel cover,
that lower side would be my tool area & main work benches,
fabrication area, compressor, welders, pisser & maybe a sink in the corner...

I love concrete, the whole back area will eventually be concrete...

I will spray insolate the enameled steel with foam inside
& put a propane heat & air handler, that use to be in my house
some killer lighting, ceiling fans etc.

I had it all planned out, never thought ol' dad
would be still wanting to Rv-ing/travel this long still...
I don't want the stuff left out in the snow & sun etc.,
it ruins chit...LOL

Yeah the boat is from 1977 Glasspar, bow rider tri-hull 50hp Merc...
Yahoo !!, It could go away or burn, but ol' dad still likes to fish,
I may have to live with it, for the duration, out of respect...LOL

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'm trying like hell to keep this from snowballing

Tell me about it.

 

[747mopar]

Tell me about it.

And I'm already over my target price of $10,000 but that's a damn cheap garage for the quality that I'm building.

 

[747mopar]

Well fellas if my excavator is on time ground will be broke Tuesday .

Pretty well got all my figures done on cost, footers, floors, insulation, drywall, garage doors, roofing, siding, lumber and a Benpak lift and I'm at about $12,000. Still need to figure out heating, plumbing and electrical.

Some notable savings...
The Amish make our siding for .55 cents a square ft and I work at a sawmill so all of the lumber comes in just under a grand and that's for popular not pine.

 

[HYRDGOON]

Well fellas if my excavator is on time ground will be broke Tuesday .

Pretty well got all my figures done on cost, footers, floors, insulation, drywall, garage doors, roofing, siding, lumber and a Benpak lift and I'm at about $12,000. Still need to figure out heating, plumbing and electrical.

Some notable savings...
The Amish make our siding for .55 cents a square ft and I work at a sawmill so all of the lumber comes in just under a grand and that's for popular not pine.

For what you're building most people would be north of 25k easy so I think you are still WAYYYY ahead of the game. Also agree with in-floor heat there is nothing like it

 

[Hemirunner]

And I'm already over my target price of $10,000 but that's a damn cheap garage for the quality that I'm building.

I had a lot of people ask me why I didn't go bigger. I told most people it's half the size I wanted and twice the size I can afford!! The reality was 1250sq ft is all the city would let me have