[Shop-talk] Garage design help / decisions (1 of 2)

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

On Thu, 7 May 2009, John T. Blair wrote:
>> Step 1 is to have some plans.  That's the step I'm on.  :-)
>
> I think there is something before step 1.  I think you really have to 
> define what you want vs what you need.  Do you want 4 bays, but need 2. 
> Do you need that second bay (in the plans you linked to) for an RV or do 
> you just want to be able to put a car on a lift?

This is all fairly grey, of course.  It breaks down sorta like this:

Truely Need:  None of it.  We've been here five years and I haven't had 
it, so its not like I die without it.

Need:  Probably the smallest workshop I can get away with that will 
function as a workshop would be a 24x24 standard garage with a 16x8-ish 
door.  At that size I can only have one project going at a time, no lift, 
and will be cramped from day one.

Need/Want: Room for a lift bay & a longer term project bay, plus room for 
bigger tools like blast cabinets, tire machine / balancer, parts washer, 
lathe, mill, drill press, benches, etc. along with some storage.

Want: the above plus a finished office, room to store/work on the RV 
and/or enclosed trailer inside, separate machining, dirty fab, and 
woodworking rooms, another project bay.

The plans I linked to (http://justgarageplans.com/63/plan-detail/2303.php) 
are targeted pretty squarely at the Need/Want section, keeping in mind my 
wife's "doesn't look like a big pole building" desires.

If we can't afford that, then I'll back down closer to "Need", trying to 
keep my options for future expansion open to add a lift bay.

> For example you, the shop you linked to would be about 1,538 sq ft.  If 
> it costs $50/sq ft to build a building in your area then you're looking 
> at about 75,000 which is well above your max. budget of $30K.

This is part of what I need to learn... I know there are rules of thumb 
for $$/sq. ft of building, but I don't know if there are ones that account 
for me doing all the interior work, etc.

Thanks!

Mark