Lights – agree on cold start ballasts, the cheapos from HD/Lowes die after a 
winter or two.  I work with a few electricians who can get me decent pricing on 
some nice ones.  I struggled with the best way to do them last time, and went 
with 2 x 4’ along the sides, one over the hood area and then separate over the 
workbench.

Air plumbing, agreed.  I have a hose reel in the center of the 24x24 now, plus 
a loose hose to drag around as needed.  What piping would you use, PVC, black 
pipe or copper?  I’ve heard pros and cons for each….

Looked at a nice 30d x 60’w x 10’+ hip roof barn last night (oh, there was a 
house there too).. short sale, so not sure it fits the bill.  4 stalls, 
concrete.. a nice plain slate to start with but the short sale means no 
immediate occupancy so shying away from it unfortunately.  It had ‘cool’ 
factor, and size was nice.. I liked the 4 wide by 30’ setup, too.  It’s still a 
possibility but not very likely.

The garage is a workshop for motor-driven items, buddies do come over on 
occasion (20% of the time maybe?).  I want it to look nice but it’s not a 
museum.  Painted walls and floor (light reflectivity and clean up 
considerations).. I should take some pics of my current 2 stall before I pack 
it up as a reference.

Plywood walls, good idea.  Having struggled with mounting things that would be 
handy… or at least along the workbench/storage walls.  I did drywall in my 
current but no paint and it has yellowed and was a pain to mount things too and 
hit studs.

Power – amen!  In a 24x24, I had 5 per wall (3 high, 2 low… something a buddy 
told me to do and I love.. high ones for grinders and the like, low for fans 
and vacs).  Workbench is 6’ and has 6 (switched).  I also did 4 in the ceiling, 
next to the hose reel.  8’ ceiling allows me to plug in trouble lights high and 
route anywhere I need them, with a high bay a cord reel will have to be used 
but is a nice plan.  I see the benefit of having them.

Casters – I put all my big stuff on them, too.  Band saw, drill press, table 
saw, rolling cart… makes it nice to roll it outside if I want to make a huge 
mess cutting, etc.  With a bigger garage that may be less required, I hope.

Internet and phone, both necessities.. the PC is mounted on the wall in a TV 
mount so you can swivel it as needed to read specs, parts shop, whatever.. love 
that.

Dampened Air Comp box, yeah, I have an older Ing-Rand 5hp that is loud as nuts 
when it runs.  I was concerned with heat and ventilation tho so I need to do 
some research before I do that.  A buddy has a 40x72, and he put the Air comp 
on the storage side and piped it into the work bay.. you can’t even hear it run.

Good ideas, guys.. and the garage forum, nice!  Some great inspirational photos 
over there…

Keep it coming!
Wallyman



From: [email protected] 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Cardell
Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 12:31 PM
To: Wiseman, Curtis J
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: EXTERNAL: Re: Wally's future Garage-Mahal

Light is critical. spend a few extra bucks and get ballasts that work in the 
cold, unless you will be heated all the time. Otherwise you'll be buying new 
lights every year.

Bill Cardell
TurboDog's Dad
Www.flyinmiata.com<http://Www.flyinmiata.com>
1-800-fly-mx5s
970-464-5600


On Oct 12, 2011, at 1:55 PM, "Wiseman, Curtis J" 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Mark has some great ideas, especially for Northern climes (porous floor, 
plywood).

It’s sort of like when somebody asks which FI system is best.  The choir chimes 
in to ask “how do you plan to use it?”  Is your garage a work space, a 
man-cave, a mother-in-law suite?  Do you have buddies over or work by yourself? 
 Do you care what it looks like or just how it functions?

Generic suggestion though: LOTS of light.  You can always turn some off if you 
want, but lots and lots of fluorescent fixtures make it easier on aging eyes to 
see that @#*%$# fitting.

From: 
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> 
[mailto:[email protected]]<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]>
 On Behalf Of Mark Cookson
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 2:36 PM
To: Ken Bogart
Cc: Miatapower ([email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>)
Subject: EXTERNAL: Re: Wally's future Garage-Mahal

Two things that I did that I really liked in my first garage:

Covered the walls in 3/8 plywood instead of drywall (mount anything anywhere 
without worry)
Ran hard lines with air fittings about every 15' (about 8 connections) and had 
two retractable reels on the ceiling for instant use; one air, one electric.

I also have a wash basin (but only cold water, might consider a small hot water 
heater) and more power outlets than you can shake a stick at, including one in 
the middle of the floor for the table saw.

My second garage has Internet and TV, and the previous owner had flexible air 
lines that he took when he sold it.

Making a good sound dampening box for the air compressor would be high on my 
list too.

I currently want to do something like those plastic floor tiles that raise you 
up a quarter of an inch to let snow and water drain below the working surface.

A lift or pit would be ideal, but my roof is too low and tearing up my floor 
isn't really in the cards.

Enjoy!
Mark

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 12, 2011, at 10:56 AM, Ken Bogart 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
When I build mine..   I want the following:

- 2-post lift bay
- a walled and drained wash bay
- a work bay (machine tools, work bench)
- a room for hanging out with couch, tv, bar, bathroom
- open indoor area to park at least 6 cars
- a storage/parts area (in a loft?)

I figure this would have to be at least 2500sf or larger...


Ken Bogart
-----------------------------------------------------
96 Montego Blue FFS Coldside (His)
97 Black & Tan (Hers)
90 Crystal White (sons)
------------------------------------------------------
http://www.miatacare.com
http://www.cincimiata.com
http://www.bcchallenger.org
MiataMail.com<http://MiataMail.com> list owner


On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 1:46 PM, Helsel, Walt 
<[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
So, moving to a new home.. going to have either an existing or built pole 
building for the car-addiction.  Looking for those of you with Garage-Mahals to 
chime in.  Right now I am working out of a 2 stall garage 24x24x8.  Workbench 
in the front on a 5’ deep raised stoop, wood heated, partially insulated.  
There is not enough width for working on cars with crap along walls (crap being 
a parts washer, bench grinder, shelving, etc) and it’s fairly crowded with all 
the big stuff (woodstove, engine hoist, engine stand, blast cabinet, drill 
press, band saw, table saw, 3 welders, etc) that is all roaming the space.  So, 
looking for suggestions and advice from those of you that have dedicated hobby 
space…

Things you would do again
Things you regret doing
Layout suggestions
Storage ideas
Workbench ideas (location, layout, etc)

Anything else you think might be useful.  I would love to go to a 2 post lift 
down the road so I want at least one high bay for that, but for now I’m 
thinking something like this:

28’w x 40 (or 48’)’l x 14’h
2 stalls wide, with workshop in the front (away from the doors)
2 overhead doors on short end, 1 mandoor, some windows of some variety for 
light.
Concrete floor and approach
220v electric
Water if I am lucky
Insulated and heated (Michigan winters)
Will be wired for music, internet and phone as well.

So, toss your ideas out.. I’m game to start figuring out how to set up the 
future work space!
Wallyman



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