Finally, a garage again

Small progress day as I had to mow so that took most of the day.  Got the first of the 2 fans installed though.  Had to fabricate a mount plate to bolt to the stock uprights as the fans mount plate was wider than the metal stud.

Initially I was just going to go with a big 48" shop fan but I stumbled across these.  30" and they oscillate.  Even with just the one installed its noticably cooler in there.

Man, I apologize ..I'm late to this party, but is this garage an Alan's out of Luray, Virginia?

Very timely thread as I am building a 40x30 pole building now. Just got the permit, builder was hired back in July and building materials ordered so hopefully we can get started this month. Pretty much the same needs, lift, epoxy floor, ceiling insulated for future (I'll do this walls this winter/spring). Can't wait to have a proper shop, been operating out of a 18x18 garage for too many years and sharing it with the family  so both will be happier with my projects moved out of the main house.  Watching this to give me ideas as I progress, thanks for the updates and watching your progress with envy!

759NRNG said:

Man, I apologize ..I'm late to this party, but is this garage an Alan's out of Luray, Virginia?

No, this is from a local place down here in NC

This is an awesome shop, very much the size I would do. I understand the spot of land this resides on, but had you considered early on large doors front and rear for the drive thru effect?

759NRNG said:

This is an awesome shop, very much the size I would do. I understand the spot of land this resides on, but had you considered early on large doors front and rear for the drive thru effect?

It was considered but to be honest I'd rather have the wall space.   It wouldnt have been an issue where it sits to do it but weighing my needs, wants and use cases 2 doors work out fine.  In all my past shops I ran out of room for benches and equipment.  Getting in and out was less of a challenge.  I dont intend to have a lot of vehicles in here, its going to be more of a working shop.   Likely only 3 at a time at most.

Carry on, waiting for the two post thrash.....

759NRNG said:

Carry on, waiting for the two post thrash.....

That may be a little bit of a wait.   I have a lot of larger stuff to move in and I'd rather do it without the lifts in the way.  I also need to test my floor to see if I can put the 2nd 2 post where I want.  I had a thicker section of floor poured where I knew the first one was going, the 2nd wasn't planned for.  The smaller one only required 4" of 3000 lb concrete and I should have 4.5 or more of 3500 lb for the main slab but until I drill some sample areas Im not going to risk it.  I do figure out of a good measure of precaution the large lift will be used for anything larger and the smaller 2 post will likely just be for the Kei cars.

Not gonna lie...I'd be sleeping in there while I put all my tools in. Big ol' lounge chair in the middle next to a cooler when I wasn't working on the set up.

I absofreaking LOVE hanging out in my shop when I am home.

Please keep the updates coming!

preach (fs) said:

Not gonna lie...I'd be sleeping in there while I put all my tools in. Big ol' lounge chair in the middle next to a cooler when I wasn't working on the set up.

I absofreaking LOVE hanging out in my shop when I am home.

Please keep the updates coming!

It has definitely been getting me off the sofa and out of the house at night.  Didnt take photos tonight but I started installing the drops for the air system.  I'll hopefully run the actual plumbing tomorrow then get a photo of the whole system.  It may seem odd but Im only installing 3 drops right now.  One where I intend to put the tire machine since it needs a dedicated airline, one in the back wall near where I'll have my workbench and one up front by the lifts which will have a hose reel hooked to it.   My first inclination was to put drops everywhere but when I think back to my old shops everything just came off the hose reel and secondary drops rarely got used.   Of course with the rapidair system if I find out Im totally wrong I can add more later.   

And I am really itching to get the rest of my stuff moved in but that's tempered by two things.  First its a lot easier to do all these setup things without anything in the way and second, the rest of my stuff is in such utter disarray in the barn that its a bit disheartening even to think about that.  But I really do need to dig out my tool box and move it as Im tired of running back and forth for tools when I need them.

edit: had a couple photos of the drops that are being installed

I used to have 3 drops in my shop. I now have one hose reel by the door with 75' of hose on it and a line that runs from the compressor to the tire machine. The rest of the system has been abandoned. 

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

I used to have 3 drops in my shop. I now have one hose reel by the door with 75' of hose on it and a line that runs from the compressor to the tire machine. The rest of the system has been abandoned. 

Pretty much how all mine ended up as well.  But I did figure a dedicated drop for the tire machine made sense and the kit came with 3 so I figured one over the workbench couldnt hurt.

Big truck arrived today. The sticker shock of having to pay almost $200 just to mount tires I already had on a new set of wheels recently sold me on getting my own setup. Its the cheap stuff, no way I'd trust it if I was an all day every day shop, but for the 5-6 times a year I'll need it then it should do just fine.

Pardon my mess. Finished up the airline install tonite. Waiting on an adapter fitting from the compressor leader line to the filter and we'll have air.

Mess he says. 

Got the sink mounted today. Still need to do the plumbing but I didn't get time to run out for the parts for that. Mental note, must put that outlet on a GFI breaker. That outlet is on its own circuit as I plan to mount a small hot water heater under the sink and the unit Im eyeing up just plugs in.

In reply to JThw8 :

That is one thing my current chop doesn't have. The plumbing would be a challenge and it's not worth it. Maybe next shop.

Toyman01 + Sized and said:

In reply to JThw8 :

That is one thing my current chop doesn't have. The plumbing would be a challenge and it's not worth it. Maybe next shop.

I was lucky that since this was a farm there is a well with well heads all around the farm so I took the closest one (only 10 ft away) and extended the line to the shop.  I'll use a little 110v undersink waterheater for hot water and just a greywater drain.

Looks great. Did you buy the garage premade from local?

i am looking online for my farm - and there are lots of online premade 

mr2s2000elise said:

Looks great. Did you buy the garage premade from local?

 

i am looking online for my farm - and there are lots of online premade 

Building came from a local place here in NC.  Not sure if they are reselling something for a national firm or building them themselves but most places are reselling.  The thing I found in looking was to find some place that was willing to do the concrete and building together.  Most places would do the building but you had to sort the concrete on your own.  I just totally suck at cooridination like that so having one entity covering it all made it easier.  In the end my wife played GC on the project because she's super organized and doesnt mind coordinating activities.  In the rare instance Im not DIYing then I just want to write the check and let me know when its done, and that is just not the case with most of these places.

In reply to JThw8 :

Thank you. Around here concrete and garage will be separate

these are the guys i spoke to prior

https://www.steelmasterusa.com

mr2s2000elise said:

In reply to JThw8 :

Thank you. Around here concrete and garage will be separate

these are the guys i spoke to prior

https://www.steelmasterusa.com

really nothing wrong with them being seperate, heck even with the guys I went with it was a different company doing the concrete, they just set it all up saving me the trouble.  Its just coordinating all the activities while trying to keep things moving at my day job that drove me nuts.   

Next up on the "things I disliked about my other shop setups" list. Chargers. Work surfaces are a precious commodity and mine were always cluttered with chargers. So I knew I wanted to build a charger wall to hang them all on. I put up some supports with some angle between the studs and then went hunting in the barn for some leftover plywood to mount. Then I stumbled on a couple of partial sheets of diamond plate left over from projects. This will do nicely! I wouldnt spend the money to do it but since it's "found" materials I'm really much happier with it than some leftover plywood hanging there. Found another smaller piece which made a good mount for the hose reel and I'll probably make some air tool storage out of that piece.

Wow - looking really good.  Very jealous.

jealous as well, both of the shop and that awesome chunk of land you have.