Technical When does a Garage become a Shop............

And that's the era that the rules should have stopped development at...

 

Sorry, I omitted the “T”. If I get into town (Oakdale, Ca) I’ll see if it’s still as-was. I used to regularly pass by it on my way to NAPA auto parts, but NAPA relocated a few years ago so I rarely go that way anymore.
I recall it it was faded white, and faded blue writing. Another building was put up in the “lot” area, pretty close to it, all you could see was the “Studebaker”.
If my memory is correct sometime in the 70’s it became a small Dodge dealership, but the “Studebaker Garage” lettering was still on the building.

 

That will never happen in my shop , because I am never done. Well , If I die I guess I'm done.

 

My shop will be my shop as long as the welder still occupies a corner someplace and still makes a few sparks a year. Would be a shame to downgrade it to just being a garage after 20 years of being a shop, just because I got tired again and finally retired.

One thing it won't ever be is a man cave. Won't be any carpet on the floor, or TV, and its too cold to sit out there in the winter if your not working.

 

I will say that I bring a Bluetooth speaker and my iPhone with the Siriousxm ap on it out to the garage/shop when I'm bolting stuff together, and I have heat for the winter. But no other creature comforts. I do have a back door facing the woods, so I don't have to run too far when the need arises...

 

Yea, there is a radio in the shop, there is even a couple of fairly comfortable metal outdoor style chairs in there. The back door to the house is 15' away from the walk in door of the shop, should a need arise. The gas furnace can get the shop warm enough during the winter to be comfortable just sitting there. I don't mind being out there when its warm outside, or if there is work to be done, or someone to talk about better times with. The Lazy Boy (so appropriately named) in the living room of the house is so much better, if there are no visitors or work to be done.
If someone comes to visit, I'll pull the wife's car out, turn up the heat, and we can discuss life's important and not so important issues.

 

When you are running your business out of it.

 

That's what the 2nd, 3rd, -> 20th Projects-in-Waiting are for.
Marcus...

 

Hey, budget36;
Thanks for whenever you get to it. I like seeing old Studebaker Garages & Dealerships buildings. Hopefully, they've been repurposed & are still being used. Sadly, most past n current owners won't/don't honor the past history. ;( .
Marcus...

 

Mine is just a shop 8 months of the year, but the better halfs Miata goes in for winter storage, so 1/2 is a garage for
the winter. I put a cover on the Miata, then a couple of flame proof blankets so I can still work on my truck, but
no painting.

 

Hey Marcus, I know the building is still there, but from the street view/walk in place of it, you would never know it was a garage at one time.
The only knowledge about the structure being a garage, would be from those back in the day that can recall it. Dang, near 6am and I got to get to sleep, but has me thinking maybe I have time for a spin into town before work tonight

 

Please talk about realistic things.........we know that never happens.

 

I think Hank Hill said it best.....

 

Well, my shop became so when I converted our horse barn into a place where I can build & work on my cars, trucks, bikes, beer supply, darts, and B.S. sessions with my buds. It has an attached 2 car garage where the ones that don't need immediate attention rest. The shop gets dirty, the garage does not.

 

I.M.O., a Man-Cave is a place where your wife lets you put your stuff...

 

Mine will always be "The Garage" Ron

 

Looking thru old photos of my racing days, I came across this picture: This was taken in 1974 outside of the barn my mom let me use for my "Racecar Shop", previously my racing snowmobile shop. Nicknamed "Dave's Barn". Neither garage or in reality a shop. But I had put in a 100 amp 220 power service, and a small woodstove. 16x18, with a front door, a side door big enough to get a snowmobile thru, and a rear door to get the race cars in and out. All wood, even the floor. Why I never set it on fire is beyond me!

 

A garage is for storage and a shop if for working/building. Example, right now I own a 30x40 with 16' ceiling. It is full of stuff that we have not had much luck selling or giving away. It is not a shop, my tools are in there but I cannot work in there. it is a storage shed or garage.

 

In the Sunny South, which is kinda the soggy south today, My idea/opinion of a garage is something that is attached to the house for you and your spouse park your daily drivers, a shop is where you work and build your hot rods or customs in, it's where you keep your tools and parts. HRP

 

Reminds me of my youth. My dad had a barn with 4 horse stalls on the end towards the pasture/corral. Once all the horses were gone, he extended it, framed it in and poured more cement and made it into a shop. We were building a Transfer out of a 3 axle Pete in it, and had no inside room anymore to do anything but work on the truck. So he added a shop on the end of his garage.
Ya, I have them all filled up with my crap now.

 

Friend of mine in Lompoc, CA raced out of his 2 1/2 car attached garage for years, then decided he wanted to build a shop in his back yard. He was on a corner so access wouldn't be a problem, right? County wouldn't let him build a shop to work on his cars. He knew a lot of people, so he asked another friend who happened to be a car enthusiast as well as a lawyer for an opinion. Lawyer told him to re-submit the plans and permit application but instead of using the word "shop", change it to "recreational storage building". It worked, and 3 months later he had a 3-bay shop, I mean recreational storage building in his backyard.

 

Smokey called his " The Best Damn Garage in Town". Good enough for me.

 

when you have an appreciation for a place to create your dream ride....

 

Don’t care what you call it, you gotta have some ragged chairs in it to sit and think about what to do next! I’ve got a couple of old office chairs out there, mighty handy to take a break in and sometimes just sit and watch traffic go by. Gets a bit chilly in the winter though…

 

No offense, but in 'Bama ????
Guess I think of chilly/cold a bit different, even if I am in Southern Minn. Well, I am at the northern edge of southern mn, but at least I'm South of canada... . Couldn't resist... Sorry...
Marcus...

 

In my youth. There were lots of repair shops with signs out front that read"FREDS GARAGE" or WILSONS GARAGE " or the like . Its a language adjustment .

 

Back when the automobile appeared they were called Motor Garages (ad a name) and after time was just a Garage and then there were Work Shops and after time they became Shops but i feel these have little to do with what this thread is about. ''Garage'' when you just park a car or more and garden care items or a work ''Shop'' where things get done with cars, like work.
just my take. JW

 

Yeah, we don’t get never ending cold like you guys up there, but it gets below freezing and stays there several days at a time. We have 9-10 months above freezing temps, but those 2-3 months make you stay close to the fire, lol. Anything below 50* anymore and I’m staying in, can’t handle it like I could when I was younger. If I had an enclosed building I could handle it better. It’s in planning if I live long enough and don’t run out of money, adding sides and doors to what I have. Have got to get the floor poured on the 22’x40’ I added on a few years ago first before I can think about sides and doors.

 

Got an old stool and an old shower chair. One is always holding up the steel garbage can. The other holds me when I'm welding at the bench. Otherwise the extra is just taking up space...

I tend to keep anything that can burn out of the garage or is that the shop? Oh bother!

 

Jeeze, Moriarity, I’m speechless. I would gladly pay $5 to tour your museum, and that’s saying something, because I’m broke! What an amazing collection, and it sounds like you’re still cranking out builds, too. I am beyond impressed.