I have a 32X48 house with a shop in 1/2 the basement. Wife complains vehemently when we grind on the car. if you do this make sure you have plenty of fire protection. A sprinkler system would not be a bad idea.You could loose your car,house and loved ones lives if not careful.
I don't live in my shop but have slept in cars that I was working on when it just got too late to go home.
Ok, you got me, it was going to be my 4x4 shop, till I sold out. But it looks like one with a show room... More in my albums
I wish city's werent so strict because there are some awesome old brick buildings around here and in oklahoma that would make good shops but i doubt you could ever live in one, The rv idea would be one to keep in mind though.
I'm now looking into renting a commercial premises or site to live in, house my car and a large RV or trailer. Only talking about it last night. If you could find the right place, away from too many nosey folks that would dob you in for living there, thats the hard bit. For the money i'd pay for a small apartment i could get a nice small size commercail building. I'd be more than happy living in a large RV/Old Bus/Trailer, tucked out of sight and the weather. I'm a single guy and as long as i'd have my car, space to work and room to let a big mutt roam about i'd be more than happy. I also like the thought of an industrial/commercail building, especially old drab buildings as they are not very appealing and wouldn't attract too much attention. Nothing in the UK is easy to do but i know folks that have done a similar thing for years so there must be ways and means to live in a commercial building. Not sure how legal but again, ways and means We came up with possible idea. Why not register as a company, a company dealing with restoring 40/50/60's memorabilia/ car parts. Sell the odd stuff on eBay (do anyway), just don't trade over too much and carry on with my day job. Set the place up looking good, like a store with cool shit hanging everywhere and a workshop/restoration area. If anyone visits, the place is full of cool old junk, a classic RV parked outside and looks more like an old retail vintage store than a place thats being lived in. Might just work Have to say sounds like heaven to me and not a money thing either, no more than i would be shelling out for a crappy apartment. It's just making it happen and finding a place. Edit Having spoke to a friend in the know, there's no big problem with the idea. Register as a trader and run a very small hobby business alongside working a regular job. An old airstream or similar could also be said to be a mobile shop for the shows. Taxes etc are really straight forward and there's no laws about running a business that makes hardly any money. Best bit is there's no cost to setting up apart from buying a trailer. The only issue with this is being caught living there but if you were smart about it, keep folks sweet and didn't bother anyone i reckon it would have to be worth a try.
(gasolinescream) Here in the States, They don't like us doing that. Things we have to check out first is... City Inspectors. Fire Inspectors. Taxes. Insurance. City & County Ordnances. My county only had one town that aloud it. I don't know any other towns in the state of MN. that lets you live in commercial buildings. I think Uncle Sam wants us to pay a business and a home tax, so more for them. Good luck finding the right shop/home. I love mine, Mike
Mike Thanks for heads up on a things. Hardest thing here is the lack of space. I see folks over in the US with huge places that you could quite easily site an old airstream and live in it, not worry anyone and no need for a false business etc. Here there just isn't the space and way too many fun police. The guy (a close friend) that i spoke to today is an actual goverment tax guy (thats all i'm allowed to say) and deals with starting up traders etc. He's a rodder and knows exactly where i'm coming from. Being a business is easy, making a home look like a "cool shit store" is easy (just put a price sticker on the bottom/back of everything) and even has the makings of a legit business one day. I know it's not all quite that easy but it is a possible. Luckily i could get alot of help business wise and i have been a successful trader before. No doudt alot of hurdles to jump, rules to bend, true hot rod style if nothing else. Now the hunt is on i feel it will be all be about location, cost and somebody that is happy to turn a blind eye if kept sweet some way. I'm happy to travel further to work within reason and as i live on the outskirts of the city and will be working in the general area, finding a place suitable will no doudt take me out into the countryside and a few miles out. Funny thing was a while ago i wanted to ask who was living like this but stopped myself from posting in fear of a major slagging!!! I'm pretty sure there will be something to pop my balloon on this but if you don't ask you'll never know
Had a 10,000 sq ft building for an OT business years ago. Nice office area in the front 1/3 of it. Kitchen, shower... I slept there about half the time... Burned out eventually. Got really tired of seeing the same thing every day and night. It was more about saving driving time to get an extra few hours of work in a day. Pretty soon customers figure out you're there early and late. Gets old. Regards: Paul
"Pretty soon customers figure out you're there early and late. Gets old." That would be a huge downside, especially if you are running a legit shop as opposed to a hobby shop. Or on the flip side, you are enjoying a family get together and some of your buds show up and want to get in that shop of yours. Difficult to keep two lifestyles separate when they're on the same property. All that said, If I weren't married, with children....
that is because you are from the land of 10,000 lakes, taxes,and buerocrats!!!!!!!!!! My wife is from there and I lived in teh Twin Cities for a couple years, I know. Funny I never had a MN plate, seemed my SD plates were always $300 less than my wifes car of equal value
I sorta live in my Soda Shop with the garage/shop attached. I can look out my bedroom door into "the Grand FinAlley". and my shop is on the other side of the bedroom, but not with a direct door to it. Gotta walk around the corner.....................
Might be looking for one soon the way things are going. Our local government is pretty good about things like that. Scotty.
2 weeks ago I moved into my build shop, leased out my retail building and am selling my farm to the neighbor .I took this picture today when they were perking my land for the septic on the 13 acres I kept,we are going to build a 40x70 retirement home/shop...Jeanne is really a good sport and it will be great to have a little help cleaning shop ....haha.....Building will have a spot to park the Kellys Hot Rod parts trailer inside..
Tman, I was looking at a building in Spearfish, SD. The build was built 5 years before I looked at it, for 1.3 million. The taxes were $837.00 a year The place I bought, in MN. was built in 1986 and couldn't of cost $80,000 to build. My taxes this year is $4,800.00 a year! $400.00 an month. I wish I had started my business down there! Do you even have to pay income tax there in South Dakota? Mike
Great Thread! I have a small shop near my workplace where i can stay, when i am not motivated to drive home. The house is 90 years old and the shop was used for a bakery before. It looks quite small, but there is enough room for 2 cars, a Go-Kart and a few Bikes
Ahhh, the BEAUTIFUL Black Hills of South Dakota(i'm assuming from your location under your name),that's my happy place.
Well, I'm not quite living in my shop but close. Just sold our house and moved into the house (800sq/ft) next to my workshop. (3500sq/ft) Ex Mobil garage. Also on site is a 600sq/ft garage and a 40ft container and a 20ft container and a small 100sq/ft garden shed.. 1 minute from my back door and I'm in the workshop. Heaven .. lol
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