Technical Advice on these shop layouts......

At the risk of this being deleted I am going to take a chance and hope it doesn't! I have a similar one on the Garage Journal but I can't think of a better place to ask for advice than from a bunch of guys who are in their shops fabricating cars all the time!

I am finally getting my new shop! it is 34 x 44 with a 12' lean to attached! Hoping some of you guys who use yours routinely can help me out here, especially on lift placement. I had planned on having its own bay, but after seeing a local shop having one in the corner it got me mind going some.

I am not sure which route to go. The one on the left saves me a door, and leaves me a nice corner for stashing my mower or an Ewheel or something along those lines. Now I am kind of feeling like the option on the right leaves a lot of dead space.

I will have a 12' shed roof down the right side of these that I am hoping I can box a third of it in for a machine shop some day.

The car on the lift shown is 20' long while the other is 16'

What do you think?

 

Make it bigger, that much everyone can agree on.
No matter how big it is it won't be big enough.

Cattycorner eats large spaces and gives small cubby spaces.

 

The layout on the left certainly prohibits you from accessing the 'rear' or "front' of the car IF you place the lift in the corner...to me a lift allows access to all parts of the car whether up in the air or on the floor...I prefer the layout on the right...

In my garage (38' x 40'), nothing---read that n-o-t-h-i-n-g sits away from the walls, no tables in the middle (unless it has wheels and it can be rolled back into its slot in the counter and up against a wall), nothing to walk around or stumble around. I like wide open space for working on a car and I like to have access all the way around a car...All of my counter space is against walls with cabinets under.

R-

 

'31 Id love to go bigger, but I can't afford it. Plus I have a 2 car garage attached to the house so I won't be polluting this one with DD's.

 

I will definitely make everything mobile with casters. Especially the table. I could go to a smaller table, but I really want a large flat surface for fabrication.

One of the MaxxJaxs has really had me debating it, just because of getting the post out of the middle of the floor. One of those single post lifts or in ground lifts would be nice too.

Anyone making the in ground lifts anymore?

 

From another Garage Journal member here is my build thread for my 30x40 shop. Just to throw some ideas at you. Is there are reason you HAVE to have the overhead doors on the short side ? http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=188161

 

Are you a painter or a fabricator? Focus the design on what you use the space for most of the time, not just 'maybe someday I'll need a paintbooth' kind of thinking.
40StudeDude makes a valid point about floor space and workbenches. My welding table has working space on all sides but that is because I use it a lot. If your work bench is for general putzing about then it might be better against the wall.

In ground lifts have advantages. Remove the rotation stops and you can spin the lift 360°. Run it up to 36" or so and you have another work surface.
I have two in my shop that came from old service stations that were being demolished. Parts are all over the www.

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I like the one on the left, just go with a bit widder door, you'll enjoy the extra wall space you get from it. The one on the right is better if the car on the lift is changing all the time, but I assume that won't be happening.

 

I like the layout on the right as well. If your 16' car/ project on the left is a roller, then put wheel dollies under each wheel and your can rotate it and move it if you need more room.

 

posted by 31Vicky:

Ain't it the truth. My dad turned wrenches in a tiny space for decades, and he was putting food on the table; now it seems like I need 1,000sf to change the oil on the grocery getter.


Frank