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Dec. 31, 2009 11:58 a.m. sachilles HalfDork

Just wondering what everyone does to make it more comfortable wrenching if they don't have a garage. My dreams of a huge garage addition to our house evaporated with the birth of our first child. So it looks like I'll be working outside for the foreseeable future.

I am contemplating laying a 10'x14' concrete pad, so I at least have a level, stable place to work on the cars.

I need to figure something out, because the only free time I have to work on the cars is after the little tike has gone to bed for the evening. This usually means I need suitable light. In the winter there is no bugs, but it's damn cold. In the summer it's warm enough, but I get eaten alive.

I certainly could afford a temporary garage, but the wife has vetoed that idea for aesthetic reasons.
Dec. 31, 2009 12:02 p.m. Gearheadotaku HalfDork

Big screen house style tent over your concrete pad for the summer? 10X14 is a little small. Measure your car, the allow at least 3' of concrete around it, more in front if you want to pull motors.
Dec. 31, 2009 12:24 p.m. Datsun1500 Dork
1st project, build the slab. As time and money allow enclose the slab :)
1. Slab
2. Cinder block the perimeter 2 blocks high
3. Stud the walls and roof
4. Enclose the studded walls and roof
5. Bitch that if you knew you were going to build a garage you would have built a bigger one
6. Bigger slab next to wife's new garage
7. See #2 and continue
Dec. 31, 2009 12:48 p.m. dj06482 Reader

If you can get the wife on board with a temporary garage, that will go a long way towards making life easier. We bought one at Sam's club for about $240 a few years ago, and it's really helped. My father-in-law and I built a pad out of pressure-treated plywood, 2X4s, and some 2X10s to reinforce the floor. It's a big step up from our gravel driveway.

Still need to figure out a better way to get electricity/light out there than running an extension cord out there, but that's doing the job for now.
Dec. 31, 2009 12:57 p.m. bludroptop Dork

Anything is better than a gravel driveway, where one dropped screw can turn into a half-day wasted on an impromptu treasure hunt. A concrete pad is half the battle, particularly for jacks and stands.

You will have to light the place up like a crime scene, however. Maybe put some posts in the ground for some floodlight fixtures. And you will need a tarp or something to cover the car from the rain.

You know... one could reasonably make the case that a temporary garage is a far more neutral aesthetic than a disassembled car surrounded by carnival lights. If you paint a gory enough picture... well, you get the idea.
Dec. 31, 2009 1:17 p.m. wbjones HalfDork
1. Bitch that if you knew you were going to build a garage you would have built a bigger one
2. Bigger slab next to wife's new garage
3. See #2 and continue
LMAO
Dec. 31, 2009 1:23 p.m. benzbaron Reader

Look at local zoning laws concerning sheds. Around here if a shed is under 120sqft you don't need a permit. For a couple hundred dollars you can pour a concrete slab, but the fun part is framing it in. 120sqft would use around 80bags of concrete to pour which is quite a lot. Last year I put up 9x4x8 and used cedar on the exterior. Ain't perfect but better than nothing. The building inspector came by to give me a hard time but it didn't need a permit so he was barking up the wrong tree.
Dec. 31, 2009 1:28 p.m. sachilles HalfDork

I'm not mixing it myself....did that for my parent shed. Two mixers, sore back. F that. Never again. Not much more to have a cement truck come and drop a load.

And bluedroptop, making a reasonable case to a wife is sort of an oxymoron. Reason rarely has anything to do with it.
Dec. 31, 2009 4:06 p.m. joey48442 SuperDork

A box fan for the summer will help alot with the bugs.

Joey
Dec. 31, 2009 4:16 p.m. cwh SuperDork

I see a lot of ads for steel buildings for cheap. The send you the kit, you pour the slab, ( NO, you don't pour the slab, Mr. Concrete truck driver does that!!!!) apply much beer to all of your friends, bingo, nice garage. Might be worth looking into. Check with B/Z first, though.
Dec. 31, 2009 6:18 p.m. digdug18 Reader

my vote would be to just throw up a portable building/temporary garage and deal with her fallout at a later point in time. my girlfriend doesn't want me to put a lift in the garage, but one is already on order, and will be installed while she is at work, lol. I'm sure I'll get E36 M3 for it, but after she see's how much easier it is to change oil and shocks, etc. It'll stop, lol...

Andrew
Dec. 31, 2009 6:46 p.m. mw Reader

How about a lift. If you're pouring a concrete slab, make sure it's thick enough for the lift. One of the main stumbling blocks for many people who want to put lifts in their garage is that they don't have the ceiling height. You won't have that problem. Eventually, you can build a garage around it.
Dec. 31, 2009 7:32 p.m. JoeyM Reader

Datsun1500 wrote: 1st project, build the slab. As time and money allow enclose the slab :)

+1

That's a good plan. I'll probably eventually put sides on my covered car port and turn it into a paint booth
Dec. 31, 2009 7:42 p.m. Ian F Dork

I know of a few garages that have lifts outside... even here in the northeast...
Dec. 31, 2009 8:52 p.m. mel_horn Dork

I actually have a garage...but a car hasn't seen the inside of it since 1999.

My workspace is called Noonan Rd, where the Great Windstar Coolant Leak is being fixed...
Dec. 31, 2009 9:22 p.m. foxtrapper UltraDork

I've spent many years working outside. From mud fields to paved.

Laying a piece of cardboard down to lay on does wonders at keeping the bitter cold of the ground from sucking the heat out of you. It's also a whole lot smoother and cushiony compared to anything.

A good work vest is great. I like vests because I can keep my hands and arms clear.

A hat and good footwear. Keep them warm and you stay warm.

A 20 lb propane bottle and a cheap heater mounted on it. Those things can really throw some heat. Yea it's outside, and yea the heat gets blown away instantly, but if it's pointed at you, you get some.

A drop light, a flashlight and one of those utility lights on a pole are wonderfull after the sun goes down.

On those times when there is a foot of snow on the ground and the clutch goes out, laugh and accept it. Something like this happens at least once a year for me. I could cry, or I could laugh. I chose to laugh. I pretend it's funny when the wrench sticks to my hand and peels a layer of skin off.
Dec. 31, 2009 9:55 p.m. stuart in mn SuperDork

10x14 isn't very big, do you have small cars? You want a slab big enough so that you aren't laying in the dirt next to it. As an example, a typical one car garage is 12 feet wide and 20 to 24 feet long.
Dec. 31, 2009 10:12 p.m. Keith PowerDork

I think my Cadillac is 12' wide and 20 ' long
Jan. 1, 2010 10:35 p.m. 1slowcrx Reader

working outside sucks.,.. So I traded mowing the lawn at my brothers house over the summers for a bay in his garage while I'm in my apartment...

Big garage for me one day!
Jan. 2, 2010 1:06 a.m. friedgreencorrado Dork

mel_horn wrote:

I actually have a garage...but a car hasn't seen the inside of it since 1999.

ROFL! I was going to post a link to the old Chevron ad ("..the garage is meant for the car!..), but I couldn't find a vid online.
Jan. 2, 2010 10:55 a.m. Trans_Maro HalfDork

Keith wrote:

I think my Cadillac is 12' wide and 20 ' long

I -know- my Lincoln is 20' long.

We put it in a 20' tarp garage and the thing touched both ends!

Shawn
Jan. 2, 2010 11:48 a.m. FLATLINE New Reader

You know you can rent a large storage space from most "mini warehouse" places. I rent a 16x30 for $80.00 per month. Its cheaper than building one right now.
Jan. 2, 2010 11:56 a.m. cwh SuperDork

Around here a 16x30 will be 300.00/ mo.
Jan. 2, 2010 12:06 p.m. sachilles HalfDork

It's also not at your house, making it tough to go out and work on your car. Typically they have verbiage preventing you from doing that anyway. Besides, I live in the boonies, so the closest place is about 30-40 minutes away.

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