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Jan. 16, 2012 5:31 p.m. Wayslow Reader

I've attached a layout of my workshop. It's a 40'x30' insulated steel barn with 12' high ceilings and a 6" thick concrete floor. The 15'x30' area is going to be my clean work area and the 25'x30' area will be where I'll work on my toys. Currently I'm using the 15'x30' area as a workshop and we have 4 horse stalls in the 25'x30 area but we all need more space so I'll be building a new pole barn to house the horses. I have an attached 2 car garage to store the cars in so this is just to be for cars under restoration, repair or maintenance. I'm planing on buying a lift but I'm not sure where I should place it.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Jan. 16, 2012 5:33 p.m. Streetwiseguy SuperDork

The only advice I can give you is this: No matter what you do or how you lay it out, it will be too small and cramped.
Jan. 16, 2012 5:39 p.m. Teh E36 M3 Dork

I don't agree with streetwise... I think it's a beautifully sized shop, and some intelligent layout will keep it so. I don't have advice as mine is only 16x20, but I would say that the single biggest thing you can do is maintain only one project at a time. I'd suggest a larger opening between the shop and the garage in case you need to move a car in or out. Or a large piece of shop equipment, though I do note the loading dock, which I dig.
Jan. 16, 2012 6:16 p.m. Ranger50 Dork

In reply to Teh E36 M3:

When your attached garage belches up everything housed inside, you run out of room fast. Having a lift just makes it worse as you have to try to maintain an open pathway to get to the lift.

My dad is putting a lift in his pole building, 25x35, and with all the crap he has in a 3 stall garage plus everything he moved out to get the building insulated, it is full again and then some.

I've tried one project at a time... It just leads to critter bait outside, AKA the next project.....
Jan. 16, 2012 6:23 p.m. Toyman01 SuperDork

My shop at the old house was 12X16. Slap full. My new shop is 26X26. Still slap full. My dads shop is 60X100. Guess what, it's slap full too. Shop space is like money. It doesn't matter how much you have, you'll use all of it and be begging for more.
Jan. 16, 2012 6:35 p.m. MG Bryan HalfDork

I suspect the problem is that anything one keeps in the shop expands to fill the available space.
Jan. 16, 2012 7:40 p.m. pigeon SuperDork

George Carlin on stuff
Jan. 16, 2012 7:51 p.m. aussiesmg SuperDork

4 buildings with inside parking for 15 cars and now there are 6 outside, sigh
Jan. 16, 2012 8:09 p.m. grafmiata Dork

My project Miata is currently stored inside my buddy's 6,000 sq.ft. shop. He recently had to "move a few things around" to facilitate the install of a 2-post lift.

Stopped out there yesterday, and it took me 15 minutes to find my car.

Too much space will NEVER be enough!!!
Jan. 16, 2012 8:31 p.m. Trans_Maro Dork

Simple, do what we do at work.

Heavy duty benches, 1 or 2, bolted to a wall.

2-post hoists.

Put everything else on casters. And I do mean everything that does not absolutely need to be bolted down.

Our lathe, mill, finger brake and squaring shear are bolted down, everything else rolls. We have 2 4-post hoists with caster kits that are used to store projects on hold.

We've reconfigured the shop may times to suit certain vehicles coming and going.

This is in a 13,000 sqft shop.

Shawn
Jan. 16, 2012 8:31 p.m. mw HalfDork

I'd be tempted to put the lift in front of the entrance door. I put mine near the back of my garage and its a real pain to have to move things around to get a car in or out. Even if you have a project on the lift, you can pull a car in under the project. Also, if you are going to be moving cars around, I recomend gojacks or the harborfreight equivelent. Also, im really envious of your new shop.
Jan. 16, 2012 8:45 p.m. internetautomart SuperDork

floorplanner.com
I used it to lay out my warehouse/shop when i had it.
Jan. 16, 2012 8:51 p.m. petegossett SuperDork

I have to agree on the "never enough space". I had an empty 8800 sq-ft building when I bought it 2-years ago, and now I'm wondering where I'm going to put stuff. Granted, most of it is inventory(which I need), but after you gain more space you quickly realize how many cheap/free deals are out there!

Beyond that, will your lift be for routine maintenance on your fleet, or long-term projects? I'd let that dictate its location.
Jan. 16, 2012 9:46 p.m. Ian F SuperDork

petegossett wrote: Granted, most of it is inventory(which I need), but after you gain more space you quickly realize how many cheap/free deals are out there!

This is my biggest fear about having a lot of space. Right now, I'd be happy to have enough space to adequately store and work on the stuff I have.

Beyond that, will your lift be for routine maintenance on your fleet, or long-term projects? I'd let that dictate its location.

Agreed. My recommendation would be near the door. Long-term projects seem to be easier to work on when partially disassembled on a cart or dollies.
Jan. 17, 2012 6:40 a.m. Raze SuperDork

Think vertically, maximize floor space at all times, this means buying floor to ceiling shelving units to house spares, tires, etc. If you do alot of racing and have lots of tires look into investing in ceiling hung or upper wall mounted tire racks. Also, you can do a lot by building/buying taller (40 in deck height) workbenches that allow tool boxes, vacuums, small air compressors, welders, other large items that need to be on the floor to slide underneath to maximize floor space. Otherwise try to plan your equipment to be mobile so it can be shuffled out of the way. Also, read the garage journal forums, but come back and visit periodically
Jan. 17, 2012 7:45 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

I'd suggest you spend some time figuring out how you plan to work in that 25x30 space, and then layout the work spaces accordingly.

I've yet to be in a shop that had enough workbench space. Were it mine, I'd be quite inclined to have very long work benches along one side, if not perhaps both.

I've yet to be in a shop that had enough storage space. Were it mine, I'd be quite inclined to have very long and tall storage racks along one side, probably the opposite of the work benches.

I've worked in very few shops that had enough light. I'd be awful inclined to hang lots of lights, lots of lights. Side lights are also nifty.

An open and empty shop is easy to paint. White is a wonderfully reflective color and sure does help with visibility. Makes a shop feel bigger too.

Remember, getting vehicles in an out of a shop with that door will be a bit difficult, particularly once things are in there. Really consider how vehicles manuever and how they will bump into one another once they are in there.

If you see a lift in your future, plan for it.

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