| Just got done with a new 4000sqft garage for the Z's and other vehicles in NM. Some thoughts: Things that I would definitely do again: 1. Three Bendpak two post lifts with high crossover-great lifts with fantastic customer service and installation. 2. Install Solartubes in ceiling- you will not need lights 90% of the time-energy efficient and provide great light. 3. Polished (1500+ grit) concrete 5000psi floors-easy to clean, do not gouge and are resistant to about anything (though they will stain if you care). 4. Add ceiling height-use the vertical walls for storage-its cheap. 5. Have separate "shop" in the garage. NO threshold so you can roll things into the shop. I have a mini-split Mitsubishi AC/heat system in the shop to keep me toasty and cool. As the shop is only about 300sqft and insulated from the garage (which is also insulated) it is very cheap to keep comfortable. 6. Large Panasonic exhaust fan in shop so I don't kill myself. Caution: not explosion proof. 7. Make the shop about 6 ft. lower than the ceiling line of the garage and build for 150lbsqft for roof of the shop for dead storage-you will NEVER have enough horizontal storage space. Space between the shop ceiling and the bottom of the roof is essentially a free storage mezzanine IF you have the shop ceiling reinforced to hold the static storage load. 8. Use at least three 20amp 115V circuits that are wired A-B-C throughout the garage (you use a little more romex but it will prevent most tripped breakers). I have used double duplex boxes everywhere (the outlets color coded to the circuits) so that you do not pop a breaker if using high draw tools. I mounted double duplex outlets on the car lift posts so I have lots of power in the middle of the garage without extension cords. BTW, mount outlets 6' plus from the floor or NEC will require the use of tamper proof outlets which are a royal pain and VERY expensive in good quality receptacles. You can never have to many 110/120v outlets. Having some 5R-20 (twist lock 110/120v receptacles is also good-especially on the ceiling as they never unplug themselves-need to use with 5p-20 plugs)
9. Use hospital quality 20amp plugs (ID'd by green dot on lower left corner of the receptacle face plate). They will not break or give inconsistent contact. 10. Install 220/240V (nobody can, to this day, tell me what voltage these are called-same thing with 110/120v outlets) in at least three places in your garage with 50 amp circuit breakers and outlets. One for air compressor, one for welder, and one in the shop. Three phase is nice to have but can be G-d awful expensive unless it is wired by the power company right outside your door. 9. Wire the ceiling for as much dedicated outlets (car lifts and garage door lifts) as you can to keep wiring short and out of the way. Remember extension cords are made to be tripped over. 10. Pumb your compressed air lines. I have the compressor in one corner near the circuit breaker panel with an air manifold, a hard line to a car lift post for air in the center of the shop, a manifold at the far diagonal corner of the shop near a garage door for both inside and outside air uses. A also have a HP air outlet in the shop. Remember that air doesn't care how far it goes-electricity doesn't like long runs-NO EXTENSION CORDS. 11. Put an emergency escape hatch (small door) in the back of the garage as far from the garage doors as possible. Put a hook and beam openable only from the inside (you don't even need a lockset). If it only saves your lift once in a fire it may be useful. 12. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ACTUAL (RATHER THAN SPEC DRAWINGS) ON CEILING HIGHTf before you order your lifts-I almost screwed the pooch on this one and had ceilings 4" to low for the lifts I ordered. Bendpak saved my butt. 13. You can never have to many ceiling florescent lights. Make sure that the fixtures you get have the bulbs lexan covered or dirty bulbs and reflectors will have you squinting in no time. Buy the bulbs, in bulk from Home Depot or Lowes. The T-10 cool whites provide OK garage lighting and are a LOT cheaper than daylight color. 14. Pour the slab with at least 6" of 5000psi concrete and do NOT let the delivery driver add water on site to the mixture during the pour-water will permanently weaken the slab. Keep an eye on this as the concrete installers don't like to work with the stiff 5000psi mix and will ask the driver to mix in water to make working the concrete easier. Don't let them do it or you will have constantly dusting and weak slab. Use 2x steel matting under and in the middle (use spacing brackets to hold the matting during the pour and make sure the upper steel is not crushed into the bottom of the pour). Most garage lifts require at least 4-6 inches of high PSI concrete. Have the slab poured absolutely level-without drainage slope-things in garages roll very fast on a slope. REMEMBER, YOUR SLAB IS ONLY AS GOOD AS THE PREP WORK (BASE) ITS ON. IF YOU DON'T BUILD ON A STRUCTURAL BASE COURSE YOU WILL HAVE NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS FOREVER. PAY THE MONEY AND HAVE THE TOP SOIL COMPLETLY REMOVED AND A COMPACTED BASE COURSE INSTALLED UNDER THE SLAB. 15. Install a row of cheap protected CFL lights about 4" from the bottom of your walls. You WILL need light from below especially under your lifts. No drop lights-Whoopee! 16. Install as few windows as possible -none is best-they are great access points for burglaries-use Solartubes and an escape hatch for light and emergency egress. 17. Overhead Door makes good large garage doors and side mounted door lifters. REMEMBER regular center mount door lifters are very problematic for either large doors or use with car lifts.
18. Use LED bulbs or florescent s in ALL ceiling fixtures as changing bulbs on a tall ladder is a royal PITA. 19. Remember Z's are low and need a gradual garage approach slope into the garage. Similarly check your lifts before you buy to make sure that the arms will fit under your Z without jacking it up first. 20. Install an I beam for a hoist the length of the garage (I did it back to the very front so I could use the hoist to lift pallets off the back of delivery trucks). My I beam set-up was certified by the structural engineer for 1.5 tons no matter where the trolley or load is. 3000lb is enough for my needs. Remember to install your hoist power source on the ceiling in the middle of the I beam run to keep the power cable to the hoist as short as possible. 21. Buy Halon fire extinguishers from Ebay (you can't buy them retail anymore because of the Ozone layer) and install them everywhere. Install the extinguishers above shoulder level and you won't run into them all the time. BTW Halon is the only extinguisher that you can use without essentially throwing the parts you hit with it away because of the G-d awful corrosive effect of dry powder extinguishers. Carbon dioxide is also good but they tend to be huge for them to be of use. 22. Painted the shop with Good paint-very light grey with stark white ceilings for light. 23. USE YOUR VERTICAL! You will NEVER have enough floor space. An incredible amount of stuff can be hung from the walls and ceiling and be out of your way. 24. Remember most non-commercial rafters can take NO vertical tension load from below-hang something heavy from a ceiling truss and you might be wearing your garage roof. THINGS I WOULD DO DIFFERENT: A. Garage doors can never be big enough-make one 9-10' tall for weird stuff in the back of a truck. B. Build a large room in the garage (mine will be built using one of the shop walls as the common wall) for REALLY messy stuff like sand blasting, pressure washing, and painting. Line the walls and ceiling with heavy commercial white vinyl wall paper so it is easy to wash down (this room needs a relatively sharp drainage angle to a drain so you can wash the room down after sandblasting or pressure washing. You can then use the room for painting. An explosion proof fan (see Ebay) and a frame for some large 3m Filtrete MUA filters would be nice as well. Remember, any air you exhaust has to be made up. BTW this room could be a death chamber if you do not vent it right and/or use the right respirators for your application. C. A GARAGE CANNOT BE TO LARGE!! Build it 25% bigger than you need and you still will wish you would have built it larger. Have fun.
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