What size should my garage be?

[stickermonkey]

Ok...I hope I am posting this in the right place...I seem to keep screwing that up.

Anyhow...I'm looking at building a garage for my shop as we currently have to rent space by the hour when we have vehicle graphic installations. I mostly do cars, mini vans & pickup trucks, but have recently begun to do a lot more cargo trailers etc, and would like to start to do boats too. What are some suggestions on what to consider, and what size do some of you think is going to give me the space I need now and room to grow??

Also...does anyone have pics of their garage or shop space?? We are in diar need of some inspiration for creating a better workflow around here?

thx so much for your help

 

[stickermonkey]

Big enough.....

All I can say is get the biggest overhead you can afford/find, and make sure you've got more space than you think you need. We just moved from a 1000 sq. ft. space to a 2700 sq. ft + mezzanine (sp?) and we're already running out of space. Luckily we have access to another 2500 sq ft space 3 units down. We thought this space would be "luxurious" but quickly realized we really could've used more space.

I'm seriously at a loss as to what I can do...I bought my current shop in 2006. It was originally built back in 1913...so I've spent a fortune keeping up with maintenance. I've got a great vacant peice of land right next to my building, but I'm not sure if it's wise to put up a permanent structure as we have had some issues with the sewer pipes in the ground since day 1 of owning the place. Ideally, I'd like to sell this property as well as our house and find a combination property out on the hwy. I'm running out of space in all aspects of the shop, and renting by the hour can cost me upwards of $50+ per hour or more in some cases. I'm really stumped...and frankly at the mercy of so many variables in the scenarios that are available to me. I should take some pics of my workspace now...and see if the signs101'ers around here can help make suggestions??

 

[Joe Diaz]

It all depends on what type of work you do and how much space you need. We have to have a 14ft tall garage door in order to do semis which is one of our main services. We also need and have a woodworking shop. But right now it's getting cramped over there and our goal is to some day get a 3D router. We could probably cram it in there now, but we all agree that building on to our shop is a must. So if you plan on growing, buying/building a shop/garage with more room then you need now, my be a good idea.

My dream shop would have:
-a huge woodworking shop with a built in vac system
-plenty of space for multiple production tables and an 8' computerized router
-a paint booth
-a sandblasting booth
-14' garage doors on both walls so we can pull vehicles all the way through, rather than backing in or backing out.
-an extra long truck bay so we can get longer vehicles in, or multiple vehicles.

 

[stickermonkey]

It all depends on what type of work you do and how much space you need. We have to have a 14ft tall garage door in order to do semis which is one of our main services. We also need and have a woodworking shop. But right now it's getting cramped over there and our goal is to some day get a 3D router. We could probably cram it in there now, but we all agree that building on to our shop is a must. So if you plan on growing, buying/building a shop/garage with more room then you need now, my be a good idea.

My dream shop would have:
-a huge woodworking shop with a built in vac system
-plenty of space for multiple production tables and an 8' computerized router
-a paint booth
-a sandblasting booth
-14' garage doors on both walls so we can pull vehicles all the way through, rather than backing in or backing out.
-an extra long truck bay so we can get longer vehicles in, or multiple vehicles.

That would be the exact same dream I have....but for now...like I said, I do mostly cars, mini vans & pickups and have recently begun to do cargo trailers. I agree...that 14' height is a must. But with the property I currently have there would be no way to have the pull through...oh how nice that would be. And...really...if I were doing that many semis I'd probably have built my garage a LONG time ago.

My gutt is telling me to work with what I have...but if the right property came up, for the right price...I'd pull out all the stops to get it. I'd love to leave this space and all it's many maintenance issues behind. Alas...I am at the mercy of the real estate market and my own bank account. Still....a girl can dream

 

[royster13]

Have you pondered how many jobs a year will be done in this new space?......Will the jobs you are doing in there carry the overhead or will your other work subsidize this new space?....Sometimes when you calculate it out, as much as your own space is nice, it is far more costly than rented space....So at the end of the day you have done more sales but made less money......

 

[stickermonkey]

Have you pondered how many jobs a year will be done in this new space?......Will the jobs you are doing in there carry the overhead or will your other work subsidize this new space?....Sometimes when you calculate it out, as much as your own space is nice, it is far more costly than rented space....So at the end of the day you have done more sales but made less money......

I have pondered that yes...and that is why I'm not sure if I will build, rent or find a combination property to settle in. My location is amazing. I'm central to all existing and potential clientel and attract a good portion of walk in decal business on a regular basis. All of this has to be considered of course. My biggest problem now is finding rental space that is not outrageously expensive. For what is common to charge for installation in my area, I pay that and then some just to rent the space to do the installation. It would also be nice to have more space to store substrates and buy in bulk. I'm in an area that is a nightmare to have anything shipped to. But currently...I"m bursting at the seams in my shop and when we brought in our LF printing equipment we sacrificed our only stock room for it. I"m gonna take pictures of the space...and the vacant land beside it and post them in a bit...any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Craig Sjoquist]

As large as you can, a tall 18 ft 12 ft wide garage door on both ends think BIG

 

[Techman]

I think you all would be completely amazed and shocked at the size of the shops in Japan and Korea. Then you all would just about fall over at the amount and what they produce in those shops that manage to span all of about 200 square feet.

Then you would be surprised to hear what they say about our wasteful practices demanding thousands of square feet of space to produce less.

 

[Just Another Sign Guy]

my first shop was 14 X 20 sq ft and it was amazing what we turned out of that space...but it sure was nice when i had 25,000 sq ft and if i had my choice i would definitely take the larger.

can you build it so that you can add on? think about what your needs might be tomorrow versus today. don't skimp on good lighting.

 

[stickermonkey]

here are some pics of my current space that is being used...I have a whole side of my property that is litterally being used to store junk & my new windows & doors. If I lay things out properly, I think this space will work out great for me...but the lack of a grage is definately holding me back from taking more vehicle decal & wrap work. And I have NO private office space to meet clients in. I hate it. I've moved things around so many times and just can't find the right use of my space.

Why can't I upload my pictures???

 

[signage]

Size of picture have a limit!

 

[stickermonkey]

yeah...I sized my pics accordingly. I'll try again. Nope...I get an "invalid file" message

 

[washingtonsignguy]

If you can go 30ft deep or more, i would suggest it. 24' just isnt enough space in my opinion. There are some pretty long pickups these days and the extra depth will give you more room to walk around and work. I read a signcraft article a while back where they intervied a couple shops about this and included shop floorplans, it was a good article.

 

[stickermonkey]

If you can go 30ft deep or more, i would suggest it. 24' just isnt enough space in my opinion. There are some pretty long pickups these days and the extra depth will give you more room to walk around and work. I read a signcraft article a while back where they intervied a couple shops about this and included shop floorplans, it was a good article.

I'll have to search for that article. thx

Now if I could only get those pics posted so I can show you all what I'm working with now.

 

[stickermonkey]

got it....duh! lol

 

[Gino]

A 14' tall door is a must if you're gonna start from scratch. Otherwise, wait until you can accommodate a 14'-er.

Most vehicles are less then 8' wide so if you allow for shelves and other things, plus your own working space.... your width should be around 20 to 25' or more. The length should be no less than 50' Plenty of lighting shining down from the side walls much like a paint booth.

Ours is 21' x 106' with a 14' at one end and a 12' at the other.

 

[stickermonkey]

So...my pics are up...any thoughts?? Spacewise in total I probably have about 1000 sqr feet (maybe a bit more than that) that I am using right now for office, reception & production in the back. I have roughly another 800 sqr feet of space that is currently being used as storage and that I would LOVE to move my office into some of it and make the back half of that space meeting / coffee / lunch room. It's not a lot of space, but I think that if I move it around to make better use of it, it will be just fine.

Cost to run the place are high enough, simply because it's an old building. But I have 2 apartments that take in a fair rent each per month. It's on a very busy and well known corner in town and simply because it is one of the towns oldest properties, it's well known. It's central to all my clientel and downtown so walk ins are better than if I were on the HWY (maybe). Am I outgrowing this place...or am I just not seeing the value of what I have??

Anyone have any thoughts?

Kyla

 

[OldPaint]

looking at your present shop layout pic#1, you are just wasting a lot of space. what is th HEIGHT in there? 14-16'? all that wasted space above the 7-8 foot you now are using. PUT IN A LOFT. at least 6 foot tall above the 7-8 you now use. can almost double existing work area. my shop is a 24' x 30'. and on one end i added a loft. i got almost another 200 sq ft of usable floor space and still have the existing 720 sq ft. you can see the loft in the 2nd pic. it is 8 ft wide, 24 long. instead of posting the outside wood beam, i suspended it from the steel i beam above it with 1/4 " steel cables.

 

[Gino]

OP.......

Your floor does not speak of a man who uses as much paint as you say you do))))))))))))))))))))

I thought our floors were clean, but they are all different colors. You couldn't eat off the floor like yours..... and don't tell me you're a clean~freak, but don't you paint anything inside ??

By the way we have a loft all around our vinyl room. It's about 8' x 90' all total. We store all kinds of stuff up there. It's like having a second floor for us.

​

 

[Des6139]

TWO STORY building. ,bay long enough for a 45 foot trailer,high enough for a double decker bus.So about 60 foot long 32 foot wide. Two story in half the 32 wide,with office and large work area on first floor. Ground floor,reception area to front of building 16x20.The remaining 40 foot behind reception to join larger bay area .That way you can have 2/3 vans plus large trailer on ground floor

 

[Techman]

but don't you paint anything inside ??

He paints nothing inside. He gets car or truck jobs and does them in the yard.