Building a new house

It appears things have all fallen into place and we’re going to be building a new house by the end of the summer. My garage will be a 22×20 2 car. Not as big as I’d like, but bigger than I have now. My question is this, If you were in my position what features would you incorporate into it? I will have a 12×12 shed for mowers and other things that typically clutter the garage as well. Just trying to get a brainstorming session going here.

Well is this just going to be a car garage or more of a workshop garage? Is the garage going to be attached or detached? A few ideas would be having a drain in the floor its nice so you can wash off a car when it’s cold out, and also bring out hot and cold water if possible if you really want the man cave garage I would put up a urinal if you can they have the no flush ones now. Lot’s of nice tool storage and benches. That’s all I can think of now. One last thing try to go as high as possible with the garage for attic storage if possible.

It’ll be more of a working shop than a parking space. I’ll definitely have plumbing, gas heat seperate from the central unit running the house, and I plan to have 2 220V outlets (1 on each side of the garage). I also plan to run a line from my compressor to the center of the ceiling to allow for a centrally located, retractable 50′ hose reel, giving me quick access to air anywhere in the garage or driveway. Beyond that, I’m still looking for ideas. 

I would run a subpanel  in the garage it might end up making things simpler in the long run. Also If it’s really hot and humid I would consider getting an AC unit of some kind. Good lighting is kind of a given. I dunno If drywall and insulation is in the cards at the moment. Also an area to put a compressor that’s out of the way and keeps the noise down would be nice if your using air tools a lot. Also if possible build the garage up on like one course of brick keeps things cleaner if you want to be able to hose it down. A nice floor coating of some kind is an idea.

Floor coating is a must. Thought about Racedeck flooring, but at nearly $3 sq. ft. I’ll probably go with an epoxy instead. I’d love to locate the compressor somewhere else, but I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to pull it off.

Higher ceiling creates a lot of storage space in all ways.

I would install a good sized exhaust fan for when your welding. I would run cable for the tv and defenitely have a fridge.

ChaseRogers wrote:

Higher ceiling creates a lot of storage space in all ways.

Very true Chase, however, with it being attached and based on stock plan, there isn’t much flexibility in the ceiling height 🙁

Dewalttoycollector wrote:

I would install a good sized exhaust fan for when your welding. I would run cable for the tv and defenitely have a fridge.

I don’t watch much TV, but a fridge is a must! Exhaust fan is a good idea as well.

Might want a wifi booster nearby the internet is great for tips and such for all sorts of projects if the house is big enough to need a booster.

Yeah i am lucky enough that my wifi reaches the garage.

You might not watch some tv but a sound system might be nice or at least run some speaker wire beforehand.

It would be pretty cool if you could hook up your jobsite radio to a built in surround speaker system.

Haha In my professional electrician opinion I would for sure put a 100 Amp sub panel in your garage so you will have plenty of power and plenty of expanding room! rather more than less, its easier to do it now than it is when everything is done. I would suggest 2×4 fluorescent lighting, 5k lamps are really bright, but lots of times I have installed can lighting in garages for the little extra room and it looks pretty slick and classy! Put power out in the shed right away you wont regret it.

I thought about a separate panel in the garage, but do I really need it with 400 amp service in the house?

I would have every bloomin light in the place including spotlights outside as L.E.D’s and save a fortune on electricity  🙂

I would also have a pit in the garage so I could get to the underside of my vehicles easily 🙂

depending on the soil test for the block you’re building on i would try to bury the compressor, dirt is a marvelous sound insulator. don’t worry about heating, make a wood burner. Your chippie mates will have more off-cut wood than you will ever need. Fire in a workshop gives it a soul, even a new shiny new workshop. Maybe polish the concrete floor its not that dear down here and its a nice finish

I hadn’t really given a wood stove any thought. Something to think about though.

Hello everybody! I do not know where to begin but hope this professional-power-tool-guide.com will be useful for me.

Toi70 wrote:

Hello everybody! I do not know where to begin but hope this professional-power-tool-guide.com will be useful for me.

We hope so too. Welcome to the forum!

Conductor562 wrote:

I hadn’t really given a wood stove any thought. Something to think about though.

Natural gas is pretty cheap right now and its so easy to use you just flick the thermostat over and you got heat. If you really wanted to be fancy you could get a wifi thermostat for 100 bucks and put the temp up before your even in the garage. I love the smell of a wood stove, but im too lazy to deal with the work that goes with it. I have 2 8 foot high output flourecent lights in my garage and love it they fire up just fine even when the garage is freezing in the middle of a michigan winter. How would you bury a compressor though the logistics of it seem kinda crazy I’m not trying to insult anyone by asking.

Welcome!

How has the build been going? There really is no need for a 400amp service too

No build Andy. Found a house for $230K that would take probably take $300K to build with the prices I was getting. 1.5 pretty flat acres, 3 miles outside of town, and a monster 3 car garage with lots of outlets and lighting. Needs a little work because the lady that lives there got divorced a couple years ago and hasn’t been able to keep up with it properly. I’m not opposed to breaking out the power tools though 😆

Haha nice i love our 3 car garage!

How about locks on the doors. So no one will come in and bother you.  🙂  

Harold Wray wrote:

How about locks on the doors. So no one will come in and bother you. 🙂

Guess I failed to mention the nearest neighbor would be almost a mile away 🙂

There is no worrying about locks then! That is going to be fun, nothing more satisfying than doing work to your own home and making it yours

I redid every room in my old house over the course of the 3 years I lived there. New paint, doors, baseboards, trim, tile in the kitchen, bathrooms, and dining rooms. I replaced all the door hardware, every light fixture and faucet in the house, all new appliances excluding the dishwasher and while I hired it out, I replaced the AC,  Furnace, and carpet. Hell, it’s practically a new house. I worked on it continuously the entire time I lived there. Now I get to start all over on a house twice as big. I can’t say I’m really disappointed though. I enjoy the work. 

So you can be as loud as you like with your tools, you never run out of things to do with them, and you get to do all this with no dress code because everyone else is at least a mile away?

This is heaven me feels.  LOL   🙂

I think so too Wayne

Wow. That’s great you did so much at your other house. Impressive.

Harold Wray wrote:

Wow. That’s great you did so much at your other house. Impressive.

I stay pretty busy 🙂

Now you are going to be even more crazy busy!

crazyandy wrote:

Now you are going to be even more crazy busy!

My wife and I are headed to Boston next week for a Union convention. You’re usually done with business by 2:00 and being in Boston for the 4th will be pretty cool. We go somewhere cool about every year. We’ve been to New York City, Asheville, NC where the Biltmore Estate is, Memphis, TN (biggest dump I was ever in) and several other places. It’s a paid trip for 5 days with no kids. We missed the one in Toronto and the one in New Orleans. Hoping to make it out to Chicago one of these days. Maybe we could have a little get together. We’d probably have to Skype Wayne in though 😆

Crazyandy,

How difficult is it to put a 220 line into a existing home. I have 1 main panel and a sub panel…unfortunately when we expanded the kitchen last year, the electrician used up about 5 single breaker slots on the sub panel for the extension, and I only have 1 slot free. I was looking at getting 1 (really would like to add 2) 220 lines to be able to get a big compressor and power for a 220v welder and be able to swap it out with a 220 plasma cutter….cost wise are we talking $100’s or $1000’s….(my friends BMW needed a repair…the  service tech told him “Yes that is 3 ZEROS right of the decimal point” )

crazyandy wrote:

How has the build been going? There really is no need for a 400amp service too

Conductor562 wrote:

No build Andy. Found a house for $230K that would take probably take $300K to build with the prices I was getting. 1.5 pretty flat acres, 3 miles outside of town, and a monster 3 car garage with lots of outlets and lighting. Needs a little work because the lady that lives there got divorced a couple years ago and hasn’t been able to keep up with it properly. I’m not opposed to breaking out the power tools though 😆

I missed out on a chance to pick up a 2 nice 1.5 acre neighboring lots 2 years ago ($102K)….I was worried we were getting ready for another correction….today those lots are  $370K…oh Well I hope you enjoy the new place…Like I told my wife when we built this house, “You can never have enough garages”… 😛 I shot for a 5 car option….but got beat down to a 4 car option  (2+2)…

Kinkaid, you have 1 slot left in the main panel or sub panel, or altogether?

Running the breaker isn’t to tough and anyone who’s ever done it can walk you through it.

Probably even some nice videos on YouTube.

If you don’t have the space in your panel box you’ll probably have to upgrade your sub panel (I assume it’s 100 amp) to a 200 amp. That will be a little tougher and you’ll want an electrician to do it.

You can probably add a piggyback breaker to free up and extra space in the panel.

Thanks for the information. 

I have just 1 slot left in the main breaker and none in the sub-panel. The panel uses Square D breakers. Total AMP to the house is 200 ( I am guessing this because the main breaker in the box says 200 on it.)….So this will be a later project.

I will probably GO BIG when I do it. if I need to upgrade the service, that wont be $100’s that will be $1000’s…On well…I got time.  

Your sub panel is probably 100 amp which give you a total of 300 amp service. Adding another sub-panel would give you 400 amp service. 

Conductor562 wrote:

Your sub panel is probably 100 amp which give you a total of 300 amp service. Adding another sub-panel would give you 400 amp service. 

Thats not how it works.  You can add as many sub panels as you would like your service size is not getting bigger.  Your limited to the size wire feeding your main panel and wire from the power company.

yamatitan wrote:

Thats not how it works. You can add as many sub panels as you would like your service size is not getting bigger. Your limited to the size wire feeding your main panel and wire from the power company.

Good to know. I had a 100 amp upgraded to 200 in my first house. Guess I didn’t catch that part of the process.