disigning a new shop

[Garrett Davis]

Currently I have been working nights and weekend out of my two stall garage, but that is soon to change. I just got an excepted offer on some property and am planning a new shop for in the spring. The problem I am having in figuring out the dimensions of the new building. I am leaning towards something around 40' x 60' with 14' side walls.

 

So what is everyone's opinion on how deep and wide should each bay be? Is there a standard that is used out there somewhere?

[xrac]

Currently I have been working nights and weekend out of my two stall garage, but that is soon to change. I just got an excepted offer on some property and am planning a new shop for in the spring. The problem I am having in figuring out the dimensions of the new building. I am leaning towards something around 40' x 60' with 14' side walls.

 

So what is everyone's opinion on how deep and wide should each bay be? Is there a standard that is used out there somewhere?

 

How many bays do you intend to have? Will you have overhead doors for indiividual bays or one main entrace and exit? My advice would be to go and visit as many shops as possible and pick up as many ideas as possible.

[Garrett Davis]

How many bays do you intend to have? Will you have overhead doors for indiividual bays or one main entrace and exit? My advice would be to go and visit as many shops as possible and pick up as many ideas as possible.

I am thinking 4 bays to start with individual doors. I am laying it out so it can be expanded latter.

 

I really am not sure what the main draw is to a single entrance since it requires a bigger building to get the same number of bays. The shop I currently work in for my full time job is double bay deep and I am really not sure I can understand the draw to that either. Please chime in if I am missing something.

[xrac]

I am thinking 4 bays to start with individual doors. I am laying it out so it can be expanded latter.

 

I really am not sure what the main draw is to a single entrance since it requires a bigger building to get the same number of bays. The shop I currently work in for my full time job is double bay deep and I am really not sure I can understand the draw to that either. Please chime in if I am missing something.

 

Our shop has one entrance and exit. We were forced to build in that fashion due to our commercial subdivsion rules. I didn't like it because I thought it was more expensive just like you do. However, there are some advantages.

 

1. First there is much less heat loss than with doors on every bay. Our utility bill is about the same year round. It doesn't costs me much more to heat our shop in the winter (gas) than it does to cool the office area in the summer.

2. The other thing is that overhead doors can be expensive to install and maintain. In the twelve years we have been open we have spent quite a bit on door maintenace and have even had to replace one door. I would hate to see the cost if I had six or eight doors.

3. We have a lot of room to bring cars in at the end of the day. We park almost every thing inside.

4. Our shop has seven bays but there times that we are working on another 2-3 other cars in our drive through area. It is wide enough to do that. I have even toyed with buying a roll around sissor lift to use in this area.

 

If I ever build another building I will have one way in and one way but it will be ten feet wider than I am now.

[Joe Marconi]

Great advise Frank. Let me add that when I built my new shop, I made the bays 25 feet by 15 feet with 20 ft ceiling and extended height lifts. The reason for the high ceiling was to insure that we had enough room for vans and SUV and light trucks and for a second floor loft, where we built a break room and training room, plus office space.

[xrac]

The second floor loft is also a great space for storage and inventory. We warehouse our tires on a second floor loft over the office, restrooms, and brake area. If I ever build another shop I will have a lift capable of handling slightly larger vehicles. Currently a 3500 dually is our limit.

[Dennis R.]

Currently I have been working nights and weekend out of my two stall garage, but that is soon to change. I just got an excepted offer on some property and am planning a new shop for in the spring. The problem I am having in figuring out the dimensions of the new building. I am leaning towards something around 40' x 60' with 14' side walls.

 

So what is everyone's opinion on how deep and wide should each bay be? Is there a standard that is used out there somewhere?

 

 

I agree on the 20 foot high ceiling it is very expensive to ever add it later, I have six bays with 6 doors , yes doors need maintenance but the convenience of being able to access any bay with a tow truck to move a vehicle in is well worth it. Also we can pull 6 cars in front of the bays for small work while you wait for parts or authorization on the bigger jobs inside. I would leave 3 feet or more between each bay door this makes it easier to move equipment around and tool trays and engine hoists around. We have our training and break room above the office since our current shop is 17 feet high which utilizes the space well. Putting in all of the doors upfront is a lot cheaper then retrofitting them later , Use at least 12' doors on some of the bays. I would build my new shop with at least 15' clearance from the front of a vehicle to the wall , Go out and measure some crew cab super duty's and box vans to get an idea of where to place your hoists so you have enough clearance at the rear of the vehicle when the door is closed. Currently our bays are split on 2 sides with the office in the middle which is sometimes good or bad, If you do this allow at least a 6 foot hallway between the two sides and 8 feet of height in the thru way then it is easier to put in a waste oil heater in the future and run ducting to each side. Looking forward to seeing what you can come up with. Industry experts say it now takes 6 bays to turn enough work to afford the diagnostic tools needed to keep up with the current vehicles. Having at least 6 bays allows you to leave a vehicle on a rack while waiting for parts rather then pushing them in and out. We utilize all 6 of our bays and the outside of them everyday with only 3 technicians.

[xrac]

Be sure to install an exhaust system to allow you to be able to run vehicles indoors during cold months. Tow trunks can pull right into our shop and off load a vehicles and we push them in the bay. Our bays are set at and angle.