How would you use a 3 car garage for a shop?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Hi All, Would you leave it all open or section it off? I want to use one bay for a car and the other two for a shop. I need to heat and cool the shop part so that's why I'm thinking of building a wall to enclose the shop. That way I can put an A/C unit in to cool it. Any other ideas on this? Would you just leave it all open to keep acess to all three bays? Thanks. Alan

[Mike Wilkins]

I would not leave open the 3rd bay for dust control reasons. Your wife will appreciate not having a dusty car to get into and it will go a long way toward maintaining domestic harmony.
As for what to section it off with; you can either build a solid wall with conventional framing, or just space some 2 X 4 studs 4 ft on center and staple some heavy plastic from floor to ceiling. You could use some kind of temporary door like the zip wall system; or even frame for a real door.
This could easily be removed for resale reasons if you are ever inclined to sell the place in the future.
2 car shop/garage sounds like some real fine shop space.
Good luck and watch those fingers.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I would partition the wall off as well. If you are partitioning it off for heat/ac reasons, make sure that you insulate it! There would be great losses through that wall if you did not. Also, by insulating it, you should further isolate the noise from the shop, from the household.

[Steven Wilson]

My shop is in a three car garage and cars are an afterthought. The door to the house is on the left and from left to right we have;

Bay 1) Large lathe, lathe tool storage, snow blower.bikes, and path to the door.
Bay 2) assembly area, garden tractor (summer), possibly a car if it looks like hail, portable ice fishing house (winter), stuff.
Bay 3) router table, Minimax CU350, bandsaw, drill press, bench, DC, air compressor, etc.

When needed, stuff can be moved and the car can be pulled in. Otherwise the car and truck stay outside. As for dust, I don't have any dust so dust doesn't get inside the house, or on the car, or anywhere else. The air in the shop is cleaner than inside the house. As for heating and cooling. With one double and one single garage door it doesn't matter how well insulated the shop is, it still gets hot and cold. So, for the winter I use a kerosene torpedo heater (80000btu) when I'm in the shop, and in the summer I run a real large fan from the Borg.

[Chris Padilla]

Fill it.

;)

[Michael Ballent]

Fill it.

;)
I have to agree, you have the space, so why waste it with a car :D, if everything is mobile then you can move the car in if you really want to. Putting the wall in will keep you from have easy access to that part of the garage so you would loose square footage. My shop is full of tools in a 2 car garage and my main requirement for my next house will be a 3 car garage, since basements in the Phoenix area are rare and expensive.

[JayStPeter]

I would wall it off. I feel like my shop needs to be contained or I'll trash the entire house :eek: You may also want to think about ways to "expand" your shop into the other half. For example: Dust Collector, Air Compressor, and Lumber storage may be able to fit around the car :)

Jay

[Glen Blanchard]

Let's see......Hmmmm......I also have a 3 car garage (albeit in an "L" configuration with the single garage 90 degrees to the 2 car) and my shop is in the smaller space leaving room for 2 cars.

What's wrong with this picture? I apparently have much to learn.

[Silas Smith]

You have to get the idea that a garage is for cars out of your head. After one year in the shop you will be kicking yourself if you wall it off. Better off to invest the wall money into your ducting for DC and then if you ever need to park the car in the shop, you will keep it clean. As for heating and cooling, you just need a little bigger AC/heater for one more bay. Three car garage....my dream come true.

[Michael Sloan]

I have a 2 1/2 car garage, with one bay mostly walled off. My shop takes 1 and a half bays. My wife's car is supposed to go in the walled off bay, but we haven't cleared it out enough yet to get a car in.

I (partially) walled off my shop space for the following reasons:

1) More wall space for storage
2) Dust control
3) Noise Control
4) Sprawl control

Items 2,3, and 4 are related more to my desire to have a good relationship with my wife, than on my own personal requirements.

I considered just using a plastic dust barrier but decided that #1 made a real wall worthwhile. Currently, the wall is half "real", and half plastic dust barrier. Eventually, the entire wall will be "real".

Mike

[Frank Pellow]

I would build an insulated wall between the shop and the single car garage. I would also the other 3 walls of the new shop. There would probably a door at one end of the wall to allow easy access back and forth.

[Bill Lewis]

I started back in to woodworking because of the tools I was buying to do home improvements. After I built the shed, the garage, and the addition to the house, and all the other bathroom and kitchen remodeling, there was no room in the garage for cars with the tools I had collected. Well that's partly true, I had space for an old Corvair Van, and I could wheel everything around to get room in one bay for another car. I even designed the garage with an added work space, but it wasn't enough. This prompted the move to building a new house and moving. Seriously, this was in the top 10 list for reasons to move. I even offered to add on to the garage to have a dedicated space, but my wife had had it with remodeling. She wanted to start over.

Well the new house has a 24' X 34' three car garage, and I am able to get our truck, my car (X-over SUV), the tractor, and even the old van in to it. I've even got some room to spare for a work bench, welding gear, lawn mowers, garden tools, car supplies etc... without feeling too cramped. I do like it this way, though we do have plans on building a second garage, or at least a shed to tide us over.

The new shop is now in the basement. See my recent post with pictures. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=17390) I do prefer this set up though my wife may not when I soon start firing up the planer. I warned her about the noise, but she was rightfully insistant about it not being in the garage.

Having a dedicated space is certainly alot nicer to deal with. Likewise, having two garage bays that is "dedicated" space is a pretty close second. I don't think I would wall it off. I don't think you'd be gaining much advantage w.r.t. heating and cooling. Having it well insulated is much more important. I think you should be able to control sprawl in that much space, but if you really need the extra room, you'll have it, on a temporary basis for sure.

Yeah right, who am I kidding, start looking for another house:D

[RichMagnone]

I have a 3 car "L shaped" garage too. Haven't had a car in it for 2 years. The neighbors think I'm nuts.

[Jerry Olexa]

I have 3 car garage and maybe I'm weird, but no partion and 1 bay is used for 2 tools only : The TS and planer. The 2 cars are in the other 2 bays, When I'm doing serious cutting/planing the cars are backed out and in good weather, the fresh air is let in. The real shop (now being expanded) is in the basement, But I like the garage for access and cutting sheet goods and ripping longer pieces etc. All other tools, work are done in the basement shop. I have better control of heat/AC in the basement in this harsh Chicago climate.So far, this works for me.. One man's opinion?!

[Roy Wall]

I have 3 car garage and maybe I'm weird, but no partion and 1 bay is used for 2 tools only : The TS and planer. The 2 cars are in the other 2 bays, When I'm doing serious cutting/planing the cars are backed out and in good weather, the fresh air is let in. The real shop (now being expanded) is in the basement, But I like the garage for access and cutting sheet goods and ripping longer pieces etc. All other tools, work are done in the basement shop. I have better control of heat/AC in the basement in this harsh Chicago climate.So far, this works for me.. One man's opinion?!
In a similar setup to Jerry, I've got a 14" Jet Bandsaw and Drill press along one wall....then open for wife's Sequoia (it kinda takes up 1 1/2 spots...) then and old table saw between the 2 car and one car side.......then my car in the single spot. I too, make all the major cuts in the garage - let the fresh air in - and then take everything down to my little neander shop.....

[Alan Tolchinsky]

would be to find a large basement shop but in North Carolina (Raleigh) basements are fairly rare. You can find them but they add a lot to the cost of a house. Generally I'm finding adding a 3rd car garage isn't too bad but as I said I like a basement shop probably because I have one. I really enjoy a pretty constant temperature year round with no or little heating/AC. I guess I'm spoiled. :) Looks like I'm headed to the garage. Help! Thanks again. Alan in Md.

[Jim Becker]

My shop is in the space of a nearly 3-car sized space but Dr. SWMBO has completely ruled out any chance of me getting that fourth bay for anything that has to do with woodworking, other than the chainsaws and the tractor. Her gardening gear gets priority in that remaining bay!

As to the original question, if the car needs to go in the one bay, no question...partition it off, both for dust/heat/cooling control and for more wall/storage space in the shop.

[Joe Scarfo]

I have a 3 car garage and no cars can fit in.. Fortunately we have a huge oak shade tree out front and the cars are in the shade starting about 11 am...

I would not partition off the 3rd space. It takes away flexibility in the use of the space. With your tools on wheels, you can move everything around to squeeze in the car...

My .02 anyway...

Good luck w/ your choices.

NOTE: After 7 years, everyone refers to that space as "the shop". Even the kids...

Joe in Tampa...

[Matt Meiser]

Two other reasons to section it off: first, to keep the dirt and moisture out, second, opening the door in the winter and then pulling in a very cold car will seriously cool off your shop.