[madhatterpdc]

Here is a question for the masses. I have been doing work on my GT at my dad's shop on weekends. It works out pretty well because he has everything I could ever need there in terms of tools. Only problem is I have to have the car out of the shop by 8am monday morning so that he can run his business (funny how that works).

Where I am living is temporary, so I don't want to invest in building a garage to restore the GT in, and then have to leave that investment behind (the garage, not the GT). I do have plenty of land to work with. So I was thinking about a tube frame "Instant Garage" from some place like Cover-It (http://www.cover-it-inc.com/). These seem pretty cheap, and would give me the year or two to get dirty with the car that I would need. I could run power out to it and get a space heater to get me through most of the winter.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of garage? Are they even worth it?

 

[Gary]

I have a 10 X 20 Cover-It garage in my back yard. It's 6 or 7 years old and the only problem I had was a hole in the fabric because I had it too tight. (Used their patch kit to fix) If anchored properly, it's stable in high winds and stands up to snow loads. Be careful of the ones sold in the discount stores, they are not rated for snow.

 

[Old Hippie]

I think my concern with those would be security. I guess if you lived in the "country", it would be a good deal. How does the price compare to a Quansit-style hut?

 

[Gary]

I paid a little over $500.00 for the 10ft X 20ft house style one.

 

[jordan]

we have a 40'x 80' 19' roof quanset as out shop with 3200 square feet of radient heated concrete its great it was about 15k but they also make small ones for as little as $900 they are great buildings. ours has 10,500 bolts it took about a week and 15 people to construct, of coarse we did it on the windiest day of the year and the coldest week in 10 years (-15 with the windchill) its tough to work with gloves and barehands stick to the metal (not cool) but its up and is by far the cheapest building for the volume.

 

[madhatterpdc]

Jordan, Do you have information on the company that you got the Quanset from.

Gary, Good to know that the Cover-It styles can handle a New England winter!

 

[GT-Freak]

Why not rent a garage? It's cheaper than building for the short run. Plus, you can use your time to work on the Opel and not the garage.

I'd go cheap and easy for temporary stuff. Otherwise it defeats the purpose and you might as well build something permanent the right way. I've been pricing garages (24'x48') for a friend. They can be bought for $9000 + foundation. That includes labor.

In most areas you'll need a permit for something car sized.

 

[Excelsior]

genereal steel has that type of thing.

As for cover-it with the new pricing of $299 and $114 shipping, it is a nice deal.

IF YOU HAVE SNOW, it is recommended to get the house style instead of the hangar style. The house style is sturdier AND you get the added side storage becuase the inside straight walls are higher.

The one for $299 might be a tight squeeze for working in though. Oh... MAKE SURE YOU ventilate it. No need to trp the moisture if you are closing it up for the winter.

 

[Gary]

....Oh... MAKE SURE YOU ventilate it. No need to trp the moisture if you are closing it up for the winter.

Don't buy their $30.00 ventilation "kit". All it is is 4 9" X 12" (Cost ~$2.50) screens. Cut a hole in the upper ends of the fabric and sandwich 2 screens over the hole using pop rivets or sheet metal screws.

 

[jordan]

the name of the company is steel master usa http://www.steelmasterusa.com/smHome.asp

15k was just for the building there are no supports but it is an extremely ridged building capable of having a 2.5 ton snow load safely and 250 mph winds!

10k for excavating and footer

4k for the foundation

6k concrete 8-12in. thick fiberglass reinforced concrete (3200ft2)

3k for radient heated floor (tubing, valves, pumps, safetys, and fittings) -the water heater

2k blanket insulation insulation (very unnesacary I explained it to my dad the radient floor guy explained it but he didnt listen, now it is ugly on the inside because of the insulation)

then about 2k electrical conduit, doors, air lines, fuse boxes, and skylights.

so thats 45k for an empty building, but its also a gigantic building a 20x20 could probily be built for under 10k including concrete floor.

 

[houserc]

I've gone the rental route myself. I just gave up a 20' x 20' garage with electrical for $250 a month.

So your looking at under $2000 a year.

Besides, it was only temporary for me and I was also using it for storage of all the other "neccesary" household items that I never know when I might need.

Now I have a 12' x 30' unit for about $150 a month. Complete workshop is setup at the back. The only thing I need now is a fridge and TV for game days. Oh yeah! The other benefit of this one is it is right under a climate controlled unit, so I get that benefit without the payment.

 

[madhatterpdc]

GT-Freak, I could have rented space from my dad at his shop, but that's money that both he AND I would be "losing" (him because now he can't make money on that bay). I looked into the permit and stuff, and was figuring around $20,000 for a "real" garage.

Gary and Excelsior, I had thought about ventilation, but didn't consider it critical because I was going to be in and out fairly frequently. Good idea with the hardware store screens, for $10 and 20 minutes, it's worth it.

Jordan, $45k for 3200' (with radiant floor) is quite reasonable. Once I start putting $$$ towards buying a home instead of toys (paintball, computers and games, R/C cars, cycling, oh yeah and the Opel), I will certainly be considering a 1600' steel for what it would cost to build a 800' wood (I have ALOT of "dream" cars, most of them are skeletons in the yard now, but salvagable).

I am thinking about the 22x20 (440 ft2, $900) size from Cover-It which might be a little too much, but better more than not enough. I am going to check if they have something closer to 16x20.

I would like to pour a concrete pad and set it on top of that, but thats a bad idea for the scope of this. I noticed that Cover-it has flooring available for 0.22$/ft2 (around $100), which is probably plastic, and that wouldn't work either. Is working on the dirt a terrible idea? Any work floor suggestions that I am overlooking?

 

[bear]

If you're going to be pulling engines or trannies, dirt won't get it. Maybe some sheets of 1/2 inch plywood. Also it may add some insulation to the floor and if it doesn't rain too much there and the drainage is adequate, you won't get wet working on your back under the car. Just my $.02

Ron

 

[saxybiker]

We have a 20' x 22' "house-style" Cover-It that we put up last winter. It works great. The snow slides right off, but you do have to keep it clear from the sides. We put a cheap plastic tarp on the floor as a moisture barrier and it is very dry in there. In a pinch we figure we can get 4 GT's inside. We got the Cover-It with both a front and rear door, and then we set it up in front of our 2 car detached garage. That way we can move cars in and out of the heated garage as we need to work on them.

It works really well and keeps all the Opels inside.

Vickie

 

[Old Hippie]

I may be out of touch, but last I looked, a garage kit from a building store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc..) was around $2500 for a 20x40. Adding a concrete base at $80 a yd. (Ks price) would make it about $3000. I, personally, would go that route, because of security and the heating/cooling aspect. Well, also, we can get some nasty hail storms here in the midwest.