My new shop away from home

[erikmannie]

For a couple of months a year, can you live in a corner if the bathroom has a shower? Also, if there’s water, can you drain it down enough that you don’t have to heat it in the winter? 10 months gone is a long time, hope the neighbors can watch for you. I’m away from my shop a week or so at a time and it still bugs me I can’t keep an eye on things. And I’m only a half hour away - but great neighbors.

There are neighbors all around (except in back). I will also have an alarm.

I am so desperate for a workspace that I am not even making provisions for sleeping. I could just sleep in the minivan inside the garage.

Even if I did have an extra room in the shop, I would make it a grinding room. I was much happier at my home shop after I moved the grinding outside the shop.

 

[erikmannie]

Another thought that might be helpful.

When you talk with people don't tell them you only bought the place so you can be there for 2 months in the summer. Tell them you, and your wife, and maybe your youngest daughter and her baby, are thinking of moving there when you retire.

We're dealing with our village in Michigan putting a moratorium on weekly rentals because someone wants more "full time residents". I'll bet things will go a lot smoother if folks think they're about to get a retired UPS driver as a neighbor.

John

I will have money later to build a house on it.

We have way too many kids and grandkids here to ever move 2500 miles away. I will tell them that I am building a retirement house, however, and that should suffice.

 

[erikmannie]

The real estate agent gave me a reference to a trusted contractor, but I would be inclined to start with the planning department & see if they will give me some names of architects that they have worked with.

My idea would be be have a local architect design a two car garage with a bathroom in it. Since I do need a shower, I will have the architect include a bedroom (and thus abandon the “garage only” claim), but I would still use that room for a grinding room because I have had my fill of dust in my shop.

 

[erikmannie]

I am hoping to pay as I go, so I can try to pay the architect out of pocket. At some point, I would know how much I need to save up before breaking ground.

I’m trying to keep the whole building expense under $20,000. We’ll see how that goes. The shop part will be 24’ X 24’. The bathroom and grinding room would be as small as possible.

 

[erikmannie]

I noticed on craigslist that you can buy really large lathes (e.g. 16” swing and a long bed) for pretty cheap. I imagine that’s because people usually want more manageable lathes. I would not be able to afford a new lathe for this application, so it will be a large, used one.

 

[erikmannie]

Someone told me about electric toilets, but I decided to go with a plumbed commode.

 

[erikmannie]

I have made a lot of progress with this project. Escrow closed, so the bare lot is in hand.

The city & county require a primary structure to be built before any secondary structure, so the idea of building a detached garage with no home there is out the window.

Furthermore, the city and county require the primary structure to be at least 51% living area (i.e. max 49% garage). I made this floor plan which gets me a one car garage (my shop!) and just about the smallest living area that you have ever seen.

I will have to work a whopping 1400 overtime hours to pay for it.

 

[erikmannie]

The city & county has no minimum square footage, but they require the living area to include a full bathroom, full kitchen, and a bedroom with a closet.

 

[Superburban]

So make it a 3 bedroom house with an attached garage, on a cement slab. One bedroom for the grinders, one for painting, and one for living. And the garage for the big machines. Then when you are done with the school, carpet and paint the bedrooms, and it will be easier to sell.

Or keep the design flexible, with the plan to add a few rooms down the road. Which would help spread the costs over some time.

 

[erikmannie]

So make it a 3 bedroom house with an attached garage, on a cement slab. One bedroom for the grinders, one for painting, and one for living. And the garage for the big machines. Then when you are done with the school, carpet and paint the bedrooms, and it will be easier to sell.

Or keep the design flexible, with the plan to add a few rooms down the road. Which would help spread the costs over some time.

The tiny house in the plan is the largest that I can afford. It will be near impossible for me to pay for even the 600 sq ft structure.

The problem of finding a place to stay for two months a year that enables me to have a workshop has been almost impossible to solve.

I took a 2 week class and stayed at an Airbnb with only books and a laptop, and it was unbearable. Those of us who need to work with our hands should always appreciate our workshops & machine tools.