What did you scrimp on for your shop and later wished you wouldnt have?

[CG]

I need a few things. Already have a couple of small welders, wish I would have got a decent one to begin with.

What have you purchased for your shop and wished you would have bought nicer from the beginning. Or on the other hand what did you buy for your shop that ended up overkill? (if there is such a thing haha.)

[abig84]

thats pretty much the story of my life, i always seem to buy the cheapest crap possible then wonder why all my stuff sucks. i definitely need to get a bigger air compressor im using like a 8 gallon from the 60s someone gave me. works ok but after zapping on of off a tire or two you have to wait a few minutes for it to catch up.

wish i ran thicker wire to the garage too. eventually ill do that too

[CG]

Since my little shop was built there is so much stuff I have done to it, or never quite finished, that is just wrong ... Gotta love hindsite =)

[In The Ten Ring]

I wish I had never moved here. I have a small lot on a hillside, garage needs to be utterly gutted, house is pretty old, needs a lot of work. So much traffic on this street, lots of problems with burglary attempts.

Once I get the truck running again and mobile, I can start renovating the garage. I'll post before and after pics if I get it done.

[100%Chevy]

I built my shop 500' from the house.
Long ways to go to get to a bathroom!Sometimes,it's a close race!
So,I need to move it or add a bath.
Mike.

[FleetsidePaul]

I bought a cheap work bench. It's a wobbly POS. And I use it all the time. I keep saying I'm going to replace it, but I never do.

On the other hand I have a really nice welder that I never use. I just dust it off.

I probably should have done it the other way around and got a good bench and a cheap welder.

[Coley]

...most guys end up scrimping on...the building itself, I know I did...lol.

Coley

[special-K]

Nothing. I wait till I can get good stuff and am willing to do without till that happens. Also holding off (forever) till I get a proper shop together before buying certain tools/equipt. So, I have some tools that are ancient I've used forever and figure always will and I have tools so new they haven't been made yet. I buy a lot of used tools that are superior to new tools also. Tools that already outlasted someone else rather than brand new temporary junk.

[pritch]

I wish I woulda had the money for in-floor radiant heat. And bigger, of course, although at 1100 sq ft, it's bigger than my first house

[LockDoc]

-
I'm with CG. My wire welder is too small. It's a nice Lincoln wire welder but it just isn't big enough for what I try to do. I don't sweat it too much, I just drag out the 225 Lincoln stick welder and weld whatever I want.....

LockDoc

[special-K]

Those little buzz boxes were the greatest thing since sliced bread forever...till the migs & tigs became more commonly available. Those can make a good welder out of you, but a good welder can do great things with those little Lincolns... on heavier stuff. That's all I have.

A heated floor is heaven. That's one thing I don't want to scrimp on, because once I retire I plan on being in the shop more than my house. I'll scrimp on my house to have that! My sister and brother-in-law moved to land they had in Maine. He put up a pole building (with 48" frost walls) and built a 2 story place to live at one end. The whole place is heated by a wood furnace outside. He can wake up, fix a coffee, and walk out into a warm shop... and the slab is plenty warm! If that ain't heaven...

[Grumpy old man]

It's funny how things work out ,When we were younger we had twice the house with half the garage. Now we are wanting half the house and three times the garage !

[72freak]

I bet everyone here can say the size of the building......if it was only bigger!

I always tell folks figure your size you need and double it.

[special-K]

I always dreamed of buying an old gas station on an old road and live in the office or a car shop and just close off a corner for living space. But I got married and raised a family.

If I can get into another place with enough ground, I'll build a machine shed for stashing projects, a shop building, and a parking building. I need a wood shop, too, and would maybe build a shed roof off one of the other buildings. I want a compound.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'm looking into a new "shop" for next spring, but limited on size because of my lot orientation. I can do a 28x30-ish. However, I plan to build a rear "straight through" door and have a 24' enclosed carport butted up at the back.

After having 4 vehicles repaired due to hail (a couple of them twice) and with a pretty hefty price tag, my wife if fully on board. Just have to figure out how much I want to spend and how long I want to pay it back.

Metal building would be the quickest and cheapest, but our home, even though it's only 20 years old, has very limited storage space... a stick build with rafter storage (or maybe game room???) would be kick ass. The concrete is the killer. It's gotten so expensive and due to a hill I'll probably need a 2-3' knee wall on one side.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

I'm looking into a new "shop" for next spring, but limited on size because of my lot orientation. I can do a 28x30-ish. However, I plan to build a rear "straight through" door and have a 24' enclosed carport butted up at the back.

After having 4 vehicles repaired due to hail (a couple of them twice) and with a pretty hefty price tag, my wife if fully on board. Just have to figure out how much I want to spend and how long I want to pay it back.

Metal building would be the quickest and cheapest, but our home, even though it's only 20 years old, has very limited storage space... a stick build with rafter storage (or maybe game room???) would be kick ass. The concrete is the killer. It's gotten so expensive and due to a hill I'll probably need a 2-3' knee wall on one side.

You might check into this:

http://members.zumatel.net/leon429/woodfdn.html

I haven't priced any foundation grade wood for quite a few years but my house and garage are 17 years old with no problems. The nice thing is you can do it yourself and save on the labor....

LockDoc

[special-K]

A pole building that size can have an attic.

[davischevy]

For the first time in years, I don't have a shop at home. My wife traded for the house we live in with the intention of selling and building on the property next door. We would take a hit if we sold the house in this real estate market so we have pretty much decided to sit tight, at least for a while.

My wife asked me today when I was going to start my shop.

The corner of our property out back has a corner that slopes toward the south, so I think I will build underground, sort of. I will pour concrete walls with truss roof. With foam insulation overhead it should be easy to heat and cool.

Now to answer the original question.

Welders and torches could not be put off. They came first.

What I put off was a Glass bead cabinet. I put it off for years because my friend had a cabinet I could use. I would gather up a pile of parts and go to his place. PIA. Now I can't imagine life without a blaster. I now have a hellacious sandblaster too.

A lift would be close second. I now have a two post and four post, and like the cabinet they make life a lot easier for an old fart.

[franken]

I just have a suburban 2 car garage but on my 4th compressor. Now at serious quality for a home setup. Once you have air, all you want is more. Its a pretty big deal but what real shop has no air?
Maybe the cordless thing went by since I think the batteries fail too soon.

[pritch]

Originally Posted by davischevy

The corner of our property out back has a corner that slopes toward the south, so I think I will build underground, sort of. I will pour concrete walls with truss roof. With foam insulation overhead it should be easy to heat and cool.

We built a nice, big shop for this rich dude over to Park City-underground like that. He had the money to just have us remove the hillside, build the garage, then put the hillside back. He had an on-going battle with the city over him having a helo-port on the roof, so we did a pan deck, like a parking structure. In the end, the city refused to let him land his helicopters in town, so that's when he decided to bury the whole thing. Only thing you can see from the road now are the overhead doors. Fun job. As soon as we started digging we ran into a vein of those quartz crystals. You could pick up a bucketful in 5 minutes. I still have a few of the really nice ones around here somewhere. I haven't thought about that job in a while, thanks for the reminder!

[In The Ten Ring]

Originally Posted by pritch

We built a nice, big shop for this rich dude over to Park City-underground like that. He had the money to just have us remove the hillside, build the garage, then put the hillside back. He had an on-going battle with the city over him having a helo-port on the roof, so we did a pan deck, like a parking structure. In the end, the city refused to let him land his helicopters in town, so that's when he decided to bury the whole thing. Only thing you can see from the road now are the overhead doors. Fun job. As soon as we started digging we ran into a vein of those quartz crystals. You could pick up a bucketful in 5 minutes. I still have a few of the really nice ones around here somewhere. I haven't thought about that job in a while, thanks for the reminder!

So he "had the money" but clearly didn't realize living in a city might limit what he could do with his own property.

I'll bet if he had built outside city limits, he could have had two heli-pads on his garage roof. (I'd like to have one on my dream garage roof also).

[FleetsidePaul]

I just added on to my shop. Now I have twice the space. If I could only get rid of that smell.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

I just added on to my shop. Now I have twice the space. If I could only get rid of that smell.

I bet you don't do much wrenchin' in the lower level....

LockDoc

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by In The Ten Ring

So he "had the money" but clearly didn't realize living in a city might limit what he could do with his own property.

I'll bet if he had built outside city limits, he could have had two heli-pads on his garage roof. (I'd like to have one on my dream garage roof also).

My back yard fence is the city limits. The land I will put my shop on is not in the city limits. I will bet I still have trouble with the city.

[davischevy]

Originally Posted by FleetsidePaul

I just added on to my shop. Now I have twice the space. If I could only get rid of that smell.

Paul, just set them over a manhole, do some remodeling inside and you will have room for a lift. Also will help with the smell if you keep the manhole cover.