Turing a garage into a workshop.

[Jaxom]

I wish I had some photos and exact diamentions for what I'm going to describe. If we weren't in the middle of a blizzard I'd be out there taking notes before writing this.

I have a 2.5 car garage. The main overhead door faces east to adjacent alley. The north side is flat, a good place for me to put up industrial pegboard and hang yard tools and even my dozen or so fishing poles. The west side has a window and a 1 car overhead facing the yard. And the south wall has the pedestrian door and a space that's approximatly 4' wide and 11' long.

This last area is where I need to squeeze in my welding table, compressor, tools (both mechanical and household/wood working) As well as a place for oil, gas for lawnmower/snow blower and all that stuff.

The 500lb gorilla in the garage is all my camping gear. Between tents, propane tanks, stoves, portable kitchen, cooking gear, ect. It takes up a large portion of that "workshop" area I'm planning.

I do have an idea though. And that's to put some plywood down on the five or so 2"x6"'s that span the garage from north to south. There was 7 of these when the garage was intially built, but two had to be removed to install a main door opener. The remaining five joists are spaced 3' apart. I'm not engineer, or contractor, but I don't think those joists are spaced close enough to support even a 1/2" thick plywood floor AND my camping gear.

Question is this. Should I hold out and save to have a contractor put in more joists and plywood for me? OR, can I buy some smaller 2x6's and cut them down and install them cross ways...say 16" on center? I'd use hangers and construction glue to lay down the plywood witdth.

I'm concerned about two things. Would this pass a building inspection? And even if it did, would it support the weight I wanna put up there?

While I'm thinking about it. I've got 4 4' long double tube florecent fixtures. Is there a general rule how far these are spaced apart, given I'm going to use the brightest bulbs I can find! I'ld like to get these up asap, one bulb and some drop lights don't cut when building things.

Thanks

Jax

[whateg0]

I'm no building inspector so maybe my opinion isn't worth much, but 500# spread out over that area isn't much, really. Is there enough room above th joists to run some 2x6's on top? That way they will help distribute the load over all the joists they rest upon.

As far as light goes, I've never been in a shop where I thought to myself, "Self, there is just too much light in here!" So, you can put the lights as close to each other as you want, but if you're only going to put up a few fixtures, I'd spread them out over the area you really want lit up.

BTW, I've got 4 4' fixtures in my 2.5-3 car garage and it's just barely enough. I also have a 500W halogen that I use often to add light to the area I'm working in.

Dave

[Jaxom]

Yeah, I'm probably best off going to the city, we've got a town hall that believes you need a building permit and inspection everytime you change a light bulb. I can almost guarente that no matter how I do it, it'll be wrong.

About those lights, I'm thinking I concentrate what I have now where I'm working the most, which is on my truck right now. Not all that hard to buy more and add them later. And they are rather cheap!

Jax

[1320fastback]

I am not a building inspector either but I do work for a huge framing company and can tell you that for a roof aplication 24" is the max you would want to span with 1/2" ply. I do think that what you have currently would support your camping gear but I would NOT walk on it. You could "ladder block" it to help spread the load out but you will still end up with the same amount of bearing points unless you add more joists.

[Goodhand]

Hey, Jax,

Perhaps, you could consider using 3/4" plywood, instead of the 1/2". For the size of the area you need to cover, seems like it would suffice. And, if you are still worried about the 2x6's being weak, just side them with plywood to increase the load capability. I beefed up a couple of my garage joists this way, and have hoisted car and boat engines on them. Just to be safe, I always shore the joists with a couple of vertical 2x4 supports, and still have a roof over the garage.

As far as lighting fixtures... I'd suggest starting by installing one where you want it, then attach an extension cord to another and move it to where you think is a good place for best light advantage. Just do this with additional light fixtures, until you have it worked out. Being cheap, and wanting get the best bang for my bucks, I always, hate to just guess where to put them without some experimentation along the way.
Regards.

[k.a.m]

I would place more rafters depending on the span. The weight of the plywood and the gear together might be more than the span can hold with the amount of rafters you have, then consider the probability of more stuff going up there after time. you might end up with a sagging ceiling. there are formulas for large rooms supporting Sheetrock ceilings. If you have to go to the town hall for a permit and they know you are going to use it for storage they will probably send out the inspector. the inspector should know the spacing for the span you have. Good luck with your project.:)

[hankj]

I'm in shock. Someone removed two rafters from top plate to top plate? Insane. I wouldn't do anything to increase the load on that system, and I'd figure out a way to replace those missing rafters before thw walls pooch outward and the roof is sitting on the floor.

Hank

[Gaze]

If your bldg. dept. works like most, they'll want your new design calculated and stamped by an engineer or architect, along with drawings. And it will be inspected and the electrical work may be questioned, and then there's the whole process for that. Sometimes they'll have prescribed span tables you can follow and avoid the cost of calcs/stamp, but still need drawings, permit fees, inspection, blah blah... Of course you can just inquire casually with them to scope it out first, hypothetically without obligation, to see what's involved.

Uhhh...then there's the other way of just doing it and trying to make it look as safe and conventional as you can to avoid attention...don't tell all your friends, visitors, neighbors...on the DL :cool:

Plywood is typically grade stamped with max. span info. like 24/16...the left # is max. span on a roof and right number is if used for a floor. In your case, best to use the number on the right due to the loads.

Do you have room to double-up on your ceiling joists? Post a dimensioned sketch along with the anticipated loads and the different solutions can be suggested. g/l

[lcats]

HankJ, you win the pot. 4, sevens.

[MAC702]

While you're at it, throw the air compressor up in the rafters, too. Just pipe the drainage down to a valve that you can reach.

[84ZMike]

This is my take on it:
Buy a 10x10 metal shed put it up fill it will camping gear lawn mowers etc....one reason...gas lp tanks and other flammables you have listed don't go too well with welding and grinding sparks....another is once you get the stuff up in the rafters wifey will have plenty to add to it....
Mike