Need advice....

[BonzoHansen]

When our shop switched from f/a heaters to IR I thought it was much nicer. no fans blowing dust around. gets the slab warmed up a bit better, which makes the whole place feel warmer. If I were in the market I'd look there first. I don't have experience with any current home type units, but along the lines of this one. Just trying to highlight the style, i just picked it out of the google search.

[vintageracer]

Just stay in Elvisland where it's NOT WINTER 10 months a year!

Garage heating/insulating problem solved!

[andrewb70]

Just stay in Elvisland where it's NOT WINTER 10 months a year!

Garage heating/insulating problem solved!

That would have been ideal, but life didn't turn out that way. You know what they say "Man plans, God laughs..." LOL

I am rolling with the punches...

Andrew

[silvermonte]

I used the epoxy coating from Menards in my garage, same stuff you can get at Lowes. I cleaned the crap out of the floor with muratic acid, and then scrubbed and scrubbed with clean water. I then did two coats of clear on top of the paint with the silicone sand in it. Holds up really well, except to welding and dragging heavy things across it that would gouge it. Ive yet to find any chemical or car fluid that has stained it or hurt the floor in any way. I went with a white floor to make the garage brighter and I love how easy it is to clean, I put some simple green in about 2 gallons of water and wipe the place up and it will be clean enough you can walk on it with your bare feet and they will stay clean.

I have a shop that is 28x36 and it only has a gravel floor at the moment. What Im going to do in there when I get cement, is do half the floor in epoxy and then leave the rest without epoxy, maybe just some normal paint that way when it starts looking like crap I can just repaint. Ill use that area for the heavy fab work and when thats done ill just move my cars to the epoxy area for final assembly. I just like that I can get down on the floor and slide around and then get back up and know I will still be perfectly clean. If your car has a leak or you spill something on the floor while working on it a little carb cleaner and a rag and it wipes right up.

[g-machine]

Moisture is a big deal when coating the garage floor. Depending on the water table where you are moving, you might want to leave the concrete bare. I also keep a dehumidifier running in my heated garage year round. I have a hanging shop heater that works great.

George

[JAWSS]

Gorgeous weather there in August!! After that it's hoodie,hat and coat weather. I worked for "truck" back in 2010 and saw plenty of cool rides up there. If there was a way to heat the floor, I would make that a priority. Cold concrete drains the crap out of you. Everything else mentioned, I agree with. Insulation and insulating that door should work well with the heater. Good luck on your future endeavors!!

J

[Damn True]

Radiant heat under the slab would be ideal, but I doubt you can cut it and install it deep enough in an existing slab. They can do it for slab foundation houses, but those don't have 3500lb Pontiacs on them. Outside of that, radiant I think would be your best bet. They are worlds better than forced air in a big workspace.

[Peter Mc Mahon]

My last shop had a radiant tube heater, greatest thing since sliced bread, BUT>>>>> I am only an ocassional garage user. I wouldn't leave the heat on all the time so it takes a while to heat up for shop use. My new shop [starting on it in the next couple weeks, foundation is already in! 24x41] will get forced air. I think it is much better if you are not going to heat all the time. Something to think about.

[carguykeith]

That's almost the exact size of the shop I built back in Alaska, as long as you insulate it well and minimize infiltration you really dont need much of a heater. I had inslab heat but had a backup normal old 30k btu garage heater that keept the shop 50 degrees even with a week of -20 temps before I had the inslab fired off.

You can never have enough light, like I said my shop was the same size and I had a total of (48) 4' T8 bulbs. Sounds excesive but I could work underneath my car without drop light 90% of the time and everythign is easier when you have good lighting. Ever see a dark operating room?

Yes electrical outlets everywhere (and a couple of drop cords on the ceiling), oh and at least (2) 220v outlets so when you get a plasma cutter you can run it and the air compressor at the same time. Side note, there are like 15 different 220v plugs just wire everything with the 50A plug regardless so you don't have to worry about swapping plugs/ outlets later.

Don't do anything to the floor. Welding/ grinding, dumping every possible fluid/ heavy tool and part on it will destroy ANY coating.

Industrial shelving and big rubbermade totes work great, just label each tote and you have quick easy access to everything and its covered so everything inside the totes isn't covered in dirt and dust. You will be amazed at just how much dust you generate once the welder and grinder get fired off...

Oh yeah and somebody already said it but Garagejournal is an amazing resourse, every question you can think of has already been asked and there will be great examples to follow.