# Why is your car in my wood shop?



## LocalMac (Jan 28, 2009)

My wife has this crazy idea that a garage is used for parking vehicles. When we first bought our house the first thing I thought was "Wow look at the size of the wood shop attached to the house". I guess we weren't on the same page. So now that I've been downgraded to only half the garage I have to be creative with saving space. So I was wondering if any of you have some good ideas you use or maybe some pictures to share of some creative space savers.


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## Maggiepic (Aug 26, 2010)

Put a panel saw right in the spot where a vehicle would normally park. That's when my garage became permanently known as *shop*. My problem, it's my truck that now sits out in the cold.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Own the home before you get married in the first place. It's a LOT harder for her to boot you out of a space that was already yours to begin with…

Okay seriously though, you might want to consider building a dedicated outbuilding for a shop… Best way to keep the cars and the power tools from having conflicts…


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## smw6442 (Oct 6, 2010)

here is what i would do…i would put a sander next to her car and start sanding something and get dust all over her car..that will keep her out of the shop…steve


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## rustfever (May 3, 2009)

I wouldn't go there. The cost is back-breaking.


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

There's these kids who keep wanting to put their bikes and hockey nets and sports equipment etc. in my garage.
Sometimes they even want to use my tools!!!
I hope their owners come and take them away soon 
oh ok, not really


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## Dcase (Jul 7, 2010)

Since when do the women get the garage too? I ran into this when I set up my first shop in my two stall garage. Before I had the shop set up my wife would park her car in there during the winter months. With my lawn tractor and other things there was only room for her car. I had no problem with this. Well when I started setting up my shop she asked me if she would still be able to park her car in there for the winter and I said NO. Its not just the space, its the slush and water that the car brings in after driving in the snow. Also the snow would have a lot of salt from the roads. This will melt and make its way over to my tools, work bench and make a mess of everything. My wife can do what she wants with any room in our house and I have no problem with it but the garage is my place. What is she going to do? Leave me because she cant park in the garage? If that was the case then I have the WHOLE house to myself!


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## Sawkerf (Dec 31, 2009)

In 1986, we bought an Eddie Bauer Ford Bronco for SWMBO that wouldn't fit under the tip-up style garage door we had at the time. I sorta "forgot" how to adjust the opener to give the necessary 2" of clearance, and the garage became mine. There hasn't been a car in my shop for 24 years, now. - lol


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## Bovine (Apr 15, 2009)

I'm in the same boat as you LocalMac. The two things that probably save me the most space are:

1. I put my bench and tablesaw back-to-back (I have a cabinet saw) so that the bench doubles as an outfeed table.

2. Everything in my shop has drawers or shelves in it…from the bench to the router table. The tablesaw's extension table has tools underneath that too. Don't be afraid to build cabinets or shelves and hang them on the wall. Pegboard is your friend.


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## LocalMac (Jan 28, 2009)

I'm going to try and hold off as long as I can but I know as soon as the first snowflake falls I'm going to lose the battle. My only hope is the fact that she drives a company car and they pay for the gas so it can warm up all morning. And I work from home so I don't really drive my truck much.


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## TJ65 (Jan 19, 2010)

Hey what's this about "since when do women get the garage" - Dan!! ??? 
Anyway apart from that either build a carport then the car wont have a problem in winter (as much anyway) or slowly by more large "neccesity" tools! You just take it over bit by bit!! ;-)


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

I've never had a car in a garage in 38-1/2 years due to all the junk we have accumulated- toys, bikes, boxes of stuff, etc. However…..........the garage we have now is full of stuff but I can rearrange things to build a partition for a shop; no sawdust all over everything! Her pickup truck is too big to fit! Yes, I said "her." This is her second one! Real women drive a pickup!


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## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

If momma ain't happy…..nobody is happy


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

The first thing I tend to do is put wheels on one end of all my tools, and handles of some sort on the other
end. Starting from the front left is my rolling tool box next to my table saw, the Dewalt scroll saw, the rack
with the road and mountain bikes on it, the DeWalt planer, a small walk way then the Craftsman shaper and
Delta 6"jointer. Front dead center is a workbench then going down the right side is a old Delta 12" lathe, the
dust cyclone, compressor, large bandsaw then the shopsmith used for the small bandsaw and drilll press. The
compact pickup fits easily and my wife's Caravan fits rather snuggly on her side. One of these days I hope to
build a shop, but I am not holding my breath. Good luck on your shop. The dust collector, the monster in
the closet, is in a shed behind the garage.

As ever, the 71 yr young laborer, trying to become a carpenters apprentice.


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## Maveric777 (Dec 23, 2009)

We have removed the word garage from our household vocabulary list… it is now "The Shop"...lol

I am extremely lucky to have a bride who is my biggest fan and supporter. She was in no way thrilled about loosing the warm garage for her car, but totally understands why the room is needed. We are planning on selling the home in roughly 5 years or so and with this slight inconvenience for her it has insured me a "legit" shop upon our next home purchase…. "Double Score!!!!"

My word of advice is get her involved in what you do, why you need the space, and what you plan on doing in it. i found the better the communication the better the understanding. Just something I have grown to learn over the years.

Until then I did see a killer fully mobile shop on Fine Woodworking. If you have a subscription (they have temporary ones you can try the site out with) go check out the *videos*.. Then *workshop*... Then *shop tours*... Then look for *"Two Cars & A Workbench"* (this link will get you close Two Cars & A Workbench )
Very helpful ideas there…

Hope this helps and good luck!


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Okay other than the sarcastic, you might want to check out my shop page I have a couple of ideas there that might help you out… There are also a couple of things in there NOT to do if you are limited to one bay of a 2 car garage…

http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop

In particular look at the tool stacker setup, I simply take each tool as needed on its mounting plate, and clamp it to my workbench to use it. Likewise the router wing in the table saw saves a ton of space. On the flip side the 72" fence rails for my table saw tend to gobble up space pretty fast…

Mind you, a LOT is going to depend on what tools and equipment you have, but there are some key things to keep in mind…

#1. Keep it mobile. Tool stackers, and mobile bases are your friends. Nurture those relationships… 
#2. Minimize the amounts of cutoffs, sheet goods, and non shop related stuff in your shop space.
#3. Get a portable awning (EZup is one brand name) that will help you expand your workable space into the driveway without having the sun beat down on your, and offer some rain protection… I set my miter saw up under the EZup, and just let the dust and chips fly!
#4. See those walls? They can be used for storage. Find ways to maximize your wall storage with cabinets and proper racks…
#5. Look up. I don't have much up there, but consider using the ceiling to house infrequently used items like push poles for paint rollers. Maybe even for lumber, or dowel storage.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

Apparently parking your vehicle in the garage in the winter is bad for it; the freeze, thaw cycle encourages rust etc. I can't quite convince my wife of this though….Seriously, just put everything on mobile bases and do a lot of measuring before moving your tools in.


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## CampD (Nov 8, 2008)

Buy her a remote car starter!!!


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## ellen35 (Jan 1, 2009)

Everything in my shop/garage is on wheels. I can leave just enough room… I use the garage door as the dividing line and give about 18 inches where the door of the car opens. You can check my shop here on LJ. Another thing… I unplugged the electric garage door opener on my side of the garage and use it as my dust collection plug. It allows me to move my HF dust collector around easily without running over the cord. Wheels are the most important part of this garage set up though!


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## brianinpa (Mar 16, 2008)

Our wives must know each other becasue she was complaining about not being able to get her car in my woodshop.

I just put all of my tools on stands with wheels. Roll them into a corner when not being used and then roll them into the center of the shop when I want to use them. For permenant fixtures, I built a work bench around the three walls of the garage. Now both cars and the motocycle fit in the garage and I can still have my woodshop.


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## Jeff28078 (Aug 27, 2009)

When we started out in our home we had a small mini-van that fit right up against my workbench. Then we went out and bought a bigger vehicle. Stupid me I should have thought about the fit. It meant moving my bench. But gradually as you start to accumulate things (not just tools) the garage starts to fill up and there's no room for a car. Suddenly there's a litle bit more room for the workshop. But the stuff build-up continues and there's not much room for my workshop either. My response is that all my big tools have wheels. Don't go cheap on wheels. They're a lifesaver.


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## NathanAllen (Oct 16, 2009)

Same challenge.

Space: 2 Car Attached Garage 20×24, we're suburban enough to not be able to put a free-standing structure on our 1/3rd acre.

Equipment List: R4511 Table Saw with Router Extension, AP1200 Planer, 14" Band Saw, Floor Stand DP, 6" Jointer, Workbench, Mobile multi-cart (houses Mortiser, Belt/Disc Combo, Miter Saw and Sharpening System) and Dust Collector.

1. Wheels, wheels, and more wheels
2. Multi-purpose Cart - helps the occasional tools have a home 
3. Lumber Storage - use the wall on the side your spouse parks on
4. Plan your walls carefully, anything light needs to have a home. Pegboards, cabinets and shelves above the pegboards and cabinets lets you have multi-tier storage
5. Invest in a garden shed to store everything other than your woodworking items, lawn mower, snow blower, gardening, scraps, doodads and geejaws get put out there


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## alba (Jul 31, 2010)

As I see it you have a shop with a house attached?
You have no Garage space.
Have you considered converting the living room or the dinning room into a place to park the car.
I've found the dinning room to be of little use.

Yours
Jamie


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## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

*As I see it you have a shop with a house attached?
You have no Garage space.
Have you considered converting the living room or the dinning room into a place to park the car.
I've found the dinning room to be of little use.

Yours
Jamie*

Ha! Posts like this make Lumberjocks a fun place to hangout!

Outstanding *alba*!


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

Just start making stuff for her or for the house, small things at first. Then, come up with a few larger projects but complain that you simply don't have the room to make them. Before you know it she'll be pulling those tools over to "her" side 

We don't call it a garage either, it's a shop. Even my 2 year old son calls it "the shop". If you are tight with space the best advice I can give is to put everything on wheels. You can pull a tool out, use it, and then push it back against the wall. It also makes it easy to reorganize which I'm sure we all do constantly. I know I do.

Good luck with the battle though


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

When we moved to Gainesville, the two car "garage" was a still to be converted carport, with terribly inadequate electrical service. A new 60 amp panel solved the electrical problem, and a lot of hard work finally resulted in an insulated air conditioned garage.

My wife has claimed 1/2 of the space, not for her car, but for her long arm quilting machine. To help solve the storage problem, I ran four 48" x 72" shelving units down the middle, dividing the garage into two halves. On my side, I fastened white tile board sheets on the back of the shelving units, giving me a wall in which I placed a shelf and some hooks to hold my clamps and other smaller items.

Thus, my Shopsmith resides in a little less than 200 sq. ft. and depending on whether I'm cross cutting or ripping, I sometimes have to turn it 90 degrees. I have the bandsaw and the planer on their own power stands. The dust collector is nestled in the corner by the garaqge door.

Working in 1/2 of a garage is a challenge - best of luck.


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## CiscoKid (Jul 14, 2010)

My wood shop is a finished room in my barn. Heated and air conditioned. At first she had some ridiculous idea that it would be her tack room. She put half a dozen saddles and bridles and crap in it. There were some "discussions" as I slowly took it over and in the end I built her a tack room on the other end of the barn. She got tired of having to dust shavings off her prized saddles anyway. Her truck won't fit in our garage (crew cab dually) and my Vette doesn't want to share it's space with a smelly, diesel truck anyway. ; )

My advice to you is to start thinking about a seperate, dedicated wood shop in the back yard. Get someone to pour the slab and build the rest yourself.


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## Clydeone (Oct 26, 2010)

*Have you considered converting the living room or the dinning room into a place to park the car.
I've found the dinning room to be of little use.

Yours
Jamie*

heck why not convert it into additional shop space


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## Dennisgrosen (Nov 14, 2009)

builtthe carports for the verichles its more healthier for the cars
the don´t rust so quick and buy immersion heater for the verichles
gives a niice warm engine and a heated cabin 3 sec. after the engine is started
and its also helping the engine to start a lot smoother and the oil is out
in all the right places right from start witch is very healthy for the engine
if you want 100 thousind exstra miles from it


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## ChuckC (May 13, 2010)

I once had a conversation with my wife regarding moving to a different house. She commented that the new house should have a larger garage so she could finally get her car in there. I quickly responded that if the new house had a larger garage then that would just mean that I had a larger shop 

In all fairness I don't give her a hard time with anything in the house so It's only fair that I get the garage, I mean shop…


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## SchottFamily (Jul 30, 2011)

lol - I'm in the same spot. Start refusing to use your dust collection. That pesky parking situation should clear up forthwith.


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## Gengaskokaren (Oct 4, 2009)

Cars are made for the outdoor climate! I moved out my wife's car, mine were already out because of only one single garage. But I installed a 230V engine block heater and a 230V cab heater as well in both cars. Those heaters are common in cars in the northen part of Norway/Sweden/Finland. So as long as she remembers to attach the cord, the car will be warm and cozy in the mornings.


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

I tried woodworking in my garage and hated the dust on the car. Put up a barn and insulate it and put in a good dust collector and it will be all yours!! I love cars as much as woodworking and can't stand to have my car sit out even over night. If you must, and have only one car, separate the garage with a temporary wall to control the dust and put all the machines on wheels. You can get a lot done in one stall if the space is flexible. My basement shop is not that big and that is my method down there.


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