as far as electrical, upgrade the house to 200 amp and run a 60 amp in the garage (fed off a 60 amp breaker in the 200A house panel)

You seriously will not need more than 60 in the garage. Keep in mind that 60 is the total maximum draw for all circuits (less 20%). What are the odds that you will be running every outlet at the same time?

You would be amazed at how little current some of these flourescents draw. Hell, there are some 8 foot 2 lamp flourescets out there with a ballast drawing less than 1 amp. That means 12 8 footers in a garage that is 24 x 32. That would be blinding, and only using 25% of your garage panel capacity.

 

How do modern flourescent lights work in the cold weather?

Another suggestion is to set your walls on a course of block to keep the sill plate off of the floor.

 

ONe more suggestion, if you are doing any drywall work, hire it out. Drywall work is a PITA unless you've done a lot of it.

 

I like everyone's ideas, but what about heating the garage? We have a wood burning stove in our garage that can heat it to around 90 degrees in there in the winter.....Granted the walls are 2x8's though, and those are insulated along with the ceiling. All the stove is, you take 2 50 gallons drums, dry them out for a while, and then you cut two holes in each one, (I think 6 or 8 inch holes) just to get the heat and smoke out. And then you cut a door out, and get a cast iron door to go in the hole. If I have time, I will take some pictures of the one that is in my garage, and post them so that you get a better idea. It works really good, and doesn't take long to heat the 24X38 garage.
David

 

OK it has been over 2 years but I am bringing this thread back from the dead! Shortly after making plans to build my garage, I found out my wife and I were having another baby. So instead of a garage, I remodeled two bedrooms. Well, the mason is coming on Monday to start work on the foundation and floor. My dream garage is finally going to be a reality! 28'x40' with three bays/3 single wide doors. I will be doing all of the work after the masons leave. Prefabricated wall panels from a local plant will help me get the walls up in a hurry, and then I will be working my tail off to get it under roof.

Once it is up, I plan to have TV and cable so I can watch racing and football out there, can not wait!

 

Well, the house for my truck is done. It took almost 4 months of nights and weekends, but I finished the siding on Friday. Still some garage door openers, wiring, and lighting to do inside and I need to get someone to level the driveway, but my truck (along with the wife's van and my camper) will finally have a home.

 

Excellent job...

 

Excellent work! Oh to have a bigger garage...

 

Look's great! Now you just need a frig in there and maybe a couch. Wait, it's a garage not an apartment. hehe. I know when I was looking for another house, the shop and fencing sold me and that was before looking at the house. You going to use any type of floor covering? I'm debating what to use that will last my abuse but not cost a fortune either.