I guess I look at shop space in the same way I look at tools. I spend
money on good tools because it makes doing the work easier and lessens
the frustration - not because I expect to resell the tool somewhere
down the line and get my money back out.
I've been making progress in my shop space, but it's slow and hard to
do at California real estate prices. I started out in a crowded
one car garage that was extra storage for three people. I carved out room
for a bench and a tool cabinet, and worked on the uncovered asphalt
driveway, about 20 feet away. I got good at working in the dark and rain.
Next house there was a relatively uncluttered tiny one car garage
with a concrete driveway. I built a nice bench, got a bigger tool
cab and added lots of storage. Still had to work outdoors, but the lighting
was good and I could find everything.
We've just bought a house, and don't really plan to move again. The garage
is a nominal two-car, on a 16x18 pad. I'm looking to spend about $6000
to add a 5x12 "bustle" on the side and raise the roof for storage. This
should allow me to keep the Ferrari inside, store everything up above,
and still have room for a bench, a sink, a small mill, the lathe,
and one work/parking space. It will be tight, like working in a
shipboard shop, but I don't mind that.
$6000 is a lot of money; I could buy a Club Ford for that. But I still
wouldn't have a good place to wrench on it. By the time I wire it and
plumb it for air and build all the storage, it will be an even bigger
chunk of change. But it will make wrenching, the thing that I do
more than any other for enjoyment and relaxation, that much more pleasant.
I have no illusions of getting the money back out. I've improved
every garage I wrenched in, even though they were rentals and I knew
that I wouldn't get the money out. I don't care.
If we lived somewhere else, where the lots were bigger than 50x105,
I would have a 30x60 shop with everything. Maybe some day.
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