DIY Garage

[OR VietVet]

The more I get involved with my 2002 Tahoe the more I miss having a garage to work on it myself. I live at and manage a self storage facility and do have a covered vaulted ceiling car port next to my home and a small 5x10 unit that opens up on the carport but I still can't do much there. The owner does not mind simple maintenance work but major tear down projects are a no no.

Do any of you use a DIY garage in your town? There are none here and when I bring it up to people they tell me they would use one if was available. Of course whether they actually would use one is a guess at best.

With my 35 years experience in the field I know I could outfit one but am also aware of the costs. Has anyone seen them in their town and then seen them fold up for lack of business? I have some extra money and am feeling an itch to do something like this.

 

[wjburken]

The more I get involved with my 2002 Tahoe the more I miss having a garage to work on it myself. I live at and manage a self storage facility and do have a covered vaulted ceiling car port next to my home and a small 5x10 unit that opens up on the carport but I still can't do much there. The owner does not mind simple maintenance work but major tear down projects are a no no.

Do any of you use a DIY garage in your town? There are none here and when I bring it up to people they tell me they would use one if was available. Of course whether they actually would use one is a guess at best.

With my 35 years experience in the field I know I could outfit one but am also aware of the costs. Has anyone seen them in their town and then seen them fold up for lack of business? I have some extra money and am feeling an itch to do something like this.

I’ve talked with various guys about doing the same thing around me. For both woodworking and mechanic stuff. Haven’t figured out how to bankroll it or all the legal beagle liability stuff, particularly for the woodworking stuff.

Would like to use it as a place for folks to learn and/or save money, but also offer free repairs for elderly or other worthy recipients in the community.

 

[wjburken]

The more I get involved with my 2002 Tahoe the more I miss having a garage to work on it myself. I live at and manage a self storage facility and do have a covered vaulted ceiling car port next to my home and a small 5x10 unit that opens up on the carport but I still can't do much there. The owner does not mind simple maintenance work but major tear down projects are a no no.

Do any of you use a DIY garage in your town? There are none here and when I bring it up to people they tell me they would use one if was available. Of course whether they actually would use one is a guess at best.

With my 35 years experience in the field I know I could outfit one but am also aware of the costs. Has anyone seen them in their town and then seen them fold up for lack of business? I have some extra money and am feeling an itch to do something like this.

I’ve talked with various guys about doing the same thing around me. For both woodworking and mechanic stuff. Haven’t figured out how to bankroll it or all the legal beagle liability stuff, particularly for the woodworking stuff.

Would like to use it as a place for folks to learn and/or save money, but also offer free repairs for elderly or other worthy recipients in the community.

 

[OR VietVet]

I do have a friend that has a nice garage with a nice set of tools that I have trained over the years and I can use his garage and his help whenever I want. But it is not all about me needing a place/garage. I want to rent space/time/knowledge/tools and make some money. I would still do what I do now for the living and work arrangements. I know of at least 3 trained techs that I could get to help run the place when I can't be there. You did bring up one worry and that is the liability and all the city fees for anything they wish to charge you for. I may need to just find a garage on a friends property that we do this but is advertised word of mouth to keep the city out of it.

 

[Big Mama]

I had a perfect chance but didn’t have the stones to do it. Old Ford dealer in my little town closed shop and retired. Has a 5 bay garage now they’re making it a community center. A friend rented an old 2 bay lift muffler shop he’s doing now. Turd...

 

[OR VietVet]

I really want to "get back in the game", so to speak, but not as a service manager. I don't want to put up with some of the prima donna techs and the customer that refuses to take responsibility for the condition a vehicle is in. This DIY garage would be slower paced and we do what we want to do instead of what a bean counter thinks we should do.

There is a shop about 12 miles away in a small town I used to live in and I rented the duplex in front of it and I also rented the shop for a way to make money on the side. It is about 100' long and 20' wide with a tall ceiling. The landlord knocked rent off for working on his company and family vehicles. He even offered to put a lift in it. It has a garage door at each end of the shop. I think I am going to call him and see what he might do with that shop.

 

[Doubeleive]

I live in a good sized town and there is none here, I think there is one place about 50 miles away that rent's service bays and that is in Sacramento which is even bigger than here and that's the only place I know of even close to me, seems like there is probably some serious liability involved, all it takes is one "idiot" to put you into years of court, better have a good waiver made up.

 

[OR VietVet]

I live in a good sized town and there is none here, I think there is one place about 50 miles away that rent's service bays and that is in Sacramento which is even bigger than here and that's the only place I know of even close to me, seems like there is probably some serious liability involved, all it takes is one "idiot" to put you into years of court, better have a good waiver made up.

Ahhhhh....yea, your are right. That is why that old shop is appealing to me. I had forgotten about that shop till just before I typed up that post about it. Ability for a lift is a must.

 

[NoReverseYukon]

Back when I was stationed at Ft. Eustis, there was a rent-a-bay shop on base. They even let you sign out tools. Sure beat having to turn wrenches in the parking lot.

 

[Big Mama]

Go for it. There are enough of these that you can contact to see what they do for insurance and waivers. To me the biggest hurdle was having enough tools. I’d think the hard core DIY guys have their own spot and tools but the appealing part to me was teaching folks, especially young ones, how to care for their cars.

 

[OR VietVet]

The shop would have a set of tools for most repair applications but the DIY'er can also bring in their tools. I am waiting to hear back from my old landlord about that shop I talked about. A DIY'er that would be drawn to this shop are apartment dwellers and most any rental property that the landlord does not allow work on vehicles or any with no garage, especially in the fall and winter. The help with the training is another value in and of itself. Repair software availability is a huge plus as well.

 

[OR VietVet]

I just got off the phone with my former landlord. The two condo living units in front are rented but the garage out back is as well but not by the tenants of the condos. A local motorcycle club uses it for meetings and get togethers but is a month to month lease. When it gets colder and they have their meetings the landlord thinks they will start to back out of the lease. I told him that even if it is just the garage for now, or whenever it is available, I would like to rent it again. He said he would honor the same rent I paid before, $400 a month, and he said he would install an above ground lift and wants me to work on his personal and business vehicles. This could actually come together for me. It will likely be at least 6 months before I could even look in the garage again. He said that the vice I left there when I moved before is still in there. It was an old solid steel US made large 6" vice mounted to a tall stand. That thing was very heavy. You couldn't hurt it with a grenade.

 

[Rocket Man]

I wish you luck. There is a place in Portland for that I believe but IIIRC it’s for quick repairs only, nothing major that requires a vehicle to sit for days or weeks waiting for parts or funds. You can’t pull your trans and send it out for repairs for instance. There’s also independent small unadvertised backyard shops where you can do longer projects but they’re mostly geared up for custom projects and people with deep pockets. My nephew has one where some nice bagged hot rod projects get done, $50-$100k budgets.

 

[OR VietVet]

When I rode Harleys I worked on my friends bikes all the time and my garage was always packed and made for a nice side job for making money. They supplied all the food and drink while I was on their bike and paid well. I could also teach them at the same time. The only person I have shown vehicle repair info with is family.