Workshop door placement

[Dadnatron]

I will hopefully be building a workshop later this year, and I had a rough idea about how it would be.

I just happened to see this pic on FB this morning and it got me to thinking about main door placement.

The shop will be a mixture of shop tools, welders, etc but also I want to have a place where I can work on vehicles out of the cold and rain. I expected that the main door would just be centered on the end, but then I saw this building and it made me wonder.

I have no exact size requirements at this point, but I want something large enough to have all my shop tools in their place without a lot of jigsaw work. I want to have a decent size welding table, but I don't mind it being mobile. I want to be able to have my tractor parked inside, and still be able to work around it. I don't have to have equal room around the entire outside, but I need to be able to move well around it without a lot of trouble. I don't mind backing it in for bigger work on one side or another if room requires.

When I saw this offset door, my mind began to wonder about whether this would actually work better than a centered door.

What are your thoughts about the ins and outs of this or a centered door design. (outside wall height not being an issue.)

 

[joeyd]

Depending on your shop size a center door could give you three distinct areas. The center "bay" for working on vehicles and/or parking them if deep enough and two side bays for doing other jobs. One side of center for storage, the other side of center for a work area i.e. wood, welding, work bench etc. My door is offset and my shop is 24x30 so parking a vehicle off to the side used to take a multi-point "parallel parking" job. This year I picked up two sets of HF wheel dollies and just rolled the vehicle into place once I put it up on the dollies.
Again, depending on size your options are pretty open.

 

[John_Mc]

Depending on your shop size a center door could give you three distinct areas. The center "bay" for working on vehicles and/or parking them if deep enough and two side bays for doing other jobs. One side of center for storage, the other side of center for a work area i.e. wood, welding, work bench etc. My door is offset and my shop is 24x30 so parking a vehicle off to the side used to take a multi-point "parallel parking" job. This year I picked up two sets of HF wheel dollies and just rolled the vehicle into place once I put it up on the dollies.
Again, depending on size your options are pretty open.

Joeyd hit the nail on the head. My shop is only 24' wide, so I put the vehicle door off-center, and put a man door on the other side. I still have room to get around the other side of whatever I have parked in there, but my tools and workbench are concentrated on the other side. I made the door just a bit wider than a typical car garage so I can still jockey things by if I want: I can get my log splitter or Coot (and antique ATV which is about as wide as a modern side-by-side) in and out even if my tractor is parked there.

In a larger, wider shop, centering the vehicle door may give you more options, depending on how you want to set up your workshop inside.

 

[crazyal]

Will you have other things in there like a UTV or lawn mower? The center/ slightly offset door design if it's large enough will allow you to have two bays with just one door. Personally I wouldn't build a shop with less than a 12' wide door. If it's tight to the end of the wall like in your picture you would an even wider door or risk having your tractor stuck in the shop because a vehicle you are working on isn't finished (waiting for a part, etc.) and can't be moved.

 

[bigtiller]

My offset door works great for me. I have a 15 ft wide bay on the right for trailers and a small work bench. On the left, I have the weld/work area. And against the back wall is implement storage.

I need to take a newer picture, this one is 5 years old.

 

[Diggin It]

I think the door in question is offset too far. It may not give enough room beside whatever vehicle is parked there to work on it and be able to remove/install parts. I'd like to have at least 4-6 feet to the wall.

 

[bigtiller]

I think the door in question is offset too far. It may not give enough room beside whatever vehicle is parked there to work on it and be able to remove/install parts. I'd like to have at least 4-6 feet to the wall.

I agree, wall space is almost as important as floor space.

 

[Dadnatron]

My offset door works great for me. I have a 15 ft wide bay on the right for trailers and a small work bench. On the left, I have the weld/work area. And against the back wall is implement storage.

I need to take a newer picture, this one is 5 years old.

bigtiller... what size is your shop? And how wide is that door? Is that the only vehicle door in the shop?

 

[bigtiller]

bigtiller... what size is your shop? And how wide is that door? Is that the only vehicle door in the shop?

The building is 54'x75' and 14' tall with a 24'x12' door, and yep, that's the only vehicle door. Believe it or not, I wish it was a little bigger.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

No matter what you do; there will always be the after thoughts. My dream (never realized) was three bays wide by 40' deep. 12' X 12' door on each bay, man door on the front and back, and one 12' door on the back side for pull through. Grew old and downsized from the 21 AC tree ranch to a place closer in to town. Won't happen now.

Ron