Underground garage

I think it would be kind of cool to have it underground. Will it be into a hillside or on flat? Visible at all? I would think drainage would be the biggest issue, and the support of the roof depending on use. But I'd just look at a few layout options depending on how many cars you are storing and how you want them arranged, along with ease of entry and exit and a work space.

 

My garage is built into a hill side. Mother nature on all sides except the front entry. It's cool because the temp is always between 50 and 70. I use a humidifier to make it perfect.

 

It's going to be expensive; but I guess you know that already.
As you are also in Australia, I just picked up a local magazine with the somewhat hideous title "Manspace- inside the world's best garages, sheds and mancaves"
It has a lot of local suppliers of garage storage equipment, tools etc.

There is also a website www.manspacemagazine.com.au

 

Hmmmmm, I see what you mean with the web address. I just copied it from the front cover of the magazine without looking. I would have thought that if you were putting in all the effort with a start up magazine, a real website would have been a given.
Nevertheless the magazine has some good ideas and links to good cabinets etc.
There are also a number of good books that you can buy on Amazon about setting up workshops.

Having built a 16sq garage at home a few years ago, I have a few tips.
1) If at all possible, make sure you have a lot of ceiling height. At least 11 feet so you can get a hoist in at some point. Makes life a lot easier
2) You can never have enough power points spread about the walls.
3) Get a durable and washable floor covering. I used proper 2 pack paint, installed on properly cleaned and prepared concrete. Easy to maintain and no problems nearly 5 years down the road.
4) Make sure you have really good lighting and of the type that is recessed in the ceiling. Makes for a clean look and saves ceiling height. I ended up redoing my lighting to proper showroom display lights.
5) Entrance doors. Roller doors save ceiling height as you don't have rails running along the internal roof taking up space and cluttering the look
6) Make sure the doors have proper dust seals or your garage will forever be filling up with dust, leaves and crap.
7) Make sure you put in awash basin and tapsin the corner somewhere. Nothing worse than being filthy and having to go inside the house to clean up. Tends to upset the wife a bit I find.

As your garage is underground, proper water sealing is paramount. Might also pay to make sure you have it all properly cabled with CAT 5 or whatever the best standard is now. Never know what you will want to plug in years down the track when the budget has recovered. Cabling is one thing you can't do later in an underground garage..

That's a few ideas to think about, I am sure I will remember some more later

 

Hi Tim,


I have one advise for you,
not sure about the amount of rain where you are at down under,
but here in the Netherlands we have lots.

My advise to put in the best waterpump you can find to
get out all the water you can to prevent from flooding it.
If you have you're builder calculate the worst case water load
and them get 2 of these pumps ( 1 for back up )

A friend of mine had a flooding a couple of months ago due to extreme rainfall
he did have a pump but when he needed it, it did not work.
result 2 Ferrari's, 2 clasical Mercedeses and some other cars in 80cm water
Total Damage over 500.000 Euro's

Better safe than sorry right
( and what is the price for 2 pump's compaired with the total building price )

 

The plans look pretty awesome. Agree with everyone on the pumps, and outlets, floors. Another consideration if you have the ability, put a head in it. Just a small one makes a lot of difference if you spend any amount of time there. Good luck, can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

Depending on how full you fill the garage, wheeling a compressor around might get difficult. And there's always the possibility of banging it into a car. So you might consider plumbing several locations on the walls or in the ceiling for air from a stationary compressor.

I love spending other people's money.

 

Good call; but remember they are extremely loud in confined space. Perhaps have the compressor unit outside and have it plumbed to the garage. I have seen silent units; but they are huge and not suited to a garage this size.

 

I understand what you mean about the excavation costs. I have a neighbor building now and he has the biggest underground garage I have ever seen. The block is close to 1000 sq mtrs, totally flat and the entire block is excavated. Must cost as much as the rest of the house put together.
Bad news is that 8.5 feet is standard garage height and too low, especially when you hang flouro light fittings off the roof, reducing it closer to 8 feet. Even getting it to 10 feet with recessed fittings makes a monumental difference. Definitely don't skimp on the amount and type of lights used. A mate of mine does my retail shop fitouts (Gerard @ Associated Projects) and he redid my lights with commercial display lighting used in car showrooms. Made a massive difference and with your layout it would be difficult to do later down the track. Gerard also owns Garage King that designs and builds garage storage solutions. He is the guy with the dust proofing system for the doors. It is next on my list; but I haven't done it yet.
They are an absolute must though, and there isn't much point making it pretty inside until that is taken care of.
Here is another big one. If at all possible, keep the daily drivers garaged elsewhere on the property. They get used in all weathers and drag in 99.99% of the mud and filth into your lovely garage. Without them it is easy to keep the toys garage spotless and showroom fresh.

Wish I knew all this when I built my house and garage. Now I can't rectify a lot of these mistakes

 

I keep my Fcar in an underground garage. I love it.

Lots of light needed to do detailing, etc. It's dark down there.

Hope you have hot water to wash the car properly. I do.

Electrical outlets for trickle charger/maintainer and a vacuum to keep the carpets looking prime.

 

360C list is spot on. Great points.
Do it once...do it right.
2 pack epoxy paint is so tough. Have it in my factory and in the gararge. Some advise if you use it...Don't go too glossy (even though it looks awesome - like showroom) as it gets slippery when wet.
If you are not installing a full security system, run some Cat 5 or data cable to the house so you can install an IP camera(s) in the garage to keep an eye on things from internet. IP cameras are cheap and the ones I use pan, tilt, record, sense movement (and SMS you), have output for alarm etc - and only $70 each!! You can use the IP cameras around the house also. (We have 12 of them so far around factory, office, houses etc).
Install house to garage intercom?
Fumes build up quick. Think about large extraction fan also opposite end of garage.

 

I had photos; but unfortunately I deleted them. It is quite a sight.

This photo will help you visualize ceiling heights and the problems with standard non-recessed lighting. The lower part of the ceiling is your standard 8.5 ft, the slightly elevated section is 9ft 4 inches. Also remember that the F50 and 360 Michelotto are very low cars. You should see it with an X5M Not even close to being high enough for a lift.

Also note the rails that the garage door panels run along as the door opens (+ the motor)- massively reducing usable ceiling height again.
Note this photo was taken before I installed commercial recessed showroom lighting.

.[/quote]

Gerard doesn't own the magazine. No idea who does; but it's not Gerard
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Good point on the epoxy paint...............it is MASSIVELY slippery when wet. Ask me how I know
This is a very important point, especially if you have your daily drivers in there. Drive in when it's wet and that daily driver will soon drip lots of dirty water all over your floor and it runs out from under your car- It has to as the floor will slope to a drain somewhere.

Good point on the IP cameras too. I have 35 at one business and 22 at the other !

 

Hi Tim - great plans!

A thought on water management (and as used in underground mines ) is to have the driveway go up slightly before ramping down as I've sketched below and put a similar height "dam" around the ramp opening - this should eliminate any runoff entering and limit inflow to only rain that falls on the ramp (this also makes it easier to estimate the risk). Again double the pumps as suggested by Marco.

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In terms of adding height the bulk of the cost should be the excavation of the extra ~240 cubic metres (is it rock or sand/dirt?). An alternative to this would be to install a pit under one of the bays (and the pit can double as an auxiliary sump).

All the best with it - hopefully I'll be designing something similar in the next year or so so I'll be watching with interest!!

 

Having re-done my garage (above ground) to accomodate a lift and work area, I would strongly suggest researching garage doors that do not operate as traditional doors do. As noted, the rails can severely limit head room. Also, the doors may need an extra panel added and that increases weight which wears on the lift system. I would suggest looking at door lifts that are incorporated at the door frame of the garage door. This helps eliminate the need for the rails running back into the garage and over the car storage area.

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

This is a not a great example. There are many custom applications. It does show the application. The point is to keep the garage door away from the storage area.

 

A jiffy lube style pit would be am awesome idea. Not sure how much extra it would be. That with maybe a table lift for brakes and suspension and you should be able to do most things you'd want to tackle at home. The raised driveway is a good idea, but how long would it have to be to accommodate the breakover angle required for a Ferrari? Don't want to get stuck in your driveway.

 

I've always loved (and dreamed about) the idea of an underground garage to showcase a (or a few) Ferrari(s). As for the ramp to get in/out, I've seen a clip on TV of a collector in Incline Village, Nevada that has a lift into his underground garage. Basically, park the car in the driveway, press a button, and the car is lowered to an underground garage. Lift goes back up and you can't even tell it's there. Pretty cool, IMO.

-G.B.