I, like a lot of other contractors, operate out of my home. However, this is becoming a bit more difficult as time passes. Mostly, the storage of materials and equipment is becoming a burden. I often find myself discarding stuff that is good, simply because it is not worth surrendering the space that it would take to store it.
So, I have been looking for a warehouse. I will be going to meet with a guy in a bit about some commercial warehouse space. 2000 sf.
How many of you have or used to or have wanted to have space like this and what are the pros and cons from your experience.
The space I am looking at is in a good area. I really don’t want the ahssle of cheaper rent in a crappy area where my stuff is disappearing all the time.
The downside to this idea is that if I add up all the rent money I’ll pay, I could have easily thrown away all the stuff I’ll store and bought it new.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Replies
I'm a one-man show and not a GC, but I do have a 600ft. warehouse space that costs about $150/mo.. It ends up being my center of operations and I'm there every morning to start the day. Lots of construction materials piled up that might as well also get the toss, but also some stuff that I have salvaged from jobs like a sink, CVG fir, etc..
One thing that my space is great for when I really need it is pre-finishing trim and the like, fabrication , pre-assembly, etc..
I also have some household stuff there.
And then, I have a little corner that serves as my man-cave. Workbench, videogame setup, some of my collectibles like glass insulators and tools. I like having the man-cave.
Man Cave? Up north here,, we have MAN SHACKS! Somewhere to go and sharpen the chainsaw,, do your taxes with a six pack,, etc.
I have 350 feet of rented storage. Bought four of the large, heavy Grizzly shelving racks at Costco and started with those. I have a couple of Knaack boxes in there, they come and go depending on what I take out and leave onsite. I probably have ~100 different types of fasteners in stock, several shelves of pneumatic fasteners, many dozens of other types in 1/2-gal milk cartons with the tops cut off, stored 9 to a milk crate. Ladders up to 8 feet tall live in there, along with scaffolding, hoses, cords, lights, heaters, etc. etc. Absolutely could not live without it.
A lot of incidental supplies I would keep at home. I do a lot of service work so I might grab some stuff and run. I'd hate to have to go all the way down to the "shop" to grab some nails.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Pete-- about 10-12 years ago when I was running one of my first crews I rented about 500 sq. ft. of space for $425/month------- it came with elect., cold water, heat and I had access to a restroom one unit down---
it was almost like small business condos--- but they were slightly glorified storage units.
my neighbor was running a cabinet shop on one side of me-- the rest room was on the other side around a corner- across the way was an air tool service shop---- several companies were running machine shops in multiple units, painters, carpet layers etc. all had units they were working out of.I liked it-especially in the winter- it gave me an excuse to get out of the house, LOL but after a while-- I thought long and hard about it---projected ahead all the money I was spending---and built the garage of my dreams at home which worked much better for me and I gave up the unit.About 4 years ago-- my wife ended up talking me into buying the house of HER dreams-which comes with an inadequate garage.
for $112/month I rent a small storage unit nearby- which also allows me to park my dump trailer outside there--and I have some stuff at home.
I would very much like to buy a small 500 to 15000 sq. ft. building within 10 minutes of my house-- but no luck so far. my advise would be to time potential commutes---- my first unit was 12 minutes from home at 7:00 in the morning-- but it was 30 minutes from home at 4:30 pm--and it did become annoying to need a tool for a project at home-and have it be on the other side of town at the shop
stephen
This place is a leisurely 15 minutes maybe. I am in Seven Hills and the warehouse in in Brooklyn Hts, on Van Epps Rd. I know you probably know the area.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
I have a shop at home. It is basically a machine and bench room without much storage. I do keep the usual shop supplies on hand... but... what about the half dozen framing nailers and the two shelves worth of gun nails in boxes? If I am headed out to frame I go to storage and p/u what I need, usually along with a Knaack box. I do some quick stuff but usually we are there for weeks, so I set the job up. Storage is ~1 mi from my house and 1/2 mi from lumberyard, on the way into town.
Utility costs as mentioned above is huge. A big, old warehouse with minimal insulation, drafty doors, high ceilings, etc. will cost a lot to heat.
There's a building near me I've been considering, but not to lease, to buy. The space is approx 2000sf on a nice lot. My thinking is to build the front into an office-to-let. The property is cheap $30,000 and at todays rate the monthly would be about $375 @ 15yrs with insursnce less utilities, thinking 5%. Leasing the front should be easy and just about pay my mortgage and utilities.
Something to consider. Buy and sublet.
Just A Guy With A Hammer
jagwah--- I would jump all over that deal and write a check tommorrow because it is almost exactly the numbers I am looking for----------------
so far no luck-- last place I looked at $79K for essentially a 2 car garage---- it was close to me --- but not exactly what I was looking for1 block away from that place is a place approx. 10 times the size- i am researching the ownership as it seems almost abandoned much bigger than what I need--- but I think I could divide it up and rent it out--also rent yard space for boat storage etc.
stephen
also rent yard space for boat storage etc.
My thoughts exactly. There's enough yard space to rent out to several people. I just gotta check with the city to make sure there isn't any special permiting.
Just A Guy With A Hammer
Well, you've hit on the crux of the issue: it costs you to store stuff! You have to protect the material, know you have it, and be able to quickly get to it when you need it.
So, your first need is to establish criteria for storage. For example ... if you don't use it in 3 years, toss it. Period.
Apart from the costs of storage space, you quickly find yourself spending $$$$ for shelves, bins, etc. to store things efficiently.
The size of the place you want is large enough to support an office. You might find this of value. You'll certainly want some sort of plumbing, and trash pick-up is a plus.
Not to be overlooked is the cost of utilities; heating costs can be HUGE.
there is also 800 sf of office space in the building that I do not need and will not be leasing... although I wish I DID have a need for it.... but I really can't justify it.
I really do love working from home for the convenience of it... and that is the biggest hesitation I have with using a remote location for anything.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Pro-Tax deduction
I'd rather keep the money and pay tax on it... lol
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
thats economics 101.
"I'd rather keep the money and pay tax on it... lol"
it's amazing when i talked to someone and they say"it's a tax deduction".great uncle sam pays 25% and you pay the rest.
that pharse shuld be the front page of every high school economics book.YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'TMOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THEDUCT TAPE.
my painters helper could never wrap his head around "it's a deduction".
and he was supposedly going to school to get the big "business degree".
spent a fun week egging him on.
we'd both ask my buddy Dave why he didn't just run out and buy a new $40K work truck ...
"Com'mon Dave ... it's a "tax deduction""!
only the helper ... thot tax deduction meant free money.
half way thru the week I tried to find out where the montly payments would come from first ... U know ... before tax season ...
same answer ... "it's a tax deduction" ... "Dave's stupid ..."
25 yr old kid ... damn shame.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I have a shop the size you are looking at, but it is attached to my house, so no rent and no driving to it.
It is an old Big Band Era Ballroom, and has been a great space for workshop and material storage.
I buy old store displays (cheap) for organizing stuff.
Here is a pic of the shop, and a few old store displays (one Carhartt rack and two rug displays --all on wheels):
Bass, you're the real deal.
--"Bass, you're the real deal."<G>Not if I don't get back to work, I'm not!Gonna try to cut and install 60 pieces of trim this afternoon... Whooho!Gotta run,Bass
Basswood- I am green with envy.
stephen
--"Basswood- I am green with envy." stephenYou mean you wish you spent the afternoon cutting and installing trim? <g>Got 40 pieces installed.
Looks like a cool place, always liked those type of roofs How 'bout an outside pic of the place?
Must be like Dan Tanna in the old Vegas TV show. Just jump from your couch into your rig!
View Image Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
Here you go:the shop is on the right (peaked gable roof outside, barrel vaults inside)
Nice house. Is the exterior shop roof gabled for snow loads?
I have been on a couple of major rehabs in S.F. of brick buildings with round trussed roofs all done with tounge and groove fir on the diagonal. There is a name of the type of roof but it escapes me. Beatiful though. Mike
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod, big wheel turn by the grace of god.
Bowstring trusses?
My shop is free. I bought a duplex last year and it came with a 22x22 garage. The house more tham pays the mortgage and I have alot of free space to pile tools.
Either that or buy a multi unit light industrial building. If you find a good deal the other units will easily pay the note and you'll have a shop of your own.
Family.....They're always there when they need you.
I'd put up a steel building or pole barn at the back of your yard.
You should email DanT ... he's had a couple buildings over the years.
Jeff
Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
I could have easily thrown away all the stuff I'll store and bought it new.
no one knows more about this than me if you have to move it more than 2x before you use it... it ain't worth keep'n
if you have to rent space... no way.. even lost rent on my own space is stupid... but.. i get most stuff for 10cents on the dollar or less... if it's something i know i'll need and i can save 50% i guess it's ok....
would i do it again? i've cut back from 60ksf to 30k so i'm getting better..
if you have space you will fill it
p
"I often find myself discarding stuff that is good, simply because it is not worth surrendering the space"
Be careful about that trap of paying more for the real estate footage to store it, that what the stuff is worth.
I'm a packrat, and have a lot of good building materials left over or salvaged.
But I can't use my shop for a shop anymore because of that.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
goal this spring is to get a dumpster and clean out one of the garages we rent.
for the last 5 or 8 years ... it's been backed from front to back with "stuff" that's obviously very valuable ...
have no idea what's in there now.
there's a "wall" ... maybe 2 to 3ft deep and about 6ft tall ...
right as U open the doors.
that's where some of my tools get stacked.
that's the so called useful space.
the rest ... junk.
$420/yr for that little bit of semi usable space ...
Pete can come down and get all my good stuff!
there's doors, big cuts of ply ... coupla full sheets of what was good 3/4 oak ply
sticks of trim ... etc.
it's all going into the dumpster.
called last year about sorting it and donating it.
no one would work with me ... no one wanted to come pick it up.
so this spring ... out she goes.
Might save some of the ply and build shelves along the sides.
actually use the garage for the Jeep and tool storage.
no more materials dump.
Jeff Buck Construction
Artistry In Carpentry
Pittsburgh Pa
no one wanted to come pick it up.
Do you have Habitat for Humanity ReStores there? Here, they'll come do the demo if the salvage is worth keeping.http://www.quittintime.com/ View Image
i like having a garage at home for convience. Tools are there for that Sunday repair.
I have a video survelliance system that alerted me that two guys were trying to break into my van.
You can't respond to a situation like this at a remote location! The police won't respond.
The question i keep asking my self is, Why am i storing materials that just get damaged anyway. Boards warp, paint freezes, drywall mud gets moldy, drywall gets damaged, etc. With the economy like it is I look at lumber yards and paint stores as my storage warehouse. Now I just donate to Habitat for Humanity or put it out on the curb. Everything I bring home has already been paid for by the customer anyway. I no longer take old paint home for customers, instead i give them a card with the recycling center dates. Point is , if we don't manage are materials, we will end up having a warehouse like Lowes.
you are on to something there.
years ago I did a garage/barn roof for a guy who had made his money in comercial real estate ( plazas and strip malls0 he told ME something another real estate guy had told HIM which he had always lived by from that point forwardat the end of a job--- if something can be returned for credit----RETURN IT ! If it can't be returned and you aren't going to immediately use it-- throw it away.
Pretty much how I work it now but shop space would be nice for storing tools and materials that i use frequently--but not every day-----scaffold boards that fit my slaters jacks, 10-20 sheets of OSB for protecting siding and shrubs during tear-offs, misc. ladders, pics, many trash cans, a dump trailer. makes a convienent meeting place for employees etc. sooner or later you WILL get broken into( apparently air compressors get stolen--ladders don't,LOL
stephen
The problem is, or at least my problem is, that the stuff expands to fill the space available, as soon as you have 2000 SF, you will need 4000 etc, etc
And it REALLY makes me mad when I find something that I'd forgotten was there and had already bought more of!
Edited 1/30/2009 10:29 pm ET by LIVEONSAWDUST
thats the law of "stuff we know we have"....
And it REALLY makes me mad when I find something that I'd forgotten was there and had already bought more of!
the only sure way to find it is.. go buy another one.. and you will find the one you owned the minute after you use the newly purchased one...
You could do what DanT and I did .
We bought rentals with large shops already there.
Mine was a mechanics shop.
Tim
Hey Pete,
Not real sure how to respond to your post. I bought an old supermarket this time last year. 7400 Sq Ft. Pretty big. Wasn't too expensive. (50k) Pretty nice building. Cinder block walls, loading dock, metal roof, pretty well insulated. I have mixed emotions about it. Its great for collecting extra materials and I took out the front windows and installed a metal rollup door so I can drive inside. But it took a lot of my cash and now I am sorta wishin I had the cash. But it is a good building and I certainly can see myself expanding to use it all but gosh it was a huge leap. One things for sure though, it has potential for being one heck of a shop! Lots of electric outlets, tons of light and three phase power. (Not that I know what to use 3 phase for!) But I thought it was a good buy. Just got mixed emotions about it. Can't tell how my experience helps but I put it out there for you.
KD
You can probably do alright by leasing out some space for storage or other usage.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
don't know where you are but don't ever loose sleep over a building with a good roof for 8.00 a ft. it will make you some money ,surely.
i haven't seen a good buy like that in 10 years.YOU ONLY NEED TWO TOOLS IN LIFE - WD-40 AND DUCT TAPE. IF IT DOESN'TMOVE AND SHOULD, USE THE WD-40. IF IT SHOULDN'T MOVE AND DOES, USE THEDUCT TAPE.
you'd feel alot better about it if you had someone renting part of it....
might be worth running an ad for car or boat storage...
i have a fenced lot outside my warehouse that many contractors in my area know about... if they need a place to store equipment or material for a several month project... i can sometimes pick up a few thousand $$ a year... the inside i keep full :)
but it sounds like you got a deal... and have a great place.... I had a space like that an ex grocery store at the end of a strip center... I don't know your area of if it's work... but i took the front 40feet all the way across and made 15ft wide bays (600sf ea) mine was 90ft wide and 120ft deep... i kept one front bay for access and kept the whole 80 x 90 rear section.... .. ended up with 5 rental units at very little cost... 100 amp service to each... 1 bathroom... 1.5 ton ductless heat cool.... dropped ceiling and drywall walls... was in a lower income area... but they stayed rented @ 500mo ea.. tax service... nail shop... check cashing... cig store... & a mailbox place....
I cut one trench for the plumbing... so it wasn't bad... had less than 1k in each unit for plumbing with fixtures... the electric was $$ i should have just put it all on my meter and charged a min $100 electric bill and adjusted with a surcharge if it exceeded $500mo total... (most of their bills were under $100mo) the water was on my dime and is cheap here so wasn't bad...
just toss'n it out there... I ended up renting out my space later to a wholesale beauty supply warehouse... for more rent per month than the value of anything i ever stored there...
P
Have you thought about putting some containers down in a lot somewhere and using those instead?
Tu stultus es
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
I'd rather have something that I could use to work on stuff too when the situation arose.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
There was a recent conversation about covering the space between two containers (they make the side walls) and using that for work space. It can even just be temporary if you need to work in the cold.
Tu stultus esRebuilding my home in Cypress, CAAlso a CRX fanatic!
Look, just send me to my drawer. This whole talking-to-you thing is like double punishment.
You and others already established a critical point: It costs to store things.
You don't always have to chuck things worth keeping. Here in Olytown, Washington, we have Habitat for Humanity, to which we can make donations of building products and get a tax write off. Another option is to cut a deal with someone (run an ad) to sell your excess on craigslist, Amazon and so forth. A few dollars for both of you is better than a dump fee. I made a little over $6,000 off a "garage sale last year," that's not chicken feed, in my opinion. If your contact burns you, find someone else, meanwhile, you really aren't out that much - you needed to get rid of it anyway.
I rented a small storage unit and just treated it as a cost for running a business. It was a hassle running there for jobs, but it beat stepping over things around the house. It was secure, so I stored equipment there, including things I had to keep warm in winter weather.
I never really throw stuff out. Typically I will put an ad on craigslist under the "free stuff" section just to get someone to take stuff that is in my way. Last time it was plywood and 2x4s used to build a temporary enclosure on a commercial project. really got tired of it being in the way.
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I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish. Pete Draganic
Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day. Matt Garcia
Edited 2/10/2009 8:56 am ET by PeteDraganic
I think donating things is great. It's easy to forget those days when scraping by, but I still remember getting by on a disposable jig saw and how great it would have been to score some nice used materials.I started out cleaning sand belts, now my time is to valuable, so I'd like to find someone at the point where I started, who needs them and is willing to scrub a little (with paint thinner (damn pine)).
Thot Id throw this in since I read the last post or two.
I dont do this becasue I use every thing thats useable with rentals and if I didnt Id be buying the stuff over and over .
But this last summer my brotherinlaw had a yard sale . He was working on a commerical tear out job which was apartments . They gave him doors and used trim , commodes , vanities , and when it was over he got left over paint , etc. It looked like junk to me except I rebuild commodes all the time . He made enough for two tickets on a cruise ship to alaska which was 2 grand and held three sales.
He continues to do that though but there is a call in radio show . In fact there is three different ones people advertize for free by calling in. He listens for the free stuff and sells it too.
Im just saying in todays economy people will pay for building material even if its used. He was layed off so he tore down a house for the material and sold it all in the yard with for sale signs setting on the piles.
Tim