Our home nuilder came by our new house and told me that they had several contractors from out of the area that kind of prey on new home owners who want to get a shop built. He said they show them nice pictures then wind up with some 60K looking Tuff Shed that they slapped some faux brick siding on to make it look semi-custom. He said he has guys on his crew that do that when they are not building houses and said I would get a better built shop and economies of scale by letting them do it.

Our deed restrictions indicate shop has to match design of house and no metal, tin, etc. I'm hoping to bet an extended length garage on slab maybe 35ft length with a 16ft garage door. Are there some must have that you guys think? 9ft ceilings, mini-split, electrical lighting/outlets, compressor, overhead winch, etc...

If you do ANYthing mechanical, make sure you build it tall enough to put in some kind of vehicle lift. I will forever kick myself in the arse for not doing that. Also, trenched and ran power underground to my shop and put in an extra 100 amp panel out there. Plan out your lay out and make sure you have plenty of outlets for equipment.

Shower , your wife will love it for you

Make a list of what you need and want. As you know building a structure can get expense... Fast...

We went with a 10ft double door, 12 ft walls and a vaulted ceiling (no trusses) for extra height. I watched the neighbor have to disassemble (take windshield, canvas off) his pontoon just to get it in his 8ft door, and with trusses he really can't do any maintenance because of the height of the garage... We went 30 x 40, the largest we could build, our yard slow slopes toward the lake so it made it cost prohibitive to go longer... I can store the 24ft tri-toon and bass boat side by side with enough room to walk around each one with the door closed. I went with outlets every 4 ft, 240v just in case I take up welding, running water for a shop sink (no hot water), a drain in the middle of the garage (just because), a Big [censored] ceiling fan over the part I keep the bass boat in (to dry the boat after trips in the rain) and an exhaust fan to move air when it gets a little warm. We didn't insulate the garage because it really doesn't get bone jarringily cold in E Tennessee. I have a torpedo heater and it warms the garage up enough to piddle around during the winter. I have 16 4ft LED lights (Lowes) to light the garage. I also had 3 windows put in for additional lighting and ventilation. The windows are high enough off the ground that if some was to just walk by you can't see in the garage... The guy who built ours also does home remodelings, so he was able to get me kitchen cabinets and a counter so I could build my workbench for free, something to ask the guy who's building it, if he does remodels also... We matched the siding and roofing to the house, just looks better to those passing on the street or lake... And whatever you do, don't put up pegboard and hang your excess fishing lures for the world to see... It takes away all doubt that you have a hoarding problem when it come to fishing... Dan

If you live in town you probably can't do it, but I always wanted a pull through for boat storage.

That would be the cat's meow

first thing is get some sort of plans drawn up, even a legal pad sketch of the layout you want. give it a few days and refine it as you think of stuff to add/subtract.

if the builder that did the house can do it to match existing then he is probably your best bet in the long run, he has cred established (as long as you aren't mad at them). sounds like an hoa is involved and having him do it will simplify things with them.

from your specs above, draw it up and lay it out (I would go with a 14' metal door/opener) depending on what you plan on doing, woodwork, welding, mancave etc.

do as much of the leg work as you can first then go hit the builder for a quote. shops are like trucks, everybody has what they like.

I did. One of the best things my builder suggested was a floor drain.

I think you should be the one to break the hoa rules, if nobody hasn’t already, and build whatever you’d like.

This happend in my hoa, you want to see a Randy and Karen fest, it’ll be the best way to draw them out of the woodwork. Karen and Randy rampages for days.

This. And make it large pipe or have a cleanout sump.

There is no HOA but deed restrictions that are part of the property. The builder is the developer, land owner, etc.. they hold the keys to everything. Great people and I'm not interesting in rocking the boat as this is our retirement home. I would like a nice enclosed garage/shop to park boat so I don't have have deal with Wheel Dollies, Boat Covers, Wet boat, storage for all of the boat/fishing tackle and a place to go and putter so I am not in the house.

Drains in the floor and a couple of oscillating shops fans mounted on the ceiling are on my must haves for the next house we build.

I put a fan over mine but it’s not big enough. I wish I would have done the oscillating fans or one of the big [censored] fans

If you ever thought about an RV, make the door 12' wide and 14' tall.

I’d put a lift in mine so I could take the boat off the trailer when I needed to.