I spent thirty years building and renovating other people’s houses. When I finally built something for myself — a two-car garage with a workshop bay on the back — I learned a few things I hadn’t expected to learn at this point in my career.
The first thing is that working alone is different from running a small crew. I’ve had one or two helpers on most jobs my whole career. Doing everything myself, on my own schedule, without anyone to hand things to or consult — it changed how I thought about sequencing. Some things you genuinely cannot do efficiently alone. The ridge beam was the one moment I needed a second pair of hands and ended up calling my neighbor, who is not a contractor but is solid with a temporary post.
The second thing is that you make different decisions when it’s your own money. I’ve always been careful with client budgets, but there’s a different quality of attention when every choice comes out of your own pocket. I went with a full perimeter frost wall on the foundation rather than the helical piers I’d have suggested to a cost-conscious client — because I’m going to use this garage for the rest of my life and I don’t want frost heave problems in twenty years. Vermont soil moves. Plan for it.
The third thing is that the details you skip on other people’s work are the ones you regret. I’ve recommended plenty of clients skip the vapor barrier on the crawl space, or the extra blocking in the walls, because the budget was tight. On my own shop I did all of it. I insulated the slab. I ran conduit for electrical even where I didn’t need it yet, because I know myself well enough to know I’ll want more circuits eventually.
The workshop bay is the part I’m most satisfied with. Twelve-foot ceiling, a floor drain, and enough wall outlets that I haven’t needed an extension cord once. That last part alone was worth the project.
DougAlexander.net 