Renting garage workspace

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NuggyBuggy

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I’m looking for experiences anyone might have renting space to work and tinker and store maybe four or five bikes in various states of repair along with tools, stands, and parts.

I currently keep my bikes at a cottage which we may be selling. Our city home has only street parking. The ideal space would be somewhere close to downtown, where I could park a car overnight or for several nights, that is insured or relatively secure, heated and is of course appropriate for working and storing several bikes.

I understood Flying Squirrel did something similar and it’s not too far, but I uthink inappropriate for project bikes.
 
You're probably better off renting a space that's dedicated to you and allowing you to store it. If you can find a storage space that allows motorcycles / vehicles it would be ideal.

Very risking allowing people of various skills to work on bikes / cars unsupervised. The insurance cost alone is huge.
 
Can the cottage funds be allocated to purchasing a property? One GTAM member (I can't remember which one) bought a garage in the country with a similar plan. Cheaper land and tax than a waterfront cottage. Close to you, there are probably not affordable garages/vacant land and commercial units could be obscenely expensive. A large self-storage unit may work but the cost can be painful (~$7/sq ft/mo). For $7/sq ft/mo, @mimico_polak might consider renting you his garage. That's a big chunk of passive income.
 
If you have the space,I would consider constructing a large shed that can easily be insulated and heated with an electric heater. I know a lot of municipalities have eased up on their restrictions. Where I am use to be limited to 100 sq.ft. Now it’s 150 sq.ft. A 10’x15’ workspace isn’t so bad if it’s laid out properly and you’re not storing junk in it. Don’t know where you would put the bikes you’re not working on though. Cost of renting any space in Toronto is crazy, even a garage. If you get a chance watch some of Allan Millard’s videos. He’s the guy in the UK that takes old Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and grafts another 2 cylinders onto them. He also does some concourse restorations in basically a garden shed in his backyard. It’s absolutely amazing what this guy does in such a small workspace.
 
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Bobo said:
I would consider constructing a large shed that can easily be insulated and heated with an electric heater. I know a lot of municipalities have eased up on their restrictions. Where I am use to be limited to 100 sq.ft. Now it’s 150 sq.ft. A 10’x15’ workspace isn’t so bad if it’s laid out properly and you’re not storing junk in it. Don’t know where you would put the bikes you’re not working on though. Cost of renting any space in Toronto is crazy, even a garage. If you get a chance watch some of Allan Millard’s videos. He’s the guy in the UK that takes old Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and grafts another 2 cylinders onto them. He also does some concourse restorations in basically a garden shed in his backyard. It’s absolutely amazing what this guy does in such a small workspace.
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Look up for more space. Build as tall as possible with a gambrel roof and you could store bikes that aren't being worked on over your head.
 
GreyGhost said:
Can the cottage funds be allocated to purchasing a property? One GTAM member (I can't remember which one) bought a garage in the country with a similar plan. Cheaper land and tax than a waterfront cottage. Close to you, there are probably not affordable garages/vacant land and commercial units could be obscenely expensive. A large self-storage unit may work but the cost can be painful (~$7/sq ft/mo). For $7/sq ft/mo, @mimico_polak might consider renting you his garage. That's a big chunk of passive income.
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I don’t see myself driving out to the country to work on my bikes for a little time here and there. The beauty of the cottage was I was there all weekend and could tinker when and as I felt like it. Even in the city I recognize a twenty minute drive is no longer the same. The alternative is sell our city home to buy one with a garage but that’s more work than I’m willing to entertain right now.

Do drive-in style self storage units allow running motorcycles in the units?
 
Bobo said:
I would consider constructing a large shed that can easily be insulated and heated with an electric heater. I know a lot of municipalities have eased up on their restrictions. Where I am use to be limited to 100 sq.ft. Now it’s 150 sq.ft. A 10’x15’ workspace isn’t so bad if it’s laid out properly and you’re not storing junk in it. Don’t know where you would put the bikes you’re not working on though. Cost of renting any space in Toronto is crazy, even a garage. If you get a chance watch some of Allan Millard’s videos. He’s the guy in the UK that takes old Kawasaki 2 stroke triples and grafts another 2 cylinders onto them. He also does some concourse restorations in basically a garden shed in his backyard. It’s absolutely amazing what this guy does in such a small workspace.
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Beautiful idea but 10*15 would be most of my backyard, LOL. That’s not really the problem as we don’t use the yard but I live in a Victorian row house and access to the backyard is through a couple of tiny gates. Access is the big problem I see, but I will check this Allan Millard out. I know that where there’s a will there’s a way.
 
NuggyBuggy said:
Beautiful idea but 10*15 would be most of my backyard, LOL. That’s not really the problem as we don’t use the yard but I live in a Victorian row house and access to the backyard is through a couple of tiny gates. Access is the big problem I see, but I will check this Allan Millard out. I know that where there’s a will there’s a way.
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I believe it’s actually Allan Millyard (with a y)
 
Kijiji has listings but most are storage only at ~$400 a month. Amateurs working on stuff brings memories of makeshift tools and poor housekeeping. You will be competing with one and two man trade outfits trying to establish footholds.
 
nobbie48 said:
Kijiji has listings but most are storage only at ~$400 a month. Amateurs working on stuff brings memories of makeshift tools and poor housekeeping. You will be competing with one and two man trade outfits trying to establish footholds.
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Sub-leasing storage units is a lot cheaper than buying bikes. Once there is enough stuff in there to make it worthwhile, clean it out and disappear.
 
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