Thread: Engineering/laminating question.

I have a rental property and I'd be a little worried if someone wanted to convert the garage to a work shop too. What happens if there's a fire? What will your insurance company say? They could wash their hands of the whole thing, by saying the tenant was running a commercial enterprise from there, which of course wouldn't be covered under my residential income property policy. Even if it was a guy looking to build a boat, I'd want more in rent to cover the increase in insurance costs, at the very least and I think liability is probably the reason your association is so anal about it.

Boat building shops have all sorts of assorted things in them, that can jack the policy cost through the roof. My insurance guy is someone I've known for 30 years and he took one look at the "chemical" side of my shop and said "I didn't see this" and walked quickly to his car. We're friends and he doesn't want to loose my business, but 5 gallon cans or jugs of every solvent you can think of, including a few that aren't legal to own any more, several different types of epoxy and other resin systems, paints, additives, you name it, I got it, all in plane sight. I've intentionally assembled them in the one corner of the shop, so that if there's a fire, I know what corner to run away from. This says nothing of the toxicity issues.

I've never had a problem though I have had small fires and other issues including a fairly good size explosion (which was way cool) once. This said, not too many are as careful as me (I tried to blow myself up once, remember), so I'd lay awake at night wondering if the renter has rags of oil and other chemicals, in a pile in the corner of his new little shop, just waiting to burst into flames or something else that wasn't expected.

Originally Posted by PAR

I have a rental property and I'd be a little worried if someone wanted to convert the garage to a work shop too. What happens if there's a fire? What will your insurance company say? They could wash their hands of the whole thing, by saying the tenant was running a commercial enterprise from there, which of course wouldn't be covered under my residential income property policy. Even if it was a guy looking to build a boat, I'd want more in rent to cover the increase in insurance costs, at the very least and I think liability is probably the reason your association is so anal about it.

Boat building shops have all sorts of assorted things in them, that can jack the policy cost through the roof. My insurance guy is someone I've known for 30 years and he took one look at the "chemical" side of my shop and said "I didn't see this" and walked quickly to his car. We're friends and he doesn't want to loose my business, but 5 gallon cans or jugs of every solvent you can think of, including a few that aren't legal to own any more, several different types of epoxy and other resin systems, paints, additives, you name it, I got it, all in plane sight. I've intentionally assembled them in the one corner of the shop, so that if there's a fire, I know what corner to run away from. This says nothing of the toxicity issues.

I've never had a problem though I have had small fires and other issues including a fairly good size explosion (which was way cool) once. This said, not too many are as careful as me (I tried to blow myself up once, remember), so I'd lay awake at night wondering if the renter has rags of oil and other chemicals, in a pile in the corner of his new little shop, just waiting to burst into flames or something else that wasn't expected.

Paul,

The issue wasn't with the property owner, who in fact has been on my side in this whole mess, but rather with the Stalinist homeowner's association who's motives have absolutely nothing to do with the shop per se. And yeah, I'm very careful and safety oriented. I am an experienced woodworker of nearly 30 years.

Originally Posted by Rick_Tatum

AJ,

I rent a condo that has a detached garage that I use as my workshop. According to the assoc. covenants, all garages must be kept clear to park vehicles in it...no storage, no parking boats on trailers etc. After I photographed an 18ft Boston Whaler in the Homeowner assoc. president's garage, they dropped that argument. They switched tactics and said that since the electricity to the garage is on a common meter paid by the association, I couldn't use even a small amount for the occasional power tool, and they removed the circuit breaker that services my garage. Never mind that several owners have workshops set up in THEIR garages. So the solution ultimately was for me to install brand new circuits from my breaker panel to the garage. They fought that too, claiming that the garage building itself was a common area which is complete nonsense. My landlord , who is a great guy, had his attorney draft a scary nasty letter to the association threatening all manner heartbreak and legal fees if they didn't back off. It worked , and I recently finished rewiring my shop space. The whole issue boils down to the fact that I rent , and am not an owner. They feel that having too high a percentage of the units as rentals is driving down the property values , and they have been pretty aggressive in harassing the people who do rent here. It was a real headache, but they screwed with someone who wouldn't break camp and move down the road.

The best thing we ever did was move out of our strata titled town-house
(similar idea to your condo) into our own place. Big step down in "niceness" -
we bought at the cheapest end of the market. Individual neighbours have
sometimes been... eccentric, but at least there's no ready-made mechanism
for any to gang-up on any others. Property market in USA must just about be
affordable for normal people again.. thoughts of buying a place of your own?
AJ

Originally Posted by b.o.a.t.

The best thing we ever did was move out of our strata titled town-house
(similar idea to your condo) into our own place. Big step down in "niceness" -
we bought at the cheapest end of the market. Individual neighbours have
sometimes been... eccentric, but at least there's no ready-made mechanism
for any to gang-up on any others. Property market in USA must just about be
affordable for normal people again.. thoughts of buying a place of your own?
AJ

AJ,

I own a nice chunk of acreage (46 acres) in another state that I will build on when I retire. Buying property here in the Bay Area of N. California is out of the question for me at the present...property values are among the highest in the U.S. Anything remotely suitable for my purposes is priced way beyond my means.

Bay Area = San Francisco ?
46 acres sounds like a Good Thing.
"another State" doesn't offer the same income opportunities as Ca I'd guess?
AJ

Originally Posted by b.o.a.t.

Bay Area = San Francisco ?
46 acres sounds like a Good Thing.
"another State" doesn't offer the same income opportunities as Ca I'd guess?
AJ

AJ, yes, I'm up just north of San Francisco. My land is in southern Idaho. Beautiful country, several nice sailing lakes and the Snake River close by too, but not much work to be had. That's just one part of the picture....I have commitments here that I can't just drop right now.