# 700 square foot garage



## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

I have a 700 square foot garage that I plan to empty this year for a halloween party. My questions are:

can 700' be enough space for a good walk through haunt? 

I am going to be using pallets bolted together for the walls (and some doors) anyone have pics of this set up? I have checked out ghost of Halloween site

ummm crap I always have all these questions when I am out in the garage then I forget them when I get online. Just like the stupid video store. I stand there for ever thinking what did I want to see again  stupid ADD!

oh and I have lots of outside space for a large grave yard. In the summer and fall complete with live rattle snakes!

thanks again


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## maximpakt (Aug 19, 2007)

Heck, set up right you could have 6 or 7 themed rooms in 700 square feet. Or one large spooky area for people to enjoy


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## MotelSixx (Sep 27, 2008)

what are dimensions of garage?


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## joker (Sep 25, 2007)

I've used a single car garage that's about 200 sq ft for my maze the past 2 years and have literally had people come running out of the garage and continue running down the street and around the corner....LOL. So yeah you should definitely be able to do that in 700 sq. ft.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

Definately! Do you plan on keeping the theme with the graveyard or have different things going on? Narrow passageways can give a nice scary feeling of clautraphobia. Strobes, smoke, black lights, sound effects... By adding switchback turns, you make it seem much longer than it really is. Be sure to safety check the pallets for protruding nails and splinters.

Best thing to do is get some graph paper and draw out your floorplan, that way you know how much material you need, how much room there is in the hallways, and the best place to set up props.

I had a small 1-car garage many years ago - made it into 3-turn hallway (with drop down spiders), crawl-under table (with nylon and fishing line webs), and an open area with a drop-down ghost. I was behind the curtain pulling ropes, turning wheels, and activating the sound like the Wizard of Oz. I scared one mom so bad she ran THROUGH my black fabric walls - I could hear her running down the street screaming. muahahaha

_"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"_


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## dave the dead (Jan 31, 2007)

Plenty of space...like Warrant said, if you make lots of turns and switchbacks you can have a bunch of small scenes as well as a very disorienting maze. When you start building you will be surprised at how long of a pathway you can fit into the space.


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

I wish i had that much space to work with. I would think you could easilly come up with some cool stuff with that much room.


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## The Archivist (May 31, 2009)

Just remember, depending on your local fire regulations, you can make the passages as narrow as 4 feet across. You should also check to see what the regs say about emergency fire exits, lighting for the signs, etc.

Last year, the fire marshall nearly crapped a brick when he saw a friend's layout maze, gave him the choice of tearing it down or putting in some (in my opinion) rather expensive redesigns of the maze and prop locations. My friend ended up have to do a teardown cause he couldn't afford the redesigns.


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## pyro (Oct 7, 2006)

heres something you may like-- http://www.deathlord.net/TentWallSystem/tentwall.htm


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## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

I am a half mile down a dirt road...so I am pretty much ignoring every single law that I can :devil: There are 3 exits already that I will keep open. This is a private party so if every one dies that's cool with me:googly:, I mean what is scarier than being trapped in a burning garage!!! Seriously though my garage is prolly more unsafe during normal conditions.

my measurements are 23' * 33' (usable)

I am leaning towards the switchback maze, with areas for props and stuff.

thanks everyone for the input and help, anyone have any sample floor plans? I know it is not that complicated but why re-invent the wheel if some one has a tried and true set up.


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## abrcrombe (Sep 18, 2007)

Thanks for posting that link, it really makes good use of a smaller area.

Few questions, hope I am not hijacking the thread.
1. What exactly is a switchback maze, just one that has hallways that use a common wall in a back and forth pattern?
2. The 4 foot wide paths, this is only if you charge an entry fee? What if it is free, are there basically no restrictions?

Thanks in advance, and again, I hope I am not hijacking.


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## hoffie08 (Nov 18, 2008)

my garage is 38 by 34 and i have a tent out front thats 10 by 26 and i do my hallways 2 feet wide so it is like cloustrophobia feeeling. yeah you can do a lot in a 700 sq ft thing.
last year mine it took some people close to 10 mins to go through it and no one got done under 7 mins.


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## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

hoffie08 do you have any pics?

does anyone have any pics of the pallet wall set up? or any floor plans?


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## hoffie08 (Nov 18, 2008)

sry i did not take really any of it all finished.


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## HalloweenZombie (Jul 22, 2007)

700 sq. feet is plenty for a home haunt walk through. My garage is nearly half that size and I split it into 4 rooms.


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

ithurt said:


> I am going to be using pallets bolted together for the walls (and some doors) anyone have pics of this set up? I have checked out ghost of Halloween site


Pallets are very heavy and often have loose splinters that people may get caught on... You may want to try going a different route, although I'm sure it'll be hard with a small budget.

IF however there are no other options, I would screw two 4'x4' pallets on top of each other, and then strap a 2"x4" on each end to keep it one solid piece. Bolts take too much time (With drilling and all that.) and I really don't think they are as effective.



hoffie08 said:


> i do my hallways 2 feet wide so it is like cloustrophobia feeeling.


I would definitely make your hallways a MINIMUM of 3' wide. If you are opening this to the public you could get some really ticked off fat people!
.


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## The Bloodshed Brothers (Jan 25, 2009)

we ran inot the slipnter with pallets problem too..ended up getting old wall paper black plastic and stapling it to the pallets. and just sanding out what we could


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## hoffie08 (Nov 18, 2008)

fyf. ik but fat people will just have to go in sideways then


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

hoffie08 said:


> fyf. ik but fat people will just have to go in sideways then


Fat people are fat no matter what way they are facing...
Keep the hallways at least 3'!
Trust me.
.


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## HauntedAcresManor (Aug 13, 2008)

wow.... im soo goin to try to keep my mouth quiet. 

let me see if i can find a "smilies" that fits my expression:

:finger:

woot, found one!


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## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

Yeah I agree on the hallways being at least 3'. I tried a 2 foot set up today and just too small for me I am 6'5" and 250lbs my shoulders almost don't fit at 2'

there will be no public just family and friends, work friends. 

On the splinter issue do you find that people touch the walls every where or just around "scare zones"?


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## ubzest (Jul 1, 2008)

Try looking for some free hollow core doors in the classified. or on the free wweb site like craigslist or kijiji. we are probably going to get some doors from the college , they teach how to hang doors and eventually they wear out and just toss them. the doors don t take up too much room and you can just hinge them back together. When we started our haunt, we used a 10x20' canopy and we fit 2 5x15 foot rooms and a 10x 5 foot room it it. lots-o-room!!


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## Front Yard Fright (Dec 23, 2005)

ithurt said:


> Yeah I agree on the hallways being at least 3'. I tried a 2 foot set up today and just too small for me I am 6'5" and 250lbs my shoulders almost don't fit at 2'
> 
> there will be no public just family and friends, work friends.
> 
> On the splinter issue do you find that people touch the walls every where or just around "scare zones"?


People will be rubbing up against your walls the entire time they go through your haunt... Think about it...

You send in a group of people, they all huddle together in fear, rubbing along the walls... something pops up and scares them, sending them against the opposite wall. The lights are out or it's dark.. they will feel their way around...

I would cover the walls in some sort of sheeting or something to help against splinters or snags.
.


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## tonguesandwich (Oct 13, 2006)

I had a 2 foot path way white room strob/fog maze room and you would be amazed the size of the people who could get through it. It was a separate shed so the size limit took out of most code restrictions... I also had a narrow pallet trail, no issues. Didn't sand but now I think of it I should have.


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## Warrant2000 (Oct 8, 2008)

abrcrombe said:


> Thanks for posting that link, it really makes good use of a smaller area.
> 
> 1. What exactly is a switchback maze, just one that has hallways that use a common wall in a back and forth pattern?


abrcrombe, you are correct about the switchbacks. It's an effective way to get a lot of hallway out of small space.

In in San Diego too, Pacific beach. What part are you in?

edit: nm, I read your profile.


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## robisc (Oct 2, 2008)

You have a lot you can do with that much space, I only have 500 SF inside my garage and it went very well last year, and here's my plans for this year.
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?p=325641#post325641


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## OpenTrackRacer (Sep 20, 2008)

Well, here I am thinking that building a pipe canopy in my garage is a new idea. Silly me! I hadn't thought of using tarps and bottom rails however. I was going to hang black plastic landscape sheeting and weight the bottoms. It seems like you'd need to be very exact on your layout to use tarps unless you got longer lengths and folded them back on themselves for shorter walls.

Some very good info in this thread!


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

I had a yard maze bookmarked on my old computer. I'll see if I can locate it for you.


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## ithurt (Jun 23, 2008)

cool thanks for all the input!


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## Haunted Bayou (Feb 16, 2007)

sorry, can't locate the link


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## xxnonamexx (Sep 12, 2007)

I am looking for an idea for my garage I did a dot room last year this year will be blank faces, the other side was tirture room with 6 guests with a skit. ANy other ideas?


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