My Garage *project*

Okay.

My basement is about finished so now its time to work on my Garage.

Unfortunately The basement has took up the majority of my free money. So my garage is on somewhat of a budget.

Ive found those garage sites that our just simply Amazing. But yeah 10k on cabinitry is not what im looking for. But if any of you are looking. Showroomgarage.com. Selling VAULT cabnitry is WOW.

Anyway on to the avg. mans garage style.

My plans with my 3 car garage are.


^^^These are older pics when the drywall initially got finished. The stairway now has a wood railing. And there are 4 8ft flourescent light fixtures in the ceiling.
And heres a sneak peak at my garage doors. The outside of the house carries a sandtone theme.


So anyway now that you have an idea of the space.

My plans are....

--Do something with the stairway. Stain it with dark maple. Paint? Sometype of outdoor carpet on the steps and platform.

--Paint the remaining foundation walls.

--Some kind of flooring. Race deck is expensive for what it is. I was thinking a cheap porcelene tile. Was a possibility. Or the traditionally paint and flake systems. Still deciding.

--Some type of workspace. in the back cornerwall.
Im not really fond of this particular one. Because if i had to guess i would guess it to be cheaply made. But it this set-up is one fo the cheapest around. This package would run about $1200

Ive already got a small tool box that holds the majority of my hand tools no problem. But i would need bigger storage now that i own a house for some of my power tools.

Here was my idea concerning this. So many of these workspace set-ups are EXpensive! Even a simpe craftsman work bench. 8ft long no drawers just the bench. Is about $400. I could build it out of wood for $70.

I was pondering building myself a work bench and just buying a couple cabinits.


Just looking for ideas and opinions. 8)

Oh im also looking into to buying a $300-500 LCD panel HDTV for the garage. Placing it somewhere on my workbench. Not sure if i would get DirectTV to hook up out there or not.
The TV is definitely stretching it with the wife.

I would make sure the TV has DVI inputs and mount a notebook computer to it with a wireless LAN built in. That way you can take breaks from working on stuff in the garage to hit forums and look up DIY threads...

ive got a Ipod touch with wireless internet int he house for that.

True. ^^

I picked up the Ipod, Just to take the place of a laptop. Hell i dont even have any songs on the ipod yet. So im not buying a laptop. Ive been through this debate with myself for awhile.

video out.... ummm yeah i think it does. Because you can download movies and such to it.

But hey this isnt an ipod thread. This a garage thread. Lets talk the garage. You have any input. ?

bg:

The next time you're in Indy, you're welcome to stop by and see my garage floor. I did a complete make-over (see the thread http://www.midwestscc.com/viewtopic.php?t=55). It's now finished in epoxy flake. If you're interested, I can get you in contact with the guy that did the floor.

hey doltmo.

Any idea on what he charged for the epoxy flake job?

You really did a makeover.

That was one thing i forgot in my garage and it would have been very cheap to do. A FLIPPIN DRAIN!!!! i was sooo upset with myself. So instead we concreted the floor at an angle so that i flows outtowards the doors. Not as good as a drain. But. better than nothing.

BTW do you have any finished pics of your garage? You said int he thread you were possibly getting cabinits?

BTW any of you that are building or planning on building. DONT forget the Hot/cold water hook up in your garage.

Its very cheap when your building. Maybe a $150 added to your plumbers bill. And its awsome having hot water available in the winter time.

Just dont be like me and forget abou the drain too.

Jeff where did you find that workbench and cabinet package? The price is pretty good. I have a lot of work to do in my garage.

Thats from sears.

I just got finished washing the Gallardo in the garage this afternoon - backed out all the cars, then drove the Gallardo in so it's sitting sideways in the garage with lots of room between it and the walls. Closed the doors, turned on the propane space heater and let it rip with the garden hose and wash bucket. Afterwards I hose down the floor to wash all the salt and grit down the drain. Sure beats doing the job out on the driveway in 33 degree cold.

My guy is expensive, but you won't get a better floor. Most epoxy floor contractors do the "blow and go" - maybe an hour or two of surface prep, blow it off with a leaf blower, and hit it with one coat of epoxy. They're in and out in half a day. This guy took almost a week - two days of surface prep, one coat of primer, two layers of 100% solids epoxy and colored flakes, and a non-yellowing urethane top coat. It's an industrial grade floor. My floor cost $3750 for a normal sized 3-car garage.

Here's what it looks like, with a close up of the flakes:

Rick...beautiful floor!

How does the drywall cope with the spray? Did you use a special paint to resit moisture?

Great looking floor Rick.

Guys, I just saw at Sam's Club a new line of attractive black and alum cabinets that are priced right. Not full shop grade, but good for a home garage. Drawer glides seem about the same quality as a Craftsman tool chest, Door sheet metal gauge is a bit lighter. Don't have pics or links, but if you can stand to go in there they are worth a look.

Rick's floor is a thing of beauty!

I will say that the one thing that's really helped my garage out is the loft built over the far bay. I can keep all my spare motorcycle parts and seasonal/lawn crap on it without taking up floor space.

It's build mostly of 4x4's but I'm probably going to lower it down a couple feet (since the NSX doesn't require much roof space to go under this summer.

I have a Craftsman Tool Chest. Its the lower priced home model. Tehy run deals on them for $200 and toss in an extra middle box with the sale price.

Quality: Good Durability: Fair for slides Price: Excellent

I find the slides are not strong enough. I bumped one draw while it was partially out, now the drawer doesn't open/close well. I wished I had looked at the next model up to see if it might have been stronger. I'm in my tool chest weekly, so I may have screwed up by not thaking that into consideration and bought too low on the durability spectrum.

I also have a Craftsman Tool Bench with a back board. Its the 4 foot version with drawers and cabinet underneath. It was cheap on sale and has held up well. It has a metal counter top. Have my bench grinder and drill press on it. The vise is mounted on a homemade wooden bench beside it.

I have open shelves in the garage and wish I had cabinets to close the stuff off from view. Also have one of those wire shelf racks that fits on the back of a pantry door. It holds all the car cleaning stuff. It was left over from another project and I just stuck it on the wall for lack of a better place to put it. Now its getting use.

My garage walls are mostly peg board. Insulated behind it. I also have a walk-in closet in my garage. I put up the heavy duty wire shelves floor to ceiling in there. Lots of car parts, tools and lawn stuff. Sometimes the floor gets stacked with stuff too and you can't move in there. I need a Yard Barn to get the lawn stuff out. Bikes are on hangers on the wall. Full size Frig/Freezer in the garage too.

I really want to do something to the floor to control cement dust and put up cabinets to reduce the cluttered look. Yard Barn for the lawn stuff. That should reclaim some space and make it look better.

FYI...Craftsman has a Tool Club. Free to join and they send out mailers for extra discounts on tools and other stuff. Has saved me several $$ over the years. One of my buddies says it looks like I'm sponsored by Craftsman. I have some Craftsman tools that belonged to my grandfather that passed away in 1964.

So far it's not been an issue. I do use some care in spraying the car to avoid this problem, but with the car sitting sideways in the 3-bay garage, there's really quite a lot of room between it and the nearest wall.

Sweet! Thanks for the info.

Rick the floor definitely looks amazing.

Im assuming that price was just for the paint. And not the entire job.

That definitely was kind of pricey, for just the epoxy, but you got a great result.

No, no, no. That was for the entire job - materials and labor. I just stood back and watched.

Rick, your garage floor makes me want to break in to your garage with a pillow and sleep.

Rick, your garage floor makes me want to break in to your garage with a pillow and sleep.

You can sure say that again!