Garage interior finishing advice

[kav]

Hello All

I have been enjoying all the members projects and have finally felt inspired enough to try my hand at finishing my own garage. I wanted to get some advice on how to proceed.

I love the look of the epoxy but have elected to go with a VCT tile, primariy because of price. I have found a black VCT tile by Armstrong which is currently what I'm planning on using. I've also come across a product called Allure Commercial and Garage, which appears to be similar to VCT but has a nicer finish, is less brittle but about 2.5 times the price.

Here are the questions:
1) I plan on sanding down some rough spots on the drywall and painting a new colour, leaving the ceiling as it is. I have no idea how to address the stem walls. On my garage the stem wall is quite large on the back wall and partially on the sides. Furthermore the stem walls are very uneven with large holes and extra chunks of concrete. I thought about just painting it or even putting some sort of concrete board on there so that it could be finished to look similar ot the wall. One thing of note - the back wall of the garage is essentially a retaining wall so there is some water penetration during heavy rain (as you can see from the stains). Any ideas on how to finish this?

2) As you can see in the pictures, the concrete floor has a few spots from the previous owner. I was going to wash down the floor but how much prep is really needed prior to the glue for VCT tiles.

3) I have too many rims/tires and need some suggestions on how to store them. I've seen some racks but I don't know how I feel with them only be secured on one wall and essentially sitting in a position where if they fell they could seriously damage the cars.

4) I'm planning to have some shelving units with doors, probably along the bakc wall (at least partially) and the tool chest on the right had side wall ( beside the door). Any other suggestions for configurations.

5) Any other suggestions on how I should proceed with the project. Keep in mind the garage is not that big (19x19) and I have 2 cars.

Thanks everyone.

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[HoosierBuddy]

My first take on the stem wall would be "don't get too carried away".

1. If you paint it the same color (or colour) as the walls, it won't be too noticeable.
2. I assume it's there because it has dirt behind it. That means moisture. Anything you put over the top of it will tend to trap that moisture and could lead to other problems.

That's just my first take on it. Others may have better insights.

On the tires and rims...can you specify:

1. How many tires and rims?
2. Are the tires mounted to the rims?
3. Are they like snow tires where you swap them out twice a year or like just some odd collection of tires and rims you're hanging onto because you really just dig having a lot of tires and rims in your garage like in case there's a shortage some day or government bans them or maybe you're preparing for some post apocalyptic scenario where tires and rims are all that stands between your garage and the chaos of the future?
4. Do you want to hide 'em or just get them stored and out of the way?

Phil

 

[kav]

1. How many tires and rims?
2. Are the tires mounted to the rims?
3. Are they like snow tires where you swap them out twice a year or like just some odd collection of tires and rims you're hanging onto because you really just dig having a lot of tires and rims in your garage like in case there's a shortage some day or government bans them or maybe you're preparing for some post apocalyptic scenario where tires and rims are all that stands between your garage and the chaos of the future?
4. Do you want to hide 'em or just get them stored and out of the way?

Phil

Thanks for the feedback.

I have winter setups for both the car and the truck. Just the tires for the truck and rims on tires for the car. I am frequently buying car stuff for that rainy day but at the moment it is only the 8 of them. I don't need them to be hidden away. Just orgnaized and out of the way..

 

[Jack Olsen]

I think you're going to regret black VCT -- it'll eat up all the light and be difficult to find anything you drop on it. Maybe use the price of the black to get someone else to price match a light gray shade?

I would look for a place outside to store the tires/wheels. I only have one spare set, but there wasn't room in my 20x22. I bought a commercial cover that goes over the stack.

If you can't get the wheels/rims outside, then maybe a full-wall-length rack right under the ceiling, so you can still use some of the space underneath.

I'll include a photo of my garage (it's over-exposed on this site, but it might be new to you). I used fold-down benches where a car gets parked. I made a rule that only one car would get garage space, since I wanted room to work. I made an outside cover for my daily driver, and lucked out with a wife willing to park on the street.

I put enclosed storage up high and just about everywhere else I could fit it. I went with ceramic tile, which was only .68/sf. Pretty much everything you see in it is home-made, second-hand or re-purposed.

 

[csp]

One thing of note - the back wall of the garage is essentially a retaining wall so there is some water penetration during heavy rain (as you can see from the stains). Any ideas on how to finish this?

Not a finishing idea, but you need to do what it takes to make the water go around the wall instead of through it.

Make sure that the top of the grade behind it slopes away from the wall.

If it does and you're still getting water inside dig down around the back side and install a french drain. Water will take the path of least resistance and you need to make it easier to go another direction.

 

[Keep]

You can fix those holes in the back with some epoxy.

As for painting it, you can paint it what ever color you like, I just used single stage epoxy concrete paint, even had it tinted blue to match the flecks in the floor.

For your wheels/tires there are a lot of tires storage racks on here, just search for them. There are even some that tie into the ceiling and a wall to help with your fear of them falling off and dinging a car.

I think you will regret the black tiles, sure they will hide a lot, but as mentioned you will lose your light and anything you drop on it.

GL

 

[HoosierBuddy]

If the tires and rims need to go inside you could either build yourself a rack to get them up and out of your way...which will be awkward to load/unload AND as you've pointed out lead to the potential of catastrophic car damage if they ever come down unexpectedly (not likely...but definitely possible) OR just stack them up in the corner, one on top of the other. Not very good use of your floor space...but safer and easier than a high rack.

On the flooring? I left mine bare concrete. Yeah it's got some stains. It's a garage. I work in it. Sometimes oil ends up on the floor. These things happen. The tile floors look awesome...but they just aren't for me. Also, I don't think it would be ideal with my infloor radiant heat.

Jack Olson...your garage is awesome dude. I just couldn't picture dropping a ****** in there. It'd be a crime.

Phil

 

[Jack Olsen]

Jack Olson...your garage is awesome dude. I just couldn't picture dropping a ****** in there. It'd be a crime.

Thanks. But it gets dirty. This weekend a friend of mine is helping me swap a replacement motor into my race car. With my car, you've got to raise the car up, drop the motor down, and roll it out. We'll see how those tiles take the beating.

 

[kav]

Jack, I've seen your threads and that is a dream garage for me. My wife is less understanding that yours! I've got to maintain the 2 spots.

Thanks for the input guys. I will paint the stem wall as suggested a similar color to the wall. I'm finish the paint job on the walls. Beige in color. The floors, I'll reconsider the black VCT tiles. I wouldn't have thought of the lighting issue with dark tiles. I may reconsider those Allure Commercial tiles, just because they are easy to use. They are on sale locally for just under $2 sqft.

I'll do a little more searching on the tire/wheel racks.

Thanks!

 

[Wingnut65]

Sounds like you have gotten the right advice so far. You are fortunate not to have a water heater or air conditioner sitting in your garage to work around. My wife also thinks that a garage is to park cars in..

For the flooring, Jack is right on the light issue. The darker the floor, the more light you will need to make the room look bright. Ceramic tile is also a great option to VCT. If you are willing to consider upgrading from VCT to the Allure tiles for $2 sf, consider looking at RaceDeck. Mine was only $2.69 sf and eliminated the slip concerns my wife had with the VCT I was originally planning. (BTW, if you use a black floor, just make sure anything you drop is white to make it easier to find!)

For the stem wall, csp is correct that the water should not be allowed to enter the wall in the first place. On the outside of the wall, there must be drainage and waterproofing proofing conditions that should be addressed. There are drainable moisture barriers that can be put on the outside of the wall that would drain the moisture down to a french drain (concept: perforated pipe in rocks) that would drain any water around and away from the house. Then there are paint-on waterproofings that are designed for basement walls as a last defense to moisture entering the room.

For the tires, I've seen somewhere on GJ where someone mounted a rack at the top of the wall with the front either attached to the ceiling or through the ceiling and directly to a truss. It only took up space about 30" down from the ceiling.

Good luck on your project.

 

[28HopUp]

After reading through ideas here on tire storage, I decided to move my winter rims/tires to the basement (I have an outside entrance). Previously, I had the tires stacked in the corner of the garage which took up valuable floor space. Although I liked the idea of building an overhead rack, I decided it would be better to store the tires/rims elsewhere since I only need to swap them twice a year. By moving stuff around and pitching items I didn't need, I now have more things in my garage than before I started, but the more efficient use of space makes it look less cluttered and better organized.

So if you can move stuff out that you don't use often, you'll have more room in your garage.

 

[swedevil]

Not sure about where you are, but my parents house, we built a rack to the back of the garage (on the outside) and load the tiers up there when not in use. 1 hook per tire/rim basically. They stay out of the way, off the ground, and away from public view

 

[ADaughen]

If the tires and rims need to go inside you could either build yourself a rack to get them up and out of your way...which will be awkward to load/unload AND as you've pointed out lead to the potential of catastrophic car damage if they ever come down unexpectedly (not likely...but definitely possible) OR just stack them up in the corner, one on top of the other. Not very good use of your floor space...but safer and easier than a high rack.

On the flooring? I left mine bare concrete. Yeah it's got some stains. It's a garage. I work in it. Sometimes oil ends up on the floor. These things happen. The tile floors look awesome...but they just aren't for me. Also, I don't think it would be ideal with my infloor radiant heat.

Jack Olson...your garage is awesome dude. I just couldn't picture dropping a ****** in there. It'd be a crime.

Phil

I wanted to put mine up on the wall above everything, but I worried that if my carpentry broke I would have 200lbs of wheel/tire combo falling on my cars.

This is one of those times I would buy something sturdy (since my welding is worse than my carpentry ).

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-900048/
or
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MRM-M998070/
as examples.


A local guy made this instructable which I ended up modifying, since I had some spare 2x6s I needed to use up:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-Tire-Rack/#step1

I have a 48"x32" footprint. Depending on how many wheels you have, it might be easier to just to stack them and use up a 30"x30" spot on the floor.

 

[csp]

Pallet racking is great for storing tires on (among other things). You can set the crossrails high enough to park a car under them also.

 

[Ryan_C]

If I remember correctly, isn't Racedeck flooring about $2.25/square? And the squares are 12".

 

[nickleone]

There is "waterproof" paint that can be put on the interior wall of the garage to stop the wet. I dont know if there is a color choice but you could easily paint over the "waterproof" paint with a color of choice. Check out the big box store near you.

Nick

 

[Jack Olsen]

I looked at a lot of different tire storage ideas, and then went with a very simple solution -- which gets them out of the garage. With the cover, the wife no longer sees it as a stack of ugly tires.

http://www.topoftheline.com/kurgo-tire-garage.html