My first garage (recent homeowner)

[onesight1]

*Updates on next pages*

Alright guys, I just want to show you all what I have been working on.

I recently bought my house a little more than a year ago, just before my 21 birthday and have been spending my time renovating things (flying my dad up from my hometown in FL to help me- whenever I can). However, I've come to realize travel is getting expensive and I'm going to need to learn to do things on my own.

So what better place to start "learning" how to renovate on my own than my empty, ugly garage.(I had to tackle this part of the house after drooling at pics on this site.)
- I have no real carpentry skills (all of this was done over webcam with my dad- but I've learned quite a bit through that whole experience.)

Here are some progress pics.

Pretty much were I had to start...

joint compound added

I decided to make use of the old kitchen cabinets I had laying around... so I made a neat little shelf using them. I used primer to get them ready for paint and I also took the doors off to paint them using Smoke Gloss Grey rustoleum.

Lights added ($10 each!) ... hard to imagine I only had ONE light in there, that was part of the garage opener.

added more electrical outlets, now totaling 16!

painted the one of the doors.... cleaned up a bit..painted the walls "thin ice- semi gloss".. took some pics.

Found this laying around at my uncles work, so I asked him If I could keep it...

brought it home... took it apart and started my weekend project!

and lastly, a test fit.... also painted the cinder blocks smoke glossy grey rustoleum to match the doors.

keep in mind... I literally can barely hammer a nail straight, but with the powers of Skype, I was able to have my dad step by step tell me what needed to me done. Luckily, he left most of his cheaper tools with me when he flew up to see me and renovated my kitchen.


This weekend we are building a workbench, maybe hanging up some pegboard.

I really wish I could renovate my floor... but that huge crack is going to be a ***** to fix.... anyone have any recommendations on how to fix that crack?





EDIT: Work bench on page #2

 

[becarsb]

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x63/mrbomba/clapping.gif

good job !!!!!!!!

 

[onesight1]

http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x63/mrbomba/clapping.gif

good job !!!!!!!!

thanks! I cant wait for black friday to buy garage stuff.... (never thought I'd say that)... looking for a shop vac/ hydraulic chair/ soem tools, etc

awwwwww yeah

 

[Easterlake]

What's wrong with you. Apparently you haven't been watching tv enough to know the world is coming to an end. 21 and a homeowner? Very impressive. Good for you!!
Everyone on this site had zero carpentry skills at one point. The key is to not be afraid to try and not get discouraged with mistakes. Your garage looks great.
Looking forward to watching your progress. You should be proud.

 

[catsteve]

nice space. keep the pics coming.

 

[Jawn]

21 and a homeowner? Very impressive. Good for you!!

TRUTH.

Your garage looks nice, I'm envious.

 

[onesight1]

What's wrong with you. Apparently you haven't been watching tv enough to know the world is coming to an end. 21 and a homeowner? Very impressive. Good for you!!
Everyone on this site had zero carpentry skills at one point. The key is to not be afraid to try and not get discouraged with mistakes. Your garage looks great.
Looking forward to watching your progress. You should be proud.

nice space. keep the pics coming.

TRUTH.

Your garage looks nice, I'm envious.

thanks guys! I'm smiling ear to ear. It feels good to actually be able to contribute to this site. I never even considered renovating my garage....which made me sad, considering I am a car enthusiast and love the "idea" of working on a car....sadly, I can barely turn a wrench. However, I plan to change all that someday when I finish my garage. (shits kind of expensive!)

I cant wait till thursday, 3 day weekend.

I plan on finalizing the red metal cabinet + the wood ones on the other side of the garage. Also want to add a garage door threshold or w/e its called on the floor. Then, friday&sat can get started on my work bench.

I really appreciate the compliments, this is the first build I can say I did myself.



edit: anyone familiar with flooring? If you scroll up and see the picture that shows the cracked garage floor ....do you think I could simply level that with some leveling cement? or does that need to be cut/replaced with a new slab?

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Nice job! I am loving those cabinets built into the new "closet". I can just see a shop computer in the center, and you have the perfect spot for a "collectors display" of some nice old tools in those glass door sides. Some nice hand planes, hand saws, brace drills, etc... not to expensive to buy, and would look killer displayed like that.

Something like this?

 

[jamesemery728]

Great job on the garage and congrats on being a homeowner at such a young age. Don't worry about not being able to turn a wrench or swing a hammer, everyone on this site had to start somewhere. As long as you learn the proper way to do a job it does not matter how you learn it, skype, utube, google, all good ways to learn. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[ddl2004]

I really like how it's coming together! Keep up the good work!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Wow! great job. Really like how you rescued those 3 cabinets!!

 

[steven083008]

Nice upgrades! Looks like you are doing a great job.

Why is the drywall purple? I haven't seen that before. Is it mildew/mold resistant or something?

 

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

For not being able to swing a hammer you've done a great job, seriously! What you can be happy with is the knowledge that you have an innate ability, a natural skill or competence to do this sort of work. That makes learning much easier for you than for someone who wants to do such work but doesn't have the natural ability. This will also help you when it comes to wrenching on vehicles.

 

[Dan'sGarage]

Congrats on your new home and to accomplish that at 21 -you're making your old man happy by being this responsible! That's a nice garage space and looks like you have a ton of room to work with. Should be fun seeing how this turn out. Looking forward to more pictures. Good job with the cabinets!

 

[dangle]

Great progress, can't wait to see what's next.

Congrats on the house & garage

 

[UN4GTBL]

Wow!

Congrats on that.

You've obviously made some good choices in life to have a house and a Genesis already.

 

[Tripp P.]

Sweet place! I know what it's like to get your 1st garage. I'm on my 2nd house but it's my 1st garage. Love the colors. Keep up the good work

 

[onesight1]

Nice upgrades! Looks like you are doing a great job.

Why is the drywall purple? I haven't seen that before. Is it mildew/mold resistant or something?

yeah, I decided to buy mold resistant drywall...

now that I think about it, I kind of wished I also built the wall unit at least 6 inches higher... oh well...

 

[onesight1]

Wow!

Congrats on that.

You've obviously made some good choices in life to have a house and a Genesis already.

Yeah, it all fell into my lap unexpectedly...

I'm from south florida and got an opportunity to work at a sleep lab, on the job training in PA.

decided to try it out... "ah what the heck"

ended up extremely intrigued with my field and have climbed the latter since.
Now I want to return to school and finish my degree. (scared of debt though)

 

[onesight1]

Wow! great job. Really like how you rescued those 3 cabinets!!

you have NOOOO idea how much of a pain it was to move them (they are heavy!)


also, painting them with a rattle can wasn't fun. (I'm sure I inhaled a lot of red enamel.. even though I ventilated the room and took frequent breaks)

one of the cabinets have pretty bad orange peel effect on the inside, though the reflective glass hides it when they are closed. I will touch it up in the near future... snow soon falls and my garage is not heated. (looking for a way to cheaply heat it...maybe a floor unit or something)

 

[Jkaz]

well done man, that looks fantastic!

 

[Victorymike18]

Very nice work. I like how you framed out and enclosure for the cabinets, that's a nice way to integrate them.

 

[onesight1]

got the other door on and removed the tape from the center and handles.

needs a little more paint in the future around the drawers.
also, its missing the shelves it came with (8) and I will put them on after I paint it.

also, used grout to fill in the gaps around the cinderblocks (dunno if thats ok to do? lol..) Im painting over it again after it dries

its COLD in my garage!

 

[Zeke]

Yeah, fill in those grout lines. It's all good.

The red cabinet is built hell for stout, young man. You'll learn in time to use half of that amount of lumber.

 

[a-fordable]

Well worth the effort!---nice job--keep up the good work*

 

[onesight1]

decided to build my work bench last night

temporarily using tape to hold 2x4's as a resting point for the bottom shelf

this thing is heavy duty!

Top is on: 3/4" cdx

1" hole cut at 12" and 24" marks from both ends of the tabe.
these holes will later be used in assisting the user remove the floating melamine top

and here we are.... finally done (with malmine top)..I figured I would use melamin because 1.) feels nice 2.)nothing really sticks to it 3.) I can simply remove and cut a new one to size after it gets all banged up and needs replaced.

now, I need to coat the bench in sanding sealer, then sand it and paint it "Gloss Smoke Grey" just like the doors and cinderblock.

 

[onesight1]

buying pegboard tomorrow and uploading pics over the weekend

 

[Tripp P.]

Good job!

 

[onesight1]

Good job!

thanks !

 

[tfreer85]

As a young-ish homeowner myself, great job. Providing me some inspiration to keep doing my stuff...

 

[jeffmoss26]

I am very impressed! Keep up the good work!

 

[onesight1]

update on table...

and i wasnt trying to pop the hood for a "kodak moment" lol

i was installing a headlight and decided to take a picture

 

[Boosted1]

Good idea on the replaceable bench top.

 

[Fast914]

Great job on your garage and after seeing your Cabinets (fantastic look by the way) and your new work bench you can lose the "I don't have skills" comment. Place looks great. I second the comments re "21 years old"!!!! Congratulations to you for sure!!!

Like most other posts on this site, you have encouraged me to get on with some painting in my garage and that Melamine top sheet is a great idea....I am going to get some tonight! Congrats again on a really great start.

 

[SpeedCoach]

very nice! keep the updates coming!

 

[onesight1]

Great job on your garage and after seeing your Cabinets (fantastic look by the way) and your new work bench you can lose the "I don't have skills" comment. Place looks great. I second the comments re "21 years old"!!!! Congratulations to you for sure!!!

Like most other posts on this site, you have encouraged me to get on with some painting in my garage and that Melamine top sheet is a great idea....I am going to get some tonight! Congrats again on a really great start.

thank you for your compliments...im very glad I shared.

*updates coming soon*

 

[Mr.ratchet]

Nice job on a small space and Love the red cabinets

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Onesight!,
Very nice work. As to your cracked floor? It does'nt look too displaced so I'd say you MAY be able to use a Quikcrete type leveling cement or if the difference in height is really small...well, have you considered tiling the floor with the cheap tile that Home Depot sells? Sometimes its well under $1 a square foot. Instead of a black and white checker board, maybe a gray and white checkerboard design but use four tiles for one "square" otherwise it looks very, very busy. Anyway, just an idea. Looks at Jack Olson's 12 Gauge Garage (as if you haven't already!) and see that his old slab is/was badly damaged and you can make up some height with just the thinset.

 

[onesight1]

Onesight!,
Very nice work. As to your cracked floor? It does'nt look too displaced so I'd say you MAY be able to use a Quikcrete type leveling cement or if the difference in height is really small...well, have you considered tiling the floor with the cheap tile that Home Depot sells? Sometimes its well under $1 a square foot. Instead of a black and white checker board, maybe a gray and white checkerboard design but use four tiles for one "square" otherwise it looks very, very busy. Anyway, just an idea. Looks at Jack Olson's 12 Gauge Garage (as if you haven't already!) and see that his old slab is/was badly damaged and you can make up some height with just the thinset.

yeah that's what I plan on doing... still deciding between VCT and plain ole' ceramic... whichever is easier to lay and hide any damages

Jacks garage is awesome. Ive seen it, also had to look him up on youtube to see the actual lift in motion. Sick stuff.

 

[onesight1]

progress pics.... Mom and Dad bought me an early Xmas gift...
http://www.harborfreight.com/26-8-drawer-roller-cabinet-with-8-drawer-top-chest-67831.html

a nice toolbox to hold tools I don't have (yet) , haha

It's from harbor freight....it wasn't the display, but its online. It feels really nice. The toolbox has ball bearing drawer slides and opens and closes as smooth as my Dads snap on toolboxes ....lol, or sort of.

anyways... I really like it. It was a great gift.

I really need a floor, haha.

also I need to finish the crown molding around the garage, and add the pegboard+lamp that'll hang down