let's build something together, HELP!

[ninjarico]

I come to you GJ for help. I've seen some amazing garages on here and now that I've been settled in my new house for a while I want to setup my garage. Here is a pic when I first moved in and 2 I just took right now. I use the garage to work on my cars and to have some alone time to think (sweeping it in silence is remarkably relaxing).

Unfortunately I don't have the eye for layout and design like a lot of you guys. What should I begin with? How would you go about the layout? inspirational pics, anything!

 

[BlueZero]

Form follows function!

I say work in your garage a bit and everything will start to find a place. Once you get a feel for what you want and where you want it, then figure it out.

 

[67pete300]

Be careful what you ask for. Before you know it, you will have a Bendpak lift, Wolverine epoxy floor, Lista cabinets full of Snap on tools, issues with your local zoning board on your giant detached garage plans, etc., etc....

 

[Mikea57]

What are the dimensions of the garage? How much do you do when you work on your vehicles - air up the tires and replace the air filter, or yank the motor or transmission and rebuild them? How much money do you have to spend on this project?

You might want to download Google Sketchup and draw it up in there to try out different layouts to see what works best for you.

Will it store kids bikes/balls/sports equipment and the lawnmower/wheelbarrow/tiller or just the car?

If this is going to be an ongoing project (as most are) what are you planning on accumulating; workbench, Air compressor, parts washer, etc?

Just some questions to ponder...

 

[ersatzs2]

More photos than you could digest have already been posted on the site but as usual they are tough to sort through. One suggestion: in the 'garage gallery' section, sort the threads by popularity by clicking on the blue 'views' header. While it won't capture the most recent popular threads, it will give you a pretty good ranking of the the creative legacy on the list!

 

[Blue]

After looking at your pics, here's the first things that jump to my mind:

This man needs a workbench! At least one of those 6 foot long folding tables.

Some pegboard on the wall maybe, to hang hammers, extension cords, and other stuff from.

I really like the wire shelves that you can get at Lowes. I think their called "baker shelves," or something. They snap together, and are sturdy as hell.

 

[Jiffycake]

After looking at your pics, here's the first things that jump to my mind:

This man needs a workbench! At least one of those 6 foot long folding tables.

Some pegboard on the wall maybe, to hang hammers, extension cords, and other stuff from.

I really like the wire shelves that you can get at Lowes. I think their called "baker shelves," or something. They snap together, and are sturdy as hell.

Agreed.

I can't tell how the paint is but new paint wouldn't hurt if you already had some leftover gallons. If not it's probably not worth the cost..

I would add some type of fluorescent lighting too.
Put up some 4' T8 fixtures and you will actually have light instead of using those incandescent clamp on lamps that I see you use/have currently.

I am actually planning to start a build thread like this one for my garage this summer and lighting/paint is definitely the first thing I will address.

 

[michael Mccoy]

First thing I would do is get a bucket of car wash soap, sponge, chamois and give that poor Lexus a good washing

 

[Pudmunkie]

I agree on the work bench.

I will vouch for the quality of the workbenches you can buy at costco... I was very impressed.

You'll need tons of shelving as well!

 

[ninjarico]

All good points, I actually do quite a bit of work on my cars (3). Never pulled a motor on my own though (never had a garage to do it either though...).

The garage is going to be just the for the cars, everything else is stored appropriately away.

I'll definitely check out the google sketchup.

The lighting is going to be a tricky issue, there are only 2 electrical outlets in the whole garage! Apparently the guy that built the house could care less about working in his garage. As it is though it's hard to work in there unless there is a lot of natural light. So I guess lighting should probably be my first task in there.

I have some leftover paint from the previous owner, should be enough to repaint the garage (which it needs quite a bit).

Don't worry Michael as soon as I finish the brakes, get some tires and polish the rims I'm putting the car back on the ground and detailing her real nice. She was very abused when i got her (which is why I only paid $500!) but is coming along nicely.

Thanks for the tips on where to start gents, I'll try to update this thread as I start getting work done in there

 

[rsanter]

prep and paint the floor before you get much more in that garage.

if you are lucky then the electrical panel is on the side of the garage. if this is the case you can run a line up the wall into the atic and scross to the other side to add a couple more plugs. while you are at it add a couple plugs to the ceiling so you can add some drop down cords.

look at the work flow in the garage and start thinking about where you want to have stuff located.
depending on how you operate you may want the workbench either near the door (beacuse you generally will keep a clear path to the door so you will have a clear path in front of the bench) or you will want to bench near the garage door (open the garage to do work or work on stuff in the driveway alot)
you may also want to look at a mobile workbench (my steel work table is kept by the garage door along the wall because I like to work with the garage door open most the time and its easy to take out to the driveway to use out there if I need more space around me or for doing welding)

you need some rack shelving. having shelving now will prevent a piled up mess.
look into atic storage for stuff you dont use much

do you have room on the other side of the wall for that water softener thing (meaning is that an outside wall and is there space on the side of the house). of so you might want to build a small shed thing to house that and a compressor

bob

 

[rocketman]

PLEASE TELL ME you're not using a tire/wheel as a jackstand?

Jackstands are CHEAP... new skulls, arms, fingers, etc... aren't.

If that water softener isn't hooked up. Find a new home for it.

Outside of that... you have a nice clean canvas to start from. I'd say electrical is your first priority. Everything and anything can and will come after that. A couple 110v outlets won't cut it.

 

[ninjarico]

PLEASE TELL ME you're not using a tire/wheel as a jackstand?

Jackstands are CHEAP... new skulls, arms, fingers, etc... aren't.

If that water softener isn't hooked up. Find a new home for it.

Outside of that... you have a nice clean canvas to start from. I'd say electrical is your first priority. Everything and anything can and will come after that. A couple 110v outlets won't cut it.

LOL hell no. The car is completely up on jacks, I put the wheels underneath the body from habit.

Softener is probably going to have to stay where it is unfortunately (other side of the wall is the kitchen).

 

[smooth72]

I agree with do the floors first, I wish I had. Your value of your garage would be greatly increase by taking down that Texas flag and put up a nice OU one.

 

[hypnotoad]

I agree with do the floors first, I wish I had. Your value of your garage would be greatly increase by taking down that Texas flag and put up a nice OU one.

Don't you mean a U F flag?