Sheriff245
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2013
- Messages
- 88
We purchased this garage in the spring of 2011. It is 22x26 with a basement and attached house. Ground level has a 9' ceiling, and basement is just under 7'. Before moving in, we had a local contractor install a polyurea floor coating for the ground level. Things were set up on the cheap, but functional. In the last 2 years, I've used the garage as is, building some pretty elaborate projects in it, and it gave me a pretty good idea of what I want and need.
One of my projects was a Chevy Express build. It required some creativity to cram everything I needed in a relatively small package, and I plan on using my experience in that department to get the most out of my garage.
Here is how it sat last summer before I started the project:
Ground level was functional, but I wanted everything to have a place out of sight, and some clean place to relax after a long day's work.
Basement is primarily used as a storage area, but scattering everything on the floor is simply a waste of space.
The lady wanted the house basement finished, so I decided to tackle both projects at the same time, mainly because I don't like doing construction work and wanted to get everything over with. The basement is quite uninteresting: family room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room. Now on to the interesting stuff.
I have had my plan thought out in my head for a while, and this fall I stumbled upon a set of kitchen cabinets in good shape for $300. After some haggling I brought it home for $175. I don't have pictures of it right now, but you'll see it later come refurbish time. With the cabinets on hand I laid them out to paper to try and fit them in the space I had. Last week I came on here and saw another member made a model using Google Sketchup. So I did the same.
Ground level will be used as a dirt bike maintenance shop and man lounge, walls and ceiling will be drywalled:
Partition wall will be erected in front of the stair well, and the L shaped cabinetry will go in that corner with a stainless steel countertop. On the left end, I'll put a 72" shop pantry I found on sale for $99 at Canadian Tire. In the right part, a Mastercraft Maximum 47" tool chest (lower only) will be incorporated into the cabinets. I got it on sale for $499 on Thanksgiving weekend. On its right, a solvent cleaner will sit under the counter and will be accessible via a flip up panel held in place with a hydraulic piston. When not in use, the panel will be flipped down, giving me almost 3 extra feet of counter top surface. Under the cleaner, I will place my glass-door beer cooler.
To the left of the house door, a sink will be placed right next to a flat screen TV in the corner above the lawn mower. The garden hose reel will be moved closer to the garage door, and an air hose reel will be added above the sink, and connected to the air compressor, which is going downstairs. On the opposite side will be the bike and race gas storage, and lounge area.
Nothing too elaborate here, just some place to sit and enjoy a cold one, watching Supercross on TV or listening to some good music with friends. Or just a place for the lady to browse through the Face Book while I work on her bike.
As I want to keep the ground level clean for the most part, the more dirty work (and noisy air compressor) is going downstairs. Half of the space downstairs will host shelving to store stuff, parts, and such, while the other half will host my current work bench with the more noisy/dirty tools, and some new ones I want to own some day.
My current toolbox, a cheapo Craftsman topper, will go under the bench to make room for some tooling.
As it sits right now, only the studs for the staircase wall were added since the pictures were taken. We are currently working on the house basement, but should be switching on the other side soon. At least I know everything will fit with a bit of room to spare now that I have drafted it. I will post pictures and details of the project as it evolves.
One of my projects was a Chevy Express build. It required some creativity to cram everything I needed in a relatively small package, and I plan on using my experience in that department to get the most out of my garage.
Here is how it sat last summer before I started the project:
Ground level was functional, but I wanted everything to have a place out of sight, and some clean place to relax after a long day's work.
Basement is primarily used as a storage area, but scattering everything on the floor is simply a waste of space.
The lady wanted the house basement finished, so I decided to tackle both projects at the same time, mainly because I don't like doing construction work and wanted to get everything over with. The basement is quite uninteresting: family room, 2 bedrooms, bathroom, laundry room. Now on to the interesting stuff.
I have had my plan thought out in my head for a while, and this fall I stumbled upon a set of kitchen cabinets in good shape for $300. After some haggling I brought it home for $175. I don't have pictures of it right now, but you'll see it later come refurbish time. With the cabinets on hand I laid them out to paper to try and fit them in the space I had. Last week I came on here and saw another member made a model using Google Sketchup. So I did the same.
Ground level will be used as a dirt bike maintenance shop and man lounge, walls and ceiling will be drywalled:
Partition wall will be erected in front of the stair well, and the L shaped cabinetry will go in that corner with a stainless steel countertop. On the left end, I'll put a 72" shop pantry I found on sale for $99 at Canadian Tire. In the right part, a Mastercraft Maximum 47" tool chest (lower only) will be incorporated into the cabinets. I got it on sale for $499 on Thanksgiving weekend. On its right, a solvent cleaner will sit under the counter and will be accessible via a flip up panel held in place with a hydraulic piston. When not in use, the panel will be flipped down, giving me almost 3 extra feet of counter top surface. Under the cleaner, I will place my glass-door beer cooler.
To the left of the house door, a sink will be placed right next to a flat screen TV in the corner above the lawn mower. The garden hose reel will be moved closer to the garage door, and an air hose reel will be added above the sink, and connected to the air compressor, which is going downstairs. On the opposite side will be the bike and race gas storage, and lounge area.
Nothing too elaborate here, just some place to sit and enjoy a cold one, watching Supercross on TV or listening to some good music with friends. Or just a place for the lady to browse through the Face Book while I work on her bike.
As I want to keep the ground level clean for the most part, the more dirty work (and noisy air compressor) is going downstairs. Half of the space downstairs will host shelving to store stuff, parts, and such, while the other half will host my current work bench with the more noisy/dirty tools, and some new ones I want to own some day.
My current toolbox, a cheapo Craftsman topper, will go under the bench to make room for some tooling.
As it sits right now, only the studs for the staircase wall were added since the pictures were taken. We are currently working on the house basement, but should be switching on the other side soon. At least I know everything will fit with a bit of room to spare now that I have drafted it. I will post pictures and details of the project as it evolves.
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