3 Car SoCal Country Remodel

[wgasa84]

Hey all! I've been lurking around Garage Journal for some time now gathering ideas and inspiration to get my garage organized and cleaned up. Though it is currently far from where I want it, I can actually use the space to work on stuff!

The House/Garage was built in 1989 and we purchased the place in 2012. I had a few requirements for the house, but mainly that it had a good size garage and ample room to store "The Beater", our car hauler trailer and all of our stuff. Obviously my wife had a far longer list! Our house sits on 4.3 acres and it has been a ton of work to get it to the point where it sits now! The previous owner bought the place new and only moved out because she was in her early 90's and her worthless son didn't do anything but mow the lawn and weeds every few months.

I started out with a 21'x31 3 Car Garage with cabinets built by the previous owner . For some reason the previous owner decided the garage was also a good place for the pressure tank for the well that we use for irrigation .

The mower was part of the sale for the house I can't remember why we had ONLY the couch in the garage @ this time we couldn't have had the place for more than a day or two...

 

[Jay Sco]

Looks like a decent starting point. If the cabinets are in decent shape I'd keep them and get new hardware, but that's just me. Nice mower too, score!
So where abouts in SoCal?

 

[wgasa84]

I didn't touch the garage for over a year besides taking down useless shelves or modifying existing ones to get all of my stuff packed in it.

After our first winter (hey.... winter to us in Southern California is still cold ... to us )

I quickly found rat droppings along the walls, on shelving that I put up... basically all of our stuff. One day while my wife was driving my truck she mentioned that it was not running right and it had a blinking light on the dash. Well after a short look under the hood I found more rat ****, piss and more importantly chewed up vacuum hoses, and foam. I thought it was just the vacuum hoses but after fixing those the problem didn't get better, in-fact it got worse! (Just timing) The little ****** had decided that the space between the intake and the block was a great warm place to chew on my knock sensor wiring harness! I replaced the harness and put out more traps and moth ball packs in the engine compartments of both of our vehicles (It kept them out!) After catching two big rats in snap traps and refilling the bait stations weekly our second 'winter' went better. The rats had moved behind and in the built-in cabinets. Well, those cabinets quickly found their way to the dump as they were a health hazard and horribly made. We've been rat/rodent free since!

Upgraded the garage doors:

Shortly before we got the doors installed I found a great deal on a brand new in box 10x12 metal shed. I ended up coming home with 2 of the same shed for less than one would have cost @ Home Depot. This is what started my 3 month garage disaster. My amazing wife and myself put a solid base together of PT 2x6's, PT 4x4's and PT 3/4 plywood.

Leveled with a slight pitch to the front (CMU were replaced with PT 4x4's)

Walls up

Complete

Starting to fill it (Holiday Decorations, Camping Gear and other seasonal stuff... and finally a place to put the mower!)

With starting a new job and other life changing events the garage was left in a state of what could only be described as a 'bomb went off' for about a month. Until one weekend when I was fed up with tripping over **** just to fix a sprinkler or find a tool. I drew up some quick sketches, took measurements and bought a bunch of 2x4's, lag bolts, screws and paint.
I never got pictures of the garage before we got the shed, but I scored office cabinets and two bolt-less shelving units from my father worked before he retired.

Two coats of white semi gloss paint on the walls (I still have to paint the wall shared by the house and the garage).

I built bases for the black cabinets to keep them level and so I could gain 2" more floor space along the walls. I then built shelving out of 2x4's that rest on a 2x4 cleat and the cabinets for items and tubs that we don't get into very often.

Built shelving @ the same height but supported off the rafters:

While in the middle of the build I found a great base of a work bench. From what I can tell it was used for in a shipping/receiving department @ a dealership. 1/8" thick mild steel top with a 5" lip at the back and a 2" turndown @ the front. 30"x72" top. (Build Thread)

Here's how my garage sits RIGHT now:

Not much room: ~1" in the back and 23" in the front for a walk way to the single garage/workbench.

My truck marked the driveway for the first time when the water pump sprang a leak..

More to come once I get more time in the garage, which needs to happen SOON so I can start on the nursery (wife will be 12 weeks pregnant on Monday) and fixing our roof before the 'rainy' season hits.

 

[wgasa84]

Looks like a decent starting point. If the cabinets are in decent shape I'd keep them and get new hardware, but that's just me. Nice mower too, score!
So where abouts in SoCal?

You beat me to my second post! Cabinets were just **** and perfect for rats to nest in. See the post above yours for pictures and where the garage sits now.

We are in Valley Center about 45 minutes south of Temecula and 1 hr north of Downtown San Diego. VC is a great little community.

Where in the IE are you? We lived in Chino and Ontario for a few years while going to Cal Poly Pomona.

 

[Jay Sco]

Ah, rat hotel cabinets aren't good! In in Riverside, but grew up in/around Ontario.
Welcome to the GJ. Keep the progress going.

 

[mhoss44]

The garage door totally changes the look of the house. Nice. I think the cabinets are good, some rat poison would kill them off. Maybe a Cat. Or a laser sight pistol. Some .22 shells are soundless. Just a thought. But high cabinets that allow storage underneath are worth bolstering for strength and appearance and using them.


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[wgasa84]

The garage door totally changes the look of the house. Nice. I think the cabinets are good, some rat poison would kill them off. Maybe a Cat. Or a laser sight pistol. Some .22 shells are soundless. Just a thought. But high cabinets that allow storage underneath are worth bolstering for strength and appearance and using them.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks! The garage doors did a ton to update the front of the house.

I never really liked the old cabinets, they didn't have useful storage, the drawers were almost impossible to pull out and once I found the multiple rats nests, they went to the dump!

.22's would definitely have worked! With the abundant coyote population around us (we figure there's a den within 1000 feet of our property line), so a outdoor cat would be dinner quickly!

 

[wgasa84]

During the work on the garage (fixing holes & painting) I added some outlets. 6 total.

I'm not really concerned about the wire getting chafed through the hole, the outer sheathing is THICK and very tough, then there's the inner sheathing.

I put two sets of plugs in the space between the black cabinets on the single car garage (the space is due to the sub-panel). The two switches control the security light on the outside wall and a new outlet I put in the eve for our Christmas lights. Last year we bought all new LED lights from Costco. I can wrap out entire 2000 sqft house and 650 sqft garage off of one plug.

I then added a 50A, 220v plug between the garage doors with two sets of 110v plugs. It didn't come out exactly like I wanted due to the locations of the studs and the 12" tall beam @ the top but once I get the wall painted, it'll look good. I originally bought a 30A breaker for the 220V outlet but the wire I have was way to big (The 600' of wire was pulled when they replaced the well pump/motor many many years ago. I found it buried in the bushes next to the well) to fit the terminals and that's why it's a 50A plug... the wire is rated higher I believe.

As I mentioned before I scored a great deal ($75) on a 100' 3/8" Cox Reel's air hose reel. I got that mounted between the garage doors, too. Approx 80 # and 24" Tall x 10 wide, it's secured with (4) 1/2" x 3" lag screws into the 12" tall beam.

Granted I'm not really happy with how I had to run the wires into the wall (around the 12" tall beam) But there was no way I was going to drill a 1 1/2" hole vertically through the beam to get the 220V wire through. So it'll have to be a bit ugly!

I'll have to take some better pictures once it's all cleaned up.

 

[wgasa84]

The other 'big' change to the garage was moving the well pressure tank when the original tank's bladder failed. I would have loved to move it outside but that would have taken substantially longer and cost a lot of money since the 2" pipe goes through the outside wall and the concrete sidewalk, not to mention adjusting the electrical.

From:

I moved the tank into the corner so I could have more usable space. In the original configuration it left a odd dead space due to the pressure switch and gauge. I couldn't put much back there except for extra florescent bulbs..

I knew I was going to build something above the piping so I kept it as low & tight to the wall as possible.

I added a drain valve and unions so its easily serviced when the time comes again.

I've now built a stand for my air compressor. While I still need to paint the stand black. It serves the purpose and gets the compressor out of the way. I isolated the compressor with used Tacoma upper control arm bushings. I used lag screws to mount the base to the wall.

Pressure switch, gauge and drain are still accessible. Should I need to replace the pressure tank again I can pull the compressor and stand in about 30 minutes.

Sooner or later I'll run copper pipe around the top of the garage and make a number of drops for air tools, but for right now I just have a rubber hose run over to the hose reel.

 

[48RON54]

What a view! I'm a tad jealous!

 

[wgasa84]

What a view! I'm a tad jealous!

Thanks! We love it here.

Our neighbors have some even more amazing views down the valley.

 

[bdkw1]

Any avocado groves near by? If so, the rats will be back. Out there you more than likely have grove rats. Those things will get to be the size of a small cat. I lived of Lilac for a while. We had groves all around, keeping the rats out was a 5 cat job. Even then we still put traps out.

 

[wgasa84]

Any avocado groves near by? If so, the rats will be back. Out there you more than likely have grove rats. Those things will get to be the size of a small cat. I lived of Lilac for a while. We had groves all around, keeping the rats out was a 5 cat job. Even then we still put traps out.

There are groves near by.... our neighborhood was built on a 100 acre avocado ranch. in the late 80's, early 90's. (Out by Hell Hole Canyon). Our neighbors have small groves.

I guess that just means more target practice!