Tonka Garage ( picture heavy)

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Hey there everyone, Finally, finally, finally I can share my Shop renovation with you!. So a little about myself... 30yrs young, I'm an Operating Engineer by trade ( Operate any piece of heavy equipment you can think of), I have several years of open pit mining experience combined with several years of Heavy construction experience, avid hunter, love mechanics, woodworking, fabricating, trucks, cash crop / dairy farming and anything iron!.

To start off I purchased this home from my grandparents a few years ago and have been working on renovating the whole thing inside and out ( this takes tons of time and cash) which we're all well aware of!. So after doing a lot of outside work it was time to get myself into a nice organized shop!, somewhere I could work on various projects from my truck to small engines, wood working etc... also to enjoy a few cold beverages after a long 12hr shift!.

Here is what I started off with.. Single car garage 22L x 13w x 12H and as you can see it's a mess!. The industrial steel racks were nice but I found myself getting lazy and simply stuffing things wherever I could find a spot. VERY BAD habit right there.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

First thing I needed to do was replace the old wooden door, window and garage door with a new North Star window and door and insulated garage door. Secondly I had to make all of this stuff disappear for awhile while I worked on the projects!. I shopped around for garage cabinetry and came across NewAge products while browsing the garages on this site and was quite impressed by the product. So I decided to pull the trigger on the 12pc set!. As you can see from the pictures they came packed tighter than a.. well you know what... which was nice to see!.

I received them within 2 weeks of ordering and had absolutely no issues with delivery or damage. They're the fully welded version with adjustable leveling feet which in my case was a life saver due to the 3'' slope I had to contend with from the rear of the garage to the front. I had the set put up and level in about 2 hours with the help of my brother. All the mounting hardware is included ( lags, washers, screws etc) all you need are the tools!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Once I had the cabinets in place I decided that I needed to dip into the electrical work... The garage only had 1 small 100w bulb way up in that high ceiling!, and only 1 outlet at the rear of the garage. So I started to rough in the electrical for the workbench and adjacent wall where most of the heavy power tools would be placed like the table saw, bench grinder, drill press etc. I planned for a total of 5 extra outlets and 4 additional lights in the ceiling.







Also after removing some of the old outlets and light switches I decided to replace them with some nice new Decora style rocker switches.. Not only was it good to update them but it improved the look, and gave me a chance to inspect the wiring.

 

[TonkaJoe]

In between the electrical I had a whole different issue to deal with. Pictured below in the large drywall column is where the B style Flue vent for my hot water heater exits from the basement. Now with only having a small space left from my cabinet set left I considered it to be " Deadspace" and not really useable for anything.
With that being said I decided to design and construct a built in cabinet complete with a hard wood top to match the workbench set which would hold a beer fridge built into the wall underneath double cabinet doors would take care of hiding the garbage can. This took me a fair amount of time to figure out as I ran into the issue of the sloping floor, and keeping the required space framed around the actual flu vent itself. All the while reframing the wall and incorporating it into my current cabinet set. And I think after that new beer fridge dry fitting it's going to work just fine!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Next on the list was somewhere to hold all of my high use tools, screwdrivers, wrenches etc... things I like to have at my finger tips instead of going through drawers and what not. So I added some pegboard to the sprawling area under my new cabinetry system.
Once I had the electrical wrapped up in that area I framed in the whole area with 1x2 strapping.. I ripped the vertical pieces down to 1/4" so that I could fit them between holes and not have to sacrifice any. Mounted them using wood glue and drywall screws with pre drilled holes to avoid any splitting. Once I had the pegboard up and mounted I gave it a nice coat of CAT yellow over the normal white or black... besides being different makes it stand out right?!

I also knew that I'd need some under cabinet lighting.. I searched the LED light etc but none really stood out to me, so I customized and mounted a Lithonia dual bulb T-8 fixture to the underside of the cabinets.. AND as you can see she's definitely bright and throws a ton of light all by it's lonesome!.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Looks like you are on a roll. The cabinets look good. Now you need to fill them up. That is what credit cards are for.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Next up were those ugly drywall walls and ceiling... I knew right away that I wanted to brighten this whole work area up and give it a "wow" factor when someone saw it for the first time... Due to drywall soaking up moisture, and deteriorating over time I decided NOT to re drywall the whole thing but give it a facelift instead.
I ended up going with white steel corrugated wainscoting which I laser levelled to correct the slope of the garage floor, capped with a chair rail. From there to the ceiling I decided to break up the white with some tongue and groove pine and finish off the actual ceiling with white corrugated steel again.

I had a few obstacles to overcome like a concrete block ledge pictured below on the opposing wall to my cabinet set which I had to build out over with strapping to accommodate the wainscoting... and not all of the walls were perfectly square but I worked with what I had and I think the results turned out great.. hopefully you'll all agree!

 

[Bighead38]

Looking good. Nice to see another operating engineer. Now where are the tonga toys?

 

[TonkaJoe]

Here are a few more pictures of the steel and wood along with the trim work going up... since I know you guys like pictures

I should also add that The lights I added in the ceiling are
Lithonia Dual bulb T-8 fixtures, I daisy chained these together and added some Philips 6500K Natural Light bulbs. Boy oh boy are these guys bright! even with the cold Canadian winters these turn on instantly and are 3/4 bright at around -25. No complaints here!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Here are some more pictures except this time we have some light!.

- Included are a picture of the Beer fridge area all trimmed out and finished
- a picture or two of how I managed to trim out the electrical outlets
- Garage door opener outlet had to be a surface mounted box due to the ribs of the steel on the ceiling.. I was hoping to go flush at first, but I kept it neat!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Here's my favorite part of the build... filling her up!. Since I'm a big fan of iron I figured my shop needed some as well!
Nothing quite like a 6' x 4' laser printed CAT D11T hanging on your wall
This was printed on a polypropylene sheet of plastic which I then built a frame for out of 1x3" pine and Gorilla glued to the back of it. I can't believe how well this gorilla glue holds!. Then mounted the whole picture just like you would with any other picture.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Started adding tools to the new workbench set up on my pegboard!. Also note that I added a valance made out of pine to direct the light from the T-8 under the cabinet directly down onto the work area.. no more going blind!, and it's perfect for doing fine work with no shadows. I'm currently making some socket rails to go in that empty space to the left of the screwdrivers

Also picked up this used but like new 13" Mastercraft drill press for 100$.. Came with the stand and a 4" clamp.. That was quite the score as the drill alone is worth over 200$

 

[TonkaJoe]

Now even though I have a great work area with the cabinetry set I now had another problem.. where do you mount a vise?...
Back to The NewAge website I went, and I found another great product that they have recently come out with. They have 3 sizes I believe although for myself I picked up a 6' L x 2' W steel workbench complete with a bamboo top to match the other work tops, adjustable leveling feet and a tool/ parts tray. This even came with a forward facing power bar under the lip of the table top for quick power supply which I thought was a great addition!. Same as before shipping was quick and assembly was easy.

After the bench was built I still needed to mount my new Mastercraft vise!. The hardest thing you'll ever have to do is drill into a brand new workbench BUT after a beer or two I worked up the courage to do it!

I also opted to add a steel plate for any heavy hammering I had to do, also adds strength to the anchor points for the vise.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Now nearing the end of my project here are some pictures of where I'm currently at.. I have trim to paint, and more CAT memorabilia to find and add, etc, and likely a new racedeck floor in the spring oh and tools.. theres no such thing as too many tools right?!
These pictures should show that my beer fridge cabinet now has finished doors and is trimmed out too

 

[TonkaJoe]

Some more pictures of where I've finished up to!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

And in case you weren't yet sick of pictures...
( these are for the guys who like the " garages at night thread")

 

[TonkaJoe]

For those of you who are wondering.. hey where did he hide that snow blower, lawn mower, wood etc.. I have your answer!. I decided that to help organize even further aside from tossing the junk and putting things where they belong I'd get myself a new shed put up!. This now houses all of my lawn and garden equipment, spare lumber, etc. So here it is! 9' x 18'

 

[TonkaJoe]

And here she is.. dutch style barn build!.

I still have to landscape the entrance with raised flower beds and a ramp but I'll save that for the spring since it's already fall here now. I have plenty of up coming projects planned for next year so I'll be sure to add more pictures in the spring of this project along with any new additions to the garage workshop!.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Looks like you are on a roll. The cabinets look good. Now you need to fill them up. That is what credit cards are for.

I like your thinkin' !

 

[TonkaJoe]

Looking good. Nice to see another operating engineer. Now where are the tonga toys?

I have a few up there on top of the cabinets! but they're hard to come by where I live, people want an arm and a leg for the good ones!. Although I'm working on getting more haha. Hope to find some old tin CAT signs or black and white framed construction pictures to add on the walls also.

 

[Racer5x]

Dang. That looks good!

 

[TonkaJoe]

Dang. That looks good!

Thanks! [emoji1]

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[taumac]

Wow, looks damn good. Great job! My only question is why don't New age or cabinet company's in general make a tall cabinet taller to line up with the uppers? Visually it makes sense to line them all up.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Wow, looks damn good. Great job! My only question is why don't New age or cabinet company's in general make a tall cabinet taller to line up with the uppers? Visually it makes sense to line them all up.

That's a good question, I honestly have no idea... they have so much room as it is that I'm not sure what I'd fill them up with if I had even more space!.

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[mark883]

Looks good.
Now's the time to pick up your own personal D11T. The market value has absolutely crashed due to the coal and commodities markets dropping, especially here in the US.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Looks good.
Now's the time to pick up your own personal D11T. The market value has absolutely crashed due to the coal and commodities markets dropping, especially here in the US.

Thats something one can only dream of... I was looking at starting up a small excavation business at one point but the start up costs on equipment is through the roof up here, maybe one day.. for now I'll use other peoples fuel and equipment! [emoji12]

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[bargainhuntingking]

I hadn't heard of the New Age Products workbenches. They seem like a good value and I like the variety of sizes and stainless vs wood tops. I like to get a couple of them and put some heavy duty locking casters on them. Thanks for posting up!

 

[TonkaJoe]

I hadn't heard of the New Age Products workbenches. They seem like a good value and I like the variety of sizes and stainless vs wood tops. I like to get a couple of them and put some heavy duty locking casters on them. Thanks for posting up!

They're definitely well worth the money, no complaints here!. One thing I wanted to look into when I have more time is to see if I can find a locking castor with the same threads as the adjustable feet on the steel frame workbench I just purchased from them. I know that they currently don't offer them for that piece as I already checked.. but I'm always up for the challenge of customizing something!. Plus having that bench with the vise on it as a mobile unit would come in extremely versatile!.

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[ajohno]

You have done a great job.

 

[TonkaJoe]

You have done a great job.

Thanks!

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[TonkaJoe]

So I was recently asked by a couple of people how much my cabinets can, or currently do hold... so here are a couple of pictures to give you guys an idea. First one is the 72" floor cabinet, second is the 3 drawer floor cabinet and the third is another 3 drawer floor cabinet at the opposite end of the set.

My hanging wall cabinets are the only ones that aren't completely full as I'm still slowly organizing things between work and hunting season!.



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[JohnnieMo]

Thanks for posting. I came across this while looking at the New Age cabinets. I like the simplicity of your build (and your thread!) Very easy to read.

I'm a big fan of the Mastercraft tools too. Nothing fancy but they do the job just fine. I have most of the tools you do.

 

[WarrenJ]

Great job on making a small space very usable.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Thanks for posting. I came across this while looking at the New Age cabinets. I like the simplicity of your build (and your thread!) Very easy to read.

I'm a big fan of the Mastercraft tools too. Nothing fancy but they do the job just fine. I have most of the tools you do.

Thanks JohnnieMo! Appreciate the kind words.. I've always liked Mastercraft tools, like you said.. the price is right and for the quality you get its tough for the everyday user to complain!.

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[TonkaJoe]

Great job on making a small space very usable.

Thank's WarrenJ! Glad you enjoyed my reno! [emoji1]

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[OCD]

And here she is.. dutch style barn build!.

I still have to landscape the entrance with raised flower beds and a ramp but I'll save that for the spring since it's already fall here now. I have plenty of up coming projects planned for next year so I'll be sure to add more pictures in the spring of this project along with any new additions to the garage workshop!.

That shed is cool looking!! Nice build!!

 

[TonkaJoe]

That shed is cool looking!! Nice build!!

Thank's a bunch OCD! I really like anything that has a "country" feel to it.

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[TheJudge]

TonkaJoe,
Very nice utilization of space man. I dig it.
I'm envious though of your career choice, as that's what I always wanted to be; a dozer and shovel operator in a pit. I've been around the big tonka toys since i was just a young tyke, but never could get my foot in the door being an EO, so I went with my second passion of railroading, and got in doing that.

 

[Bears Fan]

Wow nice transformation

 

[TonkaJoe]

Wow nice transformation [emoji106]

Thanks Bears Fan! [emoji106]

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