TX RamRod's "Dodge Garage" Overhaul: 20x20 Attached

[TX RamRod]

I'm going to go ahead and start a build thread to help me keep up with the progress and take suggestions along the way.

December 2015
Before:

May 2016
After:

 

[AldeanFan]

My garage is about the same size, but I can't fit my truck in it so you've got one up on me!

 

[Ponchoguy]

I'm 20x20 at one of my garages in NYC. Look up "Ponchoguy's Curbside Garage". It's not done yet.

 

[TX RamRod]

Here's a little background from my intro. I came across this site a few times in the past while searching various projects, but I recently have gotten fed up with my garage and decided to start making some changes. I purchased my first home last May and it has a 20'x20' attached garage with a 16' door. I started out with my old pickup, lawn mower and some clutter on the sides until I built some shelves. Well here we are a year and half later with no shelves and the clutter has evolved into junk and it has completely taken over. I am ashamed of the space and got to a point where I avoided going in there. After making a few updates and changes to the exterior of the home I decided that I have got to take control and get it to an area that I can be proud of. I started cleaning up and throwing away unnecessary items, bought a tool chest so I could organize my tools and am working on clearing the rest out so I can make some upgrades.

I spent some time going through build threads of similar sized garages to get some layout ideas. My vision of what I want to turn this into has completely changed after seeing some of your garages and I'm looking forward to joining the ranks of some of you.

Thanks for the help that GJ has given me so far. I'm looking forward to getting more involved, learning and contributing.

Here's a few pics to show where I'm at.
This right after I moved in and decided that I should display my signs, flags and posters. I now realize that it looks tacky and will be taking it all down.

This is my old pickup truck, I bought it when I was 15 and have had it ever since. It's just sitting here until I get the extra time/money to finish building it. On the right is my side x side. I would rate the clutter level here at 25%, it has gotten much worse since the was taken.

Husky 52" tool chest combo I purchased after Thanksgiving. I know Husky isn't the most popular brand on here, but it is pretty decent quality and at $500 I couldn't beat the price. It won't get heavy use, so it'll do just fine for me.

Shot with the lights out. I installed a 48" power strip from HF and put an LED light strip on the lid.

 

[TX RamRod]

Last night I moved several of the larger items that have kept me from getting anything done into a 12'x20' portable building that I have out back. I don't really need the space in there right now and it will allow me to actually get around and start cleaning stuff out of the garage.

It may not look like much, but it made a huge difference! Even though I'm ashamed of what this space has become, I figure if I show ya'll how it really is it will keep me motivated to keep making progress.

 

[Ponchoguy]

We have the same size garages and are dealing with the same challenges.....so keep a watch and I'll do the same....

 

[TX RamRod]

My garage is about the same size, but I can't fit my truck in it so you've got one up on me!

Yeah I had no idea how small my garage was, we didn't have one growing up so I just assumed they were all a standard size. My daily driver doesn't fit unfortunately, but I like having the old truck in there. Thankfully its pretty short so I have about three feet between the man doors and the rear bumper. Front bumper has less than an inch clearance where it currently sits.

I'm 20x20 at one of my garages in NYC. Look up "Ponchoguy's Curbside Garage". It's not done yet.

We have the same size garages and are dealing with the same challenges.....so keep a watch and I'll do the same....

I'll check it out. Like I said my main reason for finding this site was to find garage layout for comparable sized garages so I'll take all the help I can get.

 

[TX RamRod]

The main goal here is to get everything off of the ground. Other than the tool chest, air compressor, shop vac, etc. I would like everything to have a place on a shelf or the wall. I would like to be able to put two vehicles in the garage if I wanted to. Work-wise I would like to have a space for small wood working projects, light car maintenance and car cleaning and just area work bench for tinkering. Here's what I had in mind for the layout, any input here is appreciated.

Layout 1

Layout 2

Layout 3

And I tried my hand at SketchUp... but got distracted with the truck and haven't finished the garage.

 

[AldeanFan]

Good looking layouts. I'm putting everything that sits in the ground on wheels so I can rearrange as necessary to fit my needs. I have cars between 13 and 20 feet long so I need to be flexible

 

[Ponchoguy]

Yeah I had no idea how small my garage was, we didn't have one growing up so I just assumed they were all a standard size. My daily driver doesn't fit unfortunately, but I like having the old truck in there. Thankfully its pretty short so I have about three feet between the man doors and the rear bumper. Front bumper has less than an inch clearance where it currently sits.




I'll check it out. Like I said my main reason for finding this site was to find garage layout for comparable sized garages so I'll take all the help I can get.

No where done yet, in the process of moving everything. The garage is a unique situation which I'll explain one day .

My goal is the left will be for my '80 Trans Am, the right side for storage, using wall space, rafter space and what not to store, thin out the herd a little bit and use the space on the left for project cars/other storage. I may put some sheds up on the property and take out some of the OPE equipment and put it in there. You can't make out the LH side, I cut it off.

One slick thing I've been doing---I bought some gray shelf brackets for $5 (for 15 or so of them). I make them into tool hangers/tool racks. I'll take a photo and you'll see what I mean. Works well for me.

Ignore the red Sonic in the garage in the photo, that was for "testing" purposes. By the way, that's 8" thick concrete, reinforced with wire mesh (cut for each flag) and there's Propex Fibermesh embedded in the concrete with a 3,500 psi mix . The Italian guy that poured it (surprise here in NYC) said, "Whatta the hella you paking on dis a cement. No Trans Am gonna breaka thisa slab. You canna park my dumpa truck on dis driveway. No calla me to breaka up in the future. Fahget about it...."

The cement truck had to make three runs, and the dump truck another 5 runs (there's 3/4" blue stone underneath as a base). The driveway is about 65' long (which is huge in NYC).

 

[TX RamRod]

Did some more cleaning over the holidays. First thing was getting the truck back running so I could get it out of the garage. I know it still looks rough, but there has been a lot of progress. Some of the remaining stuff on the floor is going to the trash, as for the rest I will have a "Phase 2" culling of the remaining stuff once the shelving goes up.

Next steps are painting, shelving and then lighting. I may have someone come in and epoxy the floor before I do anything else. If not I'll probably do that down the road.

 

[AldeanFan]

Looks better already,

I feel much better after a dump run, I forgot how big my garage was because it was so full of junk.

 

[Hpozzuoli]

The ground clearance on that UTV is huge. In the second pic was there carpet in the garage? I know there isn't any now, but can't tell if there was before. It always amazes me what some people do.

 

[Torkmnstr]

Looking good tx. I got the same box but the 18 door deal. Can beat it for the price!

 

[TX RamRod]

Looks better already,

I feel much better after a dump run, I forgot how big my garage was because it was so full of junk.

It does look bigger, I'm hoping that putting some paint on the walls won't close it in too much.

The ground clearance on that UTV is huge. In the second pic was there carpet in the garage? I know there isn't any now, but can't tell if there was before. It always amazes me what some people do.

That's been a fun project. Here's how it started in February:

Put in the shop in April to get a little work done:

Haha I had to go back and look about your carpet comment. No there isn't/wasn't any carpet, that's just my terrible iPhone pics combined with the poor lighting

Looking good tx. I got the same box but the 18 door deal. Can beat it for the price!

Thank you kindly. I'm glad someone else agrees that it's a pretty good tool chest, especially for the price!

 

[TX RamRod]

I got the paint done this weekend. It looks so much better and the visible progress is helping to keep me motivated. It's hard to tell in the lighting, but it's a light grey color. Having the walls nicely painted brought out how terrible the floors are, that has definitely moved up on the priority list.

 

[TX RamRod]

Ordered some lights from eBay, one of the cheap set of 10 LED integrated tube lights that several have recommended on some of the lighting threads. I've also looked at the awesome light layout diagrams that Platonic Solid was nice enough to put together in the lighting thread.

Since this is a good representation of a typical household garage, here are 4 layouts including my recommendation and gtae07's plan.

(Click Images for larger view)





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My plan was to go with the bottom left layout, but it will not work in my garage because I have a 16' garage door, so the operator rail runs right down the middle of my garage. I know, I know, I could just offset the lights a few inches and probably be fine. But the little bit of OCD in me could not handle that. So I'll have to figure something else out.

 

[TX RamRod]

Well it's been a while since I've been and here and I haven't made any progress in the garage until this weekend. I went a different way with the plans for the layout.

Picked up the materials Friday

10' shelving

6' shelving

Why two coats of Shirwin Williams paint on shelves in a garage?
Because GarageJournal

Now I'll start organizing all of this junk on the shelves so a can fit 2 cars in here again. I sold the Polaris Ranger and bought a Jeep Cherokee last week to start building. So now I have 4 trucks plus my girlfriends car, I'm afraid people are going to start pulling in thinking its a car lot. I'll just tell 'em it's the beginnings of a poor man's Jay Leno Garage. Either way I've got to get a couple of 'em inside.

 

[TX RamRod]

It's been a lot of work over this long weekend, but I finally got there. There is still a lot of work to do, but getting the bulk of my stuff off of the ground and onto the wall was a huge accomplishment.

This is the first time two cars have been in there at the same time since I've had the house. It's a tight fit, but it works.