Seattle 2.5 Car Garage Upgrayedd

McLean · Jan 27, 2015

Hey all! I joined about a year and a half ago and have been addicted ever since. A lot of my inspiration has come from you guys, so hopefully I can finally add something!

Bought my first house just outside of Seattle a few years ago and a ballin' garage was high on my priority list. As always, sacrifices had to be made, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. This is an ongoing project and I'll try to keep it updated with all projects on and in it. This is my first house so I usually have no clue what I'm doing until I start research about halfway through demo... I look forward to your feedback. Enjoy!

Don't have any pics before all my **** got moved in, but this gives you an idea. There was a whole wall of sagging wood shelves, another of dilapidated pegboard, and an obtrusive wall in back.

First order of business was to make some more space by removing that wall. Actually, it was an unpermitted room and appeared to be previously used as an office. I had much more interest in garage sq footage, so down it went:

Then came up with a closet for the water heater and furnace:

no good pics at the moment, but I designed it around a 4x8' door (ie sheet of plywood) for easy accesibility when either need to be replaced.

Once the room was removed and utility closet complete, I moved on to removing the pegboard on the left side. Come to find out, there were already headers for a window and door! I had wanted to add at least a window, so this was great news.

Poured a small curb and cleaned the drain outside the door to fix the "leak" the PO told us about. They thought runoff through the garage was acceptable. HA!

Cummins01 · Jan 27, 2015

Looks like a good start! You said in your description of the closet for the water heater and furnace that you would use a sheet of plywood for a "door". Not sure if you have thought about it yet or not but you'll need some kind of louvered opening to that closet for combustion air (intake) for the gas fired water heater and furnace.

PRND3L · Jan 27, 2015

Which he spells thusly, with two D's, as he says, "for a double dose of this pimping". :pimpflash

drivesitfar · Jan 27, 2015

McClean: i agree you will either need to put holes in your wall and a louvered door or maybe both. one idea i have is to put pegboard up on the side wall instead of plywood, but please check with a furnace person for his comments.

i to do not like water running through the garage especially around here where it rains a lot.

good luck and maybe the ceiling is a bit better storage area for your bike than under your SUV? :dunno:

McLean · Jan 27, 2015

Yep! You guys are on the ball! Ventilation has been added and you'll see my bike storage solution shortly. At this point, I didnt organize anything because I still wanted to insulate, sheetrock and paint.

This was my original plan for layout, power and lighting. Seemed simple enough. LOL

McLean · Jan 27, 2015

Next, I decided to repurpose some of the demo'd construction materials for some attic storage. Ended up with about 160 sqft of overhead storage and the only thing I had to purchase was an attic ladder. Stoked! Have to keep the load up there light cuz it's only 2x4 trusses though :sad:

good thing I'll have some beefier storage on the floor.

As you can see, I started drywalling. I'll save you from too many pics of this, except this one because it shows the utility closet (and lower vent

)

Then onto paint.

Only tackled half at a time since I didn't have anywhere else to store everything. Focused on the right half first because that's my storage side. It really helped clean up the mess:

Same drill on the other half, then I installed some goodies:
Lights- 7 x 4 bulb t8s
Heater- Fahrenheat 5000w
Material Racks
Cord Reels
Hose Reel
and ended up with this:

McLean · Jan 27, 2015

And that pretty brings it up to current status, minus a few minor things. I'm very happy with it so far and have been enjoying the space. But, as it appears with many of us, it will probably never be complete. Here's a few things on my to do/install/purchase for the near future:
a) new garage door- increase to 8' height, insulated door
b) paint- doors and trim on ext and int doors
c) new compressor- Costco china Snap-On garbage, too loud and poor output!

Gonna try to keep this updated. Let me know if you have any questions!

LB-1911 · Jan 27, 2015

Looking great!

Water heater still on the plywood box or a metal stand?

drivesitfar · Jan 27, 2015

McLean: are you sure that lower vent hole for your furnace and water heater is enough? i see a lot of storage on the wall where you have your sanders and grinders on stands. it looks like you have the pretty heavy duty shelving Costco sells on the one wall and may i suggest buy a few more for the other side and having your grinders and sanders sitting under them? that way you can have supplies handy and if you need a bit more access to the machine just pull the stand and tool out into the open garage.

nice work on the attic ladder and extra storage and sheet rocking.

jnkpile · Jan 27, 2015

drivesitfar said:
McClean:

.....good luck and maybe the ceiling is a bit better storage area for your bike than under your SUV?

SUV?! That is clearly a first generation Toyota 4Runner that deserves a little more respect than calling it an "SUV" !
Lol! But seriously, that's a sweet yota you gots there, and those 'glass fenders suit it very well. 35"s? Oh, nice space too.

ambenz · Jan 27, 2015

I like what you did with the place since you started.
What are some of you plans, turn wrenches, woodwork, Weld and fabricate??
I kind of woodwork a bit, making drawers and cabinets and maintain my rides in my garage...mostly preventative and corrosion maintenance, but I'll swap a alternator, wire fog lights, change oil, replace brakes, etc.

Mcjohn925 · Jan 27, 2015

I like what you did with the garage here and kept it functional and liveable at the same time. I really like that you built a removable panel for the utlity closet to hide the water heater and HVAC.

I want to do the same with my water heater and HVAC but my dad was telling me to use sheet rock because it is code but I told him how do I make sheet rock removable? I dont have enough space for small doors so I plan on hanging 2 36" door slabs hollow and 1 24" slab and hang them with aluminum z bars. I will have to add a big vent for the gas furnace and a small one for the gas heater. I also don't want to start a fire or starve my system of air.

McLean, do you feel safe with plywood panel for the closet?

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

McLean · Jan 28, 2015

Thanks for all the constructive feedback!

LB-1911: The water heater is still on the original plywood box. I'm waiting for it to spring a leak any day and I'll probably replace the stand then. Haven't really researched, but is there something I should be concerned about with the plywood stand?

drivesitfar: I thought I included a better pic, but I guess not. There's actually 2 vents for that closet, that low one and a high one on the other side, and they are quite large (~34"x8"). I don't remember what the numbers were, but I checked before installing and these were sufficient.
I've debated trying to get some storage for tools, supplies and consumables closer to the floor standing tools, but honestly, I dont often change consumables for the sanders and Bandsaw. And when I do, it's only 10 feet away in my Vidmar. Burr King does make a handy little belt tray that could be easy to replicate if I ever wanted: http://www.burrking.com/catalog/p-100042/belt-display-tool-tray The only tool over there that would be helpful to have tooling closer is the press, but with the large weight and size of many press tools, it'd be hard to predict adequate storage.

jnkpile: Thanks! and you nailed it on the 4Runner. Love these old Toyotas!

Mcjohn925: Thanks. I was happy to tuck it all away. I don't see how a ply door is significantly different from any other type of interior door that is typically used on utility closets. Surface temp to ignite wood is far higher than this closet should ever get, so yeah, I feel safe with the plywood.

Cummins01 · Jan 28, 2015

McLean: As long as your burner for the gas water heater is at least 18" above the floor of the garage, having it on a plywood stand is no different from having it inside your house on wood decking.....at least not in Oregon. As long as the stand will handle the weight of the water heater full of water (approx 550lbs. for a 50 gal.) you should be good.

Garage looks great! :thumbup:

McLean · Jan 28, 2015

ambenz said:
I like what you did with the place since you started.
What are some of you plans, turn wrenches, woodwork, Weld and fabricate??
I kind of woodwork a bit, making drawers and cabinets and maintain my rides in my garage...mostly preventative and corrosion maintenance, but I'll swap a alternator, wire fog lights, change oil, replace brakes, etc.

Thank you. I guess that I should have included a better intro!

I would classify my primary use as general automotive and light fabrication. However, house projects, woodworking, painting, random fixing, etc.. often seem to sneak it's way in as I'm sure many of you are familiar with. Although, my passion is fabrication for offroad vehicles. Here's a few pics of some of my projects:

Idle Serge · Jan 28, 2015

Beautiful fabrication!

Jay Sco · Jan 28, 2015

Decent progress on the garage, and the 4Runner is sweet! Great work on that.

tonkatoy611 · Jan 28, 2015

Looks great! Love the set up on the Toyota also!

McLean · Jan 29, 2015

I finally picked up a JD Squared Model 32 tube bender to work on some of my projects. In the past, I borrowed a manual tubing bender from some of my very generous friends and that served it's purpose well. But with my limited space, goal of infinite versatility (lol) and laziness, I knew I wanted to go hydraulic this time. Did my research and couldn't justify the price of a real hydraulic system, so I chose the HF Air/hydraulic route for my occasional use. This is what I came up with:

I incorporated it into my bottom box because I wanted some storage for my dies and other bender related tools. It has worked well so far and keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have interference issues with complex bends in the future.

I was very happy with the result except now I had a big hole where that toolbox used to be and I didn't have a bottom roller box for tools anymore. How could one fix this??? :dunno:

Shopping time!

HSpencer · Jan 29, 2015

Good upgrade and looking nice. I agree on the louvered vent for the furnace and water heater. Code here is to bring in a pipe (4 in) to a closed space like that supplying air induction. I would be thinking a couple of vented doors with a filter would be good.

Thanks for posting your space!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

McLean · Mar 28, 2015

Been working on a few things to improve productivity lately. When I moved into this garage, I had to cut my workbench down to fit where I wanted it. that meant cutting off the side that had my vise mount, but I also knew that I didnt want a permanently mounted vise in the middle of my cubby hole workbench. After seeing soo many great ideas on here, I knew I had to come up with a trick solution. Finally got a chance to take a shot at it.

Here's my bench receiver:

knew I wanted to be able to use a bunch of other tools mounted here too. so mounted them all up on tubes then came up with this for storage:

It also provides a semi-dedicated stand for my bench grinder AND mobile stand for vises or notcher when I have workpieces that wont fit on the bench mount.

I had also been wanting to add some obscure film to my window. We are in a safe neighborhood, but I didn't like the idea of someone being able to easily peek in. Also, I didnt realize this, but it is quite reflective and brightened up the garage too. Bonus!!

Cris B · Mar 29, 2015

I love the bench receiver tool stand. You've been busy with the hole swagers - good motorsport look going on.

rmmiller · Mar 29, 2015

Agreed, I have a hunch I'll be copying your mount and storage solution!

rubberrodder · Mar 30, 2015

I know I will be stealing your mounting idea too!

McLean · Apr 6, 2015

Thanks guys!

Any hole un-flared is a hole wasted!

Richie Rich · Apr 6, 2015

Nice work and nice trucks.

I like the "dual sport" nature of your 4runner. Still 4wd, sliders integrated into the tubework etc. Front kit your design?

I have a couple of 80s Toyota pickups including one that is a started (but stalled) dual sport build. TC Gen 2, Tundra rear end w/Deavers etc. Plan is a full cage, a still somewhat functional bed and a 1UZ for power.

Popeye. · Apr 16, 2015

Nice work yung grasshoppah! Enough with the garage projects, hurry up and finish the sugar glider!!

nonhog · May 8, 2015

Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!

McLean · Sep 3, 2015

Richie Rich said:
Nice work and nice trucks.

I like the "dual sport" nature of your 4runner. Still 4wd, sliders integrated into the tubework etc. Front kit your design?

I have a couple of 80s Toyota pickups including one that is a started (but stalled) dual sport build. TC Gen 2, Tundra rear end w/Deavers etc. Plan is a full cage, a still somewhat functional bed and a 1UZ for power.

Thanks! I'd love to see your build! The control arms were designed and built by a good friend.

McLean · Sep 3, 2015

Couple Craigslist scores as of late:
started life as a 4 drawer file cabinet:

Chopped in half, tacked a few critical spots up, then dumped my scrap bin in the drawers along with a handful of other large/heavy stuff that I never had good storage solutions for.

Been wanting to replace the Jet drill press for a while now. Wanted something with on-the-fly variable speeds, more rigid, and more HP. Didn't shoot to go this big, but what the hell?

rmmiller · Sep 3, 2015

Nice job on the file cabinets, who would have thought?

Nathan b · Sep 3, 2015

Wo!! Why didn't think of that???? Putting grinder on rails..to take out.. brilliant!!!

mysta2 · Nov 25, 2015

Nice work on a tight space!

And a flared Mk1 4runner?! Awesome! I really want to get myself a truck when I settle down out there. The dream would be an 85 single shortbed 4wd, and the Pacific North West seems to be full of them.

I might have to come by for a visit when I get out there if you'll have me.

CodeRedZ · Nov 25, 2015

some beefy rigs there.

McLean · Jan 12, 2016

Thanks guys! Haven't been working ON the garage so much as working IN it lately.

Recently completed a big push to get a new (to us) camper and my old truck ready for a 3000 mile road trip. It's a 1989 Lance LS2000 that was in pretty good shape, but needed a bit of an update. This included a full cleaning of the camper, exterior re-seal, new upholstery throughout, solar panel install, 12v panel install, ARB awning install and some other odds and ends. For the truck it was mostly just routine maintenance plus new tires- BFG KO2's (awesome tires!), Hellwig airbag installation, and camper mount fabrication. Here she is:

Wasnt a fan of any of the mounts available for this model, so fabbed some up and even convinced the Fiance to come out and throw some sparks

Also have another project going on is some much needed love for my 1988 Toyota Pickup. Large holes for bedcage, shocks, & shackle mounts from PO. All patched up now:

new rear bumper:

Painting rear axle:

Then off to the paint shop next...

To add just a little garage related topic, I recently came up with an improved store solution for my gloves. Nothing revolutionary here, but I was pretty stoked on this storage solution. These are just some $2 mag clips from Home Depot.

drivesitfar · Dec 12, 2016

McClean: i thought i'd bump up your old thread and see if you might have any updates to post. i just noticed your gloves hanging from magnet that i need to copy and maybe hang mine from the fridge in my garage cause i'm always looking for them. yours hanging on the inside of your metal cabinet is an awesome idea and did you copy that or think of it on your own?

hope everything is ok

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