bmwpower's garage build

bmwpower · Nov 7, 2006

Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 - Stainless top installation complete, sink install

After finally getting the all the cabinets re-shimmed with stainless shims, I was able to complete the stainless countertop installation. All the tops are lag bolted to the cabinets and to the wall, where appropriate. The cabinets that are side-by-side are bolted together. The center peninsula is lagged to the floor to prevent it from shifting.

The only thing I would still like to do is to seal the space between the bottom of the cabinets and the floor. Due to slab curl, the outside edges of the slab are slightly higher than the middle of the floor in some areas. It sounds like some sort of hydraulic cement will do the trick.

I cutout a hole for the stainless commercial sink I purchased a while ago. That was fun. I went through a total of 6 jigsaw blades. It took a while, but I think it came out great. Now I'm trying to figure out what I can use the cutout piece for. I hate to trash it... Anyway here's the sink back in place again. I ended up caulking the rim with silicone to hold it inplace.

Getting close to the end of this project....

screwTheMan · Nov 7, 2006

bmwpower said:
Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 - Stainless top installation complete, sink install

Getting close to the end of this project....

Looking good. It looks like a operating room. In a GOOD way. :thumbup:

DynoDave · Nov 8, 2006

Those cabinets/tops came out beautifully! Congratulations! :thumbup:

OldCarGuy · Nov 8, 2006

Elegance is much like beauty,, difficult to describe; but easy to recognize. The contrast between the stainless steel tops and the blue cabinetry is outstanding and compliments the gray floor. Lista is “Top Shelf‘,, a quality product that will give you years of satisfaction. Well done BMWPower! :thumbup:

JMURiz · Nov 8, 2006

Drool-worthy for sure, looks amazing!

BoostAddiction · Nov 8, 2006

The stainless sink in stainless tops looks really sharp!

Good job on the install. I ended up using silicone around the sink I installed as well and recently had to remove it to install a new faucet. The old stuff came off well and the sink came out pretty easily. Re-installed with new silicone and it is still solid and leakproof.

Your setup reminds me strongly of the cabinet setups I see at Roger Penske-owned dealerships, except you used the broader Lista line for cabinets. Yours really looks great!

-Will

sharpshooter · Nov 8, 2006

OMG I hate you................great looking garage

jhchoppers · Nov 8, 2006

Great JOB... Well planned and executed, the entire shop build looks awesome.

Down Under Bloke · Nov 8, 2006

Congratulations, well done, :bow:

What you have achieved is an inspiration and guide to me and many other blokes I’m sure. :thumbup:

BTW how the engine change in the F truck going.

nova65ss · Nov 8, 2006

Dude your garage is amazing! :thumbup:

I don't believe I've seen one better thought out. Like someone else said it looks clean and neat enough to be in a hospital. Job very well done.

Jimmy

bmwpower · Nov 8, 2006

Down Under Bloke said:
Congratulations, well done,

What you have achieved is an inspiration and guide to me and many other blokes I’m sure.

BTW how the engine change in the F truck going.

Thanks! I could only hope some of my info could help others.

Engine change is going....slow. Hopefully I will be picking up a used engine this weekend. If that falls through, I'm probably going to rebuild mine.

TNToy · Nov 8, 2006

You can always make a clock out of the cutout, or something similar.

If you have the equipment to weld SS (I forget if you've got a TIG in your shop or if that was someone else) I'm sure one of your vehicles will need a battery box/tray, or something along those lines eventually.

shopking68 · Nov 9, 2006

wow, i wish i was rich and could get those fancy cabinets

Wardrum · Nov 9, 2006

I noticed in the pics that at least some of your cabinet sides have holes in them. Some of my Lista cabinets do too while others do not. I don't understand that. :headscrat

It sure would be nice if Lista would leave punch-outs there like they do on the cabinet tops. I understand that the holes are there primarily so that the cabinets can be bolted together but, IMO, the holes make the exposed sides of the cabinets look bad. I would rather punch out the holes if necessary.

:bowdown:

You have done a super job in designing and completing your shop to this point. It would be interesting to see what you are going to keep in all those drawers.

bmwpower · Nov 9, 2006

shopking68 said:
wow, i wish i was rich and could get those fancy cabinets

I am, by no means, rich. Just saved my money for a while to buy exactly what I wanted...

bmwpower · Nov 9, 2006

Wardrum said:
I noticed in the pics that at least some of your cabinet sides have holes in them. Some of my Lista cabinets do too while others do not. I don't understand that. It sure would be nice if Lista would leave punch-outs there like they do on the cabinet tops. I understand that the holes are there primarily so that the cabinets can be bolted together but, IMO, the holes make the exposed sides of the cabinets look bad. I would rather punch out the holes if necessary.

You have done a super job in designing and completing your shop to this point. It would be interesting to see what you are going to keep in all those drawers.

Yea, you're right, they kinda look strange. The holes on the topside are NOT punched out. I think it adds to the industrial look of the product. I wonder if they make caps for the holes?

I've seen some people cover the side of the cabinet with a stainless sheet or something, but I think that looks worse.

As far what I'm going to put in them...Christmas is around the bend. Now I know what I can tell everyone to get me for Christmas, birthdays, etc. I have a bunch of other tools that have been waiting for a home.

bmwpower · Nov 9, 2006

screwTheMan said:
Looking good. It looks like a operating room. In a GOOD way.

DynoDave said:
Those cabinets/tops came out beautifully! Congratulations!

OldCarGuy said:
Elegance is much like beauty,, difficult to describe; but easy to recognize. The contrast between the stainless steel tops and the blue cabinetry is outstanding and compliments the gray floor. Lista is “Top Shelf‘,, a quality product that will give you years of satisfaction. Well done BMWPower!

JMURiz said:
Drool-worthy for sure, looks amazing!

BoostAddiction said:
The stainless sink in stainless tops looks really sharp!

Good job on the install. I ended up using silicone around the sink I installed as well and recently had to remove it to install a new faucet. The old stuff came off well and the sink came out pretty easily. Re-installed with new silicone and it is still solid and leakproof.

Your setup reminds me strongly of the cabinet setups I see at Roger Penske-owned dealerships, except you used the broader Lista line for cabinets. Yours really looks great!

-Will

sharpshooter said:
OMG I hate you................great looking garage

jhchoppers said:
Great JOB... Well planned and executed, the entire shop build looks awesome.

Thanks! You guys are great. Thanks for all the nice compliments.

Winmon · Nov 9, 2006

Those Lista's sure do turn a nice shop into a AMAZING shop! Your execution from start to finsh shows how well planned out you were from the beginning.
You have yourself a shop that ANYONE would be proud to own! :bow:

snorvet · Nov 10, 2006

Excellent garage! I showed my wife the pics and she likes that the cabinet color matches your truck

bmwpower · Nov 10, 2006

snorvet said:
Excellent garage! I showed my wife the pics and she likes that the cabinet color matches your truck

That's funny. That obviously wasn't planned, but maybe it was fate...I dunno. I'm finding myself buying a lot of blue things lately...

DynoDave · Nov 11, 2006

bmwpower said:
That's funny. That obviously wasn't planned, but maybe it was fate...I dunno. I'm finding myself buying a lot of blue things lately...

bmwpower · Nov 11, 2006

DynoDave said:
<insert smurf here>

Ha ha. Surprisingly, I HATE the Smurfs.

Down Under Bloke · Nov 12, 2006

The Lista cabinets do seem to match the blue in the BMW logo

DynoDave · Nov 12, 2006

bmwpower said:
Ha ha. Surprisingly, I HATE the Smurfs.

Sorry buddy, I just couldn't help myself! You know we are all just jealeous of those beautiful cabinets. :thumbup:

Kapt · Nov 27, 2006

Nice job!!

Do you have any pics of the garage door tracks where the bottom of the wall meets the top of the cinderblock? It looks like I have the same wall/block setup as you and I'm having trouble visualizing how my garage door tracks will run.
Do your garage doors run in between your block or slightly behind it when the door is closed? Mine will have to run slightly behind them, but with the wall and block not in the same plane I was thinking I might have to build my wall out about 4 inches.

bmwpower · Nov 27, 2006

Kapt said:
Nice job!!

Do you have any pics of the garage door tracks where the bottom of the wall meets the top of the cinderblock? It looks like I have the same wall/block setup as you and I'm having trouble visualizing how my garage door tracks will run.
Do your garage doors run in between your block or slightly behind it when the door is closed? Mine will have to run slightly behind them, but with the wall and block not in the same plane I was thinking I might have to build my wall out about 4 inches.

The bottom of my brackets are cut off where the wall meets the block. The track continues down to the floor behind and to the side of the block.

I have the same thing on the 2 doors attached to my house.

I believe the brackets are attached to 2- 2x4's nailed together running up the wall on each side.

If you need picts, let me know. I think I might have some somewhere...

Kapt · Nov 27, 2006

If it's not too much trouble, pics would be greatly appreciated.
TIA.

bmwpower · Nov 28, 2006

Kapt said:
If it's not too much trouble, pics would be greatly appreciated.
TIA.

Hope these help!

Top of wall is capped with 2x4's and rocked to get a flush finish. Tracks are bolted to 2 - 2x4's (flat) with 1/8" hardboard in between to get the proper thickness. These were nailed to the studs prior to sheetrocking.

bmwpower · Nov 28, 2006

In response to Craig G's inquiry...no, my garage is not always clean. Took this photo tonight. It's an utter mess in there. Yes, I do work in the garage.

Kapt · Nov 28, 2006

Thanks for the pics, that clears things up alot.

OldCarGuy · Nov 28, 2006

bmwpower said:
In response to Craig G's inquiry...no, my garage is not always clean. Took this photo tonight. It's an utter mess in there. Yes, I do work in the garage.

I know what you’ll be doing tonight!

REFLEXX · Nov 28, 2006

It's staged. That's clearly a photoshopped mess. : )

bmwpower · Nov 28, 2006

REFLEXX said:
It's staged. That's clearly a photoshopped mess. : )

I wish it was.

My friend came over last night to work on his truck and he almost fell over. He told me, "...and I was afraid to get anything on the floor when my truck was in here?".

Thank God for the epoxy. The few places I had to wipe things up, it came up as new.

DynoDave · Nov 28, 2006

Oh, I like the messy shop pictures. I was starting to feel like a mere mortal by comparison. :bounce:

Silver Lexus · Nov 28, 2006

Amazing garage bmwpower!

One thing I can comment on is the idea of stainless steel bench tops. They work surprisingly well. I got a food prep table from Sam's and it has held up quite well.

Down Under Bloke · Dec 5, 2006

WOW

You go away for a couple of days and look what happens; I didn't believe it when i started reading this thread backwards. Mess, bmwpower surely not; yep its true.

Seems a shame to put all the **** back on, the Windsor when a dual plane 4BL and 650DP could do much the same thing.

firsttime · Dec 5, 2006

Holy cow, that is an amazing garage. Great job on all the work you've done from ground-up. It looks like you'd be enjoying that for many many years to come!

ersatzs2 · Dec 24, 2006

bmwpower said:
After finally getting the all the cabinets re-shimmed with stainless shims, I was able to complete the stainless countertop installation.

So now that you've lived with the stainless tops for a while; how do you like them? I think I'm going to bite the bullet and place my lista order after Christmas. My rep has been selling lista a long time (Curt Hague, out of PA) to lots of shops, and he is really pushing maple instead of stainless. Me, I think about taking apart a trans on butcher block and it doesn't seem right. But he argues stainless is hard to keep clean, dents, etc. So how do you like it?

RAYJAY · Dec 24, 2006

bmwpower said:
In response to Craig G's inquiry...no, my garage is not always clean. Took this photo tonight. It's an utter mess in there. Yes, I do work in the garage.

lol my wife would freak out at the all the doors left open, and its great to see your realy using the shop.

Jeff

bmwpower · Dec 24, 2006

ersatzs2 said:
So now that you've lived with the stainless tops for a while; how do you like them? I think I'm going to bite the bullet and place my lista order after Christmas. My rep has been selling lista a long time (Curt Hague, out of PA) to lots of shops, and he is really pushing maple instead of stainless. Me, I think about taking apart a trans on butcher block and it doesn't seem right. But he argues stainless is hard to keep clean, dents, etc. So how do you like it?

So far, I love it. No real complaints. As long as you're not going to be **** about scratches, you should be fine. It does scratch easily, but again, it's easy to see since the beginning surface is virtually a mirror finish. I haven't tried to wail on it and I don't plan to, although I have banged on it a little with no damages. It's 1/16" thick, so it's fairly beefy. It cleans up super easy as you would expect. I'm not afraid to get anything on it - brake fluid, ATF, oil, water, even gasket remover - it just wipes right up. Another plus I found out about the other day... You can write on it with a Sharpie or pencil. I use the far end near the door to write notes for myself so I see them before I leave. I was taking some measurements another day and wrote down the calculation right next to my work space. When I was done, I just took some brake cleaner and wiped it away.

They are pricey as tops go, but I feel they will last a lifetime.

bmwpower's garage build

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