VolvoR
Member
Good morning GJ, glad to be a new member after lurking through dubber, Rick's Audi Double, and 69bigblok (Mark's) garage.
My garage is ~24'x24' double with single 16' garage and was built in 1972. It has some cracks in the base and is generally unkept. The walls have some cracks in them (not from structural damage per the structural engineer that looked at the house before purchase, interestingly enough movement was less than 1/8") and the walls are covered in scuffs and marks from years of general "old people" abuse. We bought the house from the original builders, so I have the plans from the construction of the garage, which is cool!
I am only 5 years into my career and my wife and I had the kids young (20 and 26), so I don't have huge capital to fund a garage today, but I do have a loving and encouraging wife who allows me to allocate SOME money to it.
I host monthly events in the garage and have fellow Volvo owners come and do maintenance/upgrades on their cars. It has been fun to see people come around a car and assist others monthly, plus sipping on a few beers and chilling has been fun:
Right now I am finishing the kitchen where we did wallpaper and popcorn ceiling removal, and redid the backsplash and painted the walls and ceiling as well as upgraded the lighting from a single 100W bulb to 4xPar30 bulbs recessed in the ceiling. It is turning out really well, just finishing that up!
So it's tax season and I got $300 allocated for the garage (it's a start) and figured I would post up for ideas to get the ball rolling on potential updates/upgrades. I know the long term plan is to have a lift and heater in the garage with some RD flooring, but that's out for this round.
The only modification I have done thus far is to change out a single light in the ceiling for 3 T8 double hanging fixtures with 6 more planned (purchased, and the ceiling is wired, just need to cut in the new fixtures into the ceiling beyond the 3 I already did). That should brighten things up!
We house a 2007 Volvo S60R "Charmander" and a 2010 Volvo XC60 R-Design "Charizard" in the garage. They are both Passion Red (read: Fire Engine Red) so the red accent wall with some grey/white and black accents will likely be my plan (actually had that plan before). I am thinking of paining a large R-Design symbol on the wife's side and a large R on mine for fun. I assume paint will eat up $100 and I already have tape/mud/drywall tools to fill the gaps.
So, ideas for the other $200? I will post up pictures as soon as I can get both cars out of the garage during the day, but essentially it's 24x24 with a 16' garage on the front and the door is centered in the back with 2 steps. The sides on the garage door end are recessed with flush shelving (I am thinking about making some doors that hide those, like a linen closet). Other than that there are a few leftover ladder racks and a shelf by the house door for shoes, but nothing else. I built a 12'x12' treehouse last year and have some leftover wood (2x12 down to 2x4, and 2 sheets of plywood) that won't fit in the basement without being cut. I would love to get that up to the ceiling somehow...
I have to keep a large 90-gallon trash bin, small recycle bin (dubber, doing your recycle bin mod by the door), wood radial saw, stroller, jogger, mower, weed-eater, full size fridge modified into a keggerator (unused at the moment
), 2 adult bikes and 1 child's bike (bought hooks for that), outdoor shoes (muddy), lawn fertilizer/seed, step ladder (6'), extending/folding ladder (28' in 4 folding sections, one of those "stair" ladder deals) wood (2x12's down to 2x4's and 2 sheets), along with kids toys (jeep, trike) and all of the shelves are filled on my side with car supplies (oil, fluids, jack/jack stands, etc) and the other side is full of kids smaller toys like frisbees and soccer balls. Right now I am able to fill up the entire outer border of the garage as compact as possible and get both cars in with relative ease (it's a nightmare getting anything out though).
I know this thread is worthless without pics, so I'll add a really embarassing one I took when I was plastidipping my FILTHY R and showing it done on my wife's FILTHY RD. We usually keep our cars relatively clean, I have about $500 in detailing equipment, mostly chemical guys. My most recent R detail went through this process...:
Garage (horrible cellphone pic quality SORRY!!!):
My side:
My wife isn't very "into" cars, but respects my love for everything cars. She does LOVE her XC60RD and feels like the anti-soccer mom driving it!
So there is my intro, I look forward to progressing over many years into a 3-car garage in my double with a 4-poster and a max jax in addition to the RD floor and heat/insulation, etc.
I am contemplating the other $200 going into installing a 60A 240V subpanel (I am comfortable around all things electrical) for future 240V service to the lift and either that or natural gas heater, then transferring some of the lights to their own circuit on motion, and others switched. The garage is bordered 75% by the outdoors and the garage door is not insulated well (it is newer with a chamberlain silent operator opener hanging WAY too low
). I have not inspected the walls to verify the insulation, but I can blow tons in from the attic above when the money is available(currently VERY minimally used by a few boards, was easy to wire!).
So thanks, and looking forward to both contributing and watching my garage progress!!!
Kevin
My garage is ~24'x24' double with single 16' garage and was built in 1972. It has some cracks in the base and is generally unkept. The walls have some cracks in them (not from structural damage per the structural engineer that looked at the house before purchase, interestingly enough movement was less than 1/8") and the walls are covered in scuffs and marks from years of general "old people" abuse. We bought the house from the original builders, so I have the plans from the construction of the garage, which is cool!
I am only 5 years into my career and my wife and I had the kids young (20 and 26), so I don't have huge capital to fund a garage today, but I do have a loving and encouraging wife who allows me to allocate SOME money to it.
I host monthly events in the garage and have fellow Volvo owners come and do maintenance/upgrades on their cars. It has been fun to see people come around a car and assist others monthly, plus sipping on a few beers and chilling has been fun:
Right now I am finishing the kitchen where we did wallpaper and popcorn ceiling removal, and redid the backsplash and painted the walls and ceiling as well as upgraded the lighting from a single 100W bulb to 4xPar30 bulbs recessed in the ceiling. It is turning out really well, just finishing that up!
So it's tax season and I got $300 allocated for the garage (it's a start) and figured I would post up for ideas to get the ball rolling on potential updates/upgrades. I know the long term plan is to have a lift and heater in the garage with some RD flooring, but that's out for this round.
The only modification I have done thus far is to change out a single light in the ceiling for 3 T8 double hanging fixtures with 6 more planned (purchased, and the ceiling is wired, just need to cut in the new fixtures into the ceiling beyond the 3 I already did). That should brighten things up!
We house a 2007 Volvo S60R "Charmander" and a 2010 Volvo XC60 R-Design "Charizard" in the garage. They are both Passion Red (read: Fire Engine Red) so the red accent wall with some grey/white and black accents will likely be my plan (actually had that plan before). I am thinking of paining a large R-Design symbol on the wife's side and a large R on mine for fun. I assume paint will eat up $100 and I already have tape/mud/drywall tools to fill the gaps.
So, ideas for the other $200? I will post up pictures as soon as I can get both cars out of the garage during the day, but essentially it's 24x24 with a 16' garage on the front and the door is centered in the back with 2 steps. The sides on the garage door end are recessed with flush shelving (I am thinking about making some doors that hide those, like a linen closet). Other than that there are a few leftover ladder racks and a shelf by the house door for shoes, but nothing else. I built a 12'x12' treehouse last year and have some leftover wood (2x12 down to 2x4, and 2 sheets of plywood) that won't fit in the basement without being cut. I would love to get that up to the ceiling somehow...
I have to keep a large 90-gallon trash bin, small recycle bin (dubber, doing your recycle bin mod by the door), wood radial saw, stroller, jogger, mower, weed-eater, full size fridge modified into a keggerator (unused at the moment
I know this thread is worthless without pics, so I'll add a really embarassing one I took when I was plastidipping my FILTHY R and showing it done on my wife's FILTHY RD. We usually keep our cars relatively clean, I have about $500 in detailing equipment, mostly chemical guys. My most recent R detail went through this process...:
Garage (horrible cellphone pic quality SORRY!!!):
My side:
My wife isn't very "into" cars, but respects my love for everything cars. She does LOVE her XC60RD and feels like the anti-soccer mom driving it!
So there is my intro, I look forward to progressing over many years into a 3-car garage in my double with a 4-poster and a max jax in addition to the RD floor and heat/insulation, etc.
I am contemplating the other $200 going into installing a 60A 240V subpanel (I am comfortable around all things electrical) for future 240V service to the lift and either that or natural gas heater, then transferring some of the lights to their own circuit on motion, and others switched. The garage is bordered 75% by the outdoors and the garage door is not insulated well (it is newer with a chamberlain silent operator opener hanging WAY too low
So thanks, and looking forward to both contributing and watching my garage progress!!!
Kevin
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