I have been frequenting this forum quite a lot since I moved into new home ~1.5yrs ago. There is so much great advice & so many great examples to work with - it has been a tremendous resource. I come from a background where my father has always kept a very neat & tidy garage, one that rarely sees vehicle's tires even, and also the other side - a mother who can barely park in her garage for different reasons - a junk-filled mess.
I like to think I've learned from both & will fall closer to my Dad's ways by keeping things clean, but I will certainly be parking in my garage & working on my car among other projects. It seems like lots of Calgarians tend to protect a mountain of cheap junk in their garage, and park their expensive cars outside - and @ the same time freeze their asses off in the winter. Doesn't seem to make much sense, right? While some seasonal goods & 'junk' collecting dust in the garage is unavoidable, I aim to avoid a heaping pile of 'stuff' that prevents cars from being parked inside! Tools in cabinets/lockers & on the walls, seasonal items on overhead shelving - not taking up precious floor space. You have to do your part to avoid a mess, before it becomes one!
The garage has received quite a bit of attention over this time, so I thought I post up some of the progress pics over the last 1.5yrs that I've snapped from my cell phone.
Last August (2011) - We started with efforts to put down a DIY epoxy floor. My brother in law steered me in the direction of using a 100% solids resin based epoxy, as opposed to the typical water-borne products on the big box shops shelves. He has a 10 year old floor with a cheap epoxy that has almost entirely come up over the years. That recommendation ultimately lead me to this website
Floor Prep:
Although a 'new' floor - my old BMW had created a few oil stained areas already that needed cleaning up. Started with pressure washing the garage as we had built up a winter's season full of dirt & rocks already.
After letting things dry out it was time to patch up the cracks in the pad prior to diamond grinding the floor:
With the help of my father-in-law we used a hand-held 7" diamond grinder to do the floor. Alone - this task would have been very daunting, though trading off and on saved the knees/back & proved to be a doable job. We completed this in ~6hrs or so with a well deserved lunch break in the middle.
Safety First!
I like to think I've learned from both & will fall closer to my Dad's ways by keeping things clean, but I will certainly be parking in my garage & working on my car among other projects. It seems like lots of Calgarians tend to protect a mountain of cheap junk in their garage, and park their expensive cars outside - and @ the same time freeze their asses off in the winter. Doesn't seem to make much sense, right? While some seasonal goods & 'junk' collecting dust in the garage is unavoidable, I aim to avoid a heaping pile of 'stuff' that prevents cars from being parked inside! Tools in cabinets/lockers & on the walls, seasonal items on overhead shelving - not taking up precious floor space. You have to do your part to avoid a mess, before it becomes one!
The garage has received quite a bit of attention over this time, so I thought I post up some of the progress pics over the last 1.5yrs that I've snapped from my cell phone.
- Epoxy flooring
Last August (2011) - We started with efforts to put down a DIY epoxy floor. My brother in law steered me in the direction of using a 100% solids resin based epoxy, as opposed to the typical water-borne products on the big box shops shelves. He has a 10 year old floor with a cheap epoxy that has almost entirely come up over the years. That recommendation ultimately lead me to this website
Floor Prep:
Although a 'new' floor - my old BMW had created a few oil stained areas already that needed cleaning up. Started with pressure washing the garage as we had built up a winter's season full of dirt & rocks already.
After letting things dry out it was time to patch up the cracks in the pad prior to diamond grinding the floor:
With the help of my father-in-law we used a hand-held 7" diamond grinder to do the floor. Alone - this task would have been very daunting, though trading off and on saved the knees/back & proved to be a doable job. We completed this in ~6hrs or so with a well deserved lunch break in the middle.
Safety First!
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