Brian's 19x21 garage refurb

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

Brian's 21x19 garage refurb and Racedeck flooring

Hello fellow garage enthusiasts,

My name is Brian and I live in Ottawa, Canada. My garage project started off not with my idea, but my wife. Her present for my 30th birthday was flooring for the garage, specifically suggesting Racedeck. At the time, I was not familiar with Racedeck, or any other form of garage flooring (shame!), but she did her research and pulled off a great choice. That being said, her gift was not to have 400 sq ft of the tiles waiting for me at home; rather it was for me to pick any flooring. I'm known for being awful to buy for as I research the **** out of anything I buy and have been known to ask if she kept the receipt for her presents to me, so cheers to my wife for looking into the most appropriate flooring for our purpose!

While researching flooring on my own, I was introduced to world of awesome garages. And then, Garage Journal, where things really got my mind going. I had a few months to plan, as it was still winter and I have our summer car parked in the garage. Virtually all my ideas came from the forums, and extra recognition to Dubber and Rick (hope this shout-out avoids any copyright infringement of your garages!).

The garage is a 19x21 with approx 10ft ceilings. The house is 1987 build, and the garage was not worked on since (we moved in a couple years ago). As a result, almost all the drywall taping was separating, there were hundreds of nicks and damage on the surfaces, a few holes, and inadequate lighting. We got new garage doors last year because the old ones were rotten and literally hanging by A bolt. The concrete floors were pretty pitted and there's a crack, so there really was no good option to do anything but Racedeck or similar.

Here's what I had to work with:

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

One of the first things I did was to paint the garage rails black. As I was using spray paint, I wanted to do this first, so that overspray would not be of concern.

Bare (and see what I mean by taping falling off)

Primed

Painted

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

Then began the longest part of the job- drywall rehab. The holes in the walls were not hard to fix. The taping, on the other hand, was not very enjoyable. It wasn't as simple as ripping off the old taping (ok, that was fun) and putting new taping on. My scraper and I got to know each other really well, removing all the old mudding. I had to do so as the mudding was separating from the drywall. To make it worse, the mudding covering each and every single nail was also falling off, so I had to scrape every one of them too.

Glued some 1x4s as support for the strip of replacement drywall (the old section, removed already, was flapping around)

Also, got some new lighting to replace the 2 naked bulbs before with 3 hanging shop lights, and rewired all the garage door opener/door sensor wires into the attic vs being stapled to ceiling

Finally, primed, after countless hours of patching, scraping, taping, mudding, sanding.....

ph1gering · Jun 16, 2014

That how I see most fords on the side of the road with the hood up..

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

We decided on a grey overall look; the sides are a bit lighter than the front and rear walls.

Put on door casing on a previously uncased door. So much easier and fun using a brad nailer I got for $5!

Used concrete stain for the lower footing portion. We also painted an inch or so of the floor, so that when the Racedeck goes down, there won't be a naked strip of concrete visible along the sides.

Painting complete

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

Racedeck time!

I wanted to avoid the extra $300 to have Racedeck shipped to my home in Canada, so I had it shipped to the States and made it a little weekend roadtrip.

Who said a Mustang isn't a practical, spacious car? :lol:

Admittedly, some strategy and unpacking of a couple boxes were necessary...but got 'er done.

With a bit of thinking about tile orientation, I was able to figure a way to optimize my racedeck usage. The exact measurement of the area I wanted covered was 18'8" width by 20'7" depth (1/2 inch gap factored for expansion). Normally, one would use one tile to cut 5" off to fill the 8", and another tile to fill the 7". But by purchasing edging for the front lip, the 3" of edge reduced the 7" excess to 4". So one tile could serve as the 4" portion on the depth as well as the 8" on the side! Just put thought into the orientation of the male and female sides of the Racedeck; for me, I had to make sure the 2 sides with partial tiles had to be different. This bit of planning saved me 20 tiles. The only slight inconvenience, due to the orientation of the tile loops, was that I had to start from the back right corner, vs the usual front of garage working back.

Before

The table saw was a massive help in cutting the tiles

Female for the 3" needed to fill the back, Male for the 6" on the side

Now the fun part, which only took just over an hour

Put in 2 rolling workbenches and the recycling bin holders

Mustang's first night in its new home, after being parked outside for a month

This is where I am right now. I have a couple Gladiator wall cabinets and some shelving waiting to be mounted. I'll also have to get a tall cabinet to fill the left corner. But at this point, I consider the major stuff done, and will slow the pace down and just add bits and pieces and decor over the coming months. Thanks for checking out my thread!

txbonds · Jun 16, 2014

Nice. Turned out great so far.

Terracar · Jun 16, 2014

Quite a nice transformation, really is a night and day difference. I like the colors you chose as well.

-Terracar

jwhcars · Jun 16, 2014

Congrats on a very nice job !!

Gingrbredman · Jun 16, 2014

Wow...just the drywall fix was a huge improvement. To top it off you added a pretty sweet floor. Excellent!

dubber · Jun 16, 2014

Looks great. I think I would be right at home in there.

Gentle_Ben · Jun 16, 2014

Congrats on the Race Deck, I absolutely love mine.

goretexpretzels said:

I would suggest addressing the pitting you are seeing in that concrete especially after seeing you went with the flow through race deck tiles. We did a lot of patching on my brand new slab before putting race deck down to prevent water collecting. We used a product made by Mapei to do all the patching, and it will assist in making that floor last longer by not allowing water to collect in the pits.

goretexpretzels · Jun 16, 2014

Thanks for all the positive comments everyone.

@Gentle_Ben- the garage floor crack goes across, creating a bit of a dip a quarter way in from the front. So unfortunately, regardless of the pits in the concrete, a bit of water would still pool

It is not a big dip at all, but just enough to prevent small amounts of liquid from draining towards the front. When hosing down, the majority of water does drain.

I inquired about rectifying the crack and dip...was told I'd either do the liquid jacking from underneath, with no guarantee, or redo the whole slab, which was really pricey. So I'm not totally sure how much the Mapei product would help my overall situation.... But I'll certainly do some research. Good thing about RaceDeck is you can get it off and on quite easily!

Gentle_Ben said:
Congrats on the Race Deck, I absolutely love mine.

I would suggest addressing the pitting you are seeing in that concrete especially after seeing you went with the flow through race deck tiles. We did a lot of patching on my brand new slab before putting race deck down to prevent water collecting. We used a product made by Mapei to do all the patching, and it will assist in making that floor last longer by not allowing water to collect in the pits.

Mstandard · Jun 17, 2014

Nice work! Subscribed

Jay Sco · Jun 17, 2014

Huge difference! I like the black rails for the garage doors, nice touch.

sean Buick 76 · Jun 17, 2014

Great job so far!!! The key will be the storage on the walls with the limited space.... And as we have seen on here some of the smaller garages are the most creative!

Nolift911 · Jun 17, 2014

Nice work man - good color combos!

mustanginky · Jun 17, 2014

Looks good man

Requin6 · Jun 17, 2014

Looking good man! As mentioned before, us with the smaller garages have to be creative with the wall and ceiling space!

Rubrsidedown · Jun 17, 2014

WOW, quite the transformation. Nice work.

goretexpretzels · Jun 17, 2014

sean Buick 76 said:
Great job so far!!! The key will be the storage on the walls with the limited space.... And as we have seen on here some of the smaller garages are the most creative!

Absolutely agree. No luxury of having a side nook or anything. Though, I do have a sizeable shed right beside the garage, so my next project is actually to put a ton of shelving to optimize that space and minimize the need to store stuff in the garage.

Requin6 said:
Looking good man! As mentioned before, us with the smaller garages have to be creative with the wall and ceiling space!

Your garage is awesome, and I will take some ideas from you on organizing and storeage for sure!

neogenesis2004 · Jun 17, 2014

Your garage size, and color scheme are almost identical to what I had in my mind for my garage. I recently picked up a bunch of GearWall on sale though so since it is all white I will probably do dark grey on the bottom and top strip of the walls all the way around instead of just a feature wall on the back wall.

Really liking the way yours is turning out. Helps me picture what mine might eventually look like once I get past electrical and lighting.

mf2775guy · Jun 17, 2014

I gotta ask how do you like the racedeck? Looks like cool stuff! Was it too pricey?

ajohno · Jun 18, 2014

What a top job you have done looks great.

goretexpretzels · Jun 18, 2014

neogenesis2004 said:
Your garage size, and color scheme are almost identical to what I had in my mind for my garage. I recently picked up a bunch of GearWall on sale though so since it is all white I will probably do dark grey on the bottom and top strip of the walls all the way around instead of just a feature wall on the back wall.

Really liking the way yours is turning out. Helps me picture what mine might eventually look like once I get past electrical and lighting.

Glad I can be of any help. Anything I can do to return the favor on this forum. If I found gear track cheap I'd do it...but haven't come across a deal (Canada is not ideal for deals).

mf2775guy said:
I gotta ask how do you like the racedeck? Looks like cool stuff! Was it too pricey?

I have not had a chance to live with the RaceDeck for long so I reserve judgment till after the winter slush and salt torture test. So far, though, I absolutely love it. The Free flow does not have any clacking sound, the flooring is so much warmer and inviting (walked around in socks and bare feet for the first time ever in the garage) and I like the 'weave' look. And it took under 2 hours to install! It wasn't cheap (slightly over 1k) but from what I read on the forum, it should last essentially forever. Perhaps my absolute dream garage would have been tiles, but my concrete slab was not in the condition for it and the work involved would have been a hundred times more than RaceDeck.

ajohno said:
What a top job you have done looks great.

Thanks!

WarrenJ · Jun 18, 2014

Top notch transformation.

goretexpretzels · Jun 20, 2014

Mounted the Gladiator wall cabinets. I had to use a backer as the stud locations were not close to what I needed.

Mounted with a lot of screws and lag bolts. I cut the OSB with an extra strip underneath the cabinets, which will serve as the top of the frame of a pegboard I intend on putting in someday.

Cut and installed a couple shelves for the middle gap, where the music receiver will live. I left the colour as is for the time being as it matches the cabinet tops...still debating whether it'd look better painted silver/grey/black.

taumac · Jun 20, 2014

Re: Brian's 21x19 garage refurb and Racedeck flooring

Nicely done.

Have a good one, Gerard

Florida GJers ( FGJ)
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=117
The 5 Stitches Garage
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=211899

mf2775guy · Jun 20, 2014

Thanks! I will look into it for ours as we just poured the concrete and had one booboo so looking into something to help cover it up. lol. Would be nice, even in just the one bay.

Blown V2 · Jun 26, 2014

Re: Brian's 21x19 garage refurb and Racedeck flooring

Nice job on the transformation, simple but with a massive effect. Well done.

Adam

HSpencer · Jun 26, 2014

Let me add my congratulations to the previously expressed ones on a job well done. Everything is amazing!! Your paint and flooring is fantastic. You have done a really great job on the garage. Will be following your thread to see what comes next!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

goretexpretzels · Jun 27, 2014

Blown V2 said:
Nice job on the transformation, simple but with a massive effect. Well done.

Adam

Thanks. Going for the plain and uncluttered look made for a reduction in storage ability in the garage. I'm now working on organizing the adjacent backyard shed that will house a lot of the stuff that would otherwise have been in my garage. Just building shelves and such, so nothing complicated but it is a big mess in there currently...

HSpencer said:
Let me add my congratulations to the previously expressed ones on a job well done. Everything is amazing!! Your paint and flooring is fantastic. You have done a really great job on the garage. Will be following your thread to see what comes next!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

Glad you like it. Considering I got to my current stage with about $1600, I feel it has been very good bang for buck. That figure includes my $0/hr labour rate

dubber · Jun 27, 2014

Brian this has progressed really well. Be proud and above all else, enjoy! I'm sure you smile when you open the garage door.

G McKay · Jun 27, 2014

Hi!! And welcome!! The place looks great. I love the floor. Those type of floors make a garage look really fantastic.

28HopUp · Jul 5, 2014

Very nice transformation so far :thumbup:

s2kattracks · Jul 5, 2014

Looks fantastic!!

Really loving the flooring. I am going to go this route when we move out of our town home(not in a hurry to do alot of work to our 1 car garage lol)

madmortar · Jul 6, 2014

Love it!
What kind of concrete stain did you use?
Did you have to repair any spots? I want to paint mine but its cracking in a bunch of spots.

goretexpretzels · Jul 7, 2014

dubber said:
Brian this has progressed really well. Be proud and above all else, enjoy! I'm sure you smile when you open the garage door.

I certainly enjoy and use my garage a lot differently now than I used to...it's now a very pleasant place to spend time in, and as in the case just yesterday, to detail the car in the garage was night and day from what it used to be!

madmortar said:
Love it!
What kind of concrete stain did you use?
Did you have to repair any spots? I want to paint mine but its cracking in a bunch of spots.

I used Behr's concrete stain:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEHR-Premium-1-gal-Deep-Base-Solid-Color-Concrete-Stain-83001/100200359
Concrete stain apparently is not as susceptible to peeling, which would have likely posed a problem with my application due to the humidity level of concrete foundation. The concrete paint 'seals' or fills in more voids, but I quite like the look of the stained black concrete with its natural porous finish. When applying, I used a heavier-than-normal soaked paintbrush and 'dabbed' it, so that the bristles get into the concrete voids. Can't get all of the voids though, so there are tiny specks of unstained concrete. However, your eyes would have to be a foot away to see those, and I really don't mind them.

As for repair, I elected not to do any on the concrete. I have one crack that spans the width of the garage, and the surface is quite pitted but intact and not crumbling in some spots. Maybe I'm wrong, but I concluded that the pitting wasn't that bad, and I could pull off the Racedeck to fill it in if necessary at a later time. The crack was not something that putting filler would help much with (it would require hydraulic jacking and filling underneath, or a new slab $$$). So the Racedeck just covers my existing problems out of sight

cagullett1 · Jul 9, 2014

goretexpretzels said:
Mounted the Gladiator wall cabinets. I had to use a backer as the stud locations were not close to what I needed.

Mounted with a lot of screws and lag bolts. I cut the OSB with an extra strip underneath the cabinets, which will serve as the top of the frame of a pegboard I intend on putting in someday.

Cut and installed a couple shelves for the middle gap, where the music receiver will live. I left the colour as is for the time being as it matches the cabinet tops...still debating whether it'd look better painted silver/grey/black.

Just curious as I have been wanting to mount my Gladiator cabinets and can't make up my mind, how high are your cabinets off of the tool boxes? how tall are those tool boxes? Happy with the height of the gladiators?

I want to have them high enough that they aren't in the way, but low enough that they are still useful without getting out a ladder.

goretexpretzels · Jul 18, 2014

cagullett1 said:
Just curious as I have been wanting to mount my Gladiator cabinets and can't make up my mind, how high are your cabinets off of the tool boxes? how tall are those tool boxes? Happy with the height of the gladiators?

I want to have them high enough that they aren't in the way, but low enough that they are still useful without getting out a ladder.

I decided the mounting height based on the amount of wall height I had, along with proportionality to the tool boxes. This resulted in my inability to reach the highest shelf without a little stepstool (and a bit of difficulty without a step for even the middle shelf). I was ok with this as I intend on storing less-used things up there. I am happy with the height as it 'fills' the 10' tall wall pretty well; if I made it lower, I feel that the gap between tool box top and cabinet bottom would be too small and sort of claustrophobic-feeling if working on the tool box surface, plus the wall area above the wall cabinets would be too empty. You can always temporarily mount them on the wall to see how it feels; the holes you'll create will be behind the cabinet eventually anyway.

The tool boxes are 42" high. The Wall cabinet is about 25" above the top of the tool boxes. I intend on filling the wall space between the two with a pegboard.

Brian's 19x21 garage refurb

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