The Disaster, Growlertdi's 28 x 32 pole barn.

Growlertdi · Apr 23, 2017

Thanks for stopping by, as you can see, I have fixed my images by attaching them here on this server

After much reading of threads, I guess I have become somewhat motivated to do something about my garage.

I have a serious case of FSD. I began to clean up by taking the 14 sonotubes to the cardboard recycling place. Organized the pile of spare wheels and tires somewhat and swapping on the 15 inch steels onto the 2 door golf TDI to prepare it for sale.

The 16 inch alloys on the golf now are going on the jetta wagon to prepare it for sale also.

It's a start, I'll attempt to post some photos.

Here is the spot we park the Toyota Sienna in

Here is a photo of the Low rise lift bay.. Best $400 I ever spent for this lift.

Here is the Bike pile. with 4 kids any my custom painted 3 speed Murray, this is gonna happen. Gotta figure something out for these.

And my Tool boxes. I absolutely LOVE the harbor freight cart.

Growlertdi · Apr 23, 2017

The pile.. this is gonna avalanche someday if I don't do something about it..

More Pile, and the stack of wood for one of the girls beds..

The somewhat organized TDI parts storage from when I used to work on them regularly.

And the workbench with cheap vise, and more FSD proof.

After this photo, I continued cleanup by stacking the 4 alloys next to the tires. I also leaned the used Pallets up in this corner so they take up less space. its a start.

for a before picture, imagine all of those wheels & tires piled up with 3 pallets and all of that nicely stacked wood all in a heap.. yeah, It had gotten bad.

It's taken me quite a while to work up to posting these photos.. but now that I have started, i hope to post regular updates, no matter how small.

Growlertdi · Apr 23, 2017

Oh yeah, and the reason that both the 2001 Golf and 2003 Jetta wagon will be for sale soon..

That's a "new" 2015 Golf Sportwagen TDI (naturally) I picked up on Friday after a couple of hours at my local dealership.

Gotta make room and peace with the better half.

oldironfarmer · Apr 23, 2017

Great start to your thread!

I'm not sure you have FSD, however. I see several places you could still set a soda can on the bench. There's lots of space to stack more stuff. :willy_nil

One of my issues is getting rid of good stuff that I don't really have any use for.

Good luck!

Growlertdi · Apr 23, 2017

Andy,
I'm going to be loading up the f150 this weekend to try to make a dent in some of the piles. Get rid of some year old leftovers from the deck build last spring. Also need to find a place to hang up your broom Andy. I look forward to using it soon.

Yeah, laziness is my big issue. I need to fix that too.

Bob Heine · Apr 23, 2017

Growler, you are well on your way. I see a lot of floor in your pictures and most of your piles are up high. You also seem to have a lot of space above the rafters that could hid... store a lot of the light weight stuff.

Growlertdi · Apr 23, 2017

Thanks Bob. I wonder if there is a way I could get the bikes up in the rafters easily. But then I gotta worry about the 10 year old girls using it.. perhaps I'll just hang mine and the boys.

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-Brent- · Apr 24, 2017

Hey Aaron, this doesn't seem all that bad!

First off, I'd get a shed and something that can organize the kid's stuff. Then I'd keep an eye open for some 24" pallet rack uprights. Even getting a pair or three of them could give you enough storage to get a bunch more organized.

And, I don't want to be the one to say it... but there's probably at least a pile or two of stuff that can be thinned out - for good! Minimizing what was in my shop was an awesome feeling. It's so cathartic that I keep doing it. I've got another box ready that I filled this weekend.

I'm looking forward to what this place becomes. I'm rooting for ya!

Growlertdi · Apr 24, 2017

Brent,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately we live on a small 1/4 acre lot in a village with very little in the way of flat space for a shed.

I'll have to think about a Lean to for bike parking.

The plan for cleanup begins this week with some maintenance and cleaning on the old vws to prepare them for sale, then take an 8ft bed full of "stuff" to the dump like treated wood scraps, old fenders, old car seats, etc. Gotta purge, then organize what's left.

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kwschumm · Apr 24, 2017

OT. Not knowing what FSD means I looked it up. The first definition that popped up:

"Female ****** Dysfunction".

mmmm..., OK.

Growlertdi · Apr 24, 2017

Around these parts, FSD stands for Flat Surface Disease... any flat surface will be covered as much as possible as soon as possible, especially if that surface is off of the floor where flat surfaces are the most useful.

I guess I have a mild case. I'll have to take a couple more photos to prove my case.

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kwschumm · Apr 24, 2017

Growlertdi said:
Around these parts, FSD stands for Flat Surface Disease... any flat surface will be covered as much as possible as soon as possible, especially if that surface is off of the floor where flat surfaces are the most useful.

I guess I have a mild case. I'll have to take a couple more photos to prove my case.

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Hey, must be contagious, I've got it too! :lol:

-Brent- · Apr 24, 2017

Growlertdi said:
Gotta purge, then organize what's left.

This is the best way to go about it!

Bob Heine · Apr 24, 2017

Growlertdi said:
Thanks Bob. I wonder if there is a way I could get the bikes up in the rafters easily. But then I gotta worry about the 10 year old girls using it.. perhaps I'll just hang mine and the boys.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Growler, I see a potential spot for the bikes next to the main overhead door. You have a couple of shelves that could be moved to the opposite corner where your Craftsman and HF Cart are stored. Can't tell if the Craftsman set is on wheels but you could have those (guessing here) 12-inch shelves against the wall with the chest and cart parked in front. That's assuming you store stuff on those shelves that you don't need every day or right away.

To get a bit more space in that corner, those two off-white plastic shelves could be rotated 90-degrees like the dark gray one.

This is where I would put the shelves (behind the tools).

Between the rafters in that front corner, a couple of 2x4s (or 6s) screwed together would be a decent beam to hang the bigger bikes from. Alternately hanging one from the rear wheel with the next from the front should allow tighter spacing. The smaller girls bikes could be parked under the hanging bikes. At one point (when my wife and I thought we needed multiple bikes) I had mine hanging like this. I have since hung two with those bike hoists (safety chained to those hooks). The hoist is a big help when you're trying to single-handedly lifting the bikes up to the ceiling.

Knyte Tyne · Apr 24, 2017

FSD is Curable with a good dose of WMC (wall mounted cabinets) and FSCC (Floor standing Shelving or Cupboards).

Hoarderphantitis (of whish FSD is a tell tale Symptom) still requires an initial surgical removal of all "One Day Maybe" Items...

You definitely need a Shed... Great potential otherwise.

jp828108 · Apr 24, 2017

Awesome posts. Looking forward to seeing what you accomplish.

oldironfarmer · Apr 24, 2017

-Brent- said:
This is the best way to go about it!

I must confess when I cleaned out my open shed of stuff I thought had to be under roof I was concerned, but now that it's been outside for almost a year it is liberating to not need to keep it inside. I even burned some old cardboard boxes today. :scared:

Growlertdi · Apr 28, 2017

Thank you everyone for the comments so far, it is really helping to motivate me into doing something with my space more than just piling junk up on whatever surface there is, and parking in there. I am kinda wanting it to be a place to be so I am slowly working on it.

First thing was moving the truck around to the garage and pulling it up to the door. We loaded in all of the deck cutoffs and some leftover concrete bits and started making a trip all around the outside edge of the Disaster. Some things that wound up in the truck, Old golf front bumper, two fenders, old seats, printer, broken EZUp, old folding chairs, lots of just misc stuff and things.

After loading last night, I was able to take 720lb of randomness to the landfill today. It was very fun and therapeutic getting rid of this stuff.

While loading the truck, we moved all of the bikes and the pressure washer out of the way, exposing the floor in this area for the first time in over a year. My son & I took the time to rotate wheels from the 01 Golf to the 03 Wagon. We also removed the steel skidplate to prepare for an oil and fuel filter change so the air hose hadn't been picked up yet.

A view from the outside looking in.

We also took some time to sweep the floor a bit, its still a mess around the edges but the middle is mostly clear now.

Bob, I took your suggestion from a couple of days ago to heart and I like it so far.

We moved the skinny shelf unit to the area behind the toolboxes, this exposed this wall space..

we all know what happens with exposed wallspace, right? yeah, neither do I.. LOL.

-Brent- · Apr 28, 2017

Awesome!

Bob Heine · Apr 28, 2017

Growler, I apologize in advance for disappearing for a while. I don't have a pickup but I have a whole bunch of stuff like you put in yours. I'll be tackling some of my mess -- the walkways are getting narrow. Well done in such a short time! :thumbup:

oldironfarmer · Apr 28, 2017

Looking good! :thumbup:

I like your lift.

Growlertdi · Apr 28, 2017

Bob, we only recently acquired the truck from my father in laws passing. It goes to my 16 year old son once he gets older and responsible enough, but until then, a basic 8ft F150 is a good pet to have access to.

The next steps in the garage are to work on organizing my tools. And perhaps getting rid of a couple more things.

I think I want to get the big extension ladder up in he was rafters, I don't use it much since it's my bro in laws and I don't like being on ladders.

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Growlertdi · Apr 28, 2017

oldironfarmer said:
Looking good!

I like your lift.

Yeah, the lift is Def one of my better purchases.

Gets used regularly for oil changes, brakes, suspension work.

I wouldn't mind someday figuring out how to clean it up and repaint it. These things are new to me and my tool selection is limited.

I'll get there eventually.

Growlertdi · Apr 29, 2017

So yeah, you guys know how I am cleaning up my garage a little these last few days..

one of the interesting things I found was a magnetic coat hook among the stuff I was going through. I put it to good use to hang up the coveralls I also found while going thru the detritus. I was doing a great thing, so I thought...

See here they are hung nicely on the back of the door.

So last night my wife had the new car which parks in the lift spot and didn't get home until after dark.

One of the many thing I eventually have to fix is the lights in the openers so at night the garage is dark except for whatever gets lit up by the headlights...

She came in last night and made sure to tell me that she is proud of me and all of my work in the garage, but the only thing she could think of when she saw the coveralls hung up like that was this...

Yeah, she has watched a bit too much George C Scott A Christmas Carol..

So yeah, after a few laughs, the coveralls had to get moved. They are now hanging on the front of the grey cabinet next to the toolboxes.. oh well, I tried to organize a little not everything goes as planned... right?

ajohno · Apr 29, 2017

Everything is starting to come together Aaron.

Growlertdi · Apr 30, 2017

I know it's an external link, and not sure If this is allowed but here is the for sale thread on Tdiclub for my 2003 Jetta (Golf) Wagon TDI.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=476917

Terrick down Under · May 2, 2017

Have you noticed that you can look at his for hours on end and then someone drops by and says..."what about this?". And bang, you say to yourself, "why did I not think of that."
Keep going, I am getting ideas for my place.

1/2 Cup · Jun 14, 2017

Growlertdi all I can see is potential in your shop and you are progressing well. :thumbup:

You get another tick of approval on your lift, something I would like here one day..

Regards

Growlertdi · Jun 14, 2017

Thanks 1/2, now I have to go back out to the Garage and do some more of that cleanup...

my oldest wanted a bicycle for his birthday and he is getting one, I took some advice and screwed in one of those hooks to hang it from on the newly emptied wall.. of course I covered it in a blanket and leaned the 6' ladder up against it to hide it from the boy.. Even my Wife couldnt tell it was there since the garage is still such a mess.. lol.

Ill take a photo tonight and post it for posterity.

racestatus · Jun 14, 2017

good progress bud. I honestly don't know how people let their garages get that bad lol

logixjock · Jun 19, 2017

racestatus said:
good progress bud. I honestly don't know how people let their garages get that bad lol

I used to say that very thing, then dad died and my shop ended up with every horizontal surface piled 3 layers deep. Now it's going on 3 years and I have just given up even trying to walk through it anymore.

garagelogician · Aug 1, 2017

Hey man...I think we know each other from TDIClub. I go by TDICADDGUY over there...your avatar/username caught my eye immediately.

I still have my old NB...sagging headliner and all. She's still going strong at almost 300k but I'm looking to join the ranks of the SSBMWO with an E70 X5 here in the next 6-12 months.

Growlertdi · Aug 1, 2017

Yep thats me Growler! I earned my Avatar.. the hard way on my old 16V GTI.. I love it.

I still have one 2001 ALH 2 door Golf and a new 2015 GSW with the DSG to play with.

The golf however is starting to show its age... makes some not so interesting noises from the driveline at anything over 30mph... and of course it started doing this when I let someone else borrow the car.. so its now trapped 35 miles from home at my Dad place... and his buddy with a tow dolly has it in Washington state for a while... ugh.

I'll likely take a trunk full of tools to my dads place this weekend and see if I can figure out why its making the ugly noises... hopefully its just loose axls cup bolts..

Sparkynutz · Oct 5, 2018

Growlertdi said:
After much reading of threads, I guess I have become somewhat motivated to do something about my garage.

I have a serious case of FSD. I began to clean up by taking the 14 sonotubes to the cardboard recycling place. Organized the pile of spare wheels and tires somewhat and swapping on the 15 inch steels onto the 2 door golf TDI to prepare it for sale.

The 16 inch alloys on the golf now are going on the jetta wagon to prepare it for sale also.

It's a start, I'll attempt to post some photos.

Here is the spot we park the Toyota Sienna in

Here is a photo of the Low rise lift bay.. Best $400 I ever spent for this lift.

Here is the Bike pile. with 4 kids any my custom painted 3 speed Murray, this is gonna happen. Gotta figure something out for these.

And my Tool boxes. I absolutely LOVE the harbor freight cart.

Low rise lift bay? Pic not loading. I've never heard of one that cheap. Would love details on it if possible.

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Toothaker · Oct 15, 2018

Aaron, you are so much bolder than I. Personally, I couldn't share the decluttering process online.

But I started a lot like what you started with.

I had several specific phases:
1. Throw away stuff that was clearly, unambiguously trash. Stuff that fit in the trash can, stuff that fit in the dumpster at work went into the bed of the pickup, stuff bigger than that taken to the waste transfer station.
2. Sort the recycle stuff into piles to be recycled. I think it paid for the gas to take it to the recycler.
3. Sell stuff on eBay and Craigslist that somebody might want.
4. Sell to certain 'valuable' things friends and acquaintance that I would never use, but they would use.
5. Start organizing. Midway through this 15 to 20 week process I found GJ, and that helped a lot.

My criteria for keeping vs. getting rid of: Had I used it in the last year? Was I going to use it in the next year? No? Get rid of it. This is an ongoing exercise. Yes, a couple of times I got rid of stuff I regretted, but that happened very rarely, and the benefit of getting rid of stuff outweighs the disadvantages.

Growlertdi · Oct 16, 2018

Sparky,

Thanks for stopping by, The low rise lift I purchased used from some friends who also purchased it used so I got it at least 3rd hand if not 4th... lol

the lift is one that you see at tire stores all the time and will raise a basic sedan or mini van a few inches off the ground. I see the photo you copied into your post so not sure why its not loading.

I used to do a lot more timing belt work on VW TDIs so the lift got a lot more use than it does now. I pretty much use it for oil changes and tire rotations on my fleet of cars.

Mick,

Thanks for stopping by, I haven't done much in my garage in the last year, sooner or later I will get more motivation and do just like you mentioned, I need to get rid of the recyclables, throw away junk, and purge.

anyone want a radial arm saw? I haven't ever used it, and its taking up a bunch of space... lol

Sparkynutz · Oct 16, 2018

Pics show now. Must have been an issue with host or something. Any info on make or model of the lift? I've searched quite a bit and all I'm really finding are pretty large ones for big bucks and now that your pics load it looks about perfect size for my use too.

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Growlertdi · Jan 4, 2019

So over the last couple of months I have been working on my Dads new to him 2000 TDI beetle.

He bought it this fall from the guy who bought it from me 12 years ago.
The car now has 290k miles on it. 210k more than when I sold it 12 years ago.

Ever since then we have been chasing turbo performance issues.

over break I was finally able to get the car running right and the turbo system under control properly. a good feeling..

too bad it took multiple tries, a replacement turbo and 4 different turbo control vacuum solenoids to get it to work properly. (Repeat after me, Super cheap solenoids from Ebay are bad, M Kay..)

but, I wouldn't trade the time spent with my dad and my 17 year old son for anything.

larry_g · Jan 4, 2019

Wow that last picture shows a really clean shop now, good work!

My solution to a over accumulation of 'good stuff' is a dump trailer and a burn pile.

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no neat sig line

Growlertdi · Jan 4, 2019

Larry,

Thanks, but lol, you are looking at the empty space that is usually occupied by the Toyota Sienna... with the old never used bike rack and yard tools/mower storage against the far wall.

To the right is a cheap steel/mdf shelf unit/bench setup piled with ****, a pile of tires/wheels and pallets in the corner that I recently organized to take up less space (picture tomorrow...)

to the left is the same workbench/shelving as before pretty much untouched.. 5 or 6 bicycles that I need to find something to do with since they rarely/never get used any more.

Ill take more photos. I have done SOME cleaning up, but still have a long way to go.

The Disaster, Growlertdi's 28 x 32 pole barn.

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