garage done...now its time to share:)

tonight i thought i was clicking on my old bookmark for garagejunkies.com, instead i arrived here, so im assuming this is the new net "garage spot".

anyhow i wanna tell all of you guys who were part the junkies board thank you. you guys and all of your garages inpspired me to finally build the garage i wanted. check it out fellas! ........









and just for kicks below you find the link which contains pics to the rest of my home in case anyone wants to check those out....just click on the album titled home. im 29, bought this house 2 years ago, and have been remodling my a$$ off ever since

http://s40.photobucket.com/albums/e202/kevings/

if i can help anyone out or answer any questions...im all ears.

Kevings - nice house and awesome garage there. I like the floor and need to know what the coating is. My floor is white and that was a mistake, any thing spills on it instantly shows.

I wish I had the foresight to do what you did when I was 27 and buy a house to fix up and have appreciate. Nice work

Becc,

thanks for the very kind words. as far as the floor goes, it's ucoatit. i chose the black heavy duty automotive finish with fleck and high gloss clear on top. the floor looks awesome and im very pleased with the results, with a good cleaning the floor is so shiny you can see your face in it. i actually plan on reapplying the clear coat every year or so, cause i love that sucker to shine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At night i sometimes work in the garage with the main garage door open for ventilation. in the neighboorhood where i live lots of people walk their dogs or children in the evening. i cant tell you how many compliments ive gotten on the garage and the floor. Neighbors just love to ask questions and i love it because im actually am a loan officer/real estate agent and i have ended up doing motgage refinances for my neighbors because the topic of work inevitably comes up. ( 4 refi's to date, which paid for my garage remodel several times over already ). Another added benifit is the fact that i get to make friends with my neighboors cause im a pretty friendly guy and like knowing the people i live around.

let me know if you need anymore info on the floor or anything.

Looks nice. I owned my first piece of real estate when I was 23. My daughter bought her first condo at 23 also. She's owned it for 3 years already. Its nice paying your own mortgage instead of someone else's!

Love the floor, I'm on the fence, when I get done with mine whether I'll do a coating or race deck. I fear the race deck will be an issue with mold. Although I will have radiant heat so it will probably dry quickly when I do get it wet. I thought about a 50/50 deal also, where the race deck is in the back half and the ucoatit is in the front half where the slope is.

How was it to install the ucoatit?

That looks REALLY nice. From a distance, that high-gloss black with white flecks gives the impression of granite, which would have to be the pimpest (if impractical) garage floor ever. I was leaning toward epoxy-coat for a floor for our basement/garage remodel, but if the ucoatit looks that much better, the extra expense might just be worth it.

What's with the lighting situation? Those eyeball fixtures look nice and seem to give decent general lighting, but I think if I was working on something in there I'd go blind pretty quick from the shadows, etc. Are there any undercabinet lights over your workbench or anything? That might be a downside of the black floor, less reflected light, but it sure does look good.

I give it a .

Looks fantastic! It,s just begging for some neon signs and chrome stools! Love that black floor.

z28, a personals results with ucoatit are really just pretty much dependant on your prep work and the quality of that work. it's really not hard at all though. my girlfriend and i did the entire floor on in 2 days. once the floor is preped it really is as easy as painting, because that really is all you are doing. my girlfriend said she felt like she was painting walls while we were doing it.

your daughter accomplishment at 23 says alot about the kind of father you are and about her as well. it's a great thing that she bought so young. my story is similar. bought my first house at 23 as well, very close to disneyland actually, paid 249k, sold it about 3 years later for 531k. bought the house im currently in for 630k, now worth about 825k. i also own 3 homes and one condo n albaquerque new mexico which are all rented out. they are all appreciating nicely and should continue to do so, god willing. i believe they will though, due to albuquerque's incredible growth over the last few years, as well as factors such as the high education level of many of the americans moving there, the number of jobs coming into the state ( many of which are highly technical/professional positions), rapidly growing tourism, and the states extremely pro business outlook as far as corporate taxes go.

i guess im getting sidetracked here, sorry. but anyone looking to invest out of state would be well served to do their due dilligence on albaquerque and rio rancho NM.

now back to garage talk, sorry again gents about the real estate talk....i get carried away

wrigh003, i've got 9 recessed lighting cans in the garage. they each have a 75 watt bulb if i remember correctly. it's not the most efficients lighting $$$ wise, since im sure florescent lighting would run me a lot less, but man, they sure do look nice. they give off plenty of light, and it's not hard to see at all in there. i thought about buying a under the cabinet light when i was first installing the recessed lights, but the truth is that i dont need it, i can see fine in there with the existing lights.

also, fwiw, there really is a lot more light in the garage than the pictures convey. i took those at night and the camera just didnt do that great of a job, i guess i had it in the wrong mode or something.

one downside to the black floor, when your drop a screw, bolt, nut....whatever....it can be a pain to find

as far as ucoatit being worth the extra cost, i would agree. i sell/and buy houses for a living ( realestate agent, as i mentioned earlier ). i have seen many, many expoxied floors. though they all look decent and much better than bare concrete, especially if done right, the thing that sets ucoat it apart, in my opionion, would be the shine and depth of the finish, if your willng to pay a bit extra of course for the highgloss clear. i say go for it, i think you be happy.

reflexx,

thanks man! i have actually been keeping my eyes open for some chrome stools, im hoping something will show up at costco sooner or later.....they have great deals and i love that place.

neon sights is s a great idea to, maybe i'll take a quick trip to ebay when i have some time

reflexxx,

i just followed the link in your signature to your "garage mahal"......OMG!!!!!



wow, is all i can say.

my girlfreind was over here looking at the pics with me and she called your garage the "deathstar" because according to her...it looks so "serious"

lol

kevings said:

reflexxx,

i just followed the link in your signature to your "garage mahal"......OMG!!!!!



wow, is all i can say.

my girlfreind was over here looking at the pics with me and she called your garage the "deathstar" because according to her...it looks so "serious"

lol

Click to expand...

LOL, that is too funny...(cue the Darth Vader intro music)...

...especially since reflexxx has that big CNC droid lurking in the shuttle bay...

Nice job on the floor. I think it does resemble granite.

It's amazing about the real estate prices these days, especially in SoCal. My parents live in Simi Valley in the home they bought in 1968 for $28K. They don't want to sell, but practically have to beat the brokers away with a stick, and have turned down $800K offers.

Properties around me in the NorCal swamps have been selling in upwards of $300K, which I find completely unbelievable...

Finally someome with black epoxy! I think this confirms an old idea that I should install black epoxy in my attached garage. Looks great!

kevings said:

Becc,

thanks for the very kind words. as far as the floor goes, it's ucoatit. i chose the black heavy duty automotive finish with fleck and high gloss clear on top. the floor looks awesome and im very pleased with the results, with a good cleaning the floor is so shiny you can see your face in it. i actually plan on reapplying the clear coat every year or so, cause i love that sucker to shine!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At night i sometimes work in the garage with the main garage door open for ventilation. in the neighboorhood where i live lots of people walk their dogs or children in the evening. i cant tell you how many compliments ive gotten on the garage and the floor. Neighbors just love to ask questions and i love it because im actually am a loan officer/real estate agent and i have ended up doing motgage refinances for my neighbors because the topic of work inevitably comes up. ( 4 refi's to date, which paid for my garage remodel several times over already ). Another added benifit is the fact that i get to make friends with my neighboors cause im a pretty friendly guy and like knowing the people i live around.

let me know if you need anymore info on the floor or anything.

Click to expand...

Wow place looks great ...but even more amazing....you talk to your neighbors ..in Anahiem Ca ..no less ...J/K

bmwpower, hi. i checked out the pics of your garage....beautiful, seriously impressive. i agree with ya, i think the black floor would look awesome especially under all those gorgeous blue cabinets.

scooter, LOL!!!!! I know what you mean about talking to my neighboors, i wish it was more common down here. i have been to other states and for the first few days i have to get accustomed to how friendly everyone is, becuase the sad truth of the matter is that down here is southern ca.....a lot of people, for one reason or another, just don't see any value in taking the time to say hi to someone, or in getting to know someone. i do wish it was different though.

truth be told, sometimes i think about cashing out, and moving out of here, buying a nice place cash, and having no mortgage, and being surrounded by friendlier people. for example, i've been to texas, and it's amazing to me how friendly the people there are. im not sure what makes the people of texas this way, but i sure do wish that what ever it is, i could put it in a bottle and bring it home to california with me.

Very nice kevings.
I really like the black with the clear. Looks very nice. While I like the shiney finish, I decided against it. In Wisconsin, you drag snow in the garage all winter. The floor is wet most of the time. At least I have a floor drain.

As to your comments about Texas, I lived in DFW for 24 years. Texas in general is friendly, but that doesn't necessarily translate to friendly neighbors. Before we moved to WI, we lived in that house 12 years. Knew one neighbor. Didn't like them.
We moved to Wisconsin. Knew everyone on our block within 2 days. There are neighborhood get togethers multiple time each year. We are still in disbelief how much difference there is 9 years later.
I think it's the big city factor. But even from neighborhood to neighborhood it can vary within the same town. We moved about a mile 3 years ago. It is not the same atmosphere. We still do more with our old neighbors.

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, "just remember your mileage may vary".

kevings said:

bmwpower, hi. i checked out the pics of your garage....beautiful, seriously impressive. i agree with ya, i think the black floor would look awesome especially under all those gorgeous blue cabinets.

scooter, LOL!!!!! I know what you mean about talking to my neighboors, i wish it was more common down here. i have been to other states and for the first few days i have to get accustomed to how friendly everyone is, becuase the sad truth of the matter is that down here is southern ca.....a lot of people, for one reason or another, just don't see any value in taking the time to say hi to someone, or in getting to know someone. i do wish it was different though.

truth be told, sometimes i think about cashing out, and moving out of here, buying a nice place cash, and having no mortgage, and being surrounded by friendlier people. for example, i've been to texas, and it's amazing to me how friendly the people there are. im not sure what makes the people of texas this way, but i sure do wish that what ever it is, i could put it in a bottle and bring it home to california with me.

Click to expand...

I lived in So. Cal for 23 years....trust me I "KNOW" what it's like..but to be honest..not that much different here..(Better but not leaps and bounds better)..I find I meet more people (parents of my kids friends) than the neighbors walking down the street.....not blaming in on anything..could just be me and my California attitude......

SCOOTER said:

I lived in So. Cal for 23 years....trust me I "KNOW" what it's like..

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Same here. I grew up in Simi Valley and "escaped" here to rural NorCal in 1985. I was amazed by the friendly attitude everyone seemed to have.

Nobody pushing and shoving in the stores, everyone taking a few minutes to chat with the cashier, etc. I admit it drove me nuts at first.

Now things are changing. People are moving from the cities to take advantage of the lower property values. They build huge houses with 8-foot walls around them, drive like **** and don't talk to anyone.

It was nice while it lasted. The little burg where I live hasn't been discovered by the developers yet, so I guess I have a few more years here.

First off Kev. sorry for tap dancing on your thread.....and YES it's getting "Californicated" all around me, I'm about 15-20 min from Seattle, My lil town still holds to it's roots and requires a min. of a 10,000sq lot (not huge but not tiny either) all around us they are building 3000sq-4000sq' houses on 5000sq' lots and they are less than 10' apart.. .I'm glad I got my "lil" piece when I did

Kevings,

Very very nice floor! I'm trying to decide what floor coating product to use for my new garage. Can you let me know why you decided on ucoatit vs the others? (such as the rustoleum epoxy, and the overlay like racedeck, swisstrak, Home Depot tiles,...) Personally, I've ruled out the racedeck, swisstrak types because they all advertise that liquids will drain through thus keeping the tiles clean. What they don't say is how those liquids can be cleaned out! They will just stay underneath the tiles and stain the concrete or cause mold. Currently, ucoatit is 1st on my list. Also, if you don't mind, can I come by your house to check it out? I'm living in Placentia, but will be moving to Bakersfield in a couple weeks.

Thanks!!!