2 car detached workshop

[classicJackets]

Hey guys,

Haven't been on here very much in a while, but I recently purchased a house and have a garage to call my own! (and my fiances)

It's a small 2 car, 20'x18'. The house had lots of knob/tube and some electrical problems, so we had an electrician out to replace the main circuit breaker and a few other cases - including running a 60amp subpanel to the garage and wiring that up. I'm really excited to have a garage of my own, after using my parents garage, a parking lot, and then the garage in a rental house for a few years.

Unfortunately, I still have work to do before moving in. The yard has risen above the sill plates on at least 2 sides of the garage, and they appear to be rotten. So, along with re-wiring the house and replacing much of the bathroom, I should be getting started on jacking up the garage to replace sill plates in the next few weeks. At the same time I'm hoping to dig the yard back out and add gutters to direct water away.



I do a little bit of anything and everything metal related in my garage. I do have a project car, a 1975 Ford Courier. I don't have a whole lot of experience with all of this, but I pulled and swapped the drivetrain, and I'm working on replacing the floor plans now. I also need to finish the wiring, as the battery will be in a cooler in the bed.

Last picture is the garage I'm in now - it's 7' wider than my new garage, so things will be much more cramped..

 

[nicholam77]

Congrats on the new space! It's exciting times, both the house and the garage, to have one's own space. I have a similarly sized detached, and had similar issues with mine. I did not go to the trouble of jacking the garage up but dug soil away and a trench as well as refreshed gutters, etc. I'm sure the sill plates are rotted in places.

It sounds like you have the ambition and skills to whip it in shape. Initially, I saw the lack of space in my own place as a downside, but it can force you to be smart and efficient about what goes where. Some of my favorite builds on here are the smaller garages.

The Ford looks cool.

Good luck and I'll be following along.

 

[DynoDave]

Congrats on the new garage!

 

[Unruh]

Exciting times. Having a smaller place myself, I’m always interested in watching them take shape.

 

[classicJackets]

Picked up a few new pieces for the garage in the last week or so - still prepping to lift/replace the sills, hoping this weekend.

I've begun packing up my current garage, it's as tough as I was expecting! It's hard to not be moving things in, but we're working on getting the bathroom remodeled, which given the age of the house/plumbing is a learning experience itself.

The new workbench is 1/2" aluminum top, and the new cabinet will be a catch-all - hoping to put my stereo on top, and store everything in it. My goal is for every tool to have a home. I've had the luxury to be able to sprawl in my garage now, which doesn't help any with organization (for me). For the two new pieces, I'm in at $150.

 

[classicJackets]

Been a whirlwind of activity since we moved all the way in to the new house, almost entirely spent on the house itself! We had to clean up the old Knob/Tube wiring throughout the house, and ended up getting into a bathroom remodel as well. Turned out fantastic, but it took much longer than expected. That, along with general homeowner items and life going on outside of all that means I have barely spent any time in the garage.

Anyway, as we're wrapping up with all that, I'm getting to the point where I both can and need to spend some time working on the garage before winter hits, and makes it a real pain to do so. The garage itself is in "okay" shape, but I have far, far too much in there for it to be usable as is.

First, a status shot:

Too much stuff on the right side. My first plan is to remove the aluminum workbench I included in the previous post, and a jack that needs a rebuild, and move those to the basement so i can have one heated workspace going into this winter. After that, i should be able to sit the toolboxes and drill press flush with the right wall, there.
The other side of the garage has a 6' workbench that's home to my box and pan brake, and not much else. Long term, I'd like to find or weld up a smaller stand for that, so I can take the 6' workbench out.

Once I have room to breathe in the garage, I need to do some fixin' on the garage itself. 1st, is patching the hole to the outside that's showed itself on the back wall. Most of the bottom of the back wall is below grade, and the sills are below grade all the way around. I am hoping to patch/replace the back wall before winter, and replace the sills next year.

One of the nice spots that gets wet after rain.. on a heavy rain the water will still come in, but not as bad since I had gutters installed!

One of the things I love about this garage is the height.. I am planning to use it to my advantage where possible, and build some shelves above where the STOP sign is in the first picture. Over the garage door is a ton of space, but I think it would look better if there was some kind of window up there.

Straight overhead is a ton of space as well. Because I am expecting to work in here for a few years, meaning a few winters, I would really like to think about finishing the space well enough to give a heater the chance to be successful.
If I did that, I would like to take the drywall as high up as the cross-braces are here.. that's about 11.5' from ground level, and feels like great space. Probably a good long time before that can happen.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to journaling some of the updates and general improvements made to the space while I'm here. Many are needed to get started, but I'm hoping that the future will bring some "wants" as well!

 

[nicholam77]

Pics not showing?

 

[classicJackets]

You're right, re-posted here.

 

[classicJackets]

To break down what all I'm trying to make enough room for, and figure out how to organize correctly, here's a breakdown of what all I have been grabbing, storing, and using the last few years!
As shown previously, the metal cabinet from , next to the aluminum workbench. Today I welded on the steel to the base of that workbench. Anywhere I can add a shelf and store something, I'll be happy!

I recently picked up the Montgomery Ward drill press, that someone added a 3rd pulley to along the way. it's a little ugly, but overall in good shape.
After that is my Hobart Handler 140. I ran it with Flux Core wire for ~3 years, and just got MIG Gas within the last 6 months. What a change!

The buffer/polisher is actually wired to run on 115V. I bought it for $70, and just re-wired the plug and added some new buffing wheels to one side. It runs unbelieably well, and I'm guessing it's at 100 years old now.

The butcher block workbench with upper shelves is a Lyon, and I got it for $60 from someone moving homes, who said they got it from a Fiat Chrysler building/plant up here somewhere.
With it I have a 3.5" Chas Parker vise with swiveling base and intact wrench I got for $40, and a nuts/bolts bin I've carried with me for a few years..

The Bead roller shown is made of 1/4" plate, it was made by a former GMC Truck employee who fabricated race-cars and is wildlly overbuilt. I've only used it a few times, but it's great.
To round it out, I have a 24" Di-Acro box and pan brake.. This, along with the 2 grinders I have are on a 6' long workbench right now, but I am hoping to fabricate a smaller stand for that to cut down on footprint.

 

[Henricogolfer]

Making progress, looks good!


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