Declutter and Garage remodel

[AO928]

Declutter and Garage remodel - Aww ****... need cement work!

I've held off on posting mostly because I didn't think my garage is worthy of posting pics, but now that I have embarked on the re-build i figure it's time.

A little background first:

We bought this house almost 11 years ago new. At the time I had plans for finishing off the garage and making it "purdy" but my 8.5 month pregnant wife had other ideas. So the garage has mostly stayed in it's raw state for the past 11 years. But I'm tired of it, so now is the time.

There are two main goals for this rehab: I want to declutter the garage. It'll be tough, but I think I can manage. Second, I want to make it look nice. Declutter is the first step to making it look nice.

Here's the basic layout. The garage is a 3-car garage, but I would really classify it as a 2 car. It dimensions at 29' x 19'. Pulte, the builder, could have made things a lot nicer by extending things just a tad more. A little wider and a little deeper. But, alas, this is what I'm stuck with.

Tip #1: I found the IKEA kitchen designer program is particularly useful for this project. It's free and pretty easy to use.

The first step was to make some room in the attic for big stuff like the compressor and winter tires. I installed an attic stairway and then put a winch in the existing opening to make it easier to get the heavy stuff up and down. Sorry I don't have a pic of the winch... i'll try and get on if anyone wants to see it.

Tip #2: Home Depot will accept Harbor Freight coupons. I used a 25% off coupon for the attic Stairway and got it for about $140! SMOKIN' DEAL!

So that was last month's project. It took a lot of work getting the wiring, insulation, sub-floor all in place. But now it's in.

Here how the garage looks as of yesterday. I was throwing down a coat of mud and sanding the joints to at least cover the paper. It's not perfect, but loads better. I even managed to get a coat of primer on the ceiling, but don't have a picture of that. These picture are from the four corners.

Obviously it's not much to look at right now. Here's the basic plan. The two columns represent where the MaxJax lift columns are when installed. I will be reconfiguring the existing 4 cabinets (you can see I already moved one) to the 4-bank of cabinets, and then getting some new cabinets to complete the look. Not sure about the wall color, but I like the idea of red and maybe the yellow... not 100% yet.

I'll probably do VCT (BTW, it's a real pain that you cannot do a search here for 'VCT'... ) for the floor mainly because of cost and the age of the floors with their oil stains, etc.. Probably do a checkerboard, but not certain yet. My goal is to have everything done for less than $2k. I think I can do it.

I still need to re-plan the side of the garage with the fridge and freezer and kids' toys. Will probably add-in a sink and and more cabinets. to give a better built-in look for that side.

And this is why I'm doing this. I have a 1991 928 that i love and I think it deserves a better living environment.

Comments, questions, suggestions, etc. welcome.

 

[Cryptic1911]

Re: Decluter and Garage remodel

Actually, there is a way to get around the restrictions in the search

goto google.com, and in the search box, type site:garagejournal.com vct and then let it search

that tells it to search for results on garagejournal.com with vct in the title

 

[Cryptic1911]

Re: Decluter and Garage remodel

oh, and I'd probably skip the yellow and red on the walls.. it'll be very in your face contrast wise. do something a bit more mellow

 

[AO928]

Re: Decluter and Garage remodel

Actually, there is a way to get around the restrictions in the search

goto google.com, and in the search box, type site:garagejournal.com vct and then let it search

that tells it to search for results on garagejournal.com with vct in the title

Thanks for the tip... That works great!

 

[admranger]

Looks like you have a nice plan moving forward. I know what 11 years of clutter can do. Reorganizing takes a ton of work, but so far I'm liking the results in my garage. I have a long way to go, but every little bit helps!

 

[Hogan646]

And this is why I'm doing this. I have a 1991 928 that i love and I think it deserves a better living environment.

Do you have any more pictures of the 928, it has always been one of my favorites.

 

[thomask]

Looks like a plan with a man of action. It should look great, you will be very happy getting things organized and a nice home for that Toy.

Once you get a first good coat of white on that ceiling and the walls it will jump out how clean the place is. Perhaps just do a Prosche logo and colors on a stripe around the periemeter at chair rail height. You could do that with paint or tape? It would keep everything clean and bright. Put up some Porsche items on the walls, ie Porsche man cave.
All age kids will love it.

 

[AO928]

Looks like a plan with a man of action. It should look great, you will be very happy getting things organized and a nice home for that Toy.

Once you get a first good coat of white on that ceiling and the walls it will jump out how clean the place is. Perhaps just do a Prosche logo and colors on a stripe around the periemeter at chair rail height. You could do that with paint or tape? It would keep everything clean and bright. Put up some Porsche items on the walls, ie Porsche man cave.
All age kids will love it.

Yeah... I got the ceiling painted last night (well mostly) and it makes a HUGE difference. But now that I have that part done, I can start to tackle the walls.

I also thought about doing a red stripe around the perimeter... No matter, i think I will paint all the walls white first. Then I can go back and accent or paint the wall a different color. I just need to get the damn thing moving along.

Do you have any more pictures of the 928, it has always been one of my favorites.

Thanks. Here are a few more pics over the years.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Great looking car!

I agree with Cryptic1911 about the colors, though. Red and yellow are good colors, but that doesn't mean they're good roommates. And I say that as a guy who thought one fire engine red wall would be cool looking -- and then had to spend many hours putting on multiple coats of primer and a layer of beige before the garage was actually an enjoyable place to spend time working on the car.

Put another way, your car looks the best in this last picture because it stands out against the background of more-subdued colors.

 

[AO928]

Thanks Jack... I've looked at your garage several times and love the efficiency and robust design. By the way, I'm also "in the family" but I'm an O-N and not an E-N.

The more I think about it, the more I think it's better to go with a neutral color (a la White0 and then look to use other accents.

Here's a questions for you guys. Is it better to go with a flat paint that might need to be touched up for the occasional blemish here and there or go with a semi-gloss that can be wiped down. I ask because working on the toy seems to impart a certain amount of grime to the garage.

Best,
Andrew Olson

 

[automobiliben]

Andrew,

What did you use to insulate the garage door? Any worries about the subfloor in the attic squishing the insulation and losing R value?

Thanks!

 

[AO928]

At the time I insulated the garage doors, the "kits" were wicked expensive. So I bought some 4'x8'x1"(?) sheets of styrofoam and then cut them to fit using my bandsaw. Actually I tried to use a utility knife, but that failed miserably (you can see a few with jagged edges - those were done with the utility knife). The bandsaw does a spectacular job, but it is a bit messy with all the chaff that comes off. Then I used some thin lathe strips to hold in the styrofoam panels. No idea on how effective it is, but it has to be better than nothing at all.

As for the attic, the insulation is designed for the thickness of the joists. you can get insulation bats/rolls from 3.5" all the way to I think 9". In my case it's 2x4 construction so 3.5" was the order. The OSB subfloor does not squish it at all. Granted the r-value is quite low, but the idea was to just give a little protection. I can already tell with the few hot days we've had so far that the heat does not radiate down nearly as much. My little window unit AC had no issues keeping the garage in the 70's. During the winter, I use a kerosene heater to bring the temp up to about 50*~55* F which makes it tolerable to work on the car. My hope is that the insulation will help retain the heat, but luckily I get to wait another 6 months before I have to break that out.

 

[AO928]

Oh... here's a couple pics of the winch... I love it! Makes hauling the alignment plates up and down super easy! Those suckers are heavy!

 

[Cryptic1911]

I'd go with something other than flat paint.. it'll reflect light better, and allow you to clean it up somewhat

 

[AO928]

I'd go with something other than flat paint.. it'll reflect light better, and allow you to clean it up somewhat

Thanks... that's what i was thinking too. Ceiling is for sure flat, but the walls are most-likely going to be a semi-gloss. I think a full-on Gloss might be too much of a distraction.

 

[vpogv]

Semi gloss or gloss can be wiped down a lot better than the the others too. Keep up the work!

 

[Jack Olsen]

Thanks, AO928. I think semigloss is definitely the way to go on the wall. (And my family history goes back to both Sweden and Norway, so the En or the On was just a matter of chance.)

I wonder what it is in the male brain that first thinks of really loud color schemes when you imagine a garage going from unpainted to painted. I know in my case, my first thought was that I'd use four different colors -- and there was a red, a green, a blue and a yellow in my head. I'm not sure why that was my impulse -- I don't think I'd ever think that way for painting my office or an interior room. Maybe it's because we can see the impact of a bold color on a car. Still, most guys get more conservative on the interior colors, even with a car. In any case, I started with some big colors in my head and ended up toning it down -- although some people still find my avalanche of green a little too much.

 

[automobiliben]

Thanks for the reply! I am definitely borrowing the winch through the aittic ladder idea!!

Was there a reason that you went with batted insulation vs. blown-in for the attic? I like how you do it to maintain a sub-floor up there for storage. My shop is going to be in SC, so cooling (with a window unit like you) will be my main concern. I am still not sure how much a concern heating is going to be...

 

[machine_punk]

Looks like you've got some great ideas for sorting out your garage. I've been thinking hard about how to install a hoist somewhere in my garage. I know that the engine hoist I just got makes moving really heavy things much easier.

Looking forward to seeing how this garage shapes up and what sort of projects you end up working on...

M_P

 

[AO928]

Quick update:

Got home late last night tucked the kids into bed and told the wife I was going to throw a coat of primer on the main wall because tonight my son has a band concert and there is little chance that I will get anything done tonight. Wow! What a difference.

My goal is to have everything painted and the cabinets installed this weekend, so i had better come up with a color scheme pretty damn quick. I love the look in white. Maybe I'll go that way. It will make the entire garage feel bigger which isn't a bad thing. Plus if I decide to decorate with some Porsche art, it should help make the artwork pop a little more. I dunno.... decisions decisions.

Jack-
I too am a mix. I like to call it "Scandihoovian." As for your avalanche of green... I like it. It reminds me of my 7th grade science class. All the cabinets were of a similar shade of green. If only you had the indestructible black counter-tops they used to have back then - then it would totally look like you recycled an old school. Which is pretty cool IMO.

BTW, here was my dog, Noodles, this morning... I think he approves.

 

[AO928]

Color choices...

Homage to JO?

I gots the blues...

Pure white...

I think I might need some input from the wife on this one.

 

[BHR4CE1]

Light gray/white makes the space look a lot bigger than it is!

 

[admranger]

I'm partial to a light color to help keep the space bright when I'm working on stuff. It's boring but functional, kind of like me.

 

[nine4gmc]

are you going with all white cabinets? choose your cabinet color then pick a complimenting wall color. major improvement on the walls, cant wait to see some paint. it makes me want to finish my shop, my walls look exactly like your "before" pics...

 

[bacarl]

1) That thing's got a freakin supercharged V8 in it??
2) I love the winch - ingenious. What are the details of how it's mounted up there?

I'm also doing my walls in a light, neutral color (warm pale grey). I don't want white as I feel it will look grungy too quickly. Just like nine4gmc suggested, I chose some colors for my cabinets first (black and medium grey), then for the walls I picked a light grey from the same color card as the cabinet color.

I'm planning to finish my painting this weekend so I should have a thread up soon if you're interested in how it turns out.

Keep up the good work! Great job so far, very inspiring.

 

[AO928]

The wife suggested a light gray for the color. I think i have some in the basement I can throw on as a test. I got the corners painted last night after my son's band concert. No additional pics. I'm going to try and get the paint done tonight so i can buy/build cabinets tomorrow. I need to do a little wiring as there aren't any outlets where the new "bench" will be.

My mom comes into town on Wednesday and I need to have the garage back in a state where i can park at least 2 cars in it. It's doable, but just barely. I probably won't have the lift sorted out by then, but I think I have all the pieces to re-route the hoses and mount the pump on the wall.

Man I can't wait to see this thing come together.

1) That thing's got a freakin supercharged V8 in it??
2) I love the winch - ingenious. What are the details of how it's mounted up there?

I'm also doing my walls in a light, neutral color (warm pale grey). I don't want white as I feel it will look grungy too quickly. Just like nine4gmc suggested, I chose some colors for my cabinets first (black and medium grey), then for the walls I picked a light grey from the same color card as the cabinet color.

I'm planning to finish my painting this weekend so I should have a thread up soon if you're interested in how it turns out.

Keep up the good work! Great job so far, very inspiring.

Hi Brian,

Yep... 5.0L V8 from the factory. The supercharger is my addition. Puts down about 440HP and 430TQ at the wheels. I've got a bigger supercharger that I have plans to install that should bring things up to about 500! Woo Hoo!

The winch is one I picked up from Harbor Freight. It's AC and I think it's the cheapest one they carry. The rating is 200/400lbs but the most i would ever haul up is about 100. I think it cost about $90 when you use one of their 20~25% off coupons. It's designed to mount on a pipe or bar and I happened to have a 6' length of black pipe that I use for removing axle bolts, but I don't need the entire length, so I cut off 22" and the made a couple of blocks for it to sit in (didn't want to compromise the joist) and now it works great.

Here's a shot of the engine on the car.

 

[AO928]

Big progress over the weekend. Got the main wall painted and the cabinets in. I still have a ton of work to do on de-cluttering, but at least I now have a vision. Might need to get another cabinet or two, but not sure where to put them.

I decided on a gray color for the main wall. It lends a bit of contrast to the whole thing without being too "in your face." I'm still debating on an accent stripe in red.

One thing I noticed... with the car parked in the garage, I cannot open the cabinets. Who the hell designed the garage! Hopefully with the car raised I can. This garage is sooooo small. Ugh!

Here are a couple shots from this weekend. I don't want to reveal too much yet, but at least you get a sense of where this is going.

 

[Jvvmusme]

Where is that beatifull road full of curves, narrow and foggy ?
Blue Ridge Mountains ?

 

[AO928]

Actually, it's either the Tail of the Dragon or just near it.

 

[AO928]

Not much progress to report as I was in Barcelona last week (great place!). When I got back, my neighbor noticed something that turned my stomach. Due to the small size of my garage, I had very little choice as to where to locate my MaxJax. I had to install them near a relief cut in the slab. Turns out that was a BIG mistake.

Here are the pics! I would say this is no longer safe to use.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-szIHS7h-xMo/T9hczfsiNgI/AAAAAAAAGsk/srepsL_dflk/s720/IMG_20120612_204414.jpg[.img]

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ITphP9QGa9I/T9hcpgNWsfI/AAAAAAAAGsc/uicrZTNT4Y4/s912/IMG_20120612_205906.jpg

Here's the other post. The cracking isn't as bad, and if it were just this, I'd probably continue to use the lift, but it's the other side that really scared me.

So now the questions is do I have two separate footings poured, or do I do one big one that connects the two. I've never done cement work like this, so I will probably hire it to be done. Anyone know of a good contractor in the Canton, Michigan area? Also, are there any other things I should consider doing while I have the slab cut up?

Also, how long will the new cement have to cure before I can re-drill, install, and use the lift?

Any idea what the cost might be to do this? My very rough ball park is $1k. Is that high, low, right on?

I'm so pissed... I had big plans for the lift this spring/summer - but at least nothing bad happened and I'm still alive! Oh well... back to jack stands and a creeper for the time being.

 

[AO928]

Bump... any help/ideas for the concrete work in my future?

 

[bacarl]

Whoa, Canton, huh!? I'm from Farmington Hills. My parents live in Plymouth and they just had some concrete work done that they are extremely pleased with; apparently the contractors have also done a lot of work around the area and are held in high regard. I'll get their info to you.

I'll have to keep an eye open for your 928 around town!

edit: the concrete company is called Romana. They have offices in Plymouth and Melvindale. Good luck!

 

[AO928]

Thanks Brian. Greatly appreciated.

 

[Mavawreck]

Oh... here's a couple pics of the winch... I love it! Makes hauling the alignment plates up and down super easy! Those suckers are heavy!

I really like the intent behind this, but are you at all worried about the load that is placing on your roof joists? I do not know how much alignment plates weigh but I would be careful not to overload it.

 

[71flh]

Sorry, but what ever happened to a garage being a garage?

That gay floor you just put in? Plastic is way softer than anything you want to do in the garage. Why not carpet? Certainly you plan no welding. It would burn your girly floor.

Hell, why not carpet the garage?

 

[littletoes]

can't you just rent a concrete saw, cut out the old part and pour in new???

And if you want the hoist in the same spot, chop out the old concrete, only bigger, and deeper, and drill some rebar into the surrounding concrete to tie it together. Add some J-bolts for the hoist, and be done with it.

I'm sure the hoist manufacturer would have some great recamendations!

 

[SiGmA_X]

You surely can. I would suggest a single slab vs 2 pads. Mohawk has some excellent overkill ideas for a small standalone slab. Hiring it out isn't a horrid idea, it is quite a lot of work, but very doable. We poured and over rebarred a small slab for our lift last summer for about $450 or so, DIY.