Fairly large garage, looking for input, opinions/help in designing/layout

[TT_Vert]

So I have to say I'm a bit overwhelmed now that I have my dream garage. I plan to use kitchen cabinets which I will sand and basecoat/clearcoat black to match my tool boxes. I have already obtained a few. I have 4 husky 42x24 rolling cabinets and my old trusty craftsman box. I will also have a new 60 gallon upright compressor, a parts cleaner, welder, plasma cutter, drill press, etc. which I will be putting in here. I'm going to see if I can figure out the freecad remodel side of the software as I rarely use it. I have dimensions of the garage which I will make a scale drawing with soon but if anyone has any input on cabinet layout, etc. I'd appreciate it. I still need to get some base cabinets and I plan to use a standard countertop for even more flat space. I generally do not have heavy items on my counter tops so It doesn't need to support 500#. The ceilings are something like 12' tall and the cabinets I attached pics are either 40" or 24". I'm debating running these 40"ers all the way to the ceiling and use crown molding and a step stool for the higher shelves of these cabinets or just have them lower. My garage has 3" base boards so I am probably going to have the base about 3" higher than normal so I don't have to cut the baseboard for the cabinets to sit flush. I also have a metric ton of 4x8' industrial shelving that I can use but i feel like these may take up more real estate that I want to give up. Any ideas on how to best use these would be awesome too!

I hope this makes a bit of sense.

Thanks much,

Dave

 

[jb garage]

Well, looks like you are going to need more cabinets

Seriously though, nice space. I don't think you can go wrong running them to the ceiling and using a ladder or having them lower and you then get space to put things on top that might not fit inside. All good.

 

[TT_Vert]

Yeah I'm not sure which will look better. My thought process with not running them to the ceiling is is that the space between a 36" high base cabinet which is raised to 39ish" due to the base boards may be a little small and cramped looking. I am open to any ideas/suggestions at this point With crown molding it will look very nice for sure but it's a garage after all. I want to try to standardize as best I can as I don't want it to look like I just threw up whatever cabinets I could find.


Dave

 

[RWorth]

Looking at the pix I would guess 9' ceilings, are you sure they are 12'? I was going to suggest using the industrial shelving for a mezzanine, but I don't think you have the height. I did it in mine with 12' ceilings, worked out well.

 

[TT_Vert]

You may be right. I'm horrible with estimating distances but those industrial shelves are 8' tell and I had a bit of room still. Ceilings are peaked also. I'm check today

 

[TT_Vert]

So its 10 feet on the side and 12 at the peak. It angles towards the peak right where ceiling meet. So I'm not going to be able to run the cabinets all the way up to the ceiling and use crown molding.

 

[TT_Vert]

I drew up one way I think would look good in the NE corner of garage using the upper cabinets i have. Unfortunately since I got 40" uppers (I was really clueless on this) to get any distance between the benchtop and the bottom of the uppers I have to use 96" side cabinets as 84"ers only gave me 4" between the benchtop. Finding used 96"ers is going to be a feat as I don't really want to buy new just to respray them. Even unfinished oak isn't cheap enough for me to get them new. This is w/ a 1.5" countertop as this will not be my bench for heavy work however I may try my hand at making my first benchtop using 2x4s on end like I've seen done before here. I'm not a wood guy (learning) so this would be a fun first real wood project that doesn't involve making a garage bench. Any opinions or suggestions on this design or how to make it better would be great. I do not have much wiggle room on the right side of this to put any type of filler on the right as I have a window right there. In fact I am wondering if perhaps having that 96x24 right next to the window is a bad idea as it'll block natural light which i'd rather not do. Not sure how to cosmetically make that look good w/ the end of the cabinets just floating there although it may not look that bad at all. 1mm=1", I cannot seem to figure out how to change the scale and for this it is fine. I'm trying ot see if I can do away w/ that middle counter support cabinet if possible and if you guys have any suggestions of another way to support the bench from below w/o eating into leg room would be appreciated.

This took me more time than I'd like to admit as I never have used this CAD software for cabinets. Learned lots and could do it in an hour next time. Disregard the free cabinets on the right I was just messing around.

Thanks
Dave

 

[TT_Vert]

So I decided, given the difficulty in finding and cost involved w/ the 96" tall cabinet, that I may just pull them. What do you guys think? I'm base/clearing these anyway so the edges will be finished.

 

[kbs2244]

I would keep the standard counter height.
Put a support board along the wall at counter height for supporting the back edge and go with a deeper, custom, counter top.

Forget the 2x4s on edge for the top.
It is just too much work.
Go with a 2 layer 3/3 inch plywood base.
We have had a lot of discussion about the top surface.
Do a search.

If you keep the tall cabinets, trim the back, bottom to clear the wall bottom and push them against the wall.

You can get a 45 degree corner base cabinet.

Put 3/4 plywood at the base cabinets outside edges for strength.

Put 3x3 inch angle iron under the front edge of the counter top for bridging strength.

Put your upper cabinets against the ceiling.
You will like the extra space between the workbench top and the bottom of them.
Keep a kitchen style 3 step stool around for easy access.

Put all your big stuff on casters and have parking places for them under the bottom shelf of your pallet racking.
You may not move them much, but it makes it easy if you ever want to.

 

[sberry]

Move a bunch of stuff in there and get squared around. Prototype from salvade, fit and refit, when you need something improve it or make it better, change it till it flows. I would get to function then let form catch up.

 

[TT_Vert]

Thanks guys yeah that's kinda what I'm doing is putting things in temp places. right now I'm still just moving things over in boxes and just putting them on shelves for now. I will unpack later but I have a lot more room than I thought I did. Nearly brought my entire garage over with the exception of my toolboxes . My new compressor is going to go to the right of my engine stand and I may have to take one of the shelves out to clear since it's pretty tall but it's nice having a storage space above it. Eventually the welder, plasma cutter parts washer, press and sand blasting cabinet come in bit I have more than enough room for them. found a great deal on a tire mounting and a balancing machine so those might be the next things to come over here . Feels good to finally make some progress over here now I just need to figure out how I'm going to get more to 220 outlets. Have one on the wall by where my compressor's going to go & two in the ceiling for the lifts. Any suggestions there? The 220 is being a wall wall plate.

 

[TT_Vert]

Newest panoramic. kbs, can you elaborate? how would 3x3" angle iron up front help? I'm having an issue visualizing this. I was going to try the 2x4 idea as A. I don't want to spend a small fortune on a countertop and B. I'd like to get better with wood working. However if it's very difficult to make it work well then i'll just not attempt it.

What would 3/4" plywood accomplish at the outside edges?

What is 3/3 plywood? Googled it but didn't find much. Did I mention I'm not a wood guy??


Dave

 

[Lelandwelds]

I didn't catch what you want to use the space for. Are you shooting for a suburban let's-not-spook-the-soccer-moms garage? A lift friendly steel body race car fab garage? A "do it all I dont trust anybody to work on my stuff" shop? A I need to store 15 original VW garage?

You certainly are off to a good start. I have a soft spot for pallet racks. Is there a used dealer nearby? You could build something like levrack. http://www.levrack.com/?lightbox=dataItem-j822bx4s1

The panorama just confuses me. Is this an ell shape?

 

[TT_Vert]

It's just my hobby shop. I'll eventually build another car, take something apart , build something, 3d print something, etc. I have a customer who is moving who offered me all the racks that I want. I'm actually thinking about modifying one of those racks cutting it in half vertically and making a top for it, putting it in casters so I have a mobile 4x8 bench. For the most part I am probably going to make an island so I have access to all four sides of it. probably mount my drill press, my grinder and my vice to it and then wire it in a way where I can quick connect/quick disconnect. If I start welding more i may redo the top in plate steel so or can also double as a 4x8 welding table. Using the rack as a table was actually my wife's idea

Dave

 

[Lelandwelds]

Dont tell her but lots of people beat her to that idea.

 

[TT_Vert]

I won't tell her lol. But from a non gearhead I'm impressed. To answer the question it is not L-shaped it is rectangular and is approximately 70 x 22

 

[kbs2244]

My idea on the 3x3 angle iron was to put it under the front edge as a reinforcement.
Your drawing shows a long span and the iron will strengthen it a lot.

That is the reason for the 3/4 ply on the sides of the cabinets as well.
Kitchen cabinets just are not strong enough for shop use.

BTW, I am in the market for some 24 inch deep racking in the CHI/MILW area.

 

[TT_Vert]

kbs, they will sell some of it as well. They have a ton of it Let me know what you need and what a fair offer is. They were going to sell the old racks to the company who sold them the new ones for the new building.

So you were saying have the 3x3 angle iron lengthwise? That makes more sense but would 3" of support do much? Or is that 3'? This bench will not be used for any heavy items at all, that is what the rack shelf bench I'm going to make will be for.

Dave

 

[TT_Vert]

Revisiting the countertop. I did some pricing at HD and the cheapest they have custom is over $700 so I think i'd rather just build my own with my very limited wood skills. Is there any major issue w/ that 2x4 on end top? Is there another cheaper way to build a countertop that is semi durable?

Dave

 

[kbs2244]

The 3x3 angle iron would go left to right under the front edge to reinforce the span.

The big problem with 2x4s on edge is they have rounded corners.
To get a flat surface you will need to plane off apx 3/8 of wood.
That is a whole lot of sawdust.

A double layer of 3/4 ply will give all kinds of strength and be a good base for your choice of work surface.

Where is the racking located?
I am thinking of 3 ten foot high x 24 inches deep uprights and ten or twelve 8 foot cross bars.

 

[TT_Vert]

The uprights are only 8 and the shelving is 40" deep. All the same dimensions. I see your point on the 2x4s. 3/4" plywood would work for me. I will just need to figure out the seams between the two portions of the EL shape. Are you speaking of 3"x3" or 3'x3' L bracket?


Dave