First Thread: My Small Garage

[Stelvio Pass]

Hey everyone. New to the forum (I normally hang out at vwvortex -- maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that haha).

I just bought my first home about a year ago. The garage came taped and sanded, but I finally got around to painting it. My house is perfect for me except for the fact that it's only a one-car garage. The location and overall place is great, so I had to make this one sacrifice. It's 9'4" tall at least.

So many ideas, so little $. Here it is...


Before:

After:

With stuff in it

-All of the boxes in the back corner aren't mine. I can't wait until they're gone.
-The large paint buckets on the right will be properly disposed of in a few weeks.
-Many smaller items will be hung up on the gridwalls I ordered (in transit).
-The remaining items will eventually be stored away depending on what storage solution I decide on.


Future Plans:

-Grid Walls coming soon
-5' work bench, locker, rolling cabinet
-Flooring (epoxy in the short term, maybe garage tiles later0
-Upper wall shelving / storage
-More lighting!


Not anything special but hope you enjoy. Comments/suggestions welcome

 

[R1chy]

Hey everyone works with what they've got and from the looks of it you did a great job. Keep posting pictures as you go along.

Also, nice clean Jetta.

R1chy

 

[Bib Overalls]

You have to work with what you have sometimes. Neat, functional, and small is always beter than messy, disorganized and big.

 

[desert4wd]

I was worried after the first pic, but the one with your Jetta gave scale to it. Nice work and it looks great.

 

[gesoffen]

Cleans up nice! Remember that a 1 car garage is better than a 0 car garage.

BTW - I'm also a fan of your handle and avatar! I used to be a vortexer to back when I had my B3 Passat and B5 Audi A4. I've since moved on to an E46 BMW and a MCS but I still own an aircooled VW.

 

[CRAZYASTRO]

gesoffen, and u like the german language too, ha!? haha

nice jetta and i really like the paint sheme in the garage!!

Chris

 

[Captain]

Could I suggest a wider workbench and fold the lawnmower up underneath it?
If you need access to the water heater, then put the workbench on castors.

I like the paint scheme, gives the space depth.
The first picture unpainted is quite deceiving; but then when you see the car in there, that's great!

 

[NXC1978]

I bought a small tool shed for my lawn equipment and put it in the back yard. Besides cluttering up my small space, it made the garage dirty all the time. Cost me about 200 bucks and was worth every cent. Cool space!

 

[jwhcars]

Looking good,I like like the paint scheme.The Jetta looks right at home.

 

[Kevin54]

Hey everyone. New to the forum (I normally hang out at vwvortex -- maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that haha).

No you shouldn't have. Once you come through these doors you relinquish all rights to ever go back to where you came from. LOL!!! The garage looks great. I would think the black would make it look smaller, but it doesn't. I do imagine it did **** up the light somewhat though.

Kevin

 

[NXC1978]

I thought about that myself, but it looks to me that overall it is brighter than where he started with the bare drywall.

 

[Stelvio Pass]

I would think the black would make it look smaller, but it doesn't. I do imagine it did **** up the light somewhat though.

Kevin

I thought about that myself, but it looks to me that overall it is brighter than where he started with the bare drywall.

To tell you the truth, it did **** up a little bit of light. The "before" picture was taken when the garage door was closed. The after pics were taken last night at about 6:30pm. It will be worth it once I start banging up the walls.

Thanks for all the comments so far guys.

 

[NXC1978]

For sure, that is why I am going with close to the same paint scheme. Mounting an extra florescent unit above my workbench though.

When you finish the floors it might make it slightly brighter in there. I noticed when I did my racedeck floor, even though they are black and white checker pattern, it seemed a bit brighter afterwards.

 

[Stelvio Pass]

Update:

I got my gridwall panels in yesterday. Put them up on the walls today. Please excuse the mess.

 

[348guy]

lookin good! It doesn't look like you have far to go.

 

[HiHoSilver]

very nice!!!!!!! like the paint

 

[comp]

going well

 

[the_duke]

looking good. keep up the good work. next step, get rid of those boxes.

 

[NXC1978]

coming together, nice!

 

[rattlecan]

Looks awesome.

The grind walls are a nice looking, yet functional addition. (I'll add these to my shopping list)

: )

 

[GarageFreak]

Very nice job!! And great use of available space!!

 

[ovilla]

Garage looks hot! I really like your paint scheme. Anyway, I second going with a bigger workbench. I don't have one yet either but have looked at my neighbors 8' gladiator across the street and it's really not THAT big, especially with a battery charger and other stuff on top of it. Finally, I'd also find a spot for a small shop vac and perhaps a twin tube air compressor with an air hose reel (that could all go easily under an 8' workbench). I'd even find a spot for a small dorm/beer fridge under the bench. Get some tiles or some epoxy on the floors to really set it off. Best of luck!

 

[Stelvio Pass]

8' workbench huh? it never even crossed my mind before. it would be nice.

i'd probably have to put it on castors in case i need to get access to the water heater (like Captain said above).

 

[NXC1978]

If you do get a shop vac, I would go with the wall-mounted Hoover GUV (Garage Utility Vac). It kind of reminds me of a miniature version of the big cylindrical vacumes you see at a self-serve car wash. It was really the only option in a small space like mine. Wish I had a pic!

 

[Stelvio Pass]

If you do get a shop vac, I would go with the wall-mounted Hoover GUV (Garage Utility Vac). It kind of reminds me of a miniature version of the big cylindrical vacumes you see at a self-serve car wash. It was really the only option in a small space like mine. Wish I had a pic!

I looked it up on amazon and it looks good. I might get one or something like it eventually.




Side note, I only have ONE power outlet in my entire garage (except for the one on the ceiling for the garage door opener). If you look at the pictures above, it's located by the interior entry door.

What do you guys suggest I do? What can I even do? Can I just run an extension cord at the bottom of the wall (hiding it of course) and run it down towards the back of the garage and attach a power strip to it?

 

[gesoffen]

Hmmm... what kind of work are you going to do. If it's light work with no heavy duty co-use equipment (e.g. you only plan on a battery charger a radio and the occasional shop vac or similar), then you might be ok with an extension cord.

Much beyond that, you'll need dedicated circuits and outlets. Having just finished the painting, you won't like the solutions but you could:

A) Run outlets in the wall which entails cutting lots of holes in your freshly painted drywall to fish wire through the studs

or

B) Run surface mount boxes and conduit. This would be my choice, it might look a little industrial but that might fit in with the overall look anyway. This is also very flexible in supporting future changes or modification to the garage layout or your needs change. If silver conduit is too industrial, you could be super **** and paint it all to match your wall colors.

You might have a saving grace if you have ceiling/attic access above your garage. You could run power outlets from the ceiling. But either way that you go, make sure you plan ahead for plenty of light, circuits/amps and outlets to support those future projects.

 

[wrigh003]

If the opener outlet on the ceiling has constant power, you could plug a retractable cord reel into it. Those usually have a three-outlet head on them. No muss, no fuss, and you get to zip the whole thing back up into the ceiling when you are done doing whatever you want to do.

Looking good- there are thousands of garages in every city and town that only have one outlet, you wouldn't be the first to get by fine with that. Not saying you should plug 85 extensions and power strips and whatnot into the one plug, but as clean (and small) as your garage is, I'm thinking you aren't going to be tearing down and sandblasting a frame on one end while your buddy welds something on the other.

 

[Stelvio Pass]

Thanks, those are great ideas. Like you could guess, there's not going to be anything other than light work. For now, I'll just do the extension cord or reel idea. I'm still trying to get everyone's stuff out of the garage, so it's no immediate rush.

My uncle (who is moving down to the area) does security systems, FACPs, lighting, HVAC, for industrial buildings / restaurants / hospitals etc for a living. He will be visiting soon, so while he's here I will definitely take advantage of the opportunity.

I'll be sure to buy extra lighting for him to help me with too.

 

[gesoffen]

Take advantage of the free electrical for sure!

BTW - when did you go to VT? I graduated from Engineering in '95.

 

[Stelvio Pass]

Finance '05. I'm taking a half day today to drive up to Bburg for the NIT game tonight against Ole Miss!