I miss my garage time.

[onthefence777]

Before my dad passed away I always had a modest garage. First one was a 3 car setup with a 2 bay and seperate connected single. Then we moved to a house with a 24x24ish 2 bay. I was always out there with my friends or my dad either building/making/fixing things or just hanging out. After he died I used the money he left me to buy the house I have now so I could take care of my brother and make sure we always had a roof over our heads.

While I do still have a garage, and I have tried my hardest to make the most of it, it really *****. I don't even like going out there. It is a tiny 1 car garage. My smallest car barely fits in, and even if the entire garage was empty I can't even begin to hope to effectively do any work on a car. I've never even tried to fit my daily driver in there, which is the car I engineered in my dads 24x24 over the course of a year. Just as a parking place it would be like putting 10lbs in a 5lb bag.

It is as well organized as I could hope it could be - which means it is an absolute mess. Even after the great toss out/sell off purge I did earlier this year, Doing or getting at anything is like playing a game of tetris played on hard mode while you are drunk as a skunk LOL.

Not exactly sure what I am posting this for, other than to say that I miss my garage time very much. I got used to it and took it for granted back then.

 

[bczygan]

Now you just HAVE to show us photos, of all the garages you have known and loved!

Bill

 

[onthefence777]

Digging through right now to find some pics of the 24x24. Pics of the 3 car are most likely unobtainium though.

 

[Ponchoguy]

Before my dad passed away I always had a modest garage. First one was a 3 car setup with a 2 bay and seperate connected single. Then we moved to a house with a 24x24ish 2 bay. I was always out there with my friends or my dad either building/making/fixing things or just hanging out. After he died I used the money he left me to buy the house I have now so I could take care of my brother and make sure we always had a roof over our heads.

While I do still have a garage, and I have tried my hardest to make the most of it, it really *****. I don't even like going out there. It is a tiny 1 car garage. My smallest car barely fits in, and even if the entire garage was empty I can't even begin to hope to effectively do any work on a car. I've never even tried to fit my daily driver in there, which is the car I engineered in my dads 24x24 over the course of a year. Just as a parking place it would be like putting 10lbs in a 5lb bag.

It is as well organized as I could hope it could be - which means it is an absolute mess. Even after the great toss out/sell off purge I did earlier this year, Doing or getting at anything is like playing a game of tetris played on hard mode while you are drunk as a skunk LOL.

Not exactly sure what I am posting this for, other than to say that I miss my garage time very much. I got used to it and took it for granted back then.

You make use of what you have. My parents garage is for car and tool storage and it needs a cleaning. My other property needs organizing and I'm doing that now. I have long driveways and I live on quiet streets, so I do my work in the street and it's not a problem. When you're from NYC as I am, you make do---there are tighter areas than mine...

 

[onthefence777]

Here is the few pics I could find. They are focused on my car build but I think you can see that I definitely made the most of the space I had. I especially miss the carpet. Much preferable to sliding underneath cars on rocky concrete in my backyard now.

 

[onthefence777]

I should probably add that my dad was always nagging on me. He made sure to know that my bay was a privilege even though the only reason I didn't buy the house I wanted a few months after my car was done was that he needed me to take care of my brothers while he was on the road. He was furious that I put in the offer and I when he told me so I retracted the offer. I know I made the right choice. As much as I would like it to be otherwise, doing the right thing is so much more important to me.

 

[cxracer]

Sorry to hear about your dad's passing. It sounds like you are shouldering a lot of responsibility and I commend you for that.

I've worked in some tight places and it can be tough but it can be done. The first thing I'd do is pull everything out and repack it from floor to ceiling with the things you use the most closest to the door. Also, if you have a bit of yard space I'd get some sort of shed so you can move larger tools like rakes and shovels out of the garage.

 

[bczygan]

Show us some photos of what you are using now, and you'll get a bunch of good advice on how to maximize it.

Bill

 

[JoeFin]

Sounds to me that you need to build - and more then just a structure

I used to love my boats - but after my mother's passing away I was never able to use a boat again.

I had been working a 7 day 12 hr shift for a couple a months and then when I finally got a week off I turned off my phone and went out on my boat for 4 days. Sure enough when I got home and was told she had passed, I checked my phone messages and there were messages from her asking for my help.

I haven't been out on a boat since

You need to build more then just a structure - you need to build on a tradition

I have my shop attached to my garage. Me and my sons have a LOT of time together building D1 drift cars, lowering Chevys or tuning dirt bikes together. I'm installing a new heater out there this weekend so it will be more comfortable out there when they all come over for Christmas. Me and my sons just naturally gravitate to and "Hang Out" together in that space.

So as my mother used to say to me about my boats - "Joe your building memories with your sons on those boats and it is the most wonderful thing you can do. They will carry those wonderful memories with them for the rest of their life"

So what I'm hearing in your case is you need to add on to what you already have and I don't mean just the structure

To that endeavor I encourage you and wish you God's speed