Improving a two-car Swiss garage...

[Taurus]

Hi there

Would like to introduce myself. I'm a 34-year old German living in Switzerland and of course a petrolhead. I have four cars for quite a while and it is very difficult to get a decent home for them here in Switzerland. Garages are very pricey and to find one for rent for all four cars for reasonable money is just impossible. So in the last years I had to spread my cars to several seperate places (mostly dark holes) which was more than uncomfortable.

I was always a big fan of the American style garages and was looking at the forums for quite a while getting excited about all the nice builds here. Luckily I' was able to move now to a new location finally getting at least a decent two-car garage for my favourite rides. Most Swiss do not care about their garages, so its plain concrete to start with:

I know, for most of you Americans this is a tiny place but remembering how expensive real estate is in Switzerland for me as an average guy it's a jackpot . It's 19.5 x 19.5.

I'm just starting to think about the opportunities. At the moment the plan is to go for grey/white walls/ceiling with a royal blue stripes, Some Silver/grey cabinets a tire rack and a tile flooring. But I'm still not sure about the flooring.

I'm looking forward to participate and to get a lot of ideas from you guys.

Cheers
Taurus

 

[regguy1]

Welcome,

Looks like you have a "blank canvas" there so you can make it to your liking.
Be sure to post more as you make progress


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[55cadillacking]

Most Swiss do not care about their garages

It's not just the Swiss, believe me. In my neighborhood of 300 homes, I would say 5 actually care about the appearance of their garage space. To the rest, it is a place to park a car and clutter up with things that don't have a spot in the house. Such a shame...

But I'm still not sure about the flooring.

The benefit of a tile floor is the creativity it allows you. You could easily develop a floor pattern that compliments your paint scheme.

RaceDeck.com has a decent "design your own" feature, but I played around with paper and markers until I came up with my final choice.

http://www.racedeck.com/designer.php

 

[Rothaus]

Looks like a nice garage in der Schweiz. When I lived in good old germany, I had only one of these finish delevered concrete garages. My car would fit in and a little space for the bicycle and some junk.

The nice thing on the concrete and stone you have, you just drill a hole put in an anchor and hang stuff. No stud finder needed.

Welcome to the forum !

Cheers

 

[Modern Jess]

Looks like a great starting point. Hey, at least it's clean!

 

[ConCretin]

I'd say that's a nice sized garage no matter where you are. Can't wait to see what you do with it. I really enjoy all the threads from around the world on GJ. Thanks for posting.

 

[Jack Olsen]

Welcome to the Journal. You'll find a lot of ideas here for everything you're describing.

Is it a place you're expecting to stay in for decades? If not, then Racedeck makes a lot of sense since it can be moved with you to your next garage.

And if we can ask, what are the four cars?

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Welcome! Yes, as Jack asked, what about the cars? Are you going have trouble deciding which two of the four get to reside in your garage? Looking forward to seeing your design plan and its execution. Have fun and keep us posted.

 

[shoturtle]

Nice size garage for Europe, not just in switzerland. I would not go with tile for the floor, some composite type flooring instead. Wont crack or chip if you drop a heavy tool on it.

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's a popular belief. But properly-installed tile is stronger than the concrete it sits on.

 

[shoturtle]

I have heard that, but I have tiles all over my house sitting on concrete, and there are some chip on them form living with it. I just go by experience with tile. Love the simple clean up with tiles that is why my flooring though out the house is tiles.

 

[HSpencer]

I agree with the others on tile. Especially since there are no barriers to have to cut around.
Tile properly laid would be very durable, and if you keep things up off of it, it is easy to wash out the garage. You can also get pretty creative with tile. I am not sure I would use the tile on the step unless you can get something slip resistant. A wet or oily shoe could cause a fall in certain cases.
I think you have a decent sized garage.

 

[Taurus]

Many thanks for the warm welcome! I'm quite overwhelmed with that many posts. Seems there is action in the forum - great!

@55cadillacking
Yeah, I'm considering racedeck and Swisstrax as well. In the last 10 years I had to move several times - thats why we still rent, not buy. Hopefully I can stay for some more years this time.

@Rothaus
Right. I thought about putting up all the wheels 'n tires to the walls but I still feel a bit uncomfortable with hanging them above the cars. Would like to keep the place as clean as possible - so one tire rack two cabinets or so - not much more.

@Jack Olson
Thanks. Of course you can ask for the cars:

These are the ones for the garage:

Thanks for the hints on tiles. As I said I'm not sure - its just a rented garage. Work will start when the winter conditions are gone. Unfortunately is snowing again.

@shoturtle
Do you have link for good composite flooring? As I'm new to the topic I'm not sure what this is about.

 

[shoturtle]

A german with a fair amount of japanese cars, cool. The wrx is pretty nice.

I would love to know how much to fill the tank in Switzerland for the Mustang.

 

[Sunbimmer]

Nice collection of cars, if I had the money three of them would be in my "showroom" too

 

[Taurus]

Thanks. The Mitsu will be sold soon. It's my wife's daily driver.

I spend the last two days with measuring and brainstorming my garage. After digging deeper into lots of threads here I think I'll go for Racedeck. A modular floor will keep the flexibility and I can take it to my future garages.

Without skills I played around with photoshop to have an idea on the build:

Any advice or comment recommended.

First steps will be closing of concrete holes and the painting. Was told to use a prime coat on the concrete and bricks before painting to avoid problems with moisure. What do you think? (I have no experience in construction).

 

[Derrickwade]

Im a huge fan of the color scheme! Here are a couple other garages with similar colors.
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=172577
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=144609
And lastly, the one in my sig.

On an unrelated note, a friend of mine is currently in Switzerland. He is attending Buhler Swiss Milling school.

 

[mharmon]

Wow that is a great space. That size is not the norm for Switzerland. I lived there for two years traveling by public transit. I spent a lot of time walking and peering into people's garages. Most people in the USA, Switzerland and most likely the rest of the world don't care about the apperance of the their garage. It is just a space to park cars.

Where in Switzerland are you?

I am excited for updates.

 

[Taurus]

Yes it's difficult enough to get a garage connected to your own house/flat. People here are used to park their cars outside or in a big parking deck like the ones you find on airports. So there are hundreds of people having access to your parking lot - a nightmare for me. Of course there are some nice dream garages too. There are a lot of car enthusiasts here and the scene is really alive.

@Derrikwade
Yes, I know the company. I live in the Lucerne area. Thats the view outside of the garage:



It's a great place for cruising around but not for having fun with a car. Professional circuit driving is forbidden here since decades and there is no racetrack in the whole country. But we have at least the chance to reach Imola, Le Mans, Hockenheim and Nurburgring within some hours.

And thanks for the links! That gives me a good impression how it will look like.

 

[55cadillacking]

I think you will be very pleased with the function and appearance of a RaceDeck floor. May I suggest doing a perimeter of black tiles and then the blue band? I think it will give your band of a blue a bit more "pop". Man, I hate that term, but I can't come up with a better one.

 

[mgoug]

Cool cars! I have had RaceDeck flooring for several years and love it. It is super durable, does not stain when I drive directly onto it with hot tires. I have also been able to easily replace tiles that I have damaged. As you mention there is always a resale value in case you decide to get rid if it. My only caution is that the white tiles are impossible to keep clean (as expected). Good luck!

 

[Taurus]

I've read about that. That's why I think alloy/graphite mix will work better.

I think you will be very pleased with the function and appearance of a RaceDeck floor. May I suggest doing a perimeter of black tiles and then the blue band? I think it will give your band of a blue a bit more "pop". Man, I hate that term, but I can't come up with a better one.

You mean like that?

I already considered this layout, even with grey perimeter. I'ts quite tight in the garage. I'ts 19.5 x 19.5 - so the cars will more or less park on the blue ring. I have 12-14in in front of the cars and the same on the right side. Back is about 30in. I may think about that again, thanks.

 

[Taurus]

some more impressions from the garage as it is now:

tight space left and right:

small storage room behind the door:

 

[Taurus]

Got a decent wheel storage system yesterday:

 

[fringeofinsanity]

Very nice, congrats finding space for those beauties in that area. Most of my European colleagues scream jealousy over my 2 car garage here in the US.

I'd probably mount the wheel racks higher on the wall so I had more work space. But I've got my garage loaded until I can build my shed next spring.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this progress goes. I recommend keeping an eye on some of the 1 car garages designs here as of late, I went from a 3 car with an attached shop space, to a 1 1/2 car, and now in a tight 2 car. When I had to downsize it was very difficult, and I ended up making a basement workshop at that time. But, what I did get from it was learning how to utilize as much space as I possibly could. Now that I'm in a mid size space, I've kept the same mentality and have thought long and hard my space design.

 

[STANIMAL]

I am curious , have to ask . How much does a mustang cost in Switzerland ?

 

[Taurus]

Because of newly introduced CO2-tax they are quite expensive now. Its 40-60k CHF for a GT and 100k CHF for a 2013 GT500 which is insane. I bought my Stang in the US.;-)

@fringeofinsanity
Right. It was a long journey to get this two car garage. You just can't have a three or four-car garage in Switzerland unless you are a millionaire. I was even lucky enough to get a second "single" car-garage only a few meters away for storage and my sleeping Miata.

But my focus will be on the two-car space of course. With the second single I will be able to keep it as clean as possible.

 

[dubber]

I'm glad you used "" quote marks around your single garage statement. Based on the pic it looks like you could fit 4 miatas in there if it was empty. Great buildings you have and from what you have said, you are very fortunate.

 

[rmckee]

Perspective is always an enlightening thing. Drives me NUTS when people here have 3+ car garages and still park their cars in the driveway. I'd trade my left *** to have that much space. Such a shame to fill it with children's bicycles and lawn chairs.

Look forward to seeing what you do with your space. Great collection of cars.

 

[Nosey]

It's a shame that Proslat is not yet being sold in Europe, because it is a great product for your garage.
Proslat is a PVC slatwall garage solution, with hanging cabinets, hooks, shelves and baskets.
Everything hangs off the walls, so you can move things around as you wish.
The walls support 75 lbs per linear foot.
Check out the web site anyway, it might give you ideas.
www.proslat.com

Hi there

Would like to introduce myself. I'm a 34-year old German living in Switzerland and of course a petrolhead. I have four cars for quite a while and it is very difficult to get a decent home for them here in Switzerland. Garages are very pricey and to find one for rent for all four cars for reasonable money is just impossible. So in the last years I had to spread my cars to several seperate places (mostly dark holes) which was more than uncomfortable.

I was always a big fan of the American style garages and was looking at the forums for quite a while getting excited about all the nice builds here. Luckily I' was able to move now to a new location finally getting at least a decent two-car garage for my favourite rides. Most Swiss do not care about their garages, so its plain concrete to start with:

I know, for most of you Americans this is a tiny place but remembering how expensive real estate is in Switzerland for me as an average guy it's a jackpot . It's 19.5 x 19.5.

I'm just starting to think about the opportunities. At the moment the plan is to go for grey/white walls/ceiling with a royal blue stripes, Some Silver/grey cabinets a tire rack and a tile flooring. But I'm still not sure about the flooring.

I'm looking forward to participate and to get a lot of ideas from you guys.

Cheers
Taurus

 

[Taurus]

I'm glad you used "" quote marks around your single garage statement. Based on the pic it looks like you could fit 4 miatas in there if it was empty. Great buildings you have and from what you have said, you are very fortunate.

Yeah but the Miata garage is not mine and the space behind the wooden plates belongs to another car guy.

@Nosey
Thanks. Already thought about that. I'm in contact with an Italian distributor of Gladiator Worx, who sell something similar. Might place an order for equipment tomorrow.

The problem is, I need to get started with the wall/ceiling paint but its deep winter here in Switzerland and very cold. I have no heating in the garage so I have to wait for better weather conditions.

 

[EMC2]

Hi Taurus,
Welcome!
That's a really nice car collection you have. It is always fun to watch a garage develop from a clean slate, so I'll be watching closely

 

[55cadillacking]

I agree. There is something very appealing about your clean and simple starting point. I'm eager to see what you can do with it. I think RaceDeck is a smart choice for your space.

 

[Taurus]

Started to fill the holes in the concrete today to prepare it for painting:

 

[Taurus]

Got a delivery from Gladiator today:

Need to get forward with the paint now.

 

[Derrickwade]

Nice!

 

[dubber]

Looks a few pieces, sweet. Just saw these for the first time the other day in person at our new Lowe's. Quality looks great!

 

[Taurus]

Derrickwade, may I ask how did you do the blue stripe? Is it painted or is it tape? Still wondering if I should paint the stripe or just use blue tape.

 

[Taurus]

Some minor progress:

 

[Taurus]

Today we put wall paint primer on:

Still nothing to see. Hope to have the paint ready in a fortnight.