Intro/My First Garage

[abbo]

Hello Everyone,

I've been lurking here for quite some time now and GJ is by far my favorite forum. With that said, I am in the final stages of purchasing my first house /detached garage. It is a ~ 17'x19' concrete block garage with a 7' door and is pretty much a blank slate at the moment. The garage is of newer construction and has never been painted or sealed as far as I can tell. There is a small sub panel (house is currently 100 amp) and a garage door opener which provides the only source of light.

A little bit about me, I am a 32 year old Marine Veteran (Sgt, Topographical Intel), Bachelors in Safety and 11 weeks away from completing my MBA. I currently sell for Grainger in the Pittsburgh area although I am trying to transition towards a more operational role (to better utilize my background and demeanor). I sincerely hope that this paragraph is not misinterpreted as I am only offering this to be a source of knowledge for anyone who would like to reach out/PM me. I'm here learning from everyone so if I can help someone along the way, awesome! I consider myself a mechanically inclined, competent parts changer (I just read this description on GJ and thought it fit quite well) who loves wrenching. I'm comfortable with basic to moderate mechanical tasks and am constantly trying to expand my skill-set. I have friends who wrench for a living, are plumbers, electricians, general contractors, finish carpenters etc so if I ever do get in over my head, I can phone a friend lol.

I am of the mindset "do it once and do it right" and enjoy when things work seamlessly and efficiently. I own a 2004 1200 Sportster, 2006 Ext Cab 2500 HD D-Max and a 2003 Sportsman 700. I'm pretty sure that it would be foolish to think I can fit all three and still have room to work. If I have to keep my atv outside under a cover, so be it.

My question is, "Where do I start?" I look forward to hearing from everyone!


-Abbo
USMC Veteran OIF/OEF

 

[bigsteve2011]

First I would like to thank you for your service to our country

And secondly congratulations on the house! I was doing the exact same thing this time last year almost down to the week.

Personally I'm just trying to plan and read and find out as much info I can and what I would think would benefit me the most with what tools and the work I am trying to do. I'm trying to do is find out all of my options possible without making any rushed decisions even though I want to get it done and organized so that I can easily and productively work in it. But I don't want to waste time or money having to redo something immediately due to rushing.

Having said that my garage is not organized at all yet. I'm making plans and saving a bunch of links and info for when I do organize it this summer. I will probably end up having to re wire the whole garage and adding outlets in different places.

Good luck lots of info here.

 

[abbo]

Thanks bigsteve! You're right about avoiding any rushed decisions. Looks like I'm just gonna have to cool my jets and let things play out...good luck with your garage and I look forward to seeing how it progresses!


-Abbo
USMC Veteran OIF/OEF

 

[rburke65]

Welcome from Ohio! I did a lot of planning, reading, and asking questions before the bull dozer arrived at my place. You could possibly post some pictures that would help us to help you and update your location in your profile....others might believing close by!

 

[graymond]

I am of the same mind of do it once and then that is good.

However, I have found that my skills changed, focus changed over the years and my garage had to change with me.

Vehicles can be moved out, and probably should be, when you are working in the garage. The old flying piece of wood or metal off a drill press putting a dent in your favourite automotive machinery would not be fun.

Start with a workbench, lighting, tool storage for the tools you have. Expand when you need to or when you are working on a project.

Most of all, have fun. It is your garage, do it like you want to and how it will work for you.

cheers

ray

 

[Joe Reed]

When I bought my house, the first thing I did was seal the floor...before we even started moving in. I already knew what I wanted to use, and wanted to get that done before anything was moved in...and while the floor was still pristine. If you want epoxy or any of the other more expensive solutions, that might not be in the budget (it wasn't for me)...

I also would have painted the walls first, but the builder had already done that. I repainted a few years later to change the color and the gloss. It would have been easier to do before moving in simply because it's SO much easier when you don't have to move everything out of the way....especially the stuff on the walls...

 

[abbo]

Thank you, everyone!

All great insight...I will keep everyone updated!


-Abbo
USMC Veteran OIF/OEF

 

[1/2 Cup]

G'day and welcome from downunder, enjoy..

 

[bigsteve2011]

Here is a link to another thread and on page 2 it's discussing different methods of garage layout planning.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=279949

Good luck with your project kris77.

Before I built my new garage I also had some significant clutter issues. Ended up buying a 20 ft shipping container for the overflow. I'm still using it for seasonal and occasional use stuff. Found it on CL for $1,200 and it was in pretty good shape. About all that I did to it was remove all the old decals and give it a new coat of paint. On the inside I put shelving units on one side and racks to hang stuff on the other side.

One thing that I find helpful is using Excel as a drawing tool to try out different layouts. Just set up the cells into a grid and make templates of the various things you want to have in there. Move the templates around until you find an arrangement that works.

Here is a copy of one.

View media item 48056

Even better is grizzly's workshop planner. Free and accessible from any internet location.

http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner

I quoted a few of the posts.

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

Hello Abbo and welcome to the Garage Journal.
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I am a ToolAholic,Sometimes I regret it,Especially when the Toolman wont give me no credit