Kasa's Place

[BenK454]

I will try to be brief with the introduction and background, here we go:

The house: A nice starter-home in a housing tract in Central KY. I bought it right out of college (in 2007). At that time the plan was to live here for 5-6 years and then build a new house and my dream garage. In early 2008 we (my wife and I) moved to Japan for a one year assignment for my job, and while we were gone the economy went to.... well, you know. So my original plan has been scrapped, and I'm content staying here for a while.

The garage: In Kentucky, garages are more of an after-thought than a necessity. My garage is 20' x 20' x 8'8", which is about all you can get without spending $300k or building your own house/garage.

The requirements: I must be able to house 2 cars and 1 motorcycle, along with a workbench and all of my tools. Also, we don't have a basement so I need some storage for seasonal stuff. Lastly, our HOA doesn't allow any type of shed or outbuilding, so I have to fit a lawn mower, weed-whacker, and assorted garden tools in the garage.

The concept: To me, and certainly most everyone on this forum, a garage is much more than just a place to park cars and store junk. It's where my dad taught me everything he knew about cars, building things, fixing things, and occasionally just breaking things. It's a place to hang out, have a beer, burp, fart, laugh, and most importantly: work.
My overall plan is for a bright, efficient, working garage with plenty of storage and room for all three vehicles.

The name: "Kasa's Place" was the name of my dad's first barber shop. (Our last name is pronounced "Keh-suh" so the soft "a" sounds rhyme). Later he built a new barber shop and named it "The Tortoise and the Hair." You'll see one of signs from the newer barber shop once the garage is done. Anyhow, my dad passed away in 2009. I'll save the sob story for another forum, but I just wanted to mention it so you'll understand that the name of the garage project is a salute to him and his original barber shop.

The bike: My 2008 H-D Softail Rocker belonged to my dad. It was his way of saying "f*** you, cancer!" I cherish it more than any other material possession.

Still here? Great! Let's get down to business...

These first two pictures show the garage when we first moved in:

 

[regguy1]

Let's see more.....

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

 

[BenK454]

After our year abroad, I invested in some Gladiator cabinets and a fold-down work station. The quality of the Gladiator stuff is decent. I bought all of it on-sale at Lowe's or Amazon. The shelves hold snowboards and sports equipment. The large floor cabinets hold camping equipment and golf clubs.

The picture of the E36 M3 is just to show the storage units behind it.
The last picture shows a layout change that I tried for one weekend.

 

[BenK454]

I was pretty happy with the garage as it was (see above post) for a couple years. Then I stumbled upon Garage Journal and Jack Olson's garage. I was blown away....and inspired!

In the coming days I will post pictures of my garage renovation. I look forward to your comments and input.

 

[NewShockerGuy]

Looks good!

What did you use to store the wheels on the left side of the wall?

-Nigel

 

[JimVonBaden]

Looks good! I also have a 20X20, and am not sure I could stuff two cars and my bike in it and still be able to move. I have a lot of stuff.

Check out mine for some ideas, though yours is already pretty similar.

Jim

PS Is that an S2000?

 

[BenK454]

Looks good!

What did you use to store the wheels on the left side of the wall?

-Nigel

I had a 2"x6" lag-bolted to the wall, and some two-pronged heavy duty tool hooks lag-bolted to the 2"x6".

 

[BenK454]

Looks good! I also have a 20X20, and am not sure I could stuff two cars and my bike in it and still be able to move. I have a lot of stuff.

Check out mine for some ideas, though yours is already pretty similar.

Jim

PS Is that an S2000?

Jim, I have thoroughly enjoyed following "The Slow Build" as I have been lurking on this site for over a year.

And yes, that is an S2000. I got "bored" and wanted something that would be a minor "project" but still my DD, so I sold it and bought the E36 M3.
The M3 has been a great car, but I certainly regret selling the S2K!

 

[machine_punk]

Great start! I like that you have a name for your garage and a meaning behind that name. I wish my little two-car garage looked that neat...I've got so much Stuff (capital 'S') to sort through and clear out. Looking forward to seeing pictures of the sort of projects you work on in Kasa's Place.

M_P

 

[Jack Olsen]

It's looking good! I'm interested in your thoughts on the differences between the M3 and the S2000. I haven't owned either, although I've got a 328i as a daily driver.

 

[BenK454]

It's looking good! I'm interested in your thoughts on the differences between the M3 and the S2000. I haven't owned either, although I've got a 328i as a daily driver.

Jack, I'll try to be concise, as I could talk cars all day...

The S2000: Drives as easy as a Civic around town. Absolutely screams from 6000 to 9000 RPM. Shift feel is incredible. The early ones, mine was an '02, had the tendency to snap-oversteer (not as bad as my MR2 Turbo, and certainly not as bad as a 911).

The M3: Smooth and torquey inline 6. Handling is not as crisp as the S2000, but it's much easier to explore the limits (and recover from mistakes) in the M3. Being a '95, I have done a ton of maintenance to it, and many other items could use some TLC, such as all the rubber seals and paint.

Between the two, I wish I had kept the S2000 as I have just began to race SCCA Solo II.

 

[BenK454]

-January-
First, The Plan:
I drew up some general plans to make sure everything would fit.


Then I added two more outlets to the ONE that came in the garage (aside from the one on the ceiling for the garage door opener). This was done in January throughout our extremely mild winter.

-March-
Next, Demolition:
We took everything down off the walls and patched all the holes. I also took this opportunity to run some wiring for 2 more overhead fluorescent lights. Then we sanded the walls and ceilings and rolled on a layer of KILZ.

(P.S. - Moving a bunch of **** from the garage into the living room and kitchen was GREAT motivation for my wife to help me move stuff around and paint!)

 

[BenK454]

-Mid March-

Painted the ceiling semi-gloss white and painted the walls satin Antique Venetian Blue.

Then I built my overhead storage unit (frame and plywood bottom only, doors to come later). Once the overhead storage shelf was built, it had to be load-tested. As you can see, the overhead storage has been rated to hold 1 petite wife.

After that, I built my new workbench. I got a 2' x 8' maple butcher block from Sears on sale. I also ordered 3 2-packs of Wall Control metal pegboard (white).

 

[BenK454]

-April-
We have family coming for Easter weekend, so it was GO TIME to get things 90% done, move everything back into the garage, and get as much stuff "put away" as possible.

Here is where the garage stands as of midnight on April 4th.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

Nice work, Ben. What's the 'short rollaround' under the bench? Another project still to do, or something specifically-built for that area? Oh, and get rid of that cardboard box ASAP. They're prime hideouts for cockroaches and silverfish.

While I'm not a bike nut, I do appreciate a nice 2-wheeler, of any make, and that H-D is gorgeous! Your Dad had excellent taste in bikes!

Jack, I'll add to what Ben said, the S2K is a 'horsepower' car, with great high-end HP. It's got variable valve timing that goes to the 'big cam' at 6000 RPM, so you'll have a regular 4-cylinder convertible below 6000 RPM, but a high-revving roadster monster between 6000-9000RPM. They're really fun to drive in that rev range. The BMW is a 'torque' car, with plenty of low-end grunt to get you off the line and out of the corner. Both cars achieve very similar performance in different ways. I wouldn't throw either away.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[BevoZ06]

-Mid March-

Then I built my overhead storage unit (frame and plywood bottom only, doors to come later). Once the overhead storage shelf was built, it had to be load-tested. As you can see, the overhead storage has been rated to hold 1 petite wife.

You know, don't you, that this bunch is likely to ask for more pics of your petite wife? Just kidding, but maybe not.

 

[BenK454]

Nice work, Ben. What's the 'short rollaround' under the bench? Another project still to do, or something specifically-built for that area? Oh, and get rid of that cardboard box ASAP. They're prime hideouts for cockroaches and silverfish.

While I'm not a bike nut, I do appreciate a nice 2-wheeler, of any make, and that H-D is gorgeous! Your Dad had excellent taste in bikes!

Jack, I'll add to what Ben said, the S2K is a 'horsepower' car, with great high-end HP. It's got variable valve timing that goes to the 'big cam' at 6000 RPM, so you'll have a regular 4-cylinder convertible below 6000 RPM, but a high-revving roadster monster between 6000-9000RPM. They're really fun to drive in that rev range. The BMW is a 'torque' car, with plenty of low-end grunt to get you off the line and out of the corner. Both cars achieve very similar performance in different ways. I wouldn't throw either away.

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

Gene,

The small "roll-around" is just something I built a few years ago to fit under my old work bench. I used it to keep scrap wood and other small junk stored. The old work bench was inherited from my grandfather, and had 2 large drawers that I stored my drills, dremel, saws, and router inside.
On the cardboard boxes... I just tossed them under there to get everything out of the way while family was in town.
My plan is to get another roll-around toolbox and a stool to go under the new workbench. The small "scrap wood roll-around" will be trashed or repurposed.