Keeping a garage clean

[Kevin54]

Alright......how the hell does everyone keep their garage clean or do you?

If you spray paint something in your garage, how do you keep overspray off of everything?

If you have to cut a piece of wood, how do you keep sawdust off of everything?

I seem to get a shitload of dust from nothing It's like a daily thing now to have to wipe things down just to keep a ton of dust from building up. I'm almost to the point of ripping the Gladiator cabinets down that have the bottom shelf on them because of all the dust. And I haven't wiped the tops down yet. Almost everyday is the airhose and leafblower deal to blow dust and dust bunnies out from the edge of the walls and out the door. I had to prime a part yesterday and I probably didn't have a half pint of primer mixed, HVLP gun, really low air pressure, and it seemed like more overspray on my toolboxes than on the part.

So do you guys cover things up or just say to hell with it? A few years back Family Handyman put out and article about building a bumpout onto the side of a garage. The bumpout was 5' x 12'. They opened the wall up to the complete 12' though. I.m seriously considering building a bumpout maybe 6' x 24' and putting a double door on and keeping the toolboxes and cabinets in there so it's easier to clean things. Family Handyman showed just making your own rafters, but a 24' truss is the standard size a lumberyard carries and they're only like $35 each. I think if I shop around I could build it for around $1500 if that. I want to eventually add on to the front so I can have a lift, but for now I think the bumpout would work.

Also let me ask this, in the magazine they showed a wood floor or an alternate concrete floor. If say, I built it like a pole building....has anyone added an addition to their garage and put a wood floor in? And if you did, did you insulate underneath, as it would have to have floor joist, and did you have any concerns about where the wood and the concrete meet to eliminate the possibility of termites. I know it will have to be made from treated lumber if I do it. Or maybe I should just frame it in and have concrete poured. Maybe I'm overthinking things this morning

Just looking for some ideas I guess.

 

[sberry]

For paint it needs to be designed to be separated and to draw overspray out, no way around it.

 

[Fyrme]

I am slowly getting all shelving converted to cabinets with doors. Makes everything cleaner and keeps you from lazily putting something on the shelf that doesn't belong there. That would take care horizontal surfaces collecting dust and overspray

 

[shephd]

I'm terrible at cleaning up and straightening up, mostly because I get too much stuff and don't get rid of stuff as easily. I'd like to add a bump-out.

I have 12x16 workshop built on a slab. Its old, so I doubt that the slab was poured on a vapor barrier. I have a lot of modern and antique woodworking handtools, and the moisture was a problem. I put in a wood floor following this article: http://www.finewoodworking.com/workshop/article/low-cost-shop-floor.aspx

It was several years ago, and the floor helps a lot with keeping the humidty in check and the room cleaner, too.

 

[In My Garage]

Alright......how the hell does everyone keep their garage clean?

Simple! I don't park dirty vehicles in it.

Spray painting gets done in a spray booth in the basement and wood cutting gets done at the end of the driveway.

In My Garage: cars, motorcycles, MaxJax and metal lathe/mill only.

 

[nolimits76]

Unless you have a unique situation, I think you'd be better off with a concrete floor. More stability and can support more weight (w/o worries or additional supports) if you decide later to re-use the space for something besides storage and/or wood working.

Also, I agree about closed in units. I've had both. Things w/o doors just seem to collect more dust quicker.

Of course painting will create an issue no matter what. You could do a temp paint booth with visqueen and air ducts going outside.

 

[pendragon1998]

My garage is 25 ft from a well-trafficked gravel road. Dust is a real pain in the a$$. I feel your pain.

 

[sparky7]

Keep the garage clean and dont worry about overspray, any working shop is going to have overspray on things. If you have a nice toolbox put a cover on it and zip it up when you spray. Same goes for any maching equipment just throw some plastic over it. Tools are meant to be used overspray adds character

 

[JC23]

What is this clean garage you speak of???

 

[Jim B]

Quit using the air hose and leaf blower to clean the garage. They just recirculate the dust. Get a good broom and vacuum. If you cut wood with power tools you need some kind of dust collection system or saw dust is going to be everywhere. Cutting MDF is the worse IMO. Really fine dust. All my "shelves have doors to cut down on dust collecting there. I don't spray paint often but when I do I prefer to do it outside. And no matter what you do you're going to have to spend time periodically cleaning the garage.

 

[signcrafter]

Everyone doesn't have a 100x100 shop with separate rooms for painting, woodworking, fabrication, auto repair, etc?

I have a smaller 2.5 car garage that is used for everything and it gets very messy. The worst was when I tried my hand at sandblasting, I was outside but didn't close the garage door! Still finding black pieces all over and in everything. I try to do as much wood work, metal grinding, painting, etc outside when I can. My garage is packed full of tools, materials, and a vehicle so not much room to work in there. All my wood working tools are on wheels so I can wheel them out into the driveway and do most of my cutting out there, at least in the summer. In the winter I'm pretty much shut down for any real big work.

I just deal with the mess. My garage will never be one of those surgeon clean rooms like some have. Unless I win the lottery and can build a huge garage so I can have different rooms for different uses and enough room and storage for all my tools and materials.

 

[Kevin54]

What is this clean garage you speak of???

The only overspray you get is from slinging them teeny tiny brushes around

Quit using the air hose and leaf blower to clean the garage. They just recirculate the dust. Get a good broom and vacuum. If you cut wood with power tools you need some kind of dust collection system or saw dust is going to be everywhere. Cutting MDF is the worse IMO. Really fine dust. All my "shelves have doors to cut down on dust collecting there. I don't spray paint often but when I do I prefer to do it outside. And no matter what you do you're going to have to spend time periodically cleaning the garage.

I have a broom and a vac, and been down that road many a time. I use the airhose to get the places I can't reach, and the leafblower to get the bigger areas. When I do use them, I have all three windows open, both garage doors open and the mandoor open, PLUS a furnace blower shooting the stuff towards the garage doors to take it out.

When I cut MDF, I don't even do it in the garage anymore. The last largest MDF projects I had put me in the hospital with specialist wanting to take a third of my lung out because of a massive cancerous tumor. After using 6 weeks of vacation, and spending a few thousand on doctors, copays, and test, it was a ******** call that my doctor made along with two other specialist. I kept telling the doctors what caused the problem, but none would believe me and I made it through a shitload of test with them all saying the same thing. It was the last few minutes before getting ready to go under the knife that the surgeon wanted to see a CT Scan before he started in. It boiled down to an upper respiratory infection from breathing in the fine dust off of the MDF. All MDF gets cut outside while I wear a mask.

This is the bump-out I was talking about up above. Although I would like to go a tad larger with a set of double doors. I can't remember which member it is, but he has a workshop in his garage and an area that goes into a room where he cuts wood, and has double doors going into it. I have it saved on my other computer. This is the bump-out from Family Handyman http://www.familyhandyman.com/garag...storage-with-a-bump-out-addition/step-by-step

 

[Johnny chaos]

I think overspray, oil stains, and rusty pieces removed and stacked for scrap are what give the garage character.

The first job I did in the garage after having the concrete poured was upper/lower ball joints in my f250, upon completion there was rust and PB blaster all over the floor. It's a garage and I use it as such! I do not like clutter or disorganization but the side effects of doing actual work in there is the patina I appreciate. Look at kiwi kev's garage!!!! It's a wonderful example of what a garage should look like.

 

[NUTTSGT]

When I paint, I buy some plastic to cover stuff. The saw dust gets blown off and then I break out the shop vac and go to it.

 

[crewchief888]

i try to keep any painting i do outside the garage,
nearly all woodworking gets done downstairs in the basement

garage floor, as well as the area just outside the door, is rust stained from cutting and grinding,

my biggest problem is with leaves, maple tree seed "twirlies" and dandilion fluff.

i do a pretty complete blow out /sweep out a couple times a year, approx once a month, during nicer weather, i'll move "stuff" around and sweep as needed.

garage is uninsulated, unfinshed, not heated or cooled.
cobwebs and dirty corners dont scare me at all..

 

[tcianci]

One of the tricks is to do your cutting and then your painting...the dust from cutting covers everything so that the overspray wipes off along with the dust when you do finally clean. My garage used to be a showplace ( you can find my garage thread here somewhere) but now it looks like a hard working garage, although this probably has more to do with me being a slob than me being a hard worker. I keep the main door open a lot and there is always stuff blowing in especially to the left and right sides of the main door.

 

[sberry]

http://finishingacademy.com/training/aero/aero_mod3/aero_mod3_intro.html Understanding this helps. for painting I like to divide the garage in 2 , tarp, wall or in my case plastic. This allows you to set up a "draw" on the booth. I have done this in 2 car garages with wood stove and salamanders going in one half, painting in the other.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

This is the bump-out I was talking about up above. Although I would like to go a tad larger with a set of double doors. I can't remember which member it is, but he has a workshop in his garage and an area that goes into a room where he cuts wood, and has double doors going into it. I have it saved on my other computer. This is the bump-out from Family Handyman http://www.familyhandyman.com/garag...storage-with-a-bump-out-addition/step-by-step

I saw that article. You should do it, it will work out great. I have dropped rigid blue foam into the bays of wooden floors. I put in ledgers, and use canned foam to make the seal. Building on a slab is a great way to go though.

 

[DoghouseForge]

Hi Kevin,

Im reguards to the addition...

Most of the blacksmith shops that I learned/worked in have a room similar to the one your describing. Roughly built and crude at best, but its where all the Coke is Stored (stop laughing), and its more importantly where the chop saw lives....

That way all the bar stock and metal fines end up on the other side of the wall from the main fabrication areas... My mentor even took it a step further and has a hole cut in the wall so his chop saw shoots its damage completly outside(slightly tacky but its way cleaner than everyone elses). He also added two small wall fans on luvers to pull air through when hes painting or applying finishes...

Unfortunatly I rent my space so I cant add the side room or believe me I would. However, I did dedicate the rear office for use as a tool room. Its connected to the front offices AC system and keeps the humidity low so my florida tools arnt covered in the rust film they get out on the workbench.

The saws are all on wheels so when its time to run them they get pushed to the main front door with "Big Daddy Patton" blowing towards the outside.. definatly dont knock the blower idea... Its my daily cleanup method, and I also run all 4 fans on high blowing towards the 15' shop door... In addition I try to mop every two weeks or so...

Build the little room! worst case senerio you have more space to store ****!

JP

 

[Jagmandave]

I paint outside, in the backyard, and only on calm days, preferably early in the am.

About once a week I move the cars out of the garage and fire up the leaf blower, it does a great job of cleaning out cobwebs and dust - even better than using the vacuum IMHO.

Other than that, my garage is there to be used......

 

[PCO6]

Quit using the air hose and leaf blower to clean the garage. They just recirculate the dust. Get a good broom and vacuum. ...

I have a good broom and a vacuum but a lot of my dust gets blown out the overhead door and the rain takes over from there.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I forgot to mention one of the things I do now with the new floor is to mop, yep. I guess every few months or after some dirty work,I break out the mop, bucket and Simple Green. A 5 gallon bucket of water into the mop bucket and we're swabbing away.

While it might sound silly to some, I know what 70 plus years of built up **** looks like on the floor. It's something that I don't want again.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Leaf blower works great for my needs. Blow off the benches, shelves, and tools first, then the floors out the garage doors. More effective than the air hose for my needs.

I need to get new door seals for the bottom of my doors- leaves and such are getting blown*IN*.

As for painting, I don't do spray painting except for a car. I think if I needed to do a lot, I would probably use a 10x10 popup canopy with walls ($140) that I could put a fan in to vent it.

 

[Zeke]

I bought a cheap used EZ-up for painting. I don't even have a fan for it. I go in, shoot a coat and leave. If I had a car to do I'd buy one of those 10 x 20 jobs. Small car, a couple of EZ-ups joined. Table saw is outside when cutting unless it's minor and the shop vac can handle it.

Talk about your MDF, oak has a fine dust that hangs in the air and chokes me. MDF is ridiculous. I rough sweep everything to the center or under the saw and vac it up. The rest gets blown out.

 

[trbomax]

I cleaned my floor for the first time in 3 yrs today! Sprayed it down with Purple Power and then gave it a 3000psi wash with a roto head on the power washer. I couldnt remember that it was ever that color! I have been sweeping the big stuff and then vacumeing, I guess the oil spills and ground in dirt was worse than I thought! The shop in Toledo (we were doing FRP fab work) got squirted down quite often but it was so discolored from resin and gel coat overspray that it never really got clean.

 

[hoffman912]

for any paint work, be it something like auto, spray paint etc, i always make a booth. plastic, or even a tarp and pvc pipe, and essentially create an environment that is clean and separate from the rest of the garage (even if it is in the garage). this keeps the dust away from what i am painting and keeps my over spray away from the rest of the garage. it doesnt have to be large, or grandiose, or impressive. just has to work to keep the items your painting clean from dirt in the garage, and keep the garage clean from paint.

hell it can even be a tent, an easy up, plastic sheeting staple gunned to the rafters, taped at the sides and taped to the floor covered in plastic sheeting, and a box fan with a filter on it.. exhausting stuff out..


thankfully the new garage will have a lean to on teh side that is about 5 ft wide and deep as the garage.. that will have teh sand blast cabinet, drill press, belt sander, bench grinder, air compressor and all teh other power tools as a work shop separate from the main garage that will house cars and what will be used for painting from time to time

 

[zcar751]

I am all about sweeping and vacuuming but I don't get too worked up over it. I clean every couple of weeks or sooner depending on the work. I cut wood and spay paint in my shop usually with the door open. I don't get hung up on overspay on the floors but I will cover tools and other items up so they don't get painted.

You didn't mention if your floor is sealed or painted. Untreated concrete is one of the worst dust generator you can have. And for some of the old schoolers yes oil is a treatment.

 

[trbomax]

for any paint work, be it something like auto, spray paint etc, i always make a booth. plastic, or even a tarp and pvc pipe, and essentially create an environment that is clean and separate from the rest of the garage (even if it is in the garage). this keeps the dust away from what i am painting and keeps my over spray away from the rest of the garage. it doesnt have to be large, or grandiose, or impressive. just has to work to keep the items your painting clean from dirt in the garage, and keep the garage clean from paint.

hell it can even be a tent, an easy up, plastic sheeting staple gunned to the rafters, taped at the sides and taped to the floor covered in plastic sheeting, and a box fan with a filter on it.. exhausting stuff out..


thankfully the new garage will have a lean to on teh side that is about 5 ft wide and deep as the garage.. that will have teh sand blast cabinet, drill press, belt sander, bench grinder, air compressor and all teh other power tools as a work shop separate from the main garage that will house cars and what will be used for painting from time to time

I had something similar to that in toledo. The problem with it is that its nearly impossible to vent and supply make up air w/o the plastic moveing around and dis logeing dirt that ultimately gets in your finish. Nancy and I were discussing that today and have decided to build a dedicated 14 x 24 x 8 spray booth on the side of the shop with its own heat,insulation,lighting (from a sub panel) and ventalation. I need to study up on up vs down for draft venting is all.

 

[hoffman912]

I had something similar to that in toledo. The problem with it is that its nearly impossible to vent and supply make up air w/o the plastic moving around and dis logeing dirt that ultimately gets in your finish. Nancy and I were discussing that today and have decided to build a dedicated 14 x 24 x 8 spray booth on the side of the shop with its own heat,insulation,lighting (from a sub panel) and ventalation. I need to study up on up vs down for draft venting is all.

agree, if you are painting small bits, its not bad. but if you need to do massive amounts, you need to build a sturdier more permanent type structure. you can do this with a pvc or 2x4 frame, still using plastic sheeting, or even osb for walls, but you will need to vent.. box fans and furnace filters help. if you built it so it goes together in sections you can make it very collapsible for easier storage, and very re-usable

this one here was the coolest one i had ever seen

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1158022&postcount=12

if youre not as slick, here is another idea..

i would have a row of box fans at the bottom of the garage door, sealed off, and then have fans inside any windows as a source of fresh air, and filter the bejesus out of it.

 

[PCO6]

I bought a cheap used EZ-up for painting...

Same here. It pretty much stays up all summer and is useful for a lot of things.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I paint outside.

Inside, I try to clean up right after I finish a job. If there's a lot of dust, I'll sweep it up or blow it out. But some amount of dust is always going to be in the place. And sometimes you have to leave stuff out when you're working on it.

That's when you remind yourself that 'it's a garage.'

 

[jsaw]

Build a roof with no walls on one side or end. then you can do messy work outside without being in the sun or rain

 

[trbomax]

agree, if you are painting small bits, its not bad. but if you need to do massive amounts, you need to build a sturdier more permanent type structure. you can do this with a pvc or 2x4 frame, still using plastic sheeting, or even osb for walls, but you will need to vent.. box fans and furnace filters help. if you built it so it goes together in sections you can make it very collapsible for easier storage, and very re-usable

this one here was the coolest one i had ever seen

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1158022&postcount=12

if youre not as slick, here is another idea..

i would have a row of box fans at the bottom of the garage door, sealed off, and then have fans inside any windows as a source of fresh air, and filter the bejesus out of it.

Those are a solution,but I dont want any painting in my main shop,period.Plus,I dont really have room for something like that. Its easier just to build a new,dedicated building.

 

[ChevyEFI]

I stick to soda blasting. I do it out back, not in the garage. If it blows into the pool, I have acid to counteract it.

And the garage is a mess. But, I get a few things done in there. I'm definitely appreciating organization devices more than new tools at this time. And I need to plan a particular wall area so I can be more organized, efficient, and clean.