Mild Garage Makeover

[empeg9000]

Hey Guys,
This is my first post here. I bought my new to me house last year. One huge selling point was it is close to my work, five miles, and it was a great garage. The garage is 30X36. It has a block foundation so the floor space is like 28X34 or so. It is already fully sheet rocked inside and insulated. It has air lines already run and I have a compressor although I haven't hooked it up yet. I did a UCoat It epoxy floor as the first project in the house before I even put anything in the garage. I still have my old school home made bench in there from my old house. At this point I need some storage as I am getting some floor sprawl going on if you know what I mean. I want to get some tall cabinets to store things. I probably could build cabinets but I don't really feel like it since I already have enough projects going on.
Here is a photo of the floor after I cleaned and etched it.

Here is the finished floor last summer. I have since painted the block foundation grey as well.

Here is a picture of the outside as of yesterday

One more

Here it is with cars inside

You can see from the pics because I don't have any cabinets or anything I am forced to put things on the floor.

When I want to wash the floor this of course means dragging everything outside to clean up. It took me about 4 hours on Saturday.

I have been lurking for a couple weeks and scouring posts. I love Jack Olsens garage of course. I am taking his advice and searching for cabinets on Craigslist. There are some Vidma and Lista cabinets on there right now but they aren't that cheap. They are asking $650 for one and $350 for the other. Plus I really need some cabinets right now, not drawers. I also have a CL wanted ad out for steel kitchen cabinets. My friend has a huge powder coat oven for his business so I figured I could redo them in that. I am also going to check out the Craftsman cabinets tonight. They don't seem very wide though.

I would love some suggestions.

 

[Jack Olsen]

That's a great size. (And thanks!)

You've got to be very patient with the cabinets. Even used, the industrial ones often go for stupid money.

You could also build some cabinets from head height to the ceiling and not compromise your walking-around space. But it's clear that -- even with four parking spots -- you've still got plenty of floor space. Good decision to buy that house.

 

[Rickenbackerman]

That's a really nice sized space!

I just scored a pair of like-new 36x18x72 Sandusky Lee office cabinets for $40 off of CL. Not the heaviest duty, but they'll hold up fine with the paint cans and chemicals and whatnot that I'll put in them. Got four metal upper kitchen cabinets (also for $40) that I'm currently refinishing. CL is your friend, just be patient...

 

[UN4GTBL]

Awesome sized garage!

 

[empeg9000]

That's a great size. (And thanks!)

You've got to be very patient with the cabinets. Even used, the industrial ones often go for stupid money.

You could also build some cabinets from head height to the ceiling and not compromise your walking-around space. But it's clear that -- even with four parking spots -- you've still got plenty of floor space. Good decision to buy that house.

Well I got a hit today on some steel vintage kitchen cabinets right down the road from me. They are free too, I just need to haul them away.
Here are some photos of the cabinets as they are

I will put a bench-top over that sink cabinet. I think if my friend can powercoat them silver that will be a win. I think even if I have to paint them it will be a win, especially since they are free.

On a side note I went to go look at a new mower tonight at Sears, there goes some cabinet money, and I was checking out the craftsman profession series cabinets. Those seem pretty nice for the money.

 

[28HopUp]

Nice find on those metal cabinets. It's great that you have so much garage space (relative to mine). I like your Model A too!

 

[empeg9000]

Nice find on those metal cabinets. It's great that you have so much garage space (relative to mine). I like your Model A too!

Thanks! I went to the woman's house today to check them out. They were better than I though. Those shelves are a pretty good size too. I would like to have doors on them though. She said I can pick them up later this week.

Today I went to a garage sale and picked up a used 72"X36" steel cabinet for $5!! It's got a couple small dent and it's a little rusty on the bottom but I am sure I can clean it up and repaint it.

Now I was thinking about painting the cabinets a metallic silver color. My friend thinks I should go with a vintage tool box color like Ford Blue or a green like Jack's garage. Anyone have any opinions? I haven't really decided on a theme yet or anything. I do have a bunch of vintage 20s license plates I was thinking of putting along the walls too.

The Model A was my fiances grandfathers. He passed away about 8 years ago and it hadn't run in about 7. Her father just recently gave it to me and i got it running in a weekend.
Here is a video of me pulling it out of the garage if any one is interested.

Here's a video of me and my fiance taking it for a quick spin. I apologize for the video camera work. My gal was doing her best.

 

[Crzydmnd72]

Outstanding videos Looks like you guys had a great time with the car! Back when driving was a real adventure

 

[empeg9000]

Well I have almost all the steel kitchen cabinets. I am just waiting on one more base. The upper cabinets are actually pretty wide. I am surprised.
The were nasty though. It took me almost two hours to clean them.

That is 40 years of kitchen grease right there. There was also multiple layers of latex paint on them

Here is one the base cabinets. I decided to use automotive degreaser to clean the cabinets. That was a good call. It handled the grease really well. The hinge is broken as well.

Mmmmm....grease

These are the shelves that go between the upper cabinets.

Here are the shelves and the broken door all cleaned up. The degreaser took the latex paint off of one of the shelves.

The back of one of the cabinets cleaned. This is an upper.

The front of the same cabinet.

The other upper cabinet. The paint came off the top of this one too.

It was a pretty productive day over all. I haven't gotten to the tall garage sale cabinet I picked up. So far I only have $5 invested.

I have decided to go with a Gulf Oil paint scheme on the cabinets like on the old Porsche racing team.

Progress will probably be slow. I am refinishing my dining room at the same time and installing hardwood floors in the downstairs of my home.

 

[JMURiz]

Awesomely large garage, and great handwork to spruce up those cabinets.