azroadrunner
Member
Update: October, 2017
Good news is I am still happily married with great children! Bad news is that my son and daughter older and like the garage a lot. They are claiming the garage their space.So far I have lost some wall and cabinets real estate.
In case others are contemplating something like I did, I thought I would provide an update. Here it is:
Garage Size - Roughly 19 x 18. The size of the water heater, cabinets and worktable really cuts into the airspace for two american sized cars to fit comfortably with kids. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser and Corolla. Replace the Corolla with an SUV and you spend more time backing in and out of the garage to get the vehicle as close as possible to the side wall on the passenger side. You will notice I didn't extend the cabinets across the walls. That is because the cabinets would hit the car door when opening it or just prevent you from squeezing out.
Ceramic tile - Still holding strong! I have replaced my suspension on my FJ and have dropped wrenches and such with no cracks. The grout is a bit dirty though but that is on me for not sealing it or taking care of it. I have no regrets so far and makes hosing out dirt or spilled drinks or food from the kids very easy.
Mini-Split - Holding strong as well and a nice addition when working on projects on my FJ when it is 116 F outside in the summer or when it it is freezing cold in the winter. This is probably the best investment I have made.
Seville Classic HD cabinets - They have been very rugged with the only complaint being the fingerprints left on the doors. I have stopped cleaning them and I am considering wrapping them or using platidip. I see there are a lot more alternatives to choose from.
Music - I once used my computer with speakers to play some music. to save more space I have moved to an Amazon Echo. It takes up little space and works well in the small garage I am in. You really don't need a large sound system.
Mac mini and Apple TV - I moved the computer to a dedicated work room since the kids are old enough to be interested in Video Games. The computer was replaced with Gaming Consoles and with that, I lost a cabinet. One of the wall cabinets are filled with Video games which is pushing me to becoming more creative with space management. They want their own TV in their rooms so this is a compromise. At least we get spend time together when working on my truck.
Cutting the wires: Because I have limited space I have replaced my air tools and air tank with Dewalt 3/8 and 1/2 HD impacts wrenches. These suckers are a joy to use under the vehicles when working on my suspension. I have also integrated the My Q wireless bridge into my home network. I can remotely open, close, and check status of the garage door when away. I also upgrade my wireless router. I can shut off wireless connection remotely to certain gaming consoles or wireless devices while still having internet access for others.
Anyways, this forum has been awesome and I have learned a lot. This is just my small contribution to the community. The only other changes I can see is just putting up some posters and foldable benches.
5-14-2014----------
Greetings everyone. This is my first post but I have been lurking the forum ever since I came across this forum, a year ago, looking for A/C advice for my garage.
When my wife and I got married we always told ourselves that we would not turn our garage into a storage space. Many years of marriage later and bringing work home turned our garage into our worse nightmare.
I was inspired by the great advice and knowledge of this forum and in August of 2013 I decided to clean up the garage and make it into a garage to be used again where I could park my cars and to hang out in when I talk to neighbors.
After selling what I could and storing only the needed items in the garage I decided to remove the old cabinets and install porcelain tile. I could have went with a lot of other great choices( epoxy, Racedeck, etc..) but a good friend of mine who installs tile for a living and was already doing my bathrooms talked me into tiling the garage.
I wanted my garage to also be used as a man cave as well as a location to review youtube videos of projects while working in my garage. Maybe even catching a game or two.
I installed an A/C unit, a 40" tv that was on sale to a push out mount and connected my mac mini and apple tv (really not needed since the tv has almost the same program listings). It is connected with a wireless mouse and a solar powered keyboard. This allows me to move the keyboard and mouse anywhere in the garage. Of course, I went with the Seville Classic furniture. You just can't beat the price on these things. Of course once my kids saw the garage then they wanted to make it their own so in came the PS3.
Of course I needed a highly advance security system so my son came up with the best idea.
Last on my list left to do are:
1. Paint the inside of the garage door. It is currently a sun faded yellowish color.
2. Relocate the phone line wire.
3. Hide the electric water heater with a divider or something
4.build up my current workbench (not the seville one) to a bar and buy two more seville seats.
Good news is I am still happily married with great children! Bad news is that my son and daughter older and like the garage a lot. They are claiming the garage their space.So far I have lost some wall and cabinets real estate.
In case others are contemplating something like I did, I thought I would provide an update. Here it is:
Garage Size - Roughly 19 x 18. The size of the water heater, cabinets and worktable really cuts into the airspace for two american sized cars to fit comfortably with kids. We have a Toyota FJ Cruiser and Corolla. Replace the Corolla with an SUV and you spend more time backing in and out of the garage to get the vehicle as close as possible to the side wall on the passenger side. You will notice I didn't extend the cabinets across the walls. That is because the cabinets would hit the car door when opening it or just prevent you from squeezing out.
Ceramic tile - Still holding strong! I have replaced my suspension on my FJ and have dropped wrenches and such with no cracks. The grout is a bit dirty though but that is on me for not sealing it or taking care of it. I have no regrets so far and makes hosing out dirt or spilled drinks or food from the kids very easy.
Mini-Split - Holding strong as well and a nice addition when working on projects on my FJ when it is 116 F outside in the summer or when it it is freezing cold in the winter. This is probably the best investment I have made.
Seville Classic HD cabinets - They have been very rugged with the only complaint being the fingerprints left on the doors. I have stopped cleaning them and I am considering wrapping them or using platidip. I see there are a lot more alternatives to choose from.
Music - I once used my computer with speakers to play some music. to save more space I have moved to an Amazon Echo. It takes up little space and works well in the small garage I am in. You really don't need a large sound system.
Mac mini and Apple TV - I moved the computer to a dedicated work room since the kids are old enough to be interested in Video Games. The computer was replaced with Gaming Consoles and with that, I lost a cabinet. One of the wall cabinets are filled with Video games which is pushing me to becoming more creative with space management. They want their own TV in their rooms so this is a compromise. At least we get spend time together when working on my truck.
Cutting the wires: Because I have limited space I have replaced my air tools and air tank with Dewalt 3/8 and 1/2 HD impacts wrenches. These suckers are a joy to use under the vehicles when working on my suspension. I have also integrated the My Q wireless bridge into my home network. I can remotely open, close, and check status of the garage door when away. I also upgrade my wireless router. I can shut off wireless connection remotely to certain gaming consoles or wireless devices while still having internet access for others.
Anyways, this forum has been awesome and I have learned a lot. This is just my small contribution to the community. The only other changes I can see is just putting up some posters and foldable benches.
5-14-2014----------
Greetings everyone. This is my first post but I have been lurking the forum ever since I came across this forum, a year ago, looking for A/C advice for my garage.
When my wife and I got married we always told ourselves that we would not turn our garage into a storage space. Many years of marriage later and bringing work home turned our garage into our worse nightmare.
I was inspired by the great advice and knowledge of this forum and in August of 2013 I decided to clean up the garage and make it into a garage to be used again where I could park my cars and to hang out in when I talk to neighbors.
After selling what I could and storing only the needed items in the garage I decided to remove the old cabinets and install porcelain tile. I could have went with a lot of other great choices( epoxy, Racedeck, etc..) but a good friend of mine who installs tile for a living and was already doing my bathrooms talked me into tiling the garage.
I wanted my garage to also be used as a man cave as well as a location to review youtube videos of projects while working in my garage. Maybe even catching a game or two.
I installed an A/C unit, a 40" tv that was on sale to a push out mount and connected my mac mini and apple tv (really not needed since the tv has almost the same program listings). It is connected with a wireless mouse and a solar powered keyboard. This allows me to move the keyboard and mouse anywhere in the garage. Of course, I went with the Seville Classic furniture. You just can't beat the price on these things. Of course once my kids saw the garage then they wanted to make it their own so in came the PS3.
Of course I needed a highly advance security system so my son came up with the best idea.
Last on my list left to do are:
1. Paint the inside of the garage door. It is currently a sun faded yellowish color.
2. Relocate the phone line wire.
3. Hide the electric water heater with a divider or something
4.build up my current workbench (not the seville one) to a bar and buy two more seville seats.
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