Miscellaneous Research in the PNW

[esvee]

Long time poster, first time garage gallery-er.

This is my second garage. My first was a separate 19x19 back on the East coast and built in 1925. This one was built in the 70s, and I'm enjoying the luxury of not having to walk through snow or rain to get to the garage.

With the holiday break I've finally had some time to start working my way around the outside, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to start a thread here, since I'm certainly taking inspiration from all of the like-minded folk around this board.

The use for this garage will be all over the place. I work on cars, bicycles, motorcycles, wood, metal and electrical. Part of my day to day is a company that designs and builds interactive sculptures, so, really, all over the place. I'll be building a couple of workbenches for delicate work as well as BFH work on all kinds of things. Maybe a station for snowboard care. Maybe a dedicated tool area for bicycles. Redoing the electrical, and maybe some short airlines. Havent quite decided what the final lighting will be.

Heres the super-weird layout that I'm working around:

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The circle and square in the top left are a water heater and gas furnace. The cutouts on the left are the back of a closet and a chimney.

Here it is when we first moved in (well lets be honest, before I just dumped everything we owned into the garage):

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Here is the pile of stuff that needs a home somewhere in here:
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As I work my way around the wall, heres the first big improvement (besides the CFLs a temporarily installed the week we moved in):
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[wasfast]

Perhaps out of scope but a tankless water heater would give you back some usable space in the smallest niche. Food for thought.

 

[esvee]

Perhaps out of scope but a tankless water heater would give you back some usable space in the smallest niche. Food for thought.

I'd love to but the water heater that came with the house is fairly new so I'm gonna live with it until I have a reason to spend the money. Probably gonna replace the old pipe under the house before I spend the money on a new heater.


Making some progress:

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Built a bench to hold Ye' Olde Harbor Freight 44"

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Making the most use of all available space - put a big shelf above the workbench.

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Currently putting a few coats of spar varnish on this. 2 pieces of 3/4 maple ply laminated together.

Used a pocket hole jig for the shelf and will be screwing the benchtop to the bench with a bunch of pocket holes as well. First timing using that attachment method and I'm really glad I bought into it.

 

[PugetDude]

I'd put an air compressor back in the niche beside that water tank. It's dead space.

Nice job on the bench!

 

[esvee]

I'd put an air compressor back in the niche beside that water tank. It's dead space.

Nice job on the bench!

Thanks! I had considered putting the compressor there but unfortunately, that little nook represents the middle of my house - it intersections the kitche/dining room/living room and I'd hate to introduce that noise to the center of the house. I've got it tucked in a nook to the right side of my bench right now.

 

[sambo0012]

Workbench looks great

 

[oldironfarmer]

Bench looks great but that tool box won't fit there.

Unless you clean off the flat surface.

 

[esvee]

Bench looks great but that tool box won't fit there.

Unless you clean off the flat surface.

If you've got flat surfaces in your garage that aren't covered in stuff they should be wet paint or you clearly aren't using your garage.

Some more updates:

A little privacy
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5 coats of spar varnish on the bench top. gonna rub this down with steel wool after it's had a good cure

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Attached some FRP to the wall to protect it from ice and snow and board edges and mounted snowboards using door stops. Unfortunately, we've got too many boards and that bump out is a tight fit, so I need to move that second one in super tight to fit the rest.

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Rebuilt the shelves between the closet and the chimney to better suit my totes. They look like they're bowing, but they aren't.

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Made a home for my creeper and added a pegboard wall to the back of the chimney.

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[esvee]

Finished the bench. Rubbed it out to a satin with some #0000 steel wool and pastewax. The box is a perfect fit.

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Already sorting out those outlets at the bench - capped one and replaced the other with a 2-gang quad. Part of a long project to sort out the wiring in my whole house (discovered that half of my panel is unused, the other half is... well I've got 30A dedicated to just a doorbell transformer. So. I've got that going for me.). Going to dedicate a few clean 20A breakers to the garage between a drop from the ceiling, the bench outlets, the opener, and the compressor.

I've got pegboard ready to go up behind the bench, just waiting on some wire I'm running behind it. Feels good to be able to see the floor again.

 

[Paul79]

Awesome bench. I might do that when I build the counters over the cabinets in my shop. 5 coats should keep it nice for a looong time.

 

[esvee]

Update!
It's been a busy summer of doing stuff. Rebuilding dirtbikes, doing a lot of work on the jeep. Which means the garage is a mess, but it's come a long way:
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Plumbed my compressed air so I've got a 50' reel and a local coil at the workbench, each on their own regulator with a filter. Ran with harbor freight lines that turned out to be the exact right size. The red line is plumbed directly to the compressor output with a quick disconnect going into the regulator/filter. Secured with some bent screws since I couldn't figure out a better way with the filter and regulator I had. If I plumbed some bits of pipe inbetween the connectors I guess I could put some clamps in there.

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Added some mounts for regular use air tools as well. Hid the furnace with an American flag. Hung my motorcycle stands from the ceiling.

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Separate regulator for the bench air.

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Oh hey finally hung up a shop sign on the only piece of wall real estate I don't have plans for and added more pegboard. Fire extinguisher too.

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Dumped out years of hardware accumulation and organized it!

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Picked up a lateral filing cabinet for sprays/cans. (Totally unorganized for the moment).

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Most of this done with some obsessive sketchup detail. You can also see here I'd like to build a "beater bench" over the lateral filing cabinet. Something heavy and low for dirty heavy work. Keeping the clean work on the main bench.

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[esvee]

Updates! Its almost been two years since my last update?!

Current status, finally getting my old CB450 on the road after sitting for a few years.
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[mitchellc]

Great use of your nooks and crannies. Especially the bike area... bikes take up an amazing amount of space for how small and light they are.

 

[RogueFab]

Wow. What a difference a few built in storage options and some creativity make! Great work.

 

[esvee]

Great use of your nooks and crannies. Especially the bike area... bikes take up an amazing amount of space for how small and light they are.

Don't I know it. That area could use a few revisions too. The vertical orientation is unkind to the hydraulic clutch on the mountain bike.

Wow. What a difference a few built in storage options and some creativity make! Great work.

Thanks! Every time I look at something on the wall I'm considering how I could make better use of that space.