Modular 2 Car Garage Design Help

[burritohunter]

Hey all,

I've been lurking for a while and shopping hard. But now I need help, big questions are:

1. Slatwall! What brand suits my needs best?
2. What to do with a trussed ceiling?! Just close it off and insulate it?
3. Any other suggestions based on concept below:

First time homeowner, we close this week on the new-to-us house. To keep within our price range, the biggest sacrifice we had to make was the garage size. I traded it for a very short commute. It's basically an unfinished 2 car garage (20x20ft, 8ft to the trusses, no insulation.) It doesn't have a door directly to the house, but it does have a door directly to the backyard and giant, flat driveway. Might be great to roll big projects out to the driveway on sunny days and have tons of work area!

Anyway, I thought I would have time to figure more of this stuff out with a rent-back through June, but now we are taking possession in April and I want/need to get the basics installed before we move in.


About my use:

• Must be able to fit a car inside 20% of the time - hailstorms, on vacation, etc. but I don't need to be able to work on projects while the car is inside.
• Must be able to fit bicycle collection - about 12 bikes between the two of us, 6 of which are used at least 1x a week, year round. Planning to just hang these on slatwall hooks.
• Very regular wrencher - fixing/cleaning mountain bikes nearly daily, do easy stuff on my vehicles, lots of little home projects and 3D printed widgets. Some small amount of soldering work can be done in the house.
• I'm not a woodworker, but will need to make a few things here and there: table saw, band saw saw, router, and drill press are a must.
• Definitely a metal worker when I have the tools. TIG Welder, maybe a cheap MIG welder, band saw, decent size flat work table, belt sander or a grinder, maybe a mill drill or a benchtop mill. Lathe will probably never fit and doesn't really do dual duty the way a mill drill can be used as a drill press.
• Really striving for an easy to clean and VERY organized garage. Would be great if cabinets or tool chests kept dust/sawdust/metal chips/leaves etc. off of everything.
• I know life is going to change and we'll need strollers and kids bikes and all that stuff at some point, so modular is good.

Finishing Plans (in sequential order):

• Remove existing damaged drywall (only on one wall)
• Add 230v drop to at least 1 wall for welder. Might want 2 for a mill/drill. Add a bunch of other 110v outlets, including a couple in the middle of the ceiling for lighting and drops if necessary.
• Insulate walls and drywall. Insulate ceiling somehow - either at the roof or add dry wall under trusses (lose the storage, but gain cleanliness and light)
• Slatwall: Cover all three walls completely to allow for future layout changes. I like ProSlat's accessories best (has locking features, baskets, shelves) but really like Gladiators cabinet hanging capability and perceived durability. I would not buy the diamondplate cabinets, only the grey/white. Handiwall seems like an option too. Flow Wall seems in the middle. I have samples on order for all of those.
• Seal seams and epoxy coat floor, for ease of cleaning.

Outfitting:

• Basically, everything off the ground.
• Everything on the ground (except sturdy work tables/benches) has wheels.
• Hang cabinets above work level for oil, grease, cleaners, etc. Also for tool storage, parts storage, sports equipment.
• Have plain but adjustable height butcher block workbenches (like Gladiator's, that allow for tool chests to roll under). Mount drill press, belt sander/grinder, band saw, vises, and bicycle wheel truing stand either directly to the bench or make a modular "Tool Dock" style system, the latter preferred but obviously more work and probably less rigid.
• Large but mobile shop vac, no central collection system.
• Tool chests: (2) Craftsman Edge 8 Drawer 26" with FoamFit tool foam, 444 pc Craftsman set, plus a few other goodies, nicer torque wrenches, all the specialized bike tools. I used similar higher end craftsman griplatch style units with organizers at a previous job and LOVED it. Not huge fan of top boxes when I could roll the unit out from the workbench and double my work space. Like smaller boxes with more drawers vs. larger boxes with fewer drawers. Only planning to buy when they are on sale.
• Raw materials area - extra wood, hardware... just needs to live off the ground but doesn't really need to be clean.
• Probably will want a small TV and speakers for indoor (bad weather) bike riding.
• Eventually buy the welder and make a small weld curtain rail on the ceiling.
• Final touches would be HOT water and sink/shower tub just outside of the garage for cleaning bikes/dogs. Could use a camping style tankless hot water heater off of hose bib.

Final Notes:

• We are also looking at trying to get a 6ftx12ft bump out - but the house has a brand new roof and building permits here are nasty.
• I dream of having a CNC router for fun stuff (Platform CNC)
• Cost: insulate/drywall garage $1k, Epoxy $1k, Slatwall $3k, Cabinets $1k, hand tools and chest $2.5k, work tables $1.5k, big tools $XXk to infinity. I know that's not cheap, but that's about $100k cheaper than a 3 car garage around here...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

Welcome aboard. First, that's a mighty big wish list for such a small space. You may be able to get all your tools inside but find it difficult to walk to the back wall. A table saw takes up 9 square feet all by itself. All the other tools combined will be a tough fit. Start with the absolute must haves and move those things in. Have a beer and see how much space is left. It looks big empty but fills up fast. One of the reasons everyone on this board is encouraged to build as big as possible cause it will never be big enough.

 

[SouthLake]

12 bikes, a car, plus all that equipment??? 20x20 aint gonna cut it, especially with 8' ceiling.

however you can buy a folding work bench if you dont feel like building one though, save you a little space.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bench-S...ace-and-Locking-Metal-Supports-QW01/202961027

 

[matt_i]

As others have said, that amount of stuff would fit well in a 30x40. You can get creative as others have done, hanging high, packing stuff, etc. Bikes seem hard to store, especially when they are "in use" and need to be independently accessed.

I'd use your back-door for all woodworking projects, it will get *everything* dusty.

 

[Joe Reed]

Didn't see any mention of a lawn mower, yard tools or any other stuff like that. Any chance of getting a storage shed? If so, you could use that for yard stuff, bicycle storage, etc. That'll help you meet your needs...

 

[burritohunter]

Thanks everyone so far! I would love some feedback on the slat wall and epoxy coated floors in particular, those being the first things to go in. After that, I can put in the "must haves" for tools and organization and have a few beers before deciding the next move.

I'll upload some photos of my current garage tomorrow.

A couple answers:

First, that's a mighty big wish list for such a small space. ... A table saw takes up 9 square feet all by itself. All the other tools combined will be a tough fit.

I dream big! I plan on having a job site saw, most of which will fit under a 40" tall workbench that is 24" deep. I won't do enough work to justify a contractor or cabinet saw.

Bikes seem hard to store, especially when they are "in use" and need to be independently accessed.

I'd use your back-door for all woodworking projects, it will get *everything* dusty.

Bikes aren't too bad - I can fit them about 14" on center, so I currently have 10 bikes in about 12 feet of wall space and two on the ceiling. Easly, two of them could live in a shed or under the back patio.

To clarify, back-door, as in do major woodworking outside? I'm thinking I will most often get time in the evenings to do stuff... but definitely do-able for big projects. There's a nice big area on the side of the house, it's just gravel currently...

however you can buy a folding work bench if you dont feel like building one though, save you a little space.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bench-S...ace-and-Locking-Metal-Supports-QW01/202961027

This looks sweet. I had written off a folding table to the likes of Ikea, this might be a perfect addition.

Didn't see any mention of a lawn mower, yard tools or any other stuff like that. Any chance of getting a storage shed? If so, you could use that for yard stuff, bicycle storage, etc. That'll help you meet your needs...

YUP - no yard equipment allowed in the garage. We agreed that the backyard could get a little tool shed, whatever it takes. Also no big trash cans, no bulk food supplies, no second freezer, none of that stuff. Also, no camping stuff besides the big ticket items - cooler, water, kitchen box.