My Garage Project

[aps63]

Hi,
I'm new to the sight but have found great inspiration from it already.
I have been working on my 70 Camaro for the last several years and just can't take the condition of my garage anymore. Badly spalled and stained floor, grey concrete walls, lack of storage, poor lighting, lack of outlets, and no heat, have made working in it an actual chore. Especially during the winter. It's only 15' wide by 24' deep so keeping it organized and straight during the build has been a challenge.

So, I have set aside some of the Camaro's funds for a complete garage makeover. Here will be the basic layout for everything.

I had decided to redo the floor with U-Coat-It. After researching it quite a bit, have decided against. My floor is in bad shape and I don't want to rip it, maybe in the future.
I ordered a new floor from GarageTrac. Found it on sale and it was 1/2 the price of Racedeck(same company). Laid out a pattern on their website and ordered it.

I grew up on Craftsman tools and cabinets and decided to go with their line of cabs. Just sold my very first tool chest that I bought when I was 16 so I would say I got my money out of it.
List of cabinets include,
1 - 8' stainless steel top workbench with 2 banks of drawers, 5 each side.
1 - 6' stainless steel top workbench with 2 banks of drawers, 5 each side.
1 - 36" x 72" storage cabinet.
1 - 48" x 24" wall cab for auto fasteners and such.
1 - Wall mounted shop vac with 20' hose.

The part that will be starting in the next few weeks will be the electrical, insulation, sheetrock, and paint stage.
For now I'm going to be stocking materials and cabinetry to start my Garage Build. I will post progress pictures as soon as there is some.

 

[dubber]

Yes you are definitely a candidate for some organization. I like the plan you've developed and i'm eager to see this come into place. G/L

 

[55cadillacking]

Very interested to see all this Craftsman gear you ordered. I can't say I knew they offered some of the stuff you listed there. Then again, I don't think we get as much as you guys in the States. I'm also curious to see the Garage Trac once it's laid down. Seems like a great alternative to the regular line of RD products. Looks you are off to a flying start. Best of luck with the rest of it.

 

[Thruxton]

I am looking forward to seeing how this goes! Good planning is more than half the battle IMHO.

 

[HSpencer]

The plan looks good. You have a lot of items to deal with in that space, but it should all go together well once you get started. I will be interested in seeing the end result. Good luck!

 

[aps63]

Thanks guy's.

Rick - Your garage is one of the first ones I read. Made me want more for my own garage. Now that's organization. Great job.

Went to Lowes and bought a bunch of totes to store everything in during this adventure. Cleaned off the shelves and packed the stuff away. Cleared off the old Craftsman workbench. Took some pictures of the workbench to put it on Craigslist to sell.

Then wife comes out see what I'm up to and takes one look at the plastic bench and tells me it would make a great potting table for her outside.
That was easy. Now she wants the metal shelving too. That's fine, as long as it leaves my garage.

Then on to the overhead storage. Any car parts went into the attic.
Most other junk went to the dump.

Small progress, but if I do a little each day should get done in no time.

 

[dubber]

Those are the best situations. I know when i was in the process of reorganizing my space if something was planned to leave it bugged me until it was out of the way. I'm sure you were very happy to put it where ever she wanted, provided it was out of the garage and ASAP!

 

[aps63]

Here is a picture of the poor excuse for a window that I have now.

Went to Home Depot and ordered this one 48"w x 24"h and insulated.

Only bad part is the size was a special order so it will be about a 1-1/2 weeks.
Oh well, plenty of other stuff to do.

 

[aps63]

Hung up my new shop vac today.
Trying to free up more floor space, so I mounted the vac high up on the wall.
It came with a 21' hose attachment and the on/off switch is right on the end of the hose. Figured I would mount it now just in case I don't like the location, I'm not drilling extra holes in my brand new sheetrock.

 

[dubber]

Wow! I'm very jealous of that vacuum (not a statement i thought i would ever say haha).

 

[aps63]

Their on sale at Sears for $89.99, couldn't pass it up.

 

[dubber]

Yes nice choice indeed. Dual purpose; first being its one of the first new things your putting up that can help you with your pallet and second it will be very useful with your cleaning up during the project.

 

[rydeshed]

Your plans look great!

 

[dubber]

Was that a dryer vent through the window? I take it you weren't using that anymore. That will be nice to have out of there as well while replacing the window.

 

[aps63]

Definitely, just replacing the window should help insulate the garage.

 

[aps63]

The new floor has ARRIVED!!!!! Bummer that the garage won't be ready for it for a while. At least I have it ready to go.

 

[dubber]

OHHH MAN!!!! I personally wouldn't be able to contain myself, as in GET BUSY!!!!

I'm sure your wife will gladly give you tons of time finishing the garage so you can get those boxes out of the house!

 

[HSpencer]

Great looking forward progress. I too am jealous of the vac, love the concept of it, and just went and ordered one myself. Sears should send you a commission on all those you sell! That window replacement will be super, but looks like a lot of work to put it in there.
I will be subscribed to your thread.

 

[draider]

Looks like you have a good plan, which is probably necessary in that limited space. Looking forward to your progress.

 

[aps63]

Trust me Dubber, it's killing me not to put the floor down. But, I want to pressure wash the floor a couple of times before I put the floor down.

HSpencer - You'll love that vac. Just the nozzle with the on/off button is awesome, and not have the the vac on the floor but up out of the way, excellent!

 

[crazytrain]

Looks like a great project, progress so far is doing well. Keep up the good work and keep the updates coming.

 

[aps63]

Well, no more spots left on my fuse box. Have to get a bigger panel.
Started to read all the labels on the breakers and realized many off them were wrong.
My house is old and the electrical system has been rigged by many.
So I spent about 4 hours tracing all the electrical in the house today.
Turns out I have 5 empty spots in my fuse box. EXCELLENT!!!!
More than enough juice for extra wiring in the garage.

 

[dubber]

Good idea waiting to do a thorough floor clean before the floor install i did that as well.

BTW is that vac 5 HP or 5 Gallon capacity. All i can make out in terms of detail is a "5".

 

[aps63]

Just read a thread on the lighting section about how to calculate your lighting needs. http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=150938

It sends you to this article(which is great) about how to calculate how much light you need.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/content.php?146-Lighting-the-Small-Workshop-by-Jack-Lindsey

Dubber - It's both 5 gallon & 5hp.

 

[aps63]

Went and picked up my 4 Craftsman 5-drawer cabinets.
Ordered them online and got them delivered to my local Sears.
Lots of fun unpacking them to check for damage(none thankfully).
Not so much fun packing them back up. Garage is not ready for them yet.

 

[dubber]

Very sweet! I'm disappointed i tried to snipe the idea of your shop vac but it seems they are no longer available in the model you got.

 

[aps63]

Yes, I love these cabinets. They should look great with the floor.

I just checked the Craftsman website and their on sale right now.
http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-...p-00916825000P?prdNo=4&blockNo=4&blockType=G4
Maybe not in Canada?

 

[marty_p]

Great start, Bud!

I too admire your plans and ambition.

Keep us posted; we all have short attention spans here and keep needing more and more and...

 

[HSpencer]

Very sweet! I'm disappointed i tried to snipe the idea of your shop vac but it seems they are no longer available in the model you got.

Same with me dubber, I could not get one as of yesterday. I did find a couple of nice "ShopVac" models on Amazon, a 3 hp and a 5 hp. I might go that route.

 

[aps63]

Dubber & HSpencer -
I just checked the Craftsman website and their on sale right now.

http://www.craftsman.com/craftsman-r...4&blockType=G4

 

[aps63]

Went on the "Pods" website to check on the pricing of having them put one in my driveway. Figured it would be a lot easier to have everything out of the garage while I work on it. Between drop off, having it there for up to a month and pickup, it's about $400. Not too bad, I think. I will check some of the other container companies.

 

[dubber]

Went on the "Pods" website to check on the pricing of having them put one in my driveway. Figured it would be a lot easier to have everything out of the garage while I work on it. Between drop off, having it there for up to a month and pickup, it's about $400. Not too bad, I think. I will check some of the other container companies.

I was going to say just move things to the center to work around and then out for a a weekend and blitz with some helpers................Then i went back to your first pics and remembered you have a LOT of stuff. So i think you might be on to something with the pod concept.

 

[aps63]

Figured out how many lights I want to put in the garage.
I figure 7 - 4 bulb t-8 fixtures should give me plenty of light.
Three switches will give me the option to turn them all on or the one section off while the garage door is up. Also to have just the workbench area lit.

 

[madmla21]

I have the same Shop Vac but mine is made by Vacmaster this is who craftsman gets there's from. I got mine off of amazon when not on sale it is about $10 cheaper. I have also loved the utility of the vac and how well it is designed.

 

[aps63]

I have to agree with you, that vac is great. It's the perfect size for my garage.

On my list of cabinets to get was a tool cart. I was originally going to get this one from craftsman, about $100.

I have so much clutter now that I really want nothing out in the open. I want it all put away behind doors or in drawers.
So I was messing around in the "General Tools Discussion" section and came across several other members that had gotten this HF rolling tool box.

This was perfect, I could hide everything and use it as a rolling counter if I need to.
I found a coupon for it for $99 and went and picked it up today.
Now I have something else that my garage is not ready for.
I ordered my POD today so when I'm ready to do the insulation and sheetrock, I have somewhere to put everything and have lots of room to work. I'm moving slowly but I AM moving forward.

 

[dubber]

I have so much clutter now that I really want nothing out in the open. I want it all put away behind doors or in drawers.

Nice choice. I agree with this line especially well planned.

 

[aps63]

Just a very small update. Still waiting for the window to come.
Found a clock that will go perfect when I'm ready for it.

 

[dubber]

Love the clock, definitely can see an influence of a nice wheel.

 

[aps63]

I thought the same thing when I saw, had to have it.

 

[dubber]

I thought the same thing when I saw, Ihad to have it.

I'll give you my address so that you can send that to me, you know since its still in the box and your space isn't yet ready