To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!

My Shrinking Garage

J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
Howdy! I'm pretty new to this forum, having found my way here after seeing a link to Jack's 12 gauge garage about a week or so ago. I've spent the past few days poking around various posts, looking at some incredibly creative and interesting uses of space and budget. Man, you folks are good. I am thoroughly impressed.

Rather than just take, I thought I would join in and give a little back. And now is the perfect time to start since we just kicked off a remodel of our kitchen and living room. The downside is that the remodel is eating up a pretty substantial chunk of our already modest 2-car garage. But on the upside, I will have an almost clean slate to work with once the dust settles.

Behold the carnage (taken yesterday)...

P1020548_zps4d9c451d.jpg


So it's going to be a few months before I have anything to show off, besides more carnage, which means that I have a few months to cruise around here and get more ideas. The first thing I am realizing I will need to do is build a shed if I have any hope of keeping the space useable and clutter free going forward. But

Wish list includes...

  • One car and one motorcycle parking
  • Nicer floor, maybe epoxy or tile depending on budget and the shape of my slab post remodel
  • Small workshop with workbench, tool storage, task lighting
  • Work surfaces which I can either fold out of the way or lift up
  • Insulated and heated (no AC needed where I live)
  • Looks 10% as nice as Jack Olsen's garage

Wish me luck and please feel free to chime in with ideas and tips. All input is welcome.
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
5

55cadillacking

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
1,959
Location
Calgary
Welcome to the Garage Journal Forum! So, it appears that a pretty substantial chunk of your garage is being sacrificed. What are the original dimensions of the space and what are the post-reno dimensions going to end up being? I would love to see a rendering if you have one.
 
Last edited:
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
Thanks for the welcome!

Original dimensions are, or were, 17 by 27 feet. Here is a clip from the as-is part of the remodel plans...

Before_zps49acc5fe.png


Post reno, looks like this...

After_zps9d3ade55.png


The laundry stays put, but the 2 x 4 and plywood shelves (on the left in the carnage photo) are about 4 feet deep now, and will need to go or else a car will never fit. I plan to find storage up above in the rafters and in my future shed. My thinking now is turn the area behind the fireplace, so top left in the drawings clip, into my workbench and tool storage area, and my motorcycle parking. I also plan to use the scorched-earth approach when deciding what stays and what goes post reno. I was shocked and amazed at the amount of **** I pulled out of those shelves, and from up above, that I had neither used or even thought of in the past 10 years!.
 
R

RalphInCA

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 11, 2012
Messages
2,156
Location
Wine Country, OR
Why in the h*ll would you sacrifice garage space for kitchen space? This does not make sense to me. Should be the other way around.

I think you need to tell the wife who is boss.

A kitchen just needs a microwave, sink, dishwasher (unless you use paper plates) and a refrigerator. A garage needs so much more.

I, for one, am very disappointed in you.

(Just kidding).
 
G

gte718p

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 12, 2009
Messages
3,950
Ralphlong said:
Why in the h*ll would you sacrifice garage space for kitchen space? This does not make sense to me. Should be the other way around.

I think you need to tell the wife who is boss.

A kitchen just needs a microwave, sink, dishwasher (unless you use paper plates) and a refrigerator. A garage needs so much more.

I, for one, am very disappointed in you.

(Just kidding).
Click to expand...

Ah but a kitchen is a full of tools. I real man must master all variety of tools. I've also found that men who like garages also like other activities. For said other activities it is always good to keep the lady folk happy. Being skilled with the culinary tool set also goes a long way in that regard.
 
D

duggie

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2007
Messages
100
Location
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
"Happy wife equals a happy life !!"


I predict this "sacrifice" of garage space will lead to another bigger, detached space in the backyard in the future ... :dunno:
 
R

ratdoggy

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
11,971
Location
Akron-Canton area OH
Ralphlong said:
Why in the h*ll would you sacrifice garage space for kitchen space? This does not make sense to me. Should be the other way around.

I think you need to tell the wife who is boss.

A kitchen just needs a small microwave, small sink, no dishwasher (after all you have a sink ) and a large beer cooler. A garage needs so much more.

I, for one, am very disappointed in you.

(Just kidding).
Click to expand...
I fixed it for you:rocker:
 
F

fringeofinsanity

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 24, 2010
Messages
223
Location
Elgin, IL
:headshake Everyone please give a moment of silence and prayers for the demise of this garage space.

Ya gotta do what ya gotta do for the family. But I'd be laying the groundwork for a new detached shop down the road. Good luck
 
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
K

Kevin54

MEMBER EMERITUS
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
29,341
Location
Urbana, Ohio
gte718p said:
Ah but a kitchen is a full of tools. I real man must master all variety of tools. I've also found that men who like garages also like other activities. For said other activities it is always good to keep the lady folk happy. Being skilled with the culinary tool set also goes a long way in that regard.
Click to expand...

Looks like another ManCard needs to be turned in. If the man has to give up garage space for culinary skills, it best be one of the biggest badass grilles you could get in there. A man only needs two tools for his culinary skills, Either a fork to turn over the steaks, or a spatula to flip the burgers.

Dakota00 said:
Should be steak and BJ day, for this guy all year round!!
Click to expand...

Exactly!!!!!!!!:rocker:

We haven't heard yet as to the rewards for giving up garage space, but just hopefully a portion of the reward is a garage expansion in the near future.
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
Ha! Thanks guys. I appreciate the ribbing.

Since I have no idea how to do the quote thing on this forum, and don't have time right now to learn, so here goes my hacked version...

"Add a lift" - No room above and no budget right now to make room above. Plus, my goal is not so much to work on cars in the garage, but to work on bicycles. I love all the auto restoration threads, and the lifts are so freaking cool, but my future is wrenching my bikes and fabricating bike frames. I have a ways to go first before I'm making frames, and a ****-ton to learn, but that is the goal.

"More kitchen? WTF is wrong with you, you wee girl!" - My lovely and talented wife has many skills, but cooking is not one of them. I'm the cook in my family, so a kickass kitchen is worth the space I lose in my garage. Plus, I now get to build myself a dedicated work area in the leftover part next to the addition. I'm thinking a couple of HF tool chests with a butcher block top, and a fold-down welding table off to the side...

"Build a detached garage out back" - Out back is not an option. Big hill, tiny yard, no more money...

"Steak and BJ day..." - I'm fine with that. Excuse me while I text the wife...
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
OK, testing out the multi-quote thingy. Here goes...

kyle@hcb said:
Dude!
Click to expand...

Righteous!

gte718p said:
Ah but a kitchen is a full of tools. I real man must master all variety of tools. I've also found that men who like garages also like other activities. For said other activities it is always good to keep the lady folk happy. Being skilled with the culinary tool set also goes a long way in that regard.
Click to expand...

Wise words. I have impressed more women with my cooking skills than with my garage skills, and by "more women" I mean my wife. I'm a reasonably modest guy, but I can say, without feeling like an arrogant jackass, that I am a damn fine cook.

Also, fresh concrete! Doesn't it look delicious?

7a78ba1d-dd3d-4602-92e9-957092067e3b_zps462fc66c.jpg


When I get home from work today, the walls should be all framed up. My hat's off to anyone reading who does remodel work for a living. What a pain in the **** that must be fitting plumb and square work into an old "un-plumb" and "non-square" house. I know the general rule is to match what's there, but sometimes that won't work, like when they are installing a pocket door into an existing wall that leans. Every single wall seems to be out of plumb by the exact same amount, about 3/8" from top to bottom. The foreman and I were speculating that the entire house (1950 single story slab on grade) has either slid slightly downhill, or else the original builder's level was off by 3/8" and the stupid thing has always been like that!
 
Last edited:
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
Hi Ben. I've been spending all my time reading about at other people's projects!

The quick update is that we finished the remodel and things are looking great, but it was a tremendous pain in the ****. We decided to live in the bedroom side of the house while we gutted almost the entire other side, turning my oldest daughters bedroom into a combo kitchen/dining room/family room and doubling up the kids in the other bedroom. It was a drag on everyone but we survived. I sort of lost steam to post stuff during the remodel, since nothing would be happening in the garage part until the house part was done, and I doubt anyone wanted to see photos of my kitchen being remodeled, but I'm more than happy to post a few photos of the current state of the garage, or my kitchen!

Got my little garage shop configured the way I initially imagined it, with a couple of HF tool boxes and an IKEA countertop, pretty basic, and it suits my needs for now, but I have plans brewing in my head to make some changes, like a more solid base for the workbench, and more storage on the walls, and a welding table. I also plan to build a shed on the side of the garage so I can get the bikes and other big stuff out of the garage and use the space to park a car, so lots of stuff in the planning stages.

No "in-progress" photos to speak of really, but here are a few of shot of the space prior to the workbench going in...

P1020766_zps315e6e17.jpg


P1020767_zps49bab0ba.jpg


IMG_3754_zps242f7641.jpg


And here's how things stand now...

Wider shot showing the space...

Garagewide_zps4f85b186.jpg


Closer shot of the mess...

Garage_zpsc72c8d7c.jpg


Bet I'm the only guy on Garage Journal with a Wolf brand tool chest!

Wolf_zps524afb73.jpg


I do have a ton of in-progress photos of when the contractor had to come back a few months after all the work was done and connect our kitchen sink to the sewer, which they forgot to do the first time around. Someone explain to me what building inspectors actually do again? I am not joking that the kitchen had been draining into a trench under the slab for three months! And we only noticed it because of the ungodly stench in my kid's bathroom, which I had been attributing to my kids not using the fart fan enough. So the guy ended up ripping out drywall on two walls, cutting up the brand new hardwood floors, jackhammering up the slab, digging up the sewer lines, and bringing in a trenchless specialist to literally burrow a new drain line under the dining room slab, and another out under the front entry, connecting the drain to the sewer lateral. I learned how to let the insanity of it all just flow around me like a zen master, especially when the guy sent me a bill for everything after he f'd it up the first time round. Good news is that all of our drain lines are brand new now so we should be good to go for another 50 years minimum...
 
Last edited:
M

madoc1

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2012
Messages
1,242
Location
spicewood, tx
i think i would not have paid that bill. his work should have been warranted. anyway, i bet you're glad that is over.
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
Very happy it's over, and it did turn out great in the end, and I don't want to sound like a whiner, because all-in-all it went well and my life is an embarrassment of riches compared to many, but no, I did not pay the bill, or at least not all of it. The reason why is that we did end up replacing some sections of the old cast-iron sewer line that originally we were just going to leave in place, so a bit of the work was out of the original scope. We figured that we might as well replace the last 15 feet of cast iron left under the house. It's funny because we paid the trench-less guys out of our own pocket since half of their work was to replace that 15 feet, so we were kind of assuming that the contractor was just going to eat the cost of the rest (his laborers, a few bags of concrete, some drywall, a box of new flooring, paint, etc) and we would just call it even. But then he came back with a bill for all of it, over $10,000! So we added up what he said he had spent with what we had already spent, and started the negotiations. My wife managed the negotiations and you do not want to negotiate with her. You will lose. Trust me on that.
 
G

Gentle_Ben

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 10, 2012
Messages
530
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Thanks for the update, its great everything turned out well despite your contractor's screw up. I wouldn't mind seeing the kitchen you traded garage space for. :p
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
You want to see the kitchen? OK. Here goes...

fullkitchen_zps0668d252.png


Soapstone countertops. Gorgeous stone.

kitchenisland_zpsdc4edf8c.png


This part used to be garage...

kitchen_zps3146d7c5.png


Living room part...

livingroomandkitchenfromfrontdoor_zps79533ad8.png


And here is a console table top that I made out of a reclaimed chunk of old growth Douglas Fir out of a building at the old Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. Gorgeous piece of wood. The smell when I cut and sanded it was amazing...

Entry_zpsa3508a7e.png


table2_zps06b88dd9.png


table_zps0ff748aa.png
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
4t64rd said:
You known they have these places you can go where they cook the food for you... You really don't need a kitchen at all.
Click to expand...

I hear you brother. But I spent many years of my life living in apartments in various big cities frequenting such places for every single meal. I'm done with that life
 
OP
J

Jimbo..

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Messages
90
Location
Northern California
txbonds said:
Looks awesome. Very nice. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks txbonds

Gentle_Ben said:
Ok that Kitchen was totally worth trading garage space for, wow!
Click to expand...

Yep. The reality is that sacrificing that part of the garage gave me two things besides a nice kitchen 1) The opportunity to make a storage loft above, which you can sort of make out in the garage photos, which is where most of that clutter all went to, and 2) A perfectly sized leftover bit to make my little workshop. And now I get to tweak what's left, put in better storage, add some fold down workspace, etc. The old 2-car garage had turned into nothing but a big storage unit anyway so it was useless as a place to park a car or as a workshop.

Mpower5266 said:
I didnt want to be the one that said it, I mean it is garage journal. Yeah that was totally worth the space.
Click to expand...

Validation is nice. Thanks guys.
 
Last edited:
T

taumac

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
8,104
Location
Brooksville, Fl
You must log in or register to reply here.
To avoid these ads, REGISTER NOW!
Top Bottom