New Garage - Clean Slate - Ideas Welcome

[lhopkins04]

Closing on my new house tomorrow. Super excited to have a garage again.
First job is going to be Epoxy-Coat the floors. Not sure what to do with the brick though. Epoxy over it or leave it alone..suggestions welcome.

Epoxy-Coat: Dark Gray base
Gray Blend Flake

Here are some pictures I took real quick with my phone when I stopped at the house the other day.

I will upload pictures of the Epoxy-Coat process and how it turns out.

 

[ddawg16]

First mistake....doing the floor now.....WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Get into the house...get the house organized because your garage is going to be the staging area...

Then...once that is done....you will have done more research and gotten more ideas and have a better idea of what you want to do.

The floor is one of the last things you want to do....otherwise, you get real pissed when you damage it doing the rest of the stuff.

 

[lhopkins04]

There isnt really much I need to do in the garage besides move my stuff into it. The walls are already finished, lights are hung. Before I move my stuff in, I want to finish the floors so I dont have to move everything back out to do the floors.

Everything will be moved into the house this weekend before starting on the floors so that wont be an issue.

I have been planning the garage and been doing research for a while now. I helped a friend install his epoxy-coat floor and it turned out real nice. I have been researching workbench ideas and am going to build one so that its not sitting on the floor. I want to anchor it to the wall studs and have some 45 degree supports under it also anchored into the wall for easy cleaning underneath.

Thats in the future though.

Im just not sure what to do with the brick walls when applying the floors. Epoxy over them, paint them, or leave them as they are.?

 

[lhopkins04]

Completed the garage floor this weekend between moving everything into our new house and the appliances being delivered.

I was debating between renting an industrial grinder or not. I used a friends 4 inch hand grinder with a diamond plate to get the oil spots but i couldnt tell if the previous owner sealed the floor or if this was just really good concrete work. I was a little nervous to put the epoxy down.
I spoke to a concrete company an told him my situation. He said after acid washing it, there shouldnt be any issues of the epoxy not sticking. So, i took his word for it and did it.

I've been wondering what the neighbors think of me since we moved in. I was up until about 10:30 washing, grinding, sweeping the garage floor. I know I saw one neighbor drive by three times and each time i had a broom in my hand. They probably thought I was crazy sweeping the garage for over an hour. Then the next day, Im back in there doing it again.

Anyway,

After the sweeping and washing, I let it dry over night.

With the help of my wife doing the mixing and timing, the epoxy process wasnt too bad. We had a nice little system working.

Overall, I am very happy with it. I could have used atleast one more bag of flake; its a little light in the last quarter of the garage but it will do.

This week I can move my tools back into the garage. I will be putting some fresh paint on the walls and will plan the workbench layout.

Thanks

 

[waggie]

First mistake....doing the floor now.....WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Get into the house...get the house organized because your garage is going to be the staging area...

Then...once that is done....you will have done more research and gotten more ideas and have a better idea of what you want to do.

The floor is one of the last things you want to do....otherwise, you get real pissed when you damage it doing the rest of the stuff.

Using the garage as a staging area will damage the epoxy?

 

[UN4GTBL]

Looks good!

 

[black00lightning]

I LIKE it!! What is the size of your garage and did you use the full kit? Any additional chips beyond the 1 1/2 # included in the kit? Just trying to get any idea on how much I will need. I'm having an attached 3 car garage being built for the cars and a detached garage (30' x 31') being built for a workshop.

Thanks.

Gilbert

 

[dubber]

Looks like you did a great job. What are your garage dimensions?

 

[lhopkins04]

Thanks!

The garage is 23' x 23'.

*Black00lightning*
I purchase the full kit (500 sqft) and the patch kit (60 sqft). I got 4lbs of extra flake. I could have used one more pound i think. You might need two full kits with the size of your garage. Your are at 930 sqft with the dimensions you provided.

I should have purchased the spiked shoes because my flaking skills are poor. Most of the area looks good. I wanted to do a heavier flake. I split the flake up into four sections but kept stealing some from the other sections to get it the way I wanted (rookie mistake). The last section i did is a little light with flake. Overall, Im satisfied with it.

I took down everything on the walls last night and am getting ready for paint.
Im planning out my workbench. I have a bunch of masking tape on the wall right now. Tonight im going to be running some electrical wires for some extra outlets for the workbench.
Then some spackling and paint and then the build of the workbench.

**One big downfall of my garage that i found out last night when cutting out a hole in the wall... Its not insulated. Who finishes a wall and doesnt insulate it? Now im debating on ripping the walls off and insulating it or just leaving it the way it is... The harder part is trying to explain to my pregnant wife why i want to insulate the walls. I should probably go finish the house projects she keeps sending my way before I do anything.

I will keep posting pictures as I go along.

 

[Rubber_Duc]

Completed the garage floor this weekend between moving everything into our new house and the appliances being delivered.

I was debating between renting an industrial grinder or not. I used a friends 4 inch hand grinder with a diamond plate to get the oil spots but i couldnt tell if the previous owner sealed the floor or if this was just really good concrete work. I was a little nervous to put the epoxy down.
I spoke to a concrete company an told him my situation. He said after acid washing it, there shouldnt be any issues of the epoxy not sticking. So, i took his word for it and did it.

I've been wondering what the neighbors think of me since we moved in. I was up until about 10:30 washing, grinding, sweeping the garage floor. I know I saw one neighbor drive by three times and each time i had a broom in my hand. They probably thought I was crazy sweeping the garage for over an hour. Then the next day, Im back in there doing it again.

Anyway,

After the sweeping and washing, I let it dry over night.

With the help of my wife doing the mixing and timing, the epoxy process wasnt too bad. We had a nice little system working.

Overall, I am very happy with it. I could have used atleast one more bag of flake; its a little light in the last quarter of the garage but it will do.

This week I can move my tools back into the garage. I will be putting some fresh paint on the walls and will plan the workbench layout.

Thanks

Damn that looks nice, I'm too chicken to do that b/c of all the stories i've read on it not going well, but your's looks fantastic!

 

[lhopkins04]

Thanks... Its not as bad as it seems. They give you a DVD to watch that lays it all out for you. I did it with just myself and my wife. A third person would have made it a lot easier but we did it with two. I would watch some youtube videos of it and you will gain confidence.

"Anything is possible if you put your mind to it"

 

[Zeke]

New Garage -
Clean Slate -
Ideas Welcome-

I like clean slate. Slippery when wet.

 

[justin1795]

First mistake....doing the floor now.....WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!

Get into the house...get the house organized because your garage is going to be the staging area...

Then...once that is done....you will have done more research and gotten more ideas and have a better idea of what you want to do.

The floor is one of the last things you want to do....otherwise, you get real pissed when you damage it doing the rest of the stuff.

exactly what happened at my house. my wife wanted to paint. some stuff we didn't know what to do with. other stuff we wanted to replace. had stuff from the previous owners. I took 2 weeks off work and it was about a month till we had the garage clean. also lots of boxes and trash to store till garbage days.

 

[lhopkins04]

exactly what happened at my house. my wife wanted to paint. some stuff we didn't know what to do with. other stuff we wanted to replace. had stuff from the previous owners. I took 2 weeks off work and it was about a month till we had the garage clean. also lots of boxes and trash to store till garbage days.

YUP. I hear ya. I still dont know when recycling day is. Garbage day was yesterday. This just reminded me to go on the town website and look it up.
Most of my garage stuff is in our dining room and laundry room right now.

I have only met 2 neighbors. I seem to be the only one that keeps the garage open and makes noise after 10pm. Im sure its not the best way to make new friends.

 

[lhopkins04]

Well its been a long 2 weeks. Here are some updates...

After finishing the floor and getting everything in the house, I needed more storage room. The attic above the garage was nothing but wasted space. Tall enough to stand up in the middile. Not much room to put anything big up there due to the support beams, but enough room for random boxes of things such as holiday decorations and what not.

So I figured out where I wanted to put the steps and of course the joists run the worst way. I had to support everything in the attic to make sure the roof wouldnt fall down. I got the joists cut out, framed in the attic steps, had to re-route some wiring so i could put some lights up there. I added in a light switch. After I got the steps in and fully supported, i added some plywood to the floor and got all the boxes out of the garage.

 

[lhopkins04]

After getting the attic steps in and cleanign the garage up, it was time to start painting the walls. I just did a base white for now, will add a stripe eventually.

The next project that i completed was a door to the back yard. I was tired of walking out the side door, through the fence gate and then into the back yard.

The first thing I had to do was figure out where I wanted it in the garage. after that, I cut out the drywall but left the siding alone for now until I had everything measured and marked. The worst part was having to cut out the bricks at the bottom. I didnt want to cut out to many or make to much of a mess to where the foundation started falling apart. I used a 4" diamond grinding wheel to put some cuts in the joints and then used a chissel to knock out the bricks. Grinded everything down even and smooth.

I got 2x4 for the rough openings, then 2x8 for the frame so all of the brick would be covered at the bottom. The header is made of (2) 2x6 verticle with a 2x4 on top of it.

Everything came out nice and straight. Slid the door frame and door in, shimmed both side a little bit and screwed it in.

I didnt think it would have turned out as nice as it did. I threw 12 cinder blocks down for temporary steps. I will eventually build some concrete steps.

 

[bazzateer]

I seem to be the only one that keeps the garage open and makes noise after 10pm. Im sure its not the best way to make new friends.

There's one reason for insulating the walls - in addition to keeping heating and air-con costs lower you will also reduce any noise (if you keep the door closed!).

Also, either your garage is built at 90 degrees to the horizontal or, more likely, most of your pics need rotating 90 degrees!

 

[lhopkins04]

I will post some updated pictures tomorrow of the garage, these are all I had on my phone.

I purchased a refrigerator from Lowes and hung a couple things on the wall. Next I need to build my workbench.

Im trying to get everything done before the baby arrives in a couple of months. I have been working on her room as well. Made this "M" sign and put some LEDs behind it to work as a nightlight.

 

[lhopkins04]

There's one reason for insulating the walls - in addition to keeping heating and air-con costs lower you will also reduce any noise (if you keep the door closed!).

Also, either your garage is built at 90 degrees to the horizontal or, more likely, most of your pics need rotating 90 degrees!

Yea, I dont know why they all came out sideways. Sorry about that. Just want to make sure everyone is getting their neck stretching in.