New Rental Garage

[B3D3G1]

Hi guys. Long time reader, but never felt I had much to contribute. Now I feel like I've got something worth other people's time or at least some advice from the more experienced.

I live and work in the San Francisco peninsula area which makes housing already an expensive pain in the ***. I own a few cars as well as a race car so I must have a 2 garage I can actually use. I've been convinced by my better half to move to a nicer and much more expensive area and we've finally found a good rental house that meets both our needs but the garage kind of scares me. We move in in a few weeks.

Exhibit A:


Exhibit B:


This garage is spotless! Completely tiled like a kitchen with white cabinets and nicely painted walls. I think the owner used it as a play room for his kids. Regardless, I need to find a way to keep this thing clean, and not just the floor. I usually get pretty dirty working on my cars and those cabinets are just asking for dirty hands to try to open them.

Floor:
I'm thinking of covering it with G-Floor small coil floor mats.
http://www.garageflooringllc.com/g-floor-small-coin-garage-mats/

Walls/cabinets:
Maybe some kind of self adhesive file like carpet shield over all the cabinet doors. I can probably stay away from the walls without too much trouble.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_16201-1671-CS2450___?productId=3014867

Anyone have any advice or good ideas to keep the permanent part of the garage clean? I'm not really too concerned about how it looks while I use it and I know it will require some minor clean up at the end of the lease but my goal is to get my rather large deposit back and convince the landlord I'm trying to protect his hefty investment.

 

[Richard Cranium]

wow that looks nice. How big is it?

 

[B3D3G1]

wow that looks nice. How big is it?

Estimating 18x22 based on the following image:


I've only walked through the house once but hopefully I can get some measurements when I head back over this weekend to sign the lease.

It's easily over $500 to cover the floor.

 

[Stuart in MN]

What kind of tiles are on the floor? Depending on what they are they may not be all that hard to keep clean. As for the cabinets, the carpet shield stuff may work but you probably only need to put a small piece around the handles, that's where you'll get greasy fingerprints.

 

[B3D3G1]

I'm not exactly sure what the tile is, but I would guess some kind of stone. It's hard and smooth with a little bit of texture. Luckily, there is basically no grout between tires.

I looked at pricing a little more and it looks like the G-floor ripped is a little more reasonable and might be a better option for now. I can probably reduce the cost a little more by leaving a few feet exposed on one side and assuming I'll have some storage or shelving there.

I see this garage as kind of a fresh start to make what I want to some degree. After I get the floor protected, I'll start figuring out what I can do with the effective table work space.

 

[taumac]

Wow, that place is nice and clean with a lot of nice cabinets. What a great start to your project.

 

[kyle@hcb]

Nice! Blank slate.

 

[rsanter]

The tile is easy to clean after getting dirty, the grout is what will adsorb the oils and such.

If it was me I think I would clean the tile and grout when you get there and the seal them both very well.
When you move out you will have to do a wash / steam clean and you should be good.

Dirt and grease should just wipe off the cabinets. Just keep up with the cleaning

Bob

 

[dubber]

Very sweet rental space. Likely the nicest out there.

 

[B3D3G1]

I finally get the keys tonight!

I can seriously start thinking about how I want to setup the garage and protect the flooring and walls and get some good measurements. It will probably take a couple weekends to move in and figure out space needs reserved for storage in the garage along with all my tools and work space, but I'm already thinking of building some simple workbench space and storage shelves.

I'm still thinking of getting a larger rubber flooring mat to cover most of the work space for the car and near the workbench. I was also looking at some kind of sealer to put down on the tile and grout if it looks porous. Maybe test a small spot in the corner with some motor oil to see how easily it cleans off. Something like this from HD:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Miracle-Sealants-32-oz-Impregnator-Penetrating-Sealer-511-QT-H/100076375

 

[B3D3G1]

Finally had some time this weekend to look at the garage after moving in. Kind of a mess.



Tried to image where everything will go and what needs to be built. Decided to order some g-floor ribbed floor mats material from garageflooringllc.com to cover most of the floor. Tool chest only fits in one spot so I'm making one side work bench and shelves for car stuff and the there side will be storage for outdoors/sporting equipment. Need to build some storage shelves for bigger items that don't fit in the cabinets.

Made a quick storage rack for the kayaks. Left the top open but tall enough so I could make a top and turn it into a work bench if needed.



My race car has been sitting in my trailer at the storage lot for almost 2 months now so I'm hoping to get this thing cleaned up soon.