Noob that needs wisdom from members

[tvincent]

I am an older guy [52] with a dream of having a garage like Jack Olsen.

I have a couple of roadblocks. I have to share my garage with my spouse of 25 years and my 34 year old son. I am trying to organize my garage in a way that will allow me to work on my vehicles. I have searched through this site for ideas on how to set up a garage that will be the most productive. I have a 3 car garage and you would think it would be a simple process to set up everything. I probably have too much junk. I have woodworking, metal working and mechanic tools. I mainly do mechanic work on my cars. My dream is to be able to do more welding but time does not allow me that.

How do you go about designing your garage? I have looked at Jacks website and would love to have the brain power to set up my garage that way but I am lacking in the mental skills.

Please forgive me if there is a discussion on this somewhere. I could not find anything applicable to my situation.

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Talbert

 

[shephd]

Welcome Talbert!
I think there are a number of sticky threads that will give you bits and piece of what you are looking for. If you are asking how to make it perfect out of the box, I'm not sure what to tell you.
What part of jack's garage do you like? Try to replicate that, and then the next thing, and the next. You'll either like it or not.

What do you think is the biggest challenge with your current space? Maybe try to address that. You'll start refining your plan.

Good luck!
T

 

[Ralf11]

too much junk - kills any organizational scheme

 

[sberry]

You about gotta find some other room for stuff you absolutely are not using. Cubby for floor jack, got so shelve any unused wall. The good news is doesn't look like garbage and cardboard boxes.

 

[PelicanPines]

Biggest thing... is making space to work. I do wood, metal, small engines... I have a wood side that I share with metal... the other side is small engines (two car with 14' ceiling). My issue... ALL my tools are on the wood side. Parts organizers are everywhere... I have a lot of parts and do dads...

I am a label-holic... if it does NOT have a label... it's because it fell off.

I put like things together... jack stands, jacks, etc are in one spot. Wall space needs to be a premium. Put things away... hang them on a wall if need be.

I have a 14 x 10 foot shed I store a lot of stuff in ... like my tractor lift etc...

 

[nadogail]

Welcome to forum, there are those who know and those who don’t. Some of us don’t know what we don’t know.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Welcome Talbert, I like all my stuff on wheels. I get two cars in my two car attached and do all the stuff you are talking about. I work in the driveway when the weather is nice, and back the cars out when it isn’t. When welding, just make sure your combustibles are nowhere near by. It does get tight when working on the cars inside the garage. I have moved one car out then move tool boxes over to that side for the duration of the car repair. You can add storage to your ceiling, useful if you have an interior out for an extended time or other bulky light stuff.

 

[tvincent]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I appreciate the advice and feedback.

 

[Don1357]

I would drop the wood working. I know, I love wood working but more than once in my life I had to drop a hobby or four in order to make thing more enjoyable, and you do say you don't have a lot of time in your hands.

So if cars and welding it is, drop the other stuff like a bad habit. Sell the tools, throw away what you must. At the end your life will be richer, and your space easier to enjoy. Cars and welding will be more than enough to give your personal time meaning.

[EDIT]

Also that fire hazard you got on those shelves (chemicals and spray paints and jars and oils and God knows what else) should go. I bet you haven't used half of that stuff and what you actually use could fit a single shelf.

 

[Gigem]

52 better not be old, because I am 55.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[southalabama]

If you spend time reading his thread you will find the origins of how his garage came to be and follow the journey. It like most of our spaces is a work in progress. Most of the stuff in Jack’s garage was purchased salvage or surplus. Just start. Change it as the budget and your skills allow.

 

[LeeG]

Start with your goal. It sounds obvious, but if you decide on where you want to end up, it is a lot easier to get there.

The great thing about having woodworking as a capability, is that you can make your storage cabinets to fit your needs and space exactly. Check out LilScorpion's amazing thread Tooling (Re)Organization. As great as some of the stuff he builds is, what is better is his thought process of how to make best use of his space.

If you want to keep all of the stuff you have, look at making an efficient storage space for each item. I see a ton of wasted space in your garage. Take your time, make a place for every single item, and make that space no larger than it needs to be. In the end, you may be surprised at how much space you have left.

 

[rockettgpw]

One way to start is a big sheet of grid paper to show scaled floor plan of the garage and scaled cutouts of your main pieces of gear, benches, saws, grinders etc and shuffle them around on the grid until you like the fit and remaining clear work space.
A wall covered with full height cupboards to use all of the vertical space. All bigger items on castors with fitted niches to tuck them into when in use. Be hard on yourself and dispose of the "maybe one day" items. Overhead racks to store ladders, pipe, timber etc.
The Brits mastered compact home workshops many moons ago, there may be some thing on the web in that avenue.
Also, I agree with the earlier poster about age, I've just gone 53 and don't see myself as older, just carrying experience and always more to learn. Like you I have too many interests and trying to fit in machines and supplies for each is a problem, currently working under a double carport and 3x 20' containers for storage until the shed-dominium is built.
Happy planning, it'll work out.

 

[mmb617]

Looks to me like a big job that will need to be chipped away at. From what I can see you have a 3 car garage that not even one car can park in. Probably the first step I'd take would be putting all the wood working tools in one bay, then getting all the mechanics tools and small parts cabinets against the walls. Hopefully you could open enough space to have two usable bays then.

I have a 4 car garage that normally has 4 cars and 2 motorcycles parked in it. When I need to work on a car I move whatever vehicles are in the way to the driveway till done. I have my woodworking tools in a separate building which is the ideal solution, but if you can't do that consolidating them in one bay would be better than having them all over the place.

 

[Jinks]

You do wood working...MAKE SOME CABINETS! Cabinets on those walls will store an amazing amount of stuff. Label the doors & keep similar items together. Don't take the cabinets to the ceiling, long stock can be stored on top. Base cabinets are storage with a work surface (or bench) on top. I built a rolling cart/work table with a metal plate in the middle. I can roll it around the shop, out in the drive, etc. My router is mounted under the metal plate. I can make guides for any project & clamp them to the table. My table saw is fold-able & on wheels, It takes up about 8 or 10 inches under a wall cabinet. I can set my drill press on it, my chop saw, my band saw, & any other number of tools or projects. If you expect to have dedicated space for each tool & room to work with them you're going to need a warehouse.