Shop is a mess.. help!

[bannerd]

Hey all, I have a bunch of tools and a small budget. I have a few tool boxes but some reason my shop get so messy that my carts are over filling and most if not all the tools end up on the floor. I have accumulated quite a bit and I'm at the point where I think I need some help. I hired a few people to organized but quickly realized that I couldn't find anything and spend a lot of time looking for that one tool that does it right.

To start I think I need some organizational bins for screws/nails/bolts/nuts and washers.. the tools I'm hoping to get a cheap tool box from harbor freight.. I don't know.. I just need help and I need to lock the door once I get this sorted.. between my wife and kids taking tools and leaving them out in the rain and or just somewhere.. it's a pain.

Let me know, thanks fellas.

 

[gleman]

Bring back the organizers and tell them to bring a labeler!

 

[Shiftless]

The first step is realizing that you have a problem. Congrats on reaching the first step.

Do you have wall mounted cabinets or shelving that is optimally spaced? I built shelving out of 2x4s and MDF and spaced the shelves so that they would accommodate plastic bins. Put most of your small stuff in a size of plastic bin that makes sense and then build shelving with that size bin in mind. Each bin can then slide in and out to get to what’s inside. Label the bins.
Some of my bins are pretty big. Put them on the bottom shelf and then smaller bins on shelves as you go up. Run the shelves as high up as you can reach with lightweight and relatively less often used stuff on top.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I developed something for myself that works really well. I call it drive by cleaning. Every time I cross my shop for anything, I pick up something that needs to be put away in the direction that I am heading, no matter how small or simple. I try to take several items if possible. While I am in that area I bring back things that need to go to the area I left. Try it for a week and you may find it helps. I developed this habit at my workplace in a factory and it worked wonders.

 

[bannerd]

The first step is realizing that you have a problem. Congrats on reaching the first step.

Do you have wall mounted cabinets or shelving that is optimally spaced? I built shelving out of 2x4s and MDF and spaced the shelves so that they would accommodate plastic bins. Put most of your small stuff in a size of plastic bin that makes sense and then build shelving with that size bin in mind. Each bin can then slide in and out to get to what’s inside. Label the bins.
Some of my bins are pretty big. Put them on the bottom shelf and then smaller bins on shelves as you go up. Run the shelves as high up as you can reach with lightweight and relatively less often used stuff on top.

Yeah, I have a few gladiator cabinets but those become a dumping ground. Years ago I use to keep an SK 1/2" set and it had a blow mold. I still have that entire set intact because it has a spot for each socket. I have tools that don't really have a spot and I just end up putting them in a drawer.. labeling seems like a good idea though. One of the brother hand held label makers might be a good idea.

 

[Fixr]

Yeah, I have a few gladiator cabinets but those become a dumping ground. Years ago I use to keep an SK 1/2" set and it had a blow mold. I still have that entire set intact because it has a spot for each socket. I have tools that don't really have a spot and I just end up putting them in a drawer.. labeling seems like a good idea though. One of the brother hand held label makers might be a good idea.

I use one of those labelers. It helps quite a bit, especially when I reorganized my tool storage and tools were no longer where they had been for decades.

 

[AffableCurmudgeon]

Couple of things:

1. Do you have too many things, and you don't need that many? Think logically and get rid of stuff you don't need or realistically will never use. Don't get emotionally attached to stuff just because it belonged to a loved one who has passed. Clean up your collection.

2. Do you pick up and put away tools and other stuff as soon as you are done with them? That goes a long way towards keeping you organized.

3. Organize things logically and group like with like. Putting away stuff immediately reinforces the place where it is kept and can find it easily later.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why hire organizers when you have kids to help you ? Drag their butts out there and help if they made the mess.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

As a life-long do-it-yourselfer, I have been acquiring tools for almost 57 years. One of the downsides of DIY is that one justifies the acquisition of the tool needed to complete a job based on the cost savings and, since one does not know when they will have to repeat that job, the tools stay in the inventory. I am just about done with my latest cleaning and reorganizing of my tool chests and boxes. Over the years, I have evolved from a single portable tool box to a collection of 3 base cabinets, 4 middle chests, 1 side box, 2 top chests and 1 portable tool box.

I would suggest you acquire or upgrade your tool storage to something you think will hold most of your essential tools and take the time to organize them and label drawers. I use a Brother label maker and attach the labels to sheet magnet which I cut to size and stick to the front of the drawer - makes it a lot easier and faster to reorg when (and the time will come) necessary. Next establish a rule for the household that all members must follow (yourself included) to return any tool to where found.

Good luck.

 

[nadogail]

I was a problem to my father in that I would take his tools and often leave them where I had used them last. As I started to buy my own tools I began to take better care of his.
The philosophy of "Everything has a place, and it should be returned to it's place" only works for me when I find dedicated places for everything.
I find I have more things than dedicated places to keep them in, I am working on it from both directions; creating definite places and identifying what should go to them.

 

[Sumboodie]

I developed something for myself that works really well. I call it drive by cleaning. Every time I cross my shop for anything, I pick up something that needs to be put away in the direction that I am heading, no matter how small or simple. I try to take several items if possible. While I am in that area I bring back things that need to go to the area I left. Try it for a week and you may find it helps. I developed this habit at my workplace in a factory and it worked wonders.

I usually pile all the tools by my boxes and spend an hour or three putting everything away every few weeks.

 

[u2slow]

After 3 costco shelving units (48x18x72") I realized it was not a total solution. I would have to make built-in shelving from lumber, for the awkward and narrow spaces, and to take advantage of my shop height.

 

[gatewaysysop]

Hey all, I have a bunch of tools and a small budget. I have a few tool boxes but some reason my shop get so messy that my carts are over filling and most if not all the tools end up on the floor. I have accumulated quite a bit and I'm at the point where I think I need some help. I hired a few people to organized but quickly realized that I couldn't find anything and spend a lot of time looking for that one tool that does it right.

To start I think I need some organizational bins for screws/nails/bolts/nuts and washers.. the tools I'm hoping to get a cheap tool box from harbor freight.. I don't know.. I just need help and I need to lock the door once I get this sorted.. between my wife and kids taking tools and leaving them out in the rain and or just somewhere.. it's a pain.

Let me know, thanks fellas.

My so-called 2-car garage has always felt too small, but after nearly two decades in this house, and the resultant accumulation out there, I really started to feel the crunch. What helped me, tremendously, was to do a combination of clean up and organization. It took a while, and I'm still not done, but a few things that worked well for me:

• Tool storage: Getting a box large enough to hold most of the commonly needed hand tools was a true game changer. To your point, I can also leave it locked all the time. No surprise borrowing.
• Vertical storage vs. horizontal: With the noted exception of tool boxes themselves, I find tall and deep cabinets or shelves to be much more efficient, since they take up far less floor space. Old used cabinets can be had for cheap, and keys can be had off eBay for $20 using the numbers on the lock cylinders. Worth every penny to be able to lock them up.
• Make cleaning up part of the job: I always aim to have everything put away when I'm done working on something for the day, whether the project is done or not. Everything goes back in the box/cabinet/shelf where it belongs. Yes it takes extra time, but I find that I am far more motivated walking into an organized space and knowing where to find the tools I need than walking into last weekend's mess and wondering where the hell everything went.
• Declutter: If it's rarely used, easily replaceable and takes up needed space, I donate things that are getting in the way me me using the space the way I want to. If you're really unsure you can commit, bag/box it up and put it somewhere else (shed, attic, etc.) for a month or so. After you've convinced yourself you can live without it, donate it. This can be a continuous process too, not a one time exercise.
• Organize it yourself: Nobody else is going to understand your work flow and habits as well as you do. Having a place for each thing and each thing in its place is only helpful if you know where those places are. Most of learn and memorize best by doing with our own hands.
• Sockets and wrenches: Hansen trays and Ernst wrench rails made a night and day difference for me. Easy to see what's missing, easy to find what you need when you need it, much more efficient space usage in the drawers. Lots of products out there for this sort of things, but these are what I use.
• Clear the bench/tables: Last but not least, a pet peeve of mine, cluttered work surfaces. A work bench is not a storage space and shouldn't be treated like one. It's much nicer to have space to work on a project (and only that project) than to try and squeeze it in next to a bunch of other ****. I also can't stand nice deep work benches that have half their depth taken up by junk. Put that **** away and you'll be amazed how much space you have to work with again.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Take a hard look at what stuff should simply be tossed out. As an example, in my basement wood shop I had been saving odds and ends of scrap wood for years, thinking "I'll use that some day." I finally filled up a small dumpster and got rid of 95% of it, and I haven't missed it.

 

[Alchase]

Take a hard look at what stuff should simply be tossed out. As an example, in my basement wood shop I had been saving odds and ends of scrap wood for years, thinking "I'll use that some day." I finally filled up a small dumpster and got rid of 95% of it, and I haven't missed it.

I am guilty of this!
I have to go through my stuff a couple times a year and get rid of the stuff I think I will need sometime in the future. Like the three tile cutters I have been carrying around since the last time I did tile work in 2012. I'm still a work in progress.

 

[Rst277]

Lots of good advice here.
1. Most people have too much stuff: sell, give away or donate anything you do not actually need.
2. Other people getting in there? Either lock the garage, lock the tool boxes or walk everyone in there and explain the rules. Tools never go on the floor. You always put tools away every day. This is not negotiable. Every thing has it's place, every place has it's thing. Label drawers or cabinets with what they should contain. If the kids / wife can't understand that buy them each a cheap HF toolset and put it in THEIR space. Now they can leave your stuff alone.
3. Only you can organize you. Hiring organizers was money thrown away. Do you want a workshop or a storage building? Put lawn stuff / kids bikes in a separate shed (with their tools in it if need be). Keep the workshop a workshop.
Good luck.

 

[bannerd]

Yeah, sounds like I need to garage sale. I think I just need more shelving units.. some things I can part with. I have some vintage things that I still use and they just do a job that you can get from china. A lot of my old wrenches probably can be sold.. might be time to make things happen Some awesome advise here!

 

[mikeyr]

my issue with hiring a organizer is that most (all?) have never worked in a garage, sure they know how to make it look good but it wont be functional. My son-in-law is like that, he can make anything look good and in his mind it will make sense to him and be functional, good luck trying to actually work in the mess he created. Over the years he tried to help me organize my shop and his ideas never stuck. Luckily I think of a shop as a living thing and re-org it every few years trying to make it better. The only 2 things I never moved was my 4post lift and metal lathe and I think i will move them this summer too. My shop is 2 parts, car and metal work on one side and wood working on other side (with a dedicated reloading area that got smaller this past week) The car/metal side I have workbenches and cabinets, the wood side over I built a french cleat wall to hold all the wood tools, i really like that and it might actually stay. Experiment, move things around its only a shop and as long as you can work in its, its good.

 

[u2slow]

Samples of my built-ins. Note that the shelving is built with supports/legs 1' off the wall and the upper shelves are 2' deep.

 

[Bucko]

I developed something for myself that works really well. I call it drive by cleaning. Every time I cross my shop for anything, I pick up something that needs to be put away in the direction that I am heading, no matter how small or simple. I try to take several items if possible. While I am in that area I bring back things that need to go to the area I left. Try it for a week and you may find it helps. I developed this habit at my workplace in a factory and it worked wonders.

This was something that my first "real" boss instilled in me. He would always say if your going to get something then take something with you, if your taking something somewhere than see what you need to bring back with you, never go anywhere empty handed. That was about 30 years ago and I can still hear him say it and I have said it myself to many others.

 

[Joemctag]

Hey all, I have a bunch of tools and a small budget. I have a few tool boxes but some reason my shop get so messy that my carts are over filling and most if not all the tools end up on the floor. I have accumulated quite a bit and I'm at the point where I think I need some help. I hired a few people to organized but quickly realized that I couldn't find anything and spend a lot of time looking for that one tool that does it right.

To start I think I need some organizational bins for screws/nails/bolts/nuts and washers.. the tools I'm hoping to get a cheap tool box from harbor freight.. I don't know.. I just need help and I need to lock the door once I get this sorted.. between my wife and kids taking tools and leaving them out in the rain and or just somewhere.. it's a pain.

Let me know, thanks fellas.

Low budget, huh? Racks or shelves against all possible walls. Generous depth 14-16” the metal restaurant-style that’s popular now are very good and are cheap, If not cheap enough, make your own with upright and horizontal 2x4s, maybe could span as far as 8’ between uprights. Fasten to wall near top to stabilize. 1/2” or even thinner OSB for surfaces. Roll on primer and paint before erecting if you want.
Next is the secret: Bins,bins and more bins! With easily readable labels e.g.: Auto AC tools, Brake tools, lawnmower parts.
You make some of your shelves tall enough between shelves to fit large items. Not just put everything on the floor.
You can’t assemble anything in your shop or work on a vehicle with all that stuff on the floor.
One other secret: a lean-to she’d added on. Construction materials, metal, motorized equipment can go in a shed. In time, you can close off an end or something to keep out rain.
Not judging you. This is the voice of experience. I’ve done many projects and vehicle repairs outdoors under tarps because my “shop” was full of junk! Good luck!
.

 

[Joemctag]

I usually pile all the tools by my boxes and spend an hour or three putting everything away every few weeks.

I learned that on construction and now do it in my shop. Always think what can I carry out to the project and what can I carry back on this particular trip? Hard or easy? With yourself or against? It’s up to us and you’d think more people would realize it. It’s just like at home. Going to the kitchen? You take your empty glasses and stuff.

 

[Rst277]

This was something that my first "real" boss instilled in me. He would always say if your going to get something then take something with you, if your taking something somewhere than see what you need to bring back with you, never go anywhere empty handed. That was about 30 years ago and I can still hear him say it and I have said it myself to many others.

Always a good idea. Working in restaurants, that is a common habit, never walk back to the kitchen without taking something with you. Works great in the workshop - worst case scenario, you put something in the place it is supposed to be and if you need it, it's there.

 

[steel 35]

This thread crossed my mind a few times today, tried to make trips productive &
It helped.
Till she asked for a add on for her shed!

 

[Fixr]

This isn't a storage, organization, or family problem. It's a brain problem that many of us share. We work on a project until we're exhausted, and then drop everything where it is and promise ourselves that we will put it all away before we start up again. And then we don't because "we don't have time".

And that's how the shop toys companies get rich.