Below 265 SQ/FT One Car Bay Do-it-All Garage & Workshop

[Dankotaru]

Edit: The latest pic of my garage space:


How it got there (original post):

Our house has a three car garage with individual bays, and two of them are completely full with our two vehicles, the kids' bicycles, and camping gear. Which leaves me with one bay to renovate for my needs. My goal is to create a 'swiss army knife' of a garage space that can house all my tools, parts, tires, and motorcycle, and be modular enough to pull out my tools as needed to serve as a woodworking shop or automotive workshop, and then store it all out of the way to fit one of our vehicles.

The garage bay is 19' deep and 11.5' wide, with a 3' deep elevated platform in the rear that houses our furnace along with a door that exits to the back yard. I took measures of everything and then made a preliminary design in Sketchup to brainstorm some options. The raised platform in the rear of the garage created some wasted space that I wanted to take advantage of, and figured a standing workbench in the corner would allow me to have enough space underneath to store my portable saws while providing a useful work surface.


With a good idea of what I wanted to do, it was time to start cleaning out everything that didn't need to stay in the garage. One of the biggest issues was a lack of outdoor storage options. Covenants for our neighborhood prohibit storage sheds on the property, so I had a bunch of yard tools and equipment that were taking up space inside the garage. I got creative and built a small storage shed to hold all my saws, yard tools, wheelbarrow, etc... but I put the shed on wheels so that I could call it a cart. It's 5' wide and 6' tall at the peak.


I put it on the back patio just outside the rear garage door, and stained it to match the exterior of our log home and painted the roof the same color green. It looks nice, no one can really see it, and the HOA called it good.

With all the yard tools and equipment now stored outside, I could start to organize and weed out was left inside the garage:

 

[joey1320]

The sketch looks great. Best of luck with the process.

 

[Dankotaru]

After a couple of online sales, and some donations to my friends and Goodwill, I had most of the stuff I was keeping corralled into a large pile away from the exterior wall so I could start my renovation.
My plan was to remove the drywall, seal some water leaks, add some outlets, and sheath it in plywood and a brick veneer.


The existing outlet was always tripping the breaker with my table saw, or even my shop vac if it ran for more than 15 minutes. So I replaced the breaker switch in the panel and ran new 12/2 Romex to three new outlets along the wall. While I was in there I sealed some minor seepage issues that only appeared during heavy rain using some spray foam and waterproofing primer. And also removed three dead mice while I was at it.



With the concrete sealed, the insulation replaced, and new electrical run, it was time to put up the plywood. I used 15/32 plywood screwed into the studs. Then I covered with some brick paneling. I cut the brick panels along the grout line so that they would fit together without a visible seam across the brick faces.



Once the panels were up, I started sealing the panel joints with gray caulk and had my girls help me paint the brick faces using a cut-up sponge. We added a bunch white and browns to the bricks to better coordinate the colors and add some variety to the paneling. Plus, it was a fun family activity.

Then it was time to clean the floor and seal it.

The concrete was poured in 1995 and was filthy with old stains. It was a nice winter stretch with the high temps around 60-62 for a few days, so I moved everything out of the garage and rented a floor buffer with an aggressive pad. After scrubbing the floor with some degreaser and then renting a pressure washer to rinse, it was several shades lighter.



All kinds of weird shapes and patterns are now visible in the concrete from ancient spills. I let it dry for a day, then etched it, and then the next day put down some Behr concrete sealer. I know it's not the best stuff, but I wasn't expecting to have the weather to do this, so it was a last minute decision to take advantage of the suitable temps and put something down. I figure I can top-coat it later if needed, but it turned out alright for now.

 

[loganb]

Loving how this one is shaping up as I have a similar space..though I bleed into stall #2 more and more...following along!

 

[Dankotaru]

I painted the wall footer with some concrete enamel paint and began work on the corner workbench. The workbench uses some drawers my grandad made and had in his old workshop. I'm really happy to finally get them out of storage and use them.



Stained and finished, the workbench is tall enough for me to stand on the rear raised platform and work comfortably, which provides enough room underneath for my portable table saw and miter saw.



I made the wood wall panel out of different scraps of plywood I cut into planks, and stained them using a gray finish along with some of the other wood stains I had laying around. I have a bunch of old tools from my grandad, and thought the antiqued/grayed finish would be nice for displaying his tools. I soaked them all in a vinegar/salt solution, scrubbed them with steel wool where necessary, and then coated them in oil before display. The old-school manual valve lapper by ZIM tools is my favorite, but Yankee screwdrivers are always cool too.



I made a little dolly for the table saw. It simply lays on top of it and then I push/pull it on the dolly to get the saw in/out from under the work bench. Super easy. Once it's out from under the workbench, it has it's own wheels to roll off the dolly and then I just push it around and set up wherever I need it. I usually use it out on the driveway in front of the garage, and now I have a nice out-of-the-way place to store it when not in use.





Here's the corner workbench mostly finished. Down below I keep a bag with all my drywall tools and my finishing nailer. I made a wooden storage ledge on top of the concrete footer to store my sawhorses and a portable work table. My drywall square and straight edges are also under there, along with an old anvil. I still haven't decided what to do with the anvil yet. Up top, I have an old Klein tools display rack holding commonly used hand tools, the drawers store sandpaper, measure tools, all my drill bits/drivers, and some other hand tools. The gray Craftsman cabinet has my power tools like circular saw, sawzall, drill/driver, dremel, etc...

 

[Dankotaru]

The walls and ceiling all finished with trim and painted.


Now it's coming along. With my yard tools outside in the cart/shed, and all of my woodworking stuff stored in the corner workspace, all I really have left to sort out is my automotive tools and cabinets.

But first, I need better lighting.

The garage bay only had one light, so I replaced it with a much brighter LED shop light, and then ran some extra Romex through the ceiling to add another outlet that was turned on/off with the light switch.

I plugged in some overhead LED shop lights into the new outlet and mounted them to the garage door tracks so I'd have light even with the door open. The lights weigh almost nothing, and I have them mounted using some aluminum angle bolted to the door track. It works great.




The garage bay isn't deep enough for me to keep my cabinets at the rear of the garage and still fit our SUV or minivan in the bay. Further, the wall back there is only 50" wide, and I have more stuff than will fit in such a narrow space. I decided the best spot was in the space between the bays. Because the garage has three individual garage doors, there is 30" between each bay in the garage. My tool chests are only 18" deep, but my 6' steel workbench is 24" deep, and I need overhead storage as well. So I got creative with a 77" wide steel shelf from Home Depot that's 24" deep and turned it into a free-standing work station.



My old craftsman chests fit in there easily, and the space between the shelf posts is exactly 72" wide, so my steel work top could just fit with some minor persuasion. Because the floor slopes towards the garage door (as it should), I had to level the shelves on some hockey pucks bolted to the legs, and then leveled the cabinets with some wood strips. It took a little trial and error, but the work surface is bang-on level in every direction. This was really important to me as I balance my own wheels and tires on the table.

I ripped some hardwood boards to fit inside the shelf channels, screwed them in, and then painted them gray and mounted the stainless wall control peg boards to them.



For the top shelf I got some Ikea overhead cabinets and painted them to match my craftsman cabinets. Noting fancy, just three coats of gloss black enamel and a couple of clear coats using rustoleum rattle cans. I mounted a strip of aluminum angle to the face as a handle.

 

[pickles]

Very efficient. Looking forward to seeing what else you do.

 

[DJL1967]

Nice job. Really like how you cut the "faux brick" paneling.

 

[Dankotaru]

The wall control panels didn't cover the entire back of the shelving unit, so I had about 9" of space for something else. I decided to make a spray can holster. I built the bulk of it using some old particle board and wall panel and painted it to match. I put some vehicle door edge guard on the end of the shelves, and then finished it with some aluminum angle trim before screwing it to the shelves. I'm happy with how it turned out.


Because I'm only using one of the wire shelves that came with the unit, I have three left over. I mounted one to each end of the unit so I could hang or attach stuff on them. I put my battery charger on one end along with some hooks for air tools and a pair of jack stands. The other end has extension cords and oil pans hanging on it. I added a few shelves to the wall control and hung up some tools that won't fit in the tool chests, and made some tool/tape measure holsters with aluminum angle that fit in the wall control, and added some undercabinet LED lighting.


The third wire shelf I mounted onto the exterior wall across from the tool chests, and used it to hang up my wheel ramps, chocks, and made a small shelf large enough to be handy when working in the garage, like holding oil bottles and such. I also made a bracket to hold my floor jack and hung my motorcycle lifts.



I have winter snow tires that need to be stored. The ones for my SUV are on their own wheels and I keep them on a wheel dolly. The minivan and MC tires I wanted to get off the floor. They're light enough to get up and down from a rack without issue, so I got a collapsible unit from Amazon. It's just high enough and with enough clearance that I can park the minivan or SUV in the bay when needed, but just barely.



So that's the bulk of the work done so far. Next on the to-do list is the small wall at the rear, which encloses the furnace. I want to run an outlet on that wall and mount a TV on it, and maybe paint it a contrasting color to liven the place up. I also want to get some pictures on the brick wall of old cars and projects I've worked on over the years with friends and family. And I need to figure out a vacuum solution. Right now I roll the shop vac around, but I'm thinking of a wall-mounted unit and then hanging the hose from the ceiling with a remote switch to easily use when/where I want.

 

[driftpin]

A good use of limited space. Did you use Whirlpool Corp. 'Gladiator' shelves? They come in different depths and widths, which you may be able to order from Home Depot though you don't see them in the store. I once bought a set of the widest ones at Best Buy, for just-under $150. I think they're 72" H X 77" W X 24" D. I wanted them for the space between the OH garage doors and the side wall, I narrowed the depth to 14" and was originally going to have a friend weld them for me, but decided to use square tubing and wood splices and 1/4" machine screw bolts/washers/nuts, which worked out great.

I did something similar to you for lighting, but I ran the lights across beneath the OH garage doors with 1 x 4's as the support, off mounting brackets I made from Simpson Strong-Tie galvanized pieces. That way, I have lighting across the entire garage, whether the OH doors are up or down.

 

[captain14]

Good use of the small space. How long did you take to design everything?

Is the back door just covered in plywood? Or did you block it off completely?

 

[Dankotaru]

A good use of limited space. Did you use Whirlpool Corp. 'Gladiator' shelves? They come in different depths and widths, which you may be able to order from Home Depot though you don't see them in the store. I once bought a set of the widest ones at Best Buy, for just-under $150. I think they're 72" H X 77" W X 24" D. I wanted them for the space between the OH garage doors and the side wall, I narrowed the depth to 14" and was originally going to have a friend weld them for me, but decided to use square tubing and wood splices and 1/4" machine screw bolts/washers/nuts, which worked out great.

I did something similar to you for lighting, but I ran the lights across beneath the OH garage doors with 1 x 4's as the support, off mounting brackets I made from Simpson Strong-Tie galvanized pieces. That way, I have lighting across the entire garage, whether the OH doors are up or down.

I'm pretty sure the shelves I bought were the Husky brand, but they look the same as the Gladiator and DeWalt shelves. And the same dimensions as yours. That's very clever how you cut them down.

I like how you did your lights. I thought of doing something similar, although I wasn't smart enough to think of using strong-ties, but my garage ceiling isn't very high and I wanted to prioritize having empty space between the garage door tracks. That's also why I don't have an opener in that bay, and if I do get one, it will be a direct drive unit.

 

[Dankotaru]

Good use of the small space. How long did you take to design everything?

Is the back door just covered in plywood? Or did you block it off completely?

I suppose I spent about two weeks taking measurements and drafting different ideas in Sketch-Up. I had a couple of different options, but they all involved renovating the exterior wall with new power and sheathing, and building the same workbench in the back corner, so that's what I started with.

The back door is a custom dutch door made of pine. It's still there and used all the time to get from the garage to the yard tool cart I built and keep on the back patio right next to that door.

 

[PatrickM]

Awesome job. I love the attention to detail. The brick paneling and the lights attached to the door tracks are great ideas.

 

[driftpin]

I'm pretty sure the shelves I bought were the Husky brand, but they look the same as the Gladiator and DeWalt shelves. And the same dimensions as yours. That's very clever how you cut them down.

I like how you did your lights. I thought of doing something similar, although I wasn't smart enough to think of using strong-ties, but my garage ceiling isn't very high and I wanted to prioritize having empty space between the garage door tracks. That's also why I don't have an opener in that bay, and if I do get one, it will be a direct drive unit.

About the 1X4's for the 4 ft LED light mounting, I went out and bought some square stock aluminum about 1-1/2" I forget the wall thickness, maybe 1/8" before I bought the FEIT LED 4 ft 'double-bulb' lights, but when I saw how lightweight the FEIT LED lights were, I decided to go with 1X4 wood.

I like the Simpson Strong-Tie brackets, with the selection they have, you can often come-up with something inexpensively, and durable/strong (like the name!) I've used them for all-sorts of solutions in doing things.

The cut-down Gladiator shelves solved a storage problem for me to fit in the 'return' space I had to the side wall from the edge of the OH door. I wanted to be able to have the full-width of the OH door opening, and not to-intrude on the OH door area. I don't really use the bay for a car, but if we get a hurricane, I can cram everything in that bay to one side and get my GMC crew cab in there. I spaced my first shelf off the floor a bit so I can fit in-there something like a floor jack, or other heavy, low items. The steel welded rod shelf surfaces which you adapted to the ends of your vertical pieces, I used as the shelf surfaces, just cut-down in depth to fit the cut-down verticals I made. It was the size of the wire shelves in depth to allow a full 'rectangle,' for the shelf depth that gave me the size for the depth of the end pieces.

I use 1/8" masonite on the wire shelves to make it easier to slide on and off the shelves whatever is stored on them.

Here's a powered cherry-picker lift I had a friend weld-up for me. I have a loft for storage, and this makes it very-easy to get things up/down. You can also see how I used my gable end space for storage of bulky, but light items, like Christmas stuff. It didn't have the motor, it was a simple hydraulic jib crane, and the bottom-stem pivot was just an air-gap. It had a lot of slop, side-to-side as it pivoted 360 degrees. I had my machinist friend press-in a tapered roller bearing, and weld-up the mount for the pivot base. I really don't need the hydraulic cylinder, I could probably replace it with a rigid strut, of sufficient length to clear the roof at the closest point of the gable pitch to the hydraulically-operated arm. It's the 120 volt electric winch doing the lifting. There's a wired remote winch control which gives me plenty of room to separate myself from anything being lifted.

 

[Trapps]

Reminds me of another 3 car where a single bay is made into a workshop with plywood, brick and 2 wheeled fun.

Lights on the garage door tracks are a nice touch!

Since 'watching' sounds creepy, I'll use the old message board jargon: SUBSCRIBED!

 

[Dankotaru]

My garage as it currently sits:


I finally got my extinguisher off the garage floor. I thought about mounting it on the wall by the garage door, but decided to mount it on the side of my freestanding work station. This location is more central, making it easier to reach from the other bays, and is closest to where I'll be working and most likely need it.


I also picked up a seat for the garage. I wanted something comfortable with back/lumbar support, easy to clean, durable, and with a wide range of seat heights. I found this drafting stool. The seat and back are essentially solid rubber, so it conforms to your body when you sit on it and is pretty comfortable, and certainly easy to clean. The handle makes moving it up the stairs at the rear of the garage easy, where it's tall enough to sit comfortably at the standing work bench. It also collapses low enough to be useful when working on the bike. I'm very happy with it.


I'm still trying to work out a good vacuum solution. I like my Ridgid shop vac, but I only really need it for when I pull out the saws for woodworking projects. Most of the time, I just want to clean little messes or the constant accumulation of pet hair off the floor, and I think there's a more convenient solution than pulling out the shop vac. I'm thinking of mounting it on the wall with a longer hose and a remote switch, so it's always ready to go. Or maybe just getting a small, wall-mounted stick vac.

I have started to organize my parts cabinet (the black Craftsman 36" wide 5-drawer in the back of the garage). I'm using a bunch of little plastic parts boxes pulled out of different small parts organizers and laying them out in the wide shelves. I figure to use a label maker to record the bolt/nut size in each bin. I'm also sorting out all my electrical and plumbing hardware, and misc automotive fittings/fasteners. I'll post some pics when I get a few drawers done.

 

[zc15]

Very cool to see! You had me fooled, between the SQFT flair and the pictures, combined with the great usage of shed space, but I was 100% convinced there was only a single bay.

What does your space look like from the other side, looking towards the 'single' bay side?

 

[Dankotaru]

Very cool to see! You had me fooled, between the SQFT flair and the pictures, combined with the great usage of shed space, but I was 100% convinced there was only a single bay.

What does your space look like from the other side, looking towards the 'single' bay side?

Thanks!

For all intents and purposes, this is just a one-bay garage workshop. I noted on the first post it's part of a 3-car garage, and because the other two spaces are where we park the van and SUV, store all the bikes and camping gear, there's only this bay for storing all my tools and getting any work done. So the thread's focused on making the most of a one-car space. And so far, it's been pretty great. I just move the motorcycle out of the way and pull all the saws and fold-able work tables out when doing home projects like building a TV stand and shelves for the living room, and store it all away again to make room for the van or SUV in here to do oil changes, swap winter tires, just replaced the front struts on a friend's MDX, etc...

 

[zc15]

Thanks!

For all intents and purposes, this is just a one-bay garage workshop. I noted on the first post it's part of a 3-car garage, and because the other two spaces are where we park the van and SUV, store all the bikes and camping gear, there's only this bay for storing all my tools and getting any work done. So the thread's focused on making the most of a one-car space. And so far, it's been pretty great. I just move the motorcycle out of the way and pull all the saws and fold-able work tables out when doing home projects like building a TV stand and shelves for the living room, and store it all away again to make room for the van or SUV in here to do oil changes, swap winter tires, just replaced the front struts on a friend's MDX, etc...

Of course, very cool. I wish my 24x30 was set up similar to this, with the doors on the long wall. Granted it's a complete mess, but I'd much rather have the shop space all in one bay as opposed to in front of 2.

 

[Dankotaru]

I replaced the casters on my new Craftsman 36" wide parts box, and man what a difference it makes. I just picked up some ball bearing swivel casters with rubber wheels from Home Depot, and it transformed the cart. Now it rolls so easy anywhere around the garage bay or out onto the driveway, wherever I'm working on a project.


I'd like to get a good work top for it, so I can use it as an auxiliary mobile work bench in the garage. It would be perfect for parts disassembly. I'm going to contact some local metal shops and see if I can get some galvanized steel sheet cut and bent to size that I can then glue onto a piece of 3/4" plywood.

I've started organizing my small parts and hardware using a bunch of different small containers collected over the years. If I need more, I figure I can buy some HF storage cases and remove the small yellow boxes. I realized as I was about 2/3 way done with the top drawer that I could use a label maker.


I'm thinking all my metric hardware in the top drawer, SAE in the next, home/woodworking hardware in the third drawer, and the bottom two (deep) drawers will be all my electrical, plumbing, and misc. parts/fasteners. But we'll see how it goes as I get it organized and slowly whittle down my big Tupperware bin of old fasteners. I've been chasing the threads on all the used nuts and bolts as I organize them, so they're in good shape for when I need them.

I also got this old Craftsman storage cart, a little dented but at a great price, and it works awesome to organize all my car cleaning stuff:



I'm going to keep microfiber towels in the drawers. I also replaced the casters on it with the same ones from Home Depot I put on my parts cart. It also rolls so smooth now. The original casters were plastic and very stuck. It will be nice to be able to just roll this out onto the driveway when I wash the cars. There's no room for it to have a fixed spot in the garage, but I figure it won't be a big issue to just temporarily move it out of the way when I pull the van in for an oil change or something.

 

[Dankotaru]

The rear of the garage houses my furnace unit. It had an AC condenser drain line that used to empty into a pump, but at some point in the past a previous owner decided to fit a 1/2" PVC pipe and have it drain using gravity into a utility sink in the garage. The pipe was exposed and just hanging on the wall. I decided it was time to have it drain through the wall and into the basement, and while I was at it, I figured to finish the trim, add a shelf, store my shop vac off the floor on a hanger, and add an electrical outlet for the vacuum and maybe also a future TV mounted on the wall.

The furnace closet before work began, you can see the drain pipe sticking out the back against the wall behind the closet:


Drilling a 1/2" hole down to the basement required a longer bit to reach the floor joist between the garage wall and the basement utility closet where I planned to route the drain hose. I fashioned a solution from a 1/4 drive bit extension then put a 1/4 drive hex socket on the end for the drill chuck to grab onto. It worked really well:



With the drain pipe run through the wall and down to my basement's in-floor drain, I added an outlet on the back side of the furnace closet, and buttoned it all back up:


I painted the drywall and then finished the trim and paint around the furnace closet door. I ripped some plywood into short planks and stained them to match the planks I already installed along the rear of the garage in back of my corner workbench. It turned out well enough:


Next, I built a high shelf for the wall, with a bracket on the wall to hold up my shop vac. The goal is to keep the shop vac off the ground and out of the way. I bought a 20' hose for the vac that reaches all the way to the front of the garage bay, and the hose simply coils around the bracket on the end of the shelf when I need it put away. It turns on and off remotely using a bluetooth remote. And lots of space left on the wall for a flat screen TV.



So far so good. Next up, I need to finish organizing my parts cart.

 

[Dankotaru]

The garage set up in woodworking mode, cutting some paneling and trim for my wife's own remodeling project:

 

[captain14]

How do you handle all the sawdust created? I’d recommend a battery powered blower.

 

[Dankotaru]

How do you handle all the sawdust created? I’d recommend a battery powered blower.

Most times my table saw and miter saw are further out onto the driveway, so most of the sawdust goes outside. I've also hooked the shop vac up to the miter saw pretty regularly, and it helps. But the vac hose doesn't fit the table saw, so I always use the table saw facing out to the driveway if not on the driveway. Either way, after all the work is done I blow off all the tools and blow out the entire garage with a 36v Makita blower:


It's probably my most used tool. Besides regularly cleaning out the garage, I also use it to dry off the motorcycle and car after washing them, blow snow off the driveway and walkway, and clean the gutters.

Edit: Added a pic. I store it in on it's end, held stable with a holster meant for a weedwhacker. This keeps its footprint small and out of the way. I added some foam to the adjacent wall to prevent minor damage, mostly from the kids putting it back in.

 

[Dankotaru]

It's the little things.

I have a cheap LED shop light that hangs above my rear workbench. It's plenty bright, but because it hangs by a chain it's not very stable, the switch is hard to reach, and because of limited clearance the cord often catches on my cabinet door when I open it. I decided I could hack it apart and make it work better for me.

Here it is before surgery:


I took it apart, ditched the built-in aux outlet, and transplanted the guts inside a 4" square electrical box. I re-wired the switch and mounted it to the outside of the box, and then ran the cord through some EMT. This keeps the light mounted as high as possible, stable on the ceiling, with the switch in easy reach, and the cord out of the way of my cabinet door.




Not a major project, but it's so much better to use now. It's the little things.

 

[Dankotaru]

The garage bay in motorcycle shop mode, getting prepped for upcoming track days:

• mounting and balancing new Michelin Power Cup 2 tires front and rear
• Replacing the anti-freeze with distilled water
• Installing new EBC rotors
• New grips
• Bleeding the brakes

Like most of the equipment in my 'Swiss Army garage bay', the tire changer is a portable unit that folds and stores away when not in use. It's made by a German brand called Max2H, and it works well. i recommend it if anyone's looking for a decent portable motorcycle tire changer.

While replacing the rotors, my Wera 6mm hex socket broke while torquing down the last rotor bolt:


The torque wrench was set for only 31 ib/ft, and the socket broke before it clicked. So not even 30 lb/ft of torque and the hex key snapped. I have heard so many good things about Wera's hex plus sockets and bits, I was shocked that it broke so easily. Good thing I have a duplicate 6mm hex socket in my 25 year-old Craftsman collection:


The Wera socket was bought from KC Tools a few years back, I'll check with them about getting a warranty replacement for it. At least the new rotors and tires are good to go:

 

[Dankotaru]

Haven't really done much in the garage this summer. My weekends have primarily been busy with track days and landscaping work. I had planned to spend Labor Day moving gravel, but plans changed last minute and I found myself enjoying some garage time for a change.

I cut some aluminum angle, trimmed some foam, and laid out some drawer liner and organized my drawer of moto measuring tools- torque wrenches, tire pyrometer, tread gauge, micrometer, caliper, feelers, etc...



Also organized my drawer of automotive and motorcycle hardware like clips, pins, retaining rings, o-rings, lots and lots of clamps, safety wire, and an assortment of anti-sieze, thread lock, dielectric grease, etc.. Bolts and nuts are all stored in another dedicated hardware cart. This is just for the stuff typically dedicated to auto maintenance that I want close by. I used a couple of small parts organizers and a custom tray I made from aluminum angle. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out, but I'm not sure what I want to change. I'll use it as-is over the winter and see.

 

[grogfisher]

My garage as it currently sits:


I finally got my extinguisher off the garage floor. I thought about mounting it on the wall by the garage door, but decided to mount it on the side of my freestanding work station. This location is more central, making it easier to reach from the other bays, and is closest to where I'll be working and most likely need it.


I also picked up a seat for the garage. I wanted something comfortable with back/lumbar support, easy to clean, durable, and with a wide range of seat heights. I found this drafting stool. The seat and back are essentially solid rubber, so it conforms to your body when you sit on it and is pretty comfortable, and certainly easy to clean. The handle makes moving it up the stairs at the rear of the garage easy, where it's tall enough to sit comfortably at the standing work bench. It also collapses low enough to be useful when working on the bike. I'm very happy with it.


I'm still trying to work out a good vacuum solution. I like my Ridgid shop vac, but I only really need it for when I pull out the saws for woodworking projects. Most of the time, I just want to clean little messes or the constant accumulation of pet hair off the floor, and I think there's a more convenient solution than pulling out the shop vac. I'm thinking of mounting it on the wall with a longer hose and a remote switch, so it's always ready to go. Or maybe just getting a small, wall-mounted stick vac.

I have started to organize my parts cabinet (the black Craftsman 36" wide 5-drawer in the back of the garage). I'm using a bunch of little plastic parts boxes pulled out of different small parts organizers and laying them out in the wide shelves. I figure to use a label maker to record the bolt/nut size in each bin. I'm also sorting out all my electrical and plumbing hardware, and misc automotive fittings/fasteners. I'll post some pics when I get a few drawers done.

Is that the wire shelving that comes with the gladiator racks? If so by what means did you mount it? And what are you using to as tool hooks? I have some of the same shelving unit that I don't use all the rack; I have thought of using it like this... Thanks.... Sir, another question. I also have the wall control pegboard... Do you have them mounted/ fastened to the rack?

 

[momobuttons]

You ride a CBR, I ride a CBR. You also own the same Woodcraft stands as I do. We should be best friends.

 

[Dankotaru]

Is that the wire shelving that comes with the gladiator racks? If so by what means did you mount it? And what are you using to as tool hooks? I have some of the same shelving unit that I don't use all the rack; I have thought of using it like this... Thanks.... Sir, another question. I also have the wall control pegboard... Do you have them mounted/ fastened to the rack?

Hi There,

Yes, it's the wire shelving that came with the shelving unit. I mounted it to the wall at each corner using a lag bolt, with the wire shelf sandwiched between two 1" washers sitting over a 1" long spacer. Here's a close-up of one of my earlier pics showing the mounting hardware at the top two corners of the wire shelf:


I hang a lot of things on the shelf using carabiner clips. The hooks are from Lowes, and for the Kobalt wall storage system. The hooks hang over the shelf wire and come with holes pre-drilled in the hook base, and I run a zip tie through the holes and around the shelf wire to keep them in place.

 

[Dankotaru]

You ride a CBR, I ride a CBR. You also own the same Woodcraft stands as I do. We should be best friends.

I got a new ride back in October. My CBR was great, but I moved up to something a little nicer:

 

[momobuttons]

I got a new ride back in October. My CBR was great, but I moved up to something a little nicer:

Nice beamer, I approve.

 

[Blackbyrd]

Thats a really cool setup!

 

[manbike26]

Love the efficient use of space! Thanks for sharing your updates.

 

[Dankotaru]

I had my first motorcycle accident late last year. Someone merging onto the interstate cut across two lanes without checking their blind spot, and came into the middle lane I was occupying. I almost avoided them, but they just caught my front tire and sent me rolling down the interstate. I ride in full gear and have an airbag vest, so I came out really well for a guy who hit a concrete slab at 60 mph. But my new S1000RR was totaled. I decided to keep it and have spent this winter rebuilding it.

While I was at it, I also updated my moto hardware drawer. I like this layout much better.


One of my favorite additions has been this shelf I added to the workbench pegboard. I originally thought it would be a good place to keep service manuals open and out of the way, but I've ended up mostly using it as a tool shelf to keep my hand tools for a project close at hand without occupying or getting lost in the mess of project parts laid out on my workbench below.


And the obligatory shot of the bike's current state of progress, after about $2,000 of new parts (so far). BMW motorcycle parts are pricey.

 

[manbike26]

I had my first motorcycle accident late last year. Someone merging onto the interstate cut across two lanes without checking their blind spot, and came into the middle lane I was occupying. I almost avoided them, but they just caught my front tire and sent me rolling down the interstate. I ride in full gear and have an airbag vest, so I came out really well for a guy who hit a concrete slab at 60 mph. But my new S1000RR was totaled. I decided to keep it and have spent this winter rebuilding it.

Glad you came out the other side OK.

Too bad about the bike…but now you probably need a dedicated track bike in addition to your street bike, right?!

 

[Dankotaru]

Glad you came out the other side OK.

Too bad about the bike…but now you probably need a dedicated track bike in addition to your street bike, right?!

I thought about making the BMW a dedicated track bike and using the insurance money to buy something more comfortable for commuting, but I decided to keep it as my only bike for now. I enjoy having just one bike at a time and making it do as much as I can. I took my last bike, a Honda CBR, camping several times. The looks I got from the adventure bike crowd was always entertaining. I expect I'll do the same with this S1000RR- lots of track days, work commute, light touring, some camping, and lots of lunchtime therapy runs.

 

[Trapps]

"lunchtime therapy runs"



That's right up there with running an errand 2 miles away and being gone for an hour....

 

[redisthefastestcolour]

Great Garage, well done!