Small UK Garage - Low Budget Project!!

[Malt_Vinegar]

Not exactly as grand as most of the projects on here, but I have limited space (and funds) and cant build anything new!! Still, having a log of what I am doing keeps me motivated

After the initial de-cluttering i will be doing a big dump run, then i will need to find storage for all the rest of the stuff.

So, the project goals are:

1- De-clutter
2- Board Loft
3- Install some sort of ladder
3- Some sort of soft flooring
4- High level shelving/tool storage
5- Protect walls
6- Plumb into house electrical supply (I think i will get someone in to do this part)
7- Fit lighting/sockets
8- Make room for my car!

So, i suppose i should get on with the pictures!!

This was the garage when I started!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

You can see here how little space i will have in this garage when the car is in!!

After a few days tidying/dropping stuff off at the dump, it was in this state...

Not a huge amount of progress, but just being able to see the floor was a massive boost for me

I also purchased some "ramps" from Ebay to enable me to get under the car when it is in the garage

They cost me 5 pounds, which is about 8-9 dollars

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Boarding the roof gave me some more storage space too, so enabled me to clear more stuff away. I have been considering adding in some lateral supports across the joists, i dont know how much weight they are designed to take, so I am reluctant to put some of the heavier items up there!

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Man, that's a cozy space. how narrow is it?

 

[justinmc]

Boy that doesn't even look 9ft wide? Wowsas.... thats a tight fit! Can't wait to see how it progresses. I have some "ghetto attic" space in my garage as well that I did the same thing.. smaller pieces of plywood and scrap MDF across the joists to give me extra storage off the floor. Good stuff!

 

[Brookesy]

A typical british garage lol.
I take it your going to paint the walls & floor.

 

[autoist]

Boarding the roof gave me some more storage space too, so enabled me to clear more stuff away. I have been considering adding in some lateral supports across the joists, i dont know how much weight they are designed to take, so I am reluctant to put some of the heavier items up there!

Think I'd add some more wood up there before using it as a storage space...what are those 2x4's on, a 2' center? I'd at least add another between each of them...& possibly tie them together & then tie them to the roof.

 

[JohnK007]

This is going to be an interesting project to follow. You have a challenge. Remember, pegborad is your friend and anything you can get off the floor, do so. A high shelf on the port side would come in handy. Good luck and keep us posted on how it's going!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I measured the garage tonight.

The main door is 6 feet 8 inches wide.
The total width is 8 feet 8 inches.
The length is 16 feet 3.5 inches.

I decided to not paint the floor, as the only place I can work on the car is in there, lying on my back with the car on the ramps!

You can see the gap i had under the main door.

So, I fitted a draft strip, and cut it to fit the floor undulations.

I also fitted a brush type draft excluder on the rear door.

These are very much required with the change-able british weather!

I fitted a wall mounting thingy for some of my tools

And got the floor done with soft removable interlocking tiles.

Time will tell if they will be able to cope with driving a car up and over them!!

Thats pretty much it for now.

 

[goodfellow]

I measured the garage tonight.

The main door is 6 feet 8 inches wide.
The total width is 8 feet 8 inches.
The length is 16 feet 3.5 inches.

I decided to not paint the floor, as the only place I can work on the car is in there, lying on my back with the car on the ramps!

Well, it beats the driveway, but is that enough room to move about, or do you just slide underneath the car from the front? You have quite a challenge trying to make functional improvements in what useable space you do have.

I agree with a previous poster, get everything off the ground and onto the walls. You could also make a small dropped loft towards the rear of the garage in order to stow a small air compressor and accessories.

You may also consider purchasing smaller bench top tools (5" drill press, 6" disc/belt sander, 10 gal. parts cleaner, etc.) and stowe them in the loft until needed (they are fairly inexpensive on ebay).

A friend of mine had a garage similar to yours and by building a loft and purchasing small bench tools he was able to do quite a lot of work on his motorcycles. Good Luck!!!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I know its tight, but i used to do work on my old e34 5 series in there, i could walk down the sides, but have to squeeze out of the doors.

I will be fitting some small strips of carpet on the walls where the doors open, so i can open them without worrying too much about scratching them or denting them as i clamber out.

Tools wise, i have a lot already, just need some pegoboard type stuff to hang them on the end wall

I'm still not too sure how far to take it, but any ideas on how to use the space well are gladly accepted!

I just had a look at "Slatwall" that stuff looks wicked!! Is 42 pounds for 2.4m by 1.2m meters a decent price?

 

[Brookesy]

Get them walls painted white it'll brigthen the garage up & make it feel bigger

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Anyone know the best way to prep breezeblock and red-brick for paint? At the moment, if I paint them they will look pretty un-even and rough!

Any ideas would be great, I would quite like to get a nice flat looking wall, without losing any width (so that takes away the option of plaster-boarding).

I managed to get my hands on an LCD TV/monitor to wall mount high up on the end of the garage, and I will connect it into an old PC i have lying about, for music/internet/TV

 

[Brookesy]

I wouldn't recomend plasterboarding as you would have to either batton the walls or dot & dab. Could always get someone in to skim the walls with cement.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Well, a bit more clearing, and I was close to getting my motor in!

Little bit of time later, and i was ready for driving it in! The way things are now is not final, this is just to see what space I can use with the car in the garage.

Its a bit tight!!!

But it does fit!!

So...
Tommorrow i need to see where i can fit shelving and make more space to allow the car a bit more room!

 

[LanCat]

Anyone know the best way to prep breezeblock and red-brick for paint? At the moment, if I paint them they will look pretty un-even and rough!

Any ideas would be great, I would quite like to get a nice flat looking wall, without losing any width (so that takes away the option of plaster-boarding).

They really won't ever get to be flat but the approach I took on my brick walls was to first use a 5:1 PVA/water mix to "seal" the walls before painting. I then used a watered down coat of cheap white emulsion. Finally the last coat was a flexible ceiling paint. As this is supposed to fill small cracks and the like it did smooth out the walls a bit. I guess the more coats of that you use the better it would be. This is about the cheapest method I could come up with.

It's not really clear in this photo but the left hand side has the first coat of paint on and the right hand side has one coat of the "finished" ceiling paint.

 

[Frank Elson]

I can't get my Rangie inside my garage at all, so I was able to turn it into a workshop. Still have to work on it ourside tho.

One of those huge tins of household emulsion from Focus/Do-It-All covered the breezeblock walls ok. First coat looks sh*t, but the second looks fine.

In the roof space I used planks, with about 18 ins gaps. Around the top edge was wood, so I added some angle brackets to take the extra weight.
I can now slide longer stuff from the front but smaller stuff in the middle or end, through the 18 gaps. It now houses a kayak, garden furniture etc.

Whereabouts in the UK are you? Us Brits are scattered around the country a bit.

 

[andi]

Everytime I read your OcUK thread, I've wondered if you knew about this place.

Good progress Malt

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

An update!! This kinda got side-tracked after my prelude had engine issues and meant it was in bits spread all over the garage for a few months

Looking in...

The shelving, for keeping things out of the way of cars going in and out.

Debating continuing the paint theme, or just painting the walls white all over..

Blurry Closeup of business end!

Looking out!

Managed to build up a crappy PC to install in the corner
Here it is...

Oh, then there was the problem of getting wireless signal in there. Seems my Linksys router was not quite up to the job.... What to do?

Whats that then???

Yes, I made a wireless aerial booster thingy from a frying pan and long USB cables

Ghetto-tastic wireless booster. Now i have a solid wireless(ish) connection in there too

 

[Fins/413]

LOL Don't let MI-5 see it you may be in trouble.

 

[Old61]

Use a good masonry sealer on the brick/block before you paint. Add a few strong backs to the joists and you'll be fine, just don't store any hemis up there. In your case where the 2xs are nailed on the flat across the joists, you would add another 2x on edge and nail it into the one laying flat forming an L shape..

 

[JohnK007]

I'll echo Old61's suggestion. Seal the cinder block and paint it white. It'll help brighten things up. Along those lines, why not install a 4 foot single tube florescent fixture on the wall were the garage door is open? One on each side up high but beneath the open door track. That will get light on the front part of the garage whether the overhead door is open or closed. Then hang a couple double tube fixtures in the back where the ceiling is unobstructed. That, with the white cinder block acting as a reflector, ought to give you plenty of light to work.
BTW, ingenious bit of engineering on the homemade dish antenna!! There's nothing that can't be accomplished with a little imagination and some duct tape!

 

[e-tek]

Fantastic UK ingenuity! It'ssmall, but your'e making excellent use of the space! Lucky the ceiling is open - sure gets a lot of stuff up and out of your way. I lovehow you even put a puter in there - and the router is da bomb!!!
Looking forward to seeing it white - with a bunch of 4 foot flourescents it'll be nice and bright.
Remember - your NA friends are thinking about you in your shop as you're working. Good to see you aboard!

 

[Boyd Who]

Wow, I'm never gonna complain about my garage being too small again!
Nice work on the transformation!

 

[Topcat]

It has come along fine and usable.

I am motivated now!!

You did a great job with what you had!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Thanks for the kind words chaps Its addictive sorting out your own garage and working space. The enthusiasm on this site for such a small project like mine really does help keep me motivated too!

I managed to get lighting installed now as well. Didnt get pics yet though. Its a 4foot (give or take a few inches) diffused ceiling batten light. I also put an old car inspection lamp up into the loft ceiling. These lights are all controlled from a rank of plugs I have installed and labelled on the wall. I then decided to install an old aquarium lighting unit under the back wall shelf to provide light for the desk area.

I also hung up my bike, and moved a few other things up on the walls to make space.

I will try and get some pics tonight when I get in before i head off to the Gym!

Thanks again guys!

 

[Ivan]

Good to see that the British boffin is alive and well.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

As promised, some images of it as its coming along.

I am going to paint the walls properly soon, just need to get my **** in gear, and get some time to get it done

So, full view from outside.

My "Desk" with the adapted aquarium lighting

Lighting installed (probably should have taken this with the light off, but it was getting dark!

The power blocks. These are to be plugged into a dual switched wall socket which will replace the cable wheel that us powering everything at the moment.

I used a few hooks to get some things off the floor. My bike was one of these

So, remaining to do yet...
Sort the power out properly to get rid of the cable wheel.
Paint the walls fully.
More shelving
Strengthen up the loft beams (double them up) for peace of mind

No doubt I will do other things too, but thats all I can thing of at the moment!

 

[-olllllllo-]

great job on a small space!!!

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Ok, some more small steps.

Got the power sorted now. Power is run into the double socket on the wall. Then I run the extensions off that. I even have the lighting run from this. So i can turn off the entire lot at the wall and make sure nothing is on when I close it up

I also cleared down the rest of the loft area, and am considering installing either some more flooring, or some drop compartments for more storage.

I even started to put up a few bits of decoration too

 

[goodfellow]

Looking real "comfy" there -- nice place to hang out and enjoy "man time". You've made much progress. Congratulations!!!!

 

[4307]

i like the frying pan booster thing, thats ingenuity.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

Thanks for the comments guys

About the aerial, its far from perfect! I was reading about boosting signals, and how dishes are usually parabolic, so i decided that since I didnt have a perfect parabola, an old frying pan was sort of the right shape, and might work

Not sure whats next on the list... Im sure I will think of something!! I just wish i had the space you guys over the pond are blessed with. Mind you, all the weird and wonderful regulations you have to meet to build seems like a bit of a pain

 

[4307]

would a wok work?

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

would a wok work?

It would, and probably better.

I dont know if it is a true parabola (im guessing the spelling btw!) but its probably a better shape than a frying pan. Best bet would be an old small satellite dish, or a deep sided rounded bowl.

Hmm, i wonder if i can do some testing with random household equipment to see what gives me the best signal

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I just purchased this today, for the princely sum of 99p.

Will have to see how this performs in relation to my frying pan

 

[goodfellow]

Good "scrounging" there Malt!!! 99p -- that's a steal.

 

[Malt_Vinegar]

I had to move out of that house pretty sharpish
So, lost that garage.

The new place where I am now is a small apartment above the garage. The garage is acutally bigger than the one in this thread. However, as I am renting, and not sure how long we will be staying there I am not sure what to do!

I will get a new thread up asap, and see if you guys can give me some ideas how to make it better without getting in trouble for altering it too much!

 

[tylerae40]

sorry to hear you had to move out after all of your work mate. don't worry i'm in a similar situation- live at my parents place and store my **** in my old mans shed, and get kicked out for six months of the year while its used fo farm storage. it's cool though I don't pay rent for the shed or power. and dad dosen't mind as my toolbox is always open, and the oxy and welder are always ready.

 

[regguy1]

I know its tight, but i used to do work on my old e34 5 series in there, i could walk down the sides, but have to squeeze out of the doors.

I will be fitting some small strips of carpet on the walls where the doors open, so i can open them without worrying too much about scratching them or denting them as i clamber out.

Tools wise, i have a lot already, just need some pegoboard type stuff to hang them on the end wall

I'm still not too sure how far to take it, but any ideas on how to use the space well are gladly accepted!

I just had a look at "Slatwall" that stuff looks wicked!! Is 42 pounds for 2.4m by 1.2m meters a decent price?

Perhaps you might consider painting the walls white..or 2 tone I think it would look larger and certainly brighter. I did my shop with white top / blue stripe w/red edges and Light gray bottom