Tall Paul
Member
Hey guys,
I really enjoy reading through others garage shop builds and transformations so I figured I'd document mine.
I moved into my house about 6 months ago and probably like most, the garage becomes the "temporary" storage building while the rest of the house gets set up.
I'm just now getting to a point where I have a bit of extra time (and have moved out half the storage stuff) to start transforming it into a workable shop.
So, it's a 3 car garage, built into the house, has a double width roller door, and a single width door. I started off by pulling the track and everything from the single door, and lagging it shut - this will be my main work bay. I then went on to insulate all the doors.
Insulating the doors - I lined all the door panels with reflectix first, then installed some foil lined 1.5" thick rigid foam insulation. I cut it super snug so it's all held in there by compression and doesn't look too bad. (no pic atm, i'll snap one and put it up next time round). Oh, before I did all that, I installed some black tint on the little decorative windows in the doors so you can't see the reflectix - keep the HOA happy.
Previous owner had installed some old cupboards on the walls and made a dodgy bench. He also has the upper 4' x 8' storage racks installed which I quickly filled with junk. The cupboards are decent enough for now, just not in good locations so I pulled them down and relocated. I set up a bank of 3 metal shelves along the outside wall for some better storage. It's contents need to be sorted properly as alot of it can now go out into my new outbuilding 8' x 10' yard/general storage shed.
View media item 73824
For the main workbench area, the original plan was to have an L shaped corner bench, nice and high with tool boxes under it for tool and hardware storage. The old craftsman grey and red toolbox was going to get re-purposed as hardware storage with the blue waterloo, and a new HF 44" box was going to get the tool storage duties. So I lifted up the old bench, slid the craftsman under it and set it in place - temporarily while I got everything else positioned, and planned, before building the actual real bench. I set one of the old relocated cupboards above it - that will work.
View media item 73819
So all along I'm reading GJ entries on shops, vintage tools etc. I love vintage tools, cabinets, stuff, hot rods, old weird collectible things. Thinking I'd really kill for some Lista or Vidmar cabinets but no way was I paying retail, or high price second hand. Then one day I'm browsing OfferUp and see the following thumbnail for a guy selling a jobsite KNACK style box for $150.
View media item 73813
What's that in the background? I send him a message:
me - "Hey man, are you selling that old box in the background"
him - "yes. $150"
me - "No, not the green one, the white one."
him -"yes. $150. I have two of them"
me - "OK. What's your address? I'm coming round now to check them out."
I couldn't get around there fast enough! LOL I went round there, and sure enough, two Stanley-Vidmars, 59" tall x 28" wide x 28" deep. I thin they are 11 drawers. Good used working condition. So I say "Cool. I'll take them, it's $150 total for the pair right?"...he looks at me and says "NO! These are $150 each!"...I Start laughing and say "Calm down mate, I was just kidding!" So I loaded one its drawers into the back fo the truck and the next day went back and got the second. Holy Heavy as #$%@ Batman! WOW! Drawers are heavy, caddies are heavy, the whole cabinet with no drawers are heavy. Sweet!
I got them both home and tore them all apart. Pulled all the metal channels the rollers run in and gave them a vinegar bath to get all the rust and scale and crud off them. Pulled all drawer handles, and sanded the cabinets and drawer faces, ready for paint. Plan is hammertone dark grey box and hammertone silver drawers - that will be the color combination for the garage theme.
View media item 73818
So I guess my plans changed from the old craftsman and waterloo combination! I now have ample tool and hardware storage. So one will live to the left of the old bench where the waterloo currently is - that will be the tool storage. One will live to the right of the (still to be built) bench for hardware storage. This will be about where the orange tub currently is, in the pic below.
View media item 73815
Cool, so tool storage, hardware storage, bench will go L shaped, hammertone paint, room above bench for shadow board wrenches, room other side for whatever. Now, need to get a welding bench, welder, some tools, blah, blah blah.
So Friday night, I'm scrolling through OfferUp tool listings and see a listing for a LISTA $50 toolbox...huh? What? $50! I sent her like 20 messages saying I would go right around and grab it - she finally replied and said can you be here in half an hour?...Sure! I throw on my shoes and go running down the stairs..
mrs - "what are you doing?"
me - "going to buy a LIsta for $50 from Offerup!!! "
mrs - "you're a ****."
me -
So it's a blue Lista, about 39" tall, narrow maybe 19" wide I think, couple big drawers at bottom and then nice sized ones above. Someone really wanted into it wihtout a key and totally destroyed the old lock mech and there is a huge hole where it used to be - nothing some sheetmetal, welder and grinder can't fill. You can see it in the above pic, hiding behind the bench. I'm thinking this guy will live under the still-to-be-built bench, next to the vidmar hardware box, for overflow large storage etc. not sure yet. Maybe next to the toolbox one. Still need to think on that one - it's only been 48 hours since I got it! LOL. Is there a quality difference between different models in the Lista lineup? ie blue, green cabinets etc, different widths? The reason I ask is this guy is no-where near as beefy as the two big Vidmars. The vidmars have seperate cradles that the drawers sit in, the small Lista doesn't. Also the drawers feel a bit flimsier. Still super HD compared to anything else I'd ever seen or used! Also, not as many bearings.
So then Saturday, a guy is selling an old Equipto bench. 70" x 38" and I think that will be a perfect welding table, so I go round to pick it up from him. Load it in the back of my truck, we're BSing..
me - "I'm fitting out my shop, looking for old Vises and stuff"
him -"I just sold an old Wilton, was really nice. I picked up a nice Reed the other day"
me - " I just bought an old Craftmsna drill press"
him - "Was it a 150? They're great presses. Did you see my 150 for sale on CL?"
me - "No. Can I check it out?"
So we walk aroudn the back to one of his out buildings and BOOM! it's filled with vintage tools - Has 2 x 150 drill presses, shears, brakes, thor grinders, a huge old 40's Craftsman bandsaw for metal cutting. I say that thing is sweet! he says "Yeah, took me 5 years to find that guy". He says "I don't need these drill presses, just got a Walker-Turner form the 40's, come check it out!" So we go check the other garage - Atlas lathe, WT drill press, old snap on cabinets, mill. Pretty cool set up, and hopefully a contact for trading cool vintage stuff with! Anyway, long story, here's the old Equipto...not sure if it is gonig to get Hammertone grey painted legs/sides, or leave as patina'd as it is. It'll stay as is for now, that's for sure.
View media item 73817
Anyway, that's all I have for now. Hoping to get some paint on the big Vidmars this coming weekend, so I'll take some pics and report back later.
Thanks for checking out.
I really enjoy reading through others garage shop builds and transformations so I figured I'd document mine.
I moved into my house about 6 months ago and probably like most, the garage becomes the "temporary" storage building while the rest of the house gets set up.
I'm just now getting to a point where I have a bit of extra time (and have moved out half the storage stuff) to start transforming it into a workable shop.So, it's a 3 car garage, built into the house, has a double width roller door, and a single width door. I started off by pulling the track and everything from the single door, and lagging it shut - this will be my main work bay. I then went on to insulate all the doors.
Insulating the doors - I lined all the door panels with reflectix first, then installed some foil lined 1.5" thick rigid foam insulation. I cut it super snug so it's all held in there by compression and doesn't look too bad. (no pic atm, i'll snap one and put it up next time round). Oh, before I did all that, I installed some black tint on the little decorative windows in the doors so you can't see the reflectix - keep the HOA happy.
Previous owner had installed some old cupboards on the walls and made a dodgy bench. He also has the upper 4' x 8' storage racks installed which I quickly filled with junk. The cupboards are decent enough for now, just not in good locations so I pulled them down and relocated. I set up a bank of 3 metal shelves along the outside wall for some better storage. It's contents need to be sorted properly as alot of it can now go out into my new outbuilding 8' x 10' yard/general storage shed.
View media item 73824
For the main workbench area, the original plan was to have an L shaped corner bench, nice and high with tool boxes under it for tool and hardware storage. The old craftsman grey and red toolbox was going to get re-purposed as hardware storage with the blue waterloo, and a new HF 44" box was going to get the tool storage duties. So I lifted up the old bench, slid the craftsman under it and set it in place - temporarily while I got everything else positioned, and planned, before building the actual real bench. I set one of the old relocated cupboards above it - that will work.
View media item 73819
So all along I'm reading GJ entries on shops, vintage tools etc. I love vintage tools, cabinets, stuff, hot rods, old weird collectible things. Thinking I'd really kill for some Lista or Vidmar cabinets but no way was I paying retail, or high price second hand. Then one day I'm browsing OfferUp and see the following thumbnail for a guy selling a jobsite KNACK style box for $150.
View media item 73813
What's that in the background? I send him a message:
me - "Hey man, are you selling that old box in the background"
him - "yes. $150"
me - "No, not the green one, the white one."
him -"yes. $150. I have two of them"
me - "OK. What's your address? I'm coming round now to check them out."
I couldn't get around there fast enough! LOL I went round there, and sure enough, two Stanley-Vidmars, 59" tall x 28" wide x 28" deep. I thin they are 11 drawers. Good used working condition. So I say "Cool. I'll take them, it's $150 total for the pair right?"...he looks at me and says "NO! These are $150 each!"...I Start laughing and say "Calm down mate, I was just kidding!"
So I loaded one its drawers into the back fo the truck and the next day went back and got the second. Holy Heavy as #$%@ Batman! WOW! Drawers are heavy, caddies are heavy, the whole cabinet with no drawers are heavy. Sweet!I got them both home and tore them all apart. Pulled all the metal channels the rollers run in and gave them a vinegar bath to get all the rust and scale and crud off them. Pulled all drawer handles, and sanded the cabinets and drawer faces, ready for paint. Plan is hammertone dark grey box and hammertone silver drawers - that will be the color combination for the garage theme.
View media item 73818
So I guess my plans changed from the old craftsman and waterloo combination! I now have ample tool and hardware storage. So one will live to the left of the old bench where the waterloo currently is - that will be the tool storage. One will live to the right of the (still to be built) bench for hardware storage. This will be about where the orange tub currently is, in the pic below.
View media item 73815
Cool, so tool storage, hardware storage, bench will go L shaped, hammertone paint, room above bench for shadow board wrenches, room other side for whatever. Now, need to get a welding bench, welder, some tools, blah, blah blah.
So Friday night, I'm scrolling through OfferUp tool listings and see a listing for a LISTA $50 toolbox...huh? What? $50! I sent her like 20 messages saying I would go right around and grab it - she finally replied and said can you be here in half an hour?...Sure! I throw on my shoes and go running down the stairs..
mrs - "what are you doing?"
me - "going to buy a LIsta for $50 from Offerup!!! "
mrs - "you're a ****."
me -
So it's a blue Lista, about 39" tall, narrow maybe 19" wide I think, couple big drawers at bottom and then nice sized ones above. Someone really wanted into it wihtout a key and totally destroyed the old lock mech and there is a huge hole where it used to be - nothing some sheetmetal, welder and grinder can't fill. You can see it in the above pic, hiding behind the bench. I'm thinking this guy will live under the still-to-be-built bench, next to the vidmar hardware box, for overflow large storage etc. not sure yet. Maybe next to the toolbox one. Still need to think on that one - it's only been 48 hours since I got it! LOL. Is there a quality difference between different models in the Lista lineup? ie blue, green cabinets etc, different widths? The reason I ask is this guy is no-where near as beefy as the two big Vidmars. The vidmars have seperate cradles that the drawers sit in, the small Lista doesn't. Also the drawers feel a bit flimsier. Still super HD compared to anything else I'd ever seen or used! Also, not as many bearings.
So then Saturday, a guy is selling an old Equipto bench. 70" x 38" and I think that will be a perfect welding table, so I go round to pick it up from him. Load it in the back of my truck, we're BSing..
me - "I'm fitting out my shop, looking for old Vises and stuff"
him -"I just sold an old Wilton, was really nice. I picked up a nice Reed the other day"
me - " I just bought an old Craftmsna drill press"
him - "Was it a 150? They're great presses. Did you see my 150 for sale on CL?"
me - "No. Can I check it out?"
So we walk aroudn the back to one of his out buildings and BOOM! it's filled with vintage tools - Has 2 x 150 drill presses, shears, brakes, thor grinders, a huge old 40's Craftsman bandsaw for metal cutting. I say that thing is sweet! he says "Yeah, took me 5 years to find that guy". He says "I don't need these drill presses, just got a Walker-Turner form the 40's, come check it out!" So we go check the other garage - Atlas lathe, WT drill press, old snap on cabinets, mill. Pretty cool set up, and hopefully a contact for trading cool vintage stuff with! Anyway, long story, here's the old Equipto...not sure if it is gonig to get Hammertone grey painted legs/sides, or leave as patina'd as it is. It'll stay as is for now, that's for sure.
View media item 73817
Anyway, that's all I have for now. Hoping to get some paint on the big Vidmars this coming weekend, so I'll take some pics and report back later.
Thanks for checking out.
