The cheap garage.

[Lippyp]

Hi, another Brit here over in rural shropshire just over the border from the sheep shaggers! (On a side note to Buzz Lightyear, I did a similar move, Reading to rural Lancashire back in 94 and finally escaped back to civilization last year! Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey up there mate!)

One thing I did notice, you said the neighbour has raised the level of their garden by about four courses of bricks, does this mean there is soil at this level against the wall of the garage? If so thats not going to help your damp problems as you'll get penetrating and rising damp from it. I know a lot about rising damp, my garage project has actually had puddles forming on the floor where water has been comin up through it, mind you mines a 100 year old brick floor rather than concrete.

Whats the plan in terms of what you want to do in there, will you actually be working on your car or just a place to do small stuff and keep the car safe and dry?

You've about as much chance of finding (and retrieving) a snap on toolbox from the tip in the UK as I have of growing wings and winning the Red Bull airrace without a plane, mine are so tight I can't even get a set of old pram wheels out of them to make soapbox carts with my boys.

 

[Olliecampbell]

Hello,

Yes I know what you mean regarding the brick wall. It was a hard decision but I don't think I'll ever have enough lighting in there to warrant keeping the darker space...it was difficult though!

The garage is backed onto on two sides by gardens, the ones next door have raised a flowerbed by 4'ish bricks for about a meters length along the wall. I'm not sure what the garden out the back have done as I can't see!
It's a double skinned building and I'm not seeing evidence of damp inside anywhere, but I can only imagine it's there on the inside of the outer layer.

The plan is most definitely to work on the car...I've just finished a load of spanner work on it in it's current garage, at my parents.
It'll be a slow start as I build up the space and get the tools that I need, but I'm planning a complete engine build and swap once I get going!

I'd love to have something like the McLaren workshops, clinical but very functional:

http://www.johannesburg.mclaren.com/image/4fd5ac8cf18e0/825/615/fill/.jpg

I guess that somewhat swayed my decision to paint the walls white!

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[Olliecampbell]

A small garage update. After some recommendations from the guys on the UK Hot deals thread I went off in search of some Record (not the Irwin made) G-clamps.

After some really quick eBaying and delivery they're here. Excuse the cat food covered back door mat in the pictures.







They're an amazing piece of kit. So solid and well made. Another great addition to my slowly growing garage!

 

[enginewizard1969]

And also a quick update for today, thanks to the UK deals thread on GJ I managed to get a nice wall clock with temperature and humidity relatively cheaply.

Hi I've not been a member on here long I am also in the UK I'm in Surrey. I noticed you mentioned uk deals on GJ I had a look but couldn't find it???. Your garage is getting there it takes time. Im in the process of revamping mine Ive never been happy with mine but since Ive been on here I have got some great ideas which I am starting to put into place!!

 

[Olliecampbell]

Thanks and here you go:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160271

 

[Olliecampbell]

A few more small bits and pieces I've been doing.

I realised that I hadn't shown you guys by extremely expensive, state of the art, ladder hoist:



Made from old shelving bits that I found in the garage when I moved in, sprayed and tarted up with some chrome bolts.

And then some garage 'art':

Excuse the reflections in this one:


A closeup...





I'm hoping they'll stand out a little more as I continue to tidy the garage.

That's all for now!

 

[lmb]

Lovely shot of the Pikes Peak car - that's what I call art! What car is the old Moto Lita wheel off?

 

[Olliecampbell]

Thanks.

It's off an XK150.

 

[Grizz1963]

Hey Ollie
I have posted some info for you on my garage thread.

 

[51rider]

Ollie,
Are you still in need of some kitchen cabinets?

I will have some spare 1000mm base units available in both drawerline (single drawer at top) and cupboard only versions.

I don't have the means to deliver them anymore.

 

[Olliecampbell]

Ollie,
Are you still in need of some kitchen cabinets?

I will have some spare 1000mm base units available in both drawerline (single drawer at top) and cupboard only versions.

I don't have the means to deliver them anymore.

I am, something I can use to hide my messy shelving. Excuse my ignorance, but are those the units that would normally sit on the floor? Like this:

http://www.diy-kitchens.com/kitchen...se-unit-with-drawerline/wp14989/#.UVcWgBk-Iy4

Do you think I would be able to wall mount them?



More junk being stored in the garage...another bike and now a freezer! You can see the bits and pieces I still need to find a home for...buckets, jack, wing, lights that need mounting on a wall somewhere...




One day I'll get the car in there!

 

[51rider]

Hi Ollie,
Yes, those are the ones plus the type without drawers. I guess you could hang them on the wall but they will stick out quite far & remember that the work top forms the cupboard top.
However, I do have a number of wall cupboards available too-about 4. They are 1000mm long, 720mm high & 290 mm deep. I've got the wall brackets for them too.
Drop me a PM if interested.

 

[Robson 00]

Hi Ollie nice to see a fellow brit on the board if your looking to recreate the McLaren look you will be needing some lista cabinets and grey porcelain tiles on floor walls have white metal panels on but believe me all the white gives you a headache after 10 hrs a day of looking at white

 

[firecracker]

Think he will be a bit choca to be looking at white walls. Did you insulate the roof Ollie ? if so what did you use ? the refurb is going well

 

[dubber]

Love the old moto pieces; poster, and wheel, keep it up!

 

[Olliecampbell]

Thanks everyone.

Robson 00, sounds like you have some experience there? Did you work at McLaren?

Firecracker, I haven't insulated the roof yet, just painted...white!...to make everything brighter in there. I will hopefully insulated as much as possible as I find some cheap or free. I say some, because I use the gaps between the joists as storage....wood, trim bits for the car and when I sort it out the ladder too.

No major updates I'm afraid....still saving cash to buy a roll cab and some tools.

I've decided I'm going to finish the car in situ at the parents garage as my old man has all the tools, then move it over when it's in one piece.

 

[Robson 00]

Hi Ollie yes I work at McLaren it's like working in a lab sometimes cool building but the white can be overpowering

 

[Olliecampbell]

Hi Ollie yes I work at McLaren it's like working in a lab sometimes cool building but the white can be overpowering

Just saw your location, should have put 2 and 2 together!

I realise it might not be possible, but are you able to give us aspiring workshop owners more of an idea of how it's setup? Photos if possible?
What tools do you guys use?

 

[Olliecampbell]

A minor update for now...

Thanks to 51rider I now have 4 1000mm wall cabinets. They're from a school, the home economics/cake baking department which is fitting as my wife makes wedding cakes on the side of her main job!

They're undergoing a refurb and going from this:


To gloss white as I had some left over from the house. I'll also glue the backing boards round the edge to make sure it's a strong fit and polyfilla some of the holes in them.

I had to pull down the old batons you can just see here holding the shelves up:


They were well and truly secured into the walls! So strongly that I managed to do this to another hammer:


Bit of paint needed! Luckily had some left over from the house (familiar theme here!):



Some other chores got in the way:



To be fair it only took 15 minutes and is much better than having them resting against the side of the house.


Needed some beefy fasteners to make sure that the heavy cabinets don't fall off the wall!





Fingers crossed I should have the shells up today and filled. Need a few more coats of paint on the doors though. I want a really smooth gloss finish so I'm going to be sanding and painting between layers.


In other news, I'm trying to plan out my lighting arrangement using this great tool:

http://www.visual-3d.com/software/interiortool.aspx

and this great guide:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/content.php?146-Lighting-the-Small-Workshop-by-Jack-Lindsey

Easier said that done. This is what I've envisaged:



These are single fluorescent 32w bulbs, which the tool says should give me 114fc's. A nice amount of light if mounted normally.

Now, the difficulty I have is mounting them. I can't mount them directly to the ceiling as it's a single layer of wood and the screws would perforate the waterproofing above. So I'll have to mount them on their side, screwed into the joists. I don't have a great photo to demonstrate it, but you can see how the light is cast here with my current single light:



It's going to cut down the amount of light from each, but I don't think I have a choice. I'll also position them one to the left, the other to the right, to balance the light and make sure it's cast over the workbench and down the sides of the car. Not just centrally over the roof.

Any ideas chaps/chapesses?



To Do list:

DONEGet a dehumidifier
DONEGet a threshold weather strip
DONEFinish painting the ceiling
Move my car in.
Get the electrics checked and a breaker installed
Add some more plugs and fluorescent lights
Hand build a sturdy wooden work bench
Hold up a bank so that I can afford to buy a Snap-On roll cabinet
Fill the roll cabinet with tools!
Nearly doneReplace the shelves with old kitchen cupboards to reduce how visually busy it is.
Tile / epoxy floor.

The cost list!
Masonry paint £90
Replacement fluorescent tube £12
Wall hooks £4
Weather strips £105.48
Dehumidifier £156.98
Dehumidifier piping £1.80
16mm, 1ft long masonry bit £18.99
Cabinets £40
Fixings for the cabinets £7.99

Total: £437.24

 

[AHotRod]

Your doing it up nicely !

 

[dubber]

To Do list:

Hold up a bank so that I can afford to buy a Snap-On roll cabinet
Fill the roll cabinet with tools!

Love this!

 

[felixgogo]

Looking great mate, I am envious of the kitchen cabinets - this is exactly what i want to do, but the low ceiling means normal wall cabinets will be too tall, so I am looking at custom ones - which pushes the price up.

After my success with the Kreg Pocket Hole jig I may look at building my own wall cabinets from 3/4 ply. I reckon I can built two from a single 8x4 sheet, so each cabinet would cost around 30 quid in all. I would also struggle with standard ones as I need to make them miss all the central heating pipes which would need a massive cut-out in the back to accommodate.

How many fluro tubes are you considering? I reckon you may need one per joist to avoid shadows. Also check the price of replacement tubes, I think 5 foot ones are common and therefore cheap, but 6 foots are less so.

 

[Olliecampbell]

Thanks. The ceilings quite low in mine because of the joists. About 2-2.1m I think. Custom cabinets seem the way to go, especially after seeing you taking that workbench apart I don't think it would trouble you much!

As mentioned earlier, the carcasses are on the wall and filled. If they stay there over night then I'll crack on and get the doors up!


I was having a look earlier. I have 8 'bays' in between the joists, only 7 are really useable and of the remainder 2 are used for wood/storage. Which leaves 5 bays.

I might cut down on storage bays giving me a nice round 6 lights.
or
I could fit two lights per bay one on each joists either side. I'm worried , but it could be a bit too bright and would accentuate the darker storage bays even more.

I hadn't actually thought about bulb length, thanks. Some good points to think about.

I guess the main decider will be cost so I'm off to do some research!

 

[Olliecampbell]

In my excitement I almost forgot...I got a free compressor today too! Thanks in-laws!



Need to give it a small amount of TLC, but I'm hoping it'll be enough to power some small air tools?

 

[felixgogo]

I might cut down on storage bays giving me a nice round 6 lights.
or
I could fit two lights per bay one on each joists either side. I'm worried , but it could be a bit too bright and would accentuate the darker storage bays even more.

Rule 1 - No such thing as too bright!
Rule 2 - See Rule 1



I seem to remember your garage is 11 foot wide, could you consider 2 tubes per bay, fitted end to end so there is continuous light in each bay?

I would also consider as you are placing the tubes up in those bays that you paint the entire joists and ceiling white to act as a reflector? It all helps.

Of course cost is a big factor, but you can always stage it and buy half now and half later.

Either way - it will be brighter in there!

 

[51rider]

Looking good Ollie & glad the cabinets are going to work out for you. The fixings might be a tad overkill but at least you willl not have to worry about them falling off the wall

 

[Olliecampbell]

Rule 1 - No such thing as too bright!
Rule 2 - See Rule 1

I like that

I seem to remember your garage is 11 foot wide, could you consider 2 tubes per bay, fitted end to end so there is continuous light in each bay?

I would also consider as you are placing the tubes up in those bays that you paint the entire joists and ceiling white to act as a reflector? It all helps.

Of course cost is a big factor, but you can always stage it and buy half now and half later.

Either way - it will be brighter in there!

I had thought about that actually, but for some reason dismissed it...but it makes sense.

I could get 8-10 4 or 5ft fittings in, assuming the electrics can take it! I have painted the gaps between the joists, but not the joists themselves. I've also put some reflective tape behind the bulbs to eek out a little more light!
I might try and fashion a cardboard/tinfoil reflector to sit above each light. Here's how my lonely single light looks at the moment:

Looking good Ollie & glad the cabinets are going to work out for you. The fixings might be a tad overkill but at least you willl not have to worry about them falling off the wall

Well after one nearly fell down on me I decided to go big! Especially as I'll be loading them to the hilt! I expect the wall will come down before they do!


Anyway, here's a really bad non-scale drawing of the joists in my garage:

The blobs with the star on the right are where the electrical feed to the garage is and where I'm going to move the light switch/breaker box to. It's on the North wall, you can probably see my rubbings-outs on the scan!



In other news...I managed to splash out on some of this to replace what's on the back of my garage door. It might not be quite as good at insulating, but should look a hell of a lot better.

Whilst I was there I bought some garage door paint...what colour? Naturally this:

I'm starting to realise I need to learn more about electrics. I need to work out how much 'load' I can put through the cable that feeds the garage so I know how many lights, plugs etc I can put in there.
Where do I start?

 

[felixgogo]

First off - I'm not an electrician, so I suggest you need to get some professional advise.

I recall you saying that the garage is a spur off the house downstairs ring main? At worst this will be a single 2.5mm cable from the back of a socket. Hopefully via a fused connection. But you need to find out the cable size to have an idea of the limit.

If this 2.5mm was in free air, just clipped to a wall then in ideal conditions it is stated it can carry 22 amps. But I think yours is buried, and as this causes the cable to heat up, it is de-rated in these circumstances to 50%, i.e. 11 amps.

If you are pretty well loaded already on the house ring main, this will be even less.

In an ideal world, you need to get a new armoured cable run to the garage from your main consumer unit, and a garage consumer unit in the garage. This is not work you can do, you need to get a certified electrician to quote and do the work.

In the meantime, count up the actual load for all the units (lighting, compressors etc.) that you may have on at the same time. Then see if this is more than the 11 amps that might be your limit.

But you do need a sparky to advise you.

I just thought of something else, could you move the wood storage to the 'bays' over the garage door? You are less likely to have lights in this area, and those central bays are more important as 'lighting' bays.

 

[Olliecampbell]

Thanks Felix. I've got a friendly local sparky that I'm going to get round and do some work for me soon so I'll ask him at the same time. That's a good understanding to make a start and start counting the load at the moment.

And moving the wood storage is an excellent idea! I'd not even thought about it! Brilliant!



Well some more updates...

I've finished my first two cabinets and they don't look too bad:

It took 2 coats of gloss (the end of a tin from the house!) which unfortunately had some 'skin' forming on it. So annoyingly theres a few small bits of this stuck to the door in places. Not too bad as you can see, but I know they're there!

Very tight fit between the door and one of the joists:

The cat checking my work:

One of my favourite shots, nice little reflection:

Yes I know they're not perfectly level, that's next!:

[/URL]



To keep making full use of all the space, whilst keeping it clean I put up a pin board on the inside of the doors for bits and pieces:

One nice bonus is that it's helped brighten that end of the garage too!



To Do list:

DONEGet a dehumidifier
DONEGet a threshold weather strip
DONEFinish painting the ceiling
DONEInsulate the garage door.
Re-insulate the garage door!
Move my car in.
Get the electrics checked and a breaker installed
Add some more plugs and fluorescent lights
Hand build a sturdy wooden work bench
Hold up a bank so that I can afford to buy a Snap-On roll cabinet
Fill the roll cabinet with tools!
DONEReplace the shelves with old kitchen cupboards to reduce how visually busy it is.
Tile / epoxy floor.

The cost list!
Masonry paint £90
Replacement fluorescent tube £12
Wall hooks £4
Weather strips £105.48
Dehumidifier £156.98
Dehumidifier piping £1.80
16mm, 1ft long masonry bit £18.99
Cabinets £40
Fixings for the cabinets £7.99
Garage door insulation £19.48
Garage door paint £17.99

Total: £474.71

 

[HSpencer]

Looking great!!! Garage Journal ideas will empty your wallet faster than your local car dealer. But, that is why there is money.
Cheers

 

[51rider]

Great job on the doors-I would not believe they are the same cabinets!

An armoured cable from the house into a local board in the garage will pay dividends & allow you to set up separate power & lighting circuits.

I have an idea on some lighting for you but I need to make a few checks first. How deep are your joists?

Would you have any objection to galvanised strapping bent to shape to fit in between the rafters?

 

[Rscabrio]

Doing well mate coming along nicely

 

[Olliecampbell]

Well not much has gone on in the shed recently...


I predrilled the holes for the 3rd cabinet to go up and it did this to my drill bit! WTF?






The last cabinet has this 'problem' in it. No problem for me, I'm going to do as they did and mount a plug in there so that I can charge my tools up. Not sure why it looks like someone exploded in there!:







I got give some bits as I left work and it was my birthday. Free tools!:







Whilst the primer/paint was drying on the last cabinet I decided to tidy my towel dispenser up a bit (no the cabinet mount is not wonky, it's just not screwed in tight!):




A small change, but makes it look much better I think.





The current state of play:






To Do list:

DONEGet a dehumidifier
DONEGet a threshold weather strip
DONEFinish painting the ceiling
DONEInsulate the garage door.
UnderwayPut up kitchen cabinets.
Re-insulate the garage door!
Move my car in.
Sparky booked!Get the electrics checked and a breaker installed
Add some more plugs and fluorescent lights
Hand build a sturdy wooden work bench
Hold up a bank so that I can afford to buy a Snap-On roll cabinet
Fill the roll cabinet with tools!
Tile / epoxy floor.

The cost list!
Masonry paint £90
Replacement fluorescent tube £12
Wall hooks £4
Weather strips £105.48
Dehumidifier £156.98
Dehumidifier piping £1.80
16mm, 1ft long masonry bit £18.99
Cabinets £40
Fixings for the cabinets £7.99
Garage door insulation £19.48
Garage door paint £17.99

Total: £474.71

 

[Olliecampbell]

Apologies guys, are those pictures a bit too big?

 

[Kevin54]

It was a carbide tipped drill. Chance are you have had it hot a time or two, but my guess is that you hit something while drilling and it busted the tip out. Piece of rebar possibly, or the drill just has reached the end of it life, if it has had a lot of use.

 

[GBsnoopy]

Happy birthday,
Know what you mean about the bank job for a snapon cabinet. Not cheap new or used.
As my halfords tools are holding there own against my snapons I just got the halfords cabinet for my birthday present.
Really can see the hard work gone into your place so far.

 

[felixgogo]

Really coming on now mate - I really like the 'white' look - it's the same thing I am going for too.

As for Halfords tools - as long as you go for the 'Pro' range these are excellent, very high quality, Halfords will swap them if they break. I really rate them. And as Halfords is around 2 miles up the road, and open on Sunday, it is my first port of call.

 

[pepi]

Love the cat Forman got one of those also, they are very critical and very focused on the correctness of a spec. No welding before before QC has been done.

 

[Olliecampbell]

Happy birthday,
Know what you mean about the bank job for a snapon cabinet. Not cheap new or used.
As my halfords tools are holding there own against my snapons I just got the halfords cabinet for my birthday present.
Really can see the hard work gone into your place so far.

Thanks It's surprising how much work it takes to bring it up to such a basic standard.

I'm saving up for a 2nd hand SnapOn unit/waiting for another Halfords cabinet offer. When I get the cash together I'll decide on which one I'm going for!

Really coming on now mate - I really like the 'white' look - it's the same thing I am going for too.

As for Halfords tools - as long as you go for the 'Pro' range these are excellent, very high quality, Halfords will swap them if they break. I really rate them. And as Halfords is around 2 miles up the road, and open on Sunday, it is my first port of call.

As I mentioned to GBSnoopy...I might well be going for Halfords. They feel decent quality, but if I can manage to sneak in a 2nd SnapOn unit I'm definitely going for it!

Love the cat Forman got one of those also, they are very critical and very focused on the correctness of a spec. No welding before before QC has been done.

Brilliant They're so nosey aren't they!

 

[Olliecampbell]

Some small bits and pieces....I've booked a my local sparky to come over and have a look at the house, I'll get him to check the garage at the same time to see what he thinks and get him to price it all up for me.

Doing some quick checks I think I'll have about 9-10 amps of load on the cable with everything going (compressor, dehumidifier, new 60w lights, small chest freezer). According to this site the maximum load for the cable will be 11.5 amps.

I haven't had a lot of time to do much in the garage, but I've managed to mount the bikes using a couple of these using some Halfords vouchers I got for my birthday:

And got a little tidying, here's where we are now:




I still need to insulate the door, paint it and get rid of some more junk!

Starting to come together I think. Time to book the car transporter I think!




To Do list:

DONEGet a dehumidifier
DONEGet a threshold weather strip
DONEFinish painting the ceiling
DONEInsulate the garage door.
UnderwayPut up kitchen cabinets.
Re-insulate the garage door!
Move my car in.
Sparky booked!Get the electrics checked and a breaker installed
Add some more plugs and fluorescent lights
Hand build a sturdy wooden work bench
Hold up a bank so that I can afford to buy a Snap-On roll cabinet
Fill the roll cabinet with tools!
Tile / epoxy floor.

The cost list!
Masonry paint £90
Replacement fluorescent tube £12
Wall hooks £4
Weather strips £105.48
Dehumidifier £156.98
Dehumidifier piping £1.80
16mm, 1ft long masonry bit £18.99
Cabinets £40
Fixings for the cabinets £7.99
Garage door insulation £19.48
Garage door paint £17.99
Bike hangers £0!

Total: £474.71