Titanium Frost's Single Makeover

[Titanium Frost]

I've been in my house for 4 years and did a lot of organizing in the garage and house when I first moved in. I regret not spending more time painting and finishing the garage, but I was desperate to get cabinets built in the garage so I could get a car in there. Now after being on the GJ and seeing all the great garages (Rick's Double and Dubber's Single come to mind) I have a lot of inspiration and motivation to get going on the makeover.

I would love a detailing orientated garage like the 2 mentioned above, but I use the garage for both woodworking and car stuff, so I will have to be a little reserved on what I leave out in the open.

Here are some before pics:

My 1990 LX weekend toy. Above it is the only large open shelf in the garage that holds larger items that don't fit in my cabinets. There's also a little shelf under the big shelf that holds oil and other fluids.

Race tires for the Mustang and snows for the Mazda and WRX. Storage underneath holds my floor jack, axle stands and some totes I take when I go racing.

I moved this french cleat system and the gardening tools to another area where the lawnmower etc... are stored. I'll be putting up the Rubbermaid Fasttrack hanging system for the ladder, creeper, extension cord and shopvac. I looked at Gladiator, but I know I won't be using it for cabinets and the rail seemed a little overkill for ladders and hoses.

 

[Titanium Frost]

Here's my custom built bench. I was so lucky that my garage had this little nook for a workbench. The mitre saw is on a mobile base.

The mobile base holds some of my woodworking tools.

Here's my upper cabinets in the nook. Some crops from woodworking projects are stored in a shelf system on top of the cabinets. I've also got a computer installed, which is great for browsing and for listening to music and the radio.

The big drawer in the workbench holds my table saw. It was the only place it would fit.

This is a recycling centre I built to fit in the spot beside the hot water tank. It will be the test mule for painting the cabinets.

 

[Titanium Frost]

WORK STARTS!

French cleat system removed and plywood moved to other side of the garage. I plan to make a sheet goods rack to store my off cuts of plywood, but it will be on the other side of the garage because I don't need access to it when the car is in the garage. Because I have nowhere to put the Mustang during this makeover, I will doing a wall at a time...it's the slow way, but the only way I can make it work.

Drywall compound left over from a project in my Mom's house. I don't plan to use 13.5L of compound on this!

Starting to patch the first wall. As others have found, the drywall finishing in the garage was terrible.

Some brutal finishing above the door that leads to the crawlspace. There's also a pantry and shelving for my detailing supplies behind the door. I'll have to be creative to get the trim to work in this area. I think that's why the builder left the trim off in that area.

Cleaned out the recycling centre and started to prep it for painting.

 

[madmanmerc]

good luck. I have a single also, and have been lurking awhile now stealing ideas. love the fox body

 

[330i zhp]

great cabinetry work - talented

 

[Thruxton]

Great things in small spaces, yet again!

 

[dubber]

Great job on your single sir. Amazing work with your homemade storage solutions. You have to get more creative then i needed to as you definitely have more inventory to deal with. Nice work and keep it up!

 

[nsogiba]

Looks like a good start. Good to see a Fox that isn't just used for hammering down the strip!

 

[pmason0]

Nice way of using space.

 

[HSpencer]

This is a very good project. I like the utilization of space, and it looks like it will work out great. I will be following the job to the finish.

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[Titanium Frost]

good luck. I have a single also, and have been lurking awhile now stealing ideas. love the fox body

I agree...GJ is such a good resource for ideas and inspiration.

great cabinetry work - talented

Thank you.

Great job on your single sir. Amazing work with your homemade storage solutions. You have to get more creative then i needed to as you definitely have more inventory to deal with. Nice work and keep it up!

Thanks Dubber...I loved reading your thread. It showed how great a single can look.
I definitely thought everything through when I designed the cabinets. It all started with the table saw storage (lots of measuring to find its final spot). The only thing I would change would be making the tire storage cabinets in modules...that one big cabinet along the long wall that holds 8 wheels is one cabinet and is HEAVY! Needed three of us to put it up....2 to hold and one to screw...even with a temporary rail mounted to the wall! I'll be taking those with me if we move. And yes, with woodworking, home projects and car stuff I have a lot of inventory to store.

Looks like a good start. Good to see a Fox that isn't just used for hammering down the strip!

The Mustang is used primarily for autocross...but also hillclimbs and time attack.

 

[UN4GTBL]

Looking to see how it's finished. Always nice to see other single car garages here!

 

[Titanium Frost]

Picked up some paint colour chips today...as well as primer for the walls and cabinets. The west walls (workbench side) are filled and sanded and ready for primer...hopefully get to that this week.

Also picked up a spray gun and water trap from KMS Tools (one of our local tool warehouses). They were 50% off this month, so the timing was perfect!

 

[Titanium Frost]

Choosing colours for the cabinets....

Narrowed down to three...

I wanted a stripe but not in the usual mid-wall spot. I also wanted to have the Rubbermaid Fastrack storage rail "hidden" where it mounts. After staring at the walls for a while, I came up with the idea for a wide black stripe up high on the wall. Here I've masked the stripe and started sealing the tape with paint (wall colour). Got this method from someone here on GJ.

Stripe sealed and ready for the first coat of black.

The stripe complete, but...when removing the tape on the upper edge, it got away from me and pulled some of the edge away. Also, I thought the stripe on just one section of wall would be OK, but I didn't like it (neither did my wife).

Ruined edge of the stripe. Hard to see in the pic, but it definitely needed addressing.

So....repair the top edge of the stripe and wrap it around the corner.

Stripe complete and ready for the Rubbermaid Fastrack rail.

Fastrack rail installed and a couple of items I use all the time hung in the prime real estate location in the garage. I'm really happy with the result. Clean and tidy!

I also started working on the trim above the entrance to the crawlspace
BEFORE:

DURING:

Sealing the edges of the MDF with drywall compound to get a smooth finish for paint.

AFTER: (Primed and ready for trim paint).

I've started prepping the other walls and will hopefully be starting to paint the "test" cabinet this weekend.

 

[dubber]

I like that stripe and great idea to hide your mounting hardware. I guess i did a similar thing as my Husky racks are white so they blend into my wall hahaha.

 

[polexican23]

Dimensions of your single (which is more like a single and a quarter with that nook)? I want a nook!!

 

[Xporter]

Looking good.

 

[Kaikman]

Cool project! Can't wait to see it all come together.

 

[PDM]

Welcome Oliver...... Glad to see other Vancouver racers on this forum

I'm in the midst of designing and planning my garage retro at the house (since I shut down the shop) and in dire needs of garage space as all my shop equipment is in 40 foot containers in storage.

I hope to break ground in the spring on my new home-shop/house addition.

don

 

[Titanium Frost]

Dimensions of your single (which is more like a single and a quarter with that nook)? I want a nook!!

10' x 17.5' (but some of that 17.5' is taken up by the hotwater tank)...the nook is 3' x 6.5' and is a HUGE bonus. When we first looked at the house before buying it I right away recognized the benefit of the nook. I doubt I would be able to park a car in the garage without that nook.

Welcome Oliver...... Glad to see other Vancouver racers on this forum

I'm in the midst of designing and planning my garage retro at the house (since I shut down the shop) and in dire needs of garage space as all my shop equipment is in 40 foot containers in storage.

I hope to break ground in the spring on my new home-shop/house addition.

don

Thanks Don...nice to see someone I know following along. Looking forward to seeing your build.

 

[JustinS]

I really like your homemade storage solutions, I need to learn how to make some simple cabinets like those.

 

[55cadillacking]

You're sweating the details. It always pays off! Keep up the good work. I'm just not sure you picked up enough swatches of grey! J/K!

 

[MKE Mike]

Great use of space! I really like the solution for storing the table saw. I'll also be following along to see this come together.

Looking good.

 

[Titanium Frost]

Great use of space! I really like the solution for storing the table saw. I'll also be following along to see this come together.

Looking good.

Thanks. Although it looks quite simple now, it took a while to figure out how to store the table saw in a way that was compact and hidden.

 

[PLOWJEEP]

Great, cabinets! What type of plywood are they built from? Thanks, Brian

 

[Titanium Frost]

Great, cabinets! What type of plywood are they built from? Thanks, Brian

Many thanks for the comment. Cabinets are made from 3/4" G1S (Good 1 Side) plywood with poplar face framing for the recycling centre, the open shelves between the uppers and the facing for the mitre saw fold out extensions. Joinery is rabbets and dados. Hinges are 35mm euro cup style. The tire bars are galvanized heavy conduit. The cabinets were mainly made with a Bosch 10" 4100 table saw and a Hitachi C12LSH mitre saw.

 

[Titanium Frost]

You're sweating the details. It always pays off! Keep up the good work. I'm just not sure you picked up enough swatches of grey! J/K!

no kidding about the swatches...I walked into Benjamin Moore and grabbed every grey swatch they had. It was easy to get down to the final 3. The final choice has some of the tones of the Mustang colour, so it won out over the others.

Ah the details....if you are talking about the trim above the door...geez what a hack job by the builder. Who installs a door not square to the wall it's installed in? It wouldn't have been an issue if the wall above the door wasn't at an angle. I guess I could have removed the existing trim, adjusted the door frame, re-shimmed the door and reinstalled the trim, but what I did was easier after I figured out how to make it look good and you don't notice it now. I ended up removing some of the drywall above the door to get a 3/4" MDF filler strip in above the door frame that meets the angled trim. Also, had to do some trig to get the angle...of course they couldn't use 22.5 or 45deg...Noooo...lets just pick a random number....36deg is what it was.
In the end I'm happy with the final result and that's what counts.

Love your garage by the way...lots of inspiration came from your build to get me off my **** and do something about my space. I've read through your build a couple of times (along with Dubber's) and still pick out things I would like to do in mine...if I had the room.

 

[Titanium Frost]

I had some time over the past few weeks to work on my garage.

Added the patented "Ricks Double" bottle holder. Standoffs for sprayer clearance are aluminum square tubing. Also added baseboard to finish the wall off.

 

[Titanium Frost]

Also worked on the other "long" wall. Walls were primed and painted up to the ceiling. I added a black stripe to hide the water lines. I spray painted the pipe hangers black. The drywall by the taps and hose reel was getting damaged from water splashes so I installed PVC baseboard to protect the bottom of the drywall and laminated a sheet of arborite to the wall to act as a water and impact barrier. The PVC baseboard is sealed to both the concrete and to the arborite so no water can penetrate down to the drywall. The taps are mounted on a piece of aluminum flatbar.

 

[Frosthy]

The black stripes to hide hoses/things is a great idea!

 

[Titanium Frost]

I also primed and painted the recycling station. Racedeck was kind enough to send me some samples!

 

[andyaus]

Nice accents of colour mate

 

[dubber]

Great updates! Love the wall protection for the water and great job with the stripe to hide those pipes.

Loving the samples as well. Hopefully it is in deed foreshadowing.

 

[KCarGuy]

Very Well Thought Out.
Nicely Done.
I really like all the Cabinets, and Shelving that you designed and Built.
Cant wait to see how it all turns out.
Nice Weekend Toy Also!

 

[Tyberius]

Love what you had done before and what you are doing now. Look forward to more.

 

[UN4GTBL]

Great work, looks good!

 

[Wuaname]

Any update with the floor done?

How about more pics of the LX? Engine? Specs? Weekend scca type racing?

 

[wannabridin]

Awesome job on hiding everything. How did you tap into the hot water heater lines? That's a great idea!

 

[Titanium Frost]

Any update with the floor done?

How about more pics of the LX? Engine? Specs? Weekend scca type racing?

The Titanium Frost's Single Makeover is going to become Titanium Frost's Double Build...we are moving at the end of June and will be building a new double garage, so the floor and any further updates to this garage won't be happening. I am taking all my cabinets with me, so will be painting and installing them as part of the build. The new house has a double detached carport, which we will pull down and replace with a double garage...hopefully later this year.

The LX is mainly used for autoslalom and hillclimbs. Stock motor with headers, 5 bolt conversion, Koni adjustables, springs, full custom TIG welded cage. The first Solo event for me in 2014 is tomorrow! I usually run the Knox Mountain Hillclimb in May, but skipped this year due to the new house.

Awesome job on hiding everything. How did you tap into the hot water heater lines? That's a great idea!

Thanks for the compliment...I cut into the line coming out of the HW tank and spliced in a tee, and then ran from the tee to the tap near the garage door. All the new plumbing was done with PEX. I am going to miss having hot water near my car wash area at the new house until the new garage is built.

 

[wannabridin]

Very cool, the hot water is nice to have! I added a utility sink to my washing machine lines which has hose taps, so that makes things nice. It's practically like yours in that I can get water stragiht off the heater.