Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Uncle Skelly's Garage

[Skellyii]

Long time lurker, probably just started posting over the last year or so when I went to part-time employment, in preparation for retirement.

I picked up the nickname "Skelly" in high school, my friend Danny decided that the guys in our group should all have a nickname ending in "y". Somehow, out of all the crazy nicknames he came up with, this one stuck. All of my friends that I grew up with, their kids and grandkids call me Uncle Skelly.

My dad was a mechanic, so I picked up the bug from him and one of his buddies, Fat Charlie who he worked with, and also raced dirt track cars. I've been loving and wrenching on cars since I was about 12 or so.

My parents insisted that I go to college, as my dad said "Get an inside job with no heavy lifting", which turned out to be a godsend, as I was severely injured in a car accident just after my dad passed, and I would have been limited physically, and probably couldn't have handled a mechanics career.

In my formative years, I built and raced street/drag cars, 4 wheelers and did a little gymkhana. But a lot of that stopped after I settled down and started having a family. While the first house that I bought as a single guy had a magnificent oversized two car garage with separate heating and a sink (BIG garage, small house), with the arrival of the kids, we needed to move to a bigger house.

Since I was traveling at the time for my job, averaging 46 weeks a year on the road, I had put the car hobby aside and we bought a bigger house with a puny two car garage:

It was 18 x 20, but seemed even smaller. For some reason, the builder in this subdivision decided to scrip on the garage size on ALL the houses they built.

 

[Skellyii]

After looking for what seemed like an eternity, and getting outbid (Why would someone pay $90K over asking???) I found a suitable garage, and got it for less than asking price. Oh yeah, they included a house with it.

I REALLY like the RV door and the depth, I can actually park and work on my Suburban and long bed pickup inside the garage!

It's around 34x27, so it's a really nice upgrade!

 

[Skellyii]

The neighbor that's lived in the subdivision since it was built said that the original owner used the garage to build his "NASCAR" cars.
Uh-yeah, right. He's kind of clueless, so I don't talk to him much.

There's been two other owners since then. I understand the custom built workbench, but we never figured out what the wooden thing on the left was, or why they had so many of the metal racks. The basement was full of those racks, it was like a mini-warehouse.


Second picture of the wooden rack, if you know what it's for, please let me know.

 

[Skellyii]

The first thing we did was to get rid of the racks and the workbench...the dude that used it must have been at least 6'7" or so, it was damn near 50" high! Next we primed and painted the walls. We did it in a light gray.


Next we had the floor folks in, and they sealed, sanded and applied a poly on the floor and stem walls.

 

[MacTexas]

I grew up in Prairie Village. Looks like a nice garage to work in.

 

[Skellyii]

I grew up in Prairie Village. Looks like a nice garage to work in.

Thanks! It's not finished yet, but my son and I have been able to use it for a few projects now and then. having so much usable space is really great!

I'm trying to get the sink and an additional workbench installed over the next couple of weeks, but after Friday, it's supposed to be in the mid to upper 90's for a week or so. The one downside to how the house sits is that the garage doors face south, and there are no trees blocking the sun. It can get REALLY hot in there, and it will hold the heat in overnight.

My fall project is to add additional insulation to the attic space over the garage, and also put in a mini-split.

Prairie Village, eh? My first house was in north OP, just across the street from PV. Maybe we crossed paths?

BTW: tried to see pictures of your garage, sounds like a good one!

 

[Skellyii]

I had looked at a bunch of commercial garage cabinets, and also followed a lot of GJ folks who either used old kitchen cabinets, or the few lucky folks that were able to score used office/industrial cabinets.

I hang out at the local Habitat Restore locations from time to time, as I have rental property and it's a great way to find stuff to repair and upgrade them. I just happened to be in one as they were putting out some office/industrial cabinets, some that were donated by a local university science lab, and others from a medical office.

SCORE!! specially since it was a Thursday, and that's Seniors day and I get 10% off.

These cabinets are pretty heavy duty. The one downside for these were that the bottom units were only 28.5" tall, and I wanted something closer to a 36" tall counter top. I had kicked around building a wooden platform for them. Fortunately, I found some adjustable feet on Amazon that allowed me to get the desired height, and also allowed me to adjust the front-to-back height to compensate for the floor that slopes toward the garage doors.




The feet come with a bracket that allows you to attach a kickplate, but I found that my floor jack slides under them nicely for storage. Also, I can easily clean under them as necessary.

 

[ChadTexas]

That’s a perfect size garage and nice start with the floors.

 

[Skellyii]

That’s a perfect size garage and nice start with the floors.

Thanks!

One thing I have to warn folks about that I didn't think of when I was selecting the color and pattern for the floor.

I have a "color definition" issue. I'm not truly colorblind, but there are certain colors that I can't see accurately.

I soon found out that the color I picked for the floor sometimes didn't allow me to see dropped fasteners. I can see the chrome stuff, but the black and dark brass colored stuff eludes me. I was using a big magnet for awhile, then finally found this at HF:

 

[Skellyii]

My 3 car garage had one insulated steel door, and two old wooden doors. The old wood doors were in pretty bad condition, you can see daylight through the holes The wood ones were probably the original ones installed by the builder. They were in pretty bad condition, you could see daylight through the holes, and one of them was so warped air was coming in around the edges.


The other one was worse, but I didn't get a picture. A previous owner replaced the large door in 2007 (They left the receipts), so I had the same model installed in the other two bays...minus the window.


I went with the hi-lift rails, so I have the option of installing a lift in either the middle or the west bay. Man, those Liftmaster 8500s are so quiet!

 

[Skellyii]

In the interest of freeing up as much floor space as possible, and taking advantage of the high walls, I installed a couple of pairs of Bora wall storage units.



While I'm NOT a woodworker, I have rental properties, and always have leftovers that I can reuse for other stuff.

 

[Skellyii]

Bad timing on my part, I didn't expect late September/early October to be so HOT!!

Lot's of sweat equity (literally), but I got the second set of lower cabinets, the counter tops and the sink installed, along with adding an additional 120v and a 220 circuit.


If I'd known that it was going to be hot this late, I might have opted for putting in a mini-split before I did the other stuff.

 

[HogDude]

Looks good! What makes it look even better? Price! Nice score. BTW your floor looks amazing. That coming from a guy who absolutely loves his RaceDeck Free Flow flooring. In the midwest with the snow that continues to melt for a day or more, you can't beat Free Flow. Besides with being able to put it into a pattern makes it even better.

 

[HogDude]

We used to have Skelly gas stations here about 50 years ago. An old sign from them would be killer in your garage.

 

[Skellyii]

We used to have Skelly gas stations here about 50 years ago. An old sign from them would be killer in your garage.

Yeah, they were starting to die out around here when I was a kid. I worked one summer when I was in college at a Skelly Truck stop as an apprentice diesel mechanic. I think it got renamed a couple of years after I worked there.

I have a couple of signs that I am refurbishing, but none of the ones for places that I worked, i.e. Standard Oil, Amoco, Clark Oil and Skelly.

 

[Skellyii]

Looks good! What makes it look even better? Price! Nice score. BTW your floor looks amazing. That coming from a guy who absolutely loves his RaceDeck Free Flow flooring. In the midwest with the snow that continues to melt for a day or more, you can't beat Free Flow. Besides with being able to put it into a pattern makes it even better.

Thanks!

I was looking at the RaceDeck flooring as well as the poly stuff. I think the Racedeck would have been a little cheaper, but a friend had a similar floor, so I went with the poly.

 

[Skellyii]

More poor timing on my part, I added more stuff on the last hot day of the week. As I'm posting this...two days later, the expected high is going to be 60 degrees, vs about 90 the other day.

Anyway, got more shelving up, was kind of tricky as the studs in the wall between the house and garage were NOT evenly spaced. I assume that's because of the kickout??

I also got my air hose reel and jack stands mounted in the corner by one of the other garage doors. I had to put a 3/4" piece of plywood fastened to the studs to hold the weight. I painted the plywood so that it would look a little neater.

I was thinking about buying a commercial jack holder, but since I have two different styles of stands, I didn't think I could get one that would accommodate both. Fortunately, I ran across some suitable hooks at my local Walmart, for less that $3 each!
Honestly, this was something I didn't want to spend too much time and money on, since I'm saving my pennies to buy a lift.

 

[Skellyii]

Haven't posted for quite a while, I haven't done anything TO the garage, I've been spending my time working IN the garage on various projects for friends and family. All common vehicles, so I didn't bother posting.

I did get the power line run for the mini-split, and I was just getting ready to order it today. But....

I got an unexpected phone call.

With an offer I probably shouldn't refuse.

 

[sh944]

Someone selling you an Audi? Lol

 

[Skellyii]

Someone selling you an Audi? Lol

Damn!!!

I still regret not buying that A5, and a BMW, and a Jag I was offered last week....

But I have no place to put any more cars....yet.

 

[sh944]

There are a couple of really nice condos for sale in DeSoto right now….

 

[Skellyii]

Watch this space.

There might be an announcement the middle of next week.

 

[sh944]

lol Not for nothing but I thought I saw a BMW creeping around the parking lot earlier...

I'll keep watching!

 

[MrPink]

I'm in for more pictures of the 944

 

[Spareparts]

Your neighbor was probally right about the NASCAR race car, Lakeside Speedway in KCK was a sanctioned NASCAR Track
back in the mid 90,s thru early 2000,s that bench looked about right to shove tote's in after a night of racing. You did a lot of
good looking upgrades to looks really nice. Good Luck on the new adventure.

 

[sh944]

Lakeside is still a hoot and a half on a nice Friday night. I think its more fun than Kansas Speedway, altho I wish some of the heat races ran a bit longer. I usually catch a handful of evenings over the course of a summer there.

 

[Skellyii]

Your neighbor was probally right about the NASCAR race car, Lakeside Speedway in KCK was a sanctioned NASCAR Track
back in the mid 90,s thru early 2000,s that bench looked about right to shove tote's in after a night of racing. You did a lot of
good looking upgrades to looks really nice. Good Luck on the new adventure.

If so, that will be the first thing he's been right about in some time.

However, there was an electrical switch attached to the workbench that operated an outlet in the basement just below the garage. There was also a 1" round hole that I suspect was used to connect to an air compressor that they had in the basement storage room where the outlet was.

I was just guessing, but was curious why it was OK to have the compressor in the basement vs having it in the garage? I assume that you could hear it in the house from either location??

 

[Spareparts]

Maybe he had a lot of fishtanks

 

[Skellyii]

I'm in for more pictures of the 944

Jeez...it's kinda dusty and sadly neglected at the moment. My son and I just spent last weekend detailing a vehicle he's in the process of selling. I still have two other family commitments (vehicle repair) that I've committed to before i can touch it.

Don't worry though, @sh944 is continuously hinting that I need to start paying more attention to it.

 

[Spareparts]

Lakeside should be a lot better this season, lot's of special shows, Kyle Larson's High Limit Sprint Cars hava
a couple of shows there this year plus more specials

 

[sh944]

Not much makes me sadder than a neglected 944…. Lol

 

[Skellyii]

Not much makes me sadder than a neglected 944…. Lol

Good thing you didn't see this one. Supposedly, it only has 44K miles.

It looks even worse in person, but it could have been yours for only $500!

 

[Skellyii]

OK, I was hinting about some possible changes coming up. I was approached about a deal that was toooo good to be true, so I didn't want to get prematurely excited about it until things got worked out.

Well, things got worked out.

One of the other folks at my car condo complex just bought a new house, and decided to walk away from his space. He was looking for someone to take over his lease and his equipment.

So I'm now the proud owner of two Forward EFP9s, and approx 1300sq ft of RaceDeck(??) flooring.

I was just in the process of shopping for a lift for my house, and possibly another for my existing condo, so this worked out unbelievably well!

 

[Skellyii]

OK...now I'm feeling like the dog that caught the car.

I have an embarrassment of space, and two really nice lifts.

How should I setup this space?
Should I move all my tools over there, along with my best toolbox or
Should I buy another toolbox dedicated for that space?
Should this be the center of my automotive operations or
Should I continue doing at least some stuff in my home garage?

Decisions, decisions.

What are your thoughts?

BTW: Weird, but true story.
About three weeks ago, I was in Home Depot and they had a slightly scratched 46" bottom box on clearance at a great price.
I didn't need it, didn't have space for it...but I wanted it. I could hear it saying "buy me, buy me Skelly", over and over again.

Somehow I resisted, but that box would come in REALLY handy right now...

 

[sh944]

I have two complete sets of tools, one at the house and one at the condo. Heavy duty stuff gets done at the condo, routine stuff gets done at home. Any specialty tools stay at the condo.

Great set up, when are you inviting me over? Lol

 

[mcardle1405]

The neighbor that's lived in the subdivision since it was built said that the original owner used the garage to build his "NASCAR" cars.
Uh-yeah, right. He's kind of clueless, so I don't talk to him much.

There's been two other owners since then. I understand the custom built workbench, but we never figured out what the wooden thing on the left was, or why they had so many of the metal racks. The basement was full of those racks, it was like a mini-warehouse.


Second picture of the wooden rack, if you know what it's for, please let me know.

Out of curiosity, where did you put all your contents during this project? Portable storage container?

 

[Skellyii]

I have two complete sets of tools, one at the house and one at the condo. Heavy duty stuff gets done at the condo, routine stuff gets done at home. Any specialty tools stay at the condo.

Great set up, when are you inviting me over? Lol

Yeah, I already probably have too many tools (whew, did I actually admit that on GJ??), so I'll probably split them between the house and the condo. I just have to decide which tool chest will go where.

Give me a couple of weeks, I need to get some things moved over there...including the beer fridge!

 

[Skellyii]

Out of curiosity, where did you put all your contents during this project? Portable storage container?

Fortunately, I was able to buy the new house without having to immediately sell the old one. We wanted to have most of the remodeling completed before we moved in. As it was, we moved in sooner than I would have liked as the fiancé wanted to have out of town family staying with us for the holidays.

 

[Skellyii]

So....I was getting ready to sell the MaxJax since I got the 4 post lifts. It had been sitting around since the move, so I decided to set it up and test it before I put it on the market.

Unfortunately, looks like I'm gonna need to replace a seal before I can put it on the market. No big deal, the seal is only about $50.

BTW: A shoutout to @Jagmandave for stopping by and inspecting my mess!

 

[Skellyii]

OK, I made my first decision on the condo. I decided to buy another toolbox.
After spending a week or so dealing with the idiots on CL and FB, I ran across another GJ member who had purchased a ProSteel box on clearance from Menards. it's a 52" wide and 24" deep which I really like, as it can also serve as a workbench.

Not the greatest box in the world, but for my uses it will be just fine.