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Was a simple weekend project..now 2 car garage refurb

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Freejack

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What started out this weekend as simple project to add a few french cleats quickly exploded to a full-on refurb...

While I have wanted to refurb my garage since moving here in July of 12, I just hadn't gotten there as of yet. My plan for this weekend was to just add a few rows of cleats along one wall for lawn tool and kid's toy storage both of which were an on-going problem.

After a few discussions with my wonderful wife, it was decided we should just go ahead and paint the whole thing. Of course, if we were going to pull everything away from the wall to paint, I'd really like to add cleats all the way around the garage so I can really begin to rework the storage and get everything off the ground. At that point images of hanging shelving units and movable tool mounts were dancing my head...so off we went.

So the plan for now is two-tone paint job with a black chair rail (also functioning as a cleat) and 4 rows of cleats on all 3 walls.

First I have to admit I broke a cardinal rule of GJ...I forgot to take any before pictures! :Freak: So all I have are some in process photos to share...

Upper color nearly complete, with a great deal of help from my significant other!
Garage Rehab by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr
PS please ignore the mess in the middle, that's why I'm doing this!

Both colors down, time to start on the chair rail!
Garage Rehab by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Chair rails in place:
Garage Rehab by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

That was all for the weekend, now need to paint up the 24 8' cleats so they can be hung!
Garage Rehab by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

More coming soon!

Jake
 
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IP2GSR

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nice! Life's too short for bite sized pieces... Take on too much and figure it out how to make it happen later!
 
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Freejack

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Whew! All 24 cleats are painted again thanks to my lovely wife's assistance. Unfortunately due to work travel and camping this weekend, it will be next week before I can get them hung and can start getting things back in order.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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Eventually but I needed to get the clutter under control first. This project should enable me to get almost everything off the floor first, making it much easier to come back later and finish the floor.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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Made a bit more progress today, got the first column of cleats up, or at least as far as I could before running out of fasteners. Here are some quick pics:

First four cleats are up, mostly...I need a couple more screws for the upper most cleat
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Made some quick spacers to speed up the install. The cleats are 16" apart. The upper piece keeps the cleat from creeping down as I install. I'll turn these into hanger mounts later.
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

I'll ad shots as I get more done over the next couple days.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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Slow progress, but making sure to get a couple hours here and there in. Got another column of cleats up, so the far wall (opposite the house) is done. Will start on the back wall tonight.
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

The space between the two columns of cleats will be a good place for some garage art, no?

Jake
 
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sean Buick 76

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Good work, I like the project! I look forward to seeing how the cleats work out for you, I have never seen that before... I also like that your wife is involved, great stuff!
 
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Freejack

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Farmall450 said:
Especially if that light is staying there ^^^
Click to expand...
There will be a light of some sort, but I may replace the floods with some tracks or something like that. Appearently some previous owner had used the garage to paint motorcycle parts. There are 4 of these lights, one on each wall. Once I get new ceiling lights in, I can change these out to somthing nicer.

sean Buick 76 said:
Good work, I like the project! I look forward to seeing how the cleats work out for you, I have never seen that before... I also like that your wife is involved, great stuff!
Click to expand...
It is nice to have partner that encourages you on such things, sure makes the work a lot more fun.

taumac said:
First post first paragraph made me burst out laughing. Been there done that. Work so far looks great.
Click to expand...
It's amazing how many projects end up like that...

Jake
 
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Freejack

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Taumac - I know the feeling, I am getting to the point where want this stage done so I can to clear up the pile of stuff in the center of the floor...I'm tired of seeing a disorganized mess on the floor instead of an organized mess on the walls! Unfortunately summer activities have limited the time I have to work, but this week should bring some more progress...

Between an event on Saturday and ball game on Sunday (Cards win!) I did get a bit done in the garage over the weeked...added another wall of cleats:
7C25C818-717E-447A-9B91-CB843BBAC0C6.jpg


Now onto the back wall...and one of those nice surprises you run into in such a project: apparently the first person to wire the garage lacked any measuring devices....as all the wall outlets all come in at various heights. I had checked the position of the outlets along the outer wall when I set the cleat height with the ASSumption they'd all be the same. Now moving to the back wall, it appears I will need to notch the cleats to clear the outlets...great. :rolleyes:
 
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Freejack

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I was able to get the back wall cleats up this week. All three walls are done, I just need to hang some short cleats on the space next to the garage door on either side to finish it all out.
2E7C7E71-4991-4D27-9389-556DBA20F6CA.jpg


As you can see, there were some areas to work around on this wall, include a circ fan, the sub panel and the aforementioned outlets. As Taumac suggested, had I been paying attention, it might of been nicer to move the outlets down to a consistant level, but after all the paint and such was said and done, it was just easier to notch out the cleat as you can see in the picture below
F0BB240F-5D53-4E74-BE85-22D53804A234.jpg


Now it is time to start working up some fixtures. Having been through all of this, here are some suggestions I would make for someone looking at this option.


  • Ripping a 45° angle in a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 plywood on a portable table saw, even a good one like my Ridgid saw is not easy and leads to a lot of movement when cutting. If you have access to a good cabinet saw with outfeed support, that job will be a lot easier. A hand held circular saw with a rip guide would also work well.

    Build a quick jig to hang on the cleat you are installing that helps set the screw height and spacing. That will result in a better looking install and help remove the frustration of missing a stud.

    Use some good quality torx drive screws as it takes a decent amout of twist to screw through the cleat and the stud. I used some 3" long screws from Menards.

Jake
 
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Cannonball55

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looking good! I think everyone on here knows the feeling of turning a weekend project into a complete overhaul... garages, projects, cars, bikes, etc... lol

Interested in seeing how the cleats work out, i've seen a few others doing similar cleats and have seen them in a few magazines, I'd like to know how practicality plays into the use. i feel like i'd knock them off if i bumped them. (the hanger part not the wall part)
 
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Freejack

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Well we started to get things back in order. There is a ways to go to get to my final goal, but the foundation is set. Much of the work now involves creating fixtures to hold different items. Also going to create some wall mount cabinets and some movable peg-board sets.

Here is the garage getting close to done. Just have an old knock-down entertainment cabinet to dump, then some final cleanup. The little puddle is from the recent rain, need to replace the seal at the bottom of the garage door. You can also see my wonderful wife surveying the damage...er...progress.
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr
Garden tools are all off the floor now!
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Air hose and electric cord reels hung up. The area to the right will be used for a section of pegboard. On the left side you can see a corner of a couple presses (wardrobes) from a military academy dorm that I had gotten to store stuff. They are nice and heavy, but still take up a lot of space for what they can store. Those will eventually go away in favor of shelving and cabinets hung on that same wall.
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

The goal now is to get to a point where nothing is on the floor unless it's unavoidable (such as a floor jack). In addition anything that is not on the floor needs to be hanging at a level above the chair rail, especially in the area that car doors are opening to allow more freedom of movement around the garage.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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A bit more progress on the garage.

First, updated the lighting, installing some nicer T8 fixtures that match the theme of the garage. These had been hanging in the basement, but look nicer the garage. There had been some old T12 fixtures, but they were mismatched and all had bad bulbs (Note to self: paint the ceiling where the old fixtures were mounted).
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Also replaced all the outlet and switches with nice black fixtures and metal cover plate
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Finally, I had sold my radial arm saw, so I picked up a new toy over the weekend. The RAS is was a great tool and very useful, but just consumed way too much space and I ended up working on the table saw a lot. In keeping with the theme of keeping off the floor and as close to the wall as possible, this little Craftman slide saw has a novel slide design that allows it to be closer to the wall than most conventional slide saws. Now just need to build a mounting fixture for it.


Jake
 
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Freejack

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Realized I had not updated this in forever...

The garage is a long ways from "ideal", but over time I have slowly been building fixtures and such to better organize. Here are a few I've built:

Hung up the creepers
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr]

A couple hooks to hang a luggage rack
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Hooks for welding helmets
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Shelving for stuff I only use from time to time
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Hangers for clamps
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr


I just finished this one last night, a pegboard cabinet for tools I need to use on a regular basis.
Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Next project is a rack for hardware using Plano boxes.

Jake
 
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lonestarky

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Looks great. I have a french cleat system started in my garage as well. I admit though, I get tired of the fab work for all those hangars.

How does that shelf feel? I just grabbed brackets or bought HD L's for shelving rather than try to put it on the cleats, just because a bit of upward force can dislodge them. Maybe a lower lock plate like a roller coaster wheel on the bottom of the cleat?

6lobe drive with an impact driver on a 3" screw is the only way to do it. Screws are expensive though

The floor jack is the bane of my existence. Im constantly tripping over mine. I wish I could come up with a better way to store that 85lb monster . have you come up with anything?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
 
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Freejack

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I kinda like coming up with new little hanger ideas when I find something I need to get off the ground.

The shelf seems fine, if not a bit overloaded for the particular L-brackets I used. It feels plenty stable though and when pulling things off and on does not appear loosen at all. That said, if that is a concern, simply running a very small screw through the bracket and into a the cleat would be more than enough to ensure there was no further movement.

Those screws weren't too bad, IIRC a 5 lb box was around $15-20 and I still had plenty left, but they all drove in quickly and easily. I didn't even need an impact, just a standard Craftsman 18V cordless.

My ultimate goal is zero items on the floor (still a ways from that), but the floor jack is one I am just kinda resolving myself to being stuck on the floor.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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Made another storage cabinet this past weekend. This one is for oil change equipment and waste oil.

Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

The idea was to get a place where the drain plan could drip clean without becoming a dusty, oily mess. The funnels are all mounted so they are over the drip pan and it drains into the left waste-oil container. The foil pan is temporary until I find a metal pan that meets my needs.

The overall cabinet is about 37" x 19" x 13"

There is a second cabinet started that is the same size with a full door that will have shelves for oil storage. I'll post pictures when I get it done later this week.

Jake
 
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Freejack

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95% Finished with my second wall mount cabinet to complement the oil change cabinet. This cabinet will used to store oil, lube and the like.

Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

The plan is to bend some piano wire that would run across the shelving on the door to hold in the spray cans and such.

Here are the oil change and storage cabinets hung on the wall next to each other. These are to replace the Rubbermaid cabinet you see in the lower right. I still have a couple more to build so I can replace that cabinet completely, one for cleaning and detailing supplies and a second for general items.

Untitled by Jacob Schnarre, on Flickr

Jake
 
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monty007

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great work Jake. I really like the custom hooks. Did you bevel the boards with the 45 degree angle or bought it like that?
 
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dave*99

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Nice job indeed. One thought on the very first photo: Kindly ask you wife to be careful on that stepladder. Some stable footwear and not turning around on the ladder will keep her nice and safe.
 
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