What Cool/Tricky Garage Features Do You Have?

[gumbudah]

I'm building my garage, and I kinda want to push it over the top as far as the "features". I want people to say "hmmm I havn't seen that in a garage before"... I've got a couple of features like this so far, but want some more ideas!!!
Some of the stuff I have:
-Liftmaster 3800 jackshaft garage door opener
-Single tube garage door hangers
-retractable air hose/cord/lights embedded in ceiling
-in wall air outlets
-in floor car lift
-lotsa steel cabinets

So please post what you have for "trick" features or some ideas pleeeeease!!!

 

[ZRX61]

gas chamber/electric chair?


Yanno, to deter people borrowing tools..

 

[autoclassicnut]

Stripper pole ???

 

[gumbudah]

oddly enough, I have an area where I'm considering putting a "firemans" pole.

 

[srmofo]

I know it looks cleaner to have stuff (reels especially)behind the walls, but if you plan on actually using the stuff, you will regret it later. They do require maintance from time to time especially if used frequently.

Also with an inground lift you will run into alot of complications with the epa if you plan on doing this legit. The inspector is going to ask what the giant pit in the center of your floor is for, so I dont really think there i a way around it.

Personally all that I require is good lighting, clean work surfaces, and some tunes to break up the quiet. To each their own, I guess.....and my 2 liftmaster 3800. Those free up so much ceiling space, that its stupid not to have them

 

[DHCrocks]

put lights on your walls. this is one thing I wish I did, a lot of times light from above is just not enough and it would be nice to have them on the walls. I'm thinking a double row of flourescents, one at knee height and other at shoulder height should do the trick.

 

[Joe B.]

Exterior air line hookup. Exterior hot and cold water faucets.

 

[gumbudah]

I'll have access to the reels from the mancave in the attic. the pits in the floor is 1.5' deep, and residential. Veery slim likelihood of epa snoopin around. As far as the air and water lines, I'd planned on both.
Lights on the wall sounds cool, but all my wall space will be chewed up... Maybe on the inside of the gruj door. Keep the ideas coming!

 

[bobadame]

I'm thinking about a mural on the inside of the garage door, and a gantry crane.

 

[Steve from Socal]

Pull pots in the floor with covers.

Steve

 

[KCarGuy]

Lets see, here is what I have done;
Compressor is in its own room...
Auto Bleed for water-build-up...
Air lines, run around Garage with multiple drops, shut-offs and regulators
Ceiling has Air-hose Reel...
Good HO Ceiling Lighting...
Speakers in the ceiling...
Auto Stereo CD with MP3 hook-up mounted in 1957 dash on the wall...
Ceiling Fan...
75,000 BTU gas Furnace...
Drywall and Insulation...
Good work bench...
Lots of wall Cabinets...
Lots of Tool Boxes, Carts and Cabinets...
Land Line Wall Phone...
TV mounted on the wall with a swivel...
Cable to TV...
Steel tanker Desk...
Computer with Flat screen Monitor on Desk...
4 Drawer File Cabinet with Car, Bike and truck magazines...
Lots of Peg-board on walls and above Garage Doors...
220V Lincoln mig welder...
lots of outlets, 220 and 110 around garage and above workbench...
Exhaust fan...
Clock...
Sandblasting Cabinet...
Combustable Storage Cabinet...
Electric winch mounted in floor under staircase for pulling in cars, or trucks...
Fold up engine hoist...
engine stand...
Creeper...
Roll around seat...
Jack stands...
Floor Jacks...
Screens from an old Pop-up gazebo mounted on 3/4" pipe across each garage door...
Upstairs loft-poker room-stereo-Bar-Fridge-Air Conditioning-Cigar-Chill Room.

I need a Sink, running water, and a wall mounted Urinal and I will be one very happy Man!

 

[Sin]

Lets see, here is what I have done;
Compressor is in its own room...
Auto Bleed for water-build-up...
Air lines, run around Garage with multiple drops, shut-offs and regulators
Ceiling has Air-hose Reel...
Good HO Ceiling Lighting...
Speakers in the ceiling...
Auto Stereo CD with MP3 hook-up mounted in 1957 dash on the wall...
Ceiling Fan...
75,000 BTU gas Furnace...
Drywall and Insulation...
Good work bench...
Lots of wall Cabinets...
Lots of Tool Boxes, Carts and Cabinets...
Land Line Wall Phone...
TV mounted on the wall with a swivel...
Cable to TV...
Steel tanker Desk...
Computer with Flat screen Monitor on Desk...
4 Drawer File Cabinet with Car, Bike and truck magazines...
Lots of Peg-board on walls and above Garage Doors...
220V Lincoln mig welder...
lots of outlets, 220 and 110 around garage and above workbench...
Exhaust fan...
Clock...
Sandblasting Cabinet...
Combustable Storage Cabinet...
Electric winch mounted in floor under staircase for pulling in cars, or trucks...
Fold up engine hoist...
engine stand...
Creeper...
Roll around seat...
Jack stands...
Floor Jacks...
Screens from an old Pop-up gazebo mounted on 3/4" pipe across each garage door...
Upstairs loft-poker room-stereo-Bar-Fridge-Air Conditioning-Cigar-Chill Room.

I need a Sink, running water, and a wall mounted Urinal and I will be one very happy Man!

Do you have any pics of your garage?

 

[Nuts]

I have four I beams buried flush with the concrete floor.
They are attached to the ground for the welder,
and can have tabs welded to them for straightening frames.


Nuts

 

[hook982]

Do you have any pics of your garage?

+1...........

 

[s_morrison57]

full bath room and urinal, cable tv, phone line, beer fridge

 

[TheShrine]

I wish I had put lights in the floor under my lift!

 

[BillGalbraith]

I wish I had put lights in the floor under my lift!

I've used a 4 foot florescent light on an extension cord under my car in the past. It gets al ittle greasy, but it's really nice to have, and can be moved for optimal effect.

 

[sberry]

Plumbed in hot hi pressure washer.

 

[toxicz28]

I have four I beams buried flush with the concrete floor.
They are attached to the ground for the welder,
and can have tabs welded to them for straightening frames.


Nuts

I like that idea!!!

 

[82_454_shorty]

I've got a pully mounted to the back wall in the center. I use it to pull dead vehicles in. I run the cable from the winch on my jeep through 1 door, through the pulley and then back out the other door and hook it onto whatever I am pulling in.

 

[tkiranch]

47" flat screen mounted on the Wall in front of the wide bay, computer hook up to it, satelite TV hook up, waiting for OBDII computer hook up, so I can run diagnostics and use the big screen. garage furnace, Oak cabinets, waiting on the right chair, I use a folding chair right now. I also have a single bay/ wash bay.
Still need to put in the Air lines, Ham Radio, and I just finished the Alarm system on the Garage/ house along with surveylance camera's.

 

[IH82BL8]

Not reiterating and previously mentioned items that I may or may not have:

Tire storage rack near the ceiling
Air compressor in the basement, piped through and controlled with a wall switch in the garage
Two drop lights (with electrical outlets) hung from the ceiling on retractable reels

I'll think of more later.

 

[Jim Stabe]

A back saving crane, about 800 lb capacity

 

[DavidTK]

My favorite feature of my 1200 square foot attached garage is a dedicated central A/C system. The house has 2 units, and the garage has its own. The garage is also fully insulated. It's hard to imagine working in the Texas heat any other way.

 

[KCarGuy]

I will get some new Pics together, the only camera that I have right now is an old "Floppy Disc" Sony Camera. It takes Kinda Crappy Photos.
I do have a Canon Digital Camera that (for some odd reason) I cannot find.
Once I find it, I'll take some decent Photos of My "Man Cave".

I would love Higher Ceilings, heated floor, a deck with french doors off the front of the second floor, 6" walls, a second ceiling fan, a shed, a deeper footprint and a Bathroom.

Some of the Garages here are amazing, the design, the size, the ideas...I have tapped into a few ideas that I have seen here myself.

 

[gumbudah]

wow lots of ideas. I'm getting an in floor lift (Supposedly I can pick it up monday, yay). I like the lights under the lift idea, so I'm thinking of mounting some flexible reading lights of some type to the underside of the lift, so when it is up, I can pull them out, and when I put it down, I push (tuck) them back in/under the lift so when they retract into the floor, they can't be seen.

 

[ket-tek]

Having an exterior attached shed for the air compressor in my new garage made an enormous impact on enjoying the garage..

I had always been used to it running in the same room, but once that noise is gone you won't miss it one bit!

 

[chadster1]

Exterior hot and cold water faucets.

A huge +1 on this. I have it and I love it.

 

[pgreen]

2 27" TVs
DirecTV Satellite TV
6.1 Surround Sound
XM Radio
Internet
Of course, the fridge
4-industrial ceiling fans
DEHUMIDIFIER! Works wonders in the summer

High Lift pallet jack - works like a portable car lift for race cars

Dual air compressors set at different startup pressures so the quieter one runs unless I need a lot of air, then the loud obnoxious one kicks in. Not in their own room (yet)..

 

[e-tek]

BEST, WORST AND IDEAS:

.....and my 2 liftmaster 3800. Those free up so much ceiling space, that its stupid not to have them

What the h3ll are you using the ceiling for?

put lights on your walls. this is one thing I wish I did, a lot of times light from above is just not enough and it would be nice to have them on the walls. I'm thinking a double row of flourescents, one at knee height and other at shoulder height should do the trick.

DEFINITELY! I rarely need a trouble light and they negate needing under lift lights!

Exterior air line hookup. Exterior hot and cold water faucets.

Air for sure.

Pull pots in the floor with covers.

Steve

Absolutely - in some form....I think 2"sq receivers are best - you can add posts to pull, to mount a vise/grinder/table/etc, or a winch....

I have four I beams buried flush with the concrete floor.
They are attached to the ground for the welder,
and can have tabs welded to them for straightening frames.
Nuts

Do you mean to ground the welder - Can you clarify for me?
I still think receivers and posts would be best for pulling on.

I've got a pully mounted to the back wall in the center. I use it to pull dead vehicles in. I run the cable from the winch on my jeep through 1 door, through the pulley and then back out the other door and hook it onto whatever I am pulling in.

Again - a total must have - I had to pull vehicles 10x in 2 years!

I will get some new Pics together, the only camera that I have right now is an old "Floppy Disc" Sony Camera. It takes Kinda Crappy Photos.
I do have a Canon Digital Camera that (for some odd reason) I cannot find.
Once I find it, I'll take some decent Photos of My "Man Cave".

Best-equipped garage, no camera???

Having an exterior attached shed for the air compressor in my new garage made an enormous impact on enjoying the garage..

Next on my list!

 

[oldwino]

some great ideas above...as a sports fan another is a dedicated circuit for the shop radio as florescents and AM radio don't mix. Gotta listen to the ball game when out in the cave

 

[ovilla]

I have an electric hoist in my garage attic mounted on 12' of linear barn door track.

 

[Nuts]

e-tek, my father put the rails in, so I don't know exactly how deep they are.
But they are either 6 or 8 in I beam, set down into the concrete so that they
are level with the floor, they have rebar welded to each that continues in the
concrete over to where the welder is located.
They are then wired to the ground cable to the welder, you can use either
the cable ground as normal or just have a metal contact to the buried rails.
No more dragging both welder leads.
With tabs welded to the rails you are using your floor weight to pull against
for frame straightening. A friend who runs a welding shop has 20inch beams
buried and has straightened truck frames, when you are done cut off the
welded tabs and grind the beam smooth ready for next time.

Clear as mud?

Leadfoot

 

[mad57]

Some form of spray booth either rolling or fixed one big enough for parts ect or a full car, if working on your cars hot rods ect you will need something.a dust collector for d/a s and such, out side recpticals and spot lights all around, inside exhaust fan to attic trusses, floor drain,car exhaust ports in garage doors, and a pay phone

 

[crewchief888]

Stripper pole ???

and whats a stripper pole, without strippers?

 

[boiler7904]

and whats a stripper pole, without strippers?

Useless and in the way.

 

[e-tek]

e-tek, my father put the rails in, so I don't know exactly how deep they are.
But they are either 6 or 8 in I beam, set down into the concrete so that they
are level with the floor, they have rebar welded to each that continues in the
concrete over to where the welder is located.
They are then wired to the ground cable to the welder, you can use either
the cable ground as normal or just have a metal contact to the buried rails.
No more dragging both welder leads.
With tabs welded to the rails you are using your floor weight to pull against
for frame straightening. A friend who runs a welding shop has 20inch beams
buried and has straightened truck frames, when you are done cut off the
welded tabs and grind the beam smooth ready for next time.

Clear as mud?

Leadfoot

Ahh-so. Thanks!

 

[Auzivision]

How about a Beer Fridge?

For some reason this always attracts the most attention in my garage.

 

[CLHC]

That beer fridge is impressive!!

 

[c_mccann]

Ceiling mounted curtains in a u shape in the corner to use as a semi-dust-free booth to varnish projects when needed. Halogen lights mounted in the ceiling for blinding light when needed.