Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Woody's Works Garage

[Xporter]

Very nice transformation!

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: I've figured out that you just won't rest so best of luck with the Audi repairs. the floor looks amazing and I for one don't think you need tile or wood to add to the top of it. sure it will get a little dirty if you work in there because it's a garage, but i'm guessing you'll find something to lay down on the floor to catch all the fluids and junk so the girls and dad can still have their dance floor.

cheers and always a pleasure watching you finish another piece of you garage puzzle.

since you are not really resting can you show us what you put up in the cabinets or do you still need to buy more tools and supplies to fill them up?

 

[Denwood]

XP, thanks for your comment

Drive, the storage is more or less full up on the south side, about half used on the north. Lower cabinets have frequently used items, all of my automotive painting stuff, lubricants fasteners etc. Upper storage has everything from my bench saw, metal cutoff saw, powder coat kit, house wiring bits etc. I'm slowly going through upper cabinet stuff to organize and clean. I'll take a few pics. Here are the pics again as we've rolled a new page

The Increte Stain-Sealer I used required 4 1/2 gallons, three coats to completely "hide" the concrete. The slab was very thirsty after the floor grind and really sucked up the sealer-stain nicely. It was solvent based, however water base is an option. Water base would have likely performed poorly as slab temps at edge were just above freezing. The finish is surprising hard, allowing me to roll the MaxJax columns back into place without marking the floor after only 8 hrs drying. Increte suggests 48 hrs before driving on it.

Before (October 2014):

February 2015:

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: all i can say is WOW. you can pat yourself on the back from me and probably anybody else viewing your thread and i think you are up to around 50,000 views now.

Happy to hear you like the finish on the floor and it looks great.

 

[Denwood]

Big D, thank you sir. One more day of letting the floor cure (still smells like xylene in there!) and the Audi will be in on the hoist.

I've seen mention of Racedeck freeflow being used as a parking pad, and this makes a bit of sense to me. Just got some samples of their Free Flow floor and am liking them. A drain thru pad is a lot less expensive than the full treatment but would manage the sand/gravel/salt from melting snow.

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: that race deck would look pretty nice in your garage. what is the cost per square foot? Picture of the race deck probably looks even better with that new Range Rover sitting on it.

are you thinking just about that size and with your Max Jax in the middle of it?

BTW if your new floor gets wet is it pretty slick? the other option we haven't talked about in a while are those 3/4 inch thick rubber horse mats that come in 4 x 6 foot or 5 x 7's. Rubber probably a lot cheaper, but doesn't have the look of that race deck.

 

[bj383ss]

That looks fantastic!!!

 

[dubber]

Yes!

 

[slidemx5]

Woody,

Your floor looks amazing! I'm in awe. It makes me want to look at increte for my floor when it gets a bit warmer and I'm ready to do it.

Do you mind if I ask where you got your medium/tall jackstands that are on your slatboard, as well as the medium-ish oil/fluid vessel that looks to be on wheels? I've seen much taller (too tall) versions of them but never the 36" or there abouts height like you've got.

thanks,

 

[arz71]

XP, thanks for your comment

Drive, the storage is more or less full up on the south side, about half used on the north. Lower cabinets have frequently used items, all of my automotive painting stuff, lubricants fasteners etc. Upper storage has everything from my bench saw, metal cutoff saw, powder coat kit, house wiring bits etc. I'm slowly going through upper cabinet stuff to organize and clean. I'll take a few pics. Here are the pics again as we've rolled a new page

The Increte Stain-Sealer I used required 4 1/2 gallons, three coats to completely "hide" the concrete. The slab was very thirsty after the floor grind and really sucked up the sealer-stain nicely. It was solvent based, however water base is an option. Water base would have likely performed poorly as slab temps at edge were just above freezing. The finish is surprising hard, allowing me to roll the MaxJax columns back into place without marking the floor after only 8 hrs drying. Increte suggests 48 hrs before driving on it.

Before (October 2014):

February 2015:

Looks GREAT, was your concrete floor stained with oil/grease before you sealed it?

Also, on the cabinets did you have them built or did you do it yourself.

AWESOME looking!

 

[Denwood]

Drive, I did a fair bit of online research on the horse mats. If they interlocks and had a grid pattern to allow sand/gravel to drop in I would go that way. I figure Racedeck would sell some more free flow floor if they did the parking mat idea but added water containment so water was trapped in the pad. For snow slush containment in our frigid winter that would actually work best in garages like mine with no drain.

The floor when wet is actually just fine, mostly because the sealer was sucked right into the concrete. Even after grinding, the concrete still has a lot of texture. This would be the key important difference between epoxy (where the structure would have been filled completely) and the sealer applied in three thin coats. I did 4500 square feet in epoxy at Cinevate (applied by yours truly with one of my crew)) so the difference is pretty clear.
With some structure left by the sealer, my slab is fine when wet. With a very smooth new finished slab, Increte has a non skid additive you would want to add to your final coat.

BJ, thanks Dub, I knew you'd be happy to see RD in this thread..your floor seems to work great with the Ontario road slop.

Slide, the stands and oil drain came from gregsmithequipment. In Canada I had to order via Atlas Equipment out of Calgary. I'll edit this with links:

Stands 30" to 53"@$59 : http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/2-Ton-Tripod-Stand-SHORT

The adjustable oil drain: http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/8-Gallon-Oil-Drain

Arz, the lower cabinets are all el cheapo Home depot 30x33. The upper stuff is all built by me as the angles and sizes are all unique. Build details are back a few pages in this thread. Upper basically is all 3/4 birch, 24" deep supported by uni-strut. The sliding doors are just 1/4 white hardboard sliding in plastic track. The hardest part of the upper angled storage was ripping an angled support for the track that was dadoed on one side to fit into the plywood, and then dadoed at 15 degrees on the other side to support the sliding track.

The floor is likely 20-30 yrs old and stained with pretty much everything you could dream of. That would include overspray from about 5 automotive paint jobs. Grinding it worked very well as prep. It's very cold and no drain..so prep was grinding and vacuum..that's it. The Increte sealer stain in solvent flavor uses xylene as a main carrier which will dissolve tar, oil etc. I would only use the water base version in a warm climate where the slab surface was over 55F. Solvent base would be much safer to use where oil stains were deep and persistent.

 

[slidemx5]

thanks!

 

[Denwood]

You're welcome I should mention for anyone in Canada looking to purchase the short stands and/or short oil drain setup from Greg Smith Equipment, you'll need to contact the folks below. They were excellent to deal with.

ATLAS Automotive Equipment of CANADA, operated by DirectShops
11, 4905 - 102 Ave SE | Calgary | Alberta | Canada | T2C 2X7
866.284.8604
[email protected]

 

[JohnnieMo]

You're welcome I should mention for anyone in Canada looking to purchase the short stands and/or short oil drain setup from Greg Smith Equipment, you'll need to contact the folks below. They were excellent to deal with.

ATLAS Automotive Equipment of CANADA, operated by DirectShops
11, 4905 - 102 Ave SE | Calgary | Alberta | Canada | T2C 2X7
866.284.8604
[email protected]

I'm all over this. Thanks for the link. I'm looking at a 4 post lift and they have some nice options. As much as I like the MaxJax, I think I'm leaning towards 4 post.

 

[Paul_VR6]

Re: Woody's Works Garage - rebirth!

Havent checked on this thread in awhile and I have to say I am floored by the progress. Well done.

 

[Denwood]

Johnnie, glad the info is useful. If I had more room (and a supercar to store!!) I would have gone four post too. Paul, thanks for checking in. I've got some VAG love coming for you shortly

Happy wife, happy life is how the saying goes, right? Appropriately, the first "Works" house guest is the Missus mobile. -20C tonight but she will have a clean and serviced ride, pre-warmed for the morning drive to work. It will this vehicle's first hoist lift too.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Great project. Great thread. *****!

 

[Denwood]

Thanks Bib

A quick thank you to Matthew and the support crew at Maxjax (Danmar) for sending out a bit of swag. The fender gripper is a nice addition to the garage..and works as advertised. My little one spent nearly an hour in the shop helping to clean up the missus mobile. The "Manspace" graphic might need an edit to the effect "Man and tool crazy 6 yr old daughter space".

 

[Denwood]

Seems rather trivial, but my wife (nor I) have ever had a warm car on a winter morning. It was -28C last night! After a brief tutorial with my wife on what to do with the roll up door operator remote, she got away this morning without incident. In fact, I got a phone call asking why her car was so warm (I love my wife dearly, but her understanding of mechanical things is, well, not so good and could she park there again tonight? Like I said earlier...Happy wife, mission accomplished.

 

[memphisnate]

Now, you can let her enjoy the warm car for week then "have to" put her car outside for some reason for a few days...then you can start planning that addition easily

 

[Denwood]

Brilliant!

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: your 9 year old Honda CRV practically looks new. how do you manage that especially since the snow and road sand and salt must be awful this time of year?

i knew i liked your choices because I've owned 4 CRV's and helped my daughter buy another one a couple years after she totaled my first one. i bought a 98 EX new and gave to my 16 year old daughter with 125,000 on it in 2004 and she totaled it two years later with 150,000 on it. She flipped it and her and her friend crawled out without a scratch.

I bought my wife's 2006 SE new that now has 150,000 on it and looks great (charcoal), but not nearly as nice as your wife's 2006 SE. then i bought a 98 LX with a manual for me with a 100,000 on it and gave up my ailing 1999 Infinity Q45. I sold that 98 last year with 220,000 for same price i paid for it. I bought a 2001 SE for my son with 100,000 on it in 2006 and he ran over another car's parts on the road and totaled it with 180,000 on it last year. then helped daughter buy a 2001 SE that had 100,000 on it and she just sold it with 200,000 on it.

I now own a 2003 Honda Pilot EXL and i'd exchange it for a CRV in a heartbeat.

Sorry for the long CRV post and just saying not only that your wife's car is in amazing condition, but that it might last her another 100 or 200,000 especially with you taking care of it.

cheers and i do like the bumper mat and cute how your little girl might be the mechanic in the family some day.

 

[Denwood]

Drive, we bought the Honda new in 2003, so it's actually 12 yrs old Yes, it does see salt every winter, however it's original paint, and very clean in terms of rust. Without question, it's the best vehicle we've ever owned. This is coming from a guy who's been wrenching for 35 yrs now...it's very well built and designed. The Honda doesn't get washed often in the winter, and also has been outside (until now, ha) all winter. The shop heat will be off generally, so my goal would actually to have the shop temps remain below freezing as a warm garage means more rust with active salt. Salt isn't doing much at -28C..it's very active at 0C though.

In terms of why it's in such good shape, I'd say it's just regular maintenance. I'm a bit of a tech nerd when it comes to corrosion, so have two pressurized cavity guns (and attachments), and a variety of materials to spray onto the undercarriage and into body cavities. This thread over at thesamba is more or less an online research project evaluating long term real world results with various corrosion control products. You'll definitely see some of this stuff in this thread in the very near future as my Audi will be getting a very thorough treatment.

In terms of paint, having done a few paint jobs in the shop, I've had to get comfortable with color sanding. Every 2 years or so I go over the Honda with 3M Glassurit and polishing pads (various compounds and polishing wheels depending on condition) to clean up the paint. It get's a wax once or twice a year..that's it. I give it a thorough clean every 4-5 months. The Honda is the first (and only) vehicle we ever had from new, so it's been nice to be able to manage maintenance from time zero.

I have to say, the blue "pops" in the very bright shop

 

[1/2 Cup]

Drive, we bought the Honda new in 2003, so it's actually 12 yrs old Yes, it does see salt every winter, however it's original paint, and very clean in terms of rust. Without question, it's the best vehicle we've ever owned. This is coming from a guy who's been wrenching for 35 yrs now...it's very well built and designed. The Honda doesn't get washed often in the winter, and also has been outside (until now, ha) all winter. The shop heat will be off generally, so my goal would actually to have the shop temps remain below freezing as a warm garage means more rust with active salt. Salt isn't doing much at -28C..it's very active at 0C though.

In terms of why it's in such good shape, I'd say it's just regular maintenance. I'm a bit of a tech nerd when it comes to corrosion, so have two pressurized cavity guns (and attachments), and a variety of materials to spray onto the undercarriage and into body cavities. This thread over at thesamba is more or less an online research project evaluating long term real world results with various corrosion control products. You'll definitely see some of this stuff in this thread in the very near future as my Audi will be getting a very thorough treatment.

In terms of paint, having done a few paint jobs in the shop, I've had to get comfortable with color sanding. Every 2 years or so I go over the Honda with 3M Glassurit and polishing pads (various compounds and polishing wheels depending on condition) to clean up the paint. It get's a wax once or twice a year..that's it. I give it a thorough clean every 4-5 months. The Honda is the first (and only) vehicle we ever had from new, so it's been nice to be able to manage maintenance from time zero.

I have to say, the blue "pops" in the very bright shop

Mrs 1/2 Cup had the exact same CRV a few years ago, they are a great car.

My sister worked at Honda and it was her company car, Honda turned there employee cars over every six months and family could purchase them.

Regards

 

[Denwood]

1/2, we'll likely replace this one with the newer version as well. The car is in such good shape though after 13 yrs, there's no reason for a new one quite yet.

The floor sealer over my old/nasty (but ground) slab cleans up very nicely. A quick damp mop (I guess I'll need a garage mop!) and the floor was pristine again after the snow/salt/sand of day 1. I'll definitely need to sort some kind of free flow/water management scheme though as I have no intention of cleaning it every day

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: well you sir keep up an old car like it might be your last and it shows. i like the first Honda CRV's from 1997-2001 maybe the best, but that next generation is hard to beat. i'm sure Honda has a lot of nice improvements in the newer ones, but i'm still looking for another first generation one to replace my Pilot that gets terrible gas mileage and has all kinds of little sounds i never had in the CRV. i'd even consider taking a drive to Ontario to buy yours if it comes up for sale.

you mean you don't want to spend 30 minutes to an hour cleaning up that awesome shop every day? i guess you do still have a shed to build and a kitchen to remodel besides your daily chores at your company. Oh and don't forget your mechanic and horse training duties.

keep up the great posts and progress. if you get a minute check out what i found yesterday for a couple vise or grinder stands and maybe this thread as a few good ideas for your shop/garage.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=252799&page=2 on post #137 are a couple small pieces of steel that are now mine.

1/2: i have yet to meet a CRV owner i didn't like and happy to know you were one of them too. cheers mate and how is the elbow?

 

[zoomzoomjeff]

Denwood, I subscribed to this thread since almost the beginning but haven't kept up for the past few months due to some family medical stuff. WHOA! What I've missed. The cabinets up top and the white paint and the floor sealant really pop that whole place out!

BTW, did you change your avatar? I'm used to looking at a proud dad with 2 daughters, IIRC.

 

[dubber]

Drive, we bought the Honda new in 2003, so it's actually 12 yrs old Yes, it does see salt every winter, however it's original paint, and very clean in terms of rust. Without question, it's the best vehicle we've ever owned. This is coming from a guy who's been wrenching for 35 yrs now...it's very well built and designed. The Honda doesn't get washed often in the winter, and also has been outside (until now, ha) all winter. The shop heat will be off generally, so my goal would actually to have the shop temps remain below freezing as a warm garage means more rust with active salt. Salt isn't doing much at -28C..it's very active at 0C though.

This is what really annoys me. I want to add heat to the garage but it doesn't seem worth it parking my daily car which gets winter driven in there. The garage definitely helps as is, experiencing same temps as you of waking up to -28 and its about -4 in the garage. Salt is the devil! Well except in my food

 

[Denwood]

Zoom, thanks is for checking back in. It's been a journey for sure. The white floor was the missing piece. With no floor drain and snow/salt crusted car in once overnight, I'd say there was 2 gallons of salty water to clean up. I'm working on a containment solution. I did change up the a avatar, but the new serious pic is, well too serious

Dub, there is a lot of evidence to support the practice of parking outside in winter where salt is used. It's likely one of the reasons the vehicles are in such good shape. The shop is normally not heated, but like yours is still much warmer than outside. The colder the car is, the less active any chemical corrosion will be.

We may very well use the shop only for post-wash drying in the winter, and continue parking outside. When it's -25C, we simply don't wash the cars. I'm pretty sure energy wise that the 2 hrs the cars see in the morning on timed block heater is a lot less energy than heating the shop.

 

[Denwood]

I had a question on upper storage access at thesamba..something not mentioned too often.

Hanging on the slatwall, by the toolboxes is my goto for upper cabinet access. It's very light, but rated to 350lbs.

 

[kawtoy]

Lots of pages so maybe I missed it but how did you make your sliding doors on the shelves? Did you buy the rails or make them? I am planning on doing the same thing and figured on using a dado blade to cut the grooves for the thin doors to slide in. If there is a track system available I would be interested. Garage looks really nice.

 

[Denwood]

Kaw, I found plastic track in sets of 2, 8' long for sliding panels locally at Windsor plywood. The track itself is perfect for the 1/4" white hardboard panels. You could likely just dado slots which would work just fine. Make sure your top slot is deeper than the bottom so you can insert the door panels. I'll take a few pics of my setup and post them for you.

 

[Badd Andy]

again, I can't believe the transformation from the before to after. Great job!

 

[Denwood]

Thanks Andy. Now I need to put it to use The day job will be a necessary distraction for the next few weeks :-(

 

[Sunbimmer]

Fantastic work on your garage it is high on my list of favorites. Love everything about it. It's very bright, you can never have enough light.
One of the best transformations on this board in my opinion, I mean look at the before and after pics......wow

 

[1/2 Cup]

Fantastic work on your garage it is high on my list of favorites. Love everything about it. It's very bright, you can never have enough light.
One of the best transformations on this board in my opinion, I mean look at the before and after pics......wow

I have to second that Hugo.

Regards

P.S. the elbow is still giving me heaps, ultrasound on Thursday..

 

[ajohno]

What a fanatic job you have done.
Thanks very much for sharing.

 

[Denwood]

Sunbin, very kind words indeed. I figure this forum had lots to do with the outcome

1/2, good luck with the elbow. The elbow combined with prodigious grease is the cornerstone of every shop!

Aaron, you're welcome. The sharing is an attempt to return some of the ideas to the collective. A fair bit more to come, but work travel has conspired against me...

 

[Denwood]

Cutest cell phone vid ever? A penguin at work in my absence...and why I need to sort out snow melt management! What you see is just one night worth of melt from the missus-mobile. Garage heat is off, but the car is bringing in enough heat to melt! The "penguin" also discusses its favourite features of the new shop

A busy week in New York, but clips like this sure remind one of what's important in life.

 

[Denwood]

Finally, the shop is at work. Diesel 60K service (DSG transmission service, oil change, fuel filters, etc. including the required laptop interface and software. Let's see how clean it stays

Here's the pic from October 2014:

And tonight...

Free beer if you can pronounce this word...

A3 TDI diesel oil change at 60000 kms
A3 TDI diesel DSG oil change and service at 60000 kms