Working With What I Have - 20' x 20' Bug House!

[joey1320]

After getting numerous quotes from garage builders, concrete, electric, insulation, plumbing companies and dealing with city ordinances, I have decided to forgo my desire to build a separate garage anytime soon (or ever) and just work with what I have - a 20' x 20' attached space.

After all was said and done I was going to be into a 24' x 32' garage for over $60K and I can't justify that, I truly can't. The crazy part is that my wife is on board with the cost if it means I get the garage I want. Am I crazy or stupid in not taking her advice?? Don't answer that

So with that out of the way, we move to plan B. Revamp the current space to be utilized properly, add onto the existing driveway for parking and build a lean to over new parking space since we are in Ohio (We wanted to do this anyway).

The garage will essentially be turned into a one car shop with a possibility for a second car storage depending on wall cabinetry.

Renovation Plan:

*Vault ceiling to be able to use scissor lift
*Garage door options for height clearance
*Recess lift into concrete
*Run water into garage
*Move all toys/freezer/garden tools out
*Tile floor (RaceDeck/similar)
*Cabinetry/Storage
*Paint/Decor
*Lighting
*Air supply

Hoping to keep the garage part under $7,500.

With all of this said, I would love to see small garages being utilized to the best of their abilities. I have seen the 12 Gauge garage and a few other well executed small spaces, but I will gladly welcome more examples.


This is what I currently working with. I know, sad.
Let's try to make it better!

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[kwyjibo]

Nice starting point. I probably ended my project with not much more space than you're starting with. Moving out the storage to a shed will really help.

Is that a Puma? if so, I've never seen one with wrap around tail lights

 

[joey1320]

Nice starting point. I probably ended my project with not much more space than you're starting with. Moving out the storage to a shed will really help.

Is that a Puma? if so, I've never seen one with wrap around tail lights

Thanks!

You are correct, it's a Puma. This one is a 1984. The P-018 model, with the Brazilia tail lights came out in 1982. It's a work in progress

 

[joey1320]

Finally had time to get some stuff situated and done.

Drove to Ikea and picked up cabinets and some other stuff. I also started getting the toolbox organize in order to move all the stuff from the walls and the two smaller boxes I currently have.


Moving stuff to make space to move more stuff.
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Cabinets.
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Painting the wall to match the doors on the main cabinets. Home Depot matched the Bodarp green from Ikea perfectly. The pic doesn't show it's true color and it makes the wall look horrible . It's way better in person.
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[AldeanFan]

20x20 is a good space you just need to focus on using it effectively.
My garage is 20x20, I’d love to have more but I love what I have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[joey1320]

20x20 is a good space you just need to focus on using it effectively.
My garage is 20x20, I’d love to have more but I love what I have.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think I have a good plan of attack. Main thing will be organization and moving all non-essentials out of the room. I will also be using it as a one car space in order to have more freedom of movement..

With the cabinets, tool box and new work bench, I think I'll be fine.

 

[joey1320]

Started hanging some of the Ikea cabinets last night. I used toggle bolts to hold them in place and they are solid. Haven't decided on what door knobs to use so right now they are knob-less


Sorry for the pictures, will get some during the day.

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[CombatNinja]

Why did you not use IKEA's rail mounting system? Super easy to do and allows you to move things around sort of at will in the future.

I like where you are headed with this project. I enjoy seeing someone work their 'normal person' garage to the hilt rather than follow a $500K+ garage build that I can't relate to.

 

[captain14]

What’s the status of the lean to that you posted about a couple of weeks ago?

Definitely get the shed in place to house all the non garage items so you don’t have to keep moving stuff.

 

[joey1320]

Why did you not use IKEA's rail mounting system? Super easy to do and allows you to move things around sort of at will in the future.

I like where you are headed with this project. I enjoy seeing someone work their 'normal person' garage to the hilt rather than follow a $500K+ garage build that I can't relate to.

The Knoxhult cabinets don't use the rail system. These are the cheaper ones and have a metal bracket with a hole for the bolts/screws. It was easy.

The Sektion cabinets use the rail system. Those will be used on the other two walls.

And thank you. I think it will be a nice, relaxing place to work on. I want to feel at peace while in there. I'll need to add some family items to bring in a more personal feel.

What’s the status of the lean to that you posted about a couple of weeks ago?

Definitely get the shed in place to house all the non garage items so you don’t have to keep moving stuff.

Waiting on approvals from the building department. They are supposedly backlogged due to everyone wanting to get stuff done around the house. I considered not getting permits but I'm on a historic road and only about a half mile from the mayor's office/city building ��

 

[joey1320]

My wife gave me these photos for Christmas and they fit perfectly in between the hubcaps. I hadn't even planned it like that. I'm happy when things work out.

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[joey1320]

I've had these Volkswagen lug bolt covers for about 10 years. I found them as I was moving a box while looking for the hammer to use to hang the pictures above.

I think I found my door knobs. I may paint them gray to match the doors, not sure yet. I'll also need to make my way to the hardware store to find nice/fancy screws or bolts to mount them with.

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[CombatNinja]

Nice! Any way to get power to those cabinets? Those VW schematic pics would look dope with some of IKEA's under cabinet LED spotlights on them. They consume like 2 watts so they make a nice nightlight without wasting a bunch of energy.

 

[joey1320]

Nice! Any way to get power to those cabinets? Those VW schematic pics would look dope with some of IKEA's under cabinet LED spotlights on them. They consume like 2 watts so they make a nice nightlight without wasting a bunch of energy.

Thanks!

I think that's a great idea.

Sure. There's actually a junction box about a foot from the last (or first ) cabinet which I plan on moving to install a wheel rack. I can pull from there. I also wanted to add a few outlets to the bottom half of that wall cause my toolbox and workbench are going to go under those cabinets..

You can see the box here.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=7701&pictureid=111268

 

[bugnut]

Joey, nice work on the cabinets and I am partial to the well placed pictures and hubcaps!

 

[joey1320]

Joey, nice work on the cabinets and I am partial to the well placed pictures and hubcaps!

Thanks ��


I had free time because I worked Saturday and had the day off, and the kids were at daycare/school. So clean, clean and more cleaning.

Moved all the garden tools to the shed. Moved kids stuff to the basement. Moved some house items to the "attic" above the garage ceiling. Moved. Moved. Moved.

I painted the whole side wall white to clean it up. It definitely made a difference.

Then I had enough space to put together the Husky accompanying workbench to the toolbox.

I'm now moving tools from the old toolbox and cart into the new one and organizing. I also added two of the cabinet knobs but I don't like the fact they are black, it just doesn't go with the color scheme, so I plan on painting them either gray or white. Not sure yet. I may try both and see which one I like better.

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I then added the Ikea Lista pegboard with a few different hooks/trays/containers.

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[joey1320]

Have done a few more things. Added the other cabinets and painted some walls. Slowly getting better.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Nice work so far, BUT.....what happened to vaulting the ceiling?

Wouldn't it have been better too get the demo and structural work done before starting on painting, cabinets, etc?

 

[Ak Jim]

Could you just add on to the existing garage? Might not get the full sqft you originally wanted but you could add some nice space with out spending as much.

 

[joey1320]

Nice work so far, BUT.....what happened to vaulting the ceiling?

Wouldn't it have been better too get the demo and structural work done before starting on painting, cabinets, etc?

Vaulting of the ceiling has been postponed. We are in talks with a company to do major renovations inside of the home so I've decided to just wait. We are also in talks of selling our rental property, so who knows, it may be sooner than later. Houses are selling like crazy around us so we are looking at a solid $75k+ in profits, so who knows.

Could you just add on to the existing garage? Might not get the full sqft you originally wanted but you could add some nice space with out spending as much.

Unfortunately that is not allowed. I asked. We are in a historic district and the front of the house can't change much, if at all, other than paint. I've spoken with the city planner about adding a parking pad next to the other side of the house and she seems positive about it but yeah, a whole addition to the garage is a big no




Well I have had some free time after the kids go to sleep and used it to clean, clean, clean and more cleaning.

I got rid of a bunch of stuff. Removed the shelves, painted the walls and installed the new cabinets.


Before-
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After (I removed the wood that I used to sit the cabinets while installing) -
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Door knobs. Hard to get a good pic but they say Volkswagen. I painted these ones gray to match the doors on the smaller cabinets.
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[joey1320]

Somewhat of a better picture of the knobs.

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[joey1320]

Picture of the cabinets with the knobs on. I noticed the picture on the previous page doesn't have them.

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[joey1320]

My cellphone camera does not do the paint color on the walls nor the cabinets any justice. With my phone it looks like a dark gray but in reality there's a green tint to it that makes them stand out.

Maybe once I add more lighting and use a better camera they'll come out better.

 

[Spider Curry]

I currently have a couple of steel medical records shelf units in my garage for storage of everything from small parts to detailing supplies to work shoes, and even though they do the job I'd like to have doors covering all the stuff so I don't see the chaos. Plus I'm out of room.
Between your DIY and what @CombatNinja said about doing an entire wall in IKEA, I think that would work for me.

My big ish is the reach-in depth. I'd prefer shallow cabinets : less weight per shelf, easier to find stuff, and it won't stick out of the wall so far that I can't get in between them and my parked cars.

Their site is really a PITA to use and my head hurts from staring at it all morning. What is the depth on the two different series of IKEA cabinets you have there?