WxDude's One Car Garage

[WxDude10]

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking around GJ for a year or two looking for ideas on what I would like to do to my garage to make it into a workspace for myself. I've finally gotten to a point that I can start to work on my garage and this build thread will document how it is progressing.

As it goes without saying, Jack Olsen's amazing 12 Gauge Garage has been a source of inspiration and introduced me to GJ. I am also taking inspiration from Fergus' Derelict Garage, JeremyBurke's Hodgepodge Garage and Mr. 360's fantastic one car Workshop 88 among many other builds and thread here. I don't even claim to have as much talent as these guys have in their little finger, but you don't learn without trying.

So, my humble little garage is a 13.5' x 21.25' one car attached garage. My house was originally built with only a single attached garage, and then a prior owner added a second attached one car on the side. I will be using the original bay for my shop. It has 9' ceilings and is a pretty blank slate.

So before I go any further, here is a shot of what I am starting with:



My plans are to be able to do both woodworking and some auto work in my shop. I have three boys (12 year old twins and an 8 year old) who have expressed a lot of interest in getting a project car with dad and having some fun working on it.

Things that I need to do, in no particular order:

1. Get some better lighting - Currently have the opener light and a single 100 watt ceramic based bulb
2. Get some additional electrical outlets - only one outlet near the door to the house.
3. Need to get a permanent outlet for the door opener rather than the extension cord the previous owners ran up from the single wall outlet
4. Clean out the junk - I need to get my car in here when there is going to be snow.
5. Build a solid workbench on back wall with storage for tools
6. Build one of Jack's fold down workbench's on the right side for outfeed support for table saw
7. Clean up and get my table saw running
8. And I am sure the list will grow from here

So, here are a few more pics to show where I am starting from.

Here's the lovely single outlet I have:



Back wall where I plan to put the workbench. On the side wall with the window, I am planing on putting the fold down bench where the pegboard currently resides. The pegboard with the cake pans will be moving to the other side of the wall (Mrs. WxDude's garage) during the project.




And here's the lovely garage door. This will probably get replaced in the future with something nicer with some windows for some natural light.



I'm working on a layout plan of the garage. Not familiar with sketchup, so I trying to figure it out or find something a little easier.

And for the fun stuff, here is the table saw I picked up last year on CL:



It's a Delta 10" Contractor saw (34-444) with a 1.5 HP motor. Needs a bit of cleaning, some lubrication, some paint, and a tune-up. It's my first saw. I think it should be a good start. Got it for $40 or $50. I'll need a blade(s). I got the link belt and a replacement pulley.

I also picked this up from a listing in the CL find thread (Thanks again SRX).



I don't know the brand or manufacture of the cabinet. It is 24"w x 22"d x 35.5" h. The machine shop I got it from had a bunch of other cabinets (18" and 24" wide), but I don't have enough space for more cabinets. Paid $70 for the cabinet.

So, after a little bit of cleaning and reorganizing, here is where I am at:



I'll stop here for tonight.

 

[captain14]

Ok do you have a shed for all the bikes and yard tools to live in? Post your location so if you have a question someone local maybe able to get you an answer.

Keep plugging away and post your progress . Outside shot of both garages?

 

[WxDude10]

Captain14,

I have a small shed in my back yard. It stores most of the outdoor furniture/tools. I tried to store the bikes out there too, but what happens is that the kids take their bikes from the shed and then leave them in the garage. Its a losing battle.

I didn't post all of the pictures, but here is what I did do to deal with the bikes.

Before:



After:



I'll take my better camera out there tomorrow and try to get a few more pictures. I also moved the stand of the sports equipment into a corner in the other garage.

I'm from Chelmsford, MA, a suburb to the NNW of Boston about 2/3rds of the way to NH. I'm trying to do this without breaking the bank. We've been in our house for a little over 2 years, and I had to promise Mrs. WxDude that I would finish off our basement before I could work on the garage. I got it 95+% of the way there (need to trim out a few windows and 2 pieces of baseboard by a door). To finish the last few things, I need a workspace and my table saw to complete the window work. So... I get to start the garage.

Workbench thoughts.. Anyone please chime in with any recommendations/thoughts as it is greatly appreciated.

I loved the top that JeremyBurke did with the milled barn timbers.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4168431&postcount=125

My dad has a bunch of old timbers from an old barn that was torn down over 40 years ago in the NJ/PA area. Don't know the type of wood. He built a bar/shelves in a corner of their basement when we lived in NJ with the timbers. He brought rest of them with us 30 years ago when we moved up to MA, used 2 of them to make a mantle. He still has a bunch of them in their garage. I was thinking of taking some and making a ~10ft long, 30" deep top for the main workbench.

I would like to have the 8 drawer cabinet at one end and the bottom 5-drawer Craftsman chest at the other. The height of the bench would be enough for me to store the table saw underneath main bench when not in use. I'm pretty sure I am going to have to build the structure to support the top as the 8-drawer and 5-drawer are not the same height. I'll definitely have some flexibility in the layout of the drawers.

I go back and forth about maybe doing a ReStore solid door special or a stack of 3/4 plywood for the top too. I've seen some really nice looking tops in both of those styles, but the barn timbers would be both a new challenge for me and a bit unique.

 

[captain14]

Can you build a frame under the shorter box to even the height of the two boxes? Or add a set of Drawers on top of the shorter box? If high look for the derelict garage thread, Fergie did this to the top of some cabinets to make a one level workbench top.

 

[stealthmagic27]

hey welcome! I'm pretty new here also. But im actually working on my 12 x 24 so i feel ya with the space. cant wait to see how ya make out! Im in RI!

 

[OJ Bartley]

WxDude, it sounds like we have similar ideas. I just finished my floor, and next comes more lighting, more power, more storage, and a bench.

I think for your bench, you could go with any of your proposed options... 1) the reclaimed barn wood sounds like it would be a really cool unique top, but might be fairly involved to do. 2) Reclaimed solid core door is a great option if you can source enough to cover the area you want. I have a couple that I'm going to use, to which I'll add a removable sacrificial 1/4" hardboard top layer. 3) dual layers of either plywood or MDF would give you enough strength for most projects you would encounter, and are probably the easiest IMO. You just have to pick your level of cost/complexity/availability and go with one.

Great score on the old Delta! I have a rescued old Rockwell Beaver, and I plan to tuck it under the bench as well. I've done a lot of playing around with sketchup, and here's one of the recent versions.

You'll have the 2 cabinets on either end, but it sounds similar. I would probably frame the bench first, make sure the saw has clearance, and then build in each cabinet as needed. You don't have to use them as structural support. I'd argue that you're better off not having them structural, just to keep them a little safer.