Below 265 SQ/FT "you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

[old_smokey]

Make sure your uncle is invited over to consult ( hangout) after everything is up and working. I bet he’d enjoy getting out and about .

Excellent suggestion!

 

[kjdhawkhill]

Gym floor as shop floor! Paint me jealous-as-heck-green. Great job and I hope it holds up well for you. I've got a 6 year old working on her dribbling on the concrete in our basement, and the garage would be a really neat place to put in some gym floor.

And get that uncle in there for "consulting" as previously indicated.

 

[old_smokey]

Picked up some cleaning supplies and grease to restore the tool box. I hauled it home in pieces last night, along with most of my tools, two XT500s in boxes, and it’s all spread out across the floor.



In the mean time I gave myself a crash course on SketchUp. After a couple YouTube videos and some fumbling around I was able to mock-up the floor plan:









Gonna be squishy in there!

Today I placed an order for 1/8 thick cold rolled steel for the workbench top. I have about 1.5 weeks to get the base built up first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[C.L S2000]

Picked up some cleaning supplies and grease to restore the tool box. I hauled it home in pieces last night, along with most of my tools, two XT500s in boxes, and it’s all spread out across the floor.



In the mean time I gave myself a crash course on SketchUp. After a couple YouTube videos and some fumbling around I was able to mock-up the floor plan:









Gonna be squishy in there!

Today I placed an order for 1/8 thick cold rolled steel for the workbench top. I have about 1.5 weeks to get the base built up first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can I ask how much that was for the 1/8" bench topper ?? im thinking of doing the same thing...

 

[driftpin]

Picked up some cleaning supplies and grease to restore the tool box. I hauled it home in pieces last night, along with most of my tools, two XT500s in boxes, and it’s all spread out across the floor.



In the mean time I gave myself a crash course on SketchUp. After a couple YouTube videos and some fumbling around I was able to mock-up the floor plan:









Gonna be squishy in there!

Today I placed an order for 1/8 thick cold rolled steel for the workbench top. I have about 1.5 weeks to get the base built up first.

How-thick is your benchtop now? I suggest a minimum of 1-1/2" and securing the bench back legs to the wall securely. Also 1-1/2" or more, w/fender washers for the fasteners, to widen the bearing area.

 

[old_smokey]

$175 for 10 gauge 1/8” hot rolled steel, $260 for 16 gauge stainless steel. I don’t have the final quote for cold rolled 10 gauge.

$100 extra bucks for bending a 3” backsplash and 1.5” lip at the front regardless of which metal is used.

That’s for 90” wide, 30” deep, 3” backsplash, 1.5” front overhang.

Regarding the bench itself, I haven’t built it yet. But my plan was to make the top out of two pieces of 3/4” plywood with the steel on top. So that’s 1.5” of wood and 1/8 steel. Sound ok?

https://youtu.be/7BTtqT07GZY


Hope the link above works. I spent an hour replacing the slides in my uncle milt’s old snap on box, assembling the whole thing and starting to fill it up. It’s HEAVY! I can see the floor flex a little bit as I roll it!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JABgj]

Do you have any of the flooring left? Betcha that would be a nice bench top too.

 

[old_smokey]

I have a bunch actually, but I’ll be doing mostly small engine work in here. All that oil and chemicals would ruin the wood right away. I think a steel surface will be best for my purposes.

Maybe some shelving or something though...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[nicholam77]

The floor turned out great. Really cool and unique!

 

[old_smokey]

Thanks!

So no dice on cold-rolled 11 gauge anymore. 14 gauge is the thickest they could get it in, so I went with hot rolled 11 gauge. Including the bending job and tax it's $290 CAD for those asking. Now I need to get on the base construction!

 

[driftpin]

I did what you're proposing, I ripped a 4x8 ft 3/4" ply. sheet, & glued/screwed it together. I capped it w/a single piece of 3/16" steel, which must be cheaper here. I ended-up w/a 2 ft x 8 ft workbench surface, & got some 1/8" by 1-1/2" wide strap to screw to the front of the wood, butted to the steel top. My bench frame had a steel backsplash that the steel benchtop butts-up to. I countersunk the flathead machine screws holding the steel tabletop in place. I need to clean it off, I have maybe 5 projects spread-across it now. I mounted my cordless chargers on the wall on Geartrack-style wall brackets, which I use for frequently used screwdrivers and wrenches too. Saves diving into drawers, & it's easy to see what's off the wall being used.

 

[old_smokey]

I did what you're proposing, I ripped a 4x8 ft 3/4" ply. sheet, & glued/screwed it together. I capped it w/a single piece of 3/16" steel, which must be cheaper here. I ended-up w/a 2 ft x 8 ft workbench surface, & got some 1/8" by 1-1/2" wide strap to screw to the front of the wood, butted to the steel top. My bench frame had a steel backsplash that the steel benchtop butts-up to. I countersunk the flathead machine screws holding the steel tabletop in place. I need to clean it off, I have maybe 5 projects spread-across it now. I mounted my cordless chargers on the wall on Geartrack-style wall brackets, which I use for frequently used screwdrivers and wrenches too. Saves diving into drawers, & it's easy to see what's off the wall being used.

Nice! How has it worked out, particularly how has the steel held up? I was thinking of building up the top with a sheet of 3/4 plywood, then 3/4 MDF as it's flat and harder than plywood, and then glue the 1/8" steel to the MDF.

Figured I'd bolt the bench to the walls so that it doesn't move when using a vise, assuming it ends up being an issue.

I discovered that because the wood floor is so thick, the top of my backsplash will actually cover up the lower half of one 4-outlet plug, as well as the lower edge of the window. I might cut out the backsplash to provide access. I would still have about 3/4" of backsplash which would prevent spills from pouring into the plugs. Cutting out around the window bars would let me push the bench up against the wall. Not sure, I'll have to make that decision once the bench is built and in place.


Last night I did a bit of fine tuning on the overhead door. I ground some high spots down on the new concrete footing, installed the weather stripping along the bottom edge of the door and the outside faces, and also tweaking the track positions as it was binding badly when almost open. Now the door is smooth as glass, and no light is visible around the edges from outside. That should eliminate drafts and keep my warm air inside much better.

I also installed some thin adhesive weather stripping along the man-door. That was a very loose fit before. Bright light escaped around both sides and the top. Now the door has a tight fit and no more drafts or light escape.

Tonight I'll pickup lumber for the bench, and also start working on the door transition ramps.

 

[hdv32]

You have a stove, or it looks like to me, in your Sketchup. Storage or powder Coating?

 

[old_smokey]

You have a stove, or it looks like to me, in your Sketchup. Storage or powder Coating?

Sure do. I was offered a stove by a friend for free and thought it’d be quite useful in a shop. For example, I’m rebuilding an xt500 engine right now which has quite a few blind bearings in the cases. Heating the cases will make it much easier to remove and replace. It will also be great for curing the engine paint prior to running. I’d like to try cerakoting at some point as well. Plus who knows, maybe an apple pie or two along the way


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lwel9226]

I discovered that because the wood floor is so thick, the top of my backsplash will actually cover up the lower half of one 4-outlet plug, as well as the lower edge of the window. I might cut out the backsplash to provide access. I would still have about 3/4" of backsplash which would prevent spills from pouring into the plugs. Cutting out around the window bars would let me push the bench up against the wall. Not sure, I'll have to make that decision once the bench is built and in place.

Build your bench 2in.shorter....

Good save on the garage....


LynnW

 

[dfiler2]

So glad to see this moving along, your floor looks great, actually everything looks great!

I'm about 15 miles south of the Manitoba border, I think we're considered "Southern Canadians".

 

[old_smokey]

So glad to see this moving along, your floor looks great, actually everything looks great!

I'm about 15 miles south of the Manitoba border, I think we're considered "Southern Canadians".

Hah! Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it.

Regarding the bench height, that would work technically, but 36" is already annoyingly low for me. I've been using a 36" bench the last few years and really wish it was 1-2" taller actually. The work surface on my toolbox is 40" and it's marvellous for standing work. No biggie, I'll figure something out.

For the surface, I've decided on a sheet of 3/4" plywood, 1/2" plywood, and 1/4" hardboard. That gives me the 1.5" thickness I need, followed with the 1/8" steel. The hardboard will give a flat and hard surface under the steel for support, without being super heavy like 3/4" MDF would have been. Everything will be glued together with contact cement. Picking it up tonight and building the base tomorrow

 

[amkluttz]

Everything will be glued together with contact cement. Picking it up tonight and building the base tomorrow

Would standard wood glue not be better for the wood components?

 

[IowaMercMan]

"you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

About the height of you bench top- get a power strip, something like this photo. Screw it to the front of your bench. You will appreciate not having cords in the way, all over your working surface. And then you only have one thing to plug into the wall (run that one cord under the bench top,then up to the receptacle). Should work just dandy for you.



Walt

 

[old_smokey]

Good idea! Thanks!

Started the workbench this weekend. I finished the frame, but am waiting until I have the steel top in hand before cutting the plywood and hardboard for the top. I’m not sure how accurate it will be compared to my drawing.

I spent some quality time with the dado blade today. The bench and together nicely and was a really fun project actually. It feels rock solid.













Tomorrow I’ll cut some 1/2” ply for the lower shelf, which will be recessed into the frame for a nice flush finish.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[old_smokey]

Slower progress this past week after I tweaked my back doing who knows what. Back in action now though and I’ve made a few strides.

On Monday I put down two coats of a dark green paint along the bench wall. I tried to get as close to British racing green as I could. I think it ended up a bit too bright still, but oh well. Still makes the room feel less sterile.

Next I picked up my steel bench top and cut the underlaying plywood. I have a layer of 1/2”, then 3/4”, then 1/8” hardboard. I meant to use 1/4” hardboard but had a brain fart at the store and didn’t realize it till I had cut it.



I glued the two sheets of plywood together last night. Tonight I’ll use contact cement to adhere the hardboard to the steel, as well as to the 3/4” ply. Then I can move the finished bench against the green wall.

Since the bench backsplash covers one set of plugs and also interferes a bit with the window crank, I thought I’d position it 3” away from the wall, then build a little shelf behind the backsplash to take up the space. That would give me a spot to put spray cans and other tools, while also providing clearance for power and the window crank.

Today I ordered two 16x32" black Wall Control panels to cover up that section of the green wall where the cable cuts across. It’s all coming together!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[old_smokey]

2 liters of contact cement later and the table is done!



I gave it a wipe down with WD40 and will let that dry overnight. It feels SOLID. Very happy with this addition!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Lwel9226]

Shop is looking really good!!!

LynnW

 

[dchance]

You have made great progress. That floor is a very good idea. It will be warmer than a concrete floor and in your weather that is good. The bench turned out very well.

Your save of this building is really good.

Dwight

 

[old_smokey]

You have made great progress. That floor is a very good idea. It will be warmer than a concrete floor and in your weather that is good. The bench turned out very well.

Your save of this building is really good.

Dwight

Thank you!

It snowed 4" last night and we've had a few -15C days as winter starts to creep in. I used an infrared temperature gun to compare the temp of the little bit of exposed concrete I still have to cover, and the wood. -2C on the concrete, +10C on the top of the wood floor

This weekend I'll wrap up the transitions from the wood to each door, and seal all along the perimeter of the wood floor with either expanding foam or foam tubes. That'll make the floor truly insulated. Sure is nice to have. Last night while finishing the bench, we were in t-shirts inside while a blizzard raged outside. My KWH meter says it cost me about 55 cents to keep it at 15C for about half the day.

 

[old_smokey]

Re: "you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

Spent an hour in the shop tonight to install the wall control panels. I had to hunt for 1/4” pegboard hooks but finally found em at Canadian tire. However they’ll need to be zip tied or somehow fastened to the board as they fall out too easily with a tool. The wall control hooks looks great and I’ll get some in the future, just not now ($$).

I also found a pile of Ernst socket rails at princess auto for $5, so I brought a pile home. A lot of my sockets are on those crappy chrome rails. The plating is going south, making it difficult to remove the sockets. So this was a nice update.

Before:


After:


Oh and I forgot to even update last week, when I put in some ramps to transition at the doors. It’d 3/4” plywood. I’m going to glue some ribbed rubber mat to them for grip and moisture management, then lay a thin strip of aluminum over the joint at the hardwood. That’s next weeks job










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[captain14]

Total transformation of the garage! Almost time to start wrenching!

 

[old_smokey]

Re: "you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

A bit of fun in the garage over the past few days.

First I picked up a nice collapsible motorcycle lift from princess auto. It’s made in Canada and appears to be quite nicely made. It lifts via a foot pump or pneumatic hookup, but my little compressor isn’t really up to the task.



The whole thing folds up and stores vertically against the wall when not in use. Great for a small shop like mine!

Next I brought the stove back in and tested it. This will be great for heating up engine blocks and other expansion uses. On the floor is my ultrasonic cleaner, one of the best tools I’ve picked up in a long time



Last project is restoring my #4 Record vise. I pulled it apart and found the nut is damaged, though still useable. I wonder if I could find a replacement anywhere...





And just because I find it oddly calming, I spent some time organizing the socket drawer. Left side is done, right side still has some old pitted Mac socket rails that have to go. The plastic Ernst rails are so much easier to use.





Real mixed bag of my uncles old Snap-On stuff and my stanley, SK, mastecraft maximum, and westward bits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jvitez]

Been following your build from the beginning, fellow prairie Canuck. Awesome job! You've turned a sow's ear into a silk purse, well, maybe a leather motorcycle saddlebag.......

How do you keep your steel workbench top from rusting? You said you coated it in WD40 when you first installed it. Do you just sand off any rust and give it a blast of WD40 from time to time?

 

[old_smokey]

Been following your build from the beginning, fellow prairie Canuck. Awesome job! You've turned a sow's ear into a silk purse, well, maybe a leather motorcycle saddlebag.......

How do you keep your steel workbench top from rusting? You said you coated it in WD40 when you first installed it. Do you just sand off any rust and give it a blast of WD40 from time to time?

Haha thanks, great analogy.

Regarding the steel top, I've had it a couple weeks now and there isn't a spot of rust. I gave it a heavy coat of WD40 when I got it, then wiped it dry. It is also hot-rolled steel, which has a layer of mill-scale on it. Apparently that is a pretty effective rust-inhibitor.

When I do eventually get a bit of rust, I'll just grab a scotch brite pad and scrub it off, then squirt WD40 on it again.

I saw a great comparison of rust inhibitors on YouTube somewhere. A guy tested around 50+ different brands. WD40 makes a "Specialist" line which includes a corrosion inhibitor product, it outperformed every other brand by a landslide. If I can ever find that locally I'll use it on all my tools.

I have heard of people using different waxes and such, but I'm worried about it rubbing off on everything. With the WD40 I don't seem to have anything ending up on my hands or whatever I'm working on.

 

[Zippercat]

I saw a great comparison of rust inhibitors on YouTube somewhere. A guy tested around 50+ different brands. WD40 makes a "Specialist" line which includes a corrosion inhibitor product, it outperformed every other brand by a landslide. If I can ever find that locally I'll use it on all my tools.

Might want to reconsider the WD 40 Specialist. Questions and Reviews reveal it is sticky and collects bugs and dirt.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07H8W5RC7/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[old_smokey]

well it's been several weeks since i've posted and thought i'd share an update. overall the garage has been great, but not without it's hiccups.

on the positive side, the heater is more than capable of creating a warm and comfortable workspace. I keep the resting temperature at 5C so nothing freezes, but raise it to 15-20C when working.

The workbench is fantastic. the steel top shows no signs of rusting and has been a real treat when working on engines.

The floor is holding up great so far. I try to keep water off the wood as much as possible, but snow eventually finds it's way in and melts. Nothing concerning yet.

The one snag is the man-door binding. The weather has dipped to -20 to -30C as we get into the depths of winter. With that cold, the ground has heaved a bit under the mandoor, causing it to shift a lot more than anticipated. The dead bolt used to slide straight into the plate on the frame, but last night I had to cut the hole an additional 1/8" at the bottom so the bolt could close. I also had to grind about 1/8" off the bottom edge below (corner opposite the hinges) as it was binding on the kick plate enough that I couldn't close the door anymore.

I've tried to minimize binding using the cable I left on the mandoor wall, but it isn't enough to help. Looks like I'll just have to tweak the door frame and/or cut the door down a little bit so it 'floats' a little in the frame, then take up the gaps with thicker weather stripping.

When the weather warms up to around-5c, the building settles back and the door swings freely. Ahh well, I knew this would be a potential problem, just gotta figure the best way to live with it.

 

[winnipegtibook]

Same issue, same city, same weather. Mine just freezes (its steel), with a steel frame. My easiest fix was just to use the overhead when we're at these crazy temps.

 

[Ford52PU]

Great garage, just looked at all 8 pages. Great job!

 

[xtremek]

Still catching up, but everything looks awesome.

 

[horizontallyopposed]

What a great spot you've created there!

 

[old_smokey]

Re: "you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

Took some time to address the door today. The gap was a good 1/4” at the bottom, letting a ton of cold air in.

I picked up some thick weather stripping and applied it to the inside of the door. At the same time I loosened up the door frame/jam and was able to tap the frame a little more square, reducing my gap by maybe 30-40%. The door is pretty much weather right now.

It still binds heavily along the bottom though. I have some ideas to make the entire frame “float” a bit in the wall, but that’s a summer project. It’s been around -30 to -40C pre-windchill for the last two weeks!

I also added a big exterior handle, and a smaller interior one, so it’s not so difficult to open the sticky door. Prior to this all I had was the deadbolt, which meant really pulling hard on the key. I was a matter of time till I snapped it.







Otherwise the shop has been great. I’ve been making slow but steady progress on my XT500 rebuild, and just spending time putting around in general. It’s so nice to have a space all my own.

My friend Brian came by to check out the space and sent me this nice photo




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xtremek]

That is a really nice space

 

[old_smokey]

Re: "you should knock it down" single car garage rescue

Thank you for the kind words, I’m quite happy with it. I need to figure out a better way of storing materials and parts in here as I’m already almost out of room. Some shelves and cabinets are needed soon.

It’s been several weeks since I stripped the paint off the Record vise. It hasn’t shown any signs of rusting whatsoever, so I’ve decided to leave it bare. I cleaned and greased it, had a friend straighten the handle in his press, assembled and think it looks quite cool:



Now I need to mount it. I was thinking using bolts threaded into T-nuts, since the vise sits basically right above the table frame. I can’t simply put a nut and bolt on.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Growlertdi]

Make sure you mount it so it hangs over the edge, wouldn't want to limit yourself on grabbing things that hang lower than your tabletop.

speaking of your workbench, I am super impressed with how you built your workbench.


I know its just 2x4s but you made it like it was made from super nice furniture grade hardwoods. Every time I scroll past the series of photos where you built it I am impressed all over again.