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I can really appreciate the beautiful garages that others have posted pictures of. I think they are awesome and I think the owners should be very proud.
My problem with many of them is they are not representative of the garage dilemma I am currently dealing with. I have a decent size 2 car garage with loft area dedicated strictly as a work area. (All family and holiday storage in a different garage) but with the 58 torn apart in the center and tools I have been accumulating since I was 11 and equipment like compressor, sand blaster, table saws, band saw, grinders, roll a ways, welding gear, etc.. I am fighting a battle of how to set up the garage so I can actually use the tools and space efficiently. Whenever I search the archives on garages or see other sites with garages they seem to be beautiful show rooms but without much shop equipment and tools.
Can some of you who have garages filled with tools and equipment please post some pictures so I can get some ideas on setting mine up so it is usable without being an eyesore or death trap.
Thanks
P.S. I mean no disrespect to the beautiful garages previously posted.
some 13 years later still struggling with space but ......
I am still struggling for space but 13 years later I have made some progress. I figured I would share an update on this 13 year old post. I am starting once again this year to make improvements and make things easier to get to as I struggle with age.
Sorry a bit dirty in this one but when the Vette is up there is lots of room to work and when its down its at least manageable. A more organized hardware Area Small Hardware stuff somewhat organized Rolling workbench with storage
The photo below shows my 26' deep by 20' wide two car.
What is not shown is on the other side of the right wall is an enclosed 26 X10 area that contains the sandbalster, welders, bandsaw, drill presses and other shop equipment.
Also what is not shown in that in front of the garage, there is a 25' deep by 20' wide heavy duty peaked roof carport. From the car port beams, I have a chainfall tucked up in between the rafters which may be used for engine removal.
And I still don't really have enuf room to work on the car if it is in the garage, I move it out into the carport area if I have to get in and out underneath the car.
Try www.garagejournal.com and you'll find all the garage info you ever wanted, including lots of clever ideas for organizing "normal" garage spaces, not just the "big" ones.
my58, you have simultaneously triggered the Architect and Gearhead in me at the same time. Here's what I did in my garage. If I can upload some pics to Photobucket, I'll include them in a later post.
I have a 3-car garage that is basically a 2-car garage for me as my wife claims the center stall. Anyway, I bought inexpensive Home Depot unfinished birch veneer cabinets for three walls in the garage. I mounted them at a height that would allow for tool boxes to be located beneath them with their lids open. The cabinets rest on inverted cheap wood base molding that I bought at Home Depot. The cabs are secured to the wall with 2-1/2-inch long wood screws at the tops and bottoms. I installed the cabinets at all three wall ocations with space between them to allow for individual painted wood shelves on vertical standards and brackets (about 4 to 5 feet). The countertops I installed are Hollyberry color (bright red) in a post-formed shape that sit loose on top of roll-about Sears metal 5-drawer cabinets that they put on sale all the time for less than $100/each. The red countertops were chosen to match the Sears Craftsman toolboxes I have. I got my 8-foot-long countertops from Home Depot for under $100 each!! (Actually, I used my Amex reward points to purchase them, so they were basically free). Plastic laminate countertops are relatively easy to keep clean and look great. I've installed inexpensive 2-tube flourescent fixtures to the underside of the cabinets to illuminate the countertops. I also installed several chain-hung 2-tube flourescents from the ceiling to illuminate the cars and garage floor below. I purchased multi-outlet electrical strips from Home Depot and surface mounted them above the countertops for power.
The biggest hurdle to cross is deciding where you want to perform specfic work functions in the garage. In other words, you don't want to have a table saw and woodworking functions in the same area that you use to rebuild carburetors or other parts. If you are forced to, plan for everything to be portable and easily convertible to make the best use of the space.
My garage is constantly a "work in progress". I'll try to post some pics later. Good luck and I hope these tips help.
I recently added a 24' x 24' in my back yard with a 24' x30' pad in front of it. Inside, I kept my sand blast cabinet, bench grinder (on stand, not work bench) vise ( on I beam stand I built) and drill press all on one side of garage. I set my welder and outlet by the door, so I can weld inside or out, depending on weather. I have a rolling tool chest, and two Gorilla work benches to hold my tools and a tanker style 1950's style desk as a work bench and storage unit as well.They are in same area. All my other tools are segregated by use on pegboard. I found some very cool pergboard shelves at a surpus store that holds my oils, paints and cleaning fluids. Air tools on pegboard next to compressor. I hooked up a air hose reel on ceiling, center of garage so I can have air where I want it with no hose to trip over. Try and keep sand blast cabinet out of direct sunlight, I found staring into reflective glare of a dusty case to be a pain. In a darker area of gargae, it is easier to see parts inside blaster. Hope this helps. I'll try and post some pics. I don't do any woood working in the garage as dust is an issue with my restoration project. I do that either outside or in the 3 car garage attached to the house.
My problem with many of them is they are not representative of the garage dilemma I am currently dealing with. I have a decent size 2 car garage with loft area dedicated strictly as a work area. (All family and holiday storage in a different garage) but with the 58 torn apart in the center and tools I have been accumulating since I was 11 and equipment like compressor, sand blaster, table saws, band saw, grinders, roll a ways, welding gear, etc.. I am fighting a battle of how to set up the garage so I can actually use the tools and space efficiently.
A few guiding principles have helped me make the most efficient use of my limited 2-car garage space...
1) Try to establish storage off-site, so to speak. I built a 10' x 12' insulated, powered storage shed on a concrete slab in my backyard, which I can also use as a secondary work area if necessary. All of my extra car parts & stuff goes out there.
2) Get as much as you can off the floor, by any means necessary. Establish as much off-ground storage (cabinets, shelves, rafters, etc.) as possible and use it.
3) Put everything on the floor on wheels. This makes it easy to reconfigure the existing equipment to suit a particular project.
4) Put plugs and lights everywhere. When I first moved in to my house the first project I undertook was installing too many plugs and light fixtures (along with the additional new circuits to power them). This was the single most important modification I made to the garage, for it allowed me to do pretty much anything anywhere in the garage.
Is that a Ferrari with a C1 top sitting on it? Bit expensive for a top stand, isn't it?
It was a convienient palce to store the top while I was doing to interior/carpet work, and didn't really have anyplace else to put it that wasn't in the way.
some 13 years later still struggling with space but ......
I am still struggling for space but 13 years later I have made some progress. I figured I would share an update on this 13 year old post. I am starting once again this year to make improvements and make things easier to get to as I struggle with age.
Sorry a bit dirty in this one but when the Vette is up there is lots of room to work and when its down its at least manageable. A more organized hardware Area Small Hardware stuff somewhat organized Rolling workbench with storage
Kudo's for resurrecting your own thread 13 years later! That's awesome. I wasn't on this forum that long ago so I've enjoyed reading this new to me thread. Good stuff in here!
I still chip away at improving things on the 58 but here is a picture of it outside and running yesterday.
Doesn't matter how old I get or what ailments I may be dealing with, when I am cruising down the road in the 58, I feel like in that moment I am in my teens again and all things are good in the world.
01-04-2007, 11:57 AM
Garage set up help desperately needed.
The one thing i found was that having the work bench and tools at the rear of the garage makes it easyer
