Making my garage back into a garage, ideas?

[tranzor_Z]

Hey All,

Well the beautiful Whidbey Island rain finally got to me this weekend while trying to work on the Z. Dry for over an hour, and as soon as i touched the car it started to rain again, its like it was waiting...

So i decided to tear down the wall that the prior owner of my house had put up to make a heated living space.

I guess i just wanted to see how other people on this board did things with there garage. I dont want to do anything too crazy , i was thinking of laying down some nice floor paint and building shelves but past that , i didnt really come up with anything fancy.

Any ideas would be great, even the far fetched ones. :classic:

Thanks

-Steve

[26th-Z]

This is Tricky Garage where Her Majesty the 26th lives.

[26th-Z]

Of course, you could always do something like this

[Smokey]

You already have a good thing going. It is heated/cooled. All you need is an insulated door and good sealing to make it a climate controlled garage. As far as the floor goes try Rustoleum Epoxy Shield. I have no first hand experience with it, but when I get off my lazy butt, I will do this to my garage floor. Looks very nice, and the price is right.

Just what ever you do, get the Z out of the weather!

[LanceM]

For sure paint the floor, makes clean up easy. Put shelves just above head level, nothing like banging your head as you take a step back from the car!

Good lighting is nice, lights mounted on the wall pointing at the car sides are a big improvement to just having ceiling lights. Since the Z hood raises forward a ceiling light above the engine compartment will really work compaired to cars that open from the front.

Room is something else as mperdue shows, plan ahead and try to utlize the wall space as effectively as you can with cabinets or bins for holding common items.

My "garage" is 30 x 36 with a 15' ceiling, so I'm lucky in that I have plenty of room. Now if it just wouldn't get so cold in the winter or hot in the summer I'd have it made

Of course one thing to remember is once you turn it into a garage a lot of other items will end up there besides the car, so always try to avoid the "ah stick it in the garage" syndrome.... or there won't be room for the car!

[Smokey]

Originally posted by LanceM

Of course one thing to remember is once you turn it into a garage a lot of other items will end up there besides the car, so always try to avoid the "ah stick it in the garage" syndrome.... or there won't be room for the car!

Nope, that is why we have a storage building outside. And if my wife wants to store it, she has the guest bedroom that has become her (rather large) closet .

The garage is a spiratual place not to be adorned with brickabrack. In fact, there is nothing in the garage (cept for the trash cans) that is not used on a vehicle. Everything is broken up in sections. Detailing supplies, tools, parts shelf, used oil containers, ramps, and radio.

[owenk]

I am building a garage and have included a service pit which we used for the first time last Friday. My sons car needed the starter replaced so we moved the construction items and open up the pit. It was great! I found out that both of us fit in the pit with no probems. It is 20" deep and you can check it out at www.aristata.net under the Garage - Family Room Project / Foundation links, you can see it in the last 2 photos.

I am planning on adding a bathroom vent fan to provid fresh air.

[240260280z]

I read that putting flecks on the floor when installing some epoxy garage floor paints often makes it difficult when finding dropped nuts and bolts .

[Mike W]

Definitely coat your garage floor. Makes clean up very easy and it looks great as well.

I did this to mine about 2 1/2 years ago and after much research decided to go with Epoxy Coat. The secret to getting a great result is all in the prep. I probably spent the better part of 2 weeks (on and off) cleaning, acid washing, power washing, removing paint chips, etc getting the floor prepped. It took a good 1/2 day to install the coating but was very straight forward. I found the following article on line very helpful both in the decision to go with Epoxy Coat as well as the application process:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14417

Highly recommend the "application spikes" which you attach to your shoes when applying. Makes walking over the wet surface easy and takes away all of the mess. You can read more about Epoxy Coat here:

http://www.epoxy-coat.com/

I have absolutely no affiliation with this company other than having used their product. I can say that after 2 1/2 years it is in the exact same condition as it was when I applied it. No peels, no lifting, easy to clean, and looks fabulous.

Hope this helps.

Mike.

[cajunz]

I second what Blue says about the flecks in the paint. We have our aircraft hanger coated with the flecks and when you drop a nut or washer, it disappears. You have to get down on your hands and knees and and get the light just right if you want to find it again. Looks great though.

[SteveJ]

I second what Blue says about the flecks in the paint. We have our aircraft hanger coated with the flecks and when you drop a nut or washer, it disappears. You have to get down on your hands and knees and and get the light just right if you want to find it again. Looks great though.

Magnetic sweepers are great for resolving those issues with steel fasteners/washers.

[Montezuma]

My buddy owns a company that puts in Industrial Floors www.advancedsurfacescorp.com, he recently came out to San Diego to do my other buddy's garage floor. My friend taught me how to do the primer and then how to do the top coat with used a 10mm squeggie for thickness. The floor turned out great, only one little problem apparently fly like the epoxy. We put down the primer on Friday afternoon and laid the top coat the next morning. It was ready to be walked on by early the next day. We did not lay any media for either non-skid or speckles. It was really fun learning how to do the garage floor from a pro. I will be doing my floor next, thinking of laying in a big Datsun emblem.