When I was a child, I spoke as a child and acted as a child...and I kicked my wife's car out of the garage for several years so I could build cars. But when I became a man I had to give up childish ways...or be single again. So I built a new house and promised that her car would never again sit outside. It has been 10 years this month since we moved in and I have been good to my word, she has her car in the garage every night. My wife's happiness and security is worth more than mere cars. Did I mention I built 7 more bays just for my stuff? I'm a nice guy and all but I aint no saint.
I’ve moved 3 times and each house has had a 2 car garage. One side is for my car and on that wall floor to ceiling I use slat wall, more expensive then peg board but holds way more weight, all the garden tools lawn mower etc gets hung The back wall is wall to wall shelves 16” deep and I got industrial clear bins with flip top lids to hold all my loose parts and stuff I have one shelf that circled the entire garage right up under the roof for stuff I want but don’t need all the time ( odd parts, tile saw etc) In the other bay I have my work bench with shelves underneath holding all my tools Compressor in the corner and my welder Then a 24 wide floor to ceiling cabinet to hold all my hardware and stuff in bins and labeled ( metric , imperial, nails, plumbing , electrical etc) Wife owns the house and most of the basement garage is mine , and as long as a brush the snow off her car in the winter she’s fine with that for the last 13 years! I did a huge purge this last move and threw out most of the shit I was hoarding,purge don’t feel sorry and keep it a steadfast rule to not collect junk. You have a lot of space e to store stuff and things. Think long and hard and make a plan before doing anything. You said the one shed is mostly a well..... is it used or carb you seal it off to increase floor space? And if you look on you local classifieds especially in the spring a lot of folks get rid of patio slabs and interlocking to redo there landscaping I have picked up lots of this stuff for free and am slowly doing projects up at my parents cottage with it. Might be an idea to coverup the dirt floors in some of those out buildings
I spent about 15 hours last week sorting out all of my bolts and hardware stuff into a big steel drawer cabinet. I've found that you can make quick work just putting loose shit in boxes and piling it up, but the first time you need one thing out of there it's all undone again. Spending the time to properly organize is hard up front, but pays off 10x later. Overhead shelving is nice, like above tool boxes and workbenches and stuff, where it doesn't take up any more floor space and the area wouldn't be used otherwise. I also like pegboard and have a couple 4x8 sheets hung in my shop, along with a big metal shelf thing that's only 2 spray-paint-cans deep.
We have two double garages. The wife gets to park her car, lawn mower and whatever other crap she has. Gave her an older tool box loaded with anything she may need to keep her out of my box. Rule from day one was my garage is mine. None of her shit ever! Other than an OT 71 big block vette I’m currently working on I’ve never had anything in mine newer than 1959
I suspect that some people find it easier to organize than others. I have a relative that has a building that is about 60 x 120, it had been a lumber yard building, wood frame with corrugated metal sheathing. He ran a mini old car junk yard (it was grandfathered in by the town), He's been there 15? years and over the years it was always a mess and one time when he had a saw that a friend was interested in he couldn't find it!! It's still a mess but with the help of an OCD friend things are at least sorted into piles that are the same item. He has never parked a daily driver in that shop, his wife and his vehicles always sit out. I've picked items off the ground and took them home and used them, good engines sit outside on the ground with a floor mat sorta keeping the water out, but in the shop there are lots of items that should be tossed. I wish the OP good luck, he needs a friend like my relative to help out
i just built a three car garage (four model a) two years ago. I live in the city, so i needed to get everything back in before the thieves came around. i got all my tools/parts/etc. back in , in a hurry. I found out last year (love it or hate it) that ebay can be your friend, when it comes to making space in a new garage
Hello, In 1998, we were on the ground floor of having a huge house built in the OC. It was 3000 SF (5 BR / 3 BATH) and a first, a three car garage. I was given the OK to set up the garage anyway I wanted. Yippee! We already had two cars, so those slots were taken. But, the third space was mine to create. The garage was large enough to have tall floor to ceiling closets, drawers and shelves in front of the cars parked inside. It even had plenty of space to walk around with packages and not hit anything. What a difference from a small, two car garage with bumps and bruises, when getting in and out of any car inside of the spaces. Now, the third car stall had a full length counter along the side and in front. There was a series of thin drawers as well as several larger drawers and open door cabinets. The two counter tops were to house my vise, drill press, a small band saw, a small drill press, stereo and there was still plenty of room for small intricate work/ photo layouts on the counter surfaces. Comparing it to our old counters and benches in our Impala/Willys days in Long Beach, this was close to “heaven” as it gets for us. It only took 30 years for enough space to do some real indoor hot rod stuff. In front of the two car portion were tall doors that hid the rolling table saw, compressor tank and nail guns. As well as tall fans and the long pole tools, being hidden created a cool white garage with insulated walls. It could have been an interior room somewhere in the house. The full wall insulation was helpful (for the air compressor work with the doors closed), by not bothering the neighbors. Eventually, all tools were taken down and put in drawers. the original peg board was replaced by new drywall and paint. Now, it did look like an all white 3 car garage. At the time, we did have thoughts of creating another hot rod or at least space to modify some car in any stage of a build. Now, I had the space to do what we needed years ago, but it was not in the cards. We only stayed for the requisite two years. The house was just too large for two people. (My wife’s dad and our son were going to stay in the other two bedrooms out of 5 total, but elected to get their own places.) Jnaki We saw several partial builds, complete hot rods with added needs for finishing and several wagons to just be daily drivers. They would all look great in that 3rd car garage stall. The finances were ok, the space ready, and our thoughts were to have fun like we were 20 somethings, again. The main thing was the SPACE AND GARAGE SET UP! There was plenty of room to work and store stuff. It even had a built in fire sprinkler system in all ceiling car stalls. After giving it some thought and realizations, that third stall was for construction work using the table saw and tools. The counters were used for general repairs, current car stuff, photo stuff, and model car mods. Then finally, the exercise fad kicked in and we got a cool treadmill with a TV access on the wall. Plus plenty of floor space for stretching and static workouts. The cabinets were full and we did not know where all of that crap came from over the years. The house was large enough for a grandfather wing (needed closer care) and the extra bedroom (5) was supposed to be for our son coming home from college. They both eventually had other plans after a while. When we moved two years later, all of that crap in the garage cabinets filled up a huge trash dumpster to lessen the storage stuff for our final, smaller home. Besides, who lives in a house with three full tub/shower bathrooms, anyway? The 3 car garage, it was a fun place, but now, not needed. Nothing hides from us in the smaller garage/house and we do use every room, every day. AND… The smaller house is quiet and peaceful for the rest of the days.
Trying to reduce a hoard and organize Its like a diet where you gain a bit less every day. Fastest way to reduce a hoard. Have a auction.
Sell the car parts you don't need/want on eBay. This will help fund your projects. I second the idea of pouring cement in the dirt floor sheds.
No old cars in the driveway. I'd move. Several years ago I gave one of my off topic cars away and when the guy came and got it , I wasn't home. While he was loading it on the trailer, the neighbor from across the street came over and inquired what was going on. The neighbor made the comment that he could take all the cars as far as he was concerned. When the story was related to me, I let it be known in the neighborhood that any more comments about may cars would be answered with three or four more cars. Haven't heard a negative comment in ten years.
I live in a hurricane/flooding "potential" area. I found out the hard way to NOT have boxes/good stuff stored on the floor. (Especially in cardboard boxes) Build shelves but not too deep...you will want to just "lay" stuff toward the front. Big bicycle hooks work great for hanging stuff...chainsaw...leaf blower...foldable saw horses....use between studs for making storage spots for ROLLED UP extension cords...drop lights...air hoses. (Get the idea?!) Its almost as much fun "organizing/building" shelves and storage areas as filling them! Put everything you can on wheels/casters.. table saw...grinder...blast cabinet...tool boxes...etc. Sweep it out occasionally! PLENTY of lights. 6sally6
My garage is technically a 2 car garage (attached), but I'm not sure how they figured that. If NOTHING ELSE was in the garage, it would still be a tight squeeze opening doors and such. My REAL problem though is that I share my classic car time with machine tools, so I already have a small bridgeport vertical mill, 10" lathe, and a grinding machine on one side of the garage (as well as another horizontal mill in storage waiting to come in). My hope is that I can finish enough small projects to clear floor space and eventually squeeze my 54' in. Any time I'll work on it though, it would need to roll outside. Lots of skinny shelves on the wall, regular yard sales, and eventually a garden shed in back help the cause.
Your post reminded me of the first shop I worked at ran by a ex-A&P aircraft mechanic. Nothing was on the floor...period. All of the bays had the same custom built (by him) two-shelve tables and one trash can (30 gal metal) and nothing was on the floor including things that normally are like jacks, car parts (parts removed during the repair process), etc. We cleaned the floor (swept and hosed down) every Friday at 4:30. I was the new guy and also took out all of the trash cans then cleaned each one was a quick hose rinse (they were even all painted and we repainted them the day after thanksgiving (that was a half day of deep cleaning for the garage)). The floor was easy to take care of because sweeping and moping was fast since nothing was ever in the way. You learned fast or quickly found all of the stuff that you left out the night before in the center of your bay in the morning. Being trained that way has been second nature to remain that way for my entire career. The new shop I’m building for myself at home will have the same clean-floor approach except the floors will be epoxied, polished and use the interlocking mats in the three main areas. Working on pallets now for all of the Pontiac engines I’ve collected and will use forks on my Deere to place them on steel racks and not letting them sit on the floor stacking them after they have been pickled, bagged and tagged. Randy Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
That is the 1912 T, I'm planning on having it at Hershey in the fall for night time flea market cruising. Bob
My garage is bad.... I need to expand it out back about 12' or so to get the machine shop stuff in a better location. I have this loft that is just a shit collector, that coming down will open up things a lot, give me more head room.
Looks like you have some yard space and are not heavily regulated by the local code enforcers. Build a lean to off the garage, put up sheds, lay plastic and gravel in the existing dirt floor building. Build shelves in your existing garages Rubbermaid tubs = I dont want to deal with this shit and it will be here forever. Have a series of sort days. Make everyone open the tubs and figure out why they are saving those items. Get a goodwill receipt and write thousands off on your taxes for donations.
Ive used this style of shelf in several garages. Build a 2x4 rectangle box the width you want, screw it to the studs at the height you want, set your braces on the studs at 30-45° angle. Then deck the top with osb. Keeps the floor open, the height is set for head clearance or to clear my truck door.
SO, from what I can see you have an attic with pull down stairs. Is there a floor up there? May not be stand up space but even if its crawl space it's great for storage. My last three garages had space like this 3/4" plywood on the joists and some lights and you have a place for all those totes of stuff. I make mine so they will fit up the stairs. It's a great place for the long term overflow of parts for projects or box and shipping supply storage. If the garage is the only storage you have for household items then make one side for the house stuff and the other for the garage stuff. The shelves around the perimeter of the garage up high is great for manuals and books you don't need all the time along with stuff that won't fit into the tool box like meters, pressure testers and such, into a tote and on the shelf. I put the contents on the outside so I know whats in there. Old mattresses, staging area for the dump and such is on you but it has no place in the shop. As for scrap metal I have a bin outside. It's about 4'x4'x3' and when it's full of the small stuff its off the scrap yard. Big stuff sits next to the bin or out back behind the shed. No scrap in the shop. Build benches and then stash the motor under them on cheap furniture moving dolly's. It's nice place that needs some loving so go hook it up. Cliff Ramsdell
Get the kayaks out of the garage and ladders too. This is what i did behind my garage to get them out. 9
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