Get your stuff off the garage floor

Garage storage can be divided into two styles. One style is “Do it Yourself” and the other is purchased. I tend to be a DIY type person and would find it too easy to purchase and install storage shelves. My solutions very seldom feel the final coat of paint or sometimes lean a little with the load placed on them. Some are still a stack of material in the shop waiting to get to the
top of my list of home projects.

There are many advantages to the purchased storage systems, including ease of installation, attractive, very sturdy, and they can be used within a couple of hours of opening the box. They come in many finishes, such as chrome, painted steel, powder coated steel, stained wood, Formica and plastic. The materials are steel, chip board, 1×12 wood, plastic and aluminum. All are good choices for getting your clutter off the garage floor and arranged in horizontal spaces along the walls. Many are adjustable, have
doors, and are easily assembled.

Wood Shelves

These wooden shelves with doors look so good and really dress up the garage. They can be purchased from many places.

Steel Shelves

Steel shelves, although not as attractive, they are very sturdy and you can see what you are storing without opening any doors.

Plastic shelving

Plastic shelves are more attractive than steel shelves but are not as strong. They assemble very easy and will support most garage stuff

Your garage for storing your stuff

Why do we have garages? Is it just to store cars and toys?

Most of us have a lot of wasted space in our garage. One of my sons, recently, moved to a bigger house and his new garage had the neatest storage I had ever seen. The garage has a ceiling a little taller than most, about 12′, I think. That meant that there was a lot of space over head for additional storage. The previous owner had constructed continuous shelves all around the perimeter that were perfect for plastic bins. My son had already filled up most of the space with bins containing seasonal clothing, Christmas decorations, and seldom used tools.

Derek’s Bin Storage

I was so fascinated with the extra storage that I took the idea into my cluttered shop and created a shelf of my own. I used an old wooden door and some scrap steel to hang it from the ceiling to convert my unused space into extra, organized bin storage.

My Solution

It requires a ladder to bring down a bin but it keeps the bins off the shop floor most of the time. I plan on adding more shelves because I still have more stuff that I want to store up and out of the way. My ceiling is only 10′ but it still works. I think it would still work with an 8′ ceiling.

Other Solutions found on the Internet

These storage shelves can be purchased or made from building materials. I already had the materials so I chose a method that used what I had. Powder coated steel shelves with all the screws and brackets can be purchased. If you hang the shelf from the ceiling make sure the hangers don’t block a bin location but instead are between bins. If your desired hanger locations don’t match the ceiling support joists or trusses then span two supports with wood or steel to hang the shelves.

Converting an existing garage into living space

One of the most commonly encountered questions when thinking about converting your garage for a new use is the warmth of the floor. Whether you are choosing to convert your garage into a spacious home office or to convert it into a gym room, you have to take into consideration some improvements for your floor.

Since the garage has a concrete and un-insulated floor you should focus on making it warmer and more resilient. Furring up the floor with wood and plywood can accomplish both tasks. As a warning, you should use pressure-treated wood or protect the wood which is in contact with the concrete by placing a layer of felt paper between the wood and the concrete.

First of all measure and determine how much you want to raise the floor. All garage floors have some amount of slope from the back wall to the wall with the garage door in it to allow the water runoff. To achieve a level floor you will have to adjust the joists, for this if you are placing the joists perpendicular to the slope in the floor each of them would have to be ripped down or shimmed up and if the joists are parallel to the slope, you can rip them on a taper or use shims to level them.

Ok, you finished remodeling the floors, now it’s time to examine your walls. You might be surprised to find out that your walls are not even with the foundation they sit on. They may be set back from the foundation or maybe overhang it in other areas. Only one step will solve these problems: selecting a lumber size that is deep enough to extend the framing past the concrete. By notching each end of the furring strip and attaching one strip to the face of each wall stud will result in an even wall that completely hides the foundation. Also it will be deep enough for the R-21 wall insulation, this type of insulation being the most common code requirement.

When remodeling the walls and the floor several obstructions may appear. Obstructions like pipes, ducts, wires and other impediments to smooth walls may exist. For small obstructions such as wires or small pipes you could adjust the furring strips enough to accommodate them. The solution for larger obstructions is to box around them. If the obstruction is a water heater or something that you will need access to, you can frame it in and enclose it on three sides and then provide a removable access panel for the fourth side.

A building permit may be required for a garage make over. Of course all the methods presented here are purely theoretical and only for guidance. All garages are different and some adjustments to the used methods or materials may be required in order to accommodate to your garage.

We provide plans for converting your garage to living space.
Just call for a quote for the plans.

Five easy steps to a clean garage

You park your car in the driveway and you still have to work on your
projects in the back yard. If you don’t use your garage for
its designed purpose, why not turn it into a tidy workshop?
Here are five steps to turn your garage in a perfect small home
workshop:

1) Create your own workbench from an old door,some
sawhorses or scrap wood. It can be portable and storable. Folding
saw horses can be stored against the wall saving space when not needed.

2) Mount a pegboard on the wall to store your tools. It would be
a great idea to mount it above your workbench. Strategically
place pegs according to the type of tools you will be placing on
the board. After hanging your tools, trace around them with a
marker so you will know where each one goes.

3) Use old jars for holding nails, nuts, bolts and screws. Baby food
jars are perfect for small parts. Jelly jars for larger items. You can
nail the lids to the bottom of a shelf for visibility and easy access.

4) Make a storage box for the rags because they tend to accumulate
in the working area. Use inexpensive plastic shoe boxes for rags, projects,
and collections of parts or tools. They are stackable and will fit on a shelf.
Write on the front the contents with a sharpie pen or just see the contents
through the clear box.

5) Use a small tackle box for transporting items such as screws and
nails as you move around the shop or from shop to project.

We provide plans for building a new garage or workshop.
Just call for a quote for the plans.

Garage Door Styles

There are four basic types of garage doors and three types of
materials commonly used to construct these doors.
If a traditional look is desired for the garage, then the side
hung garage door is the usual solution. Side-hung doors can
be fitted directly on a wood frame or on bricks.

Another type of garage door is the sectional garage door
These doors are perfect where the space in front of the garage
is limited because they open vertically. They are perfect
for a new garage that is intended to have an aesthetic appeal.

Similar to sectional garage doors are the roller doors. The
door rolls up inside a drum above the opening of the garage
door. Also there is no need to allow any room inside or out to
operate the door so it would be well suited for limited space
in front of the garage.

The last type of door is the most common one, up and over
garage door. This is the most popular type. They can be
manufactured from timber, steel and GPR materials. They
can also be manual or automatic and they are relatively easy
to install.

We provide plans for building a new garage or workshop.
Just call for a quote for the plans.