Garage project!

Malt_Vinegar · 13 Oct 2008 at 14:28

Well, since my girlfriend moved in with me, i have a need for a lot more storage space, i am de-cluttering my house, and garage, and trying to make it into a much more usable space.

I have a few things i want to do to get it all up to scratch!

After the initial de-cluttering i will be doing a big dump run, then i will need to find storage for all the rest of the stuff.

So, the project goals are:

1- De-clutter
2- Board Loft
3- Install ladder flush to wall
3- Epoxy floor paint (smooth and shiney, hopefully!) (something like This)
4- High level shelving
5- Paint/cover/carpet walls
6- Plumb into house electrical supply (I think i will get someone in to do this part)
7- Fit lighting/sockets

I have boarded my house lot before, and was pretty happy with the results, so i will get some tonge and groove stuff together and knock that up in a day or so.

I have some questions though...

What is the best way to paint breezeblock and bricks?
How much will it cost to get someone in to stick a cable underground to the garage, is this even possible/legal? Here is the layout courtesy of Google Maps.

Has anyone ever epoxied a floor before? I dont see many in the UK, why is this, are they too slippy in the UK's colder climate!!
Anyone know where i can get a flush mount wall ladder?

Malt_Vinegar · 13 Oct 2008 at 14:36

jaybee said:
Whats the gargae going to be used for then ultimately? i.e. Is it going to be an additional room of the house with heating, or just storage? Do you need to be able to work on cars in there?

I suppose it will be multi-use really. I do work on my car but the thing is too small to do a lot in there!

I would want all my power-tools easily accessable on shelving, at a decent height so my car can be stored in there each night. Which is most important part, as it means i can get my GFs car where mine is now (parked infront of the garage) and mine inside.

There will be no heating, Its at the end of a walk-way at the bottom of my garden.

So, primarily storage for stuff thats currently on the floor in the garage, and to make room for my car and make it look a lot nicer in there!!

R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
This belongs in the D.I.Y. forum......

Pffft - its for my car mainly

Malt_Vinegar · 13 Oct 2008 at 14:49

Thanks for the advice, i have appended a photo of the layout to the OP.

I would also be interested in anything anyone else has done to their garage to make it more car/storage friendly.

Show me your garages too!

Malt_Vinegar · 14 Oct 2008 at 23:37

Ok, so here was the garage as it was on the morning of the first day - WHAT A MESS

The roof area was a mess too! The plyboard my brother had placed up there was good for nothing, and had sagged and could not take anything more than the odd small bag or two.

After one dump run, and some shifting of bits and bobs. Some progress, although u cant really see much!

Cleared out some more stuff, including the Golf VR6 bonnet and other random car parts.. Wait, is that some floor i see?!

So wth some space on the ground i took to clearing up the roofspace and giving me some room to stick in the loft boarding!

Work in progress on boarding!

Section 2 completed (Yes, I know there are gaps, I ran out of boards, and I quite like the airflow they give when you are up there!!)

Malt_Vinegar · 14 Oct 2008 at 23:37

So, after 1 day - here we are. Long way to go yet!!

Malt_Vinegar · 15 Oct 2008 at 09:27

Its already given me a massive amount of space! Getting the boards down in at the ends was difficult, so the last one is wedged in by the one next to it as i cant get te drill/screws into the corners because of the slope. I have all my camping equipment up there now, and its amazing how it has all hidden away into the sloping roof areas

I am debating about going any futher with the boarding. I think I might fill the gaps, and then take it up the to existing roof cross member. I want the space to lug big things up there, and a little hatch would make it difficult. I also like the open roof space at the end to hang a few things from (like the chairs)

At the moment I just have a portable tube light hanging from some hooks in the loft, and that should be enough for up there. I am planning on getting some sockets installed to power that and other things, as at the moment I have to run an extension out of my back door around the walkway and into the garage.

I have a tube light to put up in the main garage area, which will be done towards the end of the project, but untill I have the power installed (again, towards the end), there is little point

Malt_Vinegar · 15 Oct 2008 at 12:41

If its rented, cant you force the landlord to fix it? Whats the ruling on Asbestos in rented housing?

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2008 at 09:19

TripleT said:
Think my parents have the epoxy stuff. Remember the guy coming to do it, was brilliant. Box it off and then pour the gunk in the middle and it level's it self off. Must have been done about 10years ago and it still looks great now.

Thats good to know, i might look to get someone in then, if the DIY option looks a bit tricky!

ZG002 said:
As for getting power to the garage. It is possible to dig a trench and run a armored cable across to the garage.. as for cost.

Yer, I think i will do the digging myself if i get someone in to do it. However, i will see if i can do pretty much the whole hog if i can get a nice kit for it!
http://www.bradshawsdirect.co.uk/BradshawsSite/product/JLOP.htm - that looks pretty good!

pinkaardvark said:
Oh and I wouldn't walk on that roof boarding or put anything heavy up there. Those joists were calculated on a computer to bear the roof weight at minimum cost. When selling a surveyor would point this out in a survey to potential buyers.

Cheers, i didnt know how accurately it was measured. Its been taking my weight ok (11 stone) and seems to be ok with what is up there now. Is there anything that can be done? Can i add some form of steel crossmember to breezeblock walls to prop it up and make it weight-bearing?

Skeeter said:
Anyone else LOL...
No... Just me then.

I had another dump run foiled yesterday

I raced to the dump after work at 5:50, and the bloke had closed the gates and claimed his boss would not let me in, as it was too close to 6pm.
Blimming website says nothing about limited entry after any particular time, it states the opening hours quite clearly as open to the public to 18:00. I was rather miffed!

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2008 at 10:21

Jonnycoupe, thats an interesting point! Not thought about that. I also noticed your location, do you work for said company? I used to a few years ago, in the head office

chippie said:
Not sure about the shiny epoxy floor stuff, but I used International Concrete Floor Sealer International Concrete Floor Sealer

and International Floor Paint on the floor.

The breezeblock walls I put on some stabiliser, then just normal plain enulsion once that had dried.

Missed this post! I shall take a peek

Thanks!

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2008 at 10:29

Monster said:
Ye there is a decent amount of foreplanning for a roof, although I suspect much less for a simple garage roof - anyhow imagine he puts all the weight up there and then the heavy snowfall comes.....?

I dont know if you looked at the picture of the garage above, its side-wall is actually part of the house across from mine, and it attached to another garage with a full height breezeblock wall. Is there no way, i can brace the existing structure to these walls.

Perhaps i can put in a heavy duty steel joist with steel supports bolted to the concrete or walls?

*EDIT*

I have just been reading up on this, and it seems that i can just add more lengths inbetween the originals, and add a substantial load tolerance. Also, the flooring will help if i do this, as it will help spread the weight evenly over the whole roof and new lengths!

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2008 at 11:07

Monster said:
Infact if you were bothered you could probably stick some wooden joists across the length, held with wall straps bolted to the concrete, but it seems a bit pointless.

Well, if it helps me get it stronger, and able to take more of my "junk" it will help!!

I had a work dinner last night, and training tonight, so I wont be able to get on with the tidying till tommorrow after work, but there is another load of junk out of there. No pics yet!

Also, now it seems adding power is a lot simpler than i first thought, so i might be doing that on Sunday if i can get the bits together cheap enough. Otherwise it will be a "next month" job when i get some more moolah

Malt_Vinegar · 16 Oct 2008 at 12:01

Well, its good to know that there are options to sort it out. I will see what i can work out on that front!

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Joist-Hangers/Maxi-Speedy/invt/156726?WT.srch=1&WT.mc_id=GOOGLEBASE

How about 4 of these, with 2 large wooden joists at 90 degress with the first 1/3 of the way along from the length, and the second 2/3 of the way along?

Malt_Vinegar · 19 Oct 2008 at 23:25

The weekend rolled around, and more work has been completed!! Most of today was spent sorting through all the crud that was being pulled from the garage. My irrational habit of hoarding my mail because i didnt want it lobbed into general bins and open for fraudsters meant i had about 3 years of mail to sort. Along with some more sorting, and dump runs!

I purchased a cross shredder and my GF and I got to work. During breaks in other stuff throughout the day we were sorting, and shredding, there is still a massive pile in the lounge ready to go through the shredder. I think we are up to 4 bin liners of shredded paper now. 2-3 more till its all gone!!

So, the garage as it was in the morning (messier than the last photo, as we had removed more stuff from the house, to be sorted this weekend)

So, i had to pull out a lot of stuff, reduce it down, make a pile for dumping, and try to consolidate all the random odd boxes down to a few decent sized ones.

Gah, i hated this point, it looked like i had gone right back to the beginning again. Still, after much faffing and box consolidation i ended up with a slghtly more respectable looking garage again.

I was in the groove now, and tidying and crud-removal was going well. The loft space was being utilised for lighter stuff (untill i get the bracing installed)

Suddenly there was room to walk, put stuff, and it really did look like putting a car in again just might be possible!

Thats most of the tidying done now. Couple more hours next weekend, or if i can grab some time in the week, i might be able to get cracking on some of the more interesting stuff. Also, aim to get to that landmark of parking my car in there!!!

Malt_Vinegar · 20 Oct 2008 at 10:32

Flooring?!

I like the look of these, and i think this might be a simpler way forward for the flooring. Modular, touch, non-absorbant, and easy to replace

Stick in some skirting, and some plaster board on the walls, and it will look like a proper room!!

Malt_Vinegar · 21 Oct 2008 at 01:13

OK, I have purchased 45 of the flooring tiles. Like this...

Also, i am waiting on a quote for postage on 6 of these to enable me to load up that new losftspace...

Masonry truss hangers, 100x225mm. Then its off to the timber yard! Now, Should I be using single 100/100mm in there, two 100/100mm or, single 100/200mm timber lengths?

I also spotted these for sale within 5 miles of my house, so am bidding on them too. Cleaned up and sprayed up with matt black acrylic should tidy them up a bit for allowing me some room to work under my car when it is in the garage.

Malt_Vinegar · 21 Oct 2008 at 10:16

Ok, took a pic this morning, took up some of the crappy mouldy carpet that was in there, along with one side of the chequred black and white vinyl. (all the stuff at the front is rubbish, either waiting for a dump run, or for my Bins to be emptied (should be today for the bins!)

So, now we have some floor, i am feeling nice and motivated, cant wait to get the flooring stuff! It should be ready to go down at the weekend

The car looking eagre to get in there!! It really does not look like it will fit, but i had a 5 series in there before, so it must!!

Malt_Vinegar · 26 Oct 2008 at 19:09

Ok!!

Update time! I decided to try and get the floor as clean as possible for the laying of the flooring which did arrive, however through some mathematical specialties on my behalf, i ordered far too little to cover the whole floor!!

Half of the floor swept..

The matting! oooo, spangly!!

Some of it going down

Thats where i left, it, need a few more panels to finish it off, and cut some edging bits to make the finishing touches!

I also have decided to make a folding (to roof) ladder out of the remaining peices of decking from my summer decking project, should be good enough wood to take my weight and stain pretty nicely.

One more dump run completed, i think it might have even been the last one i need to do!

more soon!!

However, it looks very nice!

Malt_Vinegar · 26 Oct 2008 at 19:32

Egay

Thanks for the heads up, I will see what i can do to keep it secure from underneath to keep it in one piece!!

Malt_Vinegar · 27 Oct 2008 at 09:15

MikeHiow said:
This is a problem that I don't quite understand, even with new builds, people are still fitting small garage doors in between, when with a little bit of foreward planning, it could be put behind, without loosing too much depth, giving you another 140mm width and not costing any more!

Sorry, i am not sure i follow? The door is in the wrong place?

Another update,

I managed to sort out my 2 boxes of "assorted" (Read, all lobbed into together rather than put away by my brother) into smaller boxes by tool type, ready for being installed into racking on the back wall (yet to be created!). Oh, and the matting stuff makes the floor sooo much nicer to sit and work on, it stayed warm well into the night, its significantly warmer than the uncovered parts of the floor!

I also nearly got my three socket sets back to order. just a few pieces missing, which will turn up in random places

Oh, and i sorted through my assorted car liquids too, and my wheeled chest is now empty! Got a few empty oil bottles which are always usefull to have about i find..

I have a slip week from hockey this weekend, I will do going out with my lady at some point, but i should have a fair bit of tinkering time for the garage next weekend too. I am really enjoying this project, and having this log seems to help me keep track of my progress. I hope i am not boring you lot with it!

Malt_Vinegar · 3 Nov 2008 at 11:33

OK, as we stood on Sunday!

First thing i was not happy about with the flooring in, was the possibilty of the new flooring getting damp and damaged from the rather large gap at the bottom of the main garage door.

Also i wanted to try and keep it as warm in there as possible, so draft/damp proofing was the plan for the morning.

Fitted, and cut to the contours of the floor, it make a great seal, and stops all the moisture beautifully

Next up was the rear door!!

Draft exlusion tape was fitted around the seams, and a brush type strip on the base of the door.
It is amazing how much warmer the whole garage stay now. The "Warm wall" (house wall) seems to be working as a nice free heat source!

Stupidly i forgot to take a completed floor pic, so here is an in-progress shot of the last bits of flooring going down

With the flooring finished, and some stuff coming from ebay to enable me to get the tools tidyed away, i should have the motor in there next weekend i hope!!