Help me plan my garage?

We've had threads here about showing off our cars, but I have a blank canvas in front of me and would like to be fitting out the garage by October.

If there's a particularly useful thing in your car's bedroom that you think mine could benefit from, how about snapping a photo and posting it here? Anything from where you've placed outlets to how you store spares would be helpful.

Flooring, banked lights, barstools ... literally whatever's most beneficial to you. One of the walls is drywall, and the other two are pre-cast concrete. It's otherwise featureless.

I intend to paint a mural of sorts, like the wall of a cave, and anybody who drops in will be able to paint a bit of primarive art onto it; stick figures hunting Buicks from Beetle convertibles comes to mind -- but otherwise, let's see what'cha got.

6 months from now, you will be thinking about tearing out that wall to get some more room.

Right Guys ??? A man cave is never big enough.... ( Angela?)

Two tone paint scheme with a third color 10" or 12" horizontal center strip looks good. Bottom darker gray ( hides dirt) red center stripe then a lighter gray on the top half.

Floor: If possibe, clean the floor with a good acid stripper then epoxy paint, this will keep any oil etc. from soaking into the concrete, easy to sweep up and hose off and looks good too.

Shelving, to maximize floor space, keep and floor shelf's to a minimum I would have 2' deep shelves from the ceiling using 1/2" pipe as the vertical supports.

Storage: I found a couple of good and solid wood throw away kitchen base cabinets and a chest of draws that worked well.

Fire: A fire cabinet for your paints and other flamables...a smaill galvanized trash can for a used rag can with lid and ABC fire estinguisher(s)

Door: Confirm you have a fire rated door between the shop and house.

Alarms: Carbon monoxide is a must as weel as a smoke alarm...However, you might want to have away to disarm them while working in the shop and rememeber to re-arm when done.

Work bench: Heavy duty with a hard work surface and decent vise, at least 6 outlets with overhead lighting.

Lighting: Try to find an electrician that is pulling out fluorescent units, this time of year you may come across a school that is replacing lighting....the more lighting you can get the better.

Outlets: 8' wall spacing is fine, be sure to have a ceiling mounted retracting cord reel that is a plus.

Heat: I have a simple 220v fan forced heater that works well as long as I fire it up at least an hour prior to using the shop...also works great as a quick drier for rattle can painted parts.

Air: Medium duty vertical compressor, running schedule 40 plastic pipe along the wall is easy to do being sure to use an air hose with and ID that will not restrict the necessary psi to the air tools.

Fans: I have a 30" fan mounted at the top of a wall next to the ceiling, this keeps air moving an exhaust fan is a must too that will removes fumes.

Exhaust hose: Make something up so that you can stick a hose over the exhaust while running the motor inside ( Be Sure to do this w/o and exhaust leaks but you already know this.)

Lift: Be careful what you buy as lot of it is junk...I would recommend a simple 48" mid rise scissor lift...this is high enough to be able to work on brakes w/o bending over and sit on a low mechanics stool to work under the car.

Mural: When I worked at the VoTec School we did a large shop mural using a projector to set an image on a wall then just did a quick loose outline of that on the wall, when done it looked great from a few feet back from the wall. ........I have a photo somewhere.

Refrig: An under counter bar type Is a must have but keep seating to a minimum or you will end up with a neighborhood man cave club house.

......I've built so much over the years ( replicars and home renovations) ) I would be glad to come by and check it out and give additional suggestions.

Alan, I see a new business opportunity in your future: Man Cave Consulting Services.

It would appear that Alan has covered everything, except a big screen TV, and a few easy chairs for when Gerd and I come to watch you fools work on your cars....

Hey Cory, here's what I did to my garage floor, tiles went down easy but I a hard time finding black tiles the size I needed.

" Man Cave Consulting Services " Hmmm there's a thought.

I was just offered a unique job opportunity this morning, running a decent size used truck and cargo trailer business today...I turned it down but might look at that when I retire from the trucking business in 4 years and 5 months

Nolan , thats just way waaay too organized ~

Organizing was the easy part Alan, keeping the wife from taking it over while I waited for my car was the hard part.

Every good mancave needs a urinal. You don't have to go far to do your business, and the inside of the house stays grease-free.

Where's the LIFT... You need a freakin LIFT... All that other stuff is Home Depot type changes.. were talking car-lift here... get a huge car lift for your tub! Now that is awesome... After that you can put the canoe anywhere you want!

Speedster "D"

Urinal? Isn't that what that azelea bed is for right outside the garage door? After all I read that they were acid-loving plants.

Urinal: Maxwell House coffee can with a heater hose through the wall.

I know you're an adventurous guy and probably frugal too. Build one of these and report back if it is as exciting as it looks...http://www.classic1800.com/ramp-pit-plans/

Hell'va an Idea!!!!

That rocking ramp is an awesome idea!

The rocking ramp looks like it might just takes some guts (especially the first time)...but with Speedsters and Spyders I think a helper person could probably help the balancing act and make the transition to flat pretty easy.

I've been toying with the idea of making 10'-12'long ramps out of
2"x 12"s, figure I can get the rear or front end up about 14"or so which should be good enough for an oil change. Each ramp would be the width of a 2 x 12 (11.25") with possibly some "outriggers" for stability. The ramp angle only amounts to 5-6 degrees and doesn't appear to interfere with overhang clearances. Shouldn't cost much more than $40, about the price of some of the plastic ramps without the severe angle. Has anyone out there ever attempted such a ramp(s)? I figure a wooden structure like this could handle the Speedster weight. Sides, tops and bottoms all 2x12's with 2x's as internal supports every 12". Overall weight of each ramp would be bearable and maybe the addition of some caster wheels somehow for mobility. They could stack onto each other for storage, roughly 12" square by 10'-12' long so they wouldn't take up too much room when not in service. Wheel blocks an obvious necessity.

As a safer structual upgrade to the 2 x 12's look into getting LVL's....Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives, is very strong and is available in various widths.

I would urge extreme caution regarding home-built ramps. Professionally-made models aren't that expensive, and are worth saving for. Remember who's going to crawl/creeper under the ramp. I have been to two rescues involving home-made ramps. One guy got lucky, the other guy got dead. It's no fun for the family member who finds the victim either.

If I was Aaron Id be planing a cement poor on the west side of the hill over beside the garage well out of the way and out of site of the EPA sooner or later there is always a spill. plan it careflly have a liner and a catch can in the lower floor have a make believe bush azela in a make beleive pot/cover on wheels over the ramps when not in use to hide that puppy. Id still hope that back drivway plan come into being. Id leave that area as is

i know its a good idea my friend has one at is shop but we use the lift most of the time..

Must have been the 103 degree heat here, so I'll withdraw my previous air head LVL wood post and agreewith Jim... 110%

While agree with as much free lighting as possible, I think that outlets every 4' is better PLUS outlets in the ceiling 8' apart is cool. I got a whole shop full of free (yes, FREE) 4', 4-tube fluorescent units at a local habitat for humanity store (a "re-store") that were being swapped out. Look around this summer for real deals.

Friends have done both the epoxy floor treatments Or the tiles like Nolan has done. I prefer the floor tiles. Easier to install, clean and replace, if necessary.

Gn

forget the ramp and go with the lift.. it runs on fluids like US!

Very good suggestions. Keep 'em coming!
No joy on the lift. Ductwork in the center, plus a beam.

But ... I DO have the nifty jackstands, jack, creeper and chock set from Carlisle!
I should be good to go!

buy plenty of Ductape

When we moved in to our place, the previous owner had installed upper and lower cabinets with a formica workbench in between. I painted all the doors with chalk-board paint, and now I can leave notes for myself, label what's in the cabinets for my wife, etc.

I would guess big whiteboards on each door would work the same, but would be $$$.

I also am a huge fan of the floor tiles as per Nolan. If you go that route, I would stay away from the black. Mine REALLY show every speck of dirt and crap. Grey seems to not show the gook as bad.

How do the floor tiles stand up to jack stands and jacks?

I just put a square piece of plywood under my jack or jack stands to distribute the weight. The floor's 6 years old and no chips or cracks. Just make sure you use a lot of thinset under the tiles to eliminate any air pockets. Just tap each tile after laying it, if it sounds hollow then redo the thinset under it.

Cory regular tile works great in FL but I would use a harder Porcelain up north if I was going to do tile. White will be cheaper and easy to find, the hard part will be the dark. Down where Nolan lives you know the Miami area decorates either Deco or Modern so you can find everything. Get a flat or honed finish and seal the grout for water. Put a bull nose or something to get rid of the square edge where you drive up to avoid chipping the tile ends.

Bummer on the lift Cory... I'd say stick with the tiles and a bunch of military photos and posters of the US kicking some butt! Like the movie stripes said... Horsepower Vs. Firepower

I thought we were discussing the interlocking plastic tiles.

I think Nolan has real tiles because he mentioned thinset,

Corey,
A few suggestions...

A blast cabinet in it's separate room at opposite end of shop from paint booth. You Are going to have a paint booth, right? If not create an area that you can partition with plastic drapes and fans. Appropriate respirators, filters, clothes to go with it.
Thanks to SEMA most states allow hobbyists to paint several cars a year at home, even in California.
A tig and or Mig welder is a good addition. A plasma cutter... also nice; Metal lathe with large enough swing to turn a flywheel; Drill press, Hydraulic press, a small mill like a Bridgeport.
Don't forget at least one motorcycle jack and one floor jack.
A note on compressors and any other power equipment.
Check out how noisy they are. Most equipment manufacturers don't tell you this, but they know how loud their equipment is.
My Craftsman compressor runs at 90 decibels and that

You guys are brilliant!
If I am fortunate enough to stumble across a mechanic's shop going out of business, I'll have all that stuff in a jiffy!

For now, maybe I'll be building one of those wooden rocking ramps.

I like most of those ideas, and I bet'cha I'll be making a prioritized list for the next couple months, shopping on Craigslist or Freecycle for good deals on the must-haves.
How about a few more photos of how y'all have things laid out? I like what Nolan's got going on there. I'm going to try to find a place where I can get those interlocking tiles, and I may be moving the hardwood-topped bench I have at the rental right now. I'll probably avoid Harbor Freight, too, unless it's for that "might use it once and not need it again," tool or manual gadget.
Anybody have a line on a good, old-fashioned anvil?

old-fashioned anvil? = Piece or railroad track and if you look hard enough they are available in the gravel bed.

Saw an anvil on eBay...lister, The Road Runner...meep, meep!

Believe it or not, when I started looking at cleaning out my Dad's old stuff from his bus garage this summer, I found, tucked under one of the benches, a real, old, Blacksmith's anvil. Damn thing must weigh upwards of 150 lbs. Has a "horn" on one end (for shaping horse shoes) and a squared off opposite end with a rectangular, vertical hole in it for bending wrought iron stuff. Pretty cool, but WAY to heavy to move. Looks like an e-bay item for "you-pick-up".