Dream garage essentials?

[Clark_Kent]

Originally Posted by flipnkraut

Reasoning? So far the cons for swisstrax from everyone that I've talked to has been from not understanding what the product does. People that actually have it love it more than epoxy.

The only legitimate con I've seen is that it's uncomfortable to walk on barefoot.

I don't like the way it looks, I don't like the way it feels and I don't like the price point. It's intended to provide this designer look and feel but I think it does the exact opposite. It's also annoying that dirt and any liquids will pass through the cracks in the Swisstrax and build up on the floor and possibly stain it. Swisstrax is not for me. Different strokes for different folks.

[Drop the hammer]

Focus on your electrical installations. Meet with your electrician and discuss what the Porsche/Tesla home fast chargers use and wire it for that (for a future fast charging option). Will be something like a 60amp or two 30 amp plugs. Maybe one 220V and one at 110v. Can then have option of running a decent welder set up off it as well. or lathe or milling machine. All things on my list if I was building.
I’ll never own a Tesla, but there will be great electric sports cars in 10-20 years that I might own or a classic car (e30 or 911) electric convert.

Cost is basically some expensive heavy gauge cabling and you can terminate the wiring into a box for future plug installation, you don’t even have to hook it up yet, just get the cable run in the walls that’s heavy enough and with enough wires in it for 220v. Also design your breaker box with your electrician so that it has capacity for all this. Yes it’ll triple the hardware cost but really a lot cheaper now than retrofit in the future. And the hardware is not a huge bill anyways, neither are extra 2 dollar outlets.

I’d also go overkill on how many outlets Installed in The garage. Put some at chest height where work bench would be (I have 6 outLet’s on my bench, all are full of chargers for various tools. You will need lots. Then put an outlet every 6 feet all the way around the garage walls. Trust me you will need them as the garage gets full of shelving, lockers, tool boxes, car projects, etc.

[Serf27]

Delete.

[Serf27]

I didn’t see anyone list it, or maybe I passed it.
I would get a good air compressor with a reeling hose.
If you have the space, a 2 post lift is best. You could do anything with it.

I just set up my small 1 car garage to fit my car in there and do some work in there.

[flybigjet]

When you put the hose bib in, plumbing it for hot/cold is OUTSTANDING if you're working on the car in even slightly chilly weather.

My father did this when building his house in WA and it's something that I'm thankful for every single time. If it's below 50 degrees, it's nice to have hot water, regardless of what you're doing.

R.

[ToddBlack88]

Beer assistant

[bigrum]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

When you put the hose bib in, plumbing it for hot/cold is OUTSTANDING if you're working on the car in even slightly chilly weather.

My father did this when building his house in WA and it's something that I'm thankful for every single time. If it's below 50 degrees, it's nice to have hot water, regardless of what you're doing.

R.

Yeah I actually have a hot/cold hose bib, it is nice AF.

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by flybigjet

When you put the hose bib in, plumbing it for hot/cold is OUTSTANDING if you're working on the car in even slightly chilly weather.

My father did this when building his house in WA and it's something that I'm thankful for every single time. If it's below 50 degrees, it's nice to have hot water, regardless of what you're doing.

R.

I thought about this but for the past 4 years I've been washing my car outside and only a small handful of times did I wish I had hot water since it only gets cold about a month out of the year. Just being able to wash inside will make all the difference for me.

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by flipnkraut

I thought about this but for the past 4 years I've been washing my car outside and only a small handful of times did I wish I had hot water since it only gets cold about a month out of the year. Just being able to wash inside will make all the difference for me.

It's also nice to have hot water wash down the siding, the garage, etc.

We use it at my dad's house (I'll inherit, eventually) FAR more than I would have thought.

And, it really was a pittance since he was building the house. Just run a little more flexible tubing and Bob's your uncle.

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by Drop the hammer

Focus on your electrical installations. Meet with your electrician and discuss what the Porsche/Tesla home fast chargers use and wire it for that (for a future fast charging option). Will be something like a 60amp or two 30 amp plugs. Maybe one 220V and one at 110v. Can then have option of running a decent welder set up off it as well. or lathe or milling machine. All things on my list if I was building.
I'll never own a Tesla, but there will be great electric sports cars in 10-20 years that I might own or a classic car (e30 or 911) electric convert.

Cost is basically some expensive heavy gauge cabling and you can terminate the wiring into a box for future plug installation, you don't even have to hook it up yet, just get the cable run in the walls that's heavy enough and with enough wires in it for 220v. Also design your breaker box with your electrician so that it has capacity for all this. Yes it'll triple the hardware cost but really a lot cheaper now than retrofit in the future. And the hardware is not a huge bill anyways, neither are extra 2 dollar outlets.

I'd also go overkill on how many outlets Installed in The garage. Put some at chest height where work bench would be (I have 6 outLet's on my bench, all are full of chargers for various tools. You will need lots. Then put an outlet every 6 feet all the way around the garage walls. Trust me you will need them as the garage gets full of shelving, lockers, tool boxes, car projects, etc.

Man thank you for this. I completely overlooked outlets. You sir probably saved me many headaches and dollars.

[F32Fleet]

Must haves:

2-post lift.
Ceramic tile floors.
Ductless minisplit


Most important, if the garage is part of the house you want to air-seal and insulate it from the living space. I'm talking from roof down to the slab. If there's living space above the garage then insulate the garage ceiling really well (Mineral Wool, Cellulose).

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by F32Fleet

Must haves:

2-post lift.
Ceramic tile floors.
Ductless minisplit


Most important, if the garage is part of the house you want to air-seal and insulate it from the living space. I'm talking from roof down to the slab. If there's living space above the garage then insulate the garage ceiling really well (Mineral Wool, Cellulose).

Air seal from the living space is required by code in the US. And I think insulation is as well. But it would be nice to also insulate the walls in the garage that aren't shared with the living space. Also forgot to mention to get insulated garage doors.

[VisualEcho]

Loft with a wood ceiling, and a medium dark tile floor. First example is of the ceiling, second is of the floor.

[bigrum]

What about those big exhaust vacuum hoses you hang on your tailpipe and see in dealership service bays or fire departments? I assume if done right you can have your car running in the garage when working on it?

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by flipnkraut

Air seal from the living space is required by code in the US. And I think insulation is as well. But it would be nice to also insulate the walls in the garage that aren't shared with the living space. Also forgot to mention to get insulated garage doors.

Yep. In the US codes are administered on the local and state level. The individual states themselves are on different versions and enforcement isn't always consistent. Doesn't help that builders don't always adhere to code either.

[dinonz]

Have these guys in my garages right now - although they might not finish both as we go into lockdown tonight.

http://www.garageliving.com

They're doing:

1. Epoxy floors
2. Slat walls
3. Built in cabinets
4. Built in benches in the alcove
5. Overhead storage

Phase 2 (not by them - will be different companies) will be:

6. Raised garage doors with side motors
7. BendPak Wide 4 post lift for stacked storage in single car garage
8. MaxJax 2 post lift in the middle of the 2 car garage for working

[lakefront]

I know not everyone likes the "industrial" look but as far as putting in lots of outlets, I insisted to my electrician (my father-in-law) that I wanted junction boxes and conduit mounted on the outside of the finished walls. I mounted the conduit and my compressed air piping on Unistrut so there wasn't even any need to bend offsets. Straight pipe into the boxes and straight out. Went up 1 size conduit than needed so that if I ever needed to add 220v outlet or whatever I could just run the wire through existing pipe. I love it.

[lsturbointeg]

here's what i've got done so far. still need to order the rest of the Racedeck tiles. i built this for me and only me. so i wanted more of a showroom look.



already installed LED shop lights throughout


painted the walls a medium gray while leaving the windows satin white and the ceiling flat white









i still have to order the black utility sink since my white one looks out of place


will order a view banners for the walls



and a few mechanic chairs

[flybigjet]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

here's what i've got done so far. still need to order the rest of the Racedeck tiles. i built this for me and only me. so i wanted more of a showroom look.

Holy shit.

Marry me.

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

here's what i've got done so far.

Damn that's looking nice. What brand cabinets are those are how do you like the quality?

Also where'd you get the BMW banner?

[lowside67]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

here's what i've got done so far. still need to order the rest of the Racedeck tiles. i built this for me and only me. so i wanted more of a showroom look.

That is a truly absurd length of cabinets - huge fan! Can I ask why you decided to break up the work bench into small chunks? To me that seems like that would be hugely limiting to any opportunity to actually work on large materials, etc. I have the same cabinets in my (much) smaller garage.

To make a suggestion to the OP - I would strongly consider a perimeter of upper shelving. It has been eye opening to me how much I actually use this space. I have attached some older photos of my garage below.

-Mark

[flipnkraut]

Originally Posted by lowside67

That is a truly absurd length of cabinets - huge fan! Can I ask why you decided to break up the work bench into small chunks? To me that seems like that would be hugely limiting to any opportunity to actually work on large materials, etc. I have the same cabinets in my (much) smaller garage.

To make a suggestion to the OP - I would strongly consider a perimeter of upper shelving. It has been eye opening to me how much I actually use this space. I have attached some older photos of my garage below.

-Mark

[img]http://www.uhlmann.ca/wp-content/upl...up_Resized.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.uhlmann.ca/wp-content/upl...1/IMG_6390.jpg[/img]

I've gone back and forth with shelving for storage. But when I envision my dream garage I don't see totes and totes lining my walls. Already told the wife if we have to use the garage for storage, it'll be one shelf along the perimeter and the only thing that'll go there are a specific type of tote. If it doesn't fit in the tote it doesn't go in the garage. This way at least it will be clean and uniform.