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Garage set up? Organization
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After being in our house for almost a full year, we still don't have our garage set up and organized. Basically a finished space with a bunch of shit on the floor, no room for cars. It's time to get this thing under control. What do some of you like for shelving? Open shelves or closed cabinets? What do you like for garden tools, to hang or store, bike storage and all the other crap that's stored in the garage?
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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I have shelves that double as benches and use rubbermaid tubs for draws.

Don't do that. Get cabinets with proper drawers.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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I pegboarded (white) my garage. I hang everything.

As to storage, I use open shelves and then plastic containers with labels.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [Harbinger] [ In reply to ]
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Oh yeah, I forgot about all that pegboard...

Harbinger just described my system.

Don't.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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Do you want a functional garage, i.e. one in which you'll be working, building stuff, working on the car, etc? Or do you just want extra storage? If the former, you'll want a workbench, pegboard, and that kind of thing to make work flow easy. If the latter, you might want closed cabinets so everything tucks away out of sight.

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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I should mention, mine is a workshop. There isn't a day that goes by out there that I don't hate those stupid plastic bins. Should have put in proper drawers. The pegboard is okay, but really most of my tools could be in cabinets a/o drawers. I have a bit of everything for toys, welder, drill press, jointer, thickness planer, sanders, router, linear bow press, dust collector, mech tools, compressor (if you get one don't under buy!) etc. Basically the whole gamut of tinkerer toys. No CNC stuff.... yet. Also, all of my power tool stuff is on wheels, I just move it where I need it to be.

Either way, if your plan is to do shop stuff don't do the bin thing - it's okay at first but after a few years it's dreadful.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [racin_rusty] [ In reply to ]
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Apparently you are more manly than me, I just have basic stuff, drills, saws, little boy tool stuff like that.

I may just buy some basic unfinished cabinets with drawers and paint them. Our builder was sketching out a plan for his guys to come in and build it out with open shelves on the upper main wall and cabinets below with pine countertops.


Hate to drop too much money in cabinets for the garage. J
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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Best purchase we bought was an industrial metal rack, I think each shelf can hold 300lbs. We store our winter tires up on the top shelf and tools on the rest.

I have something like this for our bikes:
http://www.amazon.com/...wse-bin%3A4725963011

If your garage is tall enough I would look at building shelves from the ceilings that allows you to put stuff up there that you don't use often.

I also like the ceiling pulley system for bikes, saves room on the walls for garden tools and a workbench.

Best I've seen is someone who built a large attic above their garage. that was their workshop and storage space. He had a whole pulley system to store his snow blower and lawn mower up there. That left plenty of room for his boat and fish cleaning table/sink.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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I think pegboard is the anti-thesis of organization. Great in theory, but normally gets random junk hung on it.

I've spent the last 8 years in a 12x20 garage where I've done everything from motors swaps to replacing quarter panels and floors. It's been too small for any kind of wood work and is usually filled with a non-running car. I've gotten really good at shoving alot stuff into a small space.

I find cabinets also collect junk with the out of sight, out of mind mentality, but if you go with open shelving and totes, things self organize. Xmas stuff in the Xmas box, paint stuff with the paint, plumbing supplies and tools in the plumbing tote, etc, etc.

In my new shop, I'm building about 60' of 2' deep shelves about 9' high (12' ceiling). Only weight limit will be what willing to drag up a ladder. Bikes will be hung by their wheels from this shelving.

On the floor, I'll have my 72" toolbox with socket trays, wrench and screw driver organizers for mechanics tools, a 60" wood topped toolbox for non much tools, a fixed 96" work bench with drill press, grinder, vice, and storage for heavy things, a rolling cart for the current project, and plastic bins to collect nuts and bolts and other smaller parts. I'll probably cave and still put a small cupboard or two for random shit I don't want to look at and has no other home.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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How about get rid of shit?
If it hasn't been used in nearly a year, toss it.

America has an obsession with crap. US self-storage industry is $32 billion in revenue for 2016 and growing. Homes have 2 car garages and you can't park in it. Organization will only get you so far. Get rid of stuff.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [Harbinger] [ In reply to ]
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Harbinger wrote:
I pegboarded (white) my garage. I hang everything.

As to storage, I use open shelves and then plastic containers with labels.

Pegboard eventually weakens and heavy things will pull the hangers through the pegboard.

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"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [Trispoke] [ In reply to ]
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Trispoke wrote:
How about get rid of shit?
If it hasn't been used in nearly a year, toss it.

America has an obsession with crap. US self-storage industry is $32 billion in revenue for 2016 and growing. Homes have 2 car garages and you can't park in it. Organization will only get you so far. Get rid of stuff.
we have almost 0 shit in the garage. We didn't a good clean out before we moved in the new house. Lot of yard stuff, tools, mowers, blowers, 6 bikes, strollers, pressure washer, left over paint for touch ups, things like that. All the stuff we have just takes up so much room sitting on the floor it's impossible to get our two cars in there along with the golf cart in the third bay.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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SkipG wrote:
Trispoke wrote:
How about get rid of shit?
If it hasn't been used in nearly a year, toss it.

America has an obsession with crap. US self-storage industry is $32 billion in revenue for 2016 and growing. Homes have 2 car garages and you can't park in it. Organization will only get you so far. Get rid of stuff.
we have almost 0 shit in the garage. We didn't a good clean out before we moved in the new house. Lot of yard stuff, tools, mowers, blowers, 6 bikes, strollers, pressure washer, left over paint for touch ups, things like that. All the stuff we have just takes up so much room sitting on the floor it's impossible to get our two cars in there along with the golf cart in the third bay.

Clearly you need a 4th bay. :)
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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SkipG wrote:
Trispoke wrote:
How about get rid of shit?
If it hasn't been used in nearly a year, toss it.

America has an obsession with crap. US self-storage industry is $32 billion in revenue for 2016 and growing. Homes have 2 car garages and you can't park in it. Organization will only get you so far. Get rid of stuff.
we have almost 0 shit in the garage. We didn't a good clean out before we moved in the new house. Lot of yard stuff, tools, mowers, blowers, 6 bikes, strollers, pressure washer, left over paint for touch ups, things like that. All the stuff we have just takes up so much room sitting on the floor it's impossible to get our two cars in there along with the golf cart in the third bay.

I have a standard-sized two car garage. It currently holds two cars, one riding mower, one rolling table saw, one wetsaw (folded), one 15' wooden ladder, one 6' stepladder, one 25' extension ladder, one "workbench", a rolling 4' toolbox, a generator, a jogging stroller hanging from a hook in a ceiling joist, a bike hanging from another hook, innumerable beach chairs and boogie boards, a windsurfer in the ceiling joists, all our gardening tools, a box for the stray cat that has adopted us, and who knows what else. And the doors still close.

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [slowguy] [ In reply to ]
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slowguy wrote:
Do you want a functional garage, i.e. one in which you'll be working, building stuff, working on the car, etc? Or do you just want extra storage? If the former, you'll want a workbench, pegboard, and that kind of thing to make work flow easy. If the latter, you might want closed cabinets so everything tucks away out of sight.

I am turning my garage in to a workshop/tool storage for my construction business. It is a single car garage, so narrow, but quite long. While having accessible tools is great, having them covered in dust is not. I opted for doors and drawers to keep everything organized and clean as opposed to peg board.

Along one wall, I have built cabinets out of plywood with basic doors. I keep my larger hand held tools there. Along the top, I have bench power tools (mitre saw, drill press, spindle sander, etc).

Along the other wall, I have shallow racks for long lumber. I have built several mobile work dollies for various heavy tools (planer, band saw, etc) so I can pull them in to the centre of the garage for use, then tuck them away when not in use. Along the back wall I have a 4'x8' work bench made of baltic birch plywood on retractable casters. Everything (aside from the row of fixed cabinets) can be easily moved by one person to make the most of a small, awkward space. It's not ideal, but I know guys who build $50,000 kitchens in just as much square footage.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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http://www.garagejournal.com
You'll love my suggestion when you first go there, but you might be cursing me when you look up from the rathole several hours later. Basically everything you want to know about garages - storage ideas, flooring, lighting, you name it. Search for Jack Olsons 12 Gauge Garage if you really want to kill some time.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [AndysStrongAle] [ In reply to ]
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Andy speaks the truth. Our old house, I had shelves 4 ft deep, hanging 4ft down from the ceiling all along the perimeter.

Lag bolt 2x4''s as support on wall side, other side supported by eye bolts and chains hanging from ceiling. Think/google college dorm bunks.

I have large shelves for storage in my pre stressed now. I hate it. Going back to suspended shelves.

Tool storage, I went with Seville from Sam's. Prob cost a couple K to get set up, but they are great.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [owen.] [ In reply to ]
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owen. wrote:
I think pegboard is the anti-thesis of organization. Great in theory, but normally gets random junk hung on it.


OK. Let me clarify. I use pegboard in my workshop. It is 20' by 12' with 10' ceiling and has benches, shelves, and lots of pegboard to hang tools. I also have a 3 car garage that has the walls sheetrocked and painted like the inside of the house with 12' ceiling. We park the cars inside it and the 3rd bay is for the ATV, lawn mower and anything that uses gas. I also have stairs to a decked out storage above the garage. This is where the boxes and things seldom used go. Anything cluttery, goes to the 'Texas Basement' (attic with stair access). The pegboard is only in the workshop and only has tools hanging from it. I have industrial shelves in the workshop and use clear plastic bins with labels (paint, painting items, plumbing items, electrical, etc.). All in all, everything is very organized and easy to find. But, part of it is having lots of space.
Last edited by: Harbinger: May 27, 16 3:40
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]
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Decided to get a nice set of these pro cabinets from NewAge products. Ordered them today, little on the expensive side, hope it's worth the cost, look nice though!


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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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The stuff you got looks nice.

I insulated and then walled my current garage in pegboard. After 10 years, it's awfully wrinkled in spots- cold winters and humid summers. It's a 2-car. I DO like the pegboard behind my workbench, but it's a PITA everywhere else.

New house has a separate finished stall, 13x28. I can store all the lawn stuff in the 7 foot crawlspace, so it's all workshop. I'm inheriting my Dad's Shopsmith, and plan to have a workbench across the back. Beyond that... Blank canvas. Key items will be: gun safe, beer fridge, big screen, need a good seat- my brother refurbished an old barber chair for Dad, so that may be an idea I bogart. I'm stoked.

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If I don't, who will? -Me
It's like being bipolar in opinion is a requirement around here. -TripleThreat
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [lunchbox] [ In reply to ]
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Think I'll get the slatwall to install on both sides by the cars to put all the hanging stuff. Excited to finally get that shithole of a mess organized in the garage!
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [SkipG] [ In reply to ]
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That looks awesome!!! I wish I wasn't dumping money in to my house, I would way rather go with a system like that. Instead I spent $500 on material and made a huge bank of cabinets. Great value, as I ended up with roughly 20' of 32"x 36"x 24" cabinets, but... not nearly as cool looking.

Long Chile was a silly place.
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, These things are cool looking. Got 2 of the big locker cabinets, 4 upper cabinets and 4 lower cabinets with 2 tool cabinets. Should be plenty of storage and workspace. Looking forward to having almost 10' of countertop workspace with this thing!
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Re: Garage set up? Organization [BCtriguy1] [ In reply to ]
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I still have a ton of wall space I can utilize for some sort of storage, ceilings are also 10'-12', thinking about couple of the ceiling mounted racks to place a few plastic bins and maybe to hang bikes from to keep them off the wall and sticking out so far.

I have a massive attic space over the garage, it has a pull down access. I could do some great things up there with some cheap open shelves. It's a major pain in the ass to carry anything up and down those steps 12' in the air.
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