Looking for suggestions on garage setup.

[Spooled-up]

We close on our log cabin in Indiana at the end of august. Can't move in until end of Sept. though because of IN state rules. The house has a beautiful three car garage that my truck will actually fit into. The future wife will park hers in bay #3 and the dirtbikes will go in between. My question to the membership is this:



What would you use to cover the walls of the garage? The walls are bare studs with fiberglass insulation in between. Are there any other options besides pegboard? This is pretty much "my" area and I want to set it up nice and be able to keep it neat.



Have any of you found good shelving systems that are sturdy and work well in a garage or have you built your own?



Any pictures of your garages would be great.



Thanks

 

[radixr]

I had my garage plastered when they did the rest of the house. Didn't cost that much more. Plasterboard would be an option. In any case, I would definately cover up that fibreglass insulation. Make a note of the stud locations so you can screw into them when you put up shelves.



Home Depot has some very nice strong, white, shelf supports. A good value when compared to the flimsy stamped sheet metal ones.

 

[Joe G.]

Use cheap plywood (the kind with one good side) instead of sheet rock. Then you can put up anything you want without worrying about stud locations. Before you do that put in PLENTY of electric outlets. Make sure that at least one outlet is close to the door. If you have room, put in the longest "clean" work bench that will fit. Also build a heavy duty "dirty" work bench. This is where your big vise, grinder, and anvil go. Lots of lights!!

 

[EMDDIESEL]

I would not use Plywood for walls is a garage. As convienient as it is to mount stuff on the walls, it is far from fire proof. Sheetrock, as annoying as it is to hang stuff on unless you know where the studs are, is a much safer option and will stop the spread of fire to the framing. If anything, Sheetrock the whole palce and put Plywood or Pegboard OVER the sheetrock, then you have the best of both worlds.

 

[JConley]

Install a couple 50 amp 220 lines. One for the air compressor, and one for the welder. Wire it, and they will come

 

[Deezul1]

By all means install electrical outlets about every 6 feet 4' off the floor so they arnt behind all the junk that will cover them up.

 

[Dkevdog]

Check your building codes before you go slapping up plywood in a garage (especially one attached to the house). The wall between the house and garage must be a minimum 2 hour fire wall. In CA- this means that the wall MUST be covered with no holes with 5/8 fire rated gypsum sheet board. The ceiling must also be covered if living space is above. Plywood burns real nice... . Oh yeah- the electrical thing is a way good idea. you will never have enough.



Kev

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Dont forget one of those really cool transparent central vac systems from Home Depot. Alot nicer then dragging a shop vac all over the place.

 

[illflem]

When planning for the work bench area include wiring so you can have outlets under the front of the bench. Much better than having cords running over the top of the bench.

 

[Big K]

Contact your local commercial gypsum wallboard supplier and ask about "abuse resistant" gwb. This is a high density product that has the fire resistant properties of regular sheetrock, but is much more durable. You will not be able to fasten into it like plywood, though. Consider plumbing air lines before wallboard. I prefer copper over pvc. Be sure to finish all the way thru paint, with a bright white. Reflects light much better. Enjoy!

 

[swamp rat]

I dunno about what you wife might say about this but I think it is a nifty way to to store two cars and a truck in a two car garage!



#ad




and it has an optional caster unit that allows repostioning the rack after you have rolled the first vehicle up on the rack.



However, I'd opt for this:

#ad


with a 12k rolling air jack.

 

[Alan Reagan]

When we did my brother in laws shop, he put in the galvanized lines for compressed air in the walls so he would have locations throughout the shop (a 40 X 60) without dragging lines. The electical outlets are a must. If you have room, put in a restroom/washup area. Mine has one and momma loves that little fact about my shop.

 

[Fireman]

I used 3/8 plywood with a v groove and bead cut into it. I did this mostly as a financial concideration ( it was the cheapest thing I could find ) , as a plus it looks good. I'm not worried about fire, as many start behind the walls anyway, and a hole the size of a pencil in a 1 hr rated fire wall will allow the fire to spread through in about 5 min. Your best bet on fire safety is prevention, be careful. I also put outlets all around every 4 ft, boxes and romex are cheap. I also used 3/4 pvc to run air lines, I put an outlet about every 8 ft ant 2 in the ceiling with short whip hoses. I haven,t been able to post pics here I'll try to e-mail some to you.



Fireman



Oh yeah, Lots of lights. I used 1 8ft double bulb flouriscent (sp) per 100 sq ft, wish I had a couple more

 

[ScooterH]

shelves

Go to your local Lumberyard, or hardware and ask for adjustable shelving that HANGS from the top rim. I believe mine are called Skyhooks. You can get them in differant lengths 4-6-8 '. They hang, so there is nothing sitting on the floor to get in the way!! Plus there is no need to worry about where your studs are located. Move them anywhere along the wall. Will not work with finished celling.

 

[Spooled-up]

Great Suggestions!

I appreciate all the suggestions. My dad is an electrician and I worked as an apprentice for years. Believe me, it will have an overbuilt electrical system. I forgot about the air compressor lines in the wall. Excellent idea! The garage is on the level of the basement, so the wall between the garage and the house is concrete. I can walk from the garage into the finished basement. There is a utility sink in the laundry room, and also a full bath in the basement.



On building the workbenches, have any of you seen a good set of plans, or did you just wing it? 4x4's for legs, 2x6's covered with 3/4" plywood on top is my idea for the materials. What are you using?

 

[Deezul1]

Solid core doors make great workbench tops and often building supply stores have damaged ones very cheap. Masonite type doors make the best tops but any of them are good when finished correctly.

 

[Joe G.]

I have two work benches. The "dirty" one is made with 4X4 legs and 2X8 top. That's where the grinder, big vise, and anvil reside. This one is kind of beat up. The drill press is right next to it. The "clean" work bench is across the back of the garage (except for the stair well) and is 16 feet long. I'm still in the process of finishing it. When it's done it will have four layers of 1/2" plywood topped by sheet metal. Sheet metal is nice because no matter what you spill on it, it's easy to clean up. I'm using it with only two of the planned plywood layers until I get a chance to finish it. In the mean time I'm using a large drip pan on the bench for messy stuff. This bench has electrical outlets every four feet. The wall behind it is concrete so it's kind of a job putting up shelves there. Lots of shelves in the rest of the gargage. Can't have too many shelves. One thing to think of is a way to get exhaust out of the garage. Mine is below one end of the house so the head of the house would shoot me if I ran this smelly beast without a way to get the exhaust out. I use a long piece (about 30') of 4" flexible drain pipe.

 

[illflem]

What makes a good cheap bench top protector are the metal sides of a refrigerator, they come off easy with a cordless nutdriver.

 

[KOUNTERSC]

I used that same sheetrock in my garage that I used in my house. That is the worst mistake I made when I built my house. In three years, the walls are well scuffed and dented from car doors, bycycles, and just leaning stuff against the walls. There has to be something a lot better, and still keep a fire rating. I thought about puting 1/4" plywood on top of the sheetrock.

 

[QRTRHRS]

PVC for air lines? That may be both against code and hazardous from what I have read. I would go with black or galvanized iron pipe.



I use 1/4" hardboard for covering work benches. When the surface gets ratty, just remove and put new on. For shelving, although pricey, the wire racks in stainless or black are super strong, easily adjused and maximize space.