Garage-Tetris

If there was an award for how much stuff someone could pile in a 2 car garage and still have it be functional for 1 DD, lawn stuff, and all the kids stuff, I may be in the runnings for Garage-tetris Dominator of the World...

That is all.

Post a pic. I bet with $500 in shelving/cabinets and a weekends work I could turn it into a 2 car again.

Edit: Sheds are your friend. Lawn/house stuff doesn't belong in a garage.

I'll play. Three complete cars, two rolling toolchests, five engines, four transmissions, an EZup, a tv, a tower computer, the mower, hedgetrimmer, a Red Bull fridge, an engine hoist, two floor jacks, eight jack stands, a stereo system, the air compressor, and an as yet unassembled workbench. All in a small two car garage with eight foot ceilings and all the HVAC ductwork and the water heater. Those genius subdivision architects of the 70s and their split foyer designs... nothing works like it should.

I need a shed bad. My garage is full of lawn furniture and lawn equipment.

Define function? I play tetris to make room to work, then I add projects and get more crap and pretty soon I'm out of space again. I really need more space so I can overfill that larger space.

I find it easier to speak in photos, so bring it...

1 Berkely, 1 Subaru microvan, 2 CitiCars, washer dryer, lathe, sink, LSx, GSXR1000 motor, glide, th400, ~8 electric motors, bunch of A123 lithium, vintage and modern EV chargers, beach supplies, swimming supplies, benders, press, compressor, oxy torch, welder, band saw, power tools, battery tools, jog stroller, baby seats, spare steel, spare aluminum, lumber, etc...

When it's clean I can actually walk freely to all of that. It's a 20x20 garage that is our most commonly used entrance and exit.

Only in America!! Amazing how many garages are full of worthless stuff and the cars ($$$) sit outside.

outasite wrote: Only in America!! Amazing how many garages are full of worthless stuff and the cars ($$$) sit outside.

The stuff in my garage is collectively worth far more than any of my cars (2005 Sequoia and 2009 wrx), so they sit in the driveway. Plus I see no reason to park in the garage anyhow. I don't much care if the car gets rained on or has leaves fall on it. On the other hand, I prefer to keep my tools, machines, etc inside out of the weather and have room for project cars.

That said, I don't keep "junk" or "random stuff" in my garage like some people do.

I actually shake my head when I see someone's garage that just has two normal daily drivers parked in it and nothing else in there. Talk about waste of space!

Plus if I put my car in the garage, and put all my garage stuff in the driveway.....my house would look pretty trashy...

I have a very small 3 car garage, carefully designed to cheap development standards in 1998 so that a standard size minivan gives you about 18" fore-aft combined. Annoyingly on days like today, I can't put my snowblower behind a car, and there's not room to get it out on the sides. Yeah, southerners, laugh it up . I manage to get 3 cars, two workbenches, compressor, shop press, MIG and gas welders, table saw, camping stuff, bikes, etc in there. The lawn tractor stays in the garage as well over the winter now so the berkleying mice don't destroy it. Vertical development is great for lighter stuff - I have a bunch of 2x4 framed shelves up high. My wife just got home with my car (Nokians vs crappy Honda OEM crap that they should be ashamed of attaching to their product), and refuses to even try to park it on my side. Kind of like a slow-mo carrier landing where you park at an angle and have ~2" clearance or you scratch something.

In reply to outasite:

Cars have paint. They live outside.

Motorcycles and tools live inside.

My wife is convinced that I win, and you loose.

I am convinced that I might need therapy.

MrJoshua wrote: 1 Berkely, 1 Subaru microvan, 2 CitiCars, washer dryer, lathe, sink, LSx, GSXR1000 motor, glide, th400, ~8 electric motors, bunch of A123 lithium, vintage and modern EV chargers, beach supplies, swimming supplies, benders, press, compressor, oxy torch, welder, band saw, power tools, battery tools, jog stroller, baby seats, spare steel, spare aluminum, lumber, etc... When it's clean I can actually walk freely to all of that. It's a 20x20 garage that is our most commonly used entrance and exit.

I love this site. I too have a gsxr1000 motor and (only one) electric motor in my garage. Batteries and chargers to come.

I dunno about you, but my plan is to use both in the same vehicle...

2 Firebirds, 18' boat, work bench, roller toolbox, grille, mower&blower. Lawn furniture moves in for the winter. Feels cramped but you guys would say I'm too spread out. (22x34)

I wish I could post pictures... but with the pending snow I managed to fit my Jetta wagon and my Grand Caravan into my 1 1/2 car garage. The lift helps. The Jetta is in the air about as high as it can go, the hood of the Caravan under the nose of the car - bumper almost touching the windshield.

I hate clearing snow off my car if I can avoid it...

In reply to MrJoshua:

Porsche?

I am convinced my wife is banned from ever driving my wagon again.

In reply to irish44j:

I don't consider tools, equipment, motorcycles, ATVs etc. stuff. I am referring to the piles and stacks of items that are not needed/used in the house and piled into the garage for years.

outasite wrote: In reply to irish44j: I don't consider tools, equipment, motorcycles, ATVs etc. stuff. I am referring to the piles and stacks of items that are not needed/used in the house and piled into the garage for years.

Yeah, I don't get the people who cram clothing racks and boxes of old photo albums into a garage.

I thank the Lord every day that the previous owner of my suburban house thought to get permits to build an oversize shed in my small back yard....so I can put yard stuff and house stuff in there (as well as the odd project car that I'm not currently working on)

Gearheadotaku wrote: 2 Firebirds, 18' boat, work bench, roller toolbox, grille, mower&blower. Lawn furniture moves in for the winter. Feels cramped but you guys would say I'm too spread out. (22x34)

I've seen you garage. It's spread out because you have failed to fill it with too much crap. You should see mine, and I don't have any lawn furniture or mowers in it, just my car stuff and I have to move things around to work on the car. I really need to throw out some stuff and properly organize the rest.

In reply to irish44j:

LOL! PO built one of those as well. I call it the toy box. Bikes, skis, snowshoes, kayaks, etc. and just enough room for the Miata. My, what huge trees you have!

A 1959 Simca Aronde and a '66 Chrysler Town and Country, a 3 x 6 workbench, a lift, a 2 x 5 workbench, a C-6 Ford transmission, a corvair gearbox, 4 volvo B-18/20 engines, a ford 302 with T-5, a corvair flat 6 engine, a 2 x 4 shelf unit, a stool, a 2 x 2 metal workbench/ shelf thing, rubbermaid containers full of parts, A trach can, a metal recycling bin, a toaster, and a propane heat tube. And still room to work.

My garage is 18 by 18 on the inside.

The Chrysler sticks out a bit, though...

The air compressor lives in the silver run-in next door. Which, if we're keeping score, is 16 x 39 on the inside, and has 5 volvo 122's and a '51 Plymouth in it, along with a pressure washer and various other items.

Woody wrote: In reply to MrJoshua: Porsche?

Outside waiting for the eternal/infernal CitiCar project to end. Sun shielded and dry on the inside. I think it's there to make anyone in my town who's a car guy knock on my door and try to buy it.

At one point, in my basement 1.5 car garage, I had:

Fiat 850 Spider, Volkswagen Beetle, Beetle engine, Subaru 2.2L engine, Honda CB360, Honda CB175, Yamaha RD200, workbench, tubing bender, drill press, MIG welder, and two large, wheeled tool chests.

No pictures, unfortunately. I don't like to document my mess.