How to build your first garage | Your Projects

Colin
By Colin Wood
Jun 22, 2022 | Your Projects

Picture it: A new house with an empty garage. It's blank slate to build your perfect workspace.

How do you build it? What sort of tools do you fill it with?

That’s the exact situation GRM Associate Editor Chris Tropea–our video department, basically–has found himself in after purchasing his first home. And, by extension, it's his very first garage.

Follow along as Chris builds his workspace into something truly special over at the My First Garage thread.

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Comments
759NRNG
759NRNG UberDork
6/22/22 10:58 p.m.

Two Post Lift first and foremost............

ChrisTropea
ChrisTropea Associate Editor
6/23/22 9:25 a.m.

In reply to 759NRNG :

I am leaning towards a set of QuickJacks for the garage. I want to keep the workspace flexible and the potability of the QuickJack will let me do that. But a lift of some sort is on the list. 

akylekoz
akylekoz UltraDork
6/23/22 9:37 a.m.

Make great plans...and then never finish them, that's what I do.  Oh and give the compressor a dedicated circuit on a switch next to the light switch, then remote locate the compressor.

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter)
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
6/23/22 9:55 a.m.

paint those walls white!

ChrisTropea
ChrisTropea Associate Editor
6/23/22 10:01 a.m.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

That is the next item on the list. 

Brotus7
Brotus7 Dork
6/23/22 10:24 a.m.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

paint those walls white!

What do we like for cheap, durable garage wall paint?

Any ideas for cleaning grease/grime off older plywood prior to painting?

ChrisTropea
ChrisTropea Associate Editor
6/23/22 10:29 a.m.

In reply to akylekoz :

I have thought about doing this but with how little I use the compressor I am just going to keep it near the wall plug and turn it on as needed.

irish44j (Forum Supporter)
irish44j (Forum Supporter) MegaDork
6/23/22 5:32 p.m.

Lifts are nice but not all that necessary and they take up a lot of real estate and get in the way of a lot of things. I will say that having worked at many friends houses that have lists in normal size garages, and having fully built at least half a dozen cars or more inside my garage without a lift. A full set of four truck size jack stands gets any car a high enough to do pretty much whatever you need to do underneath as long as you don't mind being on your back. Lifts also aren't really worth it that much in my opinion unless you have a really high ceiling and can bring the car overhead. If you have a regular 8 or 10-ft ceiling you're still going to have to stoop down to do anything underneath which is not really an improvement on simply lying on your back...

as to garage set up I really depends on how much space you have and how many cars you plan to put in there and how much tools and crap you have. I spent 15 years trying to fit all of my stuff in to mine while still having plenty of room to work on cars...

Also, lol at wall paint color. If you can actually see your walls your garage is too empty...high big shelves around the sides and rolling Baker's racks in the middle are your friends....

And yes, I can fit two cars in this garage at once if needed by rolling those racks in the middle up against the walls. This is a 24x22 ft in-house garage...

300zxfreak
300zxfreak Reader
6/23/22 7:49 p.m.

In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :

Holy Claustrophobia, Batman.!!!!!!

hybridmomentspass
hybridmomentspass HalfDork
6/24/22 1:10 p.m.

My garage isnt perfect by any means, but Im glad with how I started

-paint the walls. Just a fresh coat of white to create my 'blank (or, blanco HEYYO!) canvas'

-then build shelves filling almost all of one wall.

 

From there there are things I wish I could go back and change and I'll keep in mind for the future. But it was a great place to start.

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