Cleaning the shop. That never ending battle we all love.

In reply to Trackmouse:

Showoff.

My garage is fairly organized at this point, its the only way to get both cars and the boat in there. Sadly the garage spent most of the summer as a materials storage unit for the house project so it never had a chance to get 'cluttered'. I did take advantage of the dumpster my neighbor brought over for construction debris and cleaned out some left over lumber from 5 years ago and some other junk from the attic. Can't wait to put in a hoist next spring and start a new car project. Bring on the mess!

Well, not a lot more accomplished. A friend came by needing help and tools cutting some aluminum diamond plate.

One more bench moderately organized and I can get to the flywheel engines for the first time is probably a year.

Shouldn't take more than 20 or 30 more hours to get it done.

Wait ... Does this mean another famous Toyman garage sale? I'm going to be in Charleston in two weeks ...

In reply to Stampie:

Could well. I've already packed a box of stuff for the New Years Game.

One corner cleaned. Shelving material acquired. New rolling bench and bikes shoved in to make room for the pile of E36 M3 that still needs sorting just out of frame.

I spend last weekend cleaning out the garage - it happens about every three months around here. The cars usually only see the inside of it when they're being maintained during the summer, but that changes in the winter months.

My wife wants to build a new detached garage/shed so we can get all of the extra stuff out of the garage (bikes, tractor, generator, snowblower, etc.) and actually park two cars in there like civilized humans. I'm looking forward to that day!

90% finished cleaning the garage yesterday in advance of hosting a car club tech session this coming Saturday.

I am old, I hurt.

Washed windows, cleaned the dead bugs out of the lights and swept up a seasons worth of cobwebs, associated dead things, dog fur and yard debris. Neighbors run cattle, so lots of fly E36 M3 on most everything-- I'd not recommend licking anything in my garage.

Trackmouse wrote: My career has me inside many households everyday. I can say with a certainty that 90% of America is genetically a pack rat. When I tell my customers that I need access to the breaker box they groan and roll their eyes. "Let me unbury it first..." I included this picture of my garage. My wife and I have always had an understanding that if there is something in our possession that doesn't get used in a year, it gets sold or tossed. The exception being things we only use yearly. It has kept her cleaning supply shelf neat, and my garage clean.

^^Bravo! My garage used to look a lot like that...but I was in my twenties and didn't have kids, race cars and a couple of decades of detritus that come with them.

This thread makes me feel better. I'm harboring a lot of garage guilt. It's a E36 M3 show in there right now. I also have a 30x60' storage building on the property. One would think that helps with clutter, but it doesn't. It's just an enabler.

To the OP, You made me feel much better about my mess. I thought I had a lot of crap until I saw yours.

In reply to Toyman01:

Any amount of cleared bench space is a win if you ask me. Granted, I don't even have a bench - just a pair of 30x30 Gladiator cabinets. Mostly because I have a problem with flat surfaces and the less I have the better.

I love a clean and organized garage, but with 2 motors torn down to bare block, it looks like a warehouse of oil, coolant, kitty litter, and parts on every shelf in there... I hate it! haha.

In reply to Huckleberry:

I have that same rolling bench under my lathe. I'll have to post a picture of it after I unearth it. They are great cabinets.

Well, it didn't stay clean long.

Blown water pump on my son's Explorer.

The good news is there was room to get it in here to work on it.

I wanted to sweep around the RSX. Moving it would involve moving the V wagon out. I didn't want to sweep THAT bad. Then it occurred to me that I could just move the RSX up instead of out. Worked great.

Today I cleaned the parts cleaner. That's the first time I've seen the bottom of it in 6+ years. To say it was nasty is a understatement. There was literally a half inch of black goo coating the bottom of it.

All clean with 10 gallons of fresh solvent. Should be good for another 5-10 years.

I can relate. Need to clean & organize mine again. Jealous of those with separate shops, someday I shall have one. Almost given up completely cleaning and organizing mine, every time I clean it up SWMBO finds stuff to put in the open space. Losing battle when I try to tell her that the house is hers, the garage is mine. She just laughs when I say that. And I really hate when one of her friends move, their junk somehow ends up taking up space in my garage. One of her friends is in the process of moving out of state right now. Also grandkids stuff taking up space. Argh!!! Can't even get to my workbench.

Good luck in your cleaning adventures.

I'm fortunate enough to have an attached garage (not clean, but clean enough to get both cars in it) and a separate polebarn shop where I keep The Answer and the usual house stuff (mower, snowblower, yard tools, etc.). I have a small music studio in that building, too, and the opportunity for crap to accumulate is very high.

The best advice I ever got was from an experienced bike mechanic I worked with in the small independent bike shop I work at. His mantra was "Work like a pro, clean as you go." It takes a couple moments longer to do, but when I can manage it, my shop stays cleaner, longer, and the eventual big cleaning tasks are easier. Easy to say, harder to do, but helpful.

Toyman01 wrote: One bench and cabinet done. I still need to fine a place to put the spare Samurai transmission and the power steering parts.

+1 for the fire extinguisher located in a place where it won't get buried under stuff.

I had to climb over a Simca last night to fetch my propane tube heater. And tripped on a Jaguar.

I just built a garage this summer. I'm in a weird state of waiting for more organizational stuff to arrive, before my garage is truly organized. It's driving me nuts. Two daily drivers, a race car, two go-karts, an atv with plow, and snowblower competing for floor space.....yet there is a ton of stuff on the floor that shouldn't be. Need to run some wire and put up insulation before more shelves and cabinets arrive. Oh, there is also a love seat in there, that is not going back into the house....yet the spousal unit has not come to terms with pitching it yet.

Score! Mom and Dad decided they needed to reorganize their garage. "Say.....do you want our old cabinets?" YES! yes I do!

After hanging 3 nice big (but ugly) cabinets up high and out of the way, I finally also installed a proper stereo in the work area. I pieced together a bunch of old audio equipment I had laying around--- massive overkill, as my garage stereo is now powered by a Luxman tube amp / Denon CD player and also a Luxman tape player (yes...I still have tapes!) I hope the neighbors don't mind.

The garage at our new-build home is an oversized 2 car. It was already getting messy enough to be dangerous by year 2, as in, hidden trip hazards and slick surfaces that could cause bodily harm if you werent paying attention where you step. And, I dont even have a workbench in there yet, so it was ALL on the floor. So, I built storage:

A year later, and its already overwhelmed. And, the leftover lumber is now as big a hazard as the mess that preceded it.

Im not in all that big of a hurry to clean up tho, we are planning a detached 2 car build in the next couple of years. If the mess gets bad enough, I might be able to convince SWMBO that we need to break ground sooner rather than later

This thread makes me feel bad. Hey, anyone want a free Lexus shell?

Who's 'We', you got a turd in your pocket?