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Good luck - I don't have that much space of that much stuff, but what I have I have a terrible time organizing. Every effort results in just shifting it around and when I'm done it looks pretty much the same as before.
The paint stripped one has been parked since 1968 in Ohio never had any body damage anywhere 340 HP and the yellow one was parked in 1974 in a barn in Allentown Pennsylvania. The other part of my garage is not near as bad. The whole place still need to clean out.
Last edited by 65 Pro Vette; 04-13-2018 at 04:41 PM.
I dont feel so bad about my garage now. The more space you have the easier it is to leave a mess....
If I had a 20,000 square foot shop I would see that I needed a 40,000 square foot shop...then see that I needed a 80,000 square foot shop and so on.
I know in my shop any horizontal space is the most valuable space I have. Even when I give it a very thorough cleaning....it does not take long for it to seem to need it again and again.
Like my friends who stop by say: "It's organized confusion...but he knows where everything is ..so do not touch anything and move it".
I wish I could have a pristine surgically clean shop all the time...but honestly...my brain does not worry about that as much as what I produce and put out on the road is the best I can make it and is what is the most important to me.
Don, if you need any encouragement that there really can be light at the end of that messy shop tunnel, my old shop went from this when I bought it....
...to this...
And yeah, real work gets done in there...
I have the luxury of being retired, so after I make a mess, I can take the time to clean the shop up for the next project. I've seen lots of good work come out of disorganized shops, but I prefer to work in a somewhat clean, orderly environment.
If you have to ask if you need an intervention, I'd say you do. I found cleaning my old shop up was one of the more rewarding things I've ever done. I'd recommend it.
I've been retired now for over 6 months. Ever since I retired every Sunday morning I go into the shop and clean it up. I don't touch the car. I put everything away. I have been cleaning up areas and throwing junk away. I've cleaned out drawers that I said I would get to someday. I maintain everything that needs work. Like replace saw blades, oil all the air tools I used that week. Sweep up . Its made a huge difference in my shop.
BB767 that's an amazing transformation! Well done.
65 Pro Vette you do not have a unique situation there. I think you have a lot more company than you can imagine. The main difference with you as some of us is those not one but two SWCs.
The paint stripped one has been parked since 1968 in Ohio never had any body damage anywhere 340 HP and the yellow one was parked in 1974 in a barn in Allentown Pennsylvania. The other part of my garage is not near as bad. The whole place still need to clean out.
BB767, you should get some sort of Garage Hero medal for THAT cleanup. What a transformation!
I don't think anybody had a bigger hill to climb than I did with that old shop after I bought it. Think what Don's place could look like with some spiffing up. I hope he sees his place has some real potential.
At least he's got really cool cars in his place. This is all I had at mine, it's a, correction, it was a 1937 Terraplane.
Don, if you need any encouragement that there really can be light at the end of that messy shop tunnel, my old shop went from this when I bought it....
...to this...
And yeah, real work gets done in there...
I have the luxury of being retired, so after I make a mess, I can take the time to clean the shop up for the next project. I've seen lots of good work come out of disorganized shops, but I prefer to work in a somewhat clean, orderly environment.
If you have to ask if you need an intervention, I'd say you do. I found cleaning my old shop up was one of the more rewarding things I've ever done. I'd recommend it.
Good luck with it.
Thomas
Gotta do my floors shortly,how do like the tiles and what did you use.
Gotta do my floors shortly,how do like the tiles and what did you use.
Not to take away from Don's (65 Pro Vette) original question or hijack this thread, but perhaps he'll find this information useful as he cleans and organizes his own shop.
Everything I did to clean and restore my old shop is found here:
For specific information on what I did with the floors, look on page 24, post # 461 and then post # 474.
The shop was built in the late 1930's and the bare, concrete floors were a little rough but nothing outrageous. Everything is a compromise so I used...
... Armstrong VCT tiles (vinyl composite tile) for a variety of reasons.
They have worked exceptionally well for me and what I'm doing but they might not work for you or Don. VCT is tough (it's used in warehouses and grocery stores for example) but care must still be taken to protect it. Heavy equipment with small floor surface areas (think a car on jack stands for one)...
...might damage it unless care is taken to protect the tile. Note in the picture I use 4' X 8', 1/8" tempered Masonite sheets to protect the tile.
This welding bench I made weighs 750lbs (3/4" thick steel top) but with those polyurethane casters, it doesn't damage the floor.
If I'm MIG welding or using a plasma cutter, I do cover the floor to keep the little welding BB's from damaging it. TIG welding isn't as much of a problem. When I'm done, I stack the Masonite sheets...
...vertically. They don't take up much floor space that way, just a few inches.
Car tires will stain the tile if they are left sitting on it for very long so...
...I park vehicles on small pieces of Masonite to prevent that.
This is part of the shop before I tiled the floor...
...and here is the same area 10 years later. I've done a variety of construction projects in that space and the tile has held up well but it has taken some effort on my part to keep it that way.
If you are frequently doing heavy work, MIG welding much of the time or just don't want to hassle at times with having to protect the floor, VCT isn't recommended. For me and how I work, I'm very happy with VCT. Your results may vary.
04-13-2018, 06:52 AM
Shop needs a good clean out!
