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I have copied suggestions from other forums and added to the collection.
1. Rubber mats for horse stalls - make great pads to keep your feet from hurting and hard material your creeper seat can roll across and they dont slide out from under you.
2. Laptop and flat screen tv - for a cheap garage computer for tracing wiring diagrams.
3. old cheap roll around tool box - make great welder carts and storage for welding/fabrication tools.
4. installed a poly parking lot bumper keep my front end off the back of the garage.
5. Colored electrical tape at the ends of tools for quick Identification.
6. Home Depot Rustoleum Epoxy Garage Floor Kit: BEFORE MOVING IN. $200 and 3 weekends of labor (2 for prep, 1 for application and drying) -Not perfect but looks really great and makes cleanup easy. USE the anti-slip powder!
7. Retractable electric cord reel on the ceiling: I mounted mine right in the dead center of the garage and it's the most awesome time saver / annoyance saver ever.
8. Retractable air hose reel on the ceiling: My next purchase. I am putting my air compressor into a Gladiator Garageworks cabinet, then applying dynomat and the foil insulation to the bottom section of the cabinet where my air compressor is (cuts down on noise), then adding a retractable reel air hose close to the electric cord reel.
8. Sink
9. Good lighting: I upgraded to LED lighting, but I'm adding 2 more LED lights and a dedicated over-bench light.
10. Carpet scraps for laying on
11. Bench Grinder with a dewalt wire wheel.
12. Bench Vice
13. Rechargeable blutooth speaker lets me run a show or music off of the phone and still get phone calls.
14. T-handle ratcheting alan wrench.
15. I gut my old 18 volt batteries and screw the shells on the wall, then I use them to house my cordless drills
16. Simple, but I keep a paper towel and toilet paper dispenser on the wall, can buy one at HF.
17. I made a sheet metal holder for the HF nitrile gloves mounted to the wall to serve as a dispenser, can buy one at HF.
18. have two wooden boxes under the workbench, one for clean and one for dirty shop towels. (I wash and reuse mine)
19. made four 10 1/2 by 10 1/2 by 7 blocks out of two by fours. three on top, three on the bottom and two runners. They make great supports for any thing, vehicles, for cutting wood, a quick step, etc.
20. old bathroom rugs, they're the best for lying on, the toilet ones are great for motorcycles, the cutout fits around the tires.
21. 4 inch PVC cut it to the lengths I need and mount them to the wall. They make great place to put moldings, wood trim and a variety of other things.
22. shelves above garage door rails for storage before.
23. a work bench with shelves under it for storage.
24. Old cabinets for storing paint,brake clean etc
25. Set up a commercial account for yourself at your local parts stores, they often sell brake clean for $2.00 a can to "commercial" clients along with other discounts on parts behind the counter. You dont need a charge account or a tax number.
26. Keep your eyes/ears open for someone that updates hardware stores, I got a rack of bolt bins from an old hardware store for $15
27. Check the insulation in the attic above your garage if its not already climate controlled, it helps alot .
28. Tire storage hangs from ceiling to keep them out of the way.
29. Peg-board double loop screwdriver holders (that never seem to work for screwdrivers I own), mounted to the side of the toolbox to hold the 1/2" drive extra long ratchets and extension
30. Peg-board fork things, again on the side of the toolbox to hold the vice-grips.
31. Plastic pipe with caps to hold the drippy grease guns
Lots of great ideas...
I keep grease guns in a plastic toolbox stashed away.
Besides the LED lighting and lots of outlet I'll add nice vise, roll around work carts(old AV carts from a school for me).
I have one centrally located 220 circuit and a long extension cord to power welders/tig/plasma/oven etc.
Carboard/carpet ok for leaks and spills but a chunk of thick plastic sheeting works as well.
I have a large and dusty environment so i use cheap plastic or sheets and cover alot of stuff up.
Milk crates to store alot of weird stuff(spray paint, ratcheting tie downs, ropes, bungees etc).
I keep all lawn & garden tools and supplies in a shed and out of the garage which clears up alot of space.
I have convinced myself I need one of these for my 2 car garage (or similar unit): Heat and A/C for $1300 and I can install it myself. I am done with the smoke from the Kerosene heater and sweating in the summer. The lines are pre-charged with refridgerant. Anyone have experience with one of these? Looking to buy one soon.
I have found as I get older I need more light so I added some warehouse lights in my garage. I have a 12 foot ceiling so it keeps it reasonable. As my Summerville neighbor posted above SC heat is pretty intense. I also added a ductless AC with a heat pump. Worth its weight in gold. A few years ago I added a decent work bench but in full disclosure it is this clean about as often as there are confirmed unicorn sightings. Years ago I cobbled up some ultra heavy duty jack stands at work. They are made from heavy walled high strength steel. You cold put a Greyhound bus on them. I am seeing some great ideas in here. EDIT: I nearly forgot, I wanted to add that I also put an old lap top Thinkpad, one of the small units on the work bench. I can pull up my AIM on it plus do other research since my wifi works in the garage. Another thing is I recently took the various collection of drill bit and separated them by general size and put them in one of those small plastic drawer cabinets commonly used for bolts, screws and small bits. It gets those little drill caddy's out of the way and keeps them cleaner.
I can chime in on the mini-split. I installed a Mitsubishi Mr. Slim into a garage/room conversion at our old house. It was a 14,000BTU heat pump and worked great for heating and cooling. We're in Texas and the light bill actually went down when I started running it as it helped balance the heat load on the house. I bought it from a wholesale place I found on the web, performed 98% of the install, then had the local Mitsubishi licensed repair tech perform the final connection/service check so I would still get to keep the 7 year warranty. If you don't care about the warranty, you could certainly hook it up yourself. I went with the Mitsubishi as they seemed to have the best ratings on reliability. We have several no-name brands in use at work and they aren't as durable. It was really quiet in operation too, that was a plus as we used the room as a family room and home theater area.
I have LED lighting, separated into 4 sections. That way I only need to turn on what I need. I have a small roll around cart that I use for tools/parts.
I got the idea on the battery tool holders from you Bob! Going to make a set for my 2 sons. Love having the battery tools out of the way and accessible any time I need them!
Being a wood worker I have plenty of sawdust lying around. This is the best and cheapest oil dry. Just grab a handful and throw it on an oil spill and let it soak up for a while. Then, just sweep it up and throw it in the garbage. I also use it in my oil drain pan after an oil change. After pouring the used oil into a collection container, throw some in the pan and swoosh it around till all the oil is absorbed and empty the sawdust in a garbage bag. Take a paper towel to wipe out the remaining sawdust and the pan is nice and clean.
I have found as I get older I need more light so I added some warehouse lights in my garage. I have a 12 foot ceiling so it keeps it reasonable. As my Summerville neighbor posted above SC heat is pretty intense. I also added a ductless AC with a heat pump. Worth its weight in gold. A few years ago I added a decent work bench but in full disclosure it is this clean about as often as there are confirmed unicorn sightings. Years ago I cobbled up some ultra heavy duty jack stands at work. They are made from heavy walled high strength steel. You cold put a Greyhound bus on them. I am seeing some great ideas in here. EDIT: I nearly forgot, I wanted to add that I also put an old lap top Thinkpad, one of the small units on the work bench. I can pull up my AIM on it plus do other research since my wifi works in the garage. Another thing is I recently took the various collection of drill bit and separated them by general size and put them in one of those small plastic drawer cabinets commonly used for bolts, screws and small bits. It gets those little drill caddy's out of the way and keeps them cleaner.
Originally Posted by BigBlock77
I can chime in on the mini-split. I installed a Mitsubishi Mr. Slim into a garage/room conversion at our old house. It was a 14,000BTU heat pump and worked great for heating and cooling. We're in Texas and the light bill actually went down when I started running it as it helped balance the heat load on the house. I bought it from a wholesale place I found on the web, performed 98% of the install, then had the local Mitsubishi licensed repair tech perform the final connection/service check so I would still get to keep the 7 year warranty. If you don't care about the warranty, you could certainly hook it up yourself. I went with the Mitsubishi as they seemed to have the best ratings on reliability. We have several no-name brands in use at work and they aren't as durable. It was really quiet in operation too, that was a plus as we used the room as a family room and home theater area.
This has me curious how these work, little bit of research I have done says its the same as a window ac unit (I live in Florida a heater isnt needed) can either of you elaborate more on your setups and how they helped reduce your power bill?
I have convinced myself I need one of these for my 2 car garage (or similar unit): Heat and A/C for $1300 and I can install it myself. I am done with the smoke from the Kerosene heater and sweating in the summer. The lines are pre-charged with refridgerant. Anyone have experience with one of these? Looking to buy one soon.
I have a Daikin split heat pump dedicated to my 2 car shop space. Keeps the fumes out of the regular house A/C and only operates when I need to be out in the garage working. I used to work as a manufacturers rep for several commercial HVAC brands so I got a good deal on it. SOO glad to have heat and cool in the shop.
Kacyc3.....I don't know if it helped reduce my over all power bill in my case, however, I could see how it would. The ductless system is very efficient so cooling cost is obviously less than our central air system. Adjacent to the garage is our living room and above the garage is what is called in SC a FROG (finished room over garage). So cooling of those rooms is assisted when this is in use. I just like it because it makes it very comfortable to work out there year round, the filter pulls the pollen out of the air and the heat pump is more than adequate to keep it warm even on a very cold day. Sometimes when it is very humid (common in the Lowcountry) I like to just run the unit for a while and dry everything out in the garage. Much better for tools and cars even if I don't happen to be working out there. Hope that helps.
@Kacyc3 The mini split is basically a miniature version of a home A/C system. The part you see on the wall in 68/BB's post is essentially the evaporator and air handler assembly. It mounts to the wall inside and you just have to cut a hole in the wall to pass the refrigerant lines, drain, power, and control wires through. Easy work especially if you are used to stuffing parts into a C3. The outside condenser unit on the Mitsubishi I had used a variable frequency drive to run the compressor and fan instead of a traditional motor starter, so inrush current demand is much lower than a window unit or PTAC (think hotel style A/C). My 14,000BTU heat pump used a 20A 220V breaker with a 13A max load listed on the unit. Typical max running amps was 7A. It lowered the bill for my house because we had an attached garage and the HVAC on the rest of the house was pretty undersized, so it was working too hard to keep up with the heat. In typical fashion, the garage wasn't insulated. As I finished it out and walled in the old garage door, I insulated everything including the attic, which helped with the efficiency of the unit and made it more effective in balancing out the temperature in the house instead of the main unit having to try to push it all the way across the house.
I hope that helps. I may eventually install one at my new house to keep the garage cool while I work on the car, but I've got bigger fish to fry at the moment.
I really like the variable speed / frequency versions. They seem to be extremely efficient. I am glad to hear 14,000 BTUs worked for you guys, that sounds like a good size for me. I just don't know if thatsize unit has enough heat pump power to keep it warm here in the winter in Philly. This week I am currently insulating the garage doors and the AOG (attic over garage). Thanks for the input.!
There are several online calculators you can use to estimate the size you need. The heat pump was more than enough for us in Texas, but Philly is an entirely different matter. Just do a search for BTU calculator and garage conversions and try to get a feel for what has been successful for others in your area. I wanted to make sure our would be cool enough in the summer and when the recommendation came back at 12,000 BTUs and the general consensus I saw for a 400sf area in the south was similar, I just went a little bigger and chose 14,000 BTU.
One option you could try is a gas space heater in combination with the mini-split if you have a gas connection available.
There are several online calculators you can use to estimate the size you need. The heat pump was more than enough for us in Texas, but Philly is an entirely different matter. Just do a search for BTU calculator and garage conversions and try to get a feel for what has been successful for others in your area. I wanted to make sure our would be cool enough in the summer and when the recommendation came back at 12,000 BTUs and the general consensus I saw for a 400sf area in the south was similar, I just went a little bigger and chose 14,000 BTU.
One option you could try is a gas space heater in combination with the mini-split if you have a gas connection available.
I agree that Philly may not be a good location for using a heat pump. IMO they work best in temps above 36 degrees. Below that there just isn't enough heat available in the air for the pump to work with. The installer told me I had an ideal situation to work with. The SC region is just the climate called for, also look at the proximity of the unit to the fuse box, the proximity to an outside wall, the ceiling height (12') and the clear area of wall space. I have had it for several years and don't even recall the BTU rating or whatever they used to rate the cooling factor. However when it kicks on it is literally just a few minutes until the temp is dramatically changed. I can't imagine living down here without one of those units in the garage.
Ever have lug nuts just disappear or be under foot laying about? Nothing like kicking one under workbench or losing it outside (gravel driveways suck).
I keep several rectangular plastic ice cream buckets and use them to catch the lug nuts, makes handy place to put the impact wrench, various parts you need to keep clean. Take nuts off and slide bucket out of the way. They stay clean, together and not under the workbench.
04-30-2019, 11:12 AM
