We hope that after reading the first in our series of "Time on Your Side Garage Project" articles, you are truly inspired. If you're following along at this point, you should be standing inside a fairly clean garage containing only items which are intended to remain in the garage. All other "stuff" has been banished to the dust bin of history, or has been relocated to more appropriate lodging elsewhere on your property.
So what's next?
Next is making the plan, Stan (or Jan). The design for your new garage is totally up to you, keeping your budget and skill level in mind of course. During this design phase of the garage overhaul, follow these steps in this order:
- Measure the space
- Take inventory of what you have
- List your ideal (and affordable) setup
- Sketch it out
We'll cover the details behind each of these steps below.
Measure the space
It doesn't matter if your space is a corner of an unfinished basement, or a newly renovated 3-bay carriage house that you're converting into a car barn: the general approach is the same. We'll take a middle-of-the-road approach and presume that you're working with a single car garage, with one overhead door, a couple of windows, and a walk-through door along one of the walls. In Step 1, you need to measure the length and width of the floor, the ceiling height, and also account for windows and doors which take up any wall space. Such an area might measure out like this:
- FLOOR: 10' x 20'
- CEILING: 10'
- WINDOWS (2): 30" x 30" each
- WALK-THROUGH DOOR: 30" x 72"
Wait, you can't find your measuring tape? We have you covered: take your pick among models ranging from 6' long keychain designs to 100' long tapes for massive layout jobs. Personally, I'm partial to ones around 25' long, as they'll cover 90% of anyone's needs and still remain affordable and pocket-sized.
Once you've written all these measurements onto a piece of paper (and have hidden it in your Marie Kondo book so you won't lose it), it's time to move to Step 2.
Take inventory of what you have
In Part 1, "Clean It!", we advised you to collect everything that was to remain in the garage into one area. Get a fresh sheet of paper, and write down everything you have. Your list might look something like this:
- Small toolbox on wheels, toolbox drawer contents unknown
- Lots of loose tools
- Floor jack and pair of jack stands
- Two 12 x 12 x 12 cardboard boxes with spare parts, motor oil, tape, and shop chemicals
- An old folding table being used as a work bench
- One 1986 Ford Mustang project car (outside for now, as there still isn't room for it)
You know the size of your space; you know what you have; now it's time to turn on the dream machine and create your own garage fantasy.
List your ideal (and affordable) setup
While this is targeted to those on a budget, this is also your opportunity to create your ideal workspace. You can dream, yet you need to be honest. Ask yourself these two questions:
- What can I afford?
and
- What will my skill level allow me to do?
Make another list, this time of your ideal setup, which might include:
- Combination toolbox with top chest and bottom roller cabinet
- Tool service cart
- Proper workbench
- Storage shelves above the bench
- Shop vacuum, air compressor, and trash bin
- Mid-rise car lift (if any money is left over!)
Along with these ADDITIONS to the space, you must also consider IMPROVEMENTS to the space. How is this area fixed for household current? Does the lighting need to be upgraded? What about painting the walls or putting down floor covering? Besides the cost of material, you must also factor labor costs into the equation.
There's a big cost difference between doing this work yourself versus hiring it out. But don't kid yourself if you lack either the talent or the time. Just be sure to include it in the overall budget: it makes no sense to upgrade to state-of-the-art lighting if it means you'll run out of money when it's time to purchase even the most basic toolbox.
Let's talk about lighting. Take it from this voice of experience: you can't have enough light in your workspace. If you plan to do any wrenching on your own vehicle, you need to see into and under the car, and see into toolboxes and storage units. Upgraded lighting may be more affordable than you realize. Check out this 4-foot long unit from Feit Electric, along with other choices in our Shop Lighting Fixtures category.
There are lots of choices for floor coverings, including paint, tiles, and pads in all different sizes. One option that's gaining in popularity is the full-size garage mat. There's no labor involved; it covers unsightly cracks and permanent stains; it can be rolled up and temporarily moved if you're mopping; and it's available in different sizes, colors, and patterns.
You may not know final costs for your dream setup just yet, so keep this piece of paper nearby for now. Next, we get to play junior architect and create a scaled-down rendering of our new space.
Sketch it out
Before you make the mistake of purchasing a toolbox that doesn't physically fit into its intended location (ask me how I know), a best practice is to "draw" a floor plan of your dream garage. There's nothing wrong with taking a pencil and blank paper and literally drawing a box into which you'll fit proportionately sized furniture. Alternately, do a web search for "floor plan templates" and find something you can complete on a PC or tablet. What's important is that you find a way to visualize the space PLUS everything you plan to have in it.
We stated earlier that our ideal garage would have shelves above the workbench; make sure that there is adequate wall space above the workbench's location. Think about vehicle placement and the need to open its doors; you may be better off leaving one wall bare and putting shop equipment and the like all lined up on an opposite wall for the sake of vehicle accessibility. Any toolbox(es), storage unit(s) and walk-through doors also need room for doors and drawers to open and close. Draw that on the sketch!
Vertical spacing needs to be considered too. How tall will your new toolbox be? You'll want to be certain that it's not placed where it will block a window. Planning to add a lift? This is why we asked you to measure ceiling height earlier. Oh, and that lift will have a car on it. It's not good enough to consider a lift that rises 48" and conclude that it will fit under a 7' ceiling. (Do the math: a 7' ceiling is 84 inches; a lift that rises up to 48" leaves room for a vehicle 36" high. Your F-150 ain't gonna fit.) You must account for the lift AND the car on the lift in your vertical measurement.
Still with us? Great. Let's take another inventory: you have a list of items which are presently IN the garage; a list of items you'd LIKE TO HAVE in the garage; and a floor plan which shows you WHERE you would put the items from these two lists.
We can't do the next part for you, which is reconciling your bank account with your wish list, but once that monetary task is behind you, you will be ready to move to Part 3 of our series, which we call "Organize It!"