What to do when your garage is small
- Thread starter Ken Arms
- Start date
~~Walts37~~
Senior Member
Great solution I would say. ya done good Ken
~~Walts37~~
~~Walts37~~
Kurt in NJ
Well-known member
My garage is so small I had to make the back wall flexible, to close the doors I back the car in so it moves the back wall 1 inch.
Vic Piano
Well-known member
For too many years I had just a one car garage and worked on our cars/trucks in the driveway or in the yard, with cardboard creepers and a floor jack...
It's a real pleasure to be able to play with cars in a real garage however, the more space you have, the more stuff you fill it with...
It's a real pleasure to be able to play with cars in a real garage however, the more space you have, the more stuff you fill it with...
peewee2you
Well-known member
Rumely, my hats off to you... that is some serious organization.
flatjack9
Well-known member
x2 on filling it!For too many years I had just a one car garage and worked on our cars/trucks in the driveway or in the yard, with cardboard creepers and a floor jack...
Jack Olsen
Junior Member
You've got to be more creative with a small space. The first decision I made with my 20x21 two-car was that I was only going to have one car in it. If a garage becomes just a box to store stuff (whether it's cars, kids' toys, lawn equipment, or whatever), you lose the room's real utility -- which is a place to get stuff done.
My little garage has ten work surfaces in it, which is kind of ridiculous -- but which also illustrates how much you can fit in a small garage if you take the time to organize your stuff, and make some hard decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of -- and what to store in that shed you're going to build.
Let me apologize in advance for there being no blue oval and so many pictures. But I'm proud of the place -- I did all the work myself, including setting the tile and digging the pit for the lift. The total budget, including the floor, cabinets, benches and lift was less than $3,500. Everything in the place is second-hand, re-purposed or home-made.
I also made a website for it: http://www.12-gaugegarage.com
Work benches that fold down from the wall:
Is it always this clean? No. Not by a long shot.
But it does go back to clean very quickly -- that's the real accomplishment of it, I think. I finally took the time to work out a place for everything to go when It's not being used.
In practice, it makes a huge difference not having to spend so much time looking for things you've misplaced. I spent years doing that.
My little garage has ten work surfaces in it, which is kind of ridiculous -- but which also illustrates how much you can fit in a small garage if you take the time to organize your stuff, and make some hard decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of -- and what to store in that shed you're going to build.
Let me apologize in advance for there being no blue oval and so many pictures. But I'm proud of the place -- I did all the work myself, including setting the tile and digging the pit for the lift. The total budget, including the floor, cabinets, benches and lift was less than $3,500. Everything in the place is second-hand, re-purposed or home-made.
I also made a website for it: http://www.12-gaugegarage.com
Work benches that fold down from the wall:
Is it always this clean? No. Not by a long shot.
But it does go back to clean very quickly -- that's the real accomplishment of it, I think. I finally took the time to work out a place for everything to go when It's not being used.
In practice, it makes a huge difference not having to spend so much time looking for things you've misplaced. I spent years doing that.
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Henry/Kokomo
Well-known member
Jack Olsen - I am TOTALLY impressed with your garage! Hard to believe you could do all that for just $3500. Quite an accomplishment, of which you can be justifiably proud.
denverslim
Senior Member
Very nice, Mr Olsen! I'm impressed.
I've got about 3 times the space, and 30 times the s***t...slim
I've got about 3 times the space, and 30 times the s***t...slim
FL&WVMIKE
Well-known member
You've got to be more creative with a small space. The first decision I made with my 20x21 two-car was that I was only going to have one car in it. If a garage becomes just a box to store stuff (whether it's cars, kids' toys, lawn equipment, or whatever), you lose the room's real utility -- which is a place to get stuff done.
My little garage has ten work surfaces in it, which is kind of ridiculous -- but which also illustrates how much you can fit in a small garage if you take the time to organize your stuff, and make some hard decisions about what to keep and what to get rid of -- and what to store in that shed you're going to build.
Let me apologize in advance for there being no blue oval and so many pictures. But I'm proud of the place -- I did all the work myself, including setting the tile and digging the pit for the lift. The total budget, including the floor, cabinets, benches and lift was less than $3,500. Everything in the place is second-hand, re-purposed or home-made.
I also made a website for it: http://www.12-gaugegarage.com
Work benches that fold down from the wall:
Is it always this clean? No. Not by a long shot.
But it does go back to clean very quickly -- that's the real accomplishment of it, I think. I finally took the time to work out a place for everything to go when It's not being used.
In practice, it makes a huge difference not having to spend so much time looking for things you've misplaced. I spent years doing that.
Jack Olsen ....................
That is absolutely beautiful !
BUT, you must have another building for lawn mowers, bicycles, ladders, lawn chairs, etc., that the rest of us have to store in our garages.
MIKE
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Jack Olsen
Junior Member
Thank you! I think the key to keeping the budget down was to buy a lot of lightly-damaged stuff and chop it up to make it work. The main bench, for example, started out as this cabinet, which someone had tried to pry their way into.
I cut it in half, and added an extra blank drawer for my air hose reel.
And this cabinet, which had taken a hit from a forklift, got cut up and turned into the cabinets and countertop and overhead storage for the sink area.
The back of the cabinet became the counter surface. The top and bottom became the cabinet under the sink, and the middle section of the doors became the second little cabinet to the right.
I'd hate to advocate for less storage space for anyone, but I have to admit that it's the limitations of this place that have forced me to think of more clever ways to organize and store stuff.
Jack Olsen ....................
That is absolutely beautiful !
BUT, you must have another building for lawn mowers, bicycles, ladders, lawn chairs, etc., that the rest of us have to store in our garage.
MIKE
I made a shed for all the stuff garages normally store. My guiding principle was that if it isn't used in the garage, it shouldn't be stored in the garage. I've got two young kids, though, and I worry I'm going to have to find more space for more shed in the future.
