Detailing World Forum banner

Garage refurb begins

52K views 64 replies 35 participants last post by  Del-GTi 
#1 ·
A couple of years ago I posted a new thread asking about garage sizes as I was looking to buy a new house and wanted a decent garage to go along with it:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=358703

Anyway, to save reading that thread (as photobucket ruined it!!) we found a house which came with an attached single garage and also a detached wide single garage at the rear of the property. Happy days! :buffer::thumb:

The only thing was, the garage had quite a large side window and ideally a door would have been a better option. Saves having to open the main roller door every time you want to enter/leave the garage. Only problem was - when the garage was built, all of the rear garden was finished with decking and a door wasn't possible with it still there. So, it was decided that all the decking would be ripped out and replaced with a tiered garden area(which was the original layout), which conveniently meant I could get a door/window unit fitted. :D That was finally completed a couple of weeks ago and now I'm ready to tackle the garage.

Started off like this:



And this is how things stand at the moment, sort of a blank canvas. Think this is the emptiest it's ever been!:









Plans so far are:

Paint the walls white.
New LED lights.
New light switch at door.
Box-in electrics.
Plastic floor tiles.
Fit kitchen style cupboards etc.
tool storage/work bench.

Nice to haves but not right away:

Floor loft area.
New electric roller door.

However, I am looking for ideas/suggestions as to what else to do with it. I am on a budget so don't go wild.

It's a great garage and has lots of potential. The only issue with it is that although it's nice and wide, it's not the longest at 4.8m from back wall to door. So I want to keep the back wall clear so I can get a car as close to it as possible.

I'll post more (better) pics soon, showing garden before/after etc, but in the meantime i'm looking forward to working on it through the winter months and posting up the progress.

Cheers

Del
 
See less See more
5
#4 ·
Nice progress

If you are short of length then perhaps a kitchen worktop across the back wall with wall cupboards over the top. Will allow you to tuck the front of the car under the workbench, but still have storage on the wall and a work surface when the cars not in. You may be able even to put a narrow floor unit in the corners.

I'd hang fire on LED lighting until you have the walls painted - it might be money that could be saved until a later date. If you intend to part board the ceiling then a white ceiling will help too :thumb:
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys. Not a lot been happening lately but I'm hoping to get some work done this weekend so hopefully have new pics.

There was an issue with water entering the garage. It was coming in where the power cables enter, this was due to the water running off under the old decking and flowing through the conduit. All sealed up now and with the decking gone, it's never been an issue since, even after torrential downpours.

As for what's going in it - for now it'll be either the wife's mk7 Astra or my Fabia. So nothing special for now unfortunately. It's mainly going to be used for detailing or to keep the Skoda out of the rain as it's only used about 4 days a week!

I do have my eye on some kitchen units and I was thinking on wall mounted or running them down the side as I the garage is fairly wide. So that is a good shout.

Those lights are very similar to ones I'd looked at on ebay. They were recommended by someone on here. So thanks for that, I'll consider those when I get ready to buy the lights.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Think this may take some time:



Started the first coat this evening. Did buy a cheap sprayer from eBay but it was useless (it was mega cheap), so out came the brush. I am going to invest in a decent masonry roller but not sure if it'll be any more effective at painting all the little holes in the blocks. Never used one before.

Breeze blocks are horrible to paint btw!!:wall:

The good thing is, I'm not in a rush. So will just take my time and do an hour or so each time. That way, I hopefully won't get too fed up doing it.

In other developments, I finished sealing the floor this morning. Good old PVA mixed with water worked perfectly. No more dusty floor!
 
#17 ·
I used an emulsion brush (about 5 or 6 inch wide) and thinned the first coat with about 25% water when I did mine.

Still a long job, but working the brush into the holes and indentations by twisting it round as I brushed helped.

I'm not convinced dear paint is much better - perhaps it has more pigment, but I used cheap B&Q trade stuff and it covered ok.
 
#18 ·
Little bit of progress. First coat done:



Can just about make out where it's not dry yet at the top. I actually quite like the sort of speckled effect from the breeze blocks where they are really rough. Have now started on the second coat but not too fussed if I still get that effect in places after I'm finished.
 
#26 ·
Not much to report, mainly as I have been out of the country and busy with other things.

Still got a bit of painting left to do but it's nearly done.

I did get my extra switch ran for the lights. So now I don't have to walk across the garage in the dark to get the light switch. New one is just inside the side door:





I've also finished wiring up my external lights which I can control from a Hive socket. Really happy with this as they are switched via a photocell but I can turn them off/on from my phone if I want, so don't need to leave them on all night.





Apologies for poor image at night. Must do better.

In other news, I have ran the aerial and power cables for the tv and Installed the massive aerial in the loft area. I just hope I can pick up a signal with it. It's quite a rural area and tv signal isn't the best - we get our signal from a repeater mast. I'm gonna use a chromecast or firestick anyway so no great shakes if it doesn't work.



Hopefully I'll get some more done during the Christmas break, as I'm off work.
 
#27 ·
Long overdue update. Lot of things happening since my last post on this, though work kinda stalled for a while as I kept going away with my job. Then there was the weather which was so poor I kept a car in there out of the worst of it.

Winter at its worst:


So the painting eventually continued and I got it all finished, bit of a slog but worth it in the end. All that travel I was doing had helped with the refurb fund so I decided a ceiling was required. So this turned up:




Ending up with this:
 
#28 ·
Then I decided the old fluorescent lights had no place in the garage, bit rusty, inefficient etc. So I invested in these:





3x 6ft Battens from https://www.ledsave.co.uk/slimline-integrated-led-batten-light.html They'd been recommended by someone on here and they seemed a good price for the output. Haven't really tried them when it's fully dark yet but they seem mega-bright. They also have a combined output of 96w compared to the 420w of the old lights. I'll see how they are when I have a car in there and it's properly dark. Can always add a couple more if need be.

I also gave the ceiling a couple of coats of emulsion. I did want to get it skimmed but funds didn't allow and I think you can get away with it being a garage.
 
#29 ·
So with that finished (except the loft hatch, still to be fitted) I turned my attention to the floor. I deliberated for a long time over which flooring to go for and had almost decided on duramat when I suddenly realised that I couldn't justify the cost. So I had been looking at alternatives and finally settled on industrial carpet floor tiles. Now, I know some people will say that they won't last or will mark easily and what about when they get wet. But my take on it is, I don't really put a car in there when it is wet, I may get some cheap foam tiles for the tyres to sit on and they do seem very tough. Plus the cost was less than half of what I was going to pay.

Before:


After:


I went for two colours, dark grey and anthracite, as I wanted the checkerboard look. I'm quite please with how it turned out.
 
#33 ·
Looks really good!
Like you I have been deliberating for ages on flooring, I have almost made my mind up for Swisstrax but after seeing your carpet tiles I am having second thoughts!
I am changing the garage doors and the cost is more than I had thought as I am not opting for the budget roller doors you can get but going for the Securoglide Compact. So any cost saving is a bonus.
Do you have a link to the ones you bought please.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top