Less expensive garage flooring?

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Steve Simmons
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Steve Simmons »

During the warmer Santa Anas a couple weeks ago we got some hellacious winds. But wherever the winds this week are coming from we aren't getting anything. We do get the off-shore breeze every afternoon because we're on the west side of the hill.

I drove down Malibu canyon yesterday morning and it was blowing strong, but along PCH there was no wind either. Very strange pattern.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Larry Kluss »

Agreed, it is a different pattern this time. Even in Camarillo it normally blows like heck, but there's been relatively little wind this time.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

So, these pictures relate to classic cars in three ways, and that's my excuse for posting:
1) Kim said I could buy another car if we had a place to store it and all our other toys. This house has a two car garage, and (now) two sheds, for the bikes and kayaks = room for another classic! Coming this year sometime.
2) My MGA has sat, neglected, in my Mother-in-law's garage for months, while I've been renovating the garage and house. More pictures soon, but I thought I'd share these now. I need to take some more....
3) I haven't been on any VM drives recently because I've spent all my time on the garage/yard/house. But we're about done, so I just need ot get the MGA drivable again and I'll be back out.

I'm going to take pictures of the outside this weekend....But the house represents 4+ months of every weekend, most evenings. Truly like working a second and third job....

A little nook in Hazel's room (before/during/after). Tore out wall, fixed leak, rewired. Rebuilt wall, wired up light, added insulation, built bench. Painted.
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Hallway - Built new hardwood shelves to match floor. (before/after)
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Insulation - We went through the CA Energy Upgrade program, and had insuation added to the house. It was blown in, and we'll get a rebate, but left us with 2, 2 inch holes in between every stud and above and below every firebreak. I negotiated for a lower price by aggreeing to patch myself. That was a LOT of patch work, and trying to match the texture to the original lath and plaster. UGH.

Before and After
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Found a cool vintage light on craigslist:
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The bathroom was torn completely out, and rebuilt. We were going for some "period correct" touches, the house was built in 1922. Tore out the drop ceilings, took everything to the studs. Since there were two entrances, closed one off and made a bookshelf on one side and linen closet on the other.

Before:
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During:
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After:
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More photos to come, including hopefully soon one of the MG "home".
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gorms68
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by gorms68 »

Looks great Geoff!
How about a picture of the front of the house too?
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Steve Simmons
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Steve Simmons »

If you do half as well on your car as you're doing on that house then you'll have a show-stopper in no time. Well done!
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Thanks Chris and Steve! I'll take more pictures this weekend. My goal is to bring the MGA home soon too, so I hope to have her in her new garage...

And Steve, if I'd spent 1/2 as much time and money on my car as I have on the house, I'm pretty sure I could have a show stopper too! :lol:

If anyone ever suggest to you that buying a 1922 fixer-upper, (with a baby at home, and switching jobs two months in), is a good idea, punch them in the face. hard. It's been a rough 4-5 months, but ultimately I'm really pleased and stoked on how it came out.

Geoff
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Stewart »

I got to say your work looks better than most of the pro stuff though I really hope you have enough left in the budget to put a socket plate in the bathroom. :jester

Any more info on the blow in insulation?
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Stewart,

Yeah, switch plate is coming. that socket was working, then stopped, so I need to figure out what is going on there.

The blown in insulation is a cellulosic material. The drill holes in the wall, and pump in the insulation from the top, while applying a vacuum to the bottom. Pretty wild. We went through the CA Energy Upgrade Program. They come in and test your house for air leaks, insulation, etc. Then they suggest work, and you can choose what to have done. You have to do the work through their contractors. Work is done, and then when finished, they retest. You get rebates based on the percentage improvement done. 30% improvement means a 3,000 rebate, but in So Cal Edison you get that doubled. Plus there is a $500 tax deduction available.

Since our house was:
1) Old
2) Leaky as hell
3) Un-insulated.
4) small.


We ended up getting duct sealing done, crack/leak/envelope sealing, wall insulation, and blown in attic insulation, and a new water heater through the program.

We were able to pick a fairly short list of things to get big rebates. I negotiated to do a lot of the patching. All said, we spent about $7500 and should get about $6500 in rebates/tax credits. Pretty much a win. And should save on energy costs and have a more comfortable home. We did the work before living there, so it's hard to say exactly how much better it is, but even just standing in the living room, you notice significantly less road noise and such, and it certainly seems like the heater doesn't cycle very often.

I'd imagine, since the rebates are based on percent improvement, and don't factor in home size or age, I'd imagine that our house was about optimal in terms of being able to get bigger rebates with a smaller outlay in $$. But the program is certainly worth looking into. The other issue is that the rebate does take 7-10 weeks, so of course you have to be able to front the cost and be out the cash for a period of time. I think that is a shame, as I'd imagine there are a lot of folks on fixed/limited incomes that are living in old, drafty houses and could really benefit from a program like this, but would be unable to come up with the cash to put upfront.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Progress! time to bring the MG home.

I had most of the infrastructure in place, and most of the hard work done, but I still needed to do some massive cleaning out and organizing in the garage. I'm pretty please with my results, especially considering what I started with and what I spent. Still some cleaning and organizing and details (putting handles on the cabinets, etc). But I have a floor, and room for two (small) cars.

I did a fair bit to the garage.
I cleaned, patched and painted the walls. This was actually a pretty big job, they were in bad shape.

I filled 4 or 5 long, big cracks in the floor. I ground the floor down. (should have done more here. It's still sort of rough and uneven.) I filled in a couple of very low spots. I painted it with Rustoleum floor paint (I'm going to add tiles on top at some point, so the Rustoleum was a temp solution. ) I built a frame on one side for hanging a couple kayaks that wouldn't fit in the sheds. I added a second shed to the property (to get stuff out of the garage). And I organized both sheds.

Back in the garage, I quickly painted 4 metal cabinets I picked up off craigslist. (I'm going to paint them again later). I paid $80 for all four, so I was stoked. I got the workbench legs for $10, nice and sturdy metal, and added a bench top that I got free from work. the vise was $8 used, I just need to clean it up and mount it. The 2 red cratfsman boxes were $80 from craigslist, and the black one was $40. the smaller red one and the silver portable I've owned for a while.

I also rewired the whole place, going from one outlet and one bulb to 4 overhead double bulb flourescents (It's bright in there) and 6 double outlets spaced around the garage. (plus added two for outside the garage. ) Plus, as noted above, the garage has a new roof.

I also put a bunch of stuff overhead, near and in between the rafters. Over the garage door where I could.



It's not perfect, and it's very small, but it's the nicest garage I've ever had, by a WIDE margin. Still need to clean up the bench, and figure out something better for the yard tools in the corner, but it's progress and I can see my floor again!

sunday morning -
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After a LONG day of work

Bike shed
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Kayak Shed
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Putting stuff overhead -

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Garage 1
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Garage 2
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Steve Simmons
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Steve Simmons »

Fantastic! Good use of space. I can make a couple comments here, as I've remodeled several garages for myself and relatives. The bicycles can be made to use less wall space if you stagger handlebars up and down. Putting the toolboxes on wheels will allow you do clean more easily and to roll them out to use the tops as additional workspace if needed. Also might want to put a couple bolts into each of those tall cabinets in case of earthquake if you haven't already.

How uneven is the floor? Keep in mind that some types of tiles may not lay well on uneven surfaces. But seriously, looking great.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Thanks Steve.

Anchors for the cabinets are on the todo list for sure. Handlebar staggering is a good idea, especially since Kim wants another bike.

The toolboxes came on casters, but it made the boxes too tall for the bench. I took them off, and was planning on finding some smaller ones, but I think I might put them back on, and put some spacers between the workbench legs and the workbench top, since I think it'd make it a more comfortable working height anyway. Hindsight. I'll do it soon. I'm also going to fit some type of lip to the back of the bench, since I've already had two screwdrivers fall back there.

Any ideas for the tools in the corner?

Geoff
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Steve Simmons
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Steve Simmons »

Yeah, put the garden tools in the bike shed! ;) You could always find another metal cabinet and put it outside for them. I hate the smell of those things in the garage. Kind of strange since I keep leaky old cars in there, I guess.

Just noticed another thing, I don't know what you plan to do with the smaller tool boxes but putting them on low shelves behind the workbench will free up workspace and still keep them in reach. Maybe 18" or so off the bench.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Good idea on the toolboxes. the black and the red ones actually have most of my commonly used hand tools in them. Wrenches, sockets, etc. I like the idea of a shelf, especially if I mount it to the bench rather than the wall. Maybe built a "hutch" with a back and shelf to eliminate the things falling behind issue. I'll have to check if that'll put them too high if I raise the bench. I need to be able to see in the drawers.

The smaller grey/silver toolbox is kind of my "to-go" box for the house. Has tools I'd be more likely to use in the house, along with some small parts and stuff. I tried to pack it such that most "house" type small projects could be accomplished without having to run back and forth to the garage.

I thought about one of those rubbermaid style boxes for the garden tools, but I don't have a great spot for it. I also thought about building something under my elevated, raised, and LARGE tumbling composter, but it'd have to be able to load them from the end....hmmm.
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Martin Keller »

Geoff,

Your garage looks good and has come a long-way.
As for the tools in the corner, Weed eater and rack could be stored above the yellow ladder or on top of the cabinets or by stowing between the beams like you have already done with some other things.

Now do you want to come do my garage :D :jester
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Fifty Six MGA »

Martin,

I'll happily organize your garage as long as you promise to follow my advice completely.

Step 1 - Clear space in garage by selling Geoff Lotus 7 replica for $500.
Step 2-10 - TBD


:D
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Re: Less expensive garage flooring?

Post by Martin Keller »

Fifty Six MGA wrote:Martin,

I'll happily organize your garage as long as you promise to follow my advice completely.

Step 1 - Clear space in garage by selling Geoff Lotus 7 replica for $500.
Step 2-10 - TBD


:D
:thumbs: $500.00 would secure the sale but will not buy it so I guess I will just have to organize my garage myself... :D ...rats as I figured I might not have to get dirty.... :jester ....
Martin Keller
Ventura, Ca.
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