My garage - tips, ideas and recommendations please

[sdmurray]

Very interested in how you found the wall painting . . . I have a very large (quadruple) garage with the same type of walls as yours and considered painting them but it is so big I just couldn't face it. How many coats did it take and did you do a PVA/water coat first or PVA/water/paint each time? I saw the advice but would like to know what you actually did and how well it went on. Did you use a roller or brush?

In exchange I can recommend, if your budget allows, that you put this flooring down:

http://www.pafsystem.com/interlocking-tiles.html

We did and love it. We tried painting (the proper grey garage floor stuff) but that does come up over time and is not as easy to clean as these tiles. The tiles are also much more comfortable to lie on if under the car and it stops the concrete dust coming up. You can also make up your own design. Comes in at about £25 per sq m.

Here's half of our garage floor as we just finished laying it (note the walls and hence my questions to you).

[Stu R]

Don't fret about the quadruple garage. Get a couple of pots of sandtex masonry paint and as big a masonry brush as you can find, slap it on.

It's impossible to make it look rubbish, I swear the only way I could put less effort in when I did mine was to use a catapult, and it still turned out spot on finish wise.

[JFReturns]

sdmurray said:

Very interested in how you found the wall painting . . . How many coats did it take and did you do a PVA/water coat first or PVA/water/paint each time? I saw the advice but would like to know what you actually did and how well it went on. Did you use a roller or brush?

I did exactly this:

- Brushed down walls with stiff bristled broom and vacuumed the entire garage thoroughly
- Made a 50/50 water to paint mix, and slapped it on using a roller
- Once dry, rollered on a 20/80 water to paint mix
- The brick wall was sealed with 50/50 water to PVA mix

I used a small roller and a brush to fill the gaps. Note that my mortar was quite old and so soaked up the mix, so neat paint was applied to most of these trouble spots. I doubt you will have trouble with yours as it is newer and probably less porous.

And that is pretty much it! Didn't take much time, maybe four hours. Note that the advice given was to add PVA to the paint mix but I found there was no need - I was quite surprised by how good the first wash took.

If I had a garage as new and nice as yours, I would take my time and maybe do it over three weekends, giving it a third coat or using undiluted paint for the second.

It's very relaxing!

[Aviz]

sdmurray said:

Very interested in how you found the wall painting . . . I have a very large (quadruple) garage with the same type of walls as yours and considered painting them but it is so big I just couldn't face it. How many coats did it take and did you do a PVA/water coat first or PVA/water/paint each time? I saw the advice but would like to know what you actually did and how well it went on. Did you use a roller or brush?

In exchange I can recommend, if your budget allows, that you put this flooring down:

http://www.pafsystem.com/interlocking-tiles.html

We did and love it. We tried painting (the proper grey garage floor stuff) but that does come up over time and is not as easy to clean as these tiles. The tiles are also much more comfortable to lie on if under the car and it stops the concrete dust coming up. You can also make up your own design. Comes in at about £25 per sq m.

Here's half of our garage floor as we just finished laying it (note the walls and hence my questions to you).

Instructional Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EalqlDjTnPw

[JFReturns]

Oh and I tried the paf-systems site but am getting an error message. Probably a proxy or server problem at work but I will try when I get home

[GingerWizard]

JFReturns said:

Update after a weekend of graft! I've never done so much screwing

Walls now painted white, could possibly do with another coat but I am happy with it. Brick work sealed with watered down PVA to prevent dust, shelves painted and fitted (I know they are bowed, I recycled them... hoping they will level out with stuff on). Pics:



Shelves, bits n bobs draws and EVO print



Steering wheel from my first car And something to hang my most used tools up for easy access (bit empty at the mo!).



Plenty of room



Car put away, fits nicely! Very dusty though, I am hoping now its all sealed and painted it won't be as bad...



Next plans:

- Paint floor light grey
- Get more EVO prints and various die cast models up
- Figure out ingenius ways of storing stuff out of the way...

P.S. Bit of a rant here.... I went to my local tip to get rid of some plaster board, and they had the most perfect work bench and set of drawers that someone wanted to chuck, and they wouldn't let me take it away! Local council rules apparently! ggrrrrr

Thats turned out really well. When you get the floor done it will look totally different to when you started. I'm glad the paint advice worked out for you, its just one of those things where you have to slap it on and believe. What sort of floor sealent are you using? I quite like that latex/enamel shiny finish stuff, but never really used it other then in pub cellars.

Its so annoying going to the tip some times.... I wanted to liberate a TV stand i was actually looking to buy the week before. It was retailing at £280!!! but no no no the council are worried about riots.....

Keep us updated when you do the floor.

Gwiz

[sdmurray]

Aviz said:

Instructional Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EalqlDjTnPw

That's what I will do!!

[matts4]

I've nearly finished my walls, but have lost the enthusiasm to complete the last 4 or 5 sqm.

It has taken around 20 hours to get the walls completed, and a further 3 coats of floor paint took around 6 hours.

I used a large fence painting brush for both jobs and was pretty happy how it went down.

I've added a couple of before and after pics of the walls, I reckon the floor paint transforms the space, but would love to tile it like the guy above. However, its around 30 sqm, and at £25 per sqm metre, I just cannot justify the cost.

I did also apply a sealer to the floor first.

[JFReturns]

Looks awesome^

[dirty boy]

Looking good guys.

At the moment, my garage has no roof, no garage door, no back door!

Builder coming this weekend though, so should make some 'upwards' progress, put a floor in, then I can 'think' about what to do with the space.

As it's 6.6m long, i'm tempted to put a false (stud) wall in where we're putting the tumble and washing machine, so they'll be out of sight when you open the garage, making it look neat and tidy.

Trouble is, at 2.6m wide, getting in/out of the Cerb could be troublesome - the pillar is right in the middle!

Oh well, we'll work around it.

[Flintstone]

Get a big sticker on the door, like this one.

[sdmurray]

Matts4 - that looks really good. You've convinced me that I really must do the walls of mine now. It makes such a difference.

Still not looking forward to it though as mine is about 30ft x 20ft so quite a but of painting.

[GingerWizard]

sdmurray said:

Matts4 - that looks really good. You've convinced me that I really must do the walls of mine now. It makes such a difference.

Still not looking forward to it though as mine is about 30ft x 20ft so quite a but of painting.

if its a one job thing then buy something like this. Might even get it to last to do the fence if you have one.

If you have a compressor, with the right equipment its a 1 hour job. could possibly hire a decent sprayer.

[Globulator]

GingerWizard said:

Its so annoying going to the tip some times.... I wanted to liberate a TV stand i was actually looking to buy the week before. It was retailing at £280!!! but no no no the council are worried about riots.....

Always take cash, it makes the tip guys completely forget about all objections..

[matts4]

I already have a compressor and spray gun (which I used for my fence) however, I thought by the time I masked everywhere out (rafters, light switches, door frames etc), it was quicker to just slap it on with a brush (thicker than spraying) and cut it in by hand.

Spraying would be a winner though if you can mask out easily.

[dazerc]

I wish I had a big enough garage for my VXR8 my garage is tiny just big enough for my old Astra GSI.
Good work on the painting. some good info in the thread.

[JFReturns]

Update time, floor now painted using hammerite floor paint. Few more prints up and I'm starting to fill the garage with my stuff. I wanted a chest of drawers from the spare room, painted black but SWMBO wouldn't let me.. women.. pfft

Anyway, pics:









Plans now are to figure out clever ways of storing the rest of my tools and bits. I'm thinking along the lines of pulleys, runners and... well, cool stuff.

So far, I'm happy with it. I know it's tiny, and yeah, I admit a tinge of envy over the other garages posted in this thread, but hey, its mine.

Comments and suggestions welcome.

[Fatboy]

That looks really good - you've done a very nice job there

Where did you get the tool board, and how much was it?

I've almost finished my lockup, doing something similar - once it's done I'll have no excuse for not getting on with my Mini :-)

It's amazing how much brighter and cleaner the garage is with the walls and floors painted, isn't it?

[JFReturns]

Fatboy said:

That looks really good - you've done a very nice job there

Where did you get the tool board, and how much was it?

I've almost finished my lockup, doing something similar - once it's done I'll have no excuse for not getting on with my Mini :-)

It's amazing how much brighter and cleaner the garage is with the walls and floors painted, isn't it?

Thanks

I got the tool board and drawers from Ebay. I can't access it at work so can't give you a link, but search 'tool rack' or similar and there is loads of choice. And yes, the garage feels bigger and lighter since painting! A lot less dusty too....

[52classic]

Nice thread and a job well done Robert.

Just a thought that you're missing some useful space in the garage loft. I hadn't spotted the pitched roof until the most recent photographs.

I scrounged some 6x2's which I bolted to the existing 4x then used some loft decking to make a mezzanine. An extra light on the upper level means I don't loose too much stuff and painting the underneath white gives some useful reflected light to the bench area.

My thinking is that with some decent storage bins I can switch the workshop between configurations for woodworking, mechanical work, body repairing, valeting etc. However, in practice I have never managed to be quite so tidy!