Garage Suggestions - Lighting, Flooring, Cabinets, Heater

[digitalsolo]

Okay all,

I have my new garage (and house) designed, and unless something goes awry with the mortgage broker, they should be starting on it soon.   Here's the main elements:

2 car (22x23) bay for "normal" cars.    3rd bay is added on with 16x35' dimensions.   Main (2 car) bay is 9' ceilings and the 3rd bay is 9' at the door, but behind the door area jumps to a cathedral ceiling for a lift.

I have a 220 volt at the rear for my welder, and a 220 volt on the side for the lift.   Garage sink is in the 2 bay area, as is my HVAC/water heater.   I have a gas line that will be placed high in the 3rd bay at the rear for a heater.

Need some advice on a few things:

1.  I want a gas forced air garage heater.   Any suggestions?
2.  I want some good lighting, but not bank breaking.   I'd like to stay under 1k dollars in lighting if I can.   The main 2 bay I will probably just hang a pair of 8' (4x4') T8 units.    The third bay I will need more light and have to figure out how to deal with the cathedral ceiling.
3.  Flooring.   Best luck with epoxy/stain?   I've read Joel's thread and I like how his turned out.  That may be a good option.  I have about 1200 sq. ft of floor.   I don't like tiles.
4.  Cabinets.  I want to get some decent cabinets for the third bay, preferably with some work bench surface.  I can always build my own, but I'd like to get something that looks like it matches well.  It needs to be able to be WORKED on though.   Cabinets are a must so I can keep stuff out of the dust from body work, etc. as much as possible, plus I need lots of storage.
5.  Lifts - Brands?   I want a 2 post and should have clearance for a top crossover style now.   Floors are 4" 3500 psi concrete.
6.  Air systems.  I need some type of air system to place around the garage at least a little.  I have a reel now (it's a POS, I will pitch it when I move, I hate it) but I think some along the wall stuff would be easier to deal with than dragging the hose reel around.
7.  Anything else?   I will have a stereo out there and will drop an ethernet jack and a TV jack.

-Blake

[wickedrx7]

I've had a modine hot dawg for 5 years now and it has worked great.
If you have the money, do heated floors though. If you don't have the money now,  at least run the lines for it.  The lines are pretty cheap and easy to put in. You will thank me later.

[gc3]

i've been super happy with my rotary lift. I don't have much else to compare to though.

[quinns]

1.  Mines a lennox. Friends have Hot Dawg and Reznor. Not a single problem with any of them. The Reznor is 10 years old and still works perfectly fine.

2.  It's hard to beat 4ft T8's. T5's are hard on the eyes if they aren't mounted high enough and even then when your under your car on the lift and look
up your going to get it in the eyeballs. T8's are relatively cheap and available everywhere. I prefer the 4ft bulbs simply because they're easier to handle and transport. I went with 5000k bulbs, some guys like 4300k it's all preference. Not bright enough? Just install more. Just mount them direct to the cathedral ceiling. The angles I find actually help get light under the hood of a vehicle and underneath the car that's on the hoist.

3.  All I'll say is don't do tiles haha. Tried it before and never ever again.

4.  Build you're own benches. I haven't seen hardly anything available that was actually tough vs a steel or even wood homemade bench. You guys don't have c tire down there but I mounted these up above my benches and love it.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-maximum-metal-wall-cabinet-0681226p.html#.VRYO9U10ypo
I also like having one monster floor cabinet like this.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mastercraft-maximum-cabinet-72-in-0680667p.html#.VRYPOE10ypo

5.  Lifts... Mines a "tuxedo" lift rebranded by some other fly by night outfit. It's definitely not as nice as a name brand lift. I definitely wouldn't want to lift 9000lbs on it (what its rated for). It's definitely not high quality. With all that said it was inexpensive. I use it for working on cars and only cars and other toys which it is more than adequate for. Unless you're planning on lifting a 3/4 ton or bigger truck and the lift going up and down 20 times a day I don't see any reason for the hobbyist to spend more on a lift. With that said a used name brand lift can be very competitively priced. I've never seen a Mohawk in person but they look impressive. I've used lots of bendpaks and rotary lifts and they are wayyyy nicer than my lift but again price comes into play.

6.  Reelcraft likely makes the nicest reels I've ever experienced. They are also crazy expensive. I am running Jet brand ones in my shop on swivel brackets. They are a nice middle of the road reel in my books.
https://www.jetgroupbrands.com/brands/view/product.php?p=391722&gid=39&id=3&sid=131&cid=4&brand=jet#.VRYRjU10ypo

7.  You need a fridge. If you don't need a fridge then you need more friends who like cold beers. You also need a bench vise, bench grinder, hydraulic press, parts washer, sandblasting cabinet, drill press, assortment of welders, plasma cutter, oxy/acetylene torch, and a transmission jack to go with the hoist 

[Mazdamark]

1. I live in Texas, so my concern was air-conditioning    If you're curious, I bought 2 24Kbtu window units with 15K heaters built in to the AC units for the one or 2 days a year I need em for out in the shop.  (Have an insulated 30X40 steel building in the backyard)  You can't beat window units for the price and convenience (install em yourself) but if you're out there a lot, they are not the most efficient.  Though I do run one unit if it's not too hot, then turn on the other if needed., which is nice.  In my garage in my house,  I have a mini-split with a heat pump I picked up off Amazon.  (Can't have a window unit sticking out of my house in my neighborhood)  Installed it myself...  It's pretty efficient, costs more than the window units, but did not cost as much as a full blown, installed system. 

2. Have a bunch of T8s...  Installed them on different switches, so I don't need to light up areas I'm not using.  Think I did 5000K color as well

3.  Have had a lot of luck with http://www.adpolymers.com/ for floors...  Done several garages as well as my workshop.  I did a low build floor with 2 coats of aliphatic epoxy base and 2 coats of urethane top coat for my shop in light gray...  Really brightens the workspace, easy to clean, good with chemical spills...  Even stands up to MEK, at least if you clean up quickly....  MEK eats most floors other floors I've used almost on contact.  I did no chips in the workshop, but have used them in my garage.  Both have been in place 8 or so years, and still look great.  If I had the $$, their high build systems look great...  (Basically the same as the low build system but with a high build intermediate coat you float out over the floor) But I can't justify the cost for something I'm going to drive on, drop tools on, etc.

Also, seems to do ok with light weld spatter....  Though I do use a weld blanket if I think what I'm welding's going to throw a lot of slag... 

Remember, paint quality is all in the prep...

4. I agree, DIY benches

5. I have a Gemini 2 post lift...  Not high zoot like a bend-pak etc, but they are local to me (Fort Worth) and in 8 years, not a single problem.  Lifts my Excursion, like it's nothing, too.  HIGHLY recommend getting an asymetric lift if you go 2 post.  Much nicer not banging doors on the lift columns... 

6. I plumbed my shop with 3/4 PEX and sharkbite fittings...  FWIW, these are not rated for air, but I read somewhere that sharkbite (or one of the fittings suppliers) uses this same sort of setup to feed air in their manufacturing center... Just run it out of direct sunlight as I think PEX is not UV stable over time.  Easy to add on to, as well.  I've seen burst tests with PEX...  the the pipe just splits..  No fracturing/shrapnel like PVC...  Also, did not see you mention 220volt outlet for a compressor....  Lifts are usually hard wired, and if you try to share the welder receptacle, you wont be able to run a plasma cutter (needs compressed air and 220 volt)  Would also run 220s for AC, but you probably don't need it in IA.

7. +1 on the fridge...  I have a sink with one of those on-demand-hot water heaters...  Use it more than you think.  I run the hot water through my powerwasher...  Sort of a poor man's steam cleaner.  FWIW, I ran an air line from the shop back to my house...  That way I can use shop air in my garage...

If I had to do it again, I would love in floor lighting under the lift...  Built right into the slab.  Haven't done much research into it as that ship has sailed...  Been looking at doing some sort of floods mounted to the floor near the lift columns...

[digitalsolo]

Awesome, thanks for the advice guys.  Experience is very helpful.

[frijolee]

I still really like my acid stain/epoxy floor, but it's not impervious so you kind of have to get over the fact some scratching will occur.  Lighter colors of acid stain would hide scratching a little better.

+1 on 4' T8 fixtures.  I did 4100k and still think they're a little on the blue end, but that's clearly a question of personal preference.  I'm thinking I may try to get a couple fixtures down low along the curb and then armor from above.  That would give me a defined surface on top of which I could then set spare plywood/drywall/sheet steel.

I'm a big fan of boltless shelving for the size/cost evaluation for cabinets.  I'm planning on adding DIY doors to them to help cut down on dust intrusion as you mentioned.  One work surface I have in the plans is using a pair of HF 44" tool boxes with a slab of butch block spanning between the 2.  That should give me a 10+ foot long work bench that I can set drinks on without rusting.  It's a simplified version of the "Steev-o" bench that's quite popular over at garage journal.

[digitalsolo]

Wow, that Steev-o bench is a great idea.   I have 1x HF box already, I could pick up 2 more and have a really nice workbench area.   Combine that with a few cabinets and I'd be all set!    Awesome sauce!

[quinns]

I had to look up what this steevo bench was all about. Looks awesome. Like just as nice as those really high end custom cabinets.

[texfc]

+1 on cabinets instead of open shelves to keep dust off of stuff.  I got a tall office type steel cabinet from a local company that buys them at auctions from schools and hospitals.  About $80. 
For lights, be sure to get the residential ballasts, not the commercial ballast.  The commercial ones have no RFI filtering.  I measured over 5000 uV at about 200 MHz in my work space with 5 commercial ballasts on.  After replacing them with residential ballasts, the RFI dropped to less than 50 uV, the noise floor of the meter I was using.  No point in dirtying up the spectrum around your shop.
+1 on mini fridge.  I also use mine to refrigerate various activators for epoxies, fillers, and paint.  Should make them last a little longer.
Epoxy floor is great, super easy to clean up spills.
I talked my wife into upgrading the flat screen in our bedroom, and moved the old one out to the shop.  I didn't think I would ever want a TV in my shop, but it makes it easy to have a game or race on and just look at the screen when something big happens.
Put your shop air compressor in the 2 car area and run PEX over to your shop area.  Keeps the noise down.  Be sure to put a water trap with a drain at the end of the long run, the air will cool down and produce condensate after it travels that distance.

[frijolee]

For anyone else who's curious here's the original Steevo Bench:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=126086

Finished pics in post 48 (here's one):


Tons of pictures follow in that thread for folks who've made their own versions thereof. 

I'm planning to ignore all the crazy framework stuff and instead make my own leveling feet, let the box be the structure.  Anything heavy should end up on my weld table anyways.  Since I'm on the topic the best deal I found on large form factor butcher block were via lumber liquidators.

http://www.lumberliquidators.com/ll/c/lft-Maple-Butcher-Block-Countertop-Williamsburg-Butcher-Block-Co.-MABB12/10012578
A 10' long chunk from Ganahl lumber was pushing $600 and this way I can use the extra 2' for a sink cover/border.

For what it's worth I much prefer the sliding locks on the HF 56" box vs. the detents on the 44.  Drawer liners are nicer on the 56" as well, but the 44 is a better form factor for bench use.  The 44" box retails for $600 but regularly has coupons for $389, $369, and the best ones I've seen any time recently were $359 each.  If you're picking up a stack you might just talk to a HF store manager as I've heard so some folks swinging deals as good or even slightly better when they ordered 3 or 4.

The 56" box costs about double but it does have twice the volume and I think it's nicer as a main tool box.

[Mad Ra88it]

Have you looked into radiant floor heating? We decided to go with it in the house and shop after talking with some guys that work in shorts and tshirts in the dead of a Midwest winter! That's just crazy talk and I for one want to participate in such craziness in far less cold weather.

I've got a link for the floor treatment(coating) and will post that when I get back to my computer. GarageJournal boards have been my free time wasting device over the last year. Add in the "pocket" extension for chrome and I've got a decently cataloged list of ideas for the house/shop/property. Lots of cool stuff and tips/tricks are given out over there, with experience to learn from in regards to what works best for the price.

Have you checked out the LED light fixtures, basically a tube style, but with only LEDs. Costco had them the last time we were there, I'll be trying them out... Seemed to have a nice color way and output. The body side of the shop will have them mounted on the walls, so as to make blocking a bit easier.

[digitalsolo]

Yeah, I did look into radiant.   I had some good points and evidence that it would jack up the humidity with the door open/closed all the time in the winter, which would be no good.    I will have a gas furnace out there to warm it up though.

LED lights are a good possibility once the price comes down, though not right away because I think it'd be 4-5x the price of T8s currently, and I just don't see that as worth it right now.

[wickedrx7]

I still suggest putting in the lines for radiant as this is you only chance. You might never hook up but it will be nice to have if you want to.  My buddy keeps his at 50 degrees and doesn't have any moisture issues.

[sccaone]

Do consider LEDs for you over head lights, yes they are $70 per unit but  in 10 or 12 years they have paid for them self’s and no cold weather issues.
Try to turn on the fluorescent before heater kicks in.