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[SCyclone]

We have a two car that I’ve never parked in before. I move enough stuff to the storage room in the basement during the winter that my wife can park inside if it’s going to snow.

I’ve got more tools and projects going on than most suburban homes like ours. My work bench takes up 18 feet of one wall. The back wall is filled with my sons work bench, my free standing tools like my bandsaw, wood, snowblower etc. I installed shelving along the ceiling for other stuff, (mostly tools). I have two kids so their stuff, the lawn stuff, ladders, deep freeze, my bigger sheets of wood, my clamp rack, etc. takes up the other side side. I normally have a 4x8 sheet of ply on sawhorses set up in the middle of the garage to work at too.

Im not sure I could even park in the garage with a 4 car if we had one. My stuff would just be more spread out. I’m used to hitting the remote start in the morning. I also don’t like the garage door going up and down in the winter because I keep the garage heated to 60+ degrees.

This is my garage when it’s cleaned up. I have since added a separate workbench for my oldest on the back wall.
View attachment 76033

That looks like my shop in the basement. Very nice.

 

[FallOf81]

i keep two cars, a ton of tools, and some junk/parts/camping stuff in my old school 2 car garage. the metal racks they sell at Home Depot and Costco are critical to have any good storage space in there. The black and yellow totes from Home Depot really help too.

If you are really into garages and shops and such, try www.garagejournal.com. You will learn a lot, see a ton of ways to make your space better.

I am wanting to build a new house, and going to do a regular 2 car garage attached, literally for 2 cars, a deep freeze, extra fridge and minimal "stuff". A separate shop for working on cars and bikes and woodworking is planned too.....so much nicer working in a dedicated shop so spilled gas/oil/coolant isnt ruining the area, or welding sparks, grinding sparks, wood dust etc. Gonna also add a dedicated bare bones garage for cars....just a basic building to keep UV and rain off old rigs.

Thanks for tip to that website! Watched part of the tiny workshop video. Talk about maximum use of space! I've always found it's better to steal proven solutions from seasoned pros rather than trying to solve it on your own. Their ideas are from years of making mistakes and improving on past projects.

 

[enisthemenace]

One thing I'll absolutely look for in a new house is one, large garage door as opposed to two stalls. Ours now has two separate garage doors with a divider in between and I hate it.

I like the two smaller garage doors over one large door. Our old house had a 2 car garage with one large door, and we had all kinds of problems with it. Possible we didn’t have the most appropriately opener. The door was really heavy and when raising, you could see it shimmy (one side would go up faster than the other, then the other side would catch up, etc). Long story short...it was a problem.

 

[AgronAlum]

That looks like my shop in the basement. Very nice.

Thanks. My wife would kick the **** out of me if I brought that much dust into the house. She already hates that the kids stuff in the garage pretty much always has a layer on top of it. Does the dust cycle through your furnace into the house or do you have extra dust control?

 

[Mtowncyclone13]

I like the two smaller garage doors over one large door. Our old house had a 2 car garage with one large door, and we had all kinds of problems with it. Possible we didn’t have the most appropriately opener. The door was really heavy and when raising, you could see it shimmy (one side would go up faster than the other, then the other side would catch up, etc). Long story short...it was a problem.

i am the same way - i love having two doors BUT we also have lots of space between them, maybe an extra foot compared to others I've seen. For one large door it almost seems like the doors are a foot or two too narrow for two cars. At my parents house in their detached garage one car needs to enter at an angle or they both wont fit in.

 

[Clonefan32]

i am the same way - i love having two doors BUT we also have lots of space between them, maybe an extra foot compared to others I've seen. For one large door it almost seems like the doors are a foot or two too narrow for two cars. At my parents house in their detached garage one car needs to enter at an angle or they both wont fit in.

I like the look of it, but I just feel like we are missing out on space. They are also fairly tight stalls and we both have bigger vehicles. It's just so compact that it's a bit dicey getting in-and-out whereas an undivided space would be much easier.

 

[Mtowncyclone13]

I like the look of it, but I just feel like we are missing out on space. They are also fairly tight stalls and we both have bigger vehicles. It's just so compact that it's a bit dicey getting in-and-out whereas an undivided space would be much easier.

if you have two big cars how wide would the single door need to be? most new houses i see have a three car garage but the single door still appears a foot or 2 too narrow.

 

[Clonefan32]

if you have two big cars how wide would the single door need to be? most new houses i see have a three car garage but the single door still appears a foot or 2 too narrow.

I guess I just like the idea of having some flexibility in where a car can go, not just the narrow "stalls".

 

[SCyclone]

Thanks. My wife would kick the **** out of me if I brought that much dust into the house. She already hates that the kids stuff in the garage pretty much always has a layer on top of it. Does the dust cycle through your furnace into the house or do you have extra dust control?

Because of my respiratory allergies we have an air-to-air exchanger, pretty much keeps the dust under control.

 

[CYdTracked]

You're not afraid that the mysterious beast living up there is going to savagely rip your head off the second you peak above the access portal?

LOL, nope house is about 18 years old and knock on wood haven't had problems with critters getting into places they shouldn't be. Whoever did all the work to make the work bench and shelving plus the attic space that they wired up lighting for too did a really good job. I couldn't have built something as well made myself if I tried and they didn't go cheap either, it's solid construction that is meant to last and hold some weight

 

[beentherebefore]

Let's just say I do not have room for my third car in my 3-car garage.

I have stuff in there from two moves ago that were never unpacked from when we left our first apartment. But I see others who maintain an almost clinically clean garage. Amazing.

 

[VeloClone]

Standard 3 car garage. We have 2 SUVs in the two regular stalls. The third slightly smaller stall has kids bikes and outdoor toys, a small bike repair shelving unit and a larger work bench. I'm pretty bad about cleaning up my work bench though. Need to do that before it gets too cold out there. The large trash rolling barrel and similar sized recycling bin also live in there in the winter. We also have some garage attic storage and a small shed. The lawnmower, snow blower and misc. yard work tools live in there. The snow blower moves to the garage when snow flies. I would like to axe a bunch of the kids toys and relocate the bikes so our daughter's car can fit in there. The joys and hazards of having a new driver in the house...

Funny this topic came up. I was just spending several hours last week weeding out a bunch of junk I had stored up on high shelving in the garage. I made good progress. It is amazing the stuff you accumulate and I am a packrat at heart.

 

[VeloClone]

What if he IS that beast, got tired of living up there, killed the actual owner in the method you described, and is now living in the home, extolling the virtues of his former domicile? What would there be for him to be afraid of then?

The ghost of the previous owner.

 

[Tailg8er]

I'd really like to do an epoxy finish for the floor, but I'm not sure how difficult it would be.

I've wanted to do that for awhile as well but wasn't confident in my own abilities in that dept (fairly handy with most stuff). A neighbor a few houses down used a local guy & it turned out great - cost him less than I expected so I ended up hiring the guy too. He said he usually charges ~$3/sq ft, but he knocked it down to ~$2.50/sq ft since I paid in cash.

Company is Bruellman Flooring (Tanner) - 515-320-5591 - he goes all throughout Iowa.

Before:

After:

You can pick the base color, color & level of flake, & you can fill in those cracks for added cost. We're very happy with it!

 

[Mtowncyclone13]

I've wanted to do that for awhile as well but wasn't confident in my own abilities in that dept (fairly handy with most stuff). A neighbor a few houses down used a local guy & it turned out great - cost him less than I expected so I ended up hiring the guy too. He said he usually charges ~$3/sq ft, but he knocked it down to ~$2.50/sq ft since I paid in cash.

Company is Bruellman Flooring (Tanner) - 515-320-5591 - he goes all throughout Iowa.

Before:

After:

You can pick the base color, color & level of flake, & you can fill in those cracks for added cost. We're very happy with it!

this looks awesome and i might give him a call. damn your garage is clean

 

[cmjh10]

Just a 1 stall that is mostly full of the GFs stuff from when we moved. Most of it is probably still in the box when she moved into my apartment after college. Of course, we cant just get rid of it.

 

[Mr Janny]

I've wanted to do that for awhile as well but wasn't confident in my own abilities in that dept (fairly handy with most stuff). A neighbor a few houses down used a local guy & it turned out great - cost him less than I expected so I ended up hiring the guy too. He said he usually charges ~$3/sq ft, but he knocked it down to ~$2.50/sq ft since I paid in cash.

Company is Bruellman Flooring (Tanner) - 515-320-5591 - he goes all throughout Iowa.

Before:

After:

You can pick the base color, color & level of flake, & you can fill in those cracks for added cost. We're very happy with it!

That's not a bad price at all. Thanks for the info!

 

[dmclone]

I've wanted to do that for awhile as well but wasn't confident in my own abilities in that dept (fairly handy with most stuff). A neighbor a few houses down used a local guy & it turned out great - cost him less than I expected so I ended up hiring the guy too. He said he usually charges ~$3/sq ft, but he knocked it down to ~$2.50/sq ft since I paid in cash.

Company is Bruellman Flooring (Tanner) - 515-320-5591 - he goes all throughout Iowa.

Before:

After:

You can pick the base color, color & level of flake, & you can fill in those cracks for added cost. We're very happy with it!

I'd highly recommend filling in those cracks. I'm sure this is 10x better than what I did but on my first house I didn't fill the cracks and after a few years I started to get a little wear right next to the cracks.

This time I filled in the cracks and no peeling after 15 years. Both times I did it on really new cement, so that has to help.

I think sand and salt get in the cracks or something. BTW, this look fabulous.

 

[Tailg8er]

That's not a bad price at all. Thanks for the info!

this looks awesome and i might give him a call. damn your garage is clean

HA, it was only that clean when he was putting in this floor. I will say the floor makes a difference in me wanting to be out there more now, so I do keep it cleaner than I have in the past.

He also has a FB page (this might work) - https://www.facebook.com/Bruellman-Flooring-LLC-108615747449439

Lot of pictures on there. Just a one man show, very friendly guy. I assume his 'season' is getting close to over if it isn't already, though - think there are temp requirements for application. He had ours in within 2 weeks of contacting him - he did the prep one afternoon, & applied the epoxy the next morning.

 

[flycy]

We have a 3 car. First thing I did when we moved in was put up shelving all along the back wall, so we have plenty of storage out there for tools, lawn and garden equipment, sports equipment, etc. I've got rakes, shovels, brooms hung on one wall, and bikes hung on the other. We put two cars inside, and the third stall is for snowblower, grill, lawn mower, etc. Our old house had a terrible garage, so when we started looking for a new one, I wanted to make sure we got one that w ould be functional, but also look nice.

I'd really like to do an epoxy finish for the floor, but I'm not sure how difficult it would be.

Just did my shop and 4 car garage. It depends on how old and oily the concrete is. At a minimum you need to power wash and acid etch it. Applying is easy. If you have a lot of soaked in oil, you'll need to spend some time washing that out with degreaser or risk the epoxy not adhering properly. It does require you to remove everything from the floors a few days. It really does make minor oil spills etc. much easier to clean up. I would also add some of the anti-slip which is just basically a cup of fine sand.

Edit: As others have mentioned I'd also recommend filling in the cracks. If you do it yourself, blow them out with a compressor and then using masking tape on the edges. Then use the self leveling concrete crack filler. Pull the tape in a few hours after it has set a bit before it is all the way dry. Comes out perfect that way.