Another Set of Garage Pics

I wanted to thank all of the members for their garage ideas. Here is the short list of what I did to mine over the last 6 months and some pics...it's economical, but effective! Thanks, Battman

Size = 35x24x10.5 feet
Rustoleum Epoxy Floor
(10) 200W lights in ceiling
(8) added AC outlets on 3 lines
Soft Water hose bib
Insulated walls and ceiling
Drywalled/painted walls and ceiling
Lots of cheap 2x4 shelves
Pro Park 7 Lift
Craftsman Compressor/Tool Chests
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Regarding the Rustoleum Epoxy Shield Question...here are some comments:

Things I like:
- It's very easy to clean the floor...I typically just use water and a cheap mop...Sometimes I spray some 409 or simple green down on bad spots and scrub them with a broom...but all stains seem to come out.
- Looks great...even when a little dirty
- Nothing seems to damage it...I currently have no tire marks...but read on as I'm pretty sure it's ALL IN THE PREP
- I set up my lift and moved it (on steel casters) to it's current location (around 1500lbs). It didn't seem to leave any caster marks - and they scratched the hell out of the floor in my last house. I currently have the lift posts on small platforms of wood...so hopefully the floor is fine...but to be honest, I haven't moved the lift yet since I put it there.
- Easy to apply (minus the prep work)

Thinks I didn't like:
- The prep works sucked. Lots of muratic acid baths. I'm convinced that the prep is everything here. My house was new construction - so it was a virgin garage floor. I brought my lift (in pieces) from my last house (so it had oil in it all ready)...the lift leaked a little on the virgin floor before I applied the Epoxy Shield and before I re-assembled the lift. After countless acid baths and 3 coats of Epoxy Shield to the leak area, you can see (right through the epoxy shield) exactly where my lift leaked oil.
- The dry time was like a week?
- It's slippery when wet (not wet paint, wet with water)...I didn't put in the optional 'colored chips' and I'm not sure if they would add any type of friction, but you need to step carefully when they floor is wet.
- The color was actually a little annoying because it's so close to actual concrete color...thus it's very easy to miss spots until you see them in the correct light.
- I was disappointed with the 'mix, then one time use' of this product for a few reasons. 1) Per my comment above, it makes doing "touch ups" almost impossible unless you buy more. 2) I bought 3 cans of this stuff...since I have a 3+ car garage. It covered it, but since I did it in sections (so the Ferrari didn't have to stay outside), I always ended up throwing out some of the product - since you can't reuse it once mixed. Advice: leave a little of the 2 parts unmixed, for touch up work later.
- The premixing process - my results seemed to vary a lot in terms of reflectivity from can to can. So when I'd finish 1 section of the garage, I would touch that section up (a day or 2 later) before painting the next section. A decerning eye can tell exactly where I "touched up" because the reflectivity isn't uniform. This is probably very time and temp dependent.

Things that aren't really the fault of the rustoleum that I didn't care for:
- A smooth garage floor is a big plus. The epoxy shield will paint over rough areas without issue, but dirt really shows up in the small concrete crevices and requires a brush to get clean.
- Over the winter (in Wisconsin), the normal contraction of the floor cracked the epoxy shield in all of the floor expansion cracks...some of the cracked epoxy shield (especially where my Jeep (which goes in the snow/salt) sits) even started to 'peel up'. I ended up filling all of the expansion joints with a flexible concrete caulking...it doesn't look as cool but I'm hoping it will do the trick.

Please note that many of the above issues could easily be "user error". I do recommend the Epoxy shield to all who have a virgin garage floor and don't mind doing the prep work. Hope that helps! Battman

 

Yup - 1994 CRB600F2...19k miles...and if my fiance has her way, for sale soon. I told her I'd sell it if I can get a testarossa...

 

There's actually plenty of room for 2 regular cars (height wise). For normal storage, I turn the 328 around and then there is plenty of clearance to fit another car under it (or on top of it).

I can actually fit my Jeep Grand Cherokee (barely) over the 328. But a normal height car won't fit under the Jeep without the Jeep hitting the ceiling, and the lift isn't tall enough for the Jeep to go on the bottom. Good thing the 328 is low!

Note to self: get a garage that's 12' high or sell the Jeep...
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Hey WARDHOG,

I rarely use all of the lights (they are on 3 seperate lines). But my plan is actually to replace all of the cheap light sockets with decent recessed lights...but meanwhile I'm all for saving $$$. Are you talking about bulbs you can get in a hardware store, or something more unusual?

Chris03053,

Sadly, I didn't heat the garage...I was too lazy to run the gas line and the heaters I liked were pretty pricey. I bought a 60,000 BTU propane heater that seemed to do very well this past winter.

Take is easy, Battman

 

Hey sparky p-51,

There's nothing special about the garage doors...they are insulated, but I think most are these days?

Hi Air_Cooled_Nut

The downside to a 4 post lift is of course anything that requires removing a car wheel...point being, I too still use lots of jack stands. I haven't had any issues yet, but I admit that I'm pretty careful and typically throw a 12" square piece of plywood under the jackstand. However I don't put anything under my jack, which thus far hasn't been an issue.

Thanks, Battman