Design My New Garage!

Please post up a few pictures of what it's like now. Hard to make recommendations with nothing to look at, at least for me.

 

Why don’t you hire a designer...?

 

I’d start by getting rid of the 4*4s . Hate them, but if your going to have them put them outside.

Power washer....no. Filtered water with hot and cold yes. Power washers do too much damage!

One side of the garage with lift and work bench/tools, washing etc.

Next bay just for car storage.

Next bay I’d do out as a lounge / office area with sofa, flat screen, desk, model display case etc.

Lots of led strip lights, you can’t have enough. Same with sockets.

Epoxy or industrial tiled floor throughout.

Design it old school if you don’t have a cad package; get some graph paper and draw the garage, cut out shapes for everything you want and play around.

 

I would do the washing outdoors.

 

I have a Garage vac mounted to the wall, along with a retractable hose reel and extension cord reel. I also have a 60 gallon air compressor with a retractable hose. These are not only a tremendous convenience, but they also keep the garage neat and take up very little space.

 

Lots of ideas here...http://www.vaultgarage.com/gallery/

I like their hard porcelain tiles as the flooring solution.

Make sure you have lots of lighting, I have both fluorescent and incandescent lights, sometimes the spectrum of the old style lights is simply more appealing for display, detailing or wrenching than the led's which are all the rage.

 

Don't forget the obligatory prancing horse sign or sculpture, this one might be the most appropriate for the third garage by lounge area...

Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Mine Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

This is a tough question. We do garages for customers all the time, and its never the same requirements. You can make it look finished and proper like a house interior by doing something like a concrete overlay stained to look like hardwood, add in some baseboard, and a few chandeliers, and its super classy. Conversely, I love a garage to look sterile, and like tons of diamond plate. My own garage has pot lights, and a barnboard ceiling to be totally unique. A pretty common theme is to keep everything behind doors, and hidden. Nobody likes to see junk, and crap on the floor allows animals to hide, and dust to accumulate.

Think about what your needs are first and foremost, and build around that. Questions we usually ask ( or can visibly see) are:
~is there a drain in the garage, if not where will water go? How is the drainage?
~ what about power needs -polishers, power tools. IS there enough power there or is it all on one circuit.
~lighting - LEDs are totally fine. Dimmers can change the temperature a lot too keep in mind.
~do you need a work bench to fix things? They collect junk.
~ do central vacs get put into garages in your neck of the woods - we try to build them into cabinets where possible to keep them hidden.
~Whose using the garage. Daily storage, or long term car storage -We had a guy with a two car garage, and he wanted to get lifts for his daughters cars to go up/down every day....
~what about garbage, or recycling storage. It always seems to collect in garages. Its ugly. plan to keep it hidden.


Thats off the top of my head, but I'm sure I can think of a few more things...

Shaun.

 

Exactly like Shaun said. Do you want a living room for your cars, or something that will get dirty and oily? It really comes down to how much work you do yourself.

I've been struggling, having moved from 2000 sq ft of shop in two garages to a 25ft wide 20ft deep suburban neighborhood. I do all my own work, so it's clean and organized, but it's a garage.

sjd

 

I kind of like the sterile garage look like McLaren have at their factory and some NASCAR build shops. I'd have a floor to ceiling glass wall allowing an adjacent office or game room to have a nice view. I think that sort of setting with colorful cars and blank surroundings really sets off the look of the cars (with proper lighting of course). Once a garage looks too much like the rest of the house or cluttered with random stuff it makes the cars less noticeable imo.

 

Great explanation - I would add no drains in the garage - wash outside or give up on cool interior
L0cate the pressure cleaning (for those who us them like me) or whatever washing equip near front doors with a slight slope so u can clean them right outside and then roll them back in if u want
You also did not mention sound - I'm way up in the hills so I have 2 boze amps in the garage and a third one for outside - 24 speakers outside and an bass speaker buried in the ground - seems to keep the bears away

 

Sorry I screwed up my reply - that was an excellent list of things to think of - one other I would mention is that do not put drains in (this is not a working garage)
the garage - if you use water inside you can't have an great garage - put any washing equipment ( like the pressure cleaner I use) near the front doors, have a slight downside flow outside the driveway - finish it there or back it in and not worry about sun
Also you did not mention audio - I have 2 Boze amps for the interior and one for the 28 speakers on the outside - keeps the bears away -
Have fun

 

Can we see photos of the space in question?

 

I do not have the ability to put a drain and washing equipment in my garage, but if I could I would. However, the only reason, would be to clean off all the salt and winter grime. If it were in a climate without a proper winter, I would have it outside.

One thing to consider is the flooring material. I will be installing G-floor, but not just rolling it out, but gluing it down.

 

Number one addition to a garage for a Ferrari is heat and air conditioning. A nice dry 65F degrees all year round. The rest is optional and to your taste.