Garage Organization Part 3

The three things you want to look for shelving before you go to the store is shelving height, shelving capacity, and depth of shelf.  Measure the items that you are going to put on the shelves.  I found that my plastic containers were too large for most of them.  The containers were also too wide to fit two with the long ways and they were not deep enough to fit two the narrow way.  The other important thing that I wanted is a shelving unit was to make sure that it held the highest pound per shelf.  I wanted to make sure that everything that I put on the shelf would be held with no problem.  I was also looking for shelving that I could use as a work bench so depth of shelf was important.  My one constraint was my miter saw.  It slides back and forth and need a lot of space.  The widest that I could find was 24”.  That is not the normal, so if you want that wide be sure to check the dimensions. 

The second item that I have found very useful is a good phone app.  I was able to find an app that allowed me to record all items with ease.  I can scan items and take pictures if I would like.  I can mark items as loaned to someone or borrowed from someone.  The app is an Android app Inventory.  While the app may seem a little tedious at first, I quickly was able to pick up and enter items in.  The best part is when my wife is asking where an item is; I pull out my phone, and tell her what box it is in.

I can also categorize my items.  So some of my tools are hand tools while being auto maintenance.  So if something is used for multiple purposes I can keep it in one box and find it I am working on the other project.  Even if I hung up something on the wall I would put that in the app. 

   

The final item is to have good plastic bins.  I bought around 10 bins before we moved and the quality was not all that good.  The bins were thin plastic and they have already started breaking.  I am all about going cheap, however, if you go so cheap you will be replacing the bins three or four times more often.  Another box, that is better quality, has survived years of abuse and still looks fine.

I also determined that it would be best to number the boxes.  I used a permanent marker to label the boxes on the top and on the side that would be in view.  This would establish the boxes that I would put in the app so that I could easily find where I put the item.  I also tried to put items in the boxes that would make sense.  For example, I put power tools all together in one box.

Considering that I came from a house with a storage shed to store seasonal outdoor items (e.g. bikes), a basement to store Christmas decorations, and a garage to store most of my tools.  To now having to share the space in a little corner of the garage, I feel like a lot has been accomplished.  I am now able to park my car in the garage and the kids are able to go in circles in the garage.  Good luck on your garage organization project!

Garage Organization Part 2

The first place that I started was shelving.  I wanted my items off the ground and I wanted to stack them higher so that I could utilize my space better.  I am in a rental unit so I could not damage the walls or rebuild things as I saw fit.  The other piece that I had to contend with is that we will be moving.  I needed a shelving system that allowed me to move it in a year without having to wreck my back in the process. 

What I wanted was a heavy duty shelving system like what is used in a warehouse.  I had used one in the past and the ability to put it together quickly and the strength to hold any item was appealing to me.  Unfortunately, after measuring my garage and I did not have the room to put a 72” wide rack.  Since that was out of the picture I went shopping at my local hardware stores for the perfect solution. 

I stumbled upon first was a plastic shelving system.  It was narrow enough to fit in the space that I wanted and it had heavy duty shelves.  I brought it home and with some help with my little helpers, we put it together in around an hour.  I put it in the location that I wanted and started loading up the shelves.  What I quickly discovered was it was not going to work for all of my needs.  I was able to find enough small bins and individual items to keep the shelving unit.  I will probably use this unit in a pantry not a garage, but it will work for now.

The next system I looked for a little longer.  I finally found one on sale and I purchased it online through a local retailer.  Most retailers have this one or one similar to it.  The quality of material seems to be good enough for a long lasting shelf system.  It was a tall shelf that could be divided into two or built into one large one.  I decided that I was looking for a workbench so I put it together into two pieces.  One person can do it, but help is always appreciated.  This unit came with shelving material made out of particle board.  I do not plan on them lasting forever, but they work for now.

I had the two boys to help me put it together.  They did a good job of reading the instructions.  :)  Eventually we got to the fun part that everyone could join in on.  I had a bunch of left over foam brushes and sealer from a previous project.  I gathered all the troops this time to the coats on.  This is one time the heat was helpful and allowed the shelves dried really fast.  By the time we got back from lunch, it was dry.  The next post will cover the last of the project.

Garage Organization Part 1

Yes, I used the ‘O’ word that everyone dreads, O-R-G-A-N-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N.  My problem was simple yet complex.  I moved from a house that I had collected two of every tool where I kind of became a handyman Noah, to a rented townhome where all I had was the sides of the garages.  My side of the garage quickly became the stopping point for all leftover boxes.  I had to get organized.    

Reality is the garage is never as big as I want it to be.  My old garage was a big, one stall garage and it allowed me to store all of my tools.  The one thing it did not allow was my other vehicle to be in the garage.  Not a big deal at the time because my car was so old.  Having a one stall also meant when I was building anything both vehicles had to be outside the entire time.  Only had one problem when my car was broken into and DVD players were stolen.  I hope they went to a good home and they are enjoying our CD’s.

This is what I had to start with.  There is a mixture of cardboard boxes, plastic bins, tools, and other random items.  I was barely able to use any of the tools, let alone be able to find any of them.  Additionally, items that were once in the basement of the house have now made their way to the garage. 

One person told me that he was disappointed that he did not build his garage bigger.  He had a 3 stall garage.  He said that the garage was the cheapest per square foot and the best used space.  The reality is that you always have one more toy or tool too big for your garage.  If you are like me, I would take a free or reduced item over buying a new one that is half the size.

Ok, so now that we have the understanding that I should build a 45 stall garage next time money is not an issue, what do I do about my current situation?  I have a few ideas I have implemented that have made my garage space more organized and more items readily available.  I will spend the next few posts sharing what I have learned.

Concrete Countertops: A Learning Experience

A learning experience. Yes, that is what I will call this one. Unfortunately, this blog is all that I have to remind myself of the hours of work, the buckets of persperation, and all the blood. 200lbs of concrete I had to smash up and haul out of the basement.

Would I do it again? Sure.

What would I do differently? I would use thicker wire. My wire needed to be a little more rigid. I would use at least 2" thick concrete. I want to add glass to the countertop. I would use an air hammer. I saw it on TV right after I moved the last of the concrete.

Next weekend project: Tile Countertop....

Concrete Countertops: Attempt #2

This is attempt #2. Amanda and I took hammers and hammered under the mold for around 3 hours. There was no need to workout that night. Our arms were on fire! The above picture shows the mold. What is in the center is my gloves and two pieces of 1 inch foam siliconed together to represent where the sink will go. The size is 45" by 22" total.

So the differences from the first mold. First, the sink was not built in. I purchased some drop in sinks from the ReUse store for $5.00 a piece. It was quite the steal. At the same time we purchased some back splash tile for $5.00 for a complete box. Second, we hammered and did not use the palm sander. Our palm sander did not have the ability to vibrate the bubbles out like we needed to. This was a dramatic improvement. Third, the internal wire support was more straight forward. The other mold had multiple pieces and this one only had one. This was much simpler to make and cut. The final difference was the amount of concrete. The first one took 3.5 bags of concrete. This one took around 2 bags of concrete.

Concrete Countertops: Ready to remove the mold

The above video shows right before the mold is ready to be released. What I did not account for was the weight. There are some videos that say to invite good friends to help you and they will probably ignore any future calls for help. I called on my wife to help me. It weighed over 200lbs! What I ended up doing was creating legs like on the bottom of the form, clamped them on top, and flipped it over. Once it was flipped over we took off the clamps.

While the picture looks like a success there was a major failure that caused me to abandon the countertop. I was not able to get all the voids out of the concrete. There were holes in the back of the sink by the drain. It did work well enough to give a second go at it.

Concrete Countertops: Ready for concrete

This video shows the mold ready to start pouring concrete. There was an additional mold that went around the sink to hold the concrete in place.

Concrete Countertops: Starting Out

Why I began on this project:

I needed to replace the countertops in the bathroom. There are marks on it and they are baby blue. This is really the last project that we have left on our house. The bathtub matches the baby blue sinks.

Odd size coutertops. I looked at the local hardware stores and the ReUse store and there was nothing even close. I would have to replace the base cabinets and the flooring if I wanted to go cheap coutertops. I could also go custome countertops with about the same prices.

I had the pieces for the form and YouTube videos to watch. I spent many hours planning and convincing my wife that it would be a good idea.

I am always up for the challenge. Most people that I talked to thought I was crazy. This was all the reason I needed to tackle this impossible project.

I am frugal. Ok, I am cheap. If I can design something that accomplishes what I want for cheap, I will do it. Concrete: $2.65 per bag. Concrete color: $5.00. Form: FREE. Wire Mesh: $11.00.

The above picture shows the mold for the first version. I was designing a countertop with a builtin sink (C-H-E-A-P). This required me to think about the faucet not being too far away from the drain. The sink had to have the right slope to make sure the water went the right way. I had to make sure the concrete wall was thick enough around the sink.

There were two difficulties with this design. First was the sink. I used 2 by 6's and cut them out with a skill saw. I then routered them to get them to the same size. I sanded them down to make them smooth. I used caulk to make it even accross the boards. Finally, I used wax paper to make sure that it was smooth and that it would release from the mold. It took a lot of work. When I was building it I promised that I would keep it forever!

The second hardest piece was making sure that the faucet and drain holes in the concrete. I started by using the plastic pieces for sink drain. What I found out is that it worked perfect for the drain, but not so well for the small one inch holes for the faucet. All of the sudden I had a genius idea, us the caulk tubes. It worked perfectly. I was able to roll them small enough and use packaging tape to make it work.

Just the Beginning

It is going to be a wild and crazy ride! Videos coming soon...