Nice J! Glad you finally sold the old place. Shocked it took so long... but at least it's over with!

 

It's not even electrical tape! It's black duct tape!

 

I need those lights

 

The spot lights or the firepit lights? Let me know and I can't find you the link the right ones.

 

Spot lights

 

So here is the light fixture I got. It comes in a bunch of different colors to match your gutters/outside trim of your house. One thing I didn't notice going in is this is not a center mount spot light fixture where you mount a bar with a center screw and then bolt it up using that so you can rotate the entire fixture the direction that you want. This only mounts to the exact holes in the electrical box. This didn't turn out to be much of an issue though for me and I was able to cover the areas I wanted by just angling the lights themselves. The bulbs also fit in nice and flush and don't sit too far back so you don't lose any of the light spread from the bulbs.

These CREE bulbs are expensive. There are some other well rated bulbs you can get 4 of for only $30. I had some of those first but ended up returning them. One because they were 5k and were too blue looking of exterior lighting. The CREEs are 3000k and much more natural looking in my opinion. The second reason I think these are better is they had a much wider flood light coverage than what the other bulbs I tried first had. I wish I could find some with like a 60 or 70 degree coverage like some halogen floods do but these had at least a 45 degree coverage. The first ones I had were more a spot light at only 35 degrees.

 

You're the man. Thank you sir!

 

So been doing some research for getting a work bench setup for the garage. I need to replace the temporary folding table I have been using for now as I actually want something with storage as right now I am wasting about 84in worth of space with just a table and no storage. I also have some metal shelves and wheel racks on the way that will cover the walls in the main section of the garage so the spot where my tool box is in my garage right now will need to move over to the work shop.

So here is what the current area looks like.







Tool chest that needs to move to the work area


So I am thinking of going with something like this below. It would give me tons of additional storage and free up some of the shelves in the the work area that I currently have tools on for me to put other things on. My main fear is will I miss having a way to sit under my work bench to work on things rather than just in front of it. I don't frequently right now but I have used it that way. I would not use the peg board portion since I already have peg board on the wall. I can put this piece and my craftsman toolbox side by side between the hot water heater and my shelves on the wall. The bench would end up about 2in under the shelves as they total 86in together and the space is 84in.



Husky 60 in. 10-Drawer and 1-Door 24 in. D Textured Black Matte Mobile Workbench, Sliding Pegboard and Shelf-HOTC6010BB2M - The Home Depot

Anyone have a similar setup and have any regrets?

 

That's a nice bench, I like all the drawers. I need something similar for my garage. I have a similar old-school Craftsman bench in my office/gun room, and it's awesome!

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Does that bench allow you to sit under it or just in front of it? If you sit just in front does it bother you that you can't sit under it like a desk almost to work on things?

 

Also another idea I found is these Harbor Freight boxes. I could do two 44in boxes possibly I will have to measure when I get back into town to check and make my own top to them. Not a huge fan of the red coloring though is the only thing. They are also not as deep I believe only 20 or 21in deep compared to 24in deep of the husky unit.

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In stead of two 44in units they also make 18in side cabinets that can mount to the 44in unit. I could do one of those on each side of the 44in cabinet for an 80in cabinet that would cost about 100 less than two 44in cabinets. Also could help if two 44in wouldn't work.

I am trying to maximize my usage and don't know if putting a work surface under my shelves in the corner would be better than just having an open space to store tall things.

 

Seem to be a pretty handy guy. What if you do something like this? Not sure how much storage you would like.

 

This weekend I went and looked at both the black Husky workbench and the red US General cabinets from Harbor Freight. I was really a fan of the red finish on the US General cabinets and they didn't feel any more substantial than the husky setup. I also didn't like that they were only 18in deep instead of 24in deep like the husky and it just feels like I would be better off with the more space.

So last night I got around to cleaning up my work area so I could move my tool box over to visualize things better on how they would fit.



Did some measuring and found that 60in will work better as well. I can then build a small work bench extension in the back to kind of make it into an L shape then on my own. Ordered it then and it should be delivered from the store tomorrow.

 

Sweet! I have been looking at the 52 Husky Box, but haven't gathered myself to splurge $700 on it...

 

So just a bit of info on the 52 box. It looks like the work bench and the 56in box but is not made by the same company. The work bench and 56 are made by the same company. The 52in to me does not feel as well made when I saw it at my local HD. Hoping they carry these for a few years. I would like to get a 56in in a year or two.

 

I believe every time I walk into my local HD I have to go look at it. Maybe one day I'll swipe the CC. My one concern with the box is the middle drawer (width of the box) I want for my sockets and have them on the hansen trays. I don't think the drawer is deep enough to accept them. I may just have to bring mine in one day and do a test fit right in the store to help make a decision easier.

On the quality. They are they same as the Milwaukee boxes, just stamped differently. It is amazing how they can change the name on a box and charge $200 more for the same product... A friend works at Milwaukee and let me in on a little secret! Granted they do add a few things so they aren't identical but still. Same concept, materials, etc.

 

might be easier than taking your tools into the store... just sayin...

 

Those are rough dimensions and I don't believe it includes the drawer liners. To close to call without an actual test fit.

 

Well your friend is kind of right. There is a lot of detailed information on this on the garage journal forums. The Milwaukee 46in and Husky 52in are made at the same factory. The Milwaukee 60in mobile workbench, the Husky 60in mobile work bench, and the 56in Husky tool chest are made at a different factory.

One really telling features is that the black powder used on the 52in doesn't exactly match the 56in and the 60in. There are some pictures of them side by side taken with a flash and the drawers on the 52in show up as a lighter color. When the 56in and 60in are side by side they are identical. The 52in croner guard pieces of metal are only held on by double sided tape where as the corner protection metal pieces on the 56in and 60in are screwed on. When you go to HD wheel out the 52in and put it next to the 60in and you can see what I am talking about. After reading about all the little differences and then seeing them in person my OCD would not allow me to get a 52in to sit next to my 60in. I would have to get the 56in. Personally I like the drawer layout of the 56in better as well.

 

New workbench was delivered this morning. Very happy with it. Put the sliding pegboard down since I already have it on the wall. Ended up having to trim some of the liners for the drawers as they were a little bit big. Just need to figure out what drawers I want to out things in and get everything moved over out of my travel box and current toolbox. Also hope the stickers come off fairly easy but from what I read of the reviews they are a real pain to get off.

 

*grunt*

 

3m adhesive remover

 

Careful with the adhesive removers. I have read some remove the powdercoat if not used in small quantities.

 

I use it to take vinyl off vehicles. Nothing works better than heat though.

 

I am going to start with light heat. If I need the adhesive remove I will test it on the side first but I have the 3m automotive paint safe adhesive remove so I don't think it should be too bad.

 

So I have always planned to get rid of this one tree in my backyard that was inside the trees I used to hang my firepit lights. It was just in the way of everything and I was always afraid in a storm that it might break my lights. It was in the way for when I put chairs out around the pit as well. It is the only tree on the right side inside of the lights and the wood stacks.



So I finally got my wish of getting rid of it kind of. Apparently overnight saturday we had some bad windy storms that I had no idea we were supposed to get. I had worked a 12hr day and slept right through them. In the morning we got up and let the dogs and they came back in,we went to breakfast, and then when I got home I went out with them to find this. So apparently the tree rotted at the base of the tree and nothing else. I also apparently really over did the steel cabling I used to hang my firepit lights. I used 1/8in thick steel cable which has a load supporting of 1700lbs according to the spool. The weird part is none of the rest of the tree was rotted. It was nice hard red wood inside when my neighbor came over and cut it up for me. (I need to buy a chainsaw will all the trees I have on my property. )





So now I think it looks better nice and cleaned out. Plus with the part in the ground being rotted I have no stump that needs to be ground up. I also have some good long burning hardwood for my next fire as well.

 

So finally getting my new tool box squared away and organized. About a month ago Sears had a large sale on a good bit of their tools. Took it as time to stock up on some things while some stuff was 65-70% off. I mean they were giving screw drivers and wrenchs away at $1.50-$2 a piece.



Organization is coming out pretty good but need to figure out if I am going to look for plastic trays or make foam cutouts eventually for each of the drawers.











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Much organization pictured there.

 

OCD - max level reached!

I would be the same way. My skin crawls when I look at my tools...

 

Kaizen foam! Check it out!!!

 

That is really interesting. Might have to space my tools out a little more but might at least order a piece to start with for the screwdrivers as they seem to move the most from drawers being opened and closed.

 

Very 5S!!!

 

Love the organization

 

Ooo...nicely done! Very organized.

 

So to continue with my garage organization and my dads continued desire to dump the rest of my remaining items from his storage units of mine on me he picked me up some shelves to put in my garage so he could fill them with my stuff eventually. He had ordered them way back in the summer and they ended up coming in one week after he came down to take down the large dead tree in my yard. He hadn't had a chance to come down since they so they have just been sitting in the packaging at home. He finally came to visit this weekend and brought them with.

Here is a kind of before shot. I had alredy started moving a few sets of wheels at this point but it gives a general idea of the wasted space at the time.


So I think I am still wasting some space with the roof box being on a shelf so going to eventually order one of the hoist systems for it that uses pulleys and allow me to easily raise and lower it off the car up to the ceiling. For the mean time though this got me the ability to clean off my work shop floor and use the shelves in that area for things that are used on a more regular basic sompared to the stuff on these shelves. Also made a shelf for wood storage above the taller items.




And the biggest space saver for a wheel whore. An industrial warehouse tire/wheel storage rack. Had to actually drill holes into my garage floor and bolt it into the concrete with these cool concrete anchors that came with it. The rack is supposed to be able to hold 2000lbs of wheels and tires. With a set of wheels and tires for my TSX weighing no more than 50lbs a corner and 200lbs a set of 4 that should hold me a lot of wheels. I have a lot of extra tires at my dads in his storage unit so it will get filled up shortly.


Even with all this added I still have 14-18in on all sides around the cars and 30-36in between the two cars in the garage. Just need to built something hold my old golf bag upright as the stand is broken and not ready to get rid of my old set of clubs yet.




With the new shelves I was able to get everything off my work area floor that had built up over the last 2 months. It was getting almost impossible to walk and work in there. Also about a month ago I cleared a shelf off and added a TV out in the garage. Eventually I think I want to wall mount it but for the time being it works so I can half college football or hockey on while working on things in the garage. I put my free Google Home Mini that came with my Google Pixel 2 purchase in the garage. I figure being able to play/stop music with voice control in the garage will be useful when working in the garage when I could have hands covered in grease or oil or anything else.


Definitely still have a lot of work to do in getting through the boxes on the shelves in the workshop area but at least I have the space to do it now.

Took a panorama of the entire thing.

 

dude i wish i had that kind of space all together like that... mine is a bit broken up...

if i could provide my if it were me, i'd consider almost flipping the two spaces... that area to the side i'd think could act more like storage and move the 'working' stuff to the garage... i.e. why isn't your toolbox in front of the cars? if you need to work on the car i feel like you are wasting time having to walk over into the other room... and we all know sometimes we don't always pick the right sized socket so have to go back... same with the shelf of detailing stuff and fluids... low use seasonal stuff like your roof box should go in the area where you have your coolers off to the side... i'd even consider how often you think you would need to access that tirerack (which by the way is f'in sick)... i might even be inclined to put that rack where your current detailing rack is... you are definitely maximizing your space, but now i feel like you just need to optimize it... especially if you are trying to double for functionality and storage...

feel free to tell me to f' off... but it's coming along great...

 

The previous owners of our house left 5 shelving units like those. 3 about 8 ft tall, a 4 foot & a 3 foot. Has definitely come in handy.

 

In a perfectly ideal world you are correct it probably would make a lot more sense. You are definitely correct it sometimes is a pain to walk back over there to get the right tools if I grab the wrong size and would most likely make more sense to put everything in front of the cars. The reasons I didn't do that is the wooden shelves in front of the cars up top were already installed when I bought the house. The wire shelves over in the other area were also left from the previous owner and the rails are bolts at multiple points to the studs so I didn't feel like tearing it all down to move it. The easiest way to swap things would be to put the tool box where the tire rack is and the tire rack where the tool box is which would be nice. My electrical panels for the house though unfortunately is behind the pegboard above my workbench/tool box. So I can't build anything tall on that wall or risk making it difficult to get to my electrical panels. The previous owner built a hinged door out of the pegboard over the electrical panel so you can still use the space without hindering access.

Long term hopefully this will not be my main garage. I hope to build a 4 car garage in a few years with a full work space in front of 2 of the bays complete with lifts and everything else needed. So I might have taken the easy route with this setup of getting things setup as fast as possible.

I do really like your idea of swapping the tire rack with the tool box though so might look into seeing if I can make that fit even with the electrical panel issue as there is a matching 66in toolbox to go with my work bench that I would like to pickup but I have no place to put it right now.

Yeah you can never have to much shelving for storage.

 

Coming along nicely! I thought I was a wheel hoarder...

 

But even with all the storage space, I can still only fit the Flex in the 3 car garage
Slowly & steady making headway into it. Odds are, by the time I clear out enough for the truck to fit, something else will be there