P.J.S.

Check out Lista cabinets

FFaust

Porcelain tile for the floor
Enough space on the sides to use floor jacks
TV for watching the races while tooling on the cars... I mean toys.

donuts

It would be really cool to have a big picture window in the raised area above where the lift would be. That way when your toy is raised on the lift it would be framed in that second floor window. You could have some accent lighting like a car showroom to make the car visible from your house (with the lightswitch in your house of course!).

mooty

i have two lista cabinets. the BEST.

aj986s

If you're considering an air compressor setup, since you're building from scratch, consider a separate enclosure/room/shed for the air compressor, isolated from the main area. Insulated even. Will keep the noise out when the compressor's running.

slicer

I love it. I'm in the flooring business and have a couple of thoughts about the options discussed. Polished / stained concrete with a sealer is great looking but will become "etched" when exposed to salt. Not the most durable option in the north. It will also lose it's polish with sand grinding into the concrete (if used often). All that being said, it is an appealing option for looks and will do well in an application that won't be exposed to sand and salt. You can always re-do the finish if it wears (meaning have it re-polished and re-sealed). You already know the pluses and minuses of an epoxy floor. Porcelain tile is a great option. It does not need to be sealed. Natural stone and quarry tile are the only types of "tile" that need to be sealed (because they can absorb moisture). People often seal grout but I think that's a waste of time. You are better off picking a dark gray or black grout and not trying to fight off staining with sealer. All grout ends up dark gray over time anyway. Porcelain tile (vs. ceramic, natural stone, or quarry tile) is a good option because it is homogeneous. Which means that if/when it wears you will not notice it as much (especially if you chose a matte finish). Ceramic tile is glazed - thus when you wear off the top layer it will expose a different material. The negative of any tile is that it will crack if something is dropped on it. It is expensive up-front (material / install).

I hope this helps!

mooty

^ one of most valuable post on RL! thx.
so sounds like if you work on your cars alot, then porcelain or tiles aren't good b/c you WILL drop a wrench or hammer sooner or later?

in CA, sounds like polished concreted would work?

or would we be better off just use race deck?

thanx.

or better yet, what do YOU have as garage floor?
pix?

007DT

- Stained Concrete
- Proper Lighting
- I like my 4 Post lift because it allows for proper storage, easy on off, and option to lift the car off of the lift for working on brakes etc. Bent Pak or Eagle Lift
- As Mentioned before I have a Lift Master Crank opener. They work Great! and open up the area above the cars because the door rides straight up.
- I also use roll around tool boxes for working on the cars and so I can take it in my Hauler for racing. Below are pics of what I built to accommodate for that.
- Go as big as you can
- Post Pics.. The design looks cool so far.

CWay27

Interesting posts and partially concur. Not all porcelain tiles are colored throughout the thickness and not all tiles are load rated for cars. Installation of such a floor on a concrete slab requires good skills and tile installer will usually charge a premium for garages. Crappy epoxy like u coat it and others and are a waste unless your garage is to store your canoes or bikes. Epoxy products such as Sika are in a completely different league. They are well worth it but cost a lot and prep work is as important as the product itself. Coloring and polishing concrete is very durable and if you think salt and or other abrasive product will detoriate it, imagine what it will do to your grout between tiles.

Leigh2

I have added a "utility room" to the design for the air compressor and heating equipment. I think that I will also add more floor space and quadruple the amount of storage area I had originally planned. The garage build is being done after a MAJOR house renovation where we used porcelain tiles in the front entry and to clad an old red brick fireplace...I like the idea of using on the floor especially as they don't need sealing...thanks for the advice there.
I know Lista cabinets and quite frankly don't see the need for them. Most of what I need to store is infrequently used car stuff...the tools will be in roll around tool cabinets. I was planning on a medium grey floor with the glossy red Ikea base and wall cabinets. They are durable enough and sit high up on legs so easy to wash underneath.
I'm planning a long floor drain but only in 1 of the bays. The end bay below the high ceiling is where the hoist will be....and there are windows up high...no windows at ground level for security. The middle bay will be as flat as we can get it for doing alignments on....strings with scales/ramps from http://www.mktechnologies.com/.
The drains/water decision are the same. Acreage property so no sewer system, any drain would have to go into a holding tank....and if I do that I might as well add a water tank. I think I'm going to have to if for nothing else to wash the floor with
Salt isn't a huge issue as this is for the toy cars although I do plan to use the end bay to park my truck in...so there will be a little salt although that's also the bay with the drain so easy to clean.

slicer

Good questions and I don't think there is a simple answer. My garage has basic concrete. I have not spent any time or money on it because I intend to tear it down and expand within the next few years (and after I appease the wife with a kitchen remodel ). I would choose stained, polished and sealed concrete if I lived in a salt-free climate or only intended to use the garage for fair-weather cars. I would probably go with a high quality epoxy or porcelain tile for a daily driver garage in an area exposed to salt. Salt will discolor grout (make it white) but that wouldn't bother me much. The key to achieve a strong bond with epoxy coatings or tile is a chemical / oil free surface. I would grind the concrete prior to installing either. It's expensive but I have access to the equipment. Another poster mentioned that a tile setter will charge more for a garage and that not all tiles are load rated for cars. Both are correct. Special care will need to be taken to install. I would not stress much about cracking tiles due to dropping tools. It is a risk but it is not guaranteed that it will happen whenever you drop something.

Marc Shaw

If it is of any interest, I posted my shop build with ideas here.

Marc

p.s. See you at High Plains?

Carpyourdiem

The floor info in this post is great, thanks.
A thought or two to add to the discussion: I was at the hardware store looking at pipe to plumb my shop's air lines and an old, smart, experienced, wise gentleman suggested I run rubber air hose, for the following reasons: It's inexpensive. It's proven. It's easy to route. Fittings are included. When it ruptures, it's easy to replace. That was eight years ago and he was right so far. I ran three lines from my compressor up and through the rafters to each side of the shop. No problems.
The other genius advice I got was to have lots of electrical outlets everywhere; placed them every eight feet. Battery Tenders, no wires running along the floor.
I went with a two-post lift that lifts at the car's chassis because it seems the wheels almost always need to come off for most stuff.
Two walls of the shop have gigantic "storage shelves" along them with a rolling ladder to access them, ladders like at Sam's Club. Built the "shelves" out of wood, painted them....Rather than having a storage room with stuff on the floor, you have a working shop with storage overhead.
My sweetie got pissed 'cause every time she asked me how big the garage should be, I'd say, "The bigger, the better." Truer words have never been spoken...build it big so you can get more ****!

heligear

Check out the Garage Journal, tons of ideas there, if you are using the garage for anything but storage good lighting is essential, also there are lots of discussions on that site with regard to flooring, ceramic is a good option if you get the right tile.
GG

Leigh2

Garage Journal??