Buying my First Home.. the garage is already semi finished need oppinions

[silver2kws6]

Good Morning well in about 1 month I will be closing on my first home. I am beyond excited about the Garage. 477 sq ft you can pull 2 cars straight and there is room in front of the 2nd car for a work bench. Unfortunately the owner is taking his rubber maid cabinets so I will need to replace all of the cabinets. Since money is tight right now it will have to wait until probably later in the year but I would like your thoughts on how to best organize or what supplies to research to start this project. Obviously with a budget in mind maybe under 1500 if possible ? ... I care more about quality for a weekend warrior and dont care if its plastic or wood. Whatever works nothing fancy needed. I plan to live here 20 years or more but will probably leave the cabinets behind.

My Ideas : I was thinking of replacing the light bulbs in the middle set of lights with different colors and leave the rest as is. ( haven't researched color temps yet )
Painting the ceiling white and the walls white just for added protection from drywall dust.
Adding styrofoam insulation on the back of the garage door and remove the thin dried out vynal sheet. I have a 1/2 hp craftsman chain drive so i do not see a problem with adding some light foam to the door.
Also adding either syrafoam or fiberglass batting insulation above the garage door for added efficiency.


Any other ideas to make this place my kingdom.
I will have more pics as it gets underway and the items from the owner are removed.

 

[GearHead_1]

Congratulations, nothing quite like a man getting his first garage. It kind of brings a tear to my eye. :yay

It won't be too long and you'll be out in the surrounding yard surveying the lay of the land to see which wall you can blow out to best double the size. This is true if you start with 5,000 sq. ft.

 

[pwaug]

Random thoughts that worked well for me: Use 5000K bulbs in all the lights--it's the closest to pure white sunshine--6500K is too blue and 4000K is too yellowish. Get allot of lights!! Ikea's least expensive kitchen cabinets are very sturdy, well priced and covered with Melmine which is pretty water resistant but the least expensive ones only come in white and you have to assemble them. They have a unique system that makes hanging any wall cabinets fool proof. When you paint the walls use exterior paint--a little more expensive, but holds up really well especially if you're going to be doing any conventional washes in the garage. I used white on the ceiling and very light grey on the walls to keep the garage as bright as possible.

If you don't want to install permanent light fixtures here is a great thread with some unique ideas on how to add needed lighting as well as some ideas for task lighting for polishing----Finally a comprehensive review of the best bulbs out there...

 

[Accumulator]

Random thoughts from me too:

I can't see most marring under *any* fluorescent lights, so I also have incandescents. There are other options too, but make sure you can see those fine swirls under whatever you have or you'll get unpleasant surprises in the Real World.

Watch that lube from the door opener's chain isn't gonna get on anything parked under it.

I wouldn't prioritize cabinets. Lots of other ways to keep stuff clean and organized and sometimes it's good to have things more flexible than they are with solidly-mounted cabinets, at least while you're getting a feel for how you'll use the space.

Congrats on the new home!

 

[silver2kws6]

Thank Guys ! I was thinking of a goodwill / salvation army thrift store for used cabinets but didn't think about ikea as that too would get the job done...

I found out he is taking the lights with him... but instead of being pissed I see it as an opportunity to get LED lighting... how about this ? since im on a budget 4 of these should be more than bright enough more if i can get it to work. or even 1 just for the side of the garage.
Lowes 48 inch LED Wrap Light for $70
48-in Linear LED wrap
3200 Lumens, 42 watts, 4000K color temperature, 120 volts
Impact-resistant frosted white acrylic diffuser
Provides 30,000 hours of maintenance free operation

Or would it be better to go both LED and Florecent. just switch up the placement of the type of housing.
I also saw some people getting cheap florecent fixtures and buying LED replacement bulbs... could be an alternative as well.

 

[House of Wax]

As far as lighting, I'm pretty happy with the cheap fluorescent lights on the ceiling for general work and then LED flood lights on a stand for spotting swirls and doing correction work

 

[pwaug]

As far as lighting, I'm pretty happy with the cheap fluorescent lights on the ceiling for general work and then LED flood lights on a stand for spotting swirls and doing correction work

Same here with 5000K bulbs in the fluorescents, LED's for task lighting and highlighting swirls then some incandecents in clamp lights for some situations to see swirls.

If you want LED for general purpose light that's OK, but in order to use it to highlight swirls you need a single diode flood light (or two). If you want some permanant fixtures take a look at the standard hanging shop lights--usually only about $10-15 and then just mount them permanently where you need them. Just make sure they are the ones that can start the bulbs when it's cold in the garage (if you are in a cold climate.)

 

[Accumulator]

I have, and recommend, the fluorescents and others be switched so you have options, not "all on/all off".

And I don't like diffusers on my "swirl-spotting" lights as I want "point-source illumination".

I still think it's funny how the cheap, simple, old-fashioned bare incadescent bulbs up on the ceiling work so well for seeing marring!

 

[silver2kws6]

Looking at the pictures and doing some research it seems that I might want to change the layout of the lights.

Since 4-5 sets of LED is not cost effectvive I was thinking now to put a set of 2 bulb 4 foot long florescent lights at the end of the garage which will illuminate above the work area and the back door. Then a 4 bulb 8 foot long strip on each side of the garage where the cars park directing the same way as the car pointing forward. Then for a final touch wire separately a 2 bulb LED light on the beam that hangs low in the garage and put it in the middle which should supply proper paint defect detection.

T T Lights
8--8 Car LED Car
I I Lights

 

[cda555]

You could try a Habitat for Humanity Re Store. They often have cabinets for cheap. My parents found cabinets on craigslist from a business that was closing. My uncle just used some old kitchen cabinets. You could also buy those $30 standing wire racks from Costco or HD. One thing that my dad did was run a short contractor grade extension cord from the ceiling outlet (where the garage door opener is). When he needs to, he just reaches up and plugs the tool he is using into it. It is way more convenient than plugging it into the wall outlet at times.

 

[Accumulator]

cda555- Good ideas! yeah, my first house had old kitchen cabinets in the garage and they worked out so well I moved them from place to place for years. And yeah#2, that ceiling outlet *can* be handy; I had a retractible reel that mounted up high and plugged into it.

Oddly enough, my current shop doesn't have *any* cabinets! I do have some in the upstairs office, but not in the shop proper and I find that I like it better that way. Ya just don't always know what you'll (really) prefer until you experiment.

 

[cda555]

cda555- Good ideas! yeah, my first house had old kitchen cabinets in the garage and they worked out so well I moved them from place to place for years. And yeah#2, that ceiling outlet *can* be handy; I had a retractible reel that mounted up high and plugged into it.

Oddly enough, my current shop doesn't have *any* cabinets! I do have some in the upstairs office, but not in the shop proper and I find that I like it better that way. Ya just don't always know what you'll (really) prefer until you experiment.

I should have been more clear, my dad does have a retractable reel. I second the kitchen cabinet route. Those can be found on craigslist all day. Even better if you are already planning on putting new kitchen cabinets in the house.

 

[silver2kws6]

Well once i finally receive the keys I will be able to see what lighting options there are. Right now he has them plugged into the ceiling... however if i go light crazy I worry the power consumption will be too much. I have no idea how to tell what the electricity system can and can not handle. But it does have circuit breakers so I am sure if its too much then it will flip off.

 

[GearHead_1]

Do you have any open breaker slots in your box?

 

[silver2kws6]

Do you have any open breaker slots in your box?

no but the inspector did said you can split a breaker ? apparently it was done a few times in my box.
he did say it was a good setup and something about a 200 amp box ? i have no idea ill have more info soon. I will attach a pic of my box its kinda blurry but may help. I know there is a 220 volt line for the dryer/washer located in the room next to the garage. a oversized plug for appliances.

 

[Angus]

For general lighting, I've started replacing the faulty old T12 fixtures in my garage with new LED 4' fixtures from Costco ($37 each, on sale for $32). I can only find a 2 pack of the ones I'm using online, and they're oddly more expensive then single units available in store, but the specs are the same:

Feit Electric 4’ LED Shop Light 2-pack

At 4100K they claim to be a cool white bulb, but they look way more natural in person. I'm really impressed with the light output, instant on, and low operating temp (-5F I believe). A potential negative is they come wired w/ a plug and can't be re-wired without voiding the warranty. This isn't a big deal for me since I'm planning on re-wiring my whole garage and will just add outlets where I need them.

I also noticed Home Depot is offering a new 4' LED shop light for $39 that appears well liked:

Commercial Electric 4 ft. LED White Shop Light-54103161 - The Home Depot

Hope that helps!

 

[Angus]

no but the inspector did said you can split a breaker ? apparently it was done a few times in my box.
he did say it was a good setup and something about a 200 amp box ? i have no idea ill have more info soon. I will attach a pic of my box its kinda blurry but may help. I know there is a 220 volt line for the dryer/washer located in the room next to the garage. a oversized plug for appliances.

Sounds like you have a few tandem breakers. I've got a few in my box as well, easiest way to double up a space if a sub panel isn't needed:

Eaton Type BR 20 Amp Single-Pole BD Circuit Breaker-BD2020 - The Home Depot

 

[bswombaugh]

I have, and recommend, the fluorescents and others be switched so you have options, not "all on/all off".

And I don't like diffusers on my "swirl-spotting" lights as I want "point-source illumination".

I still think it's funny how the cheap, simple, old-fashioned bare incadescent bulbs up on the ceiling work so well for seeing marring!

I agree. My Garage is not that large at 18 X 21 and I have 8 standard 200W bare incandescent bulbs installed. They work very well for spotting swirls/marring.

 

[silver2kws6]

Here are the garage dimensions.

 

[silver2kws6]

Here is my thoughts....