A couple of pics of my polishing bay and lighting... Still in progress.

Garry Dean

Garry Dean

Garry Dean Quality!
I currently have 5 8 foot T8 strips on the ceiling and 1 8 foot and 1 4 foot T8 strip on both sides. The side lights are 24" off the floor. I had just the 1 8 foot strip on each side 3 foot off the floor, but they were too high and it didnt give me the coverage I was looking for.



I am putting 3 more 4 foot strips on the ceiling. I am also seriously thinking about a/c.



Shes definitely nothing super fancy, but shes mine... Very bright and functional.



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Looks like you are developing a great shop, Garry.

Wish I could recall the brand name of a rubber, large floor mat, that we used at my Tech Center for the polish area. They came in solid colors of grey, black or green, impervious to chemicals, just laid down on the floor.

Very anti-slip and when dirty, just pulled out to the door, sprayed some all purpose on them and pressure washed them clean.

They are made in Lenexa, Ks, and we got the two we used at Sam's Club.

Our's were 10 ft by 20 ft if I remember, and a real cost savings versus the expoxy paint.

Grumpy
 
WOW! Prices are much higher than 8 years ago.

Did a google and found the mats, but where we paid about a $100 a mat, they want over $300 a mat from the sites I found.

The one's shown on various sites, are 10' by 24'.

Grumpy
 
Looks great so far Garry! You might also consider putting up some drywall on the ceiling and painting it gloss white to make the light bounce even better.



I am curious though, why'd you go with smurf tube for the electrical instead of EMT?



Ron Ketcham said:
WOW! Prices are much higher than 8 years ago.

Did a google and found the mats, but where we paid about a $100 a mat, they want over $300 a mat from the sites I found.

The one's shown on various sites, are 10' by 24'.

Grumpy
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$300 a mat? Ouch! That's outrageous.



I just looked at Sam's Club and they've got a 9' by 20' one for $168.88. I think I paid around $130 for mine (same size, 9x20), have had it for around 8-9 years as well and it's getting to the point of being worn out (has cracks in it, permanent stains from fluids and paint overspray, etc.) I'm probably going to replace it with a clear one to put on top of the black/white checkered RaceDeck tiles I bought for my bay.
 
C. Charles Hahn said:
Looks great so far Garry! You might also consider putting up some drywall on the ceiling and painting it gloss white to make the light bounce even better.



I am curious though, why'd you go with smurf tube for the electrical instead of EMT?
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I have considered drywall on the ceiling... I may be insulating the ceiling and putting in a/c so thats an upgrade I would do at that time.



Whoever ran the lights that were in there when I took over the place used that blue flex conduit so I just wanted it to all match.





Thanks for the comments, guys.



I do need to do something with the floor. I was thinking about some industrial rugs so that when I clean wheels inside I do not have nasty puddles on the floor. Any thoughts on that issue?
 
If that is all the area you wish to cover, for cleaning wheels, etc, go with some reasonable priced truck bed mats. They are strong, you can put a jack and stands on them and clean up very easy.

If you are only doing one car a day or so, they are fine, but if doing several, water running out of areas of the vehicle can become a concern.

I would go with the bigger mats, as they will stop the floor from being slick and easy to clean.

Grumpy
 
Ron Ketcham said:
If that is all the area you wish to cover, for cleaning wheels, etc, go with some reasonable priced truck bed mats. They are strong, you can put a jack and stands on them and clean up very easy.

If you are only doing one car a day or so, they are fine, but if doing several, water running out of areas of the vehicle can become a concern.

I would go with the bigger mats, as they will stop the floor from being slick and easy to clean.

Grumpy
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I do a lot of Rinseless washes inside so I need a carpeted mat so that I wont have puddles of water on the floor.
 
Garry Dean said:
I do need to do something with the floor. I was thinking about some industrial rugs so that when I clean wheels inside I do not have nasty puddles on the floor. Any thoughts on that issue?
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Only concern I'd have would be mold/mildew developing over time.... but that may not be an issue depending on the construction of the rugs you find.



The mats Ron and I referred to have channels to help direct water out of the area, from there all you'd need is a $10 floor squeegee to push puddles out the door. Rinseless/waterless washes don't make a particularly huge mess anyway.
 
That's the ticket! 8 to 9 years, heavy use, an expoxy floor won't hold up that long and to redo one is expensive.

After I retired, the company bought another building and put the corp offices and training/test area in it.

Tim went along with the "boss's PC" and did do expoxy on the floor, but moved the mats from the old building and put them down.

According to him, after 4 more years of use of the same mats, they are holding up and makes the clean up much more easy.

AND, "NO SLIPPERY FLOORS" for the students to fall on.

Grumpy
 
Looks great man. I would put up some metal halides insteadof flouresecents. Wire them seperately so when your doing correction work you ca see defects. Floureecents alone wont show everything. Look on craigslist uner building materials you can find them used cheap. I like tbe ceiling its nice.
 
Looks like a nice set up! Congrats! Plenty big, too!



With such a tall ceiling I bet just a big fan or two will do wonders for the heat. But in the long run a household HVAC system is the way to go. Don't bother with window units. It's the best investment I made in my garage, for sure.
 
I like it Garry. Imagine how much brighter it would be with a white ceiling and painted floor. You could always paint the ceiling instead of drywalling it.
 
Barry Theal said:
Looks great man. I would put up some metal halides insteadof flouresecents. Wire them seperately so when your doing correction work you ca see defects. Floureecents alone wont show everything. Look on craigslist uner building materials you can find them used cheap. I like tbe ceiling its nice.
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Barry, do these metal halides put off a lot of heat and use a lot of energy? How much do they usually run each?

BTW, very nice work space! It's looking good. I wish my floors were as nice as yours to start fresh on. Unfortunately mine were painted by the previous owner of the building probably 20 years ago with blue paint and peeling all over and looks like crap with chipped up concrete, cracks, etc.
 
Looks nice!



I can't tell if they are there or not but it would be good to put the bulbs in the side lights in bulb "sleeves". They are just a clear plastic tube that will hold the bulb if it ever shatters. Only a couple bucks a piece at home depot.
 
MichaelM said:
Looks nice!



I can't tell if they are there or not but it would be good to put the bulbs in the side lights in bulb "sleeves". They are just a clear plastic tube that will hold the bulb if it ever shatters. Only a couple bucks a piece at home depot.
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I am looking into some sort of grill or cover for the side lights. Thanks for the suggestion though.
 
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