Garage equipment/shelves/products help and organization needed...

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ExplorerXLT95

New member
Some of you may or may not know that I am getting married May 28th of this year. My fiance and I decided that we are going to rent a home until a) her income comes into the picture in August and b) we save a little bit more money so that we can afford an even nicer house than we would have been able to afford with just my salary alone.



Long story short, we found a WONDERFUL waterview, 2BR, 1BA, 1-car garage single family home built in 1996 for rent in our area for about $1000/mo. Needless to say, it's perfect for us at the moment. We're both really excited about it too, especially after moving in a good portion of our things this weekend (even though we're not planning on living there until after the 28th).



So now I need a little help in organizing my garage appropriately. This is my first home (even though it's a rental) and MY first garage. My parents had a garage in the house previous to the one they're in now, but I barely remember it (over 14 years ago). Here's what I'm looking for:



1) Sturdy, handsome, medium-priced, good-quality, floor shelving units that can hold detailing products, tools, etc, etc in a neat and organized fashion; must be easily transferrable to the next home

2) A good source (or sources) of lighting since the only lighting in the garage is a single, decent sized flourescent dual-tube light and 1 normal 100w light bulb; must be transferrable to the next home (NOTE: I would like to be able to see any/all defects in my paint when I'm detailing, so flourescent lighting may be perfect)

3) A tool chest (preferably Craftsman)

4) Anything else that you can think of that would be needed (or wanted :D ) for this garage or the two-car garage that we will have in the next house (which we'll actually own); I want my garage to be very detailing and mod friendly :xyxthumbs



Please keep in mind when making suggestions that this is a rental home, and that I don't want to do too much in terms of putting things on the walls because I'll just have to repair the holes before I leave. But a moderate amount of things on the walls is acceptable. Pictures, links and prices will be much appreciated!!



I look forward to your helpful responses!!! :xyxthumbs



P.S. I can now detail into the weeee hours of the night and finally I have a place for my car(s) to sleep protected from the elements.... I'm so psyched!!
 
Ill answer one at a time :)



1. I dont know if you are set on floor *shelving*, but Ive found those plastic cabinets (Black and Decker, Sunmate, etc) invaluable for storage space. In fact, my wife bought me one of the full size (i.e. two of the smaller cabinets stacked on top of each other) for our anniversary. Plenty of room for detailing products, towels, pads, tools, and even the car wash buckets at the bottom. Plastic, so it wont rust, and since it has doors on it, your stuff wont get dirty. Very easy to move around (the plastic is light, and you can lock the doors so the stuff only "jiggles" around inside :) ).



2. Im working on that right now. Ive seen the link to the Econolight worklight tripod (http://www.e-conolight.com/Product/EProductDetail.asp?ProductFamilyID=1&FGNumber=E-WL7Q99AY) but Im going to check out what Sears and HD have to offer, just so I can have instant gratification instead of waiting for shipping (currently trying to detail a car, and the weather in CT stinks so I dont have much "sun time" coming up).



3. I was lucky enough to inherit an old Proto chest from my grandfather. Really good chest, by a really good "industrial" tool company. If I were buying now, and if I wanted Craftsman, Id stick with anything that had full extension ball bearing tracks. I didnt like the fit/feel of Craftsmans friction-type rollers (but I hear if you get a good quality brand with friction type tracks, they are just about as good as ball bearing). I *think* the ball bearing tracks are limited to the Craftsman Pro series, so you might want to look into those (although they are more expensive). Oddly enough, Home Depot seemed to have pretty good quality boxes with ball bearing rollers, at price comparable to or better than Craftsman.



4. More of those plastic storage cabinets :) I have one full size for detailing, and 2 small size (one for wife's gardening stuff and one for pool chemicals). They look nice and prevent the garage from being openly cluttered (just close the doors if you dont wanna see the mess).



Get some of those plastic storage bins too. The best Ive found are at Kmart. I forget the brand name, but they have handles that snap over the plastic top, keeping it sealed and secure. Very good for microfiber and PC pad storage.



Thats all I can think of for now (trying to picture everything Ive bought for my garage). As for garage *tools*, look into a decent portable ShopVac. My wife got me a Sears one which is pretty nice because of the built in handle and the small size, I can plop it wherever I need it when vacuuming a car. Home Depot (Rigid) makes a wall mountable unit with a long hose that I was looking into, so I dont need to lug the vacuum itself around).



Good luck (with the detailing AND the fiance thing ;) ).



-Chris
 
Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Storage takes on many different forms such as cabinets, shelves, etc. (both built-in and freestanding). What suits one person may not be the solution you're looking for. A good starting point might be taking a look through the following thread at some of the different ways member's here store their products:



http://autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=54130&highlight=detailing



Once you have an idea of what shelf type you're looking for you can try to locate something similar in your area. I've seen some pretty nice shelving units at Sam's Club and you might also find something you like at a Wal-Mart or Target.



For lighting you can go to Lowes or HD and pick up a couple more fluorescent fixtures and hang them up. They are fairly inexpensive and easy to hang. You can also pick up a halogen light fixture (on a stand) that you can move around to inspect for defects. I picked up a nice dual 1000W unit at Sears for $20 or $30 a while back:



http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=Yes&vertical=TOOL&pid=03473825000



For a Craftsman tool chest you really need to go look at Sears and see what fits your needs. They come in many different size and price combinations. You will tend to out grow a smaller size, so keep that in mind, and Sears puts them on sale quite often.



Another thing you might want is a workbench if you have room in the garage for one. You can build one or buy one almost any size you want. If you get a smaller one for this garage you can let your wife use it for potting flowers, crafts, etc. if you get a bigger one when you move.



Something else that I find quite handy is a cart to store various things on that I can move around. Harbor Freight has a good selection:



http://order.harborfreight.com/EasyAsk/harborfreight/results.jsp



Just some more ideas for you to think about.
 
The second pic is the exact cabinet that I use. I havent seen anything larger (Ive seen wider, but it wasnt full height, I suppose you could buy two of the wider ones and stack them).



Ive never had luck with shelving like in the first pic, or at least Ive never found a good quality product. I just saw a bunch of those shelving units at WalMart yesterday, perhaps you can check there.



-Chris
 
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