I’ve been working on the garage for a few weeks now. Phase 1 was to empty out the third stall, pitch what I could, get rid of some old shelves and organize. The results, while not perfect, were quite satisfying! I was able to move the workbench over to the third stall, meaning I can walk around the back of the truck now to get to it. There’s enough room to actually use the workbench. Alli & Tom got the old wooden toy shelves we built back in 1984, and Andrew & Liz got the old steel cabinet from Grandma & Grandpa Foss’ place. There is still some work to be done, but it’s a lot more organized and less of a disaster area.
Phase 2 — I’ve been cleaning out and de-cluttering Lisa’s side of the garage. Last night I emptied everything out, vacuumed, degreased, and washed out that side. It’s looking pretty good. I’ll probably do the same to my side some time this week. I also replaced the bottom seal on the double door, and will be sealing up other air leaks over the coming weeks. I’d like to make the entire garage as weather-tight as I can, so that we can keep it reasonably warm in the winter and reasonably cool in the summer.
Phase 3 will likely be etching and epoxy coating the floor, one or two stalls at a time. I’d love to be able to mop out the garage during the winter. Toward that end (and others) I’d also really like to get a utility sink/wash tub out there. It would make it so much easier for filling buckets, washing cars, mopping floors and washing up after working on dirty stuff. I’m hoping to find that there is easy access to the plumbing connections needed for that, without hanging the sink somewhere inconvenient.
I figure we’ve got a ton of space out there, it would really be nice to be able to use it all! I only wish I had taken the time to paint the walls and maybe even the ceiling during the first round. What I really need is a big storage unit for a month or two, so I can move all the junk out of there for a few weeks and do it all without having to work around ladders, lawn tools, power tools, cabinets, bikes, and all the other stuff out there. Needing to have everything back in the garage every night is a severely limiting factor.