With most things now roughly in the right place, time for some refinement.
First up was the ghetto blaster, which I made a long time ago out of a Lexus LS400 sound sytem. Further down the wall is a shelf with doubled-up brackets to take my sandblast cabinet.
With the Morris pushed over to one-side of the garage, I've now got over 2m of space between it and the workbench. I'm hoping when the car is in the middle of the garage, I can stand on a box and use the sandblaster where it is, but that remains to be seen, if that is practical. The shelves for that and the ghetto blaster are roughly eye-level, so my shoulders pass easily underneath.
My cordless tool section has grown, so I need to build some new storage for those on the exposed brick wall.
Looking the other way shows the space I've gained.
The garage door man is over on Friday to measure up for a large single door. I'm very happy about the amount of space I've gained.
When I moved in many years ago, the garage had a single light fitting and not many more sockets. It has evolved over the years, rather been designed. So, I'm going to take this opportunity to put in a proper ring-main with loads of sockets in the right places. Also completely re-work the lighting.
I've been using these LED panels, but after just a few years they are failing. Three already have gone in the bin.
The single Toolstation tube is fairing much better, so I've bought another 5 of those and plan to re-wire the lighting circuit from scratch to suit.
I've also got the steel on order for the step between the shed and garage, so definitely getting there.
Thanks for looking.
Wow look at all that space! Im still not completely sold on this LED stuff as there seems to be a lot of rubbish about!
With the storage in the extension largely sorted, time to spend some effort in the garage.
The door and step, which were cut through needed finishing. Also the wooden upright from a previous stud wall was a bit shonky, but I liked the idea of an extra bit of strength for the rafters.
I got some steel cut and bent to roughly the right size/shape. This cost me about double, on what I reckoned - but doesn't everything these days.
But it was money well spent, as with a couple of small bits of trimming and some screw holes - I was able to get it into place quickly. Of course I left the welding to a really hot day !!
Taking a diversion - I wanted to get all my cordless chargers tidied up. I've tried to standardise on Bosch 12 and 18V. MacAllister are good enough for the garden tools. But there is a Lidl between the pub and home, so I've ended up with some Parkside cordless tools too, on a drunken amble home.
I mounted them all to random strip of 3mm steel I had knocking around. I took apart each charger, so I could see if brackets on the side were needed to avoid the electronics, or if I could just mount through the base.
I sprayed the finished strip in left over MX5 red, and mounted it to the wall. I also mounted a powerstrip, and cut all the excess wire out, and refitted the plugs, or replaced the moulded on ones. A new upright, a shelf from left over shed ply, and a few bits of scrap wood to trim the rough edges of the wall, and it is about ready for a bit of paint to pull it all together.
I'm really short of flat surfaces, so I want to build some mounts to get the cordless tools off of that shelf, so I can use it as a dumping ground.
I'm also thinking about a folding shelf on that breeze block wall, again just as a dumping ground to keep stuff off the workbench. But I want it folding to keep the maximum amount of space available when I want it.
These folding brackets from Screwfix aren't cheap but I think will do the job perfectly, along with some resin fittings into those breeze blocks.
Coming along now. Some of these would get some of your powertools off the shelf. Have seen nice drill holders home brewed out of poly pipe. Cut at 60°ish at the wall end with either mounting tabs or a block of wood to fix to the wall. Open end would have a slot cut out of the bottom for the handle to sit in leaving enough meat for a cradle. Its a neat idea , i have pics on my laptop and will add them after my hollybobs.
All the Toolstation LED tubes are in place. I couldn't fit the long one over the workbench because of the ladders. So I swapped it for two smaller ones, which might help to eliminate shadows.
I cut a piece of ply with some dubious shapes.
No I haven't completely lost my marbles, this holds my cordless tools !!
A wide-angle shot of the back wall of the garage shows....
Air line and hose reel in place
Folding workbench/shelf finished
Ring main finished, I think I've got 8 double sockets, plus loads on the workbench on a separate circuit.
Extractor fan wired up
Inner door painted
Fan heater might work well in that position too.
There is a semblance of ducting around the extractor fan. I will add a door to that before winter to try and keep the place a bit warmer.
But getting a new roller shutter is now top of the list. I must make some phonecalls.....
It has been a long time coming, but I've finally got the last big piece of my garage/workshop remodel done.
Replacing the twin doors, and removing the central pillar. First thing on Tuesday morning - I had this.
The fitters arrived with a door bigger than their mahoosive van. But also a massive steel lintel.
They arrived at 9am, wasted no time in stripping out the old doors and lintels. They worked through to 8pm to ensure the garage was secure overnight. I told them it wasn't necessary, but their work ethic was immense.
The final trimming/tidying couldn't really be done in the fading light, so one guy returned the next day. After 2-3 hours all was done - incredible. So by Wednesday lunchtime - I had this. And a rare shot of the Morris outside too.
All the heavy work is inside the garage, that massive lintel went in without too many dramas, just lots of skill and experience. The corners of my garage were a little spindly - not a building term - I know. But during the survey, it was decided steel uprights would be fitted. It has to be super strong now. Control box for the electrics is on the far wall. That lintel is going to make a great shelf too - bonus
Several hours of grunting and puffing got everything into place. The Morris is very close to the side wall/door Nothing is going to happen with that until the spring at least. But there is a decent amount of space between the Ford and the workbench/tools. Despite being close to the Morris, because of the running boards - I can still get in/out of either door of the pickup
One of the goals of this, was to get some extra usable length, to a very short garage. By mounting the door external to the garage - I've gained a foot. As this is the space I have now - it was a very valuable foot.
Obviously wasn't a cheap job, but I got a well engineered solution installed in just over a day. Super happy with the result.
