[Closed] Pimp my Garage...

I went for these, though currently out-of-stock: https://duramat.co.uk/product/discplate-black/

Reason: got some samples from various suppliers (though not BigDug) and picked the one I thought would cope best with non-flat concrete pad. Happy with the finish, though they don't really like high point loading (e.g. body weight through two castors on a movable chair left a couple of small depressions but they seem to have fixed themselves prob during heatwaves. Less precious now I've had it for a while).

If you have dead flat floor then the thinner tiles might be better if you do have high point load requirement. Give BigDug a ring for some offcuts?

Tips: Do leave the required gap around the edges for expansion. For cutting, I used jigsaw with a blade for metal. If your floor isn't flat then tiles can allegedly 'echo' as you walk on them - elsewhere I found folks recommending using weed fabric as an underlay to dampen the noise - seems to have worked for me.

I did fit out with BigDug shelving - only mentioning this as the pallet turned up with a few damaged shelves. BigDug customer services were excellent at getting replacements out immediately, so I'd be very happy to use them again.

it doesn't actually say what those tiles are made of, but they look very similar to the PVC tiles I used (from Duramat). Quite expensive, but I'm really pleased with them! You don't have to prep the floor beforehand (except for sweeping it obviously) so way less hassle than painting/sealing etc. They're really tough & easy to keep clean and because they fit together so tightly liquid spills don't seep through the gaps.
I went for red/grey checks though - makes it look a lot less depressing, plus makes it easier to find a black screw/bolt if you drop one!!

EDIT:(mine are very similar to the above but thinner 8mm version "durastud")

You will also need to source a vintage vice for the workbench.
See here: https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/mcmoontertrackworld-vices/

Can't help with the floor but the first thing I did was painted the ceiling black to hide the multicoloured dirtyness. Then I fitted large square LED panel lights which flood the whole place with nice even light.

It's my favourite thing I've done in the whole house.

Also, Halfords tool chests for me. Regularly in the sale or find a mate with a trade card for big discounts.

Lantham steel doors. With drops bars.

Veho Cave alarm.

It depends on what you mean by 'workshop' but personally for a workbench I'd go wit ha proper custom timber frame jobbie, all fixed - VERY sturdy, and with a ply top you can replace in time if needed. This is much better than Kitchen units for bashing/cutting etc.

The space underneath, with some timber shelves sized to suit, is better for 'big' stuff and bulky things like compressors, axle stands, power tools in their crates etc.
My bikes also live under my bench (and as its custom, of course its the right height) but thats because I have a car that lives in there too.

For wall level storage cupboard - Ikea BESTA is great! The bog standard plain white ones. Have a play with the configurator on their website.

LOTS of lighting. Whatever you think you need, more.

Ditto sockets.

My tool chest/roller cab is a Clarke Professional. Just make sure you get decent ball bearing draw runners. Halfords Pro stuff is good too.

If you need a door putting in, then yes @dogbone is right, a Lathams Steel Door is the one you want.

Best thing we did was get some large LED batons for the ceiling. Makes it pretty much light daylight in there when working on the bikes, car etc. in the evening. Looked at floor mats but expensive so went with garage floor paint in the end. It's good but can chip if you drop something on it. Might still get some ruber flooring at some point to replace when the paint starts to look tatty.

 

It depends on what you mean by ‘workshop’ but personally for a workbench I’d go wit ha proper custom timber frame jobbie, all fixed – VERY sturdy, and with a ply top you can replace in time if needed. This is much better than Kitchen units for bashing/cutting etc.

I didn't really think about the lighting before doing it so just have a few 6' LED battens - I did get a couple of cheap LED work lights though and fashioned ceiling or wall mounts for them to use as spotlights over certain areas. Fortunately I have lots of sockets (can't have too many really 😃)

The BigDug flooring is great. I used black and grey check with a Wahoo blue 2x4 section for the Kickr to sit on. I also used their blue/yellow racking shelving and Really Useful boxes. Is that pimp enough? About £1k all in and worth every single penny.

> Best thing we did was get some large LED batons for the ceiling

+1

Dig a tunnel from it to your house and shed

Garage Porn

I spent a summer fitting these while on gardening leave. The people who could afford to buy the stuff could be arses, but the results are good.

https://www.homebase.co.uk/ultimate-storage-72-inch-tool-trolley-15-drawer/12816332.html extra100 did get you a 100quid off.

I've one it's pretty damn good.

Led lights are ace.

I'd rather have a bench and use filing cabinets than kitchen units.

Plus you can leave a gap to get your legs in on a stool rather than stand!

If you need to borrow a halfords trade card I know someone your way with one who I'm sure will lend it to you.

I have a Halfords advanced tool chest which is good but I paid £120 for it s/h. It's not worth the £300 or so it's supposed to be new imo. The standard Halfords one in the shop seemed just as good quality to me but without the soft close drawers (which mostly don't work anyway).

I have a couple of 18mm rubber stable mats on the floor.

[quo https://www.homebase.co.uk/ultimate-storage-72-inch-tool-trolley-15-drawer/12816332.html extra100 did get you a 100quid off.

I’ve one it’s pretty damn good.I uhmmed & erred with this and they went out of stock (just checked & there's a couple in stock again locally, but not quite as cheap as they were). Had not seen one in person & reviews were a bit conflicting! Glad to hear its quality though. Now got a mad idea to get 2 and put them back-to-back as a mobile central "island" worktop with loads of storage 😃

[quotes]I have a Halfords advanced tool chest which is good but I paid £120 for it s/h. It’s not worth the £300 or so it’s supposed to be new imo. The standard Halfords one in the shop seemed just as good quality to me[/quotes]that's why you wait for them to be on offer (which is quite often tbh!) Having said that, you may have a point... when I bought my Advanced ones some years ago, the regular Halfords ones were very poor quality & definitely didn't have ball bearing sliders. Now the standard ones seem to have that and in fact, look very similar to the Advanced ones!

Following this with interest as I really need to get my single garage sorted out. Scarily easy to throw 2k at it before you even consider the insulating etc.

I can't comment on the flooring or any of the other stuff but regarding the SGS Engineering tool chests, I bought a 5 drawer one last year & it was much better quality than I was expecting for the money, I will definitely be buying other bits from them when project shed finally happens.

I've got some machine mart tool boxes. A bit more of a value proposition than the SGS, but still works.

The BigDug flooring is great.

Cheers. Ordered.

If I dilly dally any longer on the flooring, it'll never get done, so... Gonna empty the contents of the garage over the next few days, then when the flooring arrives, I'm ready to get it laid down...

If you need to borrow a halfords trade card I know someone your way with one who I’m sure will lend it to you.

Had one for ages ta... Just got back from local Halfords, had a play with all the display units in there, the Advanced stuff and the regular... Not impressed with either quite frankly! The "soft close" option on the advanced is far too heavy and provides too much resistance to open, if you've got a bottom drawer loaded with heavy tools it'll take a massive effort to open! Also not that smooth an action either. The cheaper stuff wasn't notably lower quality, other than the omission of the soft close. Either way, not for me...

I can’t comment on the flooring or any of the other stuff but regarding the SGS Engineering tool chests, I bought a 5 drawer one last year & it was much better quality than I was expecting for the money, I will definitely be buying other bits from them when project shed finally happens.

A friend has loads of the SGS stuff in his shop, I've been very impressed by it. 10yr warranty, great action, looks really good. Not cheap, but then it's not ridiculously priced either... I'm erring more and more towards getting an SGS chest, but have decided might be better off with a 36" unit rather than a 42", would leave me a little free space to store a few upright things rather than the tool chest being shoehorned into a space no longer than it.

Following this with interest as I really need to get my single garage sorted out. Scarily easy to throw 2k at it before you even consider the insulating etc.

For sure! I'm trying to be sensible... If I was using it all day, every day for work, I'd probably invest in a proper workbench, but for what I want the kitchen cabinets with a decent worktop on top will be fine. The storage in the cupboards beneath will be useful too.

Insulation wise, I won't be spending too long in there in cold weather necessarily, but some kind of flooring insulation was paramount I figured so the Bigdug rubber mat flooring should help somewhat...

I spent a summer fitting these while on gardening leave. The people who could afford to buy the stuff could be arses, but the results are good.

Nice! Not sure my self imposed £1k budget would get me far mind... 😂

Best thing we did was get some large LED batons for the ceiling

Looking into them, does make sense... I've got a few LED spots I was going to get fitted that were bought for about 90% off in a local Homebase closure last year, but battens might make more sense seeing as I've got exposed wooden framework in the ceiling and currently just a single old neon striplight that barely copes any more!

If you need a door putting in, then yes @dogbone is right, a Lathams Steel Door is the one you want.

I don't fortunately. But at some point I will need a new up and over garage door. That can wait for the moment though...

The “soft close” option on the advanced is far too heavy and provides too much resistance to open, if you’ve got a bottom drawer loaded with heavy tools it’ll take a massive effort to open!

Yup the soft close mechanism is either not working or finickity on most of the drawers on mine.

I started a thread about the garage floor... It's still good, not as tidy or as clean, but so glad I eventually got around to sorting my garage out. It was a nice wee project!

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/boring-garage-floor-questions/

I was surprised how quickly the tiles lift in the heat. Black garage door will be insulated soon which will hopefully resolve that (and keep the heat in during the winter)

For a workbench, a couple of double banks of horizontal filing cabinets with 18mm ply bolted down make a very sturdy bench with loads of storage. Mine has a couple of 4x4 posts lengthways to raise it up a little.

I've also got Halfords Pro chests, probably had them 20 years now, faultless.

Out of interest, if you are happy to share obviously, what budget are you looking at?

My garage/workshop doesn't look fancy but it's pretty well organised. I have a mix of filing cabinets, metal open shelving units and many tool boxes (mix of facom and cheapo stuff) for putting tools in. I like filing cabinets because they take weight well and the drawers are large enough to take all sorts of bits. They're also cheap! Generally hand tools in the tool boxes, power tools and other things in the filing cabinets

I have a custom made workbench. Really nice, stainless steel top with wood underneath, welded metal frame. Open underneath but a bisley drawer unit fits really well, as do things like shop vac and compressor. Open area underneath is also important if you ever want to sit at the workbench. You can't easily sit and work on something at your kitchen worktop, you need space for your knees. You also never have enough workbench space. My workbench is 1800x900 and I use all the space regularly. Granted there's usually a vice, grinder and pillar drill on it but I can take them off and put them underneath easily. I have a chest freezer that I also use as a very light duty workbench. Then also use a workmate or a bora centipede and bora worktop depending on what i'm doing. The clamping options are useful on those

The original lighting was rubbish, although on a PIR so useful for popping in and out. It's roughly 25 square metres and I've put in 7 LED battens with a total output of just over 30k lumens, although on 4 different banks. It's made a huge difference and is now a much nicer place to be

Will be building a Caterham in there soon hopefully!

I thought the first rule of garage pimping was to not buy anything brand new unless absolutely necessary? Doesn't it all have to be begged for, foraged, bin-dipped, Freecycled etc?

On a couple of other threads the US Pro Tool Chest seem to come well recommended.
Not got one, but I might be tempted when I have another go at the garage.

How flat does the floor need to be for these mats? My garage floor is a bit divoted with maybe some bits with 1cm depressions in it. Ideally I don't want to rescreed the whole thing... I don't massively care if the floor is perfectly flat, i just want to keep the dust hidden away and not walk on concrete (needs to be suitable for wood working equipment on casters as well).

I have 3 of these in log cabin that is something like 5m x 3m and the lighting is really bright https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0895G4YF2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

How flat does the floor need to be for these mats? My garage floor is a bit divoted with maybe some bits with 1cm depressions in it. Ideally I don’t want to rescreed the whole thin

Probably a lot of answers on pistonheads.

The 12mm large PVC tiles would almost certainly be fine for the divots. I used floor levelling compound to smooth a 1cm jump (2m long) in the concrete pad over large enough area for the tiles to cope. It is the connections between tiles that seem to matter most.If there is a divot at the junction of four tiles, then a bit of any filler should work.

For castors though - the thin type might be better as they are solid.