I was gonna answer this, but after I wrote it, it sounded like humble bragging. Suffice to say that my wife has way too much holiday decorations, and collectively, we have too much crap, and I’m too much of a lazy slob to fix things.
Cars first and foremost, I have large overhead storage racks (highly recommend these) that holds a lot of stuff. I can't stand it when people put crap in their garage then put their cars all over the street or driveway instead. Throw away your junk, be smarter, and keep your cars garage kept. It is WAY better for the car.
I've had sex in it, but no dungeon Lawn stuff Workshop/tools Hangout spot Animal feed storage Junk/stuff storage Kitchenette, fridge, 2 freezers and a bathroom (shower's outside) 1 22' trailer and 1 Mule, no cars (they go under the attached carport) I don't live in the South, but I don't have a basement either
tells you too many folks got way too much junk if they rather park their car outside instead of their garage.
My garage. epoxy coat floors 4 post car lift built-in workbench with overhead lamps tool storage lawn storage air compressor shop vac wheel rack approach ramps wall mounted bike racks What do I use it for: I barely go in there.
I tried installing large overhead storage racks by myself and it was a total fail, but yes I can see how useful this would definitely be. I will try again lol. I think my issue was that they were really long, so probably a two man job, but I'm stubborn on always wanting to do things by myself.
Yeah they are an ordeal to install, I hired pros to do it. What would have taken me 10 hours (plus I KNOW I would've effed it up) took them barely an hour to install two 4 x 8 racks. I was storing luggage, holiday decor, and coolers up there in no time.
A stud finder (I'm a fan of the Franklin Profinders), drill, and impact driver is all you really need. I had the benefit of taking pics during my house's construction so I had an idea of what was hidden behind the drywall. The problem was my garage truss studs were engineered on flat, so the lag screws I used only had 5/8" drywall and 1.5" of wood to grip into (vs 3.5" if the studs went vertical). It was recommended to put my rack closer to the corner where the walls can support the weight better. I also opted for a rack that had 6 supports compared to most which are only at the 4 corners. I store camping equipment like tents, canopy, coolers, camping chairs, and other stuff on mine. A tandem kayak is suspended on the other side with a bike hoist.
Yeah, I'm not worried about the elements at all. I worry about the 3am punks breaking into cars. I live in a safe neighborhood, but according to our neighborhood facebook page, this still happens all the time. And of course my wife is worried about an ax murderer kidnapping her while she walks from the driveway to the door. I'm also lucky enough to have 3 attics to store all our junk. One for holiday decor and luggage, one for crates and crates of stuff we don't need anymore but we're afraid to get rid of, and one for excess music equipment. My garage has shelves all along the front wall and hooks on both side walls and ceiling, so you'd be surprised how much junk we can still fit in without even getting in the way of our 2 cars. Lawn equipment, bikes, golf clubs, lawn chairs, beach chairs, extension cords...all hanging and totally out of the way of the cars. I totally get the guys who want to convert the garage into a mancave (for lack of a better term), but I live in Houston and 9 months out of the year, it's too damn hot to hang out in the garage for more than 5 minutes.
Are you here in Houston? IF so, who did you use and how much did they charge? I probably want to do the same thing.
Yep, I have all that except an impact driver. I was able to find all the studs and got all the vertical corner bars placed and I was able to install one long bar, but ****, the other long bar I just couldn't get it to freaking work. I even re-installed the vertical bars and just had no luck. I usually am able to assemble and install most things, but this one kicked my ass. I had a similar one like @SuraGotMadHops , 8' x 4'. I need to go uninstall it from my old house and get it installed in the new garage. I think I'm just going to pay someone this time.
Yeah in Houston, I bought Safe Racks brand and I coordinated an installer through them. It saved money just hiring one of their techs to do it on the side and pay him cash. For the big 4 x 8s I think he charged $100 per rack. If you want I can DM you that installer's info.
Even if my garage was empty, I wouldn't park in it. That's not my culture. My father was an artist and a house painter. So the garage when I was growing up was half art studio and half tool storage and work space. Then he built himself an art studio and the garage became all tools and work space. So now it strikes me as dandyish to put a car in your garage. Maybe if you're someone who doesn't know how to work with your hands, you'd park in the garage. My garage is just workbenches, tools, and some deep storage.
Geez lol. I may not build **** with my hands, but I do like keeping my car wash and detailing stuff organized in my garage and love spending hours doing detailed work on the cars. I still like parking in my garage.
