Originally Posted by yarsmythejr

- I'll take the anti-texture option into consideration. Thanks.
Consider a semigloss or gloss paint for good cleanability
- Multiple shelves will be added, especially in the back area. That's where one wall will probably be 4-5 of them so I can store boxed kits and accessories.
- Found a cool side workbench on wheels at Sam's Club yesterday. I'll post a photo later.
- No flakes on epoxy floor - Got it!
- Not going to get that bigger door although I do like the idea. These guys are ready to hang me by the nearest tree already. I'm trying to stay back right now and just catch problems they make.
Maybe have them frame for a bigger door but put the small one in. It would make the door change very easy if you decide it in the future.

Ken

Ken, I'll ask the contractor but I have the feeling they'll charge me an arm and a leg for any other changes I want. As I mentioned, I'm not their favorite customer right now so I'm trying to stay under the radar unless mistakes are made. Who knows, he might be receptive.

-Lee

Lee, I'd like to offer my vote for wider doors to your workspace. The cost of changing basic door size framing is minimal considering the ease of use you gain with wider doors. If I had a contractor that would not work with me on basic and easy framing changes I'd surely ask 'em why not. Also, you might want to consider more window/natural light area over your workbench areas via the use of slider type windows with a small vertical dimension and longer horizontal dimension. From the various shops I've used over the years I can vouch that door size and natural light/ventilation can make for an unpleasant shop issue if not given proper consideration.

Soft landings,

Joe

This builder has a stipulation in the contract that ANY change after the pre-start meeting requires a $500 change fee...that isn't even applied to the cost of the change you are adding. I could ask for one additional outlet ($60) and they'd charge me $560. That's why I have been struggling with my original plan from the start. "Maybe" cash under the table might be an option but I doubt it.

I hear ya on the windows. That's why I had two installed vs. one. I limited myself to the 3x3 windows simply because I want to use as much wall hanging space as possible. It's the best trade off I could accept.

I've been at the house every day this week. No more work has been done to the garage so nothing more to report.

I really appreciate all the feedback and followers. Keep it coming. If I can't add or use it, someone else designing a new workspace might!

-Lee

PS - Shot an email to one of the construction managers. Probably should have gone through the "salesman" channels but we'll see if I get a quicker response.

The builder agreed to upgrade each door to a wider, 36" one for $170 a piece. Not the price I was hoping for...but if I'm going to take advice from my fellow RC builders out there, they should be worth it.

Not to mention that it would be a bitch to install that refrigerator in a 2.5' door!

Thanks fellas. Keep those ideas coming.

-Lee

You can be confident..... If you built 100 garages with work shops, every one of them would be different

In any case, it will be much better than what you currently have.

Ken

I'd reconsider the epoxy floor finish in favour of some good quality floor paint instead.

On my own garage machine shop build I opted for the epoxy thinking that it would be more durable over the long haul. I may have gotten the wrong stuff though or the epoxy simply is not that good. First off it wanted to fish eye like crazy despite a thorough cleaning and etching as per the instructions. So that was a failure. Second even two years later it is still easily scuffed and scratched deeply by surprisingly light abuse. All in all it is a total failure.

In looking around I see that Resilocrete is no longer available. Sad really as I used it twice in previous houses for the shops with truly excellent and durable results. But after the failure of the epoxy in the garage I know the wood working machine room in the basement will be done with a sealer then regular floor paint. Silica will be lightly sprinkled to provide slip proof footing. A little of this stuff goes a LONG way I found.

Good information. I'd like to hear other responses on concrete floor protection. The room is not 'polished' so painting or stain may not be an option. Another home owner in the neighborhood showed me his epoxy floor which looked very impressive. I don't have a desire to put a finished floor in there (tile, laminate, wood, etc).

Still no work on the garage today. I'm disappointed that another builder behind us start on their two-story home a week after us and now they are close to having the rafters installed. Makes me wonder if my 'team' is that good. Hopefully, not as bad as the Houston Astros this season.

Knowing what I know now I'd go with the best decent quality regular floor PAINT that I can locate and keep my fingers crossed. At worst after 7 or 8 years you'll find that the high use areas need to be repainted. But the areas that are less used like around the edges and under the benches will still be fine.

The Resilocrete I used in my last shop lasted for more than 15 years of dragging big wood working and metal working projects over it before it began to show signs of the underlying concrete. Frankly I was amazed at how tough it was.

So you can understand my dissapointment at the epoxy kit I used which cost me 4 times as much and scratched out a long worm of plastic the first time somthing that would not have touched the Resilocrete was pulled over the floor.

Yardmythejr

Looking good... Have given the cabinets any thought yet. Are you going to build them or buy them?

For floor protection, I'll put a vote in for U-Coat-It. I did a sizeable area of our manufacturing facility with it and it holds up just fine to fork lifts, material carts, etc. It isn't cheap, but it's alot less costly than having a professional come in to do the floor. For the size of your garage, it would cost about $400.

http://www.ucoatit.com/shop/ucoat.asp

I haven't drawn the plans for my workbench but here is an idea I'm definitely going to incorporate. I've never seen this before but I think it's brilliant. I like that, with the table on casters, you can position the dust collector in another part of the workshop where you could be drilling or sanding. My table will be larger, of course.


http://tips.woodmagazine.com/safety-...le-work-table/

Originally Posted by FISHER711

Have given the cabinets any thought yet. Are you going to build them or buy them?

I haven't made a firm decision on that yet. We will be hiring a company to do some millwork / cabinets in the family and game rooms. I might see what they have to offer before I attempt it myself.

I found a fellow RC Groups member who posted these pics of his garage workshop. I'd like to follow with something along those lines.

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1542952

A lot of cabnet makers will 'remove' someone's cabnets and build in new ones - and then sell the 'removed' ones to anyone....a LOT cheaper than buying the new ones from them. Just don't have the color/style selections.

Around 30' of overhead cabinets in my shop came from a remodel/yard sale for ~$100.

Regarding a roll-around workbench, I wouldn't have one unless it could be made very stationary. Heavy and hard to move makes a better work surface for woodworking.