Garage Refactoring Build

[c63k]

Re-creating this under General Discussion with Google Drive images instead of FB images since they don't appear to be permanent. I'm hoping this thread helps anyone else considering a garage refit for their MB:

I'm over the moon with a garage refit I've got going on at the moment which I'd like to share with my fellow MB enthusiasts. I've seen there have been some threads before, but it was fairly hard to find one in which someone had laid mototile/motolock flooring, which is what I've gone with.

The project isn't complete yet but it's basically a refit of my 28sqm double garage at the home, to get it ready for parking the beloved C63 in, and has been / is split into the following stages:

• Stage 1 - Insulate: Install a double-skinned door and insulation.
• Stage 2 - Tidyup: Clear out the garage, and get rid of junk.
• Stage 3 - Repaint: Paint the garage walls white.
• Stage 4 - Electrics: Fit new electrics and install proper lighting.
• Stage 5 - Flooring: Fit mototile/motolock flooring, in appropriate pattern.
• Stage 6 - Skirting: Fit mototile skirting to complement floors.
• Stage 7 - Furniture: Install garage furniture/cabinets/etc.
• Stage 8 - ENJOY IT.

Stage 1, fitting of the garage door and insulation, was completed last year - Having went with Garage Door Systems. The door is absolutely superb and I couldn't have asked for much more with it - It's also nice to be able to open the door as I'm coming on to the driveway! For the insulation I used Xtratherm (basically Kingspan), which is great stuff. I didn't bother skimming it afterwards, mostly for cost, but I like the industrial look.

Unfortunately no pictures to compare before/after for this stage.

Stage 2/3, tidyup and painting, were completed last month, in which I turfed everything out and painted, erroneously it seems, the walls utilising a brilliant white masonry paint (Dulux Weathershield basically). I say erroneously because the paint left a horrendous odour making the garage intolerable.

Being a decorating noob (i.e. lacking appropriate experience), I didn't realise the fugicide/mildewcide/other-o-cides within the masonry produce this. What I do possess though is the ability to research how to correct my mistakes (haha), and I came across information regarding a sealer/primer called Zinsser B.I.N. - This amazing (and pricey!) shellac-based sealer was able to completely eliminate all traces of odour. Fantastic stuff.

Stage 2/3 Complete:

Stage 4, fitting of the electrics/lights, was completed last week - I may have went slightly over-board on the lighting. I installed 6x T8 5ft twin battens with 12x 6500K Philips LEDTube Lights (865), each of which produce 3100 lumens, for a total of 37200. For a garage size of 28sqm this equates to 1328 lux at 6500K (Daylight) temperature, which is... Bright - It's hard to tell from the pictures but essentially it makes it almost brighter at night-time than daylight is (and yet also more consistent than daylight!) It makes for an amazing working space though, and highly recommended!

Stage 4 Complete:

Stage 5, fitting of the flooring, was completed this weekend. After many many days (maybe weeks) of research I decided to go with Mototile and the 7mm Motolock variant - They also offer an aesthetically nicer 5mm seamless tile but I was worried about them not being able to handle any unevenness in the floor, and worried about their thermal stability (exposure to heat/sunlight warping the tiles, and erm, the heat given off the C63 now ... which is immense). The tiles arrived on a pallet at a eye-watering weight of 360kg, so you know they're fairly decent quality! The result is (I think) fantastic and I can't wait to get the skirting fitted too.

Unboxing The Tiles:

Lights, Car, Tiles, Action:

Testing Threshold Fitting:

Trying To Be Creative - Making a Ramp Join with Rubber Trunking:

Stage 5 Nearly Complete:

Stage 5 Complete:

...
...
...

TO BE CONTINUED.

 

[c63k]

Checked the rubber ramp I Blue Peter'ed together and it seems solid - Will take another snap later on. Also examined the Mototile skirting and I think it'll look the ticket, although admittedly it feels a bit plasticky (disclaimer: it's made of plastic, shock and horror.)

Going to start researching on cabinets but I was wondering if anyone had any particular suggestions on what to go for and where to acquire them from? Ideally looking for one 2.2m tall cabinet, 4 1m-ish cabinets with a worktop, and 2 wall cabinets. My initial thoughts are something like the red NewAge Bold Cabinets available at costco (link below), although I'm not sure if they actually ship to NI yet:

LINK: Costco UK - Cabinets

Thoughts on a postcard (or via a forum post, whichever is faster). Cheers!

 

[renault12ts]

Not being funny but...Ikea kitchen cabinets with a sturdy wood top?

Are the tiles stuck down all over...or just at the doorway?

Where did you source the door...and who fitted it?

I have more questions...but I'll let you breath for now.

 

[c63k]

Not being funny but...Ikea kitchen cabinets with a sturdy wood top?

Hmmm, I had a look at the quality of the IKEA stuff and wasn't certain it was what I wanted for the garage - Don't get me wrong, I have plenty of things in the house from IKEA, but it isn't exactly the showroom finish I wanted (sidestepping that there's plenty of things in the garage already that aren't, haha). I may take another look though.

Are the tiles stuck down all over...or just at the doorway?

Only the threshold tiles at the door are stuck down with adhesive, mainly because that's where the car will be pulling itself into the garage - I really don't think there'll be much movement otherwise as the tile mat itself is seriously heavy and the locking mechanisms between the tiles are pretty tight. If I do get any issues it shouldn't be too much hassle to pick up offending tiles and adhesive them.

Where did you source the door...and who fitted it?

The garage door? It was Garage Door Systems.

LINK: Garage Door Systems (GDS) - Roller garage doors, Sectional garage doors, Wood garage doors, Garage Openers - UK & Ireland

 

[renault12ts]

Many thanks.

 

[c63k]

Fire away with any other questions you might have! I'm currently looking at fitting a rubber mat onto the ramp I have going to the kitchen, because it looks bloody awful now compared to the rest of the floor.

By the way, the HUGE 2.5m+ tube on the left of the garage in the last picture is the packaging for the Mototile skirting, which comes uncut in... You guessed it, 2.5m sections. Fitting it this weekend.

 

[Chrishazle]

Just as an aside, whan I was looking for a door for the garage at the old house, I found a supplier that was not specifically garage doors - more for shops and the like. OK, I'm going back about 15 years (getting old!), but the 16ft door I wanted for my new garage was about £1800 delivered, not installed and not motorised, for a traditional up and over. I found a roller shutter door, made to measure, supplied and fitted, remote controlled (keylock on the outside wall), for £2200, later added proper remote control for another couple of hundred. Worth looking at roller shutter door suppliers as well as garage door suppliers.

 

[renault12ts]

Who supplied the LED tubes...and what wattage (as opposed to lumen) do they consume?

 

[c63k]

Just as an aside, whan I was looking for a door for the garage at the old house, I found a supplier that was not specifically garage doors - more for shops and the like. OK, I'm going back about 15 years (getting old!), but the 16ft door I wanted for my new garage was about £1800 delivered, not installed and not motorised, for a traditional up and over. I found a roller shutter door, made to measure, supplied and fitted, remote controlled (keylock on the outside wall), for £2200, later added proper remote control for another couple of hundred. Worth looking at roller shutter door suppliers as well as garage door suppliers.

I'm not 100% certain of the exact cost but I think the total cost all for the motorised remote control double-skinned sectional door that I got installed was also near £2200, after a bit of haggling. Seems like it might have been good value although I thought it was extortionate at the time, lol. Always interesting to hear alternatives, and they're no doubt useful for anyone else looking to replace their garage door in the future.

 

[c63k]

Who supplied the LED tubes...and what wattage (as opposed to lumen) do they consume?

I purchased them directly from www.any-lamp.co.uk, with a mild discount, total was about £280 I think. So they're not cheap, but they're absolutely definitely worth it! The wattage is 23w. I have three pairs of lights on a gang switch so I can vary the amount of light (and cost) if I need to, but I usually just turn them all on because... why not. The cost works out about 3p/hour at the current electricity I have when they're fully on, which I think is acceptable for standing in daylight. Full details at both the links below:

LINK (AnyLamp): https://www.any-lamp.co.uk/philips-ledtube-t8-value-23-58w-865-150cm-starter-incl-rotatable
LINK (Philips): MASTER LEDtube VLE 1500mm 23W865 T8 CROT MASTER LEDtube | Philips

 

[c63k]

The sage continues... Fitted the skirting and matted the ramp at the weekend - Took about 4 hours to complete, with copious amounts of tea drinking, so no rush. As with the tiles the majority of the time involved coming up with solutions to "unique" parts of the room that refused to be flat and linearly shaped. Que jigsaw!

For the concrete ramp I bought a 2m roll of diamond plate (style) rubber matting from the marketplace on Amazon and measured it up for cutting and bonding on to the ramp. Looks OK I think, and certainly matches the tiles a bit better than bare concrete.

Laying Out Skirting w/ First Attempt:

Getting Ready For The Jigsaw:

^ You can see how flexible the skirting is here, and how "easy" it is to work with something the measures 2.5m.

Skirting Completed:

Ramp That Needs Matted:

Measuring Up Templates:

Fun & Profit w/ Stanley (actually JCB) Knife:

A Ready Rubber Slice:

Ramp Completed (Needs Cleaned Though):

Stage 6 Completed:

...

Cabinets and other garage furniture, plus some finishing tasks next.

...

TO BE CONTINUED.

 

[Ash Bhp]

Looks great, well done.

 

[StuartK]

Great job!

 

[Lotiman]

I love these 'Garage Porn' threads having recently carried out similar to my own garage and not least because it makes me feel a tad more normal about my own obsession. I'd already painted the walls in mine, but used ordinary silk finish white emulsion which after a couple of coats, looks really good.

I went with red and grey industrial carpet tiles to give a chequerboard pattern on the floor but with the grey all round the edge. I've used these before as they are warm, easy on the old knees and can be washed if necessary with a bit of Fairy liquid and warm water. Sad person that I am, I chose these colours as being a good match for my grey Lotus with red leather interior.

For roof insulation I also used a foil backed insulation board under the roof felt and between the timber trusses. I figured the foil backing would reflect light back down and it does always seem light in there.

For the tool cabinets, I bought some 6' long American stainless steel jobs with solid timber worktops. As for the door, I've just ordered a double skin insulated and motorised roller shutter for installation in about 3 weeks. I'm now thinking I should get some LED's to replace the four 5' double fluorescent tube fittings that are getting a bit old now.

I've decorated the walls with assorted motoring memorabilia and a few choice pics of my cars, all of which Mrs L just looked at and shook her head. I will admit that I'm rather particular about keeping my man cave clean and tidy and can often be seen vacuuming the floor with the Henry Hoover I bought and keep in the garage specially for the purpose. I also tend to get very grumpy if Mrs L tries putting anything in the garage that I feel doesn't belong there. Being attached to the house, it's also equipped with a radiator connected to the main system in the house, so it's really cosy working out there in the winter.

As you may have guessed, I love my man cave!

 

[c63k]

Love it Lotiman - Great writeup.

Admittedly I have been somewhat lazy since the post and still haven't sorted the cabinets out just yet - Mostly because I had very specific requirements in mind and couldn't quite find an easy way to get them shipped here, but maybe this summer I'll find the time (more likely) and money (less likely)! ;-)

 

[Lotiman]

Love it Lotiman - Great writeup.

Admittedly I have been somewhat lazy since the post and still haven't sorted the cabinets out just yet - Mostly because I had very specific requirements in mind and couldn't quite find an easy way to get them shipped here, but maybe this summer I'll find the time (more likely) and money (less likely)! ;-)

Thanks for that. Out of interest, the cabinets I bought were similar to these:-

72" Stainless Steel 15 Drawer Work Bench Tool Chest Cabinet

I bought 3, one of which has full height cupboards in the 2 end sections, rather than drawers and which I use to store axle stands etc. I left the end handles off 2 of the units and one end of the 3rd, so that they could all be butted up closely to form one long timber workbench.
They are very heavy and I do mean VERY heavy but luckily when they arrived, we were having building work done elsewhere in the house so were able to call on 2 brawny builders to help offload. Even then, they still puffed a bit in getting them off the van, especially as the castors weren't fitted at that stage. Despite their weight, they do move easily even on my carpet tiles, should I wish to move them and I am very chuffed with the end result.
Oddly enough though, for some strange reason my wife just doesn't 'get' the need for a nicely furnished man cave.