With the Lotus now sold and the Ford-engined Caterham being ordered this weekend (for delivery in the new year) I'm going to be refurbing my garage.

That process started today with an order for 28 sq.m of DuraTile and 10 m of entrance ramps:

https://duramat.co.uk/blog/ford-enthusiast-from-essex-chooses-duramat-custom-printed-garage-floor-tiles/

Unfortunately I'm not getting the Ford logos, but I'm really looking forward to having a nice area to store and work on the cars.

I'm also going to replace my rather decrepit floor-standing shelving. Can anyone recommend decent shelving that doesn't break the bank? I need probably two 45cm deep full height units and then three 30cm deep half height units. Preferably all matching...

I've got one of these metal racks with wooden shelving.  Tried a couple of 'heavy duty' plastic ones and they were useless but this has been more than strong enough for everything I put on it.  My only gripe is the wood soaking up any fluid leaks which obviously can't be cleaned off.  I bought mine in the sale from B&Q a few years ago but if you look around there are plenty of similar ones.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-shelving-900-x-450-x-1800mm/2817R?kpid=2817R&ds_kid=92700045787505510&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1243324&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1249475&gclid=CjwKCAjwpuXpBRAAEiwAyRRPgUZ4znSFau2dyNDBogMq-A5d63aVorONMKsh8DydFnZBtHV2HsqWhhoC34QQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

Funny you mention Ford logo's...these popped up on my FB feed yesterday and I thought they looked really cool for garage storage...budget depending of course!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Service-Box-Wooden-Spares-Crate-Escort-Gift-Vintage-Sign-Transit-Cortina/173609321302?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D3b13d776249f4a459ae7dd29603e3163%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D202720009348%26itm%3D173609321302%26pg%3D2481888&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3A0c588ea5-aed8-11e9-9998-74dbd180f7e3|parentrq%3A291ce54016c0aa6a35439602ffe2618c|iid%3A1

 

Have you also considered painting the garage walls white?  It makes a huge difference to light levels.

My garage walls are stone so I'd rather not. I take your point though...

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3 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

My garage walls are stone so I'd rather not. I take your point though...

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Well there's something I hadn't thought of!   Tbf, I didn't realise they were still building houses out of stone when cars came along, but course they were, we've all seen the Flinstones!  

What I mean is that they're not flat so would be a pig to paint and that they look nicer stone coloured...

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Yeah, I wasn't taking the pee there...genuinely hadn't thought about garages being made of anything other than brick & breeze block lol.  I wouldn't paint stone walls myself either!

 

10 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

Oh, I get it now! 🤦‍♂️  I feel like we probably live significantly different lives...  

I must admit though, those bricks not all being one size would really irritate me lol.

The supports as you can see are breeze block. You can also see why I need to tile the floor - it would take a lot of preparation to seal and paint. I quite like the stone - it matches the house!

Apologies for the car in the foreground - I don't have a photos of my garage empty. The car cover was to keep the dust from the floor off it!

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14 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

The supports as you can see are breeze block. You can also see why I need to tile the floor - it would take a lot of preparation to seal and paint. I quite like the stone - it matches the house!

Apologies for the car in the foreground - I don't have a photos of my garage empty. The car cover was to keep the dust from the floor off it!

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Tbf, my Grandad & I sealed his garage floor around 10 years ago but it never really was effective, I guess modern sealants are probably better but I reckon you're making the right choice with the tiles!

Yeah my neighbour sealed his and he said it wasn't that effective either.

 

Quick update - made a start today and got all the whole tiles down. Plenty of edge tiles still to cut, and new shelving to order, but at least the clearing out and cleaning that required good weather is all done. Everything else can be done inside over the Autumn [emoji106]

 

I fitted all the edge tiles yesterday - lot's of cutting around the supports and air bricks but I borrowed a jigsaw and bought some special blades so it was all doable in a day.

I also bolted weather seals to the bottom of the garage doors to stop leaves blowing in.

The step under the rear door has been prepared for painting but weather stopped play on that one.

Time to continue researching shelving. I'm currently thinking about this set: https://www.bigdug.co.uk/mega-deals-c411/value-medium-duty-5x-bay-shelving-kit-p1310

Coming up really well. I'm shocked I just stumbled across this thread now 

Step now painted and we bought a floor standing bike rack so all our bikes can stand next to each other, giving more space.

https://www.cycleracksdirect.co.uk/4-section-double-level-cycle-rack/

I'll be ordering the shelves this week, so hopefully I'll be finished by mid November.

As of last weekend it's all finished. 5 sets of shelving have easily consumed all the gear that's been taking up floor space leaving a clean space to store and pamper a new car. Caterham have started the 310R build too, so now it's just a case of waiting...

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Here's the end result.

This topic is what I need right now. Thanks.

Really nice job, Tim! I'm very jealous of that garage, ours is attached to the house and a rather mean single size which will just take one small car and no room to extend either. 

A friend of ours has one that, at the last count, easily accomodated a Range Rover, an Audi A1, two Subaru Imprezas (one a rally car), a big trailer (for the rally car), a small trailer (for trips to the tip etc), a BMW motorbike, numerous sets of wheels/tyres and vast amounts of tools and equipment from when he ran an independent garage before he retired, plus all the usual garden machinery. I'm even more jealous of that one!😀

Totally missed this thread! 😲

 

Really good job, kinda got garage envy as well. If I had noticed it before I would have recommended the shelves that I bought from Screwfix/Toolstation/Amazon. Looks like the ones you have 👍

Thanks chaps 

In the end I got 45cm deep shelves for in front of where the car will go too just because there was room. You can never have too much storage right (especially with a family of four)? The only 30cm deep shelves were by the back door so they didn't get in the way. Mine all came fom a company called BiGDUG as a bulk deal, but lots of companies sell similar shelving.

https://www.bigdug.co.uk/

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On 11/19/2019 at 11:40 AM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

A friend of ours has one that, at the last count, easily accomodated a Range Rover, an Audi A1, two Subaru Imprezas (one a rally car), a big trailer (for the rally car), a small trailer (for trips to the tip etc), a BMW motorbike, numerous sets of wheels/tyres and vast amounts of tools and equipment from when he ran an independent garage before he retired, plus all the usual garden machinery.

I'd love to have room for a trailer - that way we could take the Caterham on family holidays too.

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50 minutes ago, TimST2 said:

I'd love to have room for a trailer - that way we could take the Caterham on family holidays too.

I often see folks towing a Smart behind their motorhomes etc, but a Caterham would be a first😀

Caterhams are pretty light aren't they...  How about sticking it on a roof rack?  

4 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

I often see folks towing a Smart behind their motorhomes etc, but a Caterham would be a first😀

I'm not a motorhome sort of guy, but our Mercedes GLC would make a good tow car