Just a garage (incl motorbike content)

After moving out of London and saving for three and a half years we were lucky enough to buy a house in Bedfordshire a few weeks ago. Having a garage/workshop has always been something I’ve dreamed of, as a fortress of solitude or for just listening to the radio and sipping tea. The last few months living in Aldgate started to get me down so feeling very privileged to now have more space.

This probably won’t be the most exciting thread but somewhere to document modest DIY progress then hopefully more exciting projects. I’ve never done much DIY other than stripping wallpaper and painting, so all advice is gratefully received. The biggest question is what the garage will be used for, as that will determine how it’s set-up with regards to tools and layout but it’ll be of an automotive nature. Having just bought the house I’m skint so it might be a while.

1) Garage with house attached
2) This is what it looked like when we moved in, being able to drive into the garage was a novelty so just opened the door and shoved everything in.
3/4) The random sink came out and plumbing rerouted.
5) There was a lot of dust coming up from the floor due to the concrete not being well sealed so used 2 coats of PVA solution which has made a big difference. In the spring I’d like to 2k epoxy the floor but after some reading realise a PVA finish isn’t ideal, so will have to be removed. Wish me luck.

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1-3) Next I removed all the fittings on the walls, filled the holes and painted the walls. In hindsight I probably should have sealed the breeze blocks so they weren’t so porous, after 20L of Dulux Weathershield masonry paint they were eventually covered.

4/5) One wall had a gap at the bottom, so after some help from the DIY thread (thanks @aggi ) this has been tidied up. Having never done anything like this before the result's not perfect but a definite improvement and quite satisfying.

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1) The latest job has been painting the ceiling and swapping the old fluorescent bulbs for LEDs, which has made a big improvement.

The next job will probably be putting some scotia(?) (mini coving) where the wall meets the ceiling as there’s some small gaps, keen to tidy this up visually if I can.

2/3) The house also has a workshop in the garden which might eventually feature here but it really needs a new roof before we can start to do anything. The dream is half tooling room for me and half artist's studio for my partner but we'll see.

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All this sounds great and I’m all for seeing breeze blocks painted white but alas none of your pictures are showing up!

I can see them.

Cheers @withered_preacher

Can't see 'em dude

Does this mean a GSXR race build?

edit, can't see 'em on the phone, laptop is fine.

Now attached the images as opposed to embedding them, hopefully that's better.

@Chak we'll see... An SRAD 750 would be swell! Sorry, "gixxer".

great work

Showing up now - something very satisfying about painting garage walls white and then painting the floor with the grey floor paint.
Outbuildings are just great - your own personal bit of utopia

garage walls white and then painting the floor with the grey floor paint.

Not very original but yep that's the plan. Agreed, really nice to have the luxury of stopping jobs and coming back to them another time. This will be a novelty compared to crawling on my back on the driveway, most often in the rain.

that little workshop looks great!

Garage is obviously excellent, but I do like the workshop with the vices. That's got bike tinkering written all over it.

Did the vices come with the house? Quite the score if so!

@si_mon628 I know what you mean, it feels more rustic compared to the clean garage. The roof is asbestos and probably leaking so that really needs addressing first but lots of potential.

@umop3pisdn the small one did but the Record 24 was a recent purchase. After years struggling without one I've slightly over compensated but hopefully means I don't need a hydraulic press. It's certainly a behemeth that will probably outlast me.

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Just cross posting from the motorcycle thread but there's been a new addition to the garage, a 1999 Suzuki GSX-R750. A very dirty one. The last week has been mainly cleaning 20 years worth of grime off, but in a strange way it's protected the aluminium underneath. My current thinking is to tidy it up with a full service this year so I can enjoy it through spring/summer, then next winter take the engine out for some tarting up.

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I've also started to do something about the heat, or lack of. The garage door is coming along, first it was covered in Thermawrap, then 28mm PIR insulation which has made a noticable difference. The next step is covering it in wood which I'm half way through although proving tricky with thin hardwood sheets that are slightly warped. The next step will be an epoxy floor once the weather improves.

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@umop3pisdn what was that handy draft exluder thing you got for your door?

One of these, but looks like @jambon has a pretty snug gap already

Great minds think alike... I have one already and will use it once the floor is finished to save ripping it up in a couple of months. Although the gap is small, I'm all about marginal gains to hopefully create the warmest working space.

Oh wow we have pretty much the same starting points, i've been planning to do everything you've already done so it's great to see it coming together so well.

Has the thermawrap/PIR insulation made any difference to sound proofing? I'm on a rat run road and the noise of cars speeding kills the Utopia vibes.

Also, get some wall or floor anchors!

Yes it's made a noticeable difference to sound deadening too, this is something I need to work both ways as will be angle grinding from time to time. Floor anchors will come don't worry, but first I need a solid floor as any obstructions/holes will become a pain when the epoxy is applied.

Absolutely love the workshop out back bundles of character