Falcon's Garage Build

You read my mind, RF.

We got our keys last night, so the boy and I went to work on the garage floor. I wanted it to be epoxied, but I figured I could do it myself. I'm glad I did, because it was easy! We'll see how many years this stuff holds up.

Son and I degreased and etched the concrete last night:

Then we taped, trimmed and rolled. This stuff is called Polycuramine, and apparently it will be ready to park on in 2 days:

Step one of many is complete!

Edit: I elected not to use the paint chips, because I like the glossy look. Plus, it's easier to see nuts & bolts after I drop them! The floor will be more slippery when it gets wet, but that won't be a huge problem around here.

Got some of my "lounge area" built. My wife and I bought a black leather couch and love seat a long time ago, and the love seat works just great in this space! Deep freezer for steaks, refrigerator for beers. My air compressor and portable tank live under the fridge, but I might move them somewhere else as I get more situated:

My wife works at a school and they were getting rid of some old shelves. I cleaned one up and I'll be able to put it to good use:

^Yeah, I'm wondering about the floor, too. I took my time and did it according to the instructions, so I think my floor will exhibit the true nature of the product. Whatever happens will be a pretty good indicator of how the DIY stuff can be. So far, it looks and feels just like the pro-grade epoxy that I had installed in my old house 20 years ago. That stuff lasted without any noticeable change; every time I mopped it, it looked new. 
I'll report back on the longevity in a few years in case anyone reads this thread later and wants to know how the stuff holds up. 

Got my TV installed. Priorities!

I bought one of these Kobalt tool hangers with the built-in outlet strip, but not for tools:

Oh, no; this thing serves a much greater purpose: the support platform and power to my old home stereo! The wife doesn't like loud music in the house, so I'll crank it in the garage instead. It's been a while since I've used this rig and I forgot how good those Polk Audio speakers sound. Rocking out Cygnus X-1: Book Two right now. The neighbors are either Rush fans or Falcon haters! 😆 We'll see.

The main components of the lounge area are now complete.

I got these little pathway lights for the driveway. They resemble the carriage light on the house to some extent:

Lots of projects happening at once! Don't look in the garage; it's a mess! More updates soon.

I bought more Kobalt stuff for storage. I'm not necessarily a fanboy of the brand, but it works for my purposes and the color matches the silver/gray/white theme I'm going for. Now I have to figure out what goes where!

This little cabinet will work like a rollaway, even though I'll never roll it anywhere:

And this large cabinet is going to swallow up the bulky, messy items:

I have a 4-drawer toolbox from my Suzuki days. It's not a super high-quality box, but it does the trick. I decided to de-Suzukify it this morning and now it fits right into my design:

Gearbags, track tools, oils & chem, and folding chairs fit nicely into the big cabinet.

I just finished installing this overhead rack for more storage. If you're an NBA player, you might have to duck, but it's at least 6.5' off the floor - probably more. (I'm 6'1" and I'm nowhere near the bottom of this thing.) Now I can shuffle all the seasonal and non-important or long-term things and get them off my floor and out of the corners. 

That's a good idea, too. Did you just drill through the ceiling? Use any flashing or trim? I have to look around in there to see what I have - my attic isn't as big as the footprint of the house. I'm not even sure there's any crawl space above the garage! 

All good from the fires. Right now, the winds are blowing westward, so I don't even see any smoke. (LA is North and West of here.) They keep warning us that Edison may turn off the power to avoid any downed power lines causing another fire, though. It's a good thing my house has a backup battery! 

Lumpy, where did you get the insulation for your garage door? Did you have to cut it, or was it pre-dimensioned? 

Getting more organized. I still need to hang my parts bins and get some shelving

Almost done! I got my parts & fasteners condensed into one caddy, added my decor, and cleaned up the clutter.

I needed better lighting, so I picked up some of these trendy "hex" lights. Holy smokes, these are bright! I only installed the first hex and thought, "oh, I'm going to need sunglasses .."

Finally got my shed built, so I moved a bunch of stuff off the garage floor. Now the wife's car fits inside. (Booooo! 😆)

Part of the process was to hang my garden hose. I don't love this location, but it works. The adjacent wall is full of solar equipment and panels:

I added a piece of L bracket to keep the hose away from the garage door, just in case:

^I know, right? I get pissed when my wife tells me we need a new dryer or the refrigerator breaks. Something like a light bulb should either work once and forever, or not at all. Why don't those last forever? 

Update on the floor:

As you guys may recall from above, I used a DIY epoxy kit for the floors. It's actually a higher-quality epoxy called "polycuramine." (I'm not sure if that's an actual chemical or just the trade name Rustoleum gave it. The product is called "Rustolem Rocksolid.") 

Overall, I'm happy with the results, but there are some less-than-perfect blemishes in the finish which I can probably attribute to my installation skills. To wit: I noticed that the garage floor surface rolls out past my garage door, so I decided to paint up to where the door rests, but not all the way to the edge of the concrete. However, where I taped the floor was just under the door. I didn't want to get epoxy on the garage door or "glue" the door shut, so I left the door open overnight while the floor cured. It was breezy enough that some dust and debris got blown in, and I think some of the little "sticker" weeds got stuck in the epoxy. They left uneven spots, and some of those must have broken off under stress or people stepping on it. (Picture below, thumb for size.) 

Also, the color I chose, Dark gray, shows all the dirt. It also shows all the scratches, although sometimes they will rub out with a rag and some elbow grease. It isn't dark enough to hide shoe scuffs, however. Those rub out with a rag, too. Lesson learned. If you like this color, I'd say use the paint chips instead of staying monochrome like I did. 

From a performance standpoint, this stuff is awesome. Completely impervious to oil, gasoline, dog piss, you name it. (I've had all three so far.) The coating hasn't given me even a whisper of hot tire pickup from my wife's car, either. I'm looking forward to seeing what this product looks like a few years down the road. 

Well, here we are, almost one year later and I have a complete home and a basically complete garage. I never thought this thread would get so many views, but I guess people wanted to follow along. It's been really nice sharing the build with you guys and it has made my home build that much more special. Thanks for viewing!

Today, I took some advice from Lumpy and AvidChimp and insulated my garage door. The outside faces west, and as you may remember from the pictures of the outside, it's a dark brown color. That door gets hot in the afternoon! I didn't measure the temp previously, but I can definitely tell the difference with the insulation installed. I just got the 1.5" polystyrene sheets and cut them to fit inside the frame that the door panels hang on. The stuff is like a cheap cooler that you can buy at 7-11. 😂

EDIT: I'm getting the door rebalanced on Tuesday. I could probably tighten the door spring myself, but that's not a job I want to try!