Ghetto garage for detailing, best i could do with little to no money

[coupe]

For the past year ive been dying to set up my garage better than it was. It needs so much BS to make it even remotely comfortable to detail in.

The problems my garage has that need to get done:
Double doors have to go, i need a one big single door. 2 single doors suck, such a waiste of space!
Rewire the entire garage, it needs outlets just about every 2 feet plus hardwire in alot more lighting, i mean like an INSANE amount of lighting.
Needs to get insulated, dry walled and painted.
Needs gas and water hook-up.
Beer fridge and TV hehehehe


Since i have no money AT ALL to do any of that i had to focus on my major problems first and get those done but spend little to NO MONEY. Function over form.

The biggest problem ive had so far is not enough lighting. I have 48" florescent lights on every beem in the whole garage and still did not have enough lighting. The problem was the walls where not reflecting the light obviously. So i just painted the bare walls. I bought the paint from home depot, i just asked if they had any returned semi gloss white interior paint that got returned. Sure enough they had 2 gallons, costed me $20.

Then i bought 1 4x8 sheet of white peg board.

The next problem was organization. I needed some serious shelving units. My soon to be father-in law works for D&D construction and they remodel Meijer stores. He got me 6 units of the shelving units that they use that they where throwing out. These are no joke shelving units. The only problem is i could only fit 2, so i have 4 more lol. He also got me a bunch of *MAY WE HELP YOU* signs that they used for the drive up pharmacy, those are more for just fun though lol.


I really wanted to do before and afters of the transformation. This is all i got though :(

This is what i do have for what it looked like before though:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/garagecleaned2.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/dirtygarage.jpg

If you look in the background of these pics you can see what it used to be like:
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/100_7749.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/100_6980.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/100_6384.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/100_6302.jpg

[coupe]

Afters:

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/Img_0299.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/Img_0295.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/Img_0298.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/Img_0300.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d104/Rand81/detailing/Img_0301.jpg


Sure is ghetto, but it works for now.

[tgussie666]

Looks good to me....keep up the good work.....:)

[coupe]

Im still upset as hell with this garage, but as it is now it will surve its purpose.

[Vaindetta]

Wish I had a garage =*(

[coupe]

I wont even consider buying a house without at bare minimum a 2 stall garage.

[bballr4567]

Still got the flood coming in???


Looks good and is much much brighter.

[tgussie666]

Originally posted by coupe
Im still upset as hell with this garage, but as it is now it will surve its purpose.


As long as you can get the job done, and get the money in.....that is what should matter for now.

[VanishingImage]

looks sweet Rand...........

Wish I could get my parents to spend a little money to get ours to be more organized. Its an old garage though. Has wood exterior,not the vinyl siding. All old wood work benches and just all a clutter.

We can do work in it but like you said,just not enough space,it fits 2 cars(my car and moms mini van)

[Nighthawk243]

Looks better than most garages. If you think yours is bad, you should see mine... I cannot even get a Geo into it.

[coupe]

Originally posted by bballr4567
Still got the flood coming in???


Looks good and is much much brighter.


Nope not anymore, i dug a trench about 10" deep and 5" wide, gives the water somwhere to go. I still have to fill it in with rock.

[bballr4567]

HAHA thats good then.

Are you ever going to set up some type of simple website with all of your car paint stories??

[coupe]

That would be cool to have a site like that.

[bballr4567]

Im really sure that someone will make one for you. As much work as you do you should have something to show it off. Then you can put that site on a business card and bam instant business.

[coupe]

Maybe someday, what i do isnt cheap and becuase of it makes it slow buisness.

[99GrandAMSE]

... your garage would look MUCH BETTER is you took that 'red thing' out of it and gave the rims and mirrors off of it to me ;) :lol: ... HAHAHA ... seriously, looks great to me bud ... as long as it is useful and serves a purposes, who cares :)

[Big Joe]

Well your garage is better then no garage :lol: Dam apartments FTL! Cant wait till I can afford a house.

[coupe]

I couldnt ever imagine not having a garage.
Well i can becuase ive been there, used to do everything in driveways and borrowed freinds and familys garages.
Since haveing my own i will never ever go back.

Someday i will own a huge garage with a small house attached :lol:

[99blackSE]

Those shelves must be bloody nice Rand!

[Reverend]

Looks like you made a big difference there. I got some whiteboard to use on the walls to reflect light a little better in mine. It works real good. The whiteboard is also great as a writing surface. It is almost as cheap as drywall.

[coupe]

Drywall is cheap and insulating is cheap, but when you add in the electrical, pluming and lighting (which you have to do first) it turns into an expensive ordeal.

I can live with this for now i guess, still not happy with it.

Im still kicking myself in the ass for not buying one of the houses i looked at when i was in the market. It was $15K over my limit. That house had a garage that would have been a detailers dream. I still bitch about it.

[Zohie]

ghetto????? pffffttt. Your garage looks nice!

[Rainbow1616]

Hey I'd be glad to trade some lighting and wiring for a nice detail job so I could learn more :D

Oh and yes I am a registered electrician :D

[coupe]

Originally posted by Rainbow1616
Hey I'd be glad to trade some lighting and wiring for a nice detail job so I could learn more :D

Oh and yes I am a registered electrician :D


I barder my services all the time, i would definately recondition 2 of your vehicles if you wired my garage.

I just got a car doing that, waite till you see that thread :lol:

[photogirl12]

Looks great to me...wish I had a garage! :(

[Rainbow1616]

Originally posted by coupe
I barder my services all the time, i would definately recondition 2 of your vehicles if you wired my garage.

I just got a car doing that, waite till you see that thread :lol:

:bigok: I trade work all the time as well, between electrical, networking, pa systems, etc. I use to install car alarms but got tired of that.
I visit the Flint, Taylor, Flatrock areas quite often, I figure your probably a few hours from there.
Definitely interested, kick it around a bit maybe we can work something out.

[taisgod]

so are u reconditioning other peoples cars in your garage or is all that stuff just for your car?

[coupe]

Originally posted by taisgod
so are u reconditioning other peoples cars in your garage or is all that stuff just for your car?


Its my side buisness

[taisgod]

damn too bad u live in grand rapids, id bring u some business for sure.

[coupe]

Where exactly are you?

[taisgod]

i live in marine city, i live at the bottom of the arrow in this pic.

[coupe]

Thats not to far.
Let me know if you wanna set something up in the spring.

[taisgod]

i will let u know for sure, i just dropped off my car for a clay and wax job, not sure if they do any polish work like you do but most likely in the spring ill want something done. i really wish i had a camera to take pix with too. my car was heavy with swirl marks and all sorts of stuff so hopefully that comes out.

[coupe]

Take a look at some of my threads, im sure i can recondition your GA no problem.

Where did you take your car to?
You could clay and wax yourself and save alot of money.

[taisgod]

i took it to a play thats called toms auto glass, which also has a ziebart in it. its a pretty large business too, they do ALOT of work. and since my car hasnt been waxed or anything for 2 years, i wanted someone with experience to do it and i wanted it to be buffed also. i once waxed my trans am about 4 years ago, so maybe ill do my GA one time next year, depending on how it comes out this tim. the way i see it its worth the extra money to have it done right then to do a crappy job doing it myself.

and ive seen your threads, impressive work, id much rather have you do it than ziebart, but with pressed time right now i had to go with them.

[coupe]

What exactly did you pay for?
A total paint recoditioning takes 8-15 hours on a grandam. If it costs under $200 and they say it will take only a few hours i would be very scared.

High volume shops are the worste, dont ever take your vehicles to a shop that does high volume.

This is *ussually* what happens:
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/thread/33.aspx

[taisgod]

well then it probably wasnt a total paint recondition, but im paying for a clay job and wax. the total was 150. i should have it back in about an hour.

[taisgod]

well i just got it back, crappy part is that it started raining when i was on my way to get it, so its hard to tell just how good of a job they did cause the rain hasnt stopped, but there is a NOTICABLE difference and shine and dont look like anything bad happened, looks like they did a good job.

[XoticGA]

150 for a Clay and Wax?

I'm in the wrong freaking business :lol:

[Greengo 07]

im sure glad for a max of 40 bucks i can do that myself,

[Nighthawk243]

Hell... I can wash, clay and wax and have it cost less than 20 ;)

[Greengo 07]

i was saying as a first time tho, buying the clay bar kit, and getting some decent wax, and everything,

[coupe]

i was saying as a first time tho, buying the clay bar kit, and getting some decent wax, and everything,


Claymagic= $10.99
megs colorx= $8.69
megs #26= $12.49

$32.17+ tax

All can be bought at autozone. Also with this 1 time purchase you can do your vehicle 100+ times before you have to buy more.

taisgod, after about 5 washes inspect your finish very closely.

[Rainbow1616]

Megs #26 you recommend liquid or paste?

I just finished NXT Tech Wax and didn't really like it.

[coupe]

Its up to you really, either one performs the same, some people like to use paste and some preffer liquid.

[Jordon'sGrandAm]

Looks good. btw you got any heat to keep you warm in there?

[coupe]

Looks good. btw you got any heat to keep you warm in there?


Nope, i dont detail during winter months

[Nighthawk243]

Nope, i dont detail during winter months

Kind of pointless anyways... I don't know of anyone who would pay for a detail job, only to have it wrecked immediately afterward by driving in the snow.

[taisgod]

i think putting the wax on the car can protect the paint in the winter months. coupe have u ever dealt with that diamond gloss?

[coupe]

Sounds familiar, got a link?

Probably more snake oil

[Silverstone-Z]

This motivates me to redo my garage and pole-building. Just gonna clean up the boxes and crap from when we moved in.

[taisgod]

Sounds familiar, got a link?

Probably more snake oil

http://www.carsavers.com/FAQDiamondGloss.htm

http://www.ziebart.com/Index.aspx?mid=3&PageId=48

http://www.ziebart.com/Index.aspx?mid=3&PageId=48

I seen a car at ziebart a year or 2 ago that had the diamond gloss on it, looked pretty sweet, normally if u look up close at a nicely waxed car the paint will look nice and smooth, with the DG u get the nice smooth look but with also a diamond gloss to it, u see all these diamond shapes ont he car, looked pretty sweet too. hard to explain, but if u walk by the car the diamonds kinda intertwine ane makes it look like they are shining and kinda moving if u get what i mean.