I have a small (14" x 14") heater in my garage that works pretty well. It's 220 volt and (I think) 18,000 BTU. It keeps my 19' x 19' garage warm.

Below are a couple pictures.

 

If you don't have any type of stool/seat in your garage, I suggest you consider one.

I've had the one below for a while and it really helps when cleaning wheels, polishing the side of your car, things like that. I can put some rags, Q-Tips, and other stuff on the shelf on the bottom then scoot around the whole car without ever standing up. Sure is easier on the legs.

Best part is it only costs $20 at Sears.

 

here's mine. it's got a 12v Optima yellow top on the shelf
in the back so i can plug in my PDR light when needed (during
remote service).



but for detailing, nothing beats pneumatic like this one..

 

Has anyone here put any kind of sound system in their garage?

I have a three year old radio there now and I have been considering putting something with better sound quality to listen to when I'm out there polishing, cleaning, etc.

I went to Tweeter today and they gave me a price of about $1,500 for a surround sound system with a Yamaha tuner/receiver and Polk speakers and woofer. Seems like a lot to me.

I've also been looking at what's called shelf systems. These are smaller all-in-one systems, some of which have futuristic looking speakers.



Anyone here done anything like this?

 

i have an old kenwood boombox in my garage right now that actually sounds
pretty decent.

im going to do a small home theater setup (just the audio and small LCD)
in there probably next Spring. unless you put sound deadening material
on the walls, don't spend too much money on the speakers. nothing
sounds worse than a reflective rectangular room with hard flooring.

i have a home music studio in my den. i spent a couple hundred dollars
at GuitarCenter to get the Pyramid sound deadening material on the walls.

it's a small 15 wall room (not that i designed it this way...) with sound
deadners in the walls and semi-anechoic. my stereo sounds great in
there.

 

I have in-ceiling speakers that are hooked into my whole house A/V system.

I can listen to TV/ITunes/DVD/Radio/ETC.

You can see the speakers to the outside of the lights:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...9&d=1160452491

Works pretty slick.....

However, f you don't want to go the whole house AV route, you can do what I did in my last garage which it to hook up a pair of computer speakers to a MP3 player.

Dave

Dave

 

I have a better sound system on my "to do" list for my garage/shop, but for now I'm still making do with a large 15 year old boombox. Since my walls and ceiling are unfinished (for now) the reflections/echoes shouldn't be too bad. I have a lot of stereo equipment up in the attic from my audio hobbyist days (amps, preamps, tuners, CD players, etc) and could set up a decent high quality sound system in my garage with no out of pocket expense except for possibly a larger pair of speakers to fill the 14,000 cubic feet that is my shop.

-Keith

 

^^ that's true. unfinished garages have better acoustics for the
most part.

 

Right now I just have my Altec system for my Ipod. It is pretty decent, but I'm going to upgrade in the near future. I really love to sing along, and really loud when I'm cleaning anything, house, car, dogs, whatever!
I really love this little unit, it came with about 5 different power jacks for international use. I took it to Europe last year and it doubled as my alarm clock while in London and Paris. It also folds flat and has a cool little carry bag so is great for travel.

Annette

 

Check out this cool paintwork from one of the VW guys on the garage forum. He's promised better pics of the finished garage project, but I just had to post this. I think it's inspired.

Annette

 

DAMN you guys... I just dropped several hundred bucks last night at the Andersons on garage goodies... What did I buy, you ask? Well, you'll just have to wait and see.

What was really weird was that the missus was actually into it for a change - why else do you think so much money got spent?

Pics will be coming soon...

 

Thats your polisher and then some...

 

Don't effing remind me. But hey, like I said, at least she was into it this time.

 

Haha, understand. I have dropped way to much money lately. BTW, the Griots Garage cart is Awesome. Worth the extra money...rolls around VERY well. makes detailing and washing easier...its all right there.

Ken, where are the pictures of your Modified cart?

 

Ok, who are the Andersons and how do I get an introduction?

Can't wait to see what you got!
Annette

 

Its a country store. Anything from fine wines and import beers, to traditional style butcher(sp) to shot gun shells

To get introduced you come to Columbus, stay in Matts renovated garage...and we go over.

 

The Andersons has a truly impressive tool and hardware section... And they have garage gear on display, not just in the boxes with pictures like lots of other places... Now if they'd just start carrying good car care stuff it would be perfect - a fellow only needs so many light-up LED air fresheners and neon license plate frames.

 

You can never have too many neon license plate frames.

 

After reading through the garage journal forum (see this thread), I've found some alternatives to racedeck free flow.

Does anyone know if these are better or worse?

Racedeck is $2.79 psf.

BigFoot is $1.99 psf. (Look at the garage photos..it looks the same as RD)
http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/product_p/htpsd.htm

KiwiTile $2.93 psf doesn't look the same, but is similar, also it is 1/3meter square instead of 1-foot.
http://www.kiwitile.com/products/

Any ideas? I would be tempted to go with the bigfoot, that can amount to a significant savings.
I calculated the totals for a 10x14' area: Racedeck $390 free shipping; Kiwi $431 after shipping; bigfoot $278 plus unknown shipping.

 

The bigfoot "looks" similar to race deck...it is not the same (I compared one of my tiles to the one on-line"

However, they refer to is as "rubber" everywhere and not "plastic"...rubber could have wear issues....

Anyone seen this in person?

Colors of the bigfoot also seem limited...

Also, make sure you get a quote direct from Racedeck...cause I think I paid less than $2.79....

I know you got a racedeck sample...you should get one of these and compare!

Could be a GREAT deal...let us know what you find out.

edit:

Oops...also noted that they are 13.1 inch tiles vs. racedeck at exactly 12. Was the $1.99 per SQFT or per tile...could make it cheapers or more expensive depending on the exact length and width...

Dave

Dave

 

Thanks for that link! That place has wheel dollies that I have been looking for. I still live at home(Its cheap, I'm young, and still in school...how else could i afford this crap?) but am thankful to have the use of one of the three garage spots. So, These dollies will allow me to put both the MINI AND the jeep in the garage. Use the jeep in the snow..these dollies are cheaper than snows...and allow the jeep to warm up quicker in the morning.

 

What the heck are they? They have no action shots. You can... what? Roll your whole car around in the garage?

 

Yes. I never saw the point until I realized with them I can fit both the MINI and the jeep in a single car garage. Just allows you to move the car around easily.

 

I did get a direct racedeck quote, and they told me 2.79 per tile. Maybe because I only have a 1-car garage?

I missed the 13.1...so it is the same 1/3 meter as the kiwitile. Not 1.99psf, it is 1.99 per tile. Meaning I need less tile... So now the BigFoot is down to $214 +S&H for my 10x14 area!

Now I'm very interested. The site doesn't let you price colors etc, so I just called Greg Smith.
They were familiar with racedeck and said it is almost exactly the same. It is plastic, and water can flow underneath.
He ballparked my shipping around $60.
He also said they are $1.89, not 1.99. Fine w/me!
..so that puts my total at $264...MUCH cheaper than all the others, and maybe low enough to be in my price range in a few months.

 

Sounds great!

Get it done and post pics!!!!