Ok, so now I know I've got some catching up to do!

Nice

I'm afraid I'd get that covered with overspray and gunk Have you got one of those plastic covers like the AV equipment in school had?

 

At this point, my biggest concern is just dust. I do not do any spray painting or heavy maintenance in the garage. The most frequent thing I do out there is just general cleaning of the two vehicles.

The Mini has the free maintenance program so the dealer does all the servicing (so far just an oil change and brake fluid change). The other car goes to the dealer for oil changes too.

The garage stays fairly clean except for some dust that gets blown in when the door is open. This will be the first winter since I had the epoxy coating put on the floor so I will see how much that helps in keeping things clean.

My only problem now is looking for the next upgrade. Maybe air conditioning next spring...

 

Just put up some checkered wallpaper border around the garage today. The pics are uploaded in My Gallery.

I like it !!

 

Looks great CR&PW! I really like your display area. I'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate my vintage Hot Wheels collection into my garage. Space is at such a premium that I'm struggling with whether to use wall space for something decorative. Seeing yours makes me think that I should just go for it!
Annette

 

Thanks, Annette ! Glad you liked it.

That display area was a lot easier to do than it might look. The only tough part was the red background. Don't know if you've ever painted with red but it took five coats to cover up the white thoroughly.

Anyway... the checkers around the display are simply tape I got from here:

http://racechex.com/chexstuff/page02.html

BTW, the checkered wallpaper border around the garage also came from that website.

The MINI logo over the display case, I got on E-Bay.

Not sure how well you can see that display case but it has mirror back and all the shelves are checkered. If you're interested, I'll try to remember where I got it.

Thanks again and have a good day !

 

I'm quite familiar with racechex.com, they have quite a bit of my "mad" money!
I would love to know where you got the display case if you can think of it, it's a really nice one. I've found a few on ebay that are pretty nice, but yours is definitely a notch above.
Annette

 

I've been Googling to try and find that website again, Annette. No luck, so far. I should have kept my receipt !

I'll keep looking when I have some more time.

Edit: Silly me, should have thought of this sooner... there's a label on the back of the case. Try this:

http://www.racingproducts.biz/

 

Great, thanks!!! I've sent them an email to check on pricing, now I better run up to the attic and start counting my Hot Wheels!
Annette

 

very nicely done! i gotta get me that MINI logo!!

here's the latest on my detailing cart. i expect to have more stuff coming in this week.

 

Thanks, kenchan.

And I gotta get ME a Racedeck floor like you have !!

Yes, that logo adds a lot to the model display area and it was only somewhere around $15 on E-Bay, IIRC.

BTW, that's a highly organized detailing cart you have there... labels on all your containers, everything squared away at 90 degree angles, etc... Say, are you married ?!?!

 

ahhh,,, why yes and a son as well. (noisiest little sucker)
those boxes are like filing cabinets. keep them organized and everything
will be there when you need it.

 

Quick question on floor coatings. My garage floor is relatively pristine - but does have some chips in the concrete. Nothing major - most about the size of a dime and less than 1/8" deep. Will these present a problem for applying a floor coating? If so is there a product that can be used to fill in those chips?

Thanks for any intel...

 

griots garage has those fillers for cracks that might work?

http://www.griotsgarage.com/search.j...rchtext=filler

 

You can also look for Floor Leveler at Home Depot. You would probably find this around the tile area. It is used to smooth out the floor before putting down tile or vinyl. It is a very hard epoxy that is quick drying. Only tip for it is to get it on smooth as quick as possible because it is so hard that you can't sand it smooth. I used this on chips in my garage after I acid-cleaned the floor and before I put down the epoxy paint. I also got a couple of tubes of self-leveling crack seal. It goes down very liquidy from a caulking tube, then becomes rubbery. I used this for the expansion joint in the middle of the garage since it can expand and contract with the concrete. I put the epoxy paint over this stuff as well.

 

Thanks kenchan and minimaybee.

 

np! do you have a pict of your garage?

 

Since I last posted, I've had the local cable company (Comcast) come out and install a cable outlet to the TV. Now I have HD capability.

I also found an Apple audio adapter at Circuit City so I can attach the Ipod out of the Mini to the sound system and listen to my own songs if I choose.

I'm really happy with it so far. I had the TV on last Saturday for about three hours while I was out there cleaning the Jeep.

Only down side is there are five remotes now to operate all the parts. Other than using the cable remote to look for shows, so far they have stayed in the drawer.

 

very cool. btw, what kind of shelf is that? looks nice.

 

It's a Sears item, called stationary storage unit, part number 706.655510. It's no longer listed in their catalog but they do have a similar unit.

I bought it in 1995 and it's still in fairly good shape. I used it to store odds and ends that I don't use often. Need a dwell meter to set your points? There is one in there somewhere...

 

thanks, i'll check it out!

 

I now have samples of 4 different flooring tiles. I am still waiting on the last 2 before I make my final decision. The bummer is that no one tile has exactly what I'm looking for. My favorite one (and is also the fave of everyone I've solicited opinions from) is the Bigfoot rubber tile from Greg Smith Equipment. It made virtually no noise when walked upon and has a very warm look, not hard and plasticky (I'm sure that's NOT a word) like the others. You'd have to see it to understand. My prob with it is that it only has one shade of grey, which is pretty dark. I'd rather have a light grey, grrrr.It also only comes in the circle pattern which I like for my side room, but doesn't seem very "garagy".
As far as the "hard" tiles, I like the Daytona brand best. It is not quite as shiny as the rest and does have a bit of flex to it. It was the least noisy of the hard tiles to walk on. It also has a cool pattern, kind of a tire tread look which looked like it would be easy to keep clean. The diamond tread pattern on the other brands was very painful to kneel on, which wasn't something that I would have thought about, but I had to kneel down on them to move some tiles around and YOWCH!
Here's a pic of the Bigfoot rubber tiles (different from their plastic tiles) this gives you an idea of how flexible they are.


Here's a pic of the Daytona brand tile showing their tread pattern. This brand offers about 20 colors, including 4 different shades of grey! They also offer a circle pattern, so I could use that pattern in the side room which leads to my laundry room. It's a girl thing!


This is an example of the diamond pattern offered by most of the other brands.


More later as I get more samples. I'm still waiting for samples of Racedeck and Dynotile.

Annette

 

Annette, I'm not so sure that tile with the tire tread design in it would be as easy to keep clean as you think. I would think the more raised edges the design has and the more intricate it is, the more places for dirt to catch onto.

I would go with a design that offers the best combination of safety (can't be slippery when wet), appearance, and simplicity. IMO, the raised circles is the best design.

BTW, any word from that company on your model car display case ??

 

CR&PW, the tire tread pattern is kind of flatter and the edge isn't as sharp. It's more a change of texture.
I have the circle pattern in my basement (Locktile brand) and really like it. When you mop it, one side of the circle kind of holds the dirt, so then you mop a different direction and that side holds the dirt........
In a garage I'm not too worried about that though, since I won't be mopping it like I do the basement. It will probably get blown out, or vacuumed and won't be getting wet on a regular basis.
The diamond tread is really raised and comes to a point, which is why it was so painful to kneel on! I've pretty much ruled that out, unless one of the other 2 samples looks really great.
I did hear back from the model display case, what a nice guy! I told him that I'm going to have to count what I have and then will get back with which size I'm going to order, can't wait!

Annette

 

I like the locitile floor also, why dont you just put that in the garage too?

I should have pictures in a week or two with my new parking solutions

 

On the tile designs: Gotchya. Can't wait to see your finished product.

Yes, that company has good customer service. You'll like the quality of their display cases, too. Top notch, I assure you. Make sure you post pics of that when you receive it and load up you models, too.