Lighting perfection! My garage now.

[KenSilver]

Hi all,

I wish I had taken 'before, during and after' photos of my internal double garage because I've done such a lot to it over the last few months.

Before I started it had a bare but polished concrete floor, unpainted and unstopped gib walls and ceiling, and two standard 60w bulbs at the back.

Since then I've:

- Put in a wall motion sensor switch for the lights.
- Put in a wall mounted TV.
- Painted the floor with 'Bondall' garage industrial paint.
- Had the gib board stopped.
- Painted all the walls and ceiling white.
- Lined the far wall with a full set of cupboards.
- Bought and mounted a winch for my Mercedes hardtop.

And the biggest improvement of all was completed today by a couple of trusty electricians:

- 4 fluorescent twin tube lighting connected to the motion sensor switch.

These are 5ft long, double daylight tubes (48watt each) which put out some massive light. The whole garage is lit up like day, and I'm seeing detail in my cars that I've never seen before - even compared to daylight.

The photo only shows one light, but the four are fitted running in the same direction as my cars. This gives very even illumination, and the sides of each car are well lit too for the first time.

I'm very pleased I took this final step, and I wonder how I ever got anything done properly with my previous lighting set up.

The final crunch that made me speed up my lighting decision was most unpleasant. Because the two incandescents were at the back of the garage, I used a tripod mounted halogen to get things done at the front.

Several days ago the halogen fell against the Merc door, giving it an expensive scratch. I vowed then to get lit up properly, and it was well worth it.

Now, what else do I have to wreck to get some motivation going!


Ken Silver
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1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas), 1991 Miata MX5 ... Finish detailing them, then start all over again...

[G35stilez]

Now thats professional!

Now all you need is a lift for your cars built in...hehe

Nice job though. I hope my garage will get to somewhere like that one day. Enjoy it!

[kgb]

I like it! I have a small garage, only 1.5 cars but when I painted all of the walls white and added more flourescent lights it made all the diferene in the world.

[Wash_Me]

How's the Bondall holding out?

[andriver]

Ken thats awsome! Good work and planning.

[PAW]

Nice job Ken! I see your new tool chest is promently displayed. But, looks like it might block the door.

A question for you can you translate the phases "unstopped gib walls and ceiling" and "Had the gib board stopped" from Kiwi into American?

I'm assuming you this means you put up drywall / gypsum on to the previously unfinished (wooden studs) walls?

[ernie]

Very nice Ken. I'm just getting started on a garage reorganization/updating project similar to yours (probalby skip the television, but it's a nice touch!).......this gives me something to shoot for. I would also be interested in occasional updates on how the Bondall is holidng up.

ernie

[KenSilver]

Thanks for the positive comments guys.

GSRstilez -
Yes, I'd like a scissors style lift. Both cars are very low to the ground and makes sills and underbody cleaning hard work. But then I'd want them up in the air to wash underneath, and that means the lift goes outside - not very practical I guess.

Wash_Me & ernie -
The Bondall is coming up to 9 months on the floor now, and I'm going to repaint this weekend when the Merc's away getting the door fixed. Prep is everything with this paint. I followed instructions right down to the last detail, but still I have lift-off patches under three wheels. The other 5 wheel areas have turned slightly brown. Not sure what it is, but it won't come off. Before I painted I did a full clean wash, sandpapered the floor, used a hydrochloric acid cleaner, everything dried between steps, and still didn't get optimum results. Apparently oil or petrol spilled on the concrete in the past is still seeping through. I may have to put rubber mats down under the wheels if this coat doesn't bond as it's a messy look otherwise. A friend with commercial car storage has his floor repainted every 6 months, and several garage mechanics have said the same. Looks like painting is not the answer, but a commercial preparation might be worth the expense.

PAW -
Yes, the tool chest blocks the door, but the door is an exterior one that only the cat uses - the cat door is at the right-hand side of the chest. And with the size of my cars, space is at a premium and this is really the only place it can go.

I don't know the US terms for 'stopping' but the gib board was already up, but unpainted, and I got a plasterer to come and fill in all the gaps between the boards and the nail holes. It was a big job - 2 full day's work for this professional stopper. So glad I didn't try it myself - would have taken me weeks.


Ken Silver
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1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas), 1992 Miata MX5 ... Finish detailing them, then start all over again...

[Brad B.]

Looks like a surgery, ken!

[KenSilver]

Originally posted by Brad B.
Looks like a surgery, ken!

Thanks Brad (I think!)

Actually there is a paint shop in our area called "The Surgery' (www.thesurgery.co.nz) which operates on high-end cars - Beemers, Bentleys, Porsches and the like. They did parts of my Daimler a year back and made a magnificent job of it.

But my place is tidier than theirs.

And this afternoon I was in a tool shop talking about the new lights. "Ah," they said. "now that you've got almost everything, what you need is a lift." Yes, I replied, I know someone who has a nice-looking one. I'll ask him whether they're really useful or not. So?


Ken Silver
--------------
1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas), 1992 Miata MX5 ... Finish detailing them, then start all over again...

[PAW]

Stopping the gib board is what we would call taping and mudding. In the US, we'd call a stopper a dry waller or plaster.

[Scottwax]

Wow! What a great looking garage! The lighting is terrific as well.