Help Me Spend $600!!

**Joshua312** · 04-08-2006, 07:06 AM

Alright, well my dad is in the process of selling his Keystone Ride On Bus for $1,500 to a gentleman we know. When talking about the specifics last night he said I get $600 of it to re-do the garage as we have been talking about it all winter. I need your help deciding what I should purchase to make it worthy enough to detail in and have some goodies.

What I have already in the garage:

Stereo

TV and Mount

What we are going to purchase for sure:

Rustoleom Epoxy (2 coats)

Peg board for surrounding the top half of the garage

Finish off the bottom with either this wood paneling we have in our family room or a dry-wall type surface that can resist water (cant think of the name of it right now)

The peg board and lower half will all be painted white

Any other ideas you have for me to purchase? Specific lighting ideas or other goodies? I dont want to go off and blow it on like $300 storage cabinets, Id like to get the most bang for the buck but still get good quality. Thanks in advance!

**RTexasF** · 04-08-2006, 09:40 AM

Sears has the Halogen lights (500 X2) with stand on sale for $25! A couple of those would light up auto projects or.....well, wherever you needed some super light.

**LightngSVT** · 04-08-2006, 01:34 PM

What about lighting, heat and running water do you already have these in your garage? I think good lightning is a priority since you are already doing your floor. Look into some HO flourescents from HD or Lowes, should be able to pick them up for $30-40 each plus bulbs. The plastic Rubbermaid, or similar, storage cabinets at Lowes are very nice and reasonable at $40-80 each, you can never have enough good storage. Other than that you may want to look into an air compressor or other detailing tools.

**nudave** · 04-08-2006, 02:28 PM

Depending on the size of the garage....mine is 22x20. Kind of small. Take a look at my thread in the garage forums. I have two 500w halogens mounted the wall....with 4 4` on the ceiling.

**Joshua312** · 04-08-2006, 08:19 PM

Originally Posted by LightngSVT

What about lighting, heat and running water do you already have these in your garage? I think good lightning is a priority since you are already doing your floor. Look into some HO flourescents from HD or Lowes, should be able to pick them up for $30-40 each plus bulbs. The plastic Rubbermaid, or similar, storage cabinets at Lowes are very nice and reasonable at $40-80 each, you can never have enough good storage. Other than that you may want to look into an air compressor or other detailing tools.

What specifically would I use running water for in the garage, never really thought of that before.

Thanks for the input everyone, as I wish I could purchase more detailing tools...Really the money is just more towards the garage rather than detailing tools for me. My parents just want to make the garage look nice as they now understand that I am actually getting busier and more people interested in my services (plus they see the results and finally back my decision to keep ordering new products

) I think the light idea is great, as well as the storage. I will be posting pictures of the progress as soon as we buy the supplies needed for my dad to do the walls and epoxy. Im off too search Home Depot and Lowes website right now for garage toys

**LightngSVT** · 04-08-2006, 09:16 PM

I put in both a hose bib and a utility tub w/hot and cold water in my current house and I wont go without again. Putting the same in the new house. There are many, many uses from washing your hands after working on a car, rinsing off dirty boots afgter working in the yard, cleaning your pads, filling car wash soap buckets with warm water on a cold day, etc, etc, etc.

If you are using your garage for a detail shop and people are dropping off cars to you then you`re correct you need to look as professional as possible. I think the drywall you mentioned is called green board and is used behind tile installations in bathrooms etc, good choice. Youve got the floor covered (no pun intended), so I`d go for lighting next and then good and ample storage units.

**Joshua312** · 04-09-2006, 07:39 AM

Originally Posted by LightngSVT

If you are using your garage for a detail shop and people are dropping off cars to you then you`re correct you need to look as professional as possible. I think the drywall you mentioned is called green board and is used behind tile installations in bathrooms etc, good choice. Youve got the floor covered (no pun intended), so I`d go for lighting next and then good and ample storage units.

Hmm..water sounds like a good idea instead of walking into the house all the time..just dont know how hard that would be for my dad to do..he is pretty handy so I will have to ask him. As for the walls, it is green board! I couldnt think of the name for the life of me till you mentioned it. I found some nice storage cabinets on the sears website, still have around $150 left to spend so I will probably get some nice lighting and find a nice little mobile cabinet. I ordered a Brinkmann Dual Xenon handheld spot light last night..Cant wait till that toy gets here, should be good for my mobile jobs and for picture taking. There are so many toys for the garage I would love...but just not enough money

**Joshua312** · 04-19-2006, 02:00 PM

Went to Menards and Lowes yesterday and purchased the starting supplies we needed. Instead of doing wood paneling along the bottm and staining it, we have changed our mind due to prices (Would double the cost of the wall) Instead we are going to go with the moisture resistant dry-wall all the way around...We will have 4 feet of peg board on each side as well as the back wall - we are going to give the pegboard a framed look by adding trim around it, staining the trim as well as the pegboard.

We were looking at lighting and I plan to get two 4 foot flourecents for surrounding the sides of the vehicle, and then what do you guys think of mounting those flood lights (the square clear ones not the 2 independent round ones) on each side of the garage probably at 5 foot in height near the peg board pointing to the center, these also are able to swivel - and then connect those to a dimmer switch.

Pictures will be posted tomorrow on the progress so far, we just emptied out the garage today of all it`s junk. Electrical work will start soon (adding more outlets)

**Scottwax** · 04-19-2006, 02:34 PM

Buy me 6 meals at Ruth`s Chris Steakhouse. That`ll eat up $600.

I agree with the others, focus on great lighting.

**Joshua312** · 04-19-2006, 02:39 PM

haha Scott

Once I hit it big and start rolling in some details I`ll paypal you that $600

My dad is pretty handy so I told him lets just build our own storage to save more money and get some good lighting like everyone has suggested - I think getting another halogen stand, 2-4 flourecents, I have my Brinkmann Dual Xenon currently, and some high wattage incandecents should be a good start

**natebood** · 04-20-2006, 02:08 AM

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Buy me 6 meals at Ruth`s Chris Steakhouse. That`ll eat up $600.

Off topic, but their stakes are by far the best I`ve ever had. It`s like they melt in your mouth and is well worth every penny.

**imported_KevinA** · 04-20-2006, 07:06 AM

My wife had us buy two heavy duty cabinets and a work bench from Sam`s Club the other day. I`ll probably mount my power miter saw on one.

The garage is such a mess right now. I have too many projects going at once and can`t seem to complete one due to other family obligations. Maybe I can just try to get it organized this weekend.

**bmwbear** · 04-20-2006, 07:23 AM

I picked up 2 SS wire racks (6 shelf w/wheels) at Sam`s Club last night for $77.00 each. One for my detailing supplies and the other for lawn tools. Having wheels with make them easier to move when cleaning the garage..