I'll have a 3 car garage soon ... What to do?
 

I'm moving to Colorado into a brand new, newly built home (~2600sq ft with an unfinished basement). The third bay appears to be a bit smaller than the rest, but I'm ok with that. That's where the max (or if I get rid of it and get a project car) will go.

Inside (still in the building phase)

https://lh4.ggpht.com/_Ekjm58ulcd0/S...0/IMG_3011.JPG

I don't know how much space I'll have along the sides with three cars parked in there (I haven't been in the house, but I'm going to check it out this upcoming week). But I would like to add a few work benches (prob two), and a 42" tool chest. In the craftsman flyer that is coming now every month, there are 42" tool chests (top and bottom), ball bearing w/griplatch for less than $1000. I also like the tool chests from lowes. The drawers slide SO nicely.

My brother-in-law's mother gets wicked discounts on gladiator storage stuff (http://www.gladiatorgw.com) being that she works for whirlpool. Anyone have any gladiator products, or know anyone that does?

I want to maximize my wall storage as well with either slatwall or peg boards. Something like this for the pegboard: http://www.carguygarage.com/fopaofmepe.html

And to top it all off, I want a refrigerator with 30 different types of beer (always a dream of mine). To just open up the door and have so many different options would be totally awesome.

Any input would be appreciated.

my .02 ...... i wish i lived closer to enjoy the fridge of endless beerz. lol.

have you looked/seen/experienced a snap-on tool box? quite pricey but WELL worth the money.

as for everything else, it looks good man. cant wait to see the final product!! good luck with everything!

garages look awsome, how are you going to finish the walls with?

Looks beautiful my friend.

I'd get a car lift in there if you can afford it :P

The walls were finished by the builder with dry wall ...

That would be sweet ... Liftmaster makes a garage door opener that mounts on the side instead of overhead ... So it would free up some overhead space to enable that ... But I'm a few years away from a lift of any kind.



I was just in the house for the first time last week. I went into the garage and I looked around and I saw only 1 outlet ... Looks like I'll be doing some electrical work when I get the garage goin.

3 car garage? I...hate...you. lol. I'd save room for some snowmobiles and ATV's:) Congrats!

A new 2-post lift can be bought for $2500 or so. They're really not that expensive. of course factor in another $1000 for electrical upgrades and installation..

Be sure to look at the depth of the tool boxes as well before you buy those Craftsman ones. The drawers are only 16" deep, although the chest itself is 18". I looked at them myself.
I'd rather spend a bit more money on a used Matco, Mac, Snap-On, etc box. They have deeper drawers and will hold much more stuff at the end of the day.

Just something to think about... :)

Here is my opinion on the tool box issue. Being that I have worked for sears and actually own both snap-on and craftsman toolboxes I can say that snap-on has much higher quality boxes. Now if you spend the 1k on craftsman you wount be disapointed, until you see a snap-on. Qualty has gone down with craftsman since the old boxes. What I did is puchased used snap-on boxes. My father bought clearence (but still good quality) craftsman boxes with my discount. Their is definetly a quality dfference but both will work better than any husky depot box out there. Just my .02

I bought another Craftsman Pro 5 drawer chest to roll around the shop. SERIOUSLY disappointed with the build quality. damn thing was so flimsy that I wound up having to add some braces inside it just to make it roll without twisting and popping the top off it. pos.
I'll never buy another Craftsman box again.

Congrats. I wish I had a 3 car garage. My 2 car barely fits my Tahoe and Maxima. In about a year we will look for a new house... I want a pool and 3 car garage, just not sure if I can have both...

Yeah quality has gone down dramatically when it comes to most products today. Snap-on is my fav but TOO expensive

Craigslist and estate sales are your friends. ;)

Buy a full box at an estate sale and sell off what you don't need. you'll profit at the end of the day.

Have you looked at the picks in the Garage photos thread? There is some great ideas in there. Irish by far has made the most of his limited space.
http://forums.maxima.org/garage/5474...equipment.html
The Kobalt boxes from Home Depot are made well, give them a look. I use mostly Craftsman sockets and ratchets, but the rest of my crap is from Harbor Freight, or nothern tool.

ATV maybe, but not soon. Snowmobile or snowmachine ... I don't think so. The snow melts very fast in Colorado. If it were any of the northern states then yeah I'd have a snowmachine or two. And I'd have a garage door in the front and back because turning around those are damn near impossible.

Yeah, I've seen those lifts. I've actually seen them for barely less than 2k. Maybe in the future I'd get a lift when my son and future kids are in school. There's only one outlet in the garage, so I'm going to have to upgrade the electric anyway. I plan on putting in at least one 240v outlet, one for a good compressor, and maybe another for a lift in the future. :)

Yeah, I'm aware of the depths of the craftsman boxes. It's usually the tops of the tool chest combo that has the shorter depth. I tell you I am really partial to the kobalt boxes from lowes. I do craigslist searches all the time and I am on the lookout for used boxes.

Thanks for that info

If that's what you want ... Don't settle for anything less.

Good idea ... I'll keep my eye out

Yeah, I've been through that thread a few times. Def gave me a few ideas. I hope to keep it clean and neat. I do like the Kobalt boxes (their top of the line, not so much their entry level).

That's a real man's garage. lol

For 4K you can get a decent lift in there, with a place like this it would be mandatory that I have a car lift. Lol

I'm glad for you, it look like you are going to have a lot of fun with your friends while the girls are shopping or at the restaurant.

A+

AA

I'm jealous as hell! :)

I would put in a lift, nice air compressor, tool box and call it a day. Enjoy your space.

I'm going to have to rethink the lift. I would want to maybe get a 4 post lift so that I could use it to store a 4th car. But I wouldn't be able to open the garage door with a car in the up position.

I'll have to look at it closer when I'm actually in.



I plan on upgrading the lighting right away, and I also plan on adding numerous outlets. Also, on the priority list is insulating the garage doors and adding some weather stripping. I'm not sure on what kind of flooring I'm going to do. I might do epoxy, but I'd have to wait until it's warmer.

you can store a 4th car with a 2 post as well, and you can actually work on cars with it too. Looks like a nice garage :D

Yeah, the only problem with that is I wouldn't be able to open the garage door with a car stored ... I would have to get exact measurements, but I don't think it would work.

awesome garage , congrats and good luck with your new house

ive been thinking about moving to colorado for sometime now, maybe next year