# New guy with a blank canvas



## Hudson1984 (29 Dec 2017)

Hi all. 

new to the forum, and hoping to use your experience to steer me in the right direction. 

Just moved into a new property and wanting to make the most of the garage. 

It's almost a double length, little over single width. Rubbish door, poor lighting, fitted with an old kitchen and just a bit, dark, damp and generally uncomfortable. 

in the last house I painted the walls, tiled the floor, built a bench and loved spending time in there - this one needs to be better  

So, I was hoping to use this thread to essentially talk me through what to do next. I'm getting a quote for an insulated roller door so that should hopefully be a start! 

I'd like to be able to make some things in there in the end, mainly from sheet materials (i'm no carpenter) but also some metal work projects. 

Goals for me are going to be:
New door
Insulate the ceiling
paint the walls
floor tiles
remove old kitchen and replace with homemade cabinetry 
completely start again with the electrics
anything else you lot coax me into :lol: 

can't post piccies i'm afraid as account won't allow


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## thick_mike (29 Dec 2017)

Improve the lighting with LED panels. Made a tremendous improvement to my shed.


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## fezman (29 Dec 2017)

+1 for the LED panels - see Peter Millards thread / video on this - I used a similar couple of panels and the lighting is very good. Planning to have 1 or 2 more 

As for cabinets, I used the most basic B&Q base units and topped them with 1" plywood. Worked a treat.


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## Phil Pascoe (29 Dec 2017)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400921892859

I do believe these are them.


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## Hudson1984 (29 Dec 2017)

hi all, yeah i've been pricing up just having the back wall with 2 1000mm base units and two 1000mm wall units. bridge the gap with worktop and i've a gap for a chair too. 

Was looking at covering the walls with Slatwall - perhaps over a period of time as it's damned expensive and doing the whole garage would cost thousands...unless there's a better option?

with lighting - i'll search those LED things, wasn't intending on having a suspended ceiling - won't they look odd without or did you flush fit them into insulation board?


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## petermillard (29 Dec 2017)

Here you go:- LED Workshop Lighting - https://youtu.be/TrukKsGFGO8

LED Panels on eBay - https://goo.gl/KUWcw8

Thoroughly recommended [THUMBS UP SIGN]


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## fezman (29 Dec 2017)

Hudson1984":1sw0g97w said:


> hi all, yeah i've been pricing up just having the back wall with 2 1000mm base units and two 1000mm wall units. bridge the gap with worktop and i've a gap for a chair too.
> 
> Was looking at covering the walls with Slatwall - perhaps over a period of time as it's damned expensive and doing the whole garage would cost thousands...unless there's a better option?
> 
> with lighting - i'll search those LED things, *wasn't intending on having a suspended ceiling - won't they look odd without or did you flush fit them into insulation board*?



I made some simple frames and screwed these to the trusses in the garage. the panels slide into the frames, and gravity takes care of the rest.


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## Hudson1984 (30 Dec 2017)

certainly worth giving it a look. 

been having a play on sketchup, think i'm going to fill the back wall with B&Q cabinets, 2 wide ones on the bottom 2 wide ones on the wall, cheap worktop. comes in at around £150 all in. 

then my thoughts were to cover the wall with slatwall to allow me to just put bins or shelves up where needed. 2 x 2 gang sockets and it should be a useful space. 

with the rest of the garage I think i'll hold fire. I want to insulate the ceiling, which will then have plasterboard over (maybe even a skim of plaster on top to allow for painting) the wall with all the electrical stuff (consumer unit, sockets, wiring etc) I'll probably plasterboard too - this wall is connected to the house so is insulated inside. Might look at a thin insulating layer in there too if needs be. 

The exterior wall I think I'll leave as brick - maybe for twinslot shelving or hooks for hanging other random bits. Could do slatwall but would be so expensive it's probably not worth it. So Sandex white it will be. There's two windows on that wall too that'll need replacing (old and rubbish - want to be able to open them as i'll use the garage to house a punchbag too) 

Door: Just waiting on quotes to replace with an insulated electric one. 

Floor i'll be using tiles. Will wait till door is done and then look around but I know some people at "Ruba-Duk" and their tiles are pretty good value. 

Think i'll look to change the personnel door too - it's an old wooden thing. I want the garage to be light, dry and warm. 

as mentioned above, punchbag - i'm going to make a frame from KeyKlamp scaffold and drill it into the wall then hang the bag from this. This'll be the final stage I think....and therefore a while off!


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## Shultzy (30 Dec 2017)

I would insulate the walls and the floor. Mine is a wooden workshop with 100mm insulation all around and even with the recent cold snap the internal temp rarely goes below 5deg, this makes sure non of the tools rust.


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## TopCat 32 (30 Dec 2017)

Have a look at Travis Perkins website for kitchen units, Dekota range , i think they come ready assembled and about £24 for a 1000mm wall unit, could be a better bet then B&Q stuff, just getting some for my workshop as you cant buy the wood and hardware for that price 

regards Tim


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## Hudson1984 (31 Dec 2017)

TopCat 32":1xsqjhwq said:


> Have a look at Travis Perkins website for kitchen units, Dekota range , i think they come ready assembled and about £24 for a 1000mm wall unit, could be a better bet then B&Q stuff, just getting some for my workshop as you cant buy the wood and hardware for that price
> 
> regards Tim



Awesome will take a look cheers


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## Phil Pascoe (31 Dec 2017)

If you know anyone who does kitchen fitting ask them for what you want - the have to pay to dispose of what they rip out (which is usually fine for using in a workshop). That's where mine came from.


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