jpaschall

Mods if this is too OT just take it down but I could use some advice and I figure C&Ver's may have the advice I seek.

My wife and I just moved into a new home, built in the 70's, with a massive garage. This was clearly someone's beloved workspace, as it is heavily shelved, has a nice work bench, and has a running sink. Long story short, it hasn't been cleaned in quite a while and I haven't a clue where to start. It's not drywalled, has a few dubious looking electrical hookups, and is quite musty. Last, the ceiling has got to be 15 ft or taller.

I have a great space to store and work on my bikes now, but I really feel like I need to do some cleaning before I spend too much time down there. Any advice or links to better places to read/ask are appreciated. We've been apartment dwellers for years and this is a new adventure for us.

Bianchigirll 

Just roll up your sleeves and dig in! Sounds like a great work space. You and easily attach a few 2x4s to the studded wall to hang your bikes and you definitely need to start filling those shelves with boxes of assorted parts!

Kactus

With the "musty" smell and "dubious" wiring, I think you should do something more involved than just cleaning it up. If it smells musty, you may have an issue with dampness and/or poor ventilation. This will lead to problems with corrosion of steel bikes and tools. The dubious wiring problem pretty much speaks for itself.

Stormsedge

Wish my garage were that large...but, having done partial renovations on two homes, if you don't like the looks of the electrical or want to change it (outside of opening the breaker and replacing a wall socket or light switch), hire an electrician to check it out and advise you (decide if you want more lighting too). If you had a home inspection, recommendations for the electrical may already be in your inspection report.

Resist spraying any cleansers or wetting anything until everything is swept down/up. A shop vac at this point would be your friend, but not an absolute necessity. Suit up with a dust mask (and maybe goggles depending on the amount of high dirt/ dust...if you've seen or suspect mold or mildew, health safety precautions are a must) and brush everything down with a long handled broom or brush...do ceiling first then work down the walls and shelves until you get everything loose to the floor, then sweep it up and put it in the trash (resist the urge to sweep it out the door or the wind may blow it right back in on you).

If the garage still seems musty after a good sweep down and airing out, try cleaning the garage floor with concrete/garage cleaner and letting it dry...concrete seems to hold a lot of dust which is part of the smell in old garages and basements. If you still think it musty (or actually see mold/mildew on the walls/ceiling) it's time to either get after cleaning it yourself or to consider hiring someone to deep clean it. Note that mold/mildew may also be noted in your inspection report.

Resist the urge to drywall or pegboard over anything suspicious.

Jadesfire 

I concur with getting the electrical and musty issues seen to by a professional. I would also second wearing a mask as you start to clean- lots of stuff can trigger allergies, and that could be aggravating for a while.
Something to think about, that I wish had been done before stuff got moved into my garage space: sealing the concrete floor. Makes it a little easier to clean up stains and mop/sweep up dirt, and some come in light textures that might be helpful as well.

jpaschall

I should add that we are renting. The advice regarding keeping it dry is specifically what I was looking for, as going at with a power washer or something sounds a whole lot easier. I was thinking for sure I needed a respirator, a whole suit is a good idea as well.

I'm under the impression that the house has been vacant for awhile, so I'm hoping the smell is mostly a ventilation problem.

SoreFeet

Get a oxy torch welder, order some lugs and tubes from nova and go to town Enjoy the new lab.

billytwosheds 

I agree with the above suggestion of wearing a mask once you start to dig into it. I'd get the air moving in the garage ASAP so within a couple days you'll have an idea of whether or not the musk points to a problem.

Mold can do a number on your health.

thinktubes 

Got pics?

jpaschall

I'll snap some this afternoon.

John E

When the boys were growing up and we were outgrowing our 1400 sq. ft. house, I added a new garage and converted the existing one into a family room / general purpose room which eventually morphed into my wife's art studio. Unfortunately, caught between front and side yard setback requirements and my wife's rose garden, I had to build a code-minimum garage, just under 20x20 feet. With a workbench on the far wall, shelving along both sides, and bikes hanging from the rafters on (what else?) bicycle storage hooks, we use every cubic foot and can still park our cars in it.

I envied your amount of garage space until I read the part about renting ... .

SJX426 

Sealing the floor is a good idea after power washing it. Ask the owner if he would pay for the material. if no, then consider the garage mat Costco sells. When you leave you can take it with you.

oddjob2

Floor paint is cheap, about $100 per 2 car garage. Rust Oleum or Behr.

jpaschall

Yeah :\. Our new neighbor (who has a beautiful shop in his backyard that is housing a pristine powder blue 60's Mustang) told us the owners may be looking to sell down the road. I like the house quite a bit but it certainly needs work.

I will be sure to ask about a sealant. We are dealing directly with the owners so it may fly.

Lascauxcaveman 

Work from the top down, so sealing the floor should be the final step, not the first one. An extra long extension tube and stepladder to vac the ceiling and walls is where I would start. A lot of dust can accumulate over a decade or so, and if you have a moisture problem, the dust exacerbates it by becoming a hard, caked on thin layer of dried mud over the long term.

jpaschall

Some pics, as promised. I suppose "massive" is likely a relative term. It seems awfully large to me. It can easily fit the car and our SUV, my wife just isn't 100% confident parking in it yet.


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr

Those drains going into the sink are supposedly from the A/C drain pan in the attic???


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr


Garage photos by Joshua Paschall, on Flickr

Not a clue what this does.

Jadesfire 

That doesn't open the door to the hidden underground laboratory? Rip-off!

Seriously, that's a great amount of storage, especially for a rental. Personally, I'd stack all of the stuff left over (A/C filters, carpet, etc.) in the tall cupboards next to the sink, get a shop vac or even just a Dustbuster for the shelves/window sills, and probably scrub the floor with some dilute bleach. If you want to buy the place in a few years that looks like a pretty good layout to work with. Do the windows open easily?

jpaschall

I tried the one above the bench earlier and, no, it doesn't budge. The two on the wall of shelves require a ladder to get to, even for 6'2" me.

But yeah, I'm gonna the junk cleaned up this weekend hopefully.

FBOATSB

This is what we did when we had our new big garage built: Hang a tennis ball so it contacts the windshield directly over the steering wheel when the car is in just far enough to close the door so you and the wife can get used to pulling in to the exact same spot and stopping short of hitting anything. You will get used to it in a short time and be able to remove later.

thumpism 

We found a place with a massive garage. A dream space, but I told my wife it did not have plumbing, 220V or heat and A/C. She told me to get over it. Problem is, we moved from a place with an attic and a basement but no garage to a place with a garage but no attic or basement, so everything wound up in the garage and most of it is still there. It's an ongoing project.

Renting will really cut down on your fun but you can spruce up and rearrange within the limits of the lease. Good luck!
garage1.jpggarage2.jpg

Spaghetti Legs 

My first house was an old one bought about 20 yrs ago in Richmond Va. One of my first purchases was a Sears shop vac that I still use today - one of my all time most useful non-bike purchases. I'd recommend one of those to get the dust cleared out.

I'm a former Memphian, your new place there? I kept my bikes in the garage there without any problems but I didn't have any steel there.

jpaschall

Yes we're still in Memphis, Bartlett now to be exact. Had a kid and immediately moved to the burbs like we always said we wouldn't lol. We've lived in midtown/crosstown until now for the last ~7 years.

Spaghetti Legs 

Ahh, former Mid Towner myself, near Rhodes College. I was going to suggest leaving bikes in a Memphis garage with windows might be foolhardy, but I suspect Bartlett will be OK.

Pompiere

When you said the walls were not dry-walled, I was picturing bare studs. While it is empty, I would suggest asking the landlord about painting with a mold resistant paint. That would help the existing lighting to brighten up the space, as well as sealing any mold. Get the ceiling first, but if you can paint the walls, too, that would be even better. For that size of space, a paint sprayer would be the way to go. The landlord may spring for the paint if you do the labor.

A lot of the new LED shop lights can be daisy-chained together, so 4-5 lights run off one plug. If you plug them into a switched outlet, you can light up the whole shop without any major wiring changes.

SJX426 

I run a dehumidifier in my much smaller 2 car garage here in the DC area. Huge difference in keeping the moisture down.

I would remove any loose items and put them in a pile in the middle of the garage and start at one end and work around to get rid of the loose dirt/dust.

Those three shelving units next the garbage can are candidates for removal. Too much waisted space between them. There should be one long shelving unit. I like the chrome wire shelving at Costco that has 6 shelves each. 6 is too many for my spacing requirements. Since you can make a pole common to to adjacent shelves, extra poles are collected. Three units actually allow you to have a fourth for free with the extra shelves and poles from the other three.

This is a bit of a mess but here is an example:
[IMG]P1020537, on Flickr[/IMG]