Carpokes

I have compressor and air lines in my home shop . I still find it useful . However my Ridgid 18v battery 1/2 " impact gun is my go to for things like removing lug nuts . With 1300 + ft lbs of removal torque it is a beast . And also for removing suspension nuts and bolts it's hard to beat . It is actually more powerful than my air impact guns .

Belgian951 wrote: Wed Aug 27, 2025 8:07 pm Thanks for the tips and sorry for my delayed response. Some changes:

- had a second kid
- decided to add a lift system for goods in the future so I can put heavy objects like an engine up the storage space if necessary. A cut in the railing will be added to accommodate
- i probably will extend the floor heating with a separate net for the garage so i can have different temperatures in the garage
- i definitely will add at least the necessary ducts and connections to accommodate AC
- the garage door has been widened to about 3.2 metres
- the garage will sit on top of a floodable basement because its mandated (flood zone)
- im thinking of adding water proof garage door plus water proof entry door to both garage and house.
- above, ill see if I can add air for air tools. Im not sure if air tools are better than battery tools though.... but all the shops seem to use them?

Congrats on second kid!

If you are describing a duct for a future mini-spit heat pump hoses and the electrical, stop reading now...

On adding "necessary ducts and connections to accommodate AC", in most place the garage system needs to be airflow-independent of the AC that serves your living spaces. Hence the preference for heat pumps and the like, or a separate conventional AC system.

On air tools, I'm finding myself in a similar situation vs. a battery tool. Except my lightweight battery impact is good to maybe 100 lbs/ft, and on its own it struggles to loosen lug nuts. Not much chance of damaging anything. I generally use it as a nut-runner, and sometimes for loosening suspension bolts. I'm a bit more cautious about using it to assemble things though. Install and engage a few threads by hand, then maybe the electric impact to run the bolts/nuts to seat. Torque wrench for actual final tightening.

There are still some situations that get air tools into the fray. I have a vintage Blue Point air ratchet that delivers a maximum of about 30 lbs/ft torque. I haven't found a battery version that's as small or with the same torque limits. Great for tight spaces, enough torque to move bolts on the front of the engine, but no so much that it will break stuff off or pull threads by accident anyway.

Regardless, real compressed air with a tank is the hero when it comes to filling tires, blowing dust around, and painting/staining/finishing stuff. At our previous home the garage doors were stained red cherry finished with varnish, and were west-facing so got some restoration and respray every couple years, along with the front entry doors. Looked like fine furniture, but there's no way I could have managed the care myself without a good compressed air supply. The last time we visited there, the doors were all painted.

I found a "quiet" portable compressor that gets the lion's share of the duty here. It and its big brother plus the vacuum system live in a sound-insulated cabinet. It's just loud enough to remind me when I forget to shut it off. All the piping/plumbing is hidden in the walls and ceiling. There's a port over each of the lift columns for a service drop, right next to a twist-lock electric outlet. That way those utilities can be available at stations on the lift columns when needed, with a few big magnets on the the stations for mounting when needed. Ports from the walls over workbench surfaces too, plus a couple hose reels tucked in the attic space. Had to build two-hour fire rated boxes for them in the attic so I could have just the hose tail through the ceiling. Lots of little detail things I wish I'd done in previous home workspaces.

New house a few months ago, 3 car garage so I can, for the first time, fit all three cars inside. Polyaspartic coating on the floor with caulking in the expansion joints for easier cleaning. The the two daily drivers will have containment mats (Garage Flooring LLC in CO) underneath them to prevent the winter sludge from oozing all over the garage (they use magnesium chloride here in CO that turns black and makes a mess). They are easy to squeegee off with some water from time to time.
I had a contractor finish the walls and ceiling with knockdown, smooth the joints and I painted it afterwards. My spray gun went out at the beginning of painting so I rolled all 2 coats - my neck is still recovering from painting the ceiling.

The garage has a golf cart nook (Porsche sign area) so that is where the folding bike rack will go (wall underneath bike rack will be covered by aluminum diamond plate - cosmetic thickness from Cuts Metal in CO) along with the tool boxes and workbench. The accent wall is a deep blue paint called English Channel. The Porsche sign is 5 ft wide and is in brushed aluminum ordered from Etsy. Lights were on sale at Ikea and have 150 W LED bulbs in them, their finish compliments the storage cabinets (Seville Classics UltraHD Storage Cabinet from Sam's Club) very well.

I will need to put a task light on the workbench once that is put in. Also installed is a retractable extension cord from the ceiling that will be used for the battery maintainer for the Cayman over the winter so no cords to trip over for the next few months.

More finishing touches once the weather get warm once again. Now I need a lift.................................

@Pachanga718

It looks great with lots of room that I know you're going to enjoy. I like your high ceilings too which will allow for a lift or stacker. (I didn't contemplate adding either of those when building our new garage 27-years ago so my ceilings are too low, sacrificed for attic space. ) And yes, nice to have spot to get the cars out of harsh and messy CO-type winters.

Pachanga718 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 1:05 pm New house a few months ago, 3 car garage so I can, for the first time, fit all three cars inside. Polyaspartic coating on the floor with caulking in the expansion joints for easier cleaning. The the two daily drivers will have containment mats (Garage Flooring LLC in CO) underneath them to prevent the winter sludge from oozing all over the garage (they use magnesium chloride here in CO that turns black and makes a mess). They are easy to squeegee off with some water from time to time.
I had a contractor finish the walls and ceiling with knockdown, smooth the joints and I painted it afterwards. My spray gun went out at the beginning of painting so I rolled all 2 coats - my neck is still recovering from painting the ceiling.

The garage has a golf cart nook (Porsche sign area) so that is where the folding bike rack will go (wall underneath bike rack will be covered by aluminum diamond plate - cosmetic thickness from Cuts Metal in CO) along with the tool boxes and workbench. The accent wall is a deep blue paint called English Channel. The Porsche sign is 5 ft wide and is in brushed aluminum ordered from Etsy. Lights were on sale at Ikea and have 150 W LED bulbs in them, their finish compliments the storage cabinets (Seville Classics UltraHD Storage Cabinet from Sam's Club) very well.

I will need to put a task light on the workbench once that is put in. Also installed is a retractable extension cord from the ceiling that will be used for the battery maintainer for the Cayman over the winter so not cords to trip over for the next few months.

More finishing touches once the weather get warm once again. Now I need a lift.................................

Looks awesome! Looking forward to seeing your progress with it. Any kind of heater/climate control planned?

blueline wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 1:47 pm @Pachanga718

It looks great with lots of room that I know you're going to enjoy. I like your high ceilings too which will allow for a lift or stacker. (I didn't contemplate adding either of those when building our new garage 27-years ago so my ceilings are too low, sacrificed for attic space. ) And yes, nice to have spot to get the cars out of harsh and messy CO-type winters.

@blueline Thank you. I have to convince my wife about a portable lift first then work on getting a stacker
Funny how you have this much more room and you think (to yourself of course and NOT out loud) "I wish I had a little more room" First world problem for sure!

Tom wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 2:09 pm
Looks awesome! Looking forward to seeing your progress with it. Any kind of heater/climate control planned?

@Tom Thank you. More going in soon. The garage doors have some gaps when closed (1/4"), so I need to find a solution for that first and I want to see how this fairs during this winter. My rails are not in/out adjustable, nor do they have the type of articulation hinge that allows for spring loaded hinges, so looking at what other options are out there.
The electrical panels are in the garage, so adding a 220 V outlet would be pretty easy to put in a heater to take the edge off once I get there.

Pachanga718 wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 4:54 pm

Tom wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 2:09 pm
Looks awesome! Looking forward to seeing your progress with it. Any kind of heater/climate control planned?

@Tom Thank you. More going in soon. The garage doors have some gaps when closed (1/4"), so I need to find a solution for that first and I want to see how this fairs during this winter. My rails are not in/out adjustable, nor do they have the type of articulation hinge that allows for spring loaded hinges, so looking at what other options are out there.
The electrical panels are in the garage, so adding a 220 V outlet would be pretty easy to put in a heater to take the edge off once I get there.

Gaps were not too bad on my doors but I solved the few that I had by using washers behind the hinged roller mounting plates where needed. This rather inelegant fix pushes the rollers back into the rails forcing the doors forward, thereby closing the gaps at that spot. I only had a few panels on each of the three doors that needed help.

It's not a very sophisticated solution but it works and doesn't bind up the doors when opening/closing. I was careful to not over tighten the sheet metal screws so as not to strip out the holes in the aluminum doors when snugging the screws back in. You could also get longer sheet metal screws if your gaps are really huge. The attached pics were of the most extreme roller hinge that I "fixed".

blueline wrote: Fri Nov 21, 2025 5:43 pm Gaps were not too bad on my doors but I solved the few that I had by using washers behind the hinged roller mounting plates where needed. This rather inelegant fix pushes the rollers back into the rails forcing the doors forward, thereby closing the gaps at that spot. I only had a few panels on each of the three doors that needed help.

It's not a very sophisticated solution but it works and doesn't bind up the doors when opening/closing. I was careful to not over tighten the sheet metal screws so as not to strip out the holes in the aluminum doors when snugging the screws back in. You could also get longer sheet metal screws if your gaps are really huge. The attached pics were of the most extreme roller hinge that I "fixed".

@blueline That is great, thank you! Reminds me of a bent trailing arm fix my brother and I did many years ago on my $300 VW Rabbit I purchased. He and I had a contest for a few years on who could buy the cheapest car and successfully drive it as a DD. The fix cost us 4 washers on the passenger side and a few hr. of work.

But, I digress. I will look at this over the weekend. My hinges are short and rectangular so I will need to see if I can fit washers behind the hinges and not interfere with the articulation point. Sometimes the simplest fixes are the most elegant.

Thank you again! I will let you know how it turns out.

Another big piece of the puzzle to help seal out air, grime, bugs, rodents, etc. is the garage door bottom seal. I keep mine cleaned and siliconed. Replace it when it shrinks and loses elasticity and effectiveness. I replace mine every 4 or 5 years. A roll of new channel compatible rubber is inexpensive preventative.

Another great tip to not only extend the life of that all-important bottom gasket, but to also create a super good seal to the floor is to slide a piece of small diameter, cheap garden hose the full length inside the gasket. It's a miracle worker.

Very few bugs make it inside my garage. For the few who do find a way in, I have strategically placed glue traps adjacent to the floor highways along the edges of the walls that the critters prefer. Also, FWIW, after many years (36) in our current home, I have yet to have a rodent of any kind disturb the interior peace of my former and current garages. (Yeah, I keep some baited Victor spring traps out just in case!)