Archived from the Tools In Action forum (In The Shop). This thread is read-only.
My garage/workshop is a disaster and I need a major organization overhaul. I have a 24′ x 36′ garage that is so full of tools and stuff that I can barely fit both of our cars in there. I am trying to design a system to store my tools in a way that they are not buried, but the ones I don’t use on a regular basis are out of the way. I have partial systems in place now where I have a rolling cart for my automotive tools, a work bench for my power tools, shelves for misc tools and “stuff”, a set of drawers that is so buried I really don’t know whats in them and totes for painting, plumbing, auto electric, home electric, vac hoses, etc. I also have 3 electric tool boxes, 2 plumbing tool boxes, a Kreg Jig tool box, a Trim router and bit tool box and my wall/portable cordless tool box I made. Along with tools and socket sets in their own cases, 2 tables saws, a miter saw stand, a band saw, a drill press, 6″ jointer, a shop press, multiple floor jacks, lumber, folding tables and the kitchen sink! Actually I have 2 of them in there right now…
I want to get a system and do a spring clean up and start fresh. I am trying to decide on more shelves, totes, drawers, peg board or french cleat or tool boxes. I have limited wall space so the french cleat and peg board will be tricky, totes and drawers seem to hide things away and I can never find what I need, tool boxes for hand tools are a pain to dig through and shelves seem to get cluttered and end up with wasted space. What are you guys using that works?
Man Dano I’m glad you made this thread cud I seriously need some help also, my garage is trashed bro so look forward to seeing how the rest of the crew keeps organized.
When short on space,putting things on casters seems like a logical choice.
I use a combination of Toolboxes of various sizes of course,totes That I store up above in rafters in garage,shelves,and gladiator garage works systems. I have a large tool chest,a Ridgid stack,and a bunch of other small tool boxes. i dont park cars in the garage except to do work on them so things are a lil easier for me.
Some of my stuff can be seen in this thread here:
I gave up on boxes and totes, I have to see everything I got tried of buying things over and over again. I know boxes and totes take way less space but time for me is as important than space. I may have to look along the wall but I will see what I’m looking for eventually. nothing worse than having something your looking for in a box under 7 other boxes and you give up on the 6th box so you run out and buy what you need then you move 3 things and come across 5 of the things you just wasted time going to buy. My system is not perfect but it seems to be cheaper for me…….I say multiple shelves right to the ceiling and bins or clear boxes with clearly labelled names of items on each.
My rolling boxes are under the workbench, most of my power tools hang overhead from a shelf or cabinet, and everything else is strategically placed. I don’t waste much empty space, almost every nook and cranny is filled with something. Looks slightly different now but not by much
Dude I can never get enough of your set up!
Dano123 wrote:
13 hours ago, Dano123 said:My garage/workshop is a disaster and I need a major organization overhaul. I have a 24′ x 36′ garage that is so full of tools and stuff that I can barely fit both of our cars in there. I am trying to design a system to store my tools in a way that they are not buried, but the ones I don’t use on a regular basis are out of the way. I have partial systems in place now where I have a rolling cart for my automotive tools, a work bench for my power tools, shelves for misc tools and “stuff”, a set of drawers that is so buried I really don’t know whats in them and totes for painting, plumbing, auto electric, home electric, vac hoses, etc. I also have 3 electric tool boxes, 2 plumbing tool boxes, a Kreg Jig tool box, a Trim router and bit tool box and my wall/portable cordless tool box I made. Along with tools and socket sets in their own cases, 2 tables saws, a miter saw stand, a band saw, a drill press, 6″ jointer, a shop press, multiple floor jacks, lumber, folding tables and the kitchen sink! Actually I have 2 of them in there right now…
I want to get a system and do a spring clean up and start fresh. I am trying to decide on more shelves, totes, drawers, peg board or french cleat or tool boxes. I have limited wall space so the french cleat and peg board will be tricky, totes and drawers seem to hide things away and I can never find what I need, tool boxes for hand tools are a pain to dig through and shelves seem to get cluttered and end up with wasted space. What are you guys using that works?
Oh boo hoo. I have sooooo many tools……..feel bad for me…….;)
just kidding, how’s about incorporating in wall storage between joists and making a false suspended ceiling so you can have overhead storage? Might help out quite a bit!
Kato wrote:
1 hour ago, Kato said:My rolling boxes are under the workbench, most of my power tools hang overhead from a shelf or cabinet, and everything else is strategically placed. I don’t waste much empty space, almost every nook and cranny is filled with something. Looks slightly different now but not by much
Still loving the shop Kato. Really well done set up with limited space
yes awesome shop you could save even more room if you got rid of that monster sized music box and replace it with something a little smaller than an apartment size fridge…lol
Wow Kato’s shop looks like a photo from a magazine! My garage has a low drywalled ceiling so I am limited there. I will add pics in a little bit. It looks like a tornado went through it though. I buy and sell things at auctions on the side so there is way more stuff in there right now than needs to be
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It is so much worse than the pictures show.
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I’ll say tornado, maybe a cyclone too…lol just kidding I see potential …….
I inherited the craftsman table saw, band saw, drill press, jointer and 2 old junk compressors that are beside the bandsaw behind the folding tables and that is when things went down hill for me. It’s great having these tools and I can’t get rid of them, but they take up way too much room. I use the craftsman table saw weekly and I added wheels to it, but the rest are too buried to use. That shop bin and a few other items are going to an auction soon so that should clear out some floor space for me. I am a bit of a hoarder when it comes to misc hardware, scrap wood and tools. I always think I will need them for something down the road…
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your not alone, I throw something out I’m saving nuts and bolts off of it…lol
wife thinks I’m nuts, I say ya when I need one of these I have to go buy a pack for $9 and only need 1
That is my reply too! She thinks I am crazy, but I make a point to show her when I reuse something
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This is more recent. Similar to the other photo but there are differences. I try to squeeze as much as I can into what space I have. Can barely get two cars in there with all of the crap I have.
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IMG_0879 by Edward Durbin, on Flickr
Man I bet you guys rocked at Tetris. Are you building a bed frame in the picture above?
I am the shit at Tetris, I love that game. Yes, it was a bed frame, I think I put up photos of it on the forum somewhere
why is everything on what looks like wood pallets? you have a water problem? or just keeping off floor just in case?
Who, me? That’s just a way to store bigger pieces of wood. Those are 4×6’s that I pulled from a couple of large crate beds my wife got from work. I use them for projects to hold stuff off the floor, and I’ve used them to build stuff. Some of it is to even out where the concrete is for the foundation. There’s a step along the wall and if I want to put stuff against the wall it has to be raised up
Kato wrote:
2 minutes ago, Kato said:Who, me? That’s just a way to store bigger pieces of wood. Those are 4×6’s that I pulled from a couple of large crate beds my wife got from work. I use them for projects to hold stuff off the floor, and I’ve used them to build stuff. Some of it is to even out where the concrete is for the foundation. There’s a step along the wall and if I want to put stuff against the wall it has to be raised up
gotcha, ok footings are into floor area…..
Dano123 wrote:
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Where’d you get those steel mesh crate/pallets from? I’ve only seen those come from irrigation companies. They’re nice for scrap metal.
I bought it at an auction. I was going to use it for scrap wood or firewood but it’s too big
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Eric – TIA wrote:
Man I bet you guys rocked at Tetris. Are you building a bed frame in the picture above?
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Geez freshman year I figured out how to install pacman and Tetris on my TI-84. All I gotta say is, Most productive math class ever. I got to like level 14 on Tetris. I don’t know how to graph an inverse trig function, but I know an opportunity to clear four lines at once when I see one.
A lot of people hate pegboard, but I’ve found that it promotes much better organization, and minimizes the brutality of the humid southern summer. I keep the essentials on my pegboard, and everything else in the toolbox.
Ill find a pic of it for you
I have a small section of peg board on the first shelf/bench I made 10 years ago and I works ok. I do like it in my gun room, I have most of my collection on pegs. I really liked Boondock Saints and Tremors… As for using it for tools I always had just as much luck with a nail or screw as i did a peg.
Stercorarius wrote:
Geez freshman year I figured out how to install pacman and Tetris on my TI-84. All I gotta say is, Most productive math class ever. I got to like level 14 on Tetris. I don’t know how to graph an inverse trig function, but I know an opportunity to clear four lines at once when I see one.
Ha yeah that’s hilarious man, I remember those calculators. I had the TI83 plus, and put super Mario on and metal gear solid, and some other sweet games I found online. Then I passed the games on to others to use too. The super Mario was my favorite, it looked and played just like one of those handheld units, can’t remember what Nintendo called them, gameboy was it?
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Conductor562 wrote:
A lot of people hate pegboard, but I’ve found that it promotes much better organization, and minimizes the brutality of the humid southern summer. I keep the essentials on my pegboard, and everything else in the toolbox.
Ill find a pic of it for you
At work the shop is completely sheated with pegboard up to 8′ high (20′ or higher steel building) and it holds every tool. I’m surprised at some of the stuff it can hold like 1″ drive impact guns.
I think you should build an extension to this shelf first, go as long as you can and use that empty space to the left of the shelf. After that, you should start looking elsewhere.
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I think you should also consider hanging ceiling racks and you can put your lumber there. Use of dead space is the key, right now you have a ton of unused space because most of it is on the ground. You also shouldn’t be afraid of getting rid of some stuff that you know you aren’t going to use or finding a different place to store it.
Keep in mind, no matter how organized and clean you get it, you’re going to fill it back up. It’s just how it works when you work on stuff, you always need new tools or materials to get the job done and after the project you have to find a place to store what’s left.
BMack37 wrote:
I think you should build an extension to this shelf first, go as long as you can and use that empty space to the left of the shelf. After that, you should start looking elsewhere.[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]
I think you should also consider hanging ceiling racks and you can put your lumber there. Use of dead space is the key, right now you have a ton of unused space because most of it is on the ground. You also shouldn’t be afraid of getting rid of some stuff that you know you aren’t going to use or finding a different place to store it.
Keep in mind, no matter how organized and clean you get it, you’re going to fill it back up. It’s just how it works when you work on stuff, you always need new tools or materials to get the job done and after the project you have to find a place to store what’s left.
Reminds me I bought a new tool box to get organized, ditched the old one, separated the wrenches now I need a box just for knipex.
Jimbo
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it is a never ending battle, so ya wanna be a tool junkie…..
Yes I have way too much junk in there! The bare space to the left of that shelf is where I park my car. I have a single and a double door. I park on the single side and the wife parks on the double side. That shelf in the pic splits the bays. I am 6’4″ and I don’t have much head room at the back of the garage so I have always been against hanging stuff from the ceiling. All of those boards are 1×12 pine I bought at an auction, there are more behind the folding tables too. I plan to make more shelves in my shed, basement and in the garage to store this junk. I started cleaning last night after the pics and I am starting to make headway around my work bench area.
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Also I replaced the roof on the garage last fall and there were a few leak areas I avoided for a couple months prior to fixing it. As you can see the drywall missing in the pics. Now that I can leave the cars out for a week or 2 I want to pull everything away from the back wall, fix the ceiling and paint it. That is why I am trying to decide what I want to do this time since it will be a fresh start. I am still leaning towards shelves in the back. There is a 3.5″h x 36″d lip in the back of the garage so I can’t keep things on casters back there.
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Dano123 wrote:
4 hours ago, Dano123 said:Yes I have way too much junk in there! The bare space to the left of that shelf is where I park my car. I have a single and a double door. I park on the single side and the wife parks on the double side. That shelf in the pic splits the bays. I am 6’4″ and I don’t have much head room at the back of the garage so I have always been against hanging stuff from the ceiling. All of those boards are 1×12 pine I bought at an auction, there are more behind the folding tables too. I plan to make more shelves in my shed, basement and in the garage to store this junk. I started cleaning last night after the pics and I am starting to make headway around my work bench area.
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I’m meaning extend that shelf all the way to the wall, will have to move the tools but you’ll gain a LOT in storage space. The wasted space isn’t where the cars go, it’s the reason why we can see the Scarface picture. Ceiling hangers can go along the back wall above the drill press. 🙂
I see what you mean. My table saw can’t really go anywhere else though. Yes I am going to add shelves from the ceiling in the back. Once I can get to it…
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Doesn’t look like much, but that took hours to do so far.
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It looks like a train wreck at the moment though!
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Hey not bad man one step closer.
Dano123 wrote:
52 minutes ago, Dano123 said:[External image (uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com), not copied]
Doesn’t look like much, but that took hours to do so far.
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It looks like a train wreck at the moment though!
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well at least you can see the floor now, good job……
I could see the floor on both sides before I started! You gotta make a mess to organize so I am 1/2 way there! Haha
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Hey dude some progress is better than no progress
Jimbo
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Kato I have that same ryobi rolling cart. That was that kit that was out a while back right
Yup, came out around 13 years ago. Pretty nice kit, I use the tools all the time. It’s what started the whole Ryobi addiction for me…
it’s always fun to snoop through your own stuff……while your cleaning….coming across stuff you forgot you had…..
Dano, it’s coming along. How do I know? Because getting started is half the battle.
Now u gotta take inventory of all your tools and do a mini review of each and your experience so far! If you could
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KnarlyCarl wrote:
1 hour ago, KnarlyCarl said:Dano, it’s coming along. How do I know? Because getting started is half the battle.
Now u gotta take inventory of all your tools and do a mini review of each and your experience so far! If you could
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Truer words are seldom spoken.
comp56 wrote:
it’s always fun to snoop through your own stuff……while your cleaning….coming across stuff you forgot you had…..
You would not believe the stuff I have found so far. Those drawers have been buried for months and even when I could get to them they were a catch all.
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All I can say here is auctions…
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auctions? what you looking to buy a hand saw or 2?