Beauty and the Beast - a Place for my NC'

[Nofear2trek]

Part one. The Beast.

OK, I bet we can all probably admit to a garage or storage area getting to an uncomfortable and unusable mess at one point or another. Last May I reached that point with the storage unit I rent to keep my NC', camping equipment, tools, and other stuff in.

After many m/c trips, I would open the door, push stuff aside to make a path to be able to pull the NC' in, toss off my gear, and head to the boat for some needed rest. Getting ready for the next trip would require a lot of wasted time searching for something I wanted to take along.

Do to my neglecting the storage unit, this is what the beast had turned into...my starting point. Farkles, tools, camping gear, everything just became an unorganized pile of stuff.



So, where to start? A rack, yeah that's what I needed. Off to Home Depot for a large heavy duty rack to organize my stuff off the floor. (Husky 90 in. H x 90 in. W x 24 in. D 5 Shelf Welded Steel Shelving Unit with Wire Deck in Black-ERZ902490W-5 - The Home Depot)

It takes a bit of time but was able to assemble it myself.



Starting to be able to see the floor, I needed some larger storage bins, 55 gal size, so off to Home Depot again. (HDX 55 Gal. Storage Tote in Black (Pack of 4)-HDX55GONLINE(4) - The Home Depot)

Oh btw, I finally uncrated and assembled a Harbor Freight m/c lift I had bought over a year ago. It had become buried under that big pile of stuff in the starting point pic.



Next I decided I needed a place to put m/c riding gear and extra clothes. Off to Walmart for a portable closet. (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-P...e-Organizer-With-Shelf-Gray-Storage/169345059). The fabric shelves were pretty flimsy so I cut and added lightweight 1/4" birch plywood panels to add strength and stability. I also made a platform for it to stand on that is able to be leveled.



Next was the question on how to organize my tools. I decided on painted metal pegboard from a USA company named Wall Control, available online from Home Depot, Lowe's, and from the factory (Wall Control Pegboard | Metal Pegboard Tool Storage & Organizers | Wall Control). Now when I need a tool, I can find and get it immediately!



Other assorted items include 8' x 12" shelving and a 40 in. LED Shop Light with Bluetooth Speakers (Commercial Electric 40 in. LED Brushed Nickel Shop Light with Bluetooth Speakers, Bright White, 4000K, 3500 Lumens, 50-Watt, Plug In-54569141 - The Home Depot. I plug it into an auxiliary battery's inverter 110v plug. From Harbor Freight; a rolling toolbox, motorcycle tire changer, rolling seat, along with other tool impulse items.

Ray

 

[Nofear2trek]

Part two. The Beauty.

After two months of persistence, my efforts have paid off. New shelving keeps it neat and almost everything (except new tires) off the floor.



The rack is solid as a rock, elevated, leveled, and lag bolted to wood pillars to provide an additional 7" underneath to allow a 10" place to put my spare lumber from projects, and secured to the walls at four points with metal plumbers tape and more lag bolts. Up on top are empty boxes and spare soft luggage.



All the storage bins are now sorted, organized, and labeled with their contents. There is still plenty of spare storage available for future use.



Very nice tool and illuminated work area with more 8' x 12" shelving storage above for light and bulky items that don't fit well into a storage bin. Under the table is another 55 gallon bin on wheels making it able to easily pull out and get access to items stored inside (farkles) or use the top as another movable work area.



Finally finished! Now I have room to park and/or work on the NC' without limiting access to anything else. Night and day difference from before and after. Ohh, what a feeling!



Now it's Miller time!

Ray

 

[670cc]

Wow! Sure looks nice and neat!

 

[Michael Moore]

Good for you!

So far this year I've disposed of 9 bikes and parts (4 + parts to go) and emptied (and gave up) 300 sq ft of my 500 sq ft of warehouse space. The goal is to get down to only two bikes with everything for them to be kept at home, and the rest of the warehouse space emptied and given up. Deciding to turn loose of a 2+ decades of accumulated stuff was traumatic, but I'm getting into it now that I've realized that a lot of that stuff has sat out there costing me storage rent for a long time, with not much likelihood of the projects being completed in this lifetime. Once this process is over I'm going to be a lot more selective about what I buy (yeah right, we'll see how that goes).

keep up the good work,
Michael

 

[drdubb]

Thanks for sharing. I will have a new garage in September and I'm looking for good ideas to get organized.

 

[Ackme]

I'm a sucker for a nice bit of garage porn. Well done!

 

[CRStep]

Can you come do my garage? It looks amazing and I've learned quite a bit from your post. Thank you!

 

[Nofear2trek]

Deciding to take on a project, conceiving and executing a plan, researching what products are available, acquiring and installing the necessary products, being flexible to making changes and improvements to the plan, persistence in reaching the goal, and successfully finishing the end of the project, is a great feeling. But to read nice comments from peers here is the cherry on top!

At times, moving this to there, and back again, you wonder if any progress is being made.



Other than a major earthquake out here, the rack is stable.



I had some scrap plywood, this was a great use for it, no sagging fabric shelves anymore.



Tomorrow I can start some NC' maintenance and farkling that has been on the back burner.



Thanks to everyone for the nice comments, I am very appreciative.

Ray

 

[1wiseguy2]

Great job

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Red NC]

I really like that portable closet.

Everything else looks fantastic!

 

[Nofear2trek]

I really like that portable closet.

Thanks, me too!

When sorting my m/c stuff to put into it, I found out I had four pairs of gloves (including a new heated set that I couldn't find for the past six months).

Ray

 

[Nofear2trek]

I really like that portable closet.

The one I got is linked to Walmart. I selected it based on cheap price, configuration, and color and didn't expect much for the price.

I wouldn't recommend it unless you do something similar to what I did (plywood panels zip tied on every level including top) because the fabric shelves are really cheap and flimsy and start sagging like a hammock with any weight.



With a plywood panel above the hanging bar I zipped tied some loops from it to the bar to add support to it so I can hang heavy m/c gear.



I built a platform for under it as a stable way to level it and be able to move it around if I need to, its own plastic feet won't hold up to movement without emptying the closet first.



Ray