Steps of the TRANSFORMATION
Front View
Right Wall
Left Wall
Current Garage Situation:
- 1 car garage
- Cluttered, messy, and disorganized, difficult to get at, let alone find anything quickly
- Car had never seen the inside of the garage
Customer Needs:
- Make space for car
- Easy access and storage for retained historical files “Practical” non, flashy finish
Garage Tailors: Garage Intervention:
- Removed and disposed of hazardous chemicals
- Constructed wall to wall “platform” across rear of garage to create more space for bulky storage and required file retention
- Applied a slat wall panel on the car’s passenger side and organized contents with lockable hooks, baskets and shelves
- Car now fits in as well
Time to Complete:
- 1 day
Approximate Cost:
- $2,400
Customer Comments:
Ian and Ed were amazing. For years my garage has been a mess particularly since i work from home. In 1 day, Ian with the help of Ed, the carpenter, completely transformed my garage into a new room. I feel 20 pounds lighter. Ian and Ed were total gentlemen and a pleasure to work with. They arrived on time completed the job on time and to a very high standard. The garbage removers by mistake threw out my recycling boxes and Ian brought brand new ones the next day. Unbelievable service.
Front View
Right Wall
Left Wall
Transformation Story
If you just purchased a brand-new sports car, you probably wouldn’t want to leave it sitting on your driveway where it was vulnerable to the elements, even theft.
Say you’re also an avid cyclist who has seven bikes and assorted equipment. You would want to store them securely in space that allowed for easy access. Now picture trying to cram seven bicycles and accessories, as well as a car, into a garage that measures 10 feet by 20 feet.
That’s the situation I was called into recently.
When I arrived to take a look at this one car garage in a north Toronto bungalow, I saw a space that was packed with bikes and tools. It was cluttered and disorganized. It wasn’t until this visit I learned that the client had never parked in his garage, but with the purchase of a new 300 series BMW, it was imperative that the garage have room for his car.
I found out that not only did we have to find room for the car and seven bicycles, our client wanted to store gardening tools, hand tools, winter tires, seasonal decorations and have a workbench where he could repair the bikes. If we couldn’t do the renovation as required, either the car would have to sit in the driveway during the harsh Toronto winter or the bikes would have to be stored in the house, which made them much less accessible and neither was ideal. A job like this required a custom solution and meant that we had to use every single available inch of space.
The first task was to identify space for the bikes. I hung two rows of slatwall along the back wall, where five of the bikes are now hanging. The remaining two bikes are on the right hand side of the garage and inside the side clearance so as to leave space for the car.
You’ll see that on the right hand side of the garage there’s a column. The space on either side lent itself perfectly to shelves for tools and clear storage boxes. Although the ceiling height was just nine feet, we built a custom overhead shelf for storage of ladders, some seasonal decorations and bicycle pumps as well as a custom built platform above the garage door opener for storage of larger items like the bicycle hitch for the car and sleds.
We used a row of slatwall on the left to hold the garden tools. There’s even a rectangle of pink foam on the left hand side of the garage to protect the car door when it’s opened. We also installed heavy duty PVC floor tiles as the concrete floor was pitted. This improves the visual appeal, reduces dust, and makes it easier to clean.
But there was one more thing our client wanted: a workbench. Even without the shelving and the bikes, there was simply no room for a traditional workbench. So I came up with a folding workbench that lays flat when not in use. There’s even a light.
We completed the job in two days for approximately $4,000 and the client was thrilled.