# Turning a bare garage into a proper garage



## Shamza

Hi All

Newly signed up but been here for a while lurking and following other peoples projects. Thought I'd document my own.

Got new our new house 6 months ago, big must was a decent sized garage that I can make my own. Too many years of working on my car on the side of the road mostly in the rain.

It measures 5.5m x 5.2m so plently for parking and a decent size bench and storage.

I had a vision of how I wanted certain things like flooring and lighting but keeping to a budget is important.

The project is ongoing and hope to be mostly complete by the end of the year.

Onto the pics..










First task really before anything was to decide on the direction of the flooring. I've always wanted a workshop type epoxy floor in a light blue.

The garage floor is roughly 13 years old but the orginal buyer of the property didn't really use the garage for anything, the actual concrete was in good clean condition with no cracks or oil staining.

Although this is a good prerequisite for epoxy laying, the floor had been laid like many, quickly. The tampered finish is rough with ups and downs - not good on the eye or trolley jacks!

I spoke to a couple epoxy pro's and my options were to either screed it level (but thick enough to be a good substrate) or grind it flat.

I decided to grind it using a diamond industrial grinder from a local hire place. Cost roughly £120 for a bank holiday hire including the 110v transformer.
































































After 4 passes the high spots were completely gone, however I was left with low spots which needed to be resolved. Laid some rapid setting concrete and 24 hours lafter did another 2 passes.





































I was pretty happy with the outcome and became washing the floor to get rid of sand/dust. After turning the pressure washer off I begun to hear what sounded like popping candy, turns out the concrete is covered in 100's of pinholes. What I was hearing was air being replaced by water, crap.

I can now see why some companies will charge £1000's to lay epoxy as you never know what is under the surface on concrete. I contacted the epoxy pros to see what can be done. They suggest the only approach other than screeding the entire floor was to mix 60 grit sand into the epoxy sealer. I wasn't too keen to throw £100's and potentially be left with holes. Due to epoxy resin being quite thick, the surface tension tends to bow over holes leaving you with a inperfect finish.

I put this decision to one side while the dusty work had been complete.

Onto the lighting, I came across some cheap commerical LED pannels. They are 37W 6500K 4200LM measuring 60x60cm. They come in different widths and lengths. I ordered 6 and ensured they all worked before removing any exisiting wiring.

The power feed to the garage is from a SWA from the mainboard directly into a socket, then feeding a couple of ceiling roses. I ripped this all back to the SWA and installed a new consumer unit with a 3 MCBs for sockets, lighting and future roller door.

I used a 6 gang switch so can be indivdually switched.




























I was liking the bare brick work internally at first but once I had proper lighting I figured a bit of paint will give a much cleaner look. I went for 3 coats of bright white paint and happy with how it came out.

Back onto the flooring. I needed to make a choice, risk a inperfect epoxy finish and be annoyed at it forever or look at a alternative.

I looked at ever seller/reseller or PVC interlocking tiles in the UK. Some of quotes were laughable. I needed to cover roughly 30m2 and the highest was £1300, lowest was £360. I didn't want cointop tiles as these aren't solid, perfect fine for most tasks but they can be broken.

I found some unbranded PVC tiles made from recylced material (win for the planet, win for the wallet). They were £4 each, solid (2KG each!) and rated for 3T of load.

120 arrived on a pallet and took a few hour to lay, every edge needed to be cut or trimmed by hand. Didn't get a final pic but you get the idea..




























Next task will be the work bench. Going to be roughly 4m long. There is a couple of wood reclaimation yards near me so I will be paying a visit at some point.


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## Soul boy 68

Welcome along Shamza :wave: looking forward to seeing the finished article.


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## BruceVolvo

Welcome aboard Shamza (I can feel another attack of envy coming)


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## riskypicker

Looking much better there.

Do you have a link for the unbranded PVC tiles used on the floor?


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## euge07

looking great so far, any chance of a link to the floor tiles


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## Shamza

Thanks guys for the warm welcome.

Thought I might get asked about the tiles  Best thing personally is they act like are hydrophobic, liquid just sits on the surface and the joins are water tight!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/7mm-Solid-Interlocking-Garage-Floor-Tile-Jacking-Garage-Workshop-Showroom/253674588129?epid=26013592021&hash=item3b102f07e1:g:6YkAAOSwmSdaZ5yy


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## BrummyPete

Great little man cave you have there mate, gonna look superb when it's finished 

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk


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## beambeam

Wow! I can't believe how much the grinder was capable of removing, the dust stacked at each side of your rows are crazy high! What a nice size garage you have too, lovely!


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## Andyblue

Hi and welcome along to DW

Cracking garage and and coming along well - that grinding was a true labour of love


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## gargreen7

Following, I’ve just got a new home complete with garage myself, this is giving me some great ideas. Keep us updated.


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## WHIZZER

Welcome along looking forward to seeing what you finish with


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## Atkinson91

Keen to see the finished product after seeing the floor, wanna do something similar to mine but not sure whether to epoxy or tile


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## darrant1234

looking good, very jealous of the size of it


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## 47p2

Nice project you've taken on. Removing the pinholes can be achieved by grinding down further until you are back to hard material, it's a long laborious job and takes a lot of time. I laid my floor in a heatwave and to was a struggle to keep it wet and cool enough to set properly so I had to grind the soft cement top away.

Here's the write up I did at the time...

Those who remember me laying the floor will recall that the centre section (1st to be done) turned out almost perfect, then the weather got warmer for the second section (below the ramp) and an ok but not great finish was achieved. The third section was a total waste of time as what was supposed to be a cool day turned out to be one of the warmest we had last year, therefore not good conditions for laying concrete. The surface dried out too quick and when I was able to lay polythene on top it marked the surface, so now this will have to be rectified.

The machine I am hiring is a 110v carborundum grinder. I did try to hire a diamond cutter but apparently there were none available. I haven't a clue what or how it will turn out, so fingers crossed that it all goes according to plan.

There's not really a great deal to see, that's why I never posted any pictures. It's a bit like watching paint drying really. 
Here are a few I've just taken










I knew the ramp would come in handy :wicked: 









This is the aggregate showing through.
I'm not sure but I think once it has all the dust washed off it will be quite dark









and outside is like this tonight :duh: 









I called a few companied who do concrete floors and was quoted £1500-£3000 for the work, depending on what was involved and I will hazard a guess it would be nearer £3k. 
Doing it myself for the cost of hiring the equipment and the 2 pack epoxy undercoat and top coats it will cost me less than £600, so quite a saving.

I've done all I'm going to do as far as grinding the floor is concerned. Edges and corners tidied up and the floor hosed down to remove the dust. Now I need to wait on it drying out and also for some slightly warmer weather before applying the epoxy coating










Here is the floor today


















The floor is drying out nicely and should be ready for the sealer to go on by Thursday or Friday


















The floor is now sealed and I shouldn't have any more dust problems


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## Dannbodge

Do you have a link to the place that sells the floor tiles?


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## Lewis.

Great work guys. I'm now realising how lucky I was that my concrete floor is like a billiards table, although my garage is half the size of these!


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## AOCBMG

A good garage is a thing of beauty, really wish i had room for something like this.

Can you actually wash on top of the tiles? or is it just dry work inside & wet work outside?


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## duffy02

any pictures of the garage at night with the interior lights turned on please?


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## JwilliamsM

awesome mate, i have a very similar setup to you, i've got the same floor tiles too.

they are a git to keep clean though!


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## JwilliamsM

Dannbodge said:


> Do you have a link to the place that sells the floor tiles?


https://duramat.co.uk/product/garage-flooring-pack-duratile-60/

These are the stronger tiles they do, the others have a different bottom which i didn't think would be as strong or as hard wearing


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## biggriff

Just bought the duramat. Great deal.


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## DouglasH

JwilliamsM said:


> https://duramat.co.uk/product/garage-flooring-pack-duratile-60/
> 
> These are the stronger tiles they do, the others have a different bottom which i didn't think would be as strong or as hard wearing


Not sure how you can make that claim, the link you posted is to the 7mm thick Slimline Tiles, the Duramat Disc (which I have) and Checkerboard Tiles are 12mm thick heavy duty Tiles, I can also say they will not break and are heavily reinforced underneath, I use both a Trolley Jack and Wheeled Work Stool, without any issues. I had to cut mine with a Scorpion Electric Saw as a Stanley Knife would not even look at them.










Doug.


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## JwilliamsM

DouglasH said:


> Not sure how you can make that claim, the link you posted is to the 7mm thick Slimline Tiles, the Duramat Disc (which I have) and Checkerboard Tiles are 12mm thick heavy duty Tiles, I can also say they will not break and are heavily reinforced underneath, I use both a Trolley Jack and Wheeled Work Stool, without any issues. I had to cut mine with a Scorpion Electric Saw as a Stanley Knife would not even look at them.
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> Doug.


Before I ordered I bought samples of their different ones. The tiles with the honeycomb like structure underneath didn't feel as strong to Me.

Suppose that's why they're cheaper too


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## DouglasH

Both Slimline, Disc (and Checkerboard) Tiles have the same 3000kg max load weight per Tile. I chose the Disc Plate because they were 12mm thick and Heavy Duty. 
I can't offer any explaination as to why the Heavy Duty Tiles are Cheaper to buy than the Slimline ones, other than what I was told when I bought mine after speaking to the Duramat Rep at a Car Show, I asked why none of the other Styles of Mat were Show discounted, his answer was that the Heavy Duty Mats were the most popular, hence the reason they could be discounted.
I can assure you the cross pattern reinforcement on the underside of the Tile is strong enough and was a complete pita when the electric saw hit the cross centre when cutting.

Doug.


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## JwilliamsM

DouglasH said:


> Both Slimline, Disc (and Checkerboard) Tiles have the same 3000kg max load weight per Tile. I chose the Disc Plate because they were 12mm thick and Heavy Duty.
> I can't offer any explaination as to why the Heavy Duty Tiles are Cheaper to buy than the Slimline ones, other than what I was told when I bought mine after speaking to the Duramat Rep at a Car Show, I asked why none of the other Styles of Mat were Show discounted, his answer was that the Heavy Duty Mats were the most popular, hence the reason they could be discounted.
> I can assure you the cross pattern reinforcement on the underside of the Tile is strong enough and was a complete pita when the electric saw hit the cross centre when cutting.
> 
> Doug.


 cool :thumb:


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## shl-kelso

I’m curious to know if everyone leaves the expansion gap around all edges? I’ve got a double garage and am keep bouncing between an epoxy floor finish or interlocking tiles. However I don’t want to leave gaps nor do I want to fit skirting to cover the gaps either. I did think about using sealant to fill the gaps while still leaving some give for expansion.


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## garage_dweller

I fitted interlocking tiles and didn't leave an expansion gap. I used edging tiles round the 2 long sides and fortunately this was a perfect fit. Been down 4 years and not had any issues


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## shl-kelso

garage_dweller said:


> I fitted interlocking tiles and didn't leave an expansion gap. I used edging tiles round the 2 long sides and fortunately this was a perfect fit. Been down 4 years and not had any issues


Is it a single or double garage?


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## garage_dweller

Single. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Shamza

AOCBMG said:


> A good garage is a thing of beauty, really wish i had room for something like this.
> 
> Can you actually wash on top of the tiles? or is it just dry work inside & wet work outside?


You could if you liked, these tiles are pretty hydrophobic so any liquid just sits on the surface and doesn't get past the joins or anything.


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## Shamza

biggriff said:


> Just bought the duramat. Great deal.


Enjoy them! I did link the ones I purchased, they basically are the same product as the duramat slim.

Looks like price has gone up slightly.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/7mm-Solid-Interlocking-Garage-Floor-Tile-Jacking-Garage-Workshop-Showroom/26013592021?iid=253674588129&_trksid=p2047675.m4097.l9055


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## Shamza

shl-kelso said:


> I'm curious to know if everyone leaves the expansion gap around all edges? I've got a double garage and am keep bouncing between an epoxy floor finish or interlocking tiles. However I don't want to leave gaps nor do I want to fit skirting to cover the gaps either. I did think about using sealant to fill the gaps while still leaving some give for expansion.


I left about 1cm gap around. It's quite handy place to sweep debris into :lol:

If the floor will never see sunlight then I don't see any need for it. I think all PVC tiles can succumb to intense sunlight and can bow a little which is why some people put some adhesive down first. I had one tiles bow a bit however a week later gravity took it's toll.


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## Shamza

duffy02 said:


> any pictures of the garage at night with the interior lights turned on please?


I'll get some for you.

I really need to crack on with the benches. Only changes I made since is some outside lighting


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## Shamza

Just a small update...

Had my new door fitted recently, so happy with it!



















Installed two additional panels down the centre, these will come on when the door is activated.










I trunked the cables for a cleaner look



















The fitters were great guys, it's a small family run business based in Sheffield. I'm near Reading was a good 3 hour drive for them but turned up at 10am on the dot ready to go. Real plus is the cost (this was closer to 1k than 2k) and the warranty offered beats some of the named brands out there.

I've also added two 600x1200mm LED panels above the workbench location, and re-used the two 600x600 panels that were in that place for the door motion sensing lighting. So in total I've got 6 x 600x600 and 2 x 600x1200 pannels. 360W in total, if I left them on 24 a day would cost just £1.04 to run.

Workbench is next, I have drawings still deciding if 600mm depth is enough or go 900mm.


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## Andyblue

Looking good :thumb:


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## Hede

Nice job.


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## WHIZZER

Shamza said:


> Just a small update...
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> The fitters were great guys, it's a small family run business based in Sheffield. I'm near Reading was a good 3 hour drive for them but turned up at 10am on the dot ready to go. Real plus is the cost (this was closer to 1k than 2k) and the warranty offered beats some of the named brands out there.
> 
> I've also added two 600x1200mm LED panels above the workbench location, and re-used the two 600x600 panels that were in that place for the door motion sensing lighting. So in total I've got 6 x 600x600 and 2 x 600x1200 pannels. 360W in total, if I left them on 24 a day would cost just £1.04 to run.
> 
> Workbench is next, I have drawings still deciding if 600mm depth is enough or go 900mm.


Whats the name of company for the garage doors ? and is that anthracite colour


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## Shamza

WHIZZER said:


> Whats the name of company for the garage doors ? and is that anthracite colour


Their eBay store is garagedoorstore4u and yes it's anthracite grey


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## Kev_mk3

very nice


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## v_r_s

Masssssive looks good though. 

You working from the garage or just a very nice space for a lucky car ?


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## Palmer02

nice job, look forward to more updates


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## Markyt001

Looks great so far. Can i ask were you got your digital wall clock?


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## Shamza

Markyt001 said:


> Looks great so far. Can i ask were you got your digital wall clock?


Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G7MX3VR/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## Shamza

Took a long weekend off from work a few weeks ago to do something I've wanted to do for a while.

I've had my M3 for just over 2 years ago, and she's turning 12 this year. End of last year I was in a minor (but expensive) accident. The car was nearly written off due the 9k bill. I fought with the insurance company to negotiate with my chosen garage and finally the car was repairable. It's had a completely new front end; wings, bumper, bonnet.

It was looking all shiny and swirl free up at the front, but the rear had several years of swirls and deeper marks letting it down.

With the new roller door in place, the garage has become air tight allowing me a space to do a ceramic coating.

I've never picked up a DA before let alone got serious with coatings. A few £'s later and I had a good range of compounds, pads along with C1 & ExoV4.

I didn't get any before wash pictures but it took a full day just getting the panels decontaminated. Annoyingly one the traffic film de-greasers caused some major oxidation on the black window trims almost instantly so had to spend a couple of hours cutting with Megs Ultimate.

Compounds used;

Megs 105 for the worst areas
Megs Ultimate for most areas
Megs 205 final polish

I did one coat of C1 and two coats of Exo over a period of 14 hours. Car was left inside for 24 hours after. Was super excited to get it in the sun after 50+ hours of work.


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## markyboy1510

Can we see pics showing whole car? Nice work


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## Shamza

Workbench time.

Had many ideas for this, ultimately it was always going to be a self build due the size.

I wanted something around 90cm high with a decent depth.

I came across these steel frame legs that are height adjustable. Also powder coated in a nice gloss finish. Unwittingly my colour theme is now turning out to be white and grey anthracite.

If anyone wants more info on these message me.

Bottom half of the legs:










Top half of the legs:










I manage to score a 4MX720MMX40MM solid oak top. Works out around £33 a meter (delivered!) I know this will get ruined over it's life but it's not ply, heavy as a gearbox and I like it.

Top half the legs in rough position:










18mm 2.2x1.2m hardwood ply, will be structural as well as functional.










Started to cut the ply and notch around the legs. Drilled and bolted with some nice countersunk 10.9 M8s



















Frame self supportive.



















Next is to get the soild oak top in place and bolted down. Can then be moved into position. Estimated to weigh 110KG total :doublesho oops.


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## sbrocks

Great job so far and super attention to detail......nice job on the car too !


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## robby71

Shamza said:


> Just a small update...
> 
> Had my new door fitted recently, so happy with it!
> 
> The fitters were great guys, it's a small family run business based in Sheffield. I'm near Reading was a good 3 hour drive for them but turned up at 10am on the dot ready to go. Real plus is the cost (this was closer to 1k than 2k) and the warranty offered beats some of the named brands out there.


Do you have a link to the company as i've tried to get companies to price me up a new door for the past couple of years with no luck - no-one ever shows up?

Thanks


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## Mk2Singh

Nice Progress 

Where is the workbench from?


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## Andyblue

Coming on well - worktop looks like it’ll stand up to a lot of abuse. :thumb:


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## Shamza

Bench is in its final position.



















Notched out one corner and section towards the middle so the bench meets the wall.










I was going to put several coats of oil on however I found some rubber matter that is oil resistant and doesn't swell. It's 3mm thick and will give much better protection. It's delivered rolled up hence why it doesn't look flat.



















Pretty happy how it turned out, doesn't even look 4 meters long anymore.

Got a bit of wish list for tools for it to keep off the floor. Bench clamp and compressor first though.

Lighting in the bench area is good, but I will be looking for some adjustable panel lighting. Similar to what photographers would use in close up shoots.

Got two cars to service this weekend, the best ideas happen when you're working on something I think...


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## Shamza

robby71 said:


> Do you have a link to the company as i've tried to get companies to price me up a new door for the past couple of years with no luck - no-one ever shows up?
> 
> Thanks


Was just about to paste their eBay link but it seems they are no longer registered on there. I actually spoke to the owner yesterday though as couple of slats need changing, so they are still very much in business. If you want their email let me know.


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## Shamza

Mk2Singh said:


> Nice Progress
> 
> Where is the workbench from?


Frame legs are from a company called KTC. You can get them on Ebay and Amazon but pay x3 as much in shipping.

I bought directly, took a week to arrive.

https://ktc-tec.de/Profi-Werkbankgestell-Stahl-WBG-650-700-1000-Arbeitstisch-hoehenverstellbar-Packtisch-Werkbank-Werkstatt-Werkbankfuss-Untergestell-Werktisch-Metall-Stahlfuss-1-Stueck

The top is from an eBay deal I found at the time.


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## Andyblue

Looking well - the rubber mat is a good idea, but a shame to cover a nice worktop up


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## bluechimp

This is brilliant, cannot wait to get a garage and make it my own. I’ll be stealing some of your ideas :thumb:


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## Jack R

You’ve done a great job, very jealous


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## Carvell

Awesome build, is your garage double or single brick skin? Wondering if you have had any condensation issues? Thanks


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## blademansw

Looks fabulous m8, wish I had the space for a similar garage. All I have is a timber shed FML!


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## Storry

Turned out really nice that!


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## Kev_mk3

stunning work. How are the floor tiles holding up as i am in talks with them to supply me some for my 18 x 18 garage. Any more pictures of them down?


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## Shamza

Kev_mk3 said:


> stunning work. How are the floor tiles holding up as i am in talks with them to supply me some for my 18 x 18 garage. Any more pictures of them down?


Floor tiles are doing great. The only issue I've had is a couple of tiles bowing up from intense sun light from last summer which I guess is why some people like to glue them down. They do remember their shape and return flat though, it just means they are quicker to bow again from intense heat.

I had a power steering line bust and dump a load of fluid on the floor. No reaction even when it was left for a week. Just used a general citrus cleaner to clean up.

Just to show how durable they are, I had my M3 up on ramps for about 2 weeks. These ramps have angled legs which looks like it should cut into the rubber. A few days later the tile completely recovers and you're just left with a dirt mark:










General walk ways:




























More lighting:










Sorry not a very interesting car in there right now. The mini is up for sale and can't be bothered to clean it every time someone wants to see it :detailer:


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## Shamza

Last year I was fortunate position to be able to look a own one of my dream cars. A manual 981 Cayman.

I've been in a 981 with PDK and it is extremely fast box but I could see myself being less connected to the car after a while, after owning a manual E92 M3 for 3 years I know how fun they can be when you aren't just communing - especially on road trips.

The car is a 2013 'launch spec'. It actually says launch spec on the Porsche spec sheet. The previous owner and I weren't sure if this was dealer language for demo car or a media car. If it was a media car it had done very little miles in it's early life. I bought it with 19K on the clock, with the last owner putting on 12K over a couple of years.

Either way it pretty much has every option; LSD, PASM, Sport Exhaust, Sport wheels, Sport seats, Sport steering wheel, upgraded headlights.

The paint is the famous Guards Red which was mostly in very good condition with no deep scratches. It did have localised damage for example around handles and under the badge.

Earlier in the year before lock down, I took a 5 day weekend off from work with the plan of fully decontaminate (it has a roads worth of tar down both sides), start with a medium cut followed up with a refinement polish. Then a coat of CLS with 2 coats of EXO.

Earlier in the thread when I worked on my M3, I had to 3 stages of cut as the paint was in a worse shape.

I had a few products to choose from, after a couple of tests I went for Megs Ultimate compound for the medium and Gyeon Q2M primer for the finish. I found Q2M barely dusted and was really easy to wipe off.

Enough chat, lets get onto pictures of damage.























































Results before ceramic coating after 3 days of cutting and refinement...























And coated, including coating the trims with C5 (amazing stuff)



Bit of sunshine


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## Shamza

During last few months of lock down managed to get a few bits sorted on the Cayman.

The exhaust was looking a bit worse for wear and wanted to make them matt black. You can't remove the tips without dropping the entire exhaust off which is a pain...Had to paint in place!

Sanded down with various grits, finished with 1200.







Pretty happy how it turned out, and the VHT paint didn't dry grey like many do!

Wanted to get the wheels sorted. They were yellowing in some areas I assume from iron and tar being baked on.

Took a little while clay baring and polishing the blemishes away but it was worth it.

Coated with C5 wheel armour including brake calipers:


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## JordanE

more porsche please


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## JordanE

Hey did you ever post how high your garage ceiling is? I’m thinking of a lift in my double.


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