Garage accessories with your own hands: tips for creating
Garage fixtures with your own hands: ideas and tips for creating
The article discusses the most convenient and practical devices for a garage with your own hands, which allow you to improve the comfort of operation of this room. Here are detailed recommendations for the development and creation of structures designed for convenient storage of tools and car parts, tips for the manufacture of furniture, as well as the arrangement of lighting and heating systems.
Proper organization of storage of tools and spare parts will make the garage more functional
Useful accessories for a garage with your own hands: general recommendations
The garage is designed not only for storage, but also for car maintenance. For this reason, this room should be spacious, clean, comfortable and well-equipped.
An alternative to stationary cabinets can serve as a mobile tool rack
To achieve all this, it is enough to take into account the basic requirements for the organization of space:
Useful advice! All these elements should not occupy a space exceeding 10-20% of the garage area.
Optimal organization of the garage storage system: 1 — open brackets and hooks for frequently used tools, 2 — a rack for small tools, 3 — shelves for spare parts and tires, 4 — a rack for large tools, 5 — cabinets for various things, 6 — a workbench with additional shelves
Options for shelves in the garage with your own hands: photos and tips for arranging storage spaces
About 80% of the shelves in the garage are built with their own hands to store garage accessories, namely:
- tools and additional devices;
- car accessories;
- accessories.
Often, in the photo of the shelves in the garage with their own hands, they are combined with a rack, which can also be made independently. Most often, the rack is considered as the main place for storing tools. After its installation, the remaining space is filled with comfortable and spacious shelves.
Be sure to allocate a place where work clothes will be stored. It is not necessary to occupy a large area, you can do with one shelf or even a hook (depending on your needs).
On an open stand with brackets, you can place frequently used small tools
Garage is a place where dangerous and flammable substances are stored. These include oil, gasoline, solvents, paints, polishes. For them, it is necessary to provide a separate cabinet, hang a fire extinguisher and install a tank with sand.
To protect against contamination during the storage of wheels mounted on tire brackets, it is worth purchasing large bags or specialized covers to prevent dust ingress.
Brackets and shelves for wheels in the garage: design features
The most bulky spare parts of the vehicle include sets of rubber, which can be winter or summer. When the winter version is used, summer tires are usually stored in the garage, and vice versa. Therefore, it is necessary to organize shelves for storing tires or brackets.
The bracket design looks like this:
Folding corner shelves for seasonal tire storage
Useful advice! It is recommended to place shelves for wheels in the garage with your own hands as close as possible to the ceiling at the optimal height. Thanks to this, car tires will not occupy useful space in the garage.
For compact storage of wheels, a whole rack in the form of four wide shelves can be used. It is suitable for placing wheels with discs that can be placed one above the other in a horizontal position. The structure can be made angular and raised to the wall.
To create a similar design, it is recommended to use:
- wooden beam;
- wood boards;
- chipboard sheets.
Installing brackets for tires is the most rational way to store wheels. Greater savings in free space can be achieved by hanging rubber to the ceiling base along the garage wall. This option is possible if the room has a large height and reinforced concrete floors in the form of slabs on the ceiling. They will be used as a base for screwing in dowels.
Wall shelf for tires made of profile pipe
Tool storage: interesting ideas for a garage with your own hands
To organize a convenient area for placing things, you can independently make a homemade and very roomy shelving or shelves. Of course, you can find hundreds of ready-made models in stores, nevertheless, it is much cheaper to make a shelf in the garage with your own hands than to purchase a similar product on the market.
The same problem applies to shelving. Taking up the independent production of a place for storing tools, you can not only organize a convenient and practical shelving, but also harmoniously fit it into the garage space.
Useful advice! The minimum indicator of the loads that the structure must withstand is 150 kg or more. At the same time, the maximum load limit per section is 500 kg.
The presence of shelves and brackets will help to systematize the tools depending on its purpose
Rules for the manufacture of wood products:
The thickness of the material is determined by the loads that will subsequently act on the rack.
Recommendations for making shelves for tools in the garage with your own hands
Shelves are installed in cases where the garage does not allow you to put a rack. It is better if there are several designs.
Homemade stand in the garage for storing sports equipment
The scheme of creating shelves for tools:
Useful advice! When making shelves, it is better to give preference to several short structures, since one long product can break under the weight of the tool.
At the final stage, you can make decorative finishing of products (paint or special film).
Wall-mounted plastic plank for compact storage of small tools
The technology of creating a tool rack in the garage
To create a rack with your own hands, you will need boards with a width of 9 and 19 cm. The size of the structure can be adjusted.
Step-by-step technology:
Roomy cabinet-rack with hinged doors
Useful advice! To strengthen the product, it is necessary to install wooden bars between the sections. They will allow you to evenly distribute the loads on the rack.
Organization of the lighting and heating system in the garage
In order for the operation of the garage to be comfortable, the lighting, ventilation and heating system should be properly organized in the room. Since cars are closely associated with the use of toxic and harmful substances, the problem of ventilation in a confined space is particularly acute. For the garage, the holes to the brickwork are suitable. They are equipped with grilles.
Factors affecting the level of illumination:
- garage area, its height;
- the number and nature of the placement of work areas (the size of a workbench for a garage, an inspection pit, the number of machines);
- the type of decoration on the walls, its colors;
- the indicator of the specific power of the network per 1 m2;
- the type of fixtures for the garage.
Armstrong type recessed ceiling lights
Various types of heating can be used to maintain an optimal temperature:
- gas;
- based on used oil;
- air;
- electric (infrared heater for garage);
- furnace;
- water;
- solid fuel.
There are many alternative ways to independently organize a heating system.
Features of halogen, fluorescent and LED lamps for garage
The technical characteristics of halogen lamps are in many ways similar to incandescent lamps, but their bulb is filled with bromine vapor, so the products emit more light. The advantages of such lamps include long service life – 4 thousand hours.
Competent organization of storage and lighting systems in the garage
Useful advice! The products must be placed in the lampshades. It is also worth thinking about stabilization aimed at protecting against surges of electrical voltage. It is not recommended to touch such lamps with your hands (the shelf life is reduced).
The fluorescent lamps inside are filled with inert gases. From the inside, the flasks are covered with a specialized compound that emits light in ultraviolet under the influence of an arc-type discharge. The recommended models include IP-65 class products that are protected from moisture and dust particles.
Installation of LED lighting in the garage is accompanied by the highest costs. Nevertheless, they pay off with 50 thousand working hours. In terms of efficiency, LEDs are 50% more profitable than fluorescent lamps. At the same time, they do not have harmful components in their composition, and the light does not have an aggressive effect on the eyes, so you do not need to buy additional lampshades.
Installation of lighting in the garage: how to make a calculation
To calculate the power of conventional lamps , you can use the formula:
P = S x W/N.
The lighting in the garage should be bright and powerful enough
Decoding the values:
- P is the total required power, W/m2.
- W is the power of one lamp, W.
- N is the number of lamps (fixtures), pcs.
- S is the area of the room, m2.
For halogen and LED lamps, the optimal indicator is 16-20 W/m2. This value is suitable for rooms where the ceiling height is no more than 2.5 m. In garages with 3-meter ceilings, this indicator should be multiplied by 1.5.
The calculation is influenced by the interior decoration of the walls of the room. In dark garages, the lighting should be brighter.
Light reflection level:
| Room area, m2 | Ceiling height, m | Wall decoration color | |
| Dark | Light | ||
| 20 | less than 3 | 0,6 | 0,75 |
| 50 | 0,75 | 0,9 | |
| 100 | 0,85 | 1 | |
| 20 | 3-5 | 0,4 | 0,55 |
| 50 | 0,6 | 0,75 | |
| 100 | 0,75 | 0,9 | |
| 50 | 5-7 | 0,4 | 0,55 |
| 100 | 0,6 | 0,75 | |
To illuminate the inspection pit in the garage, it is recommended to use low-power lamps with halogen or LED lamps, since moisture accumulating in this place can provoke an electric shock. The devices are mounted on the sides in pre-made recesses.
Useful advice! So that an accidentally dropped tool does not break the lamp, the design of the lamps can be made extendable. When the pit is not in use, the devices are securely hidden in the recesses.
Energy-saving lamps can be additionally equipped above the work desks
Autonomous lighting system in the garage with your own hands
There are a number of principles on the basis of which the autonomous lighting system is performed:
The multi-level lighting system for the garage is considered the most optimal. It involves the installation of a large lamp in the middle of the room and the installation of small lamps in the work areas.
Height calculation for a multi-level system:
| Level | Height, m |
| 1 | ceiling base |
| 2 | 1,8 |
| 3 | 0,75 |
| 4 | 0,4 |
The lights are installed correctly if the machine does not cast a shadow on any of the sides.
How to choose a heater for a garage
Garage heating is carried out with the help of small portable devices that are able to warm up the room in a short time and maintain an optimal temperature in the future.
Having thought about which heaters are better for a garage, many mistakenly believe that a homemade device can be made exclusively from expensive components and requires considerable time. For this reason, garage owners refuse this idea.
Garage heating using climate control equipment
In fact, to make a heater for a garage with your own hands, it is enough to limit yourself to budget materials, for example, thermal film. The scheme for creating such a device is very simple and involves the use of the following materials and tools:
- a set intended for the assembly of the heater;
- a wire equipped with a plug;
- paper laminated plastic (the area of one element is 1 m2);
- graphite powder;
- epoxy adhesive composition.
Useful advice! Be sure to have a multimeter with you. When assembling the device, this tool is useless, but it will be needed to check for operability.
A thermal gas, diesel or electric gun is a common option for heating in a garage
Recommendations for assembling a homemade heater for a garage
Step-by-step instructions on how to make a heater for a garage:
After the heater is dried, a resistance check should be performed. A garage heater is considered safe only after this check. Until then, it is strictly forbidden to connect the device to the electrical network.
Security restrictions:
An example of using a Bulerian type solid fuel furnace in a garage
Creating useful garage fixtures with your own hands
To carry out repair and service work, you will need to build an inspection pit in the garage with your own hands, the dimensions of which will correspond to the dimensions of the car, as well as a workbench for convenient work, plus to supply the room with machines.
The basic set of tools and materials for creating a homemade workbench for a garage includes:
- boards and wooden bars;
- fasteners and ties;
- plane and other tools for wood processing;
- varnishing and carpentry adhesive compositions;
- sandpaper and drying oil.
An example of placing useful devices in a garage: 1 — a workbench with manual machines, 2 — racks and cabinets, 3 — a table for carrying out various repairs, 4 — a shelf for storing tires, 5 — an inspection pit
The technology of making a workbench in the garage with your own hands: photos, drawings
The workbench consists of a countertop and a base, as well as several clamping devices. The height of the workbench in the garage should be selected taking into account your own height. You can take as a guideline the height of the kitchen table in the house, at which it is convenient to work. Be sure to make drawings for creating a workbench for a garage with your own hands.
Useful advice! Ready-made drawings of a workbench for a garage, which can be found on the Internet, are suitable as a basis for self-manufacturing of the structure. If desired, it can be customized to your needs.
Garage arrangement: how to make a workbench indoors:
| Stage of work | Details, size in cm | Mounting type |
| Table top assembly | 20 boards (5x10x200) with slots 2,5×2,5 in the 5th and 16th element (step 25) | Adhesive composition metal screeds |
| Drying | — | — |
| Manufacture of legs (4 pcs.) | Bar (10x10x80) with slots for brackets on the front supports | Brackets |
| Assembling the base of the basement | Frames (2 pcs.) made of boards (5×10) | Connection “into a spike” to a depth of 2.5 cm and bolts |
| Fixing of side and rear support walls | Chipboard plates (thickness 10 mm) | Screws |
| Fixing the table top to the upper frame | — | Bolts |
The final treatment involves impregnation of the finished product with drying oil and opening with varnish.
Recommendations for creating an inspection pit in the garage with your own hands
There is no defined size of the inspection pit in the garage. The dimensions of the car are taken as the basis.
How to make an inspection pit in the garage with optimal parameters:
How to make an inspection pit in the garage using different materials:
| Material | Wall thickness, cm |
| Ceramic Brick | 12-25 |
| Concrete | 15 |
| Building Blocks | 20 |
The pit is pulled out taking into account the optimal width of the pit, the material selected for the walls, as well as the thickness of the waterproofing layer. Stages of creating a pit:
- markup;
- construction of the pit;
- excavation arrangement;
- construction of walls;
- lighting installation.
Specialized hydrophobic impregnation is used for waterproofing walls.
Useful advice! With the help of formwork, reinforced recesses can be made in the walls of the pit to accommodate tools and lighting devices.
The scheme of arrangement of the inspection pit: 1 — walls of foam blocks, 2 — waterproofing, 3 — rubble masonry. 4 — corner size 50x50x4 mm
Making a garage press with your own hands
To create a press, a frame of 178×80 cm in size should be made from 4 pieces of metal pipes. These elements are connected by welding. In the work it is recommended to be guided by drawings, pre-selected or compiled. After that, you need to install:
- retainer;
- removable stop;
- bottle jack (hydraulic).
You can use video materials to review the detailed technology of creating useful devices for the garage with your own hands. Such visual recommendations help to orient yourself in size, master step-by-step instructions and imagine what kind of appearance the finished structure should have.
Hydraulic press manufacturing scheme: 1 — upper power platform, 2 — nuts, 3 — lower platform, 4 — studs with a diameter of 30 mm, 5 — lower thread studs, 6 — hydraulic jack bottle type; 7 — base thickness of 20 mm
The arrangement of the garage can be done with your own hands. The list of useful devices does not end there. It can always be supplemented with any interesting ideas. The main thing is that the garage fully meets personal requirements in terms of comfort and convenience.
