Well, my move-in date is almost here ... I have 10 days before it's time to inhabit my new house, and more importantly, 1,300 square-foot garage. As such, I have a handful of questions, and welcome any suggestions from the peanut gallery of ways I can make my garage paradise.
1) Lift. I know it's been discussed before, but "lift" is such a generic word that a search of the forum is a little futile. I've had a couple friends recommend a local place called Gregg Smith Equipment, which sells a variety of two-posters and has them out in their showroom. I was in there a couple weeks ago and they seem very knowledgeable and the prices are quite low. http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/ Does anyone have any input into the quality of lifts they sell? My brother-in-law's good friend, who does a lot of work on cars and trucks, gave a good review. My top concern is safety. The cars I'll be working on are obviously the Benzes and my Jeep. The biggest thing that would go on it would be my brother in law's GMC Sienna. Comments? Suggestions?
2) Floor treatment. I have a lot of floor ... which makes floor treatment a massive investment. The floor is new concrete, very flat and clean. My cars leak, I spill stuff, I drop stuff. Should I bother with a treatment? Or would cheap treatment be worse than no treatment? I've even thought about having it professionally epoxied, but I think that would be outrageously expensive.
3) Shelving. Anyone know of a good place to get some sturdy shelves, new or used? I was going to go to Lowe's, but I'm not terribly impressed with the quality or prices. I've been scouring craigslist for used shelves, but mostly so far just seen IKEA bookshelves.

Those are my early and biggest questions. I could spend a fortune on this place ... I mean, there's just endless things I could do.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/clips/jays-other-garage-garage-doors/1223110/

Maybe this video will help. You can put Bodhi on the turn table and we can all worship at the alter of MB.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

don't cheese on a hoist.some of the cheap ones are just that cheap chinese junk.i talked to a shop owner snd he said what they found is there are only 2 or 3 companies that actually make the hoists here in the u.s.go around to some shops and talk to them.i did and also thru some researce narrowed my choice to mohawk, huge footprint for stability,and the hyd cyls are at least twice as big as anybody else.plus the arms both swing out of the way.some hoists they both swing just one way and are a pain to drive between.but they do recommend at least 4 1/2 inch of concrete.

Congratulations

Now business: If I was you I will go for epoxied garage floor coating. For 1300 sq-ft you will need 4 gallons. A gallon will cover 350/370 sq-ft. Is not that expensive usually you can buy a gallon of the stuff for $60/$70 bucks. So you are looking for about $300.00 but it will pay itself off million times. Very easy to clean, some of the makers recommend nothing more than soap and water. Rust-Oleum is brilliant.

Check this one as well:
Toll Free at (866) 948-6124 www.bigsuperstore.com
Search for:
Valspar 002.0050027.022 Quikrete Epoxy Garage Floor Coating $68.51
They deliver to your door.

Whatever you do I am sure it will be great

Good luck and we are waiting for a regular, detailed pictures updates.

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"If women are so bloody perfect at multitasking how come they can't have a headache and sex at the same time?"
Billy Connolly

Bodhi - I've got a third garage I am slowly converting into my work/car garage, and I'm facing similar decisions.

Ditto the epoxy comments - it will make cleaning much easier and help preserve the concrete. Mine already has quite a few spill stains.

On the lift front - you will want to make sure your floor can withstand the pressure. If you don't know how the garage floor was poured and what the substrate is, I would drill a sample/get it tested.

Good luck!

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Yeah, chances are the floor won't support a lift as it is. Its probably 2-3 inch of poured concrete over some stone with a little rebar in it if your lucky. You could probably jack hammer out a section dig down a bit and pour thicker concrete to mount it on though. The lift guys should be able to tell you what kind of support they need.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I do not know squat about lifts but as far as floor covering I would suggest getting something down before move in. I would think that later on when you decided to put epoxy down the fewer stains you have the easier it will be. I have seen those lock together mat squares or even roll out mats that are chem resistant that are far less expensive and will help save your floor till you pull the trigger on something more permanent. Just my $0.02.

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Sent from an agnostic abacus

2014 C250 21,XXX my new DD ** 2013 GLK 350 18,000 Wife's new DD**

- With out god, life is everything.
- God is an ever receding pocket of scientific ignorance that's getting smaller and smaller as time moves on..." Neil DeGrasse Tyson
- You can pray for me, I'll think for you.
- When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

Best pricing Ive seen for shelving consistently comes from industrial liquidators.

They usually have anything from bookshelf types to full on racking.

Treat your floor, in 10 years you will still be smiling OR if you sell the place
it can be a nice selling feature for the new ...him.

Im sure they are safe but for the $200 difference between the 2 and 4 post lifts ... my money is on the 4 post. If your not happy with the horizontal pieces they can always be reinforced.

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1985 300D 198K sold
1982 300D 202K
1989 300E 125K
1992 940T

"If you dont have time to do it safely, you dont have time to do it"

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

I'm very envious of your position, C! Wish I had both the garage and the money to outfit it.

If the concrete floor is strong enough (just parroting you can have it sampled to see) I'd prefer a 2 post to a 4 post since with the 4 post you'd need to put the car on stands to do any brake or suspension work. With the 2 post, just lift away.

Commercially-speaking, I'm sure there's a wide range of quality between manufacturers. I don't know how big of an issue it would be with hobby use.

Have fun!

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Damn those are some nice doors (I was fooled as well and thought that they swung open)

As for Bodhi I would agree that coating the floor will be a good long term decision. Also don't skimp on shelving. Get the sturdiest metal units that you can find. Most wooden furniture will buckle over time and look like crap. Avoid new and stick with craigslist to find some used units or look and see if any local businesses are having liquadation sales.


Beyond that you'll eventually need a refrigerator, fuse ball table, grill......

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."

1. I looked at quite a few different manufacturers when I bought my lift, without a doubt Mohawk is the Mercedes-Benz of lift manufacturers. Nothing else even comes close.

http://www.mohawklifts.com/library/brochures/what_makes_a_mohawk.pdf

Of course you get what you pay for and as you can imagine quality like this doesn't come cheap, I bought my lift used from a dealer in New Castle county(Tri-state equipment) and although I still paid more than a new lift from Greq Smith I think I've got a much better product.

2. I've heard lots of bad things about cheap epoxy garage floor coatings but everyone that I know that has used them has gotten great service life. I didn't treat my floor when it was poured and I now wish I had - for $300 I think its a 'no-brainer'

3. Learn to weld and make your own shelves, they can be as strong as you want and you'll get lots of welding experience!

Tim

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

Thanks so much for all the input guys. I think I'll definitely go for the epoxy coating now, and that's obviously got to be the starting point. I went to Lowe's today and checked out the Quikrete selection and grabbed a brochure. I noticed they have two different systems, one being $68 a gallon (comes with the prep product which is $16 seperately) and the other $28 ... both have optional clear coat complements that I would want to use (clear coat for the more expensive sealer is another $68 ... clear coat for the cheaper sealer is another $25). I think it would look great and add a little protection. Anyone have any opinion on the quality difference between the two? Obviously I'd rather pay less, but if the cheaper product is just going to wear away in rapid order, the more expensive would be more sensible. Both are Quikcrete products and would look nice. It would come out to about $200 vs. about $400. Hmmm.
As for the lifts, I'll have to find out the thickness of the concrete ... I think it's pretty darn thick. I like the sound of the Mohawk lifts ... I wouldn't mind paying a little more for a really high-quality product. My question would be, where do I go to buy one? (Or ask about one)

__________________
1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

http://www.maxjaxusa.com/

a guy on another forum just got one and loves it

Leno demonstrated it on his webshow

YOu might check ebay for a lift. Snap on makes a nice lift as well. Saw some wheel balancers on there that went for less than a grand, but they needed 3 phase power...

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All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to stand by and do nothing.

Too many people tip toe through life, never attempting or doing anything great, hoping to make it safely to death... Bob Proctor

'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic

I bought a lightly used Benwil lift off e-bay a few years ago. The seller was close enough I could look it over. I made him an offer he accepted and picked up the lift with a borrowed truck. Best $1400 I ever spent.