Garage loft boarding (please show off yours...)

[Jakg]

Got a medium/small double garage (~5m x 4.6m)

It's difficult to balance:

• having the space you need to work on/around the car
• space for a workbench
• easy access to all the tools you actually need to do the jobs
• storing all the stuff you need to keep but don't need easy access too

I've ended up moving the last item (long bits of wood, smaller car parts like lights, trim, calipers etc) on top of the joists but it's not very neat.

I've boarded out the loft of the house and am considering the same in the garage, but it's difficult to know how far to take it:

• just board over existing joists and be very careful about weight limits and distribution - ~£300
• run some new spans and build a floor on top of that - but 10x 45x145 C24 (complete guess) is an extra ~£350

Has anyone done such a thing and got decent, usable space? I want something utilitarian, not mancave/office style.
Ultimately it would be pointless to spend ££££ just to store £££ of stuff. Looking for some "after" pictures to sell it to myself!

The only rubbish pictures I have to hand...

[Ste-EVo]

Following this as I'm looking to do the same in our garage

[jimmyjimjim]

I've a two car garage in the US. It's a bit better than it sounds, as it's technically 2.5, with some space down one side, that I use for a ladder and a few bits'n'pieces, but quite a bit more down the other, which has a work bench, garden tools, etc.

What will be of interest to you is the additional racks I added.







I got mine from Costco on a deal, $200.You can adjust the height quite a lot, and add as many as you have room for. I think that if I really went for it, I could put in another 2, but one would be really awkwardly placed. Ss it is, I really just need to throw a lot of crap away, or sell it.

[jimmyjimjim]

Having googled, mine are from Saferacks, but there are others such as storeyourboard and fleximounts. Search for overhead garage storage.

[phazed]

Do you really need the extra space in the roof area? I would do floor to ceiling shelving/racking all the wall areas. A lot of my Garage has this, a decent steel bench and space for tool chests and works well.

[Jakg]

phazed said:

Do you really need the extra space in the roof area? I would do floor to ceiling shelving/racking all the wall areas. A lot of my Garage has this, a decent steel bench and space for tool chests and works well.

Have floor to ceiling wall racks on one wall already, but no space for anything else - I think yours is much bigger than mine!

More specifically, one side is tools/workbench, the other is racking. Garage is only 30mm(!) longer than the car so nothing can go at the back.

[phazed]

Ah…. You also have quite a low ceiling. I would be inclined to put a few more timber beams across to make the ceiling more weight-bearing, boarded out properly and leave access for a removable ladder. That will give you plenty of storage space.

Cost will be more than what you probably want to spend, but it will be permanent and useful. You haven’t got much headroom so I don’t think there’s another option unless you just use lightweight beams similar to what you have and don’t actually put much in the way of weight up there.

Just thinking while I type, depending on your wall structure, two or three, 150 X 100 mm steel beams spaced out to take the load might be a good idea.

[Craikeybaby]

I am in a similar position, before moving in I had planned to board above the joists for storage, but when I got to look at the roof construction in more detail I realised that the joists didn't span the whole garage and that they were joined. I can't remember the name of this type of roof, but realised that I couldn't board on top of them. Having spent more time I there, trying to work out how it could be done, such as adding some new joists/supports for the board, but can't see how I could get it to work easily with the existing roof structure.

[ColinM50]

Soon after we moved into this house, I changed all the old fashioned mahogany hardboard clad internal doors for more modern ones. All the old doors then formed the flooring for the double garage loft area. Cost virtually nothing.