I just bought a house with a two car garage, but the rub is that there isn't must storage in the rest of the house for anything. In addition, we will be down a private driveway where we can't park outside, so we HAVE to park in the garage or three blocks away and walk. The walking is no big deal, I guess.
I have a sinking feeling EVERYTHING is going to be stored in the garage. Old family heirlooms, Holiday stuff, etc. No attic, not many closets, no crawl spaces for long term storage. It's all going in the garage. We've already done a pretty thorough job of purging stuff we can't live without, so we won't gain much by thinning out further junk. I can do some thinning, but not enough to make a huge difference.
Which means, storage for our 8 or so bikes (I honestly lost count) is all going to have to be hung up in the garage, most likely from the celling over the cars.
I'm also going to need to build a work bench, but that is another project.
What are you all doing for bike hanging and gear storage solutions? Pics are most welcome.
I'd re-think"can't live without". For a long time, that list was small, but over the last few years, that list has grown substantially ... a long with a great deal of time, money and happiness.
I hang my bikes on large plastic covered hooks screwed into the ceiling of the garage and have half of my garage lined with relatively cheap large metal shelves. Both can be found at Lowes/Home Depot. If you need extra storage you can find interesting storage shelves that hang from the ceiling.
Just a heads up on something you probably already know; don't hang the bikes upside down if they have hydraulic brakes. You may be able to hang hooks to stack the bikes up towards the ceiling at the front of the garage.
No room for a shed? Got all of my crap out of the garage and into a new shed a few years back. I love having the extra space to store bikes, mower, tools, random sports equipment etc.
I have a small shed which doubled as a workspace for my bikes, with shelving and such, aside from also storing an old fridge, various boxes, and my Thule Atlantis cargo box (on top of the fridge). But then my son got a massive Powerwheels. And then suddenly all walking space was taken up. And I couldn't just have my bikes standing there anymore.
I ended up getting the tracks with hooks to hang the bikes from their wheels on the wall. This is what I'd recommend.
For me, I have my Ogre, Bandit 29, wife's old Trek mixte bike all hanging, and then the Big Dummy parked next to the Powerwheels, and everything manages to fit. I could even hang another bike on the wall. It looks silly, though, I imagine it would be easier in a garage.
We used the simple j hooks that screw in to the support beams. You will need to drill a small starter hole to get these in I am pretty sure. Anyway, those, and and we would hang the bikes from the saddle, nose down, not by the wheels upside down.
We used the simple j hooks that screw in to the support beams. You will need to drill a small starter hole to get these in I am pretty sure. Anyway, those, and and we would hang the bikes from the saddle, nose down, not by the wheels upside down.
I always hang from the front wheel only. Is this upside down enough to cause problems?
Any space above the garage ceiling? If it's just rafters up there, you can get plywood and store quite a bit of stuff up there. If it's drywall, you can cut a hole in it and install a ladder to create a storage space. Also, it's amazing how much storage space you can get by installing some floor to ceiling shelving on a wall and packing everything neatly into boxes.
For bike storage, I recommend a bike hoist or wall mounted bike rack for any of the nice bikes. Gets them up away from car doors and maximizes available floor space.
I too have a 2 car garage. I park My lifted 4dr Wrangler and my Grand cherokee along with 1 tandem, 1 road bike, 1 comfort bike and 2 29ers and 2 motorcycles and my Jeep hardtop. Plus misc yard and holiday stuff.
It's a tight fit and can only move one car at a time since you cannot get into the other while both are inside.
All bikes with the exception of the tandem are hanging on the walls.
Lay it out in your garage with both cars parked inside. It will fit.
We used the simple j hooks that screw in to the support beams. You will need to drill a small starter hole to get these in I am pretty sure. Anyway, those, and and we would hang the bikes from the saddle, nose down, not by the wheels upside down.
instead of going straight into the support beams use a 2x4 first and bolt/screw it into the ceiling. less holes in your house, and it's easier to modify the j hook set up to your preference.
No room for a shed? Got all of my crap out of the garage and into a new shed a few years back. I love having the extra space to store bikes, mower, tools, random sports equipment etc.
Problem is, it's a steep hillside house on a down slope in the Oakland Hills (CA). Garage is the top floor, living spaces are under the garage. If we do a shed, we'll have to terrace the hillside and build a retaining wall.
It's a thought, but probably more do-able in a couple years when our finances stabilize from this move and needed immediate upgrades to the house (central heat is the biggest one... yeah, no central heat ). I would love to have my own workshop (bikeshop) area. I guess the other issue is that everything would have to be carried through the house, which won't go over well with the wife.
Originally Posted by A1an
Check out garagejournal.com for creative ideas. There are a few really good threads with people doing a lot with little space.
Thanks for the link. I'll go check that out.
The garage is basically a sort of modern flat roof construction with open support beams, but nothing to bolt anything to except the 2x6s holding up the shingle roof. You stand inside the garage and look up, you're seeing the finished underside of the roof.
There is no framework down lower I can put plywood down on and make an extra storage deck/loft kind of area. I'm a little afraid to build one because I don't know how much weight the roof beams can support, or what holds them up. I think they are held up only by the perimeter walls. Picture a triangle, but without the bottom horizontal segment. Plus, it just isn't that high up. I'm still in escrow, so access to the house is kind of limited until we close.
I have a bunch of totes of bike parts, 7 or 8 bikes, I need space for a work bench, and space for a long roof box. I would love to throw as much of that stuff up off the floor. I also have a bunch of music production equipment that I don't want to part with.
When we sold the old house, we managed to get rid of 2/3 of our stuff. Most of the rest is pretty solidly not going to go away, but maybe there is a bit more room for thinning it out we can do. Not tons, tho. Our old house had tons of storage, and an attic that went the entire area of the house footprint. The new one, not so much.
I'm leaning towards the bike hoist idea. I can probably make something on the cheap for all the bikes and the roof box, maybe for the extra roof rack parts we don't use very often.
On the plus side, we're going to be 300 feet from Redwood Park, East Ridge/West Ridge loop! Trails out my front door!!
Just a heads up on something you probably already know; don't hang the bikes upside down if they have hydraulic brakes. You may be able to hang hooks to stack the bikes up towards the ceiling at the front of the garage.
I store my bikes upside down all the time. Never had a problem with Hydros, Avid, Hope or Shimano but mine are all properly bled.
I store my bikes upside down all the time. Never had a problem with Hydros, Avid, Hope or Shimano but mine are all properly bled.
Yeah, I'm not terribly worried about it myself. I'll be more worried about my Lefty forks being inverted, and the bleed on the damper, and possible leakage. Come to think of it, I know the damper on my 1st Gen Reba (converted to coil) will leak if turned upside down.
Inexpensive Home Depot hooks, placed at right angles to each other. Able to get either bike off without moving car or other bike (rotate other bike quarter turn to allow easier access). Plus, you don't need to hang a tennis ball to know when to stop your car!
I also hang two of my bikes and I can mount two on the wall with the rubbermaid wall track system. To make more storage space I bult a storage platform out of 2x4s and some plywood, cost me about 40-50 bucks and works well, You can make it as big or small as needed.
1 Bike is hanging now the other three are down and being worked on or ridden at the time
Bike workspace, at the moment just unloaded a bike thats why its messy.
I mounted a rail 7" below my ceiling. It's a simple 8 foot 2x4" mounted to 3 pieces of wood (7" tall) that I screwed into the ceiling.
I hang all my bikes by their saddles off the rail. Staggering forward/backwards direction, I can get 7 bikes up there no problem. If you had a longer rail, you'd be able to get even more.
It's the same as those pulley systems, just a lot cheaper and easier to use. It obviously doesn't work well if your ceilings are too high, but for me it's great.
Here's the way I've done it for years. Couple of heavy duty (250 lb) rated hooks (not the vinyl coated ones that are rated around 50 lbs) and a 2x4. I have up to 5 bikes on it typically.
When my kids were small, I just let it hang lower so they could get the bikes on and off. It's in the middle of the garage, between the 2 cars, and all the way at the back wall. I keep a snowblower and recycle bins etc. underneath. There's a lawn tractor in front of one of the cars, and shelf units on both sides. I've got kayaks strapped up on each side too, above the car hoods. I've tried a few different configurations, but his has been the best. I like to keep the floor space on each side and between the cars open.
This is great! Thanks for all the input, everybody!
I like the Rubbermaid system. I might do that or find some steel bakers racks for the parts and gear. I like the idea of hanging a sort of rail from the ceiling and hanging the bike off it by the saddles. I probably will need another rail for just spare wheels. I have way too many of them that need to be thinned out (craigslisted). Unfortunately, most of them are not really worth much. Probably a good argument to just donate them to a bike co-op or something.
Here's a pick my wife snapped pics of the garage in question. We're still in escrow.... (fingers crossed, the seller agreed to fix the drainage problem that was holding the deal up... so... fingers crossed!!)
Ceiling is 7' on the far end of the garage, tapering up to around 11' in the middle... guessing. The garage also houses the water heater and clothes washer and dryer. I'll need a big laundry table in there as well as my work bench and room for the bike gear.
So we really do need to be able to park both cars in this garage (both A4s, so they aren't very big) due to parking restrictions on the common driveway.
It's gonna be tight, but I think it can be done well. My other worry is that my wife is very picky about how things look. I hope she agrees to 'mess up' the modern lines of the house, at least in the garage. We always wanted an Eichler house, but this has some of that mid century modern feel to it with the open beams and all. See how that pans out.
Thanks again for the input so far. Any more input is welcome.
Definately check out garagejournal.com for ideas. There is a lot of room up above the garage door that could be utilized for storage of rarely used items. On the garage site there are a lot of storage ideas that may be more appealing to your wife as well. Think cabinets with sliding doors to hide the clutter and keep the streamline look of the garage. Good luck with the escrow.
The style of house where we really want to live (but can't afford... yet):
I loves me some Eichler.
Before landing the current house deal, we actually bid on one of the Oakland Eichlers that needed a TON of work, but didn't get it. The Gods probably did a us a favor.
It was pretty trashed. They installed pink quartz granite tile throughout, right over the radiant heated floors... oh, and the radiant floor water heater furnace was removed. No respect for the original design at all.
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Originally Posted by TenSpeed
). I would love to have my own workshop (bikeshop) area. I guess the other issue is that everything would have to be carried through the house, which won't go over well with the wife.
No respect for the original design at all. 
