how to hide TS and rollaways in garage

[tom coleman]

I need to conceal table saw and 3 roll aways on front wall of my garage and eliminate pegboard storage to keep LOML happy. I have 14 feet width 4 feet depth and 8 foot + height to play with.

My first thought is to hang a 2 x 6 ledger on garage wall running the full 14 foot width and then build a 40 inch deep shelf consisting of 2 layers of 3/4 MDF with adequate supports and laminate topping for appearances. Will not be using this as a work surface.

My table saw will require a bay nearly 7 feet wide by 36 deep with fence removed. I'd like to hide it with sliding doors but I haven't located sliding HW of sufficient length. Perhaps I'll hang doors from eye hooks and remove doors as needed to access saw.......any suggestions.

Above the 40" shelf I am thinking of some deep cabinets with attractive doors and face frames. Any suggestions on reasobaly priced doors that I should consider building? Perhaps half of the space behind doors will be large plastic bins for jigs, tools, whatever. The remaining 50% will be deep drawers on slides, deep shelves, vertical storage slots whatever.

Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated

[M Toupin]

How about something along this line?

http://www.rd.com/images/offer/fh/project_plans/pdf/FH03Sep_FoldawayWorkshop.pdf

Obviously it would have to be seriously modified, but the basic idea is sound.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

How 'bout hanging a 14'-wide curtain from the ceiling, four feet away from the wall? Anything behind the curtain is out of SWMBO's sight. Except for the curtain, you wouldn't have to build anything, and you can keep things like pegboard. You just pull the drapes open when you want to work, and pull them closed when you're done. Heck, you can even let her choose the drapes.

[scott spencer]

Not mine, but I've always thought this was wise use of space:

http://sitelife.woodmagazine.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/15/11/7fe01258-85ea-4ea3-9ba9-827d27cf1a80.Large.jpg

http://sitelife.woodmagazine.com/ver1.0/Content/images/store/11/12/7be843bd-a405-4ff7-bc22-9351afc3ab0f.Large.jpg

[George Lohnes]

I've been hiding tools in my garage from LOML for years... heck... I may be an expert :D

[Frank Hagan]

If you decide on large sliding doors, look into "barn door" hardware. It can support hundreds of pounds, and would be easy to incorporate.

You can make relatively attractive and inexpensive shop doors using ply and 1x3 frames on the front; when painted they look pretty good.

[Sonny Edmonds]

Geese!
Why don't you hide her?
I hate domineering women, first they wanted to be equal. OK, I was tired of holding the door open for you anyway. :rolleyes:
Now they don't want to see your tools, even in the garage?

I had two prerequisites:
I own the garage! It is mine for a shop. Period.
I also own a room in the house for my computer junk. A "Man Room".
And never has she encroached on my spaces.
That... is true love. ;) :)

[Joel Earl]

So Sonny - if she decides to take up as a hobby something like, say....I dunno, breeding or something. Does she get her own rooms to where she gets to call the shots?;)

Just thinking aloud that equal this is an equal that and maybe compromises are the best manner:D

[Sonny Edmonds]

I own the garage, I also own my "office".
She gets the rest of the house to build her nest in.
Oh, and I pay for it all.
I compromise a lot. But I made it clear going in that these things shall not waver.
Can't be too bad. She's still here and we are still happy and in love.
Any (intelligent) questions?

I'd be damned if I'd "hide" my tools when they are already in the garage to start with. :(

[Duncan Horner]

My lady said "What the he** is she doing in the garage anyway?"

I own the garage. It's my space. Well, that and a small pile of tools in the living room from an ongoing renovation project, but sssshhhhh

Well, actually, I share the garage with the kid now that he's showing an interest in tinkering around. But that's all fine and dandy, he's not into ugly chairs or anything else that she feels she needs to put betwixt the front and back doors.. :)

[Rob Cooper]

I'll 2nd the curtain. Cheap, easy, effective and takes no floor space. I use a floor to ceiling 6 mil plastic curtain.

[Eric DeSilva]

In the interest of solving Tom's problem rather than second guessing the compromises he makes with his wife(*), I like the idea of a curtain. You could even combine it with the shelf idea and just have a half curtain hiding what is below the shelf--maybe just run it on picture wire strung where you can't see it.

(*) Not to state the obvious, but different people view different things as important and what works for one couple may not for another. In other words, your definition of true love doesn't apply to any relationship but your own. You might call a woman domineering if she isn't copacetic with the idea of you carving out some man cave. Others might say the compulsion to dominate the garage and study as physical property is compensation for ceded authority with respect to other parts of your domain or relationship. In Tom's case, it sounds like its shared space, so she ought to have some input as long as Tom has input for other shared space.

Someone will have to explain to me what geese have to do with this. ;)

[Chip Lindley]

Call it the *IRON CURTAIN*! *eyerollz*

[Randal Stevenson]

I own the garage, I also own my "office".
She gets the rest of the house to build her nest in.
Oh, and I pay for it all.
I compromise a lot. But I made it clear going in that these things shall not waver.
Can't be too bad. She's still here and we are still happy and in love.
Any (intelligent) questions?

I'd be damned if I'd "hide" my tools when they are already in the garage to start with. :(


On another (mechanics type) forum, a poster told how his wife started trying to encroach into the garage. (wanted to store the Christmas stuff)

She came home to find the washer and dryer (which he allowed, since he did his shop laundry out there, and she didn't mess with it), sitting in the living room.:D

They have their hobbies, and we have our hobbies. Couples tend to be a lot happier, if they aren't hanging off of each other all the time.

[Joel Earl]

I own the garage, I also own my "office".
She gets the rest of the house to build her nest in.
Oh, and I pay for it all.
I compromise a lot. But I made it clear going in that these things shall not waver.
Can't be too bad. She's still here and we are still happy and in love.
Any (intelligent) questions?

I'd be damned if I'd "hide" my tools when they are already in the garage to start with. :(


Only intelligent question I can think of is how'd you get screwed so bad? Sounds like she controls the biffy, food court, rec and tv room and most important the sleeping chambers.:p

She's a very wise lady to have cut that deal;)

[Eric Gustafson]

I need to conceal table saw and 3 roll aways on front wall of my garage and eliminate pegboard storage to keep LOML happy.

You're going about this all wrong. The problem isn't the tools, the problem is they are too manly in appearance. Instead of hiding the tools, feminize them! . Paint them pink. Put bunny ears on the chop saw, etc. A band saw or a drill press could be made into a giant Flamingo. :eek: Then, hang lace curtains over the windows. Make the space look like a nursery for a baby girl. Or, unless she is rich, and you are a kept man, grow some ;) , and tell her you won't control her space if she stays out of yours. :rolleyes:

[phil harold]

excuse me,
but is not her job to keep you happy?

set the rules garages are built to keep tools in
when you take a car to get fixed,
then it goes in the garage,
preferably a mechanics garage.

[Eric DeSilva]

excuse me,
but is not her job to keep you happy?

excuse me, but is not your job to keep her happy too?

PS. I hear Chris Padilla may have some experience with lacy curtains in the shop if you want a decorating consult...

[phil harold]

excuse me, but is not your job to keep her happy too?

if I am happy, she is happy :rolleyes:

[Duncan Horner]

(*) Not to state the obvious, but different people view different things as important and what works for one couple may not for another.


This I understand, and my response was more in jest than anything else, I should have been clearer.

That said, we have our deal, and we both need spaces, and the garage happens to be mine :)

[David Hostetler]

Marriage counseling...

Seriously. Hiding tools in the garage? Something is seriously off there... That's where they go!

[Chris Kennedy]

Guys -- has it occurred to you that we have it all wrong? It may not be the aesthetics of having tools in the garage that is the issue. Has anyone considered that he has bought a new tablesaw and not told his wife? I would want to hide it then, too.

Personally, I like the curtain idea. I don't know if it is possible, but what about an entire closet? Build in a wall that you wheel the saw into when not in use, and then close it up out of sight. It may allow you some storage space inside for tools as well if you can make the inside walls into pegboards or other storage.

Cheers,

Chris

[Chris Tsutsui]

This thread is pretty funny.

One pet peeve of mine is when I'm searching for something, I keep finding a big box of christmas decorations.

Also, I can't hide anything from my wife because she borrows my gardening tools and then puts them back in the wrong place.

When I do buy something and she says "Hey, that's new!!". I always tell her that it was such a good deal, that I will make money if I had to resell it. Or I tell her that these tools are investments for building you anything you want.

What I used to do (not anymore of course) in my messy garage is buy something, then cover it with old junk and perhaps a blanket too. Then keep it there for a while. Then one day when she finally see's it, I will say "I've had that thing for a long time... I thought you knew about it because it's been sitting there all this time."

My wife has nothing to complain about because she gets packages from Amazon and Sephora all the time. I find the empty boxes and when I ask about them, I get some excuse about a sale and "free gift with purchase" explanation.

[David Hostetler]

LOL...

I guess it's because I let / encourage LOML to indulge her Pampered Chef habit... I just can't see worrying about what I add to the workshop. She knows, and usually complains because I don't usually opt for the big expensive brand names... I go for bang for the buck...

Unfortunately for my wallet she HAS heard of Powermatic...

[Frank Trinkle]

My wife calls the Garage "The Man Cave"
She calls my Office " The Chamber of Info Horrors"
Finally, she calls my entertainment room with the 52" flat screen; the sound system; and all the electronics "The Bottomless Money Pit"!

The rest of the house is hers... well... except the lawn, which we BOTH avoid!:D

[John Fricke]

Do what I did. Relinquish the garage to her and build a dedicated workshop. Keep it locked for security reasons and never ever give her a key.

[Marty Paulus]

A friend of mine has sliding doors similar to a barn. I found the hardware at TSC. Seems like it would work. Buy some of that fine Chineese ply and hang it. Then you can paint it pink with bunnies on it!:p