Cleaning the garage

[btroj]

Went out to the garage to do a bit of cleaning and organizing. Oh boy.

Am I the only one who has a problem with piles of stuff under piles of c@@@, under piles of junk, under piles of Sh@@?

I have piles on piles of stuff.

Threw away some stuff that moved to this house in 01 that hasn't ever been unpacked. Felt good to eliminate some clutter and clean some stuff up.

Sadly, I only dented the mess.

[oneokie]

Build a bigger garage/shop. Or move every 2 years, less junk accumulation doing that.

[Sweetpea]

Since you've got some practice, you wanna come clean my garage?

We've only been here less than 3 years, should be a walk in the park for you!

I'd even supervise, and provide meals!:drinks:

[lancem]

I had a big shop that was filled to the gills, all "good stuff", figured out after a while that if I moved something twice already because it was in the way the the third time it went out the door. That new rule really cleaned out the stuff I never used but was always in the way, helped a lot when I moved as the cleaning up had already been done...

[Wayne Smith]

Huhh! I got piles of stuff and tools everywhere out there. And too cold to work.

[btroj]

I really need to clean things up. I found a 5 gallon bucket full of dental foils that need melting down and I have 4 five gallon buckets of range scrap to smelt.

I have more junk than I thought a 2 car garage could hold.

Face it, I have a Texas size mess in a Rhode Island space.

[**oneshot**]

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have a never ending process of cleaning the garage/workshop. One day I need to use this section and move "stuff" to the other side, then I need to move that stuff to 3rd location, etc etc. Next thing you know I have to start cleaning again. The cleanest area of operation I have is my casting area in my shed. It never gets cluttered, but then again only a few tools are needed there.

[Finster101]

I've been in the same house since 1992. Ever hear about preaching to the choir?

[JWFilips]

You know when someone post "I'm Cleaning the Garage" we get plenty of stuff to bid on! Well, are you holding out on us???

[btroj]

I found a stock blank for a half stock muzzleloader I never built. I threw away a bunch of old stuff from when my wife was doing pottery. I got rid of scraps of trim from when I tiled the basement. Put the turkey blind back where it belongs, gets it out of the computer room.
I aim to sell my tent from muzzleloading days next weekend. That clears up more space.

I have a work bench covered in tools and stuff, it needs to be cleaned up too. That will make room for the oven for bullet coating, it is sort of jammed in there right now.

I don't really want to sell anything, that would be more hassle than I like. I'm too lazy to wait in line at the post office.

[Taylor]

I would take a picture of mine,but it would be embarassing.Yet 3 mortorcycles fit.

[John Allen]

I just spent the weekend building a counter with shelves underneath to get more organized.

[btroj]

Oh no, flat surfaces are bad. I find that they are the single largest collector of stuff know to man.

[BNE]

We call it "5-S" in the manufacturing world. It's a good thing.

Sort (have the tools you NEED close at hand.)
Straightening (Organize them)
Shining (Keep them clean)
Standardizing (every work station should be the same)
And the hardest one... SUSTAIN (Keep it that way.)

I go through phases of being REALLY organized then end up with barely having enough room to work!

[btroj]

I use

Stack
Shove
Stick
Strew
Sustain

I'm really good at sustaining the first 4, hence the mess.

[WILCO]

Am I the only one who has a problem with piles of stuff under piles of c@@@, under piles of junk, under piles of Sh@@?

Nope. I've got problems like that too. One good thing about it though, it's like Christmas when you find long forgotten items.

[xs11jack]

I've been in this house 23 years, the garage and basement are a vast wasteland. A couple of years ago I took a picture of the garage. Then I built a 10X10 garden shed in the back yard and filled it with stuff from the garage. Then I took another picture of the garage. NO DIFFERENCE !!
Ole Jack

[OBIII]

I've been in my house since 1983. I have accumulated more cr*p than carter has liver pills. But three days after I pitch something, something else breaks that I could have used the one I pitched to repair. So you get what you think you need to fix it, and you wind up with more cr*p (I mean spare parts.) :)

OB

[WilliamDahl]

When you live out in the country, you can just buy yourself another 40 ft shipping container. That's like a whole new 2 car garage for you to fill up.

[Mk42gunner]

Twenty Nine years ago this month I transferred to NAVMAG Subic (first duty station) with one seabag and a garment bag for my dress uniforms. I did leave my .22 and a 16 ga. shotgun at my vest friend's dads house. Things have snowballed since then, I don't think I could move from here without loading at least two 53' trailers, or having one heck of an auction.

I have heard that three moves equals one fire for getting rid of "stuff."

Robert

[Pb2au]

I know the feeling. My workbench in the garage is moaning under the strain of detritus that has built up on it. You are correct, any reasonably flat horizontal surface is a magnet for stuff. I am currently ramping up to pull the heads off of the truck and need to get that war zone cleaned up so I can wreck it again on that project...

[Goatwhiskers]

Someone, don't recall who, once said that "we become prisoners of our possessions." GW

[imashooter2]

I had to take down a garage a couple years ago. It had seen 30 years of my use. It took me through my motor head days, and it housed all the raw ore for my casting as well.

What a nightmare! :shock:

It is unbelievable just how much stuff a guy can acquire in 30 years. It was heartbreaking to toss all of my "this is too good to throw away" and "this will save my life someday" treasures.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

It is a major dilemma! Sure, you have stuff stacked in the corner or in the rafters or under the bench for years and all is well. If you go clean it up and throw it away, that piece of metal or plastic or corner from whatever will be drastically needed almost immediately and you will have to go out and buy a new one that comes in pairs and you only need one! It's just the way it seems to be.

[DHurtig]

Sure wish I had a garage to clean.

[alamogunr]

I finally bought a new pickup this summer. After 15 years, I figured that I better not wait any longer or I wouldn't be able to use a new one. Pickups have sure grown in 15 years. I can't get the new crewcab in the garage. The rear end sticks out the door.

Somehow I'm going to have to rearrange the lead stash(almost 2 tons) so I can move the freezer. The rest has to go.

[Jailer]

I started a project last fall of cleaning one corner at a time. I seem to get too overwhelmed if I try to do any more than that. It's going well and I've got rid of a bunch of stuff. Still much more to go.

It all started when the warden said she thought I was a hoarder and was going to "help" me clean it. No thanks, I know what that means.

[Col4570]

I am pleased it is not just me who has a garage that looks like Hells Kitchen.I have this nasty habit of not putting things back where I got them from.When I have a project on my bench becomes an obstacle course.Like so many Triffids creeping towards me,I find myself surrounded by the accoutrements of my gun tinkering obsession.My Lathe Tray is a cornucopia of things that might become useful one day,There are also several unfinished symphonies(projects)All this clutter is described by her indoors as junk.So it does my poor Heart good to know there are others like me.Perhaps we could form a society,The Untidy B------s society.

[merlin101]

I have a 3 car garage and can barely find my project truck in there! Well it was in there , I haven't seen it for awhile:). That garage also has a full attic and when I say full I mean FULL! I had to build an 8X10 shed for my lawn mower about 10 years ago, my mower is sitting under tarp behind the garage because it won't fit in the shed anymore. Should I even mention my gun room, the wood shop in the basement or the 8x20 storeage container I have at the camp? One of these days I'm gonna......

[William Yanda]

I am pleased it is not just me who has a garage that looks like Hells Kitchen.I have this nasty habit of not putting things back where I got them from.When I have a project on my bench becomes an obstacle course.Like so many Triffids creeping towards me,I find myself surrounded by the accoutrements of my gun tinkering obsession.My Lathe Tray is a cornucopia of things that might become useful one day,There are also several unfinished symphonies(projects)All this clutter is described by her indoors as junk.So it does my poor Heart good to know there are others like me.Perhaps we could form a society,The Untidy B------s society.

May I nominate myself for membership? Shhhhh, SWMBO thinks I'm just a hoarder.

[cbrick]

One of the great things about being retired is that there is no need to rush into those things today that could be better done tomorrow. Besides lot's of time, what's the rush, next week sounds good. After all, there are plenty of interesting things to do today like take a nap. :mrgreen:

Rick

[Duckiller]

Rick cheats, he just moved half way across the country. We moved into our house in October of 1977, still there. Sons cleaned the Garage this spring then we move half the house into the garage so we could redo the floors. Garage is full and house is empty. Keeping things is good. Don't throw away good stuff.

[popper]

Shucks Btroj - just finished changing from great audio stuff to a flat screen. I was planning on sending you the leftovers - huge speakers, Amp, receiver, CD changer, 250#TV, Cherry cab. to hold it all. Been pushing furniture around all week. Got to get the floors redone next month so I get to do it again.

[Hawkeye45]

13 years ago I had to build a 30 X 40 shop, now both it and the 3 car garage are full. It will never end.

Mr. Ed

[foesgth]

I have found the solution to my storage problems. The city got these from the USMC several years ago. I just need them to transfer them to me. It should take me about 10 years to fill these babies...
94105
94106

[CastingFool]

We call it "5-S" in the manufacturing world. It's a good thing.

Sort (have the tools you NEED close at hand.)
Straightening (Organize them)
Shining (Keep them clean)
Standardizing (every work station should be the same)
And the hardest one... SUSTAIN (Keep it that way.)

I go through phases of being REALLY organized then end up with barely having enough room to work!

I worked at one place that strictly adhered to the 5S concept. It made sense for a large shop where everything is dedicated to one purpose. Extremely hard to do when you're a jack of all trades. I can't remember how many times I have started and completed projects out of stuff I already had in my basement.

[Sweetpea]

The Untidy B------s society.

You think we could get our own subheading in OUR TOWN?:guntootsmiley:

[MTtimberline]

I found a 5 gallon bucket full of dental foils that need melting down and I have 4 five gallon buckets of range scrap to smelt.

I can help you dispose of that lead to help make more room in you renewed clean garage. No charge other than shipping and handling.


Somehow I'm going to have to rearrange the lead stash(almost 2 tons) so I can move the freezer.

I can help you by offering the same disposal service I offered btroj.

[MTtimberline]

I just wish I could have my garage space back for MY projects. Have the old man's old pickup in there now for a restoration project that has turned into ten times the original plan. One of those one thing turns into another, then, into another, and it just keeps compounding until you find yourself doing the whole thing. You know, one of those "since we are into this far we might as well do that too" things. Be nice to finally do one for myself one of these days. Have to sneak in a few hundred good looking boolits when nobody notices.

[MTtimberline]

I suppose the my response to those quotes should have be written in the new purple font according to the new unofficial guide lines.

[Frank46]

My future son in law and I cleaned out the garage right down to putting sweeping compound on the floor to get rid of all the dirt and grit. My wife who should own stock in the company that makes those big storage bins promptly decided to stack a bunch in there. GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!. Frank

[Col4570]

You think we could get our own subheading in OUR TOWN?:guntootsmiley:
We might get raided by the Towns Health and Hygene for assembling in insanitary surroundings.

[btroj]

I do find the multiple buckets of range scrap are tough to maneuver around. I suppose melting it down and stacking ingots would help.

FYI, I don't need any help with lead storage, thanks in advance for the offers!

[DLCTEX]

Garage: palace to put items until they are so old or dirty you don't feel guilty about throwing it away.

[pworley1]

On the other hand after creating piles of stuff on top of stuff for years, you get to the point where you forget about all the stuff you have buried, then you dig down and find it and it is like Christmas.

[Dale in Louisiana]

Garage? I have stuff piled on my desk so high that the bottom layers are turning into COAL!

dale in Louisiana

[375supermag]

I feel your pain.

I have a two-car garage...can't get any of the vehicles in it. Barely room to walk from the doorway to the garage doors with all my son's car parts, wife's stuff(don't even know what most of that is) and the yard maintenance equipment.
I have three workbenches that are piled full of stuff and projects, power tools and leftover stuff from my son and his friend's projects.

Spring will see a serious garage cleaning occur.

Good thing I have a 12x12 hobby room for my reloading stuff. Now if I could just get motivated to get down there and load some ammo.