Garages...

[Tegg]

We've talked about the best ways to transport our gear... but how do you guys have your garage space setup for your scuba gear?

Personally I will have a nice brand new garage soon to setup the way I want... obviously I am starting with a base of good primer and an epoxy coating... then I plan on putting down a rubber mat where I plan on resting tanks (the kind that have the holes to allow for drying).

I also plan ion building a work bench for working on gear...

I wanna see some pics of how people organize and deal with their gear in their garage... I know some people out there have to have some sweet setups... 8)

[John L.]

Garage? I keep my stuff in my bedroom! I walk by it everyday. It reminds me to charge my batteries on a regular basis, and take better care of my stuff, so spiders don't poop on my gear. My wife don't like it, but that's the brakes.

[JDostal]

My girlfriend and I keep all of our stuff in our basement. We've got a dehumidifier down there already, so it works well.

We built a custom drying rack out of 1 1/2" pipe. It's about 7' tall, and 5' wide. We built two legs out of pipe for it, and there are 4 "arms" on it (out of PVC) that we can move back and forth. We can hook our drysuits on the top to let them hang, and we each have two "arms" to hang the rest of our gear on. It works really well :) Luckily we know someone that got us to pipe for free, otherwise it would have cost a ton in fittings :)

The floor has got a drain in it and is painted...so the water runs out well. My tanks I usually don't have to worry about storing. They are either in the back of my truck on the way to a dive, or are at the dive shop getting filled. I rarely, rarely have them at home. Luckily I DM for the shop, so they don't mind having them there for a week or two.

If I need to store them for a while (usually in winter, when only ice diving is to be had), the tanks have a corner in my garage that they can sit in.

[Signal 20]

garage? try living on the second floor of an apartment complex and having to carry your gear up and down the stairs everytime you go diving :wink: I have all my gear in the corner of my living room haha

[Herbie]

Ya Joe I built a small room inside my garage and left plenty of space for one car. Just frame it low enough so the garage door can slide over. I framed and used plywood for walls , painted it all black inside, floor included. Ran electric for one light and a few receptacles to charge batteries, plug in a radio etc.... Its completely off limits to my daughters but my wife gets a pass sometimes. Cave pictures/posters/maps on the walls and a calendar to plan the next anti. Even a pic of the Tegg at Buford... on the dartboard of course. Now that you are an Orlandian you should visit your Kissimmeemite bro and check it out. :-D

[NitroxWarrior]

well, i have about 12 tanks, so i built a rack out of 1x1 tubing and really big PVC pipe that holds 9 tanks.

I'll post pics later...

[Angie Reim]

Garage? I keep my stuff in my bedroom! I walk by it everyday. It reminds me to charge my batteries on a regular basis, and take better care of my stuff, so spiders don't poop on my gear. My wife don't like it, but that's the brakes.

Hey guy! I live in Florida too. Forget spider poop. I've had cockroaches in my drysuit and second stages. The only dive gear I store in the garage are the tanks - bungeed to a steel cable screwed into the concrete wall. The rest is hanging in a coat closet or in Rubbermaid containers on floor of same closet.

Nothing like doing the 'cockroach dance after putting your foot into the drysuit boot'. Ewwwww.......

Hey! You still up for dive sometime?

[Angie Reim]

Ya Joe I built a small room inside my garage and left plenty of space for one car. Just frame it low enough so the garage door can slide over. I framed and used plywood for walls , painted it all black inside, floor included. Ran electric for one light and a few receptacles to charge batteries, plug in a radio etc.... Its completely off limits to my daughters but my wife gets a pass sometimes. Cave pictures/posters/maps on the walls and a calendar to plan the next anti. Even a pic of the Tegg at Buford... on the dartboard of course. Now that you are an Orlandian you should visit your Kissimmeemite bro and check it out. :-D

Sounds more like a 'man hut'. Snicker, snicker.....

Sorry. I got one of those at home too. Poor guy. One wife and three daughters -- all teenagers. He needs a place to hide too.

[HomoErectus]

Living in a two bedroom apartment with the only place to store tanks in the livingroom.

7 cyliders and a set of doubles is not quite the decoration that my gf was hoping for our new place. :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JDostal]

I had to deal w/ gear in an apartment too...thank god I moved out before I got into more serious diving. I was still rec only when in an apartment so things were easy :) My roomate was the best - I scared the hell out of her one night with my wetsuit - she thought it was a person in the kitchen when she got up to get some water.

The spiders/roaches in the gear is funny...I was out ice diving once, and was tending the line for a buddy. He went down, and all of a sudden a couple seconds later he comes sputtering and flailing. I'm like "what?! what?!" getting ready to pull him out. He yells "there was a god**** spider in my reg!!! AGGGHH!". He's spitting out legs and hacking up...man, i'm glad it wasn't me, but it was funny to watch.

I've never let a reg sit near the floor again.

[fun2dive]

So far I have it made; store all my dive gear at my boyfriend's house!!! He has a 3-car garage; need one for all the dive stuff; right!!!

[SLIM]

Keep all 4 sets of doubles, and my other tanks some 20+ all in the garage. Allong each wall and then have a heavy duty metal shelving unit to store other stuff on. Also keep my O2, He, and Argon along one wall all secured with a ratchet strap that is botled into the concreat on both ends. Wsih a 7 foot high thing would work for me to dry my dry suit out But I have a hanger and a eye bolt that I use a step ladder to hang it on that goes through the ceiling. Got a nice work bench that has a section for nothing but gear work and next to it a receptical just for the charger.

SLIM

[Joshua]

If you have a really good setup like a dive trailer it becomes both the garage and dive vehicle. You never have to take anything out unless you are cleaning it, using it, or getting fills. I can literally drive to a dive site or home and other than cleaning everything is exactly where it always is. When it's time to go on a dive trip, if I've put everything back after cleaning it, I just have to hook up and go. Plus having AC at the dive site is nice too.

[Angie Reim]

Living in a two bedroom apartment with the only place to store tanks in the livingroom.

7 cyliders and a set of doubles is not quite the decoration that my gf was hoping for our new place. :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have found the 3-panel room dividers with asian inspired motifs useful to hide dive gear in a livingroom.

[HomoErectus]

I have found the 3-panel room dividers with asian inspired motifs useful to hide dive gear in a livingroom.

that will much with my gf too, (she is Asian)

[amphipod06]

We live here in FLA as well. The dive equipment is in our workshop. There is one side for my husband's woodworking tools etc.. and one side for tanks and other gear. The regulators and "sensitive"gear (as in the stuff I don't want spider poop or crawlies in) is stored in those neat Rubbermaid Action Packer containers that pull double duty as I just load them full into the van when I dive. As soon as everything is dry and ready ,it goes into the Action Packers, ready to go for next trip. That way it's not forgotten (make a check list too, just for back up). The tanks (all 20 of them) are against the walls, still working on a rack (one of these days).
The lights and other battery powered stuff are all in a dedicated area for battery charging.
The drysuits are kept in the guest room though. The work shop is not climate controlled all year and I can't afford new seals every year....

Dive safe!
Celia

[NitroxWarrior]

Here is a pic of my tank rack
http://img58.exs.cx/img58/8455/dsc002963pz.jpg

[NitroxWarrior]

And this is a pic of my rack for everything else (top half diving, bottom half VW parts)
http://img57.exs.cx/img57/3258/dsc002988lo.jpg

[Dave]

Basement works for me......
http://www.cjmanning.com/Diving%20Images/images/Img_6451.jpg
http://www.cjmanning.com/Diving%20Images/images/Img_6452.jpg

[NitroxWarrior]

hey you have the same BC as me, lol

[amphipod06]

Hey,

Loved your tank rack!!! That is exactly what I want!! I just had no clue as to how to do it.
Did you make it yourself and what are the dimensions of each compartment? What gauge steel (is it steel?)?
The PVC sewer pipe looks like you cut into thirds longitudinally, is that correct?

Very cool!!

Celia

[NitroxWarrior]

Yah, its just 1x1 inch steel square tubing, with Pig PVC pipe cut into thirds.
I got sick of all our crappy shelving and such so I built that and the rack and the selving unit. I used to have about 9 tanks stacked in a semi pyramid, but it always made me nervous.

[amphipod06]

Yah, its just 1x1 inch steel square tubing, with Pig PVC pipe cut into thirds.
I got sick of all our crappy shelving and such so I built that and the rack and the selving unit. I used to have about 9 tanks stacked in a semi pyramid, but it always made me nervous.

Excellent, did you weld it yourself or did you go to a metal fabrication place?
There is one close to my house, that's why I ask.
My tanks do take a bit of floor space, 35 as of last count w/o including 4 sets of doubles... :o
I think I may have a sale to get rid of some...
I like the design. Thanks for posting pics and explaining.
Dive safe!

[NitroxWarrior]

I welded it up myself, but I'm sure a shop could do it for you if you dont ahve the equipment. It's a prety simple design.

[NitroxWarrior]

Basement works for me......
http://www.cjmanning.com/Diving%20Images/images/Img_6451.jpg
http://www.cjmanning.com/Diving%20Images/images/Img_6452.jpg

Hey! why do you have a window in your basement!?!?
lol, I'm a floridan so I may be wrong, but that don't make sense.

[Dave]

Its a Georgia thing I guess, I dunno, Ive only been here a few years.
Its kind of split level properties here.

[amphipod06]

Must be North GA or somewhere where the water table is not an issue. We lived around the Savannah area and basements were called indoor pools :-D
No, really. We had a similar arrangement with our house in Tennessee, very convenient, and it sure gives your house a lot more storage room!
Thanks for posting the pics!
Dive safe.

[tlocdiver]

I was on hear to look for some gear and saw this. I would love to discuss all about pvc rack, and epoxy flooring and all that other cool storage stuff; but I hear my life calling.
thanks for the amusement though :roll:

[NitroxWarrior]

YTah, The PVC rack is the best tank rack I have evr had, I used to have one of those wooden ones where you have to make a little pyramid of tanks. but that doesnt work to well (cant get stuff of the bottom)...

[Signal 20]

I was on hear to look for some gear and saw this. I would love to discuss all about pvc rack, and epoxy flooring and all that other cool storage stuff; but I hear my life calling.
thanks for the amusement though :roll:

we need to post a topic on that great automatic door that you and I installed on your dive gear room :smt024

[NitroxWarrior]

Automatic door? I have one, its called a garage door, lol