Several months ago, I received a call from a customer (Cindy) who explained they lived in the Sydney area and were looking at a garage wall makeover. Cindy wanted help to understand how our panels would assist with an impractical wall she had in her garage which was also her real only source of storage space.
I have provided a photo of the wall below. The wall is of a decent size but as you can see it also has several dimensions along with a power outlet and a large pipe. You really couldn’t just stick wall panels on this wall to make it practical. It actually needs a makeover.
Having reviewed the photos, I was a little hesitant at getting involved but I thought I would offer my opinion on how I thought Cindy and her partner could fix this wall.
What they needed to do was to build another layer of wall over the existing walls so that they would eventually have a flat surface to work off. This new wall could be framed out by a carpenter, who would add enough frame and at the required spacing in order to also hold the StoreWALL panels.
The client advised that they had access to a local carpenter who could assist them with this work.
Measuring the Wall
Following some email exchanges and a phone call we had measured all of the walls that need to be built out and covered with StoreWALL panels. The project had 2 walls. One main wall facing into the garage and a smaller wall close to the garage door.
The size of the main wall was 2800mm W x 2390mm H. In order to meet their 2390m height requirement, I recommended that they consider 7 full panels to get to a height of 2133mm or 8 panels with the top panel cut to length ways to meet 2390mm.
StoreWALL panels are 2438mm in length. To reach the width of 2800mm, we would use a full length panel plus a smaller panel of say 400mm.
For the main wall, a total of 10 x 2438mm panels was required. This would cater for the full length panels (8 of the these) and the smaller panels to reach the 2800mm width. This section of wall also required 20 Installstrips.
The smaller wall beside the door was approx. 300mm in width and the same height as the main wall at 2800mm. For this I recommended 1 additional full 2438mm panel plus 1 smaller 1219mm panel. Instead of using installstrips on this wall we opted to use colour matched screws.
Sydney Garage Wall MakeOver
The result of the wall post the frame being built is:
I unfortunately don’t have pictures of the frame but they did build it out as I had recommended. You can also see from the picture that they have added some trim across the top and bottom of the walls framing it nicely. Picture below shows the wall following some touch up paint being added to the trims.
Paddleboards and Surfboards
The purpose of the wall was to support the following garage items.
- Paddleboard – horizontally at the top
- 3 x bikes – vertically on the back wheel
- Surfboards, boogie boards – vertically
My initial recommendations were as follows:
- Paddle board – for this I suggested a 254mm or 381mm Angle Bracket. The 254mm bracket extends out from the wall by 430mm, the 381mm extends by 647mm.
- 3 x bikes – this would be accommodated by 3 x J Hooks.
- Surfboards, boogie boards – the best option is the Angle Rack Hook. This hook can be used between each of the boards to hold them upright.
After a few conversations we settled on the following accessories:
- 2 x 381mm Bracket + Padding
- 1 x Angle Rack Hook
- 3 x J Hook
- 1 x Medium Bungee Hook Set
Angle Brackets
The Angle Brackets were replaced with standard brackets as they allowed the Paddleboard to sit lower making it easier to lift off and take away. There was enough width in the standard bracket to hold the paddle board securely. For added protection however, we also added the Medium Bungee Hook which could be used to tie the paddle board to the wall.
For the Surf Boards, the client decided to start with one Angle Rack Hook and have the Surfboards lean on this.
The 3 x J Hooks remained for the bikes.
Ultimately this Garage Wall Makeover delivered a brand new wall which is totally usable. I think their carpenter has done a great job.
They now also have a garage storage solution which holds all of the key items they want to store. Best of all it also offers lots of additional options for storing smaller items around the wall as the family’s needs change over time.