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So i live in east anglia, beds hert bucks area of the UK and my partner and I are buying our first house woo! Now the house has a 10ft by 18th garage which is a fair size and i was thinking of moving my painting desk into it.

My main worry is during the colder months is this going to have negative effects on things like paint and if model cases are stored in it e.g. the models inside?

Anyone else run their hobby from a garage like this? any tips or no nos?

You will need heating to stop paint freezing which will wreak it, something also to tackle humidity.

Have a look on model railway forums, they have been using garages, sheds etc for decades and will have tips on ventilation and insulation plus heating etc

First suggestions though:

1. you need a decent floor covering, lino is fine but with a half decent underlay if people will be standing on it - warms the floor but also keeps dust down

2. paint the walls, white or a light pastel colour, brightens the place up but again keeps the dust down - exterior paint but not with grit in if its brick or concrete, may help with damp as well

3. do something to the ceiling, even if its just plasterboard, again panted, again dust control - ideally put some fibreglass insulation above it.

4. you want ventilation to control humidity, something that can be opened or closed securely - also control heat in summer - obviously you can just leave the door open

5. you want some heating, electric heaters in the ceiling or around the edges are fine, thermostatically controlled so you can set to whatever temperature you desire to stop stuff in there freezing or warm it up if planning a game

6. check for leaks! after a thunderstorm is ideal, also check the roof and recover if needed - cheaper to do it before you do anything inside.

7. you could insulate the walls easily enough with that space, wood buttons, fibreglass insulation and plasterboard over isn't hard to do yourself and not that expensive - in winter you will be thankful and it will make heating it cheaper.

8. consider lighting, you will likely want something over any workstation, plus natural light if you can, and maybe additional lights you can use when actually gaming - like one or two strip lights, plus a few more on a different switch.


9. tables & storage - spend time thinking about this

10. budget and plan, have a good think how much you can spend - it may be worth planning in stages - like sort the roof out first, covering, insulation and panelling plus painting as this will make a big difference quickly, then the walls then the floor - can integrate lighting and heating as you go

also check if you need planning permission, you shouldn't but you never know, if you want it as a more permanent gaming area it may be worth replacing the door as well, cheapish french doors or similar to plug the gap, provide security but also light - plan to include blinds with this

final point that may be worth thinking about, drop a fire extinguisher in there and avoid curtains and similar that can be dust traps and fire hazards

Well for colder months you could just bring the paints inside

model and model storage should probably be fine so long as its not snowing directly on top of your finecast resin.