Ma ke r

Building the

Barrage Garage

The first in a three-part series about building a workshop from the ground up. By William Gurstelle

AS A CITY DWELLER, I’VE OFTEN LOOKED with envy at the spacious outbuildings of my rural friends and relatives. Horse barns, potting sheds, root cellars, equipment garages — plentiful, enclosed, and private space is the one thing that makes me envy those who live beyond the end of the bus line. I think often about what I could make if I had a room of my own: a purpose-built, well-equipped space in which to create.

Apparently I’m not alone in these thoughts. Homebuilders commonly offer two-, three-, and

32 Make: Volume 12

even four-car garages for new homes. But all that space isn’t needed simply to shelter the family Chevy. It’s needed to keep pace with the explosion in DIY projects and their concomitant material and tool requirements.

Randy Nelson, president of Swisstrax, a manufacturer of workshop and garage floor products, says that garages are quickly evolving into more than simply places where people keep their cars. Installation of the company’s special-purpose floor tile in garages and workshops is booming.

Photography by William Gurstelle