We converted an over sized {1.5 cars, and deep} attached garage into a tuning room. All finished with rough pine. One wall has a closet designed to store infrequently used skis and poles, and next to it 5 shelves that hold 4 big clear storage tubs each {from Staples}, with storage for ski bags underneath. One shelf is open to hold the kids' tuning boxes, and those of friends, when they're home. Another closet with lots of shelving for my non-ski hardware, is on the other side of the shelving. The flooring in the closets and under the shelves is Dry-Tec, a modular plastic mat, which is great for moisture. We also have it in an area where we typically leave skis to air dry when they come off the hill, which is next to the hardware closet, near one of two doors.
The opposite wall has a very big {2' X 8'} built in bench, with a hot box built under it. That bench is coated with white epoxy high-gloss boat paint, which cleans up easily. It has slots recessed into the top for vises, so that the ski sits over the bench, and wax for the most part drips on the bench.The ends of the bench have a 1" raised rail to gather wax scrapings, and there's a 10" by 4" slot that drops into a garbage can. Raised along the wall are hardware bins {which are removable} which hold brushes, Fiberlene, scrapers, tape, scrubbies, etc. This bench is used just for waxing. Also drying racks to hold 4 pairs of skis for curing after waxing, before scraping. Above the bench is a commercial sized bathroom ventilator to take out the fumes. My electrician was a college employee who moonlights on the side, and he suggested it for the purpose. It pulls a ton of air. It's all boxed in for a finished look. Outlets are against the wall, and in the ceiling for irons. The bench is deep enough to keep irons out of the way, along with wax, etc. There's about four feet of unused wall space for skis to the right of the bench.
The far wall has a Holmenkoll folding bench, permanently set up for tuning. Wall bins there hold that equipment. No waxing on that bench. Keeps the area very easy to clean. Almost instant with a shop vac. There is a lot of wall space on either side of that bench....perhaps six feet on either side.
The floor is painted, and will be repainted with an non-skid epoxy polymer this summer. It has a drain in the middle. The floor area near the benches is covered with a dense rubber flooring, designed for use in weight rooms. Very easy on the feet. We have plenty of wall space for skis to lean skis against. We have enough open floor space to accommodate two other tuning benches, with vises on both sides, if needed. We've had six people working at once in there, while two others were on spin bikes over the past few weeks.
The tuning room has a couch, a fridge along the front wall, and we use Ipod's and speakers for music. Many laughs about various racers' playlists! No demand for a TV, yet. We are adding a spin bike. I removed and framed the garage door, finished it inside and out and installed a regular door and window. Easy access,and nice for fresh air when the weather is right. The room has it's own heat source {Rinnai propane}. We can use the room to dry a ton of wet clothing, too, with folding racks and a rod that runs the width of the room along the ceiling, away from the benches.
If I had to do it over again, I'd only make two changes. We're very pleased with the rest. I would lower the height of the big bench. It's fine for me, but a bit high for my daughter and some of the high school and college age women. The guys love it, so perhaps I'll build a removable platform for the shorter tuners to stand on. I'd also probably pay more attention {or less} to outlets. People crack up, as I wasn't sure where I'd need them, so I went way overboard, including in the ceiling. I could have planned it better. The room has four big banks of fluorescent lights. We had planned to add more direct lighting, but the lighting seems fine. I planned on a lot of storage space for tools, wax, fiberlene, tape, spares, etc. and we use it all. The bin storage system works well. What seemed like a huge amount of wall space for skis has turned out to be perfect. In the summer we have three roof boxes stored in there, and if we come up with bikes, it becomes the bike room.
We have no fumes, or tuning smells in the house, at all, which is nice. When we built this room, and sacrificed a garage in ski country, some thought we were nuts. It gets constant use, though. I'm not sure how we'd work things without it, as crazy as that sounds. Sorry, but I have no pictures. Could take some this coming weekend.
The house has a pretty good sized mudroom. We have wooden clothes peg racks on every inch of the wall space at various heights for coats, pants, backpacks. We have a what is like an open closet, with a shelf over it. Holds helmets above, and our ski jackets. Under it along the floor is the boot dryer. Along one wall we have a bench that's built to the exact height that my wife likes for putting on her boots, wide enough for two people. It's open underneath for Sorel's and sneakers. Above it, high enough to be out of the way, we built a small "cubby" unit that's about 12" deep, and has about 16 different cubbies of varying sizes{all fairly small} to store gloves, mittens, goggles, etc. The top of it is one big shelf area. We have flashlights, etc up there. Peg rack for car keys, and season passes. Works very well. When we have friends over, they hang their coats up, take off their boots or wet muddy shoes, and it's all contained right there. Also no confusion when we leave in the AM and come back. Easy for people to find their "stuff". Also have a phone in the mudroom and the tuning room, and a clock.
We have a fairly small ski house, but it can handle at lot of skiers if needed, with these two rooms. They really have "made" the house in terms of it's functionality.
