New Garage Addition

[BMW Rider]

I've been lurking around here reading about and looking at all the great garages with envy for quite a while. I figured its finally time to get involved and show off my somewhat modest garage with its new addition.

The original garage was built the first summer after we first moved into this house, and it seemed pretty big at the time. It's 24' x 32' with 9' walls and attic trusses to provide extra storage up there. Since moving in however, my collection of toys and tools has grown exponentially and the space was getting seriously cramped. Plus, I never did have enough room to park my truck indoors, which in the winter time was a bit irksome to have to scrape snow and ice in the mornign while my wifes car basked in the warmth of the heated garage. So after several years of dreaming, the planets aligned and this year I was able to finally add on to it.

Of course the original plan was to use up pretty much the entire double parking pad beside the garage and add lots of room, but beauracracy reigned in that plan and so the final approval was to allow a 12' x 20' addition, just barely enough to accomodate on parking bay. But with a bit of ingenuity and the use of scissor trusses, I will be able to squeak in two cars using a parking lift. That frees up a full parking space in the original for my truck, and more space for my woodworking.

[BMW Rider]

The permit process consumed four months and probably killed more trees with paperwork than I used for the actual lumber to build, but with permits finally in hand, work was started in the early spring.

First job was to get the parking pad down to grade for the concrete.



The initial heavy work done by the bobcat, courtesy of my brother-in-law, The forms were laid and the insulation and tubing for the infloor heat (same as the original shop) put in.



Then it rained, and rained, and rained. But finally after a week and a half delay, we were able to pour the pad.

[BMW Rider]

Next came the framing of the addition walls and roof.









Then came the critical stage of the tie in of the roof to the exsting garage. Fortunately the weather co-operated and we were able to strip the roofing, get the trusswork done, sheet it all and get the shingling redone without any threat of rain.

Of course, not being able to match the original shingles, the entire roof was redone with new. One of the stipulations in the permit (and my own wishes anyway) was that everthing on the exterior had to match in colour and style.

[BMW Rider]

Now with the shell of the addition done came the time to secure it and open up the access into the original garage. First was to close the large unsecured hole with a new overhead door. To accomodate the planned lift, a high lift track was used and the tracks angled up to match the ceiling slope. A bit tricky to rig, but once I figured it out, it went together pretty quick. First test and it opened and closed like a dream.



The window in the original garage was to become the doorway into the addition. To make that work, a couple of electrical wires had to be rerouted up and over the header, then the wall removed below the window opening. pretty easy work, and a now the window was a door.

[BMW Rider]

Withe the basics done, next was to get the exterior cleaned up and looking good again. Of course like the shingles, the siding could not be matched any longer. I was fortunate though to come across some old stock lurking in a warehouse that was not exact, but close enoguh to work. It was the same colour and size, but was a beveled profile instead of the original cove profile. After some debate, I decided that the best option was to reside the back side of the original garage with the new siding where it was least visible and hard to view simultaneously with any other side, then reuse all the old siding on the addition.







The fascia and eaves troughing was also reused as much as possible, but again, being a discontinued colour, the new stuff had to be painted to match.

In the end, the results were pretty good and appeased the inspectors enough to get the development permit signed off as complete.

[BMW Rider]

Next on the agenda was to get the landscape cleaned up again. I had lots more gravel than I anticipated from the grading work, so i decided to use some of it up to level up the remaining single parking pad beside the garage which had about a two foot slope into the far corner. This entailed building a retaining wall along the far side and front edge first.





Then once it was all leveled up, the whole thing was tidied up with new paving bricks matching the sidewalks in the rest of the yard. The fence was put back up, a new gate and it all looked pretty sharp.

[BMW Rider]

Now to get the interior work done. The walls and ceiling in the addition were stuffed with insulation, then drywalled and finished up.

[BMW Rider]

The original garage had a small corner partitioned off with a seperate entry door for use as a garden shed. Since I was not able to add as large an addition as i had hoped, it was decided to reclaim that space into the garge and build a seperate garden shed on the back side (there was no stipulations in the permits that prevented me from adding a seperate building and as long as it was under 100 squre feet, no permit is required).

This made for some additional work inside fixing that space up and opening a doorway into the garage. I was then able to remove what had been the original entrance door and close that off permanantly.







That recaimed space is now a new entryway with a coat rack for coveralls, motorcycle suits and other gear. I also built in a computer desk and some bookshelves. I'll likely add more shelving later for more books, magazines, displays, etc.

[BMW Rider]

The addition is mainly complete now, but ther's still plenty to do getting everthing tidied up and reorganised.



I've just received a shippment of RaceDeck flooring to lay down in there, plus enough to do the area in the original garage where our four motorcycles are parked. I haven't committed to doing the whole floor (yet) as I'm still planning some changes in there. Maybe later, or maybe some other flooring option, we'll see.

I also need to build a new workbench as my old one was scrapped to make room for the widow/doorway conversion. Once the car lift is in place and my project Mustang gets moved over, i'll be able to get the rest of the space reorganised. Currently, I'm working to get the heating plumbed into the new addition as fall is near and winter not far behind it (saddly).

[jesse72]

Very nice!

[KCarGuy]

Very Nicely Done!

[BMW Rider]

Just a quick update with two accomplishments.

First: the heating system is all plumbed in, filled, purged and pressure tested ready to fire up when the temperatures drop (which will be all too soon).

Second: got the RaceDeck flooring laid down today. Also added a bit of colour to the walls in the form of a red band to sperate the white and grey (bonus points if anyone can guess what I used for that )

[BMW Rider]

I've been keeping busy the past week or so. Got my new workbench finished up last week and started some reorganizing. I moved all my bolt bins to be by the work bench now and moved my automotive/motorcycle supplies cabinet over by the workbench also.







The workbech is welded up from 1 1/2" square tubing, the cabinets were purchased a couple months ago on sale at Canadian Tire. The top is doubled 5/8" plywood with a 1 1/2" flat steel edging. The top surface is Allure Trafficmaster garage flooring. It is just laid in place and not glued down (the vise is bolted through it though) so it can be replaced in the future should it get too worn and ratty.

Then this morning, this followed me home.





Got it all uncrated, inspected and ready to go together. That'll be Thursdays project.

[Caleb T]

Wow! Awesome build. I love the flooring and color scheme!

P.S.- I'M COMPLETELY JEALOUS OF THE LIFT!

[Bib Overalls]

I like the way everything is tied in. It really looks like it was all built at one time.

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by Bib Overalls

I like the way everything is tied in. It really looks like it was all built at one time.

Thanks, it took a bit of careful planning and measuring to make sure the roof and eaves tied in neatly. I gave all the details to the truss makers and they did a perfect job designing them which made it easy for us when we put them up. I had to make sure everything on the exterior was matching in colour and style to the original garage to satisfy the conditions of my development permit. I would have done that anyway even if they hadn't mandated it as I wanted it to look good to satisfy my perfectionist personality.

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by Caleb T

Wow! Awesome build. I love the flooring and color scheme!

P.S.- I'M COMPLETELY JEALOUS OF THE LIFT!

I haven't decided yet what to do with the rest of the floor, but I sure am pleased with the RaceDeck.

Blame this forum for my choice on the lift. I was looking at a different one originally, but once I started looking at the comparisons, the Bendpak was the better choice. The main thing that swayed me was the width between the colums. My wife will be parking below it daily and she was anxious about the narrow spacing of the other lift I was considering. The design and construction of the Bendpak is way nicer too and the price was pretty much equal, though the other one came with the dollies which I will never use anyway.

[340wedge]

Looking Great!, What red band did you use for that border, I like it

[BMW Rider]

Originally Posted by 340wedge

Looking Great!, What red band did you use for that border, I like it

I did a lot of searching the hardware and home improvement stores for something to use for the border. I considered painting it on, but was looking for something easier and quicker to apply. What I finally chose is a Red Green approved product, it's red duct tape Cheap and effective.

[Rigpig]

Who carries/sells Bendpak in Calgary? I'll be putting one in my shop also and starting to shop around...
Thanks!