My garage extension begins

[Deschodt]

Since this site is largely reponsible for tempting me, I figured I'd post a progress report, as it goes... This is not a fancy mongo garage build, but it is real time, so if you are considering this, that'll give you an idea of the process / issues/ timing...

My house is pretty limited side to side and I had nowhere to go for more space except behind the current garage space, getting rid of a useless patio.

As you can see from my crude drawing, it cannot quite be 2 more cars width wise, as the original garage "ate" inside the house space. But it can be either a very comfortable 1 car bay with tons of room around it, or I can squeeze 2 cars nose to tail, one halfway between old and new construction. Or anotehr stacker, but from experience with stackers now, I doubt it, they eat up too much light and space - it feels too confined.

I'll probably stick with one car and go nuts on the deco, I think a Martini Racing stripe on one wall, and Gulf on the other, kind of an old Porsche scheme. Oh, and the wife gets a terrace on top, which really helps with getting spousal approval, guys !!!

Took ages to find a good general contractor, took ages to get started (+10 days for the permits), but now it's going *fast*, which is good because my wife is due in 4 weeks and she'll be pissed if they are still hammering at the walls when the new baby is home.

As you can see, I tried a stacker first, but I still could use more space. The wall will be punched thru where you see on the picture, the water heater relocated behind the wall opening on the right side...

A/C units are now relocated to the side temporarily, new units will come in AFTER the build (not willing to risk the $$$$ new units on a construction site), same with electrical box.

Ready to pour the new slab. Actually, it's done as of now, will get pictures tonight.

 

[Deschodt]

Only problem so far (other than that guy's skin boils issues) is the water pipes to the second heater are not going where we thought they did... Need the plumber to come back before the wall can be taken down...

 

[shoot summ]

Nice, how did they tie into the existing structure with that block?

 

[Deschodt]

Nice, how did they tie into the existing structure with that block?

From what I saw this morning, they drilled holes into the existing walls on each side (edit: 8 per side in the end) and inserted those metal rods used for concrete in each hole and in turn into the new blocks. Same for the bottom of the wall, several longer ones actually embedded in the slab. I *think* they then pour concrete inside the blocks after another inspection. I swear there is a city inspection each time they have to take a pi$$. ;-)

Done !

Today they are indeed pouring concrete down the blocks, in 4 locations that have some more of those metal rods inserted in them (vertically this time), after the umpteeth inspection. Then framing for the flat roof, fixing a small plumbing snafu, and the existing backwall can be demolished. It'd have been easier to demo it first, but then my garage would have been open to the elements and thieves...

 

[Deschodt]

The answer to "How can we get in there without getting in your house and scaring your wife at 7AM" - The wall is not fully demo'ed yet - waiting on plumber still...

As you can also see above, there was a slight miscalculation.brain fart by all involved on the height of the block wall vs the roof overhang. The roof will be trimmed back, and back further than we thought so that a railing can attach cleanly to the side wall instead of accommodating the overhang. First test of the GC: "don't worry, it's my bad, I'll do it right". He passes !!

The answer to "will the water roll off the terrace ?" - yes, there's a little slope there.

 

[964haus]

Great build and pics.
Now, more about those wonderful cars you've got in there - perfect pair in my opinion. The 911 and 02 are such great driver's cars.

Enjoy.
(they look in near perfect condition too - any details?)

 

[Deschodt]

It's actually a 912 (go ahead, walk away in disgust, I'll wait ;-)

I've had a few early 911s and sold them, unfortunately, and now they are too expensive for my taste. Been there done that. The twelve is slower but a great city car, and no fear of losing your license !

The 02 is a run of the mill car (not Tii) that was extensively modified: later model injection, 5 speed ******, brakes, etc... but looks stock when the hood is closed. It's also a rust/money pit and I'm in the process of patching all the holes. Never trust digital pictures !!!

I'll have shots of the cars in the new habitat soon enough, I hope !

 

[JMURiz]

Very cool project....not to mention a very cool taste in cars.

 

[87vertgt]

the pics of the process is nice.....cant wait to see more.

Lemme ask

why cinder block and not just a wood frame for a wall?

 

[Nighttrain]

Your a brave man taking out the air condition to the house with a wife that is about to go into labor! Looking good!

 

[Deschodt]

>why cinder block and not just a wood frame for a wall?

Well, the whole ground floor is cinder blocks. It's FL, it rains, it floods, there are termites, hurricanes, dunno, we never considered wood actually. Never entered my mind or the contractor's.

Your a brave man taking out the air condition to the house with a wife that is about to go into labor! Looking good!

Did not ;-) I relocated the old units to the side, repiped it all, it was down 3 hours max. When the new units come in, that might take longer. It was pointed out to me I should keep the old units as spares and cool the garage with one. It makes sense, kinda, except those are getting replaced because they are old, break down a lot, and inneficient... We'll see...

This afternoon's progress...

hurricane straps installed, now flooring...

View on the neighbor's pool ;-)

 

[Deschodt]

Problem: All my fault, I did not anticipate quite how much light I'd be losing out in the process... Some was good, less A/C, but we've gone overboard a bit... The living room is now a dark cave till the sun hits the other side, 3PM or so...

We're gonna have to add 2 small windows in there, oh well, project creep !! Also convinced the nice contractor to route some ethernet cable to my office via the unfinished ceiling in the garage... Monday, the roof is getting sealed and tuesday the wall is going down - well, partially I hope !

Really happy with the contractor so far, he's doing it right and not cutting corners. Even some extra work he did not budget for, but turns out to be necessary to do it right... When this is done, if you are looking for someone in the Tampa bay area, I'll recommend him highly !

 

[Ray-CA]

Problem: All my fault, I did not anticipate quite how much light I'd be losing out in the process... Some was good, less A/C, but we've gone overboard a bit... The living room is now a dark cave till the sun hits the other side, 3PM or so...

We're gonna have to add 2 small windows in there, oh well, project creep !! Also convinced the nice contractor to route some ethernet cable to my office via the unfinished ceiling in the garage... Monday, the roof is getting sealed and tuesday the wall is going down - well, partially I hope !

Really happy with the contractor so far, he's doing it right and not cutting corners. Even some extra work he did not budget for, but turns out to be necessary to do it right... When this is done, if you are looking for someone in the Tampa bay area, I'll recommend him highly !

Can you install something like this: http://www.solatube.com/?gclid=CNiE3KW2wqkCFRp3gwodCgMoZw in the roof? It looks like you could put them in the garage roof and "plumb" the light tube into the living room. It doesn't look like you have access directly to the roof from the living room.

Ray

 

[Deschodt]

Can you install something like this: http://www.solatube.com/?gclid=CNiE3KW2wqkCFRp3gwodCgMoZw in the roof? It looks like you could put them in the garage roof and "plumb" the light tube into the living room. It doesn't look like you have access directly to the roof from the living room.

Ray

That seems like a great idea to convert sunlight into a ceiling light, spot light style. I like it a lot... But that would have to come through the garage (meh, I don't want to start intruding on my new spot) and I think the missus wants to see some blue sky again, too. I turned the living room into a prehistoric cave, as it were... 2 small non-opening windows should do it...

 

[Deschodt]

Big day... Plumbing done, the wall is coming down (and we're researching the extra windows for the living room, oops)

the hammer of THOR !

Pretty soon it'll be one space... Top was caulked very well, prior to triple application of Vulkem rubberized coating, some industrial thing used on parking lots, it should resists my wife and kids !

 

[Deschodt]

yesterday night, Lintel installed over the repaired/smoothed out wall opening. Took a few people to lift that !! 5-6 or so...

So why not a flush opening, you ask ? Well the left side is 1/2 a block, there are water pipes there that you can see, which we don't want to remove. Right side stays AS-IS because there is no room for 2 side-by-side cars in the addition anyway (so no need for a 2 car wide opening either), and the water heater will go behind what is left of that wall anyway, plus some shelving.

The other benefit of leaving a chunk of wall on either side is that it'll make it easier for me to hang heavy plastic/drape or whatever else to enclose this room if necessary (paint, portable A/C, dust, whatever). The windows ledges have been chiseled too, they are ready to be framed over.

 

[Deschodt]

Questions/opinions: [Edit] got some answers

Storage wise: The ceiling will get insulation +drywall hiding the ceiling, but I would not mind using those nice strong beams to support a storage system up high. After discussing with the GC, a "box" makes more sense than just hanging beams off the rafters and making a shelf, making drywalling the ceiling annoying with cuts here and there... So on the right side wall looking at the above picture, we'll make a box to store 12 rubbermaid containers, stacked 2 high x6, attach it to the rafters, and drywall around it. Free of charge since we got 3/4" thick wood left from the deck.

Electrical: Where do I want my outlets, I'm asked.. uh, dunno, everywhere ;-) I was thinking of leaving the back wall free of anything to be able to park 2 cars nose to tail. So more outlets on each side, 2, 3 per side ? Any use for an outlet 6ft high (happen to have an old light fixture there I can reuse as an outlet) ? I was thinking of getting ONE 220V outlet for when I buy a better welder than my crappy unit... Will that cost me much more ?

 

[Deschodt]

strips for drywall, electrical outlets, one 220V outlet in the works with a dedicated 50 amps circuit with a new box. No mention was made of extra cost, period. I'm liking this GC more and more. Really good guy... 3 Overhead double neon lights, 2 was good so I figured 3 was better.. All wired up...

Photos don't do the space justice, it'll be better with white drywall. You could almost put 2 cars nose to tail in there, and almost 2 side by side, but not quite... It's gonna be a good space. We've also drilled the ceiling beams to route ethernet cable to the office. Bye-bye Wireless...

 

[38Chevy454]

Nice work and a good use of that space. It seems you have thought out things pretty good ahead of time and not many problems. Will having the windows to/from the house and garage be a problem once the garage is filled with stuff? It would not bother me, even with all my stuff a mess in the garage.

 

[Deschodt]

Will having the windows to/from the house and garage be a problem once the garage is filled with stuff? It would not bother me, even with all my stuff a mess in the garage.

That's very tactful of you ;-) No, no... The windows are actually getting framed around today, and will then be covered over with sheetrock on both sides. I was surprised they were leaving them in there, but apparently that's a good idea from a thermal standpoint. it'll be all clean. I can't wait to racedeck the space. Very glad I had them route the ethernet cable too, that was a b$%ch for them, so it'd have been worse for me to do on my own later...

(that's my contribution to the forum right there, get the pros to do the piddly stuff when it's easier to do so, leave nothing for yourself but the paint)

 

[Deschodt]

Here is the actual framing of the windows. It won't just be a patch of drywall on the house side, more like a whole section over it. Garage side, there's foam around the outlets, insulation in the ceiling, and yet another inspection was passed successfully.

I can't get a good picture that reflects the depth of this thing. You could park 2 cars nose to tail in front of this lil' 912 (my kind of cars anyway). Not much room in between if you did, but doable.

Can't wait for the dust to abate and the racedeck/paint stage. It's all drywall "stuff" now, really, and water heater relocation, and the piddly little stuff that takes ages...

 

[Deschodt]

And now we've got a box... tons of storage for plastic containers stacked 2 high...To keep the Mrs happy and the junk away from my sight.

 

[Deschodt]

Drywall.... And a new baby ! Kid #2 did not wait till the end of the project... That complicates drywall sanding and the like, and royally pisses off mommy... ;-)

Funny how drywall shrinks the space, looks smaller... Funny how the new baby shrinks my sleep time, too ;-)

 

[JMURiz]

Very nice, coming along quite well. Once there's paint on there, the space will seem larger again.

 

[Deschodt]

All mudded, sanded down, ready for stucco on the wall that had the opening...

They went overboard and made the storage nice, just wood was fine with me... No complaints.

 

[Deschodt]

One word: Stucco !

You mean there used to be a patio there? ;-)

That was the last big job. Now it's little stuff... Relocating the water heater, railing on the garage ceiling (a.k.a. the terrace), + paint.... Then I can have some fun GJ style, racedeck flooring, wall deco, bring the tools back where they belong, most importantly, pull the visquene off the cars, and drive them again !!!!

 

[widerberg]

Deschodt, looks awesome! And it's great to see another Floridian on here, too.

I'm loving your idea of expanding the garage backwards, but I don't think I'd be able to sell my wife on the idea over here--it'd take out either the master suite or the kitchen. I can live with that, but I don't think she'd like it.

Can't wait to see more pics of the garage and those cars!

 

[Deschodt]

Major milestone... I've moved in... I'll need to move out again to clean more dust, paint more, move in tools and workbench and put the floor in, but for now moving in is quite useful !!! You can now see what I meant about "not quite 2 cars wide, not quite 2 cars long". It's certainly 2 car high, however I don't want to move the stacker in this space, because if I wanted to drive the top car, I'd have to move 3 cars parked in front of it. Stacker stays in the "old" garage near the door !

Small pattern of grey/graphite racedeck visible in the left corner as a test.. It's too loud on the floor, click-click, so I will have to put some sort of cheap underlayment first. The fit of some tiles is a bit on/off too, some are better than others and there are some wider gaps here and there, but I will wait to finish the job before commenting further.

Any tips for the construction dust ??? I vacuumed all I could with a shop vac first, home vac later (probably trashed it), swept, it goes right up in the air and fall back down when I'm done, mocking me! I'll mop tomorrow... Advice welcone, it's nasty, I track it all around the house...

 

[chrommagman]

Any tips for the construction dust ???

Lots of mopping!! Or if possible wash the floor with a hose and some type of cleaning solvent (black top cleaner works,they sell it at Ace) then squeegee all the water out.

 

[BWdiver]

If you have one or you can rent one, is place a large ventilation fan at the garage opening blowing towards the street and get out the backpack blower or electric one will do and start at the back and blow it out. it will get most of the loose stuff off the walls and ceiling and you could get your wife while you are using the blower to use a commercial type dust mop to massage the walls and ceiling further loosining the dust. then wipe everthing down with damp towels and mop the floor last.

looks great, congrats!

 

[Deschodt]

Ooh, a blow/**** combo. clever ;-) I will give that a shot, thanks !

 

[5lima30]

Nice build and very efficient utilization of your space!

 

[A1an]

Have you thought about a tankless water heater instead of relocating the existing one?

 

[Deschodt]

Have you thought about a tankless water heater instead of relocating the existing one?

*Many* times ! In fact I have a gas tankless already for the upstairs feed, which is great. Unfortunately this big ol'unit ( it's the one for downstairs only) is on the other side of the building and the gas company will not extend the gas line to that side of the house. I've asked, twice. I've discussed electric tankless with a few plumbers and as much as I got "thumbs up" for gas, I got thumbs down for electric. So I kept the old tank.

It's relocated already, it's not bothering anyone, it'll be largely hidden by a shelf, and having ONE tank with hot water is better than none with 2 young kids in case of an outage.

Gotta go rent me a huge fan and blow some dust off now... Then flooring, then "deco". I'm nowhere near done with this thread ;-)

 

[czeto]

Great lights. Who makes them?

 

[Deschodt]

Great lights. Who makes them?

Run of the mill home depot diamond plate Neons. $40+ ea. Forgot the brand, I'll have to go dumpster diving...

 

[Bo Heck]

Thats a great looking space! You certainly picked a great contractor, the fact they went ahead and finished your "box" the way they did speaks volumes.

 

[Deschodt]

Imagine how limited my "me-Time" is with a 2 week old baby. Divide that by 2 ;-)
I found the time to scrape off the junk on the concrete and lay down some Racedeck.

Yes, I'm short on edging, here and across the entire right side (by the dust blowing fan) as you can see, maybe, on this crappy cell phone picture. Lucky me, my gap to the wall is exactly one edging piece wide ;-)

All cars in to shelter them from the storm !

*That* storm, giving you a look of the garage roof, i.e. the wife's terrace.

Quick assessment on Racedeck: it's kinda like epoxy. Without a perfect foundation, in this case not so much prep but a super flat floor, you *may* get some ridges and uneven joins. Not something you'll trip on, but something you may feel upon walking on a tile, instead of a concrete floor, since the tile may be high centered on a floor imperfection or something... I'm sure I'm not revealing a huge secret here ;-)

I put a thin liner everywhere for sound and did my best leveling with some leftover thicker pergo liner where the biggest transitions were (where old garage meets new). I'll take closeups later, it's not consistently "super tight" across the floor and sometimes it looks like the tiles locking system could be part of the issue (they come in clusters of 4 tiles attached together, sometimes those groupings are rock solid and holding together like one tile, sometimes they are looser and more flexible, the snap lock system is after all plastic. Let me emphasize here: not awful, but definitely not watertight either)

I also had a whole box with one damaged corner on the tile, forcing me to break down the 4 tile groups into individual parts and reassemble them with spares. Unfortunate, but nobody's fault (except UPS), and not worthy of a return: I used some of those around the water heater, and trimmed with a dremel...

Honest assessment of Racedeck from a newbie: It's not as quiet or as waterproof as I thought it'd be, at least on *my* floor, and there are small gaps here and there - not big but not all tiles look equally stuck together... Now do I still think it's worth the money? Absolutely ! What else is gonna finish a garage floor in a few hours like this product, be reusable, replaceable, customizable in design, etc ? Nothing !

All in all, I give Racedeck the product a solid B for time/value, and the company an A on truly fantastic customer service. I'm happy with it, and it's not even done yet...

However I'm glad I did not pick a shinier product (tough stuff??), on my less than perfect floor, that would show my gaps more, I think, so IMO (and just *my* opinion) the shiny stuff should be used on super level floors, showroom style.

Better pictures... work in progress, obviously !

View from inside the house. I was gonna use a solid door, but damn.... i like that view.

 

[Deschodt]

The End!

Total cost $32000 - putting it out there as promised, as information to all... That includes a terrace / railing above the garage, a new door opening upstairs leading there, some extra stuff (paint which I was initially gonna do myself, water supply on the deck, relocating the water heater and some electrical work the city asked for the A/C relocation which had nothing to do with the garage per se, also the extra drywalled shelf in the garage).

Couldn't be happier, the contractor was top notch, his sub-contractors were top notch, the end result is exactly as I was hoping, if not better.

Some pictures, bearing in mind we had a baby just before the end of the work, therefore very little time to clean up or decorate, and it's going to be a "working" garage for the most part...

I need my oil filters, aiir cooled cars... ;-)

Ikea server rack, hosting the security system (on UPS). Not all cameras are setup of yet as the attic crawling was not fun at all, but I got the garage, living room and front door. The glass door to my house allows me to see the 912 when I walk by, but more importantly so peek at the monitor and see who's at the door trying to sell me **** or asking me to join their cult !

The system also broadcasts to the iPhone and iPad, and Internet explorer - can't get Safari to work, oh well. Pretty cool for $500+ from Lorex, very happy with it !

If anyone is looking for a contractor in Tampa, I can PM you his info, I can't sing his praises enough... I imagine that is rare...

Mistakes I've made:
- should put in more power outlets all around. I knew it, yet still did not ask for enough
- Should have punched thru the house wall for internet too.. I did upstairs but downstairs coulda used it as well.
- opening into the garage should've been 1 foot wider for maneuvering comfort, we opened the same width as what was left on the side of the lift, that's a mistake, you can use maneuvering room backing out of there.
- Should have gone the whole way and plumbed the air compressor in the "old" garage through the ceiling

 

[Dee_Soto]

Looks really good... and a steal of a price (especially from a canadian standpoint). Congrats.