luvit's 1975 garage -- sketched-up, getting real

[luvit]

.
I gained possession of my new house in mid-December.
This winter i'm planning the renovation & I luv sketchup.

Here it is, as purchased, in the pic, below. I plan to provide real pics as soon as i have a pretty & sunny day.
The actual garage is really not as pretty as the sketchup.. it is pretty dingy..
These two sketchups are models of the garage at the time of purchase.
I'll be editing the models as I plan.

First Priorities:
Office/Den........... the new house does not have an office, I'll create this serenity in the garage
Flooring............... concrete, some cracks & raised areas, presently.
Everything else.... everything else needs in place to determine placement of lighting.
Ceiling / Lighting.. the shop lights range from 4', 6', 8', but only about 2/3 of them work

the oxen yoke & knight/horse on the garage front will probably disappear. lol.

Oh, & I've been enjoying an outdoor wood boiler which heats the garage & home..

.
The cabinets will be removed. They do not close which has allowed years worth of filth from the previous owner to embed into every corner.
The cabinets are recycled from a kitchen & are rather forced to "fit" into the garage.

The lighting will likely be removed. They are mismatched fixtures of various lengths & widths. I may have to reconsider this option & keep some of the original fixtures, possibly re-arrange them.
.

.
.
I added my vehicles to the model to keep me aware of the times where space could be a constrained. Typically, I park the vehicles off-center of each bay, as pictured.
.

 

[pontifex4]

Trogdor!

 

[Zengineer]

Burninate.

 

[luvit]

What are my options for A/C in the 8x6 office?

.
Priority One: The Den

Other than A/C aesthetics, this 8'x6' office fits nicely:
Small sacrifice of floor space, logical location.
Heat & A/C
Window(s) - in the door(s)
Space-saving pocket door.
Room to recline.
I may make this office 8x6, narrower, but long enough to recline backwards while at the desk.

MM K!
This is where I'll need some help.

• I don't really like the backside of the air conditioner hanging outside immediately next to the main door.
• What are my options for A/C in the 8x6 office?

.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Looks like a good garage to start with, but have you investigated the brick facing on the front? In the one photo it looks like it may be pulling away from the building at the top.

For air conditioning you could look into a split system, but I'm not sure you can get one sized small enough for an 8x8 office.

 

[Zengineer]

A floor model A/C machine? Two 4" ducts to run outside then, could even use a gas stove B-vent or something along those lines. Some decent looking wall vents for those are available.

 

[Sawbladz]

Move the office into the back left corner? I wouldn't want the man door to open into the office. This would also get the AC unit further away from the main door.

 

[Krash Kadillak]

Nice plan so far. Gonna have to start a sketchup version of my garage soon.

You may want to consider making your office a bit larger. Have you given thought to just what you want to put into the office? Shelves for books / tool manuals, resource materials; computer supplies; file cabinet. You mentioned that this will also be your 'office' in lieu of having a desk in the house. What would you normally have around a desk in your house? Need room for a scanner/printer?

Marshall

 

[luvit]

.
stuart, i did see that brick issue before i purchased the property hoping i'll find the issue & solution by early summer. -- if that wall hits the ground, i guess i'll learn some basic masonry skills.

i'll look into split system air-conditioning, thanks.
i don't want to cut a square hole in the wall, & years later try to find an exact-size replacement.
.
.
Zengineer, the floor unit may be much more affordable than a split unit.
There is a ton of flexibility with it's portability and hoses/rigid tubes... the flexibility may also have it's own evil..
i'll have to review creative applications.

the reality is.. it's really hard to not cut a hole in the wall for a $99 wall/window unit.
.
.

Move the office into the back left corner? I wouldn't want the man door to open into the office. This would also get the AC unit further away from the main door.

sawbladz, placing the office at the upper left was my first thought too, but there's a long list of cons.
.
the single largest con is that it breaks-up the floor & wall space pretty badly.
and the area around the door is still a traffic area (less work space).
this arrangement allows for the greatest sq ft of immediate fluent work space.
since i'll be 99% of the traffic in the shop or the office, i'll just be either sitting in that traffic area in my office, or i'll be walking. i can't do both.. i think.
.
.

You may want to consider making your office a bit larger. Have you given thought to just what you want to put into the office? Shelves for books / tool manuals, resource materials; computer supplies; file cabinet. You mentioned that this will also be your 'office' in lieu of having a desk in the house. What would you normally have around a desk in your house? Need room for a scanner/printer?

Krash, you have a very valid concern. i've been a road warrior for almost 8 years.
if it doesn't fit in my netbook sleeve, i don't need it. it took me a long time to get into that practice and mentality. i do have a wireless network, & for the few times i print, i'll walk into the house & pick it up.

this is a den for when i get to work from home. -- which will allow the kids and dogs to make kid and dogs noises.
if i do anything in the den that is shop-wise, it will be on the net or a factory service manual.
i'll likely store manuals out in a shop cabinet.
.

 

[hh76]

I'd consider waiting to close off the office area, and maybe not ever doing it. I've always liked having my desk open to the shop, and dislike being cramped in a small room.

You can always put up walls at a later date when you get a feel for things.

 

[Nighttrain]

Since you may have to re-brick that front coner, how about extending the office out from the door about 6' or so? The front can be brick to match and then you can put your A/C through a window on the back side of the office. That would give you a 12'x 8' office.

 

[luvit]

I'd consider waiting to close off the office area, and maybe not ever doing it. I've always liked having my desk open to the shop, and dislike being cramped in a small room.

You can always put up walls at a later date when you get a feel for things.

this is a den for my j.o.b. (non-shop), i wish to restrict heating/cooling to this area for cost effective comfort.. i'll just not have that same comfort when i get to actually work in the shop.
the walls will also limit the dust on the desk/chair.
.
.

Since you may have to re-brick that front coner, how about extending the office out from the door about 6' or so? The front can be brick to match and then you can put your A/C through a window on the back side of the office. That would give you a 12'x 8' office.

that's a great idea, however, it'll need more resources.. and i may feel guilt when the money could have gone elsewhere. if i hate the size of this office space, i may widen-it with this plan-b.




the bottom line is when i do my j.o.b., at my own desk or phone, i'm lost in my own little world and i am not aware of my environment until a noisy child or dog interferes. -- working in the corner of the shop will allow me to keep away from those noises.

when i'm on the phone with customers and co-workers, i cannot sound like i work out of my home, or they have the feeling that i hardly work.. and the next thing you know, they're saying that to the man who signs my paychecks.
.

 

[czr12x]

burninate.

sworded!

 

[luvit]

.
Priority Two: Flooring - 888 sq ft

I'm planning to simply stain & seal the existing concrete:
The 1975 concrete is far from perfect. -- THERE ARE NO EXPANSION CUTS
I have no preparation history of what's under / around the concrete... rebar??
I do know the concrete is 4" deep due to anchor drilling.
There are basic cracks, not hairline cracks, but not gaping cracks.
Some cracks have a mild different of height on each side of the crack.
These cracks will slightly interfere with wheels on an economy creeper.
These are the type of cracks that would require a lot of preparation for epoxy to survive... then epoxy may still fail at the cracks.

I like the idea of tile, but stain is so awesomely cheap
i may upgrade the flooring to tile later, unless the sealant will interfere with tile adhesion.

Need flooring help.

• How do I determine if there is rebar in this concrete? -- a metal detector??
• If I wish to upgrade to tile in the future, will there be an issue with tile adhesion due to the concrete sealant?

 

[ejm1961Tbird]

I also enjoy SketchUp. It really helps me to plan to scale in 3D.

The concrete pad in an attached garage is often 4" thick, as you said yours is. Attached garages may have rebar in them, but more likely a welded wire mesh. The issue of concern for putting tile on a garage floor is whether or not there is a vapor barrier under your slab. If not, water may move up through the slab an loosen the tile. It would be hard to know if your slab has a vapor barrier or not. Try taking a thick piece of clear plastic about one foot square, lay it flat on the concrete, and take some good tape and tape the edges down to the floor. If you leave it for a week or so and there is no water vapor under the plastic, this would at least be a good sign for tile.

 

[Jack Olsen]

But that Sketch-Up woman never gets the hint when the party's over, does she?

It looks like a great space. I'll be interested to see how the stain works. I've thought about something like that for parts of my driveway.

 

[luvit]

no prob, jack. i've never been one to take time for before/after pics, but this forum has inpired me to take that time.. it's easy to forget where you came from. -- between the cold weather & wrapping up some vehicle projects, i can now move forward.

my flooring was abused and neglected.
• paint, tar, caulk, oil, grease, unknown substances everywhere, including one specific corner where these liquids were stored by the previous owner.
• winter salt damange, cracks in the concrete (no expansion cuts), excessive floor anchor holes, etc.

i wanted to remove much of these stains & tired concrete sealer.. scotty recommended a concrete floor grinder.. i used the course stone in the floor grinder and wish it would have even been available in an even lower grit to work more-quickly.
I got 3 used stones with the rental for free, and i could not wear them out.
The 3 square stones are placed into the grinder and then you hammer in wooden wedges. -- the floor grinder operated easier than a disc/drum wooden floor sander.

BEFORE PICS

test areas with floor grinder and 9" angle grinder

AFTER
i've actually not swept my floor to remove the dust yet. -- i hope to do this tomorrow.
i stripped my floor twice.. the first time i went one direction, and the seoncd time i went the opposite direction -- i ended long-ways.
i did each path twice, each path had 50% overlap, did the same thing in opposite direction -- this means every square inch of the floor was hit a minimum of 12X

What i would never do again: angle grind floor cracks
I only angle ground 1 long crack out of 5. -- it's just hard to do to the floor while knealing. -- i can grind at a bench all-day.
I used half the life of a masonry disc.
I don't think i will ever be ambitious enough to do the other 4 cracks..
The one 12ft crack i did angle grind was at my highest traffic area, so that was a good crack for me to finish before i figured, i can't do anymore.

The floor grinder was easy, i wish the course stones were more effective, though. i really had to be patient on paint stains and there were some tar/caulk/grease areas i flat-out gave-up on cleaning.

as expected, this was only the surface.. salt damage and cracks could really not be removed by the floor grinder.

i think i'll be happy with the results. i have not swept up dust, i need to rest from angle grinding that crack, and i need to return the floor grinder tomorrow morning.

PAID ONE DAY RENTAL ON GRINDERS FOR TWO DAYS.
RENTED ON A SATURDAY, RETURNED ON A MONDAY.
Floor, so far: $70.32

 

[MajorLeeGassole]

Definitely putting the hours into this one. Can't wait to see what happens next.

 

[luvit]

.
Final vacuuming:

The shop-vac only sucked-up so much so i had to use a leaf blower too. -- A nice breezy day helped carry the dust straight-out after opening the windows and letting the leaf blower raise-up the dust.

Things I expected to see:

The floor grinder could not get flush to the wall, some painted areas i overlooked, feathering from the spinning floor grinder (which I like), and that messed-up corner where the previous owner had metal base cabinets for oil/paint storage.

2 DAYS WASTED:
In my mid-west podunk town I could NOT find Iron Sulfate for the red floor stain I wanted.. nowhere within reasonable driving distance. I spent two afternoons travelling and calling DOZENS of places, CoOps, Greenhouses, Tractor Supply, FeedStores, BigBox Stores, etc. No luck. I did not order it from the internet because I thought I could find it locally in podunk rural area and save some bucks & time on shipping.

I DID find something called Dr. Iron at a greenhouse, but it contains citris to prevent staining concrete.. i learned this after trying to stir it. So don't use Dr. Iron. As pictured, I just made some strong liquid fertilizer..

I was frustrated, but not surprised. So, after searching a little longer for Iron Sulfate today, I decided to aim for Copper Sulfate instead, a Blueish stain effect instead of Red-ish. Instead of $5 for 4lbs.. this was $20 for 5lbs.. 4X the price.. still cheap enough.

I have many reasons for not choosing acid stains: I do not have a floor drain for rinsing, I cannot rinse the floor without risk of residue bleeding out onto the paved driveway, etc.. and I'm cheap.

There is very little info on Copper Sulfate recipes and practices when compared to Iron Sulfate being used as a concrete stain.
I bought Copper Sulfate and mixed-it up... hot water & 4cups per gallon.. this 5lb container made two gallons.

I applied it to 25% of the floor, it made the concrete wet, it dried in a few minutes, and there was NO COLOR!
Now I was pretty miffed, I could not find Iron Sulfate, lost 2 days, spent $20 on blue water.

I went to lowes bought other materials, but when i return I was greeted with this..

It looks like I am in business..
The recipe called for waiting 2 hours between coats and apply 3 or more coats.. 4cups per gallon..
I finished the 1st coat. I like the initial results. Lets see what happens after 3 coats, by tomorrow.
Something tells me that 4cups per gallon may also be a bit too thin.
.

 

[CrashTestDummy]

As others have said, I'd look at a split system A/C unit. You can find ones that will heat and cool, which will probably be very necessary where you live. It looks like you have a problem with cocaine blowing through the yard from time to time.

The office looks kind of small, but probably about as big as my cube at work. We converted the formal living room in our 1974-era home to an office/library, and that's where I home office as often as I can. While we do have pets that can demand attention, we're free of the two-legged kind. I think I'd have more trouble concentrating in an office in the garage than I would in the office in the house.

What are the 'anchors' for? did they used to do frame work at that home?

Gene Beaird,
Pearland, Texas

 

[luvit]

..You can find ones that will heat.. ..which will probably be very necessary where you live.. ..you have a problem with cocaine..

The office looks kind of small, but probably about as big as my cube at work. We converted the formal living room to an office/library.. ..While we do have pets that can demand attention, we're free of the two-legged kind. I think I'd have more trouble concentrating in an office in the garage than I would in the office in the house.

What are the 'anchors' for? did they used to do frame work at that home?

Gene, I have wood burner boiler heat to use during cocaine time. lol.
I did compare my office to the size of a cubicle, too.
My walls will not be padded. I will have to consider echo prevention in that office, or I will sound like I'm speaking to people from a bathroom.. not too tough to solve, though I haven't started the process, yet.
My two-leggers won't be gone for a long time -- no rushing that, of course
I don't know what the previous owner used anchors for.. there are 4 holes drilled, but only two anchors exist.
I have not reached-down into any of those holes, yet to learn more.
.
.

 

[luvit]

mm k.
here are 3 pics. today is dreary and no sun, so i think the camera did not cooperate on showing accurate floor color.

1. before rinse
2. after rinse -- the water may show floor appearance if i choose use a gloss floor system
3. a sample of some floor areas which did not take the color as much and is not so vivid.
(the black is the paint which did not grind-off from the floor grinder).

in the end I have some blue, but mostly different greens from olive to statue of liberty green.

overall, i would use copper sulfate again.. still 2nd choice to iron sulfate.

edit: it's a rainy day, floor is only drying so fast. lol

 

[luvit]

.
during this whole project i removed anthing laying on the floor, which were the base cabinets and tall cabinets..
these are presently in the barn and may go on craigslist.
these things were just held in-place buy a dozen or more screws.

..

 

[luvit]

.
Floor is done.
I also got Sketup back.. sketup under linux & wine on my laptop is a bad combo.. so ii'm back to Windows OS.. only for the purpose of sketchup. Some model features were lost under linux.

The camera does not pickup the green hues, except in the 2nd photo where the 3 panes of glass are reflecting in the left middle.

I get my garage back! -- I missed using it..
I spent every night I could over the past week to get this completed by this weekend.
The floor is dry in these photos.
Total floor cost $160
.

.

 

[Mercy]

I like the floor!

 

[JimVonBaden]

Looks good!

I missed it. What did you use as a sealant?

Jim

 

[KULIWOBBY]

That floor looks a lot better than from before you started. Good job.

 

[StumpFJ40]

I think I saw TROGDOR!!!!!!!!

 

[Homerr]

I like the floor. The colors and patina look pretty forgiving in case you have any accidents on it.

 

[luvit]

Mercy; I like the floor!
JimVonBaden; Looks good!
KULIWOBBY; That floor looks a lot better than from before you started. Good job.
Homerr; I like the floor.
StumpFJ40; I think I saw TROGDOR!!!!!!!!

Thanks, and yes. Yes you did.
.

 

[luvit]

Looks good!

I missed it. What did you use as a sealant?

Jim

I didn't say.. i don't see mention of sealant very often.. if someone asks, the responses usually attempt to persuade the OP to consider epoxy.
I chose Seal-Krete gloss (MN 601). Even if i need to freshen up the coat each spring, I 'll probably manage ok. That's why i went with 4 coats, initially.. since i hear most people use 1 or two coats. $28 per gallon, I used 3 gallons.

I like the floor. The colors and patina look pretty forgiving in case you have any accidents on it.

my thoughts, exactly. I had a lot against me wondering the following.
How do I make all these tight cracks less visible?
How will the epoxy fair as wheel-less items may drag into a crack?
Will it look silly to have all these floor flaws shine trough the epoxy "blanket"
Will I have the ambition & time to fully prep the greasy spots for expensive epoxy?
(I would not have the ambition, my time was pressed, just for this sealant).
If I did all the work, had all the time, and the epoxy fails.. i would be disappointed.
I only AVERAGE an hour per night in the garage.. maybe I'll have more time on my hands by this fall..
I can't even guarantee the floor will never move again.. there are no expansion cuts into this floor.

But, It's the best floor I've ever had when compared to a previous garage.

I want to lower dust and cleanup liquids easily..
No more dusty absorbent stuff, like kitty litter piled-up in my creeper's way.

 

[DarkMonohue]

Am I the only one noticing the MR2 Spyder?

 

[JimVonBaden]

Am I the only one noticing the MR2 Spyder?

Nope. I wonder if they have a Saturn Sky?

Jim

 

[luvit]

naw, that is just a sketchup model that closely resembles my car. i was able to scale-it for width and length for referece.
that F250 in the picture closely resembles my F350, too.
below, my car is a mercury capri
.

 

[luvit]

mm k.
i've been busy for a few weeks organizing little things from moving.
I still have a lot of things packed-up in my wife's garage and moving over to this detached garage.
So I've been watching CL for months and months, but nothing is ever local to me in my little podunk town. So I've been picking up a box each week to replace those wooden cabinets I threw-out.
I'm putting everything on wheels until they have a permanent place.
I'm spending less than $40 on each item..
I meant to put the Vidmar on 3/4" plywood too, but forgot.. i think the 2x4 solution looks bad so I'll probably change it in the future.

 

[Red Leader]

mm k.
i've been busy for a few weeks organizing little things from moving.
I still have a lot of things packed-up in my wife's garage and moving over to this detached garage.
So I've been watching CL for months and months, but nothing is ever local to me in my little podunk town. So I've been picking up a box each week to replace those wooden cabinets I threw-out.
I'm putting everything on wheels until they have a permanent place.
I'm spending less than $40 on each item..
I meant to put the Vidmar on 3/4" plywood too, but forgot.. i think the 2x4 solution looks bad so I'll probably change it in the future.

I like your compressor.






I need a compressor

 

[luvit]

That was my grandfather's compressor.
I just got it last year & hung on to it until I got a larger garage like this one.
I don't think it's been fired-up for 15 years.. so there is some tlc needed before I plug her into 220v.
.

 

[luvit]

Moving things in is slow.. i'm finding a logical place for everything as it comes-in.
I'm trying to jump on every cabinet purchase from CL/Ebay as possible. All sales are far away and I have to justify the trip for running another errand or picking up multiple CL sales. -- the brown wall cupboards will be coming down as soon as i find new storage for it's innards.

 

[luvit]

.
I moved my extension ladders out of my garage and into the ceiling of my attached garage.
You know, the wife's "luvit, keep your stuff out of here" garage.
A.K.A. hurry clean this for a graduation party garage.

I use scrap tubing, and a 6 year old bicycle hooks which I refused to use because those hooks are ugly... well, the ladders hide the hooks 100% and these hooks are grey instead of yellow.

I hung one end of the ladder with a single bicycle hook and the other is held up with a scrap piece of 1/2" EMT tube. The tube rests on metal brackets for my garage door spring. I used 10x1/2" self-tapping screws on each side of the EMT tube so it would not shift and safely hold the ladder.

Man those bicycle hooks really hold-tight.
Then I hung the smaller extension ladder a little different, probably a temporary placement. It hangs from another bicycle hook for stability, but the weight of the ladder still rests on it's own feet on the building foundation.

after looking at these pics, i want to remove the white sticker from the emt tube.. is that weird? lol.
.

 

[shopnut]

Perfect spot for the ladder up there - I bet your wife doesn't even notice it hanging there. Maybe there are a few more occassional-use items you can store in there without her knowing - just sneak them in one by one