The Jones Garage Addition

[jonesmechanical]

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have to admit that I have been a online troller for the last year in researching all kinds of garage topics for my remodel. 99% of the time it lead me here. Its time for me to contribute. This forum is amazing. I feel like I fit right in here.

I am very active on two online forums (BMW and Datsun Related). I'm a HVAC contractor. I have had my own business here in Utah since 1997, graduated from BYU Construction Management in 2001. My HVAC business primarily does large customs homes and Commercial. Originally I'm from East County San Diego, but love the Utah Lifestyle. My passions are Mountain Biking and Sports Cars.

I have 4 young boys (under the age of 10). I grew up in San Diego in a family owned HVAC business. My dad has a shop at his home. To note, I really don't fabricate my own sheetmetal. Its not a part of the business I enjoy. But I do love to fabricate and weld for personal projects. It has been a dream of mine to have a shop that would allow me to have my automotive projects and HVAC business all here at my home.

Here is how things have progressed:

The first plan was to build an out building, just big enough for 2 or 3 cars, and nothing else. Lehi City requires that any out buildings be limited to 16' tall, with no usable space in the Attic (to keep apartments from being built). Then one day, one of my long time Employees said, why don't you just add to the side of your garage? I dismissed the idea, as there only appeared to be 20' of width available between the fence and side of my garage. It turns out that my fence was 7' off my property line, then it turned out that my particular zoning allowed me to build my house/garage/shop addition with only a 6' side yard!.

Design started:

Here are some pictures. And a video of a Google Sketch up Model I built. I have never done any 3d modeling ever, but went for it. I have likely 70 hours into the model, but it saved me thousands in design and explaining my self of my architect.

Before pictures:

Google Sketchup Video of new Garage Addition:



Well, with this new design, no the new space is much larger, instead of being an out building of 24x24 with no space above, its now 22" wide, and 52' deep. 12' ceilings on the main new garage area (existing garage ceiling is 15'!), and the it has a full upstairs. Plenty of room for my office (HVAC contractor) and all of my fabrication equipment. I design all of my sheetmetal, but Have it built by a shop I subcontract out to. Ironically, all of my fabrication stuff has to do with hobby. So, I will have my business here at the house, more importantly, all of my hobby stuff will be at the house also.

Budget is nor more than $80,000. Over 2400 sq ft including the new bonus area that matches up with the upstairs of our home (in case we want to open it up). This is more than I had planned for expense wise, but now its enough to get rid of the shop I lease down in Provo ($700/month with utilities). This shop will pay for itself in less than a decade. My wife bought off on it. So awesome. My 4 boys are getting a kick out the whole project.



And the Mess Starts (this is one month ago):

Fence comes out, trees are cut down, and ground down, clean slate to start with:

Demolition starts....AM I CRAZY?

Foundation Goes In:

Framing Starts:

The Plumbing is in for a small 1/2 bath under the stairs. (is pumps its own **** out, about $800 for a toilet, integrated pump that takes care of a sink also!).

Roof is on:

compare with this:

Saturday I started rebuilding the stone wall my self to the left of the driveway apron. The driveway got wider, so I had it demo'd by the excavator, and he set the rocks aside for me. The rocks on the road are ones I purchased yesterday to complete it. I have never done this. It was fun.

I am putting the single post car lift on this side of the garage now. I build a recess in the concrete reinforced with rebar and 12" thick of footing for this lift. Now, I don't have to drive over the foot (about 3.5" tall) like a speedbump. I will be putting 1/4" plate steel that will cover the lift foot. It will flush out to the concrete.

Worlds smallest bathroom (to code) (38" wide, 48" deep) Note that there is no sub rough plumbing for the toilet. It power discharges through a 3/4" pvc line up to existing plumbing 100' away.:

New HVAC System. Top of the line Lennox HVAC equipment. (GRATIS from my loyal Lennox Salesman Gerritt Hansen). It will be fully zoned (4 different zones). Full heat and A/C in entire garage. Also Zoning the return air which keeps zones better isolated, and also am designing a 100% fresh air economizer into the system.

Drawing of the system, it will be all exposed spiral pipe:

5'x9' hole through heavy duty floor (550 series 16' tall TJI's). Roof Ridge Beam is engineered for additional 1500 lb live load on it. I beam and power hoist and trolley attatch to that beam, to lift any thing we need to the upstairs shop and HVAC equipment and storage area for extra inventory. The flooring over the hole will be a 6" wide aluminum plank flooring that only weighs about 10 lbs for a 5' length. We can remove 6" sections depending of if I am lifting a snow mobile up through the floor, or a small furnace.

The Beam (3"x5"):

The power trolley:

And the power hoist (2000lb rated), it was freight damaged, Northern Tool is taking care of it:

I can park my truck inside. Hopefully it will be done in the next month. I am building it my self as the General Contractor. I am hiring many of the sub contractors I have worked along side with for years. They have really come through for me on price and schedule. I will post some pictures of the roof, HVAC, air lines, electrical, driveway and some of the other details as they come together.

I am looking forward to having this space as a gathering place for many of my local car buddies, having space for a few projects, and having my boys around all of the work and fun projects. I know its because of my Dad exposing me his work and hobbies I have the skills and hobbies I have today.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Wow, great design!

Jim

 

[Nighttrain]

Very nice. I bet your neighbor was not happy about you taking back your 7' on the fence line. Although he looks like a car guy, not sure what that is in his drive way.

 

[Originalspanksta]

Looks great!

 

[Ole_Red]

awesome build. Liking your design choices. The kids will love the bonus room!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Very nice. I bet your neighbor was not happy about you taking back your 7' on the fence line. Although he looks like a car guy, not sure what that is in his drive way.

Dave, my neighbor is a Big Harley guy, he also has a old jeep wagoneer. He is also a Plumber. We get along great. I have been here for 4 years. One of my builders build the house, we did the HVAC on it, then about a year after the house was finished, i talked to the builder if he had sold it (it was a spec home). He was about to loose it. We ended up getting a great deal on it. Dave didnt have a great relationship with the builder. I have tried to be a good neighbor. His mail box was actually on my property, right where the new rock wall section is i just rebuilt. I was out there on a Saturday, we were discussing the survey and the property line. "what do we do with the mailbox" he says. He then says.."lets quickly move it over to my yard so the feds dont give us any ****".....what a relief!!! I immediately dropped $200 at Lowes on a nice mail box, cemented the post in on sat night, and Sunday put it all together. When i came home from church, Dave had numbers on it.

It was something small that went a long way. Saturday i helped him clean up his side yard, and he helped me clean up some larger debris from the garage demo. Dave has bounced around between plumbing companies. Finally landed a really good gig, they set him up with a beautiful mercedes/sprinter. I am trying to accomodate any details he would prefer. I also decided not to petition him for any of the tree removal (which he wanted), or a sharing the new fence. I couldnt ask for a better neighbor considering the situation.

It could have easily turned into a ******* match. The fence has been there for 20 years. I know there are some laws about time and use in establishing what could become a new property line. The fence was off the property line because the lot was part of a huge orchard. On my property line were some large trees, and the farmer who owned the land simply put the fence around the trees. Dave didnt improve or utilize the space at all.

So far, everything is going like it was just mean to be, now if i can only get my electrician to show up!!

 

[jonesmechanical]

awesome build. Liking your design choices. The kids will love the bonus room!

Thankyou! Getting the space we need on the second level required a lower slope pitch. Putting attic trusses with the matching 12/12 pitch to the rest of the house was key. My architect came up with that one.

As far as the kids "bonus room". The entire upstairs is going to be for business. Thus the 1500 lb hoist setup. All my wood working tools, welders etc will be upstairs. I will also have a office/loft upstairs on the backside. All the flooring will be patina'd 11 gauge hot rolled steel sheets, (4'x8') tig welded together every so often. Ive never seen a hot rolled steel floor before, i vaguely remember someone doing it on a hgtv modern house, but could never find info or the episode about it. It will make rolling around an office chair nice, and on the shop side of the upstairs, it will make sliding around heavy equipment or fabricating/welding/grinding much safer in a wood structure. Also very inexpensive, about $1.50 per sq ft.

On the main garage flooring, I have considered a few things. Existing garages have grey epoxy that has held up ok. I have considered staining the the concrete (dont like the darkness/earth tone of it) doing a better quality epoxy checkboard grey/black design, also looked at a 24"x24" quartz vct flooring (quartzfloors.com, good for 3000 psi, instead of 150-200 psi for typical vct) but cant get any pricing or response other than samples from them. I would also consider doing tile, but not keen on having grout grooves, and the labor and expense of the material would be more, especially doing porcelain. I habe always wanted a checkerboard floor, and i think doing epoxy is the best solution. Expecially integrating it into the existing expoxy. The back half of the garage would have the checker board.

I also considered doing rubbercal.com's coin dot 1/4 thick 4'x50' rolls for flooring, but it would be a really dark floor.

As far as the new rec space (the existing 2 car garage), i think we will use rubbercal's "elepahant bark" for that space. My wife can park on it with no issue and it makes a nice gym floor that is insulated. Hard enough to bounce a basket ball on also.

 

[theroyz71]

Beautiful. Your addition is bigger than my house.

 

[-Brent-]

The framers did a great job.

If I don't go with block for my garage addition, I'd be interested in getting the information of the guys you used. I'm sure they work in the Salt Lake area, too, right?

 

[kippieland]

This is a disgusting display of wealth!

Very nice...I have the same HVAC system in my house. If you want super effiency it will pair with an electric heat pump....has dropped our bills big time!

 

[Toolbag]

Keep the pics coming!

 

[jonesmechanical]

The framers did a great job.

If I don't go with block for my garage addition, I'd be interested in getting the information of the guys you used. I'm sure they work in the Salt Lake area, too, right?

You bet. Any sub's I have used, I would love to help them to get work. I remember not too long ago, framers were charging $8+ per sq ft just for framing labor, and lumber costs were high also. The framing labor and material on this 2400 sq ft of space was $20,500.00. Including EVERYTHING (all lumber, including trusses), nails, hangers, crane time, everything. thats only $8.50 per sq ft total.

 

[jonesmechanical]

This is a disgusting display of wealth!

I have been saving for a small out building since we moved in. We have saved $25,000 for it up to this point. Then the interest rate drop from 5.0% to 3.75% allowed us to pull out $55,000 and still not have to pay mortgage insurance. I'm a very conservative guy, we put a large amount down on this house. It has gone down a lot, but we didn't buy it to flip it. Our payment went up $50.00, added 3 years back on our mortgage, but the reality is, this shop will eliminate a $700/month 1250 sq ft shop lease I have down in Provo. As luxurious as this shop will be for me, its something that will create wealth. Having the shop far away (it was a mile down the street from my other house) has been a pain, as about 1/2 the shop is dedicated to personal stuff also. Its going to be great to have everything under one roof, and have an office that is more isolated from the distractions of the house.

Very nice...I have the same HVAC system in my house. If you want super effiency it will pair with an electric heat pump....has dropped our bills big time!

Yep, it will be a hybrid heat pump system. My sales man kept everything matching to the other two systems on the house. XP21 Heat pump/A/C unit. I think I may be doing a large array of solar panels also. We will see.

I will post more pics later today.

 

[jonesmechanical]

Here is a pic of the furnace plenum before we set the filter/furnace/coil. You can see straight down through to the lower floor, where there will be a grill in the garage ceiling, then there is a baffle that isolates the air between the air below the damper and the air that communicates up the riser to the other returns (or actually down!) which are also isolated by dampers. The plenum is 28" deep, and the damper is only 20" deep, Lennox/aprilaire doesn't make any dampers deeper than 20" in wide widths. that's why I have the back of the damper blocked of horizontally. 20"x14" worked well enough.

Here is a video of the upstairs loft area that shows the space better where the office will be:

 

[jonesmechanical]

I worked the rest of the rock wall Saturday.

I will grout the rocks in once the concrete cures. The matching concrete cap when I do the rest of the flat work in the back yard. It was therapy stacking the rocks, getting them to fit.

 

[64dragnwagon]

Nice looking addition! Can you post some pics of the tiny bathroom when it is layed out or if you have a scetchup of it? I need to build a VERY SMALL bathroom in the service shop at my new building and I am trying to figure out how to position a toilet and a small hand sink to make it as small as possible. Thanks

 

[jonesmechanical]

Nice looking addition! Can you post some pics of the tiny bathroom when it is layed out or if you have a scetchup of it? I need to build a VERY SMALL bathroom in the service shop at my new building and I am trying to figure out how to position a toilet and a small hand sink to make it as small as possible. Thanks[/QUOUTE]

The bathroom needed to be narrow and short. the minimum width by code is 30" wide (plus sheetrock, so 31" with 1/2" sheetrock) for a toilet (15" from center of toilet to wall). Base board does not count in that clearance.

This is the sink I designed the bathroom around:

http://www.plumbersurplus.com/Prod/Porcher-25011-Elfe-Wall-Mounted-Hand-Basin-White/48054/Cat/1007

Here is a hand drawn layout:

If you have along narrow space that you can enter into the side of, its very typical to see a 30" wide space, put the door in the middle of the side, and one one side you have the toilet, and the other side you have the sink. That takes a minimum 5 1/2'x 2.5' (66"x30"), or 13.75 sq ft. My bathroom nets 12.7 sq ft, it needed to be short to not interfere with the single post lift.

 

[-Brent-]

You bet. Any sub's I have used, I would love to help them to get work. I remember not too long ago, framers were charging $8+ per sq ft just for framing labor, and lumber costs were high also. The framing labor and material on this 2400 sq ft of space was $20,500.00. Including EVERYTHING (all lumber, including trusses), nails, hangers, crane time, everything. thats only $8.50 per sq ft total.

That's actually a really good deal. Having come from the field I can certainly tell you their work looks top-notch.

I've got to figure out what to do with my addition since it's a block building to be added to. If I go with block, I'd definitely need to hire out. The roof will come off and new trusses spanning the old/new building will be put in place. It's nothing too complicated and if I could do it (framing, etc.) myself, I would, but taking that much time off from work isn't possible. It'd be nice to get a decent contractor without gambling or wondering. I'm about two-for-four, so far, in contractors I've hired-out.

Anyway, I enjoy your progress. I'll be picking your brain when the time comes to it.

Thanks!

 

[uncle_scott]

I thought that looked a little Utah-esque. Looks great. I am north of you in Davis County. Love the thought you have put into your space. I imagine that my house, and garage could fit into your addition, lol. Have fun with it!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Thanks guys!

I know several framers. Average lumber/truss package I received was $14,000. Labor ranged between $9000-16,000. The truss manufacturer had a framer he recommended, a complete stranger to me. His lumber and truss number looked the best of anyone at a total cost of $10,300. Both the framer, and the truss plant really invested a ton of time working with me, and in the end, I asked for a turn key price. They came in at the $20,500.00.

Here is the most interesting part of it. In working with them, they were a bunch of clean cut, non swearing, hard working guys. But notably quirky. After working with them the 3rd day they were on my job, I couldn't help but ask "are you guys polygamists?" It lead to a fun discussion. They were! Very hard working, all of the stick framing was as tight as I have ever seen. I would use and recommend them 10x over again.

Its a shame such good people have to live in secret, especially in our state, where you would think religious tolerance would be appreciated the most given the history of the LDS church. Being Mormon my self, I would hope that people would have been more tolerant and less judgmental. He mentioned its very tough, and most people don't react like I did with strong tolerance.

As long as they don't try and recruit my wife , All is good with me.

 

[1965gp]

Wow- great build. The design is similar to the addition I did. I really like the way it ties I to the house!

 

[-Brent-]

As long as they don't try and recruit my wife , All is good with me.

Hahaha... I don't care about all that other stuff, I just want a decent job done.

They don't do block work do they???

 

[jonesmechanical]

I bet theY have a brother from a different mother that does . I am finding that the polygamist community is much like the the latino community. They network together like crazy. It turned out that my truss salesman (Josiah at Ready made truss out in west valley) is a polygamist, along with the lumber supplier (Jensen lumber, the owner of which is My framers dad). I have sheetrock, and exterior finishes that are being bid by their friends.

Judge a man by their works, and these guys made it happen on schedule, high quality, and on/under budget (usually the impossible trifecta). My biggest concern with the framing material was that is was a "estimate". So all the bids were only as good as the guy that that did the material take off calcs. Also, lumber waste would be my liability. A turn key package i asked for solved those concerns. With the unique relationship that Alvin (framing owner), Josiah (truss manufacturer), and the lumber company had solved many management issues.

For example, the truss layout changed a few times, a large girder was changed and didnt get built. That now was not my management problem. The framer just called up the guy that originally got him the job (the truss salesman) and they worked with eachother. If i would have simply picked one of my framer friends, then picked the lowest bid for trusses, and lumber, it would have been a ton of managing taking care of these issues on likely my dime. There was no one to point a finger at. The only variable was "when are you going to be done?". They did great on that.

Work has been crazy, so things are slower on the project. We are wrapping up a 30,000 sq ft home (yes, 30k), and are in the firestorm of a 42 unit apartment complex rough in, along with lots of other small projects. The electrician on that large house had some awesome vintage/antique industrial pendant lights that he basically gave me that i snagged for the office. I think i am going to also do a similar ceiling as this in the office (i saw this on a job the this week):

I also snagged this photo going down 1-15 yesterday. It took me a few moments to realize what it was:

 

[jonesmechanical]

This past week and a half, I have been working on the HVAC, Electrical, Audio/Video/Automation, Hoist/Trolley, and the Aluminum Plan Floor.

Here are some pics:

View looking South towards the front of the house. Note the Return air, and electrical drops for the florescent lights.

Most of the windows and doors were installed. Here is the back side with the french door.

Upper office area/stairwell:

I scored the antique pendant lights for $100.00. They will hang above the stair well and then also hand over my desk area that will allow for a symmetrical layout.

View of the trolley, hoist, I Beam, and Aluminum plank flooring.

Up close of the aluminum plank flooring. It flushes out with the sub floor perfectly. It sits on top of 2x2 angle iron. The planks were ordered to 5'2" lengths, then I cut them with my Dewalt 12" chop saw. At first I used a composite metal blade. Its was aweful. It took forever to cut through the extruded material. I contact a friend with lots of fabrication experience and said "use a carbide tip wood blade!" Wow, cuts through the aluminum like it was douglas fir! Just a bit louder. No heat, no burrs, and fast as lighting.

Underside pic of the aluminum planking. Note, they are in 6" widths. I will likely tig weld two or three sections together to net 12"-18" wide planks. Each section only weighs 10lbs (6" wide).

Electrical Panel Made up. Will install breakers and a few outlets tomorrow, along with permanent power to the hoist and furnace.

Front view:

Furnace flue, gas line, and temp electrical and condensation (pump to be installed) installed:

I am missing one window. Next on the schedule is to get the 11 gauge hot rolled steel sheets and start laying those out on the floor. Insulation comes on Tuesday, I need to sort out the brick, stucco, soffit/facia, sheetrock, and paint bids.

Getting to the point where I can sheetrock has taken longer that I wanted, but making all of the right decision is tough. Once the sheetrock is in, it has to be good enough!

 

[RHD 4 LIFE]

This is a great build you have going on here! I wish we could get these kind of prices up here in Ontario Canada! This addition would run you around 80 grand where I live!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Your not far off. $80,000 is my full budget including $8000 for fencing. Fully finished with Epoxy, Audio/Video, Flooring (about $1.75 psf allowance) and everything. I wish more people would discuss pricing. I don't have a problem with it. It helps people get a grasp on what it takes to plan a project.

If I had a builder, I know that this would be over $100,000. Many of my friends who are sub contractors, and my general contractors have really helped my shop things out. Finding quality and price.

 

[jonesmechanical]

This is a great build you have going on here! I wish we could get these kind of prices up here in Ontario Canada! This addition would run you around 80 grand where I live!

Love the Skylines (s?). For what ever reason, Utah county (south of Salt Lake County) had become quite a breeding ground for them. People figured out how to get them from You (canada) and sneak them across the border. The DMV never caught on, but then the Feds got after it and everyone freaked.

Even the main mechanic from Motorex works up here locally. Great Cars, I have driven a few of them. I would love to have a replica skyline kpgc10. There is a local importer here in town (JDM legends) that has done a few. Very cool cars.

 

[jonesmechanical]

I passed rough inspection (4-way, they call it around here). Insulator comes tomorrow, and sheet rock gets stocked by end of the week!!

 

[amolaver]

Love the Skylines (s?). For what ever reason, Utah county (south of Salt Lake County) had become quite a breeding ground for them. People figured out how to get them from You (canada) and sneak them across the border. The DMV never caught on, but then the Feds got after it and everyone freaked.

Even the main mechanic from Motorex works up here locally. Great Cars, I have driven a few of them. I would love to have a replica skyline kpgc10. There is a local importer here in town (JDM legends) that has done a few. Very cool cars.

err. pretty sure that is not a skyline/gt-r. modern skylines/gt-r's are two door cars... and from what i understand, motorexx got shut down in a pretty ugly fashion - they don't exist anymore. http://www.timeattackforums.com/forums/garage-off-topic/921-rise-fall-motorex.html

ahm

ps doh! forgot to add...its a fisker electric car - http://www.fiskerautomotive.com/en-us

 

[RHD 4 LIFE]

Love the Skylines (s?). For what ever reason, Utah county (south of Salt Lake County) had become quite a breeding ground for them. People figured out how to get them from You (canada) and sneak them across the border. The DMV never caught on, but then the Feds got after it and everyone freaked.

Even the main mechanic from Motorex works up here locally. Great Cars, I have driven a few of them. I would love to have a replica skyline kpgc10. There is a local importer here in town (JDM legends) that has done a few. Very cool cars.

Thanks, the white one is a friend of mine's car and the grey one I sold a year or two ago! I just finished building another one and sold it too! I'm saving for my garage build this spring! putting in a detached 20'x35' that I will be building myself other than the concrete!
I'll be doing a build on here as well! I figure it will run me around 14-18 grand give or take! lol

So who is the ex Motorex guy near you? I have a couple friends that have had their Skylines seized down there!
In a year and a half you can come up here and get the 1989's, they will be legal for you guy's then! I can put you in touch with someone to get you an older skyline kpgc10 shipped from Japan if you like?

 

[amolaver]

i.am.a.dolt. sorry - didn't see the skyline avatar. i'll go back to my cave now...

ahm

 

[jonesmechanical]

Update. Sheetrock is hung, windows are in, except for the one upstairs on the front (left it out so we could stock sheetrock). Toilet is going in as I type this. I did add a few modifications from my original design.

I was contemplating how to utilize the existing 15' ceiling in the single car garage. I decided frame in a floor at the 9' level with 9 1/2" TJI's. I left a 4' opening at the back of the garage to allow for a pull down ladder, and a gap for a motorized platform to lift things up and down. Also the space is accessible from the upstairs level (about a 20"x30" access with a ram down to it).

Here are some pics:

View from the front of the existing single car garage to new dropped ceiling.

Note that there is a slot for the garage door to pass through the ceiling, making it a nice clean ceiling. I have always thought about doing this If I even built a home, build a drop ceiling to conceal a garage door. This is purely form follow function.

Contrast that with this photo taken before the framing modificaion:

Here is a side shot, the arch way added some detail, but also allowed us to nail a trimmer to the wall to support a microlam that helped support that side of the TJI's. Most of the load is actually held by a 3/4" of plywood, tailed off on the large glue lam beam. The beam only hung down to the 10' level, so we couldn't hang directly off of it.

Here is a shot of the mechanical room, not framed in. The niche to the left of the mechanical room is where all my bench grinders, polishers, welder, band saw, drill press etc will reside. Nice little galley shop/bench area for all the messy stuff.

View through the double 3-0 doors at top of stairs as you exit the office and go back into the upper shop area. View of hoist/trolley.

View further back through those same doors, standing in the office. Note single door to small closet, and round rough in hole for future exposed spiral HVAC duct into to office.

View out of the office:

View of the crazy sticked framed ceiling area. Where the exposed valley beam comes down, that is where my compressor will sit. Note the small "mouse" hole (30" wide, 24" tall) where you can slide product down or slide down to access the drop ceiling over the single car stall.

View looking at the stairs, bathroom is behind the window that needs to be installed. The rim board on the side of the stairs is loosely attached so I can wrap it in galvanized sheetmetal.

View up the stair case. 19 treads, 20 risers! 48" wide.

View to the front of the garage standing near the start of the stairs. Note the round hole for the exposed HVAC ductwork, return air square hole, and also the large 5'x9' opening for the hoist closer to the garage door opening.

View of the bathroom/Vertical ejection toilet:

View of the side of the sump pump. Not the 3/4" PVC line, it is the gravity drain from the condensate of the furnace/AC from upstairs. The 1" PVC line is the discharge line off of the pump.

And now, my favorite project. I have thought I would do either rubber or vinyl stair treads. After I priced out the risers/treads, it was going to be $700-1500 depending on the product. So, I got creative today. I benT up some diamond tread I had sitting around. The HUGE benefit of this is that its seamless, no seam at the tread/riser. It also looks crazy cool. I may go with a brushed finish on it, or a natural finish instead of the polish, maybe even anodize it in a color. I still need to dial in the bull nose, but I got it really close. These would just glue in place I imagine.

Pic of it set in place NOTE THAT THE TREADS WILL BE FULL WIDTH, THIS IS JUST FOR MOCK UP:

On the outside, the scaffolding is in place for the brick and stucco. It will be painted out inside in the next week and a half. Outside will also be nearly done. I have a soft deadline on the 31st as my In-laws are visiting for a couple of weeks.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Incredible, all of it!

In the best tradition of GJ, YOU ****!

Jim

 

[jonesmechanical]

Thanks! I just had the best bathroom break at this house yet. The toilet works!! Not loud at all. It pumps out after about every 2 flushes. It is quieter than the jets in our bathtub in our master bath. Very impressive.

As far as the stair treads, Other than vinyl/rubber treads, any other ideas? An I crazy to do the diamond tread?

 

[Mikey72Nova]

Everything looks really nice. I like your diamond tread idea, but all one color and it might make it hard to make out the step..anodizing with contrasting colors for the tread and riser would really set it off. Just a thought. An amazing build! Can't wait to see more..

 

[jonesmechanical]

Everything looks really nice. I like your diamond tread idea, but all one color and it might make it hard to make out the step..anodizing with contrasting colors for the tread and riser would really set it off. Just a thought. An amazing build! Can't wait to see more..

I agree. I will price it out. I am also thinking doing hot rolled steel floor plate. The upstairs will all be 11 gauge 4x8 sheets. Maybe do hot rolled risers and the bright treads. But i love the idea of no seams between the riser and tread. Paint would wear, but not if just applied to the riser section. I have plenty of time. It will take no time to cut and break out the stairs. I cant wait for the paint to get done so i can do this, the flooring and also start welding up the railings.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Looks good. Quality - I'd expect nothing less from you Greg!

 

[JimVonBaden]

Thanks! I just had the best bathroom break at this house yet. The toilet works!! Not loud at all. It pumps out after about every 2 flushes. It is quieter than the jets in our bathtub in our master bath. Very impressive.

As far as the stair treads, Other than vinyl/rubber treads, any other ideas? An I crazy to do the diamond tread?

I think the treads look great, and will look great done. Probably expensive, but with a brushed finish they will last forever!

Jim

 

[cletus66]

NICE !!!!!

 

[jonesmechanical]

I think the treads look great, and will look great done. Probably expensive, but with a brushed finish they will last forever!

Jim

Thats the crazy thing. I need about 35 linear ft of 4' wide sheet material. Price per sheet is about $120 for a 4x10 (20 gauge) Cheapest option. I had a revelation in church today (lol). I think i will brush the treads or mask off the riser portion and media blast the treads.

The net effect would be a brushed or blasted treads with polished risers.