Project of a lifetime.......so far

[CoMtnHigh]

Just finishing building a 30'x36'x14' garage. It's been a big project and I'm glad to be getting close to done.

Some details:

• 30'x36' with 14' walls at the eaves
• Building is metal building package from a company called Outback Steel Buildings, 85lb snow load, 100mph wind load
• Strutural material is cold rolled steel, 12 G columns and purlins, 16g girts and end columns
• Concrete is a Frost Protected Shall Foundation (FPSF) slab 16"x16" walls with a 6" slab to ensure strength for future auto lift installation
• Rebar is #4, grade 6 at perimeter, 1.6x1.6x1.6 mesh throughout.
• Main door is 12'x12' to accomodate Unimog
• Second door is 8'x9' high for regular stuff (motorcycles, cars, etc)
• Man door is 36"x82" steel door
• Two Jeld-Wen 36"x36" windows offset to provide max ventilation
• Roof material is 26g PBR
• Wall material is 26g PBR
• Roof pitch is 2.55/12
• Electricity is 100A main
• 30 outlets so far, on four 20A circuits
• 2 50A Welder outlets
• 2 vapor tight outdoor industrial lights
• 4 8' T12 double flourescent lights
• Reznor F200 unit heater (money pit) on thermostat switched by timer

I've got about 75 pictures uploaded to a folder I'm going to start putting in here.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[CoMtnHigh]

 

[justinmc]

Wow.. you might win "shop with the best view" award! Looks like its coming together nicely!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Wow.. you might win "shop with the best view" award! Looks like its coming together nicely!

Thanks Justin!
Yeah, the view is why I bought this place. Absolutely unbelievable.

It's actually nearing completion. I've still got about another 70 or so pics to post. But right now, I have to go out and work on it.

Mike

 

[scofo]

Nice digs Mike. Now what's up with that tube in the floor?

 

[tfi racing]

Cool!Did someone say Unimog?We want to see the Unimog!!!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Nice digs Mike. Now what's up with that tube in the floor?

lol. That's where the ***** that built my place put the septic. That happens, because of the topography of my piece of land, to be the most logical place to put the garage without ruining my view from the deck.

I look at it this way. At least it will be easy for the guy to get a pump truck in there if ever necessary.

Mike

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Cool!Did someone say Unimog?We want to see the Unimog!!!

It's rough, but it's a fantastic plow vehicle.

We just got it a couple of years ago and it is my next project. Total restoration coming!!!!!!!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

More pics of the construction...................

I'll put some more up later.

Thanks for looking guys!

 

[NBSportsman]

Nice size shop will be looking forward to updates as steel buildings interest me. Love the Unimog, wicked plow set up.....

 

[72Tunaboat]

Nice Project and great view! What part of the country is that?

 

[elect]

great start and view,more Mog pics please!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Nice Project and great view! What part of the country is that?

Colorado, outside Denver.

The views are unreal!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

great start and view,more Mog pics please!

It's so rough right now, that I've only taken a few. Mostly, I need to do some serious work to get it looking good again. It's been a labor of love so far, but now I'll be able to do it inside a garage.

Last year, there were a couple of 2:00am breakdowns at about -20F that sealed the deal on me basically spending everything I had available to me on building a garage. Now that I'm very close to done with teh project, I can see it's worth the pain and cost. Laying on the icy road in -20 weather wearing a failing headlight and trying to see what was causing one of a few problems that developed essentially made the garage a new religion for me.

I'll post some more as I get time to take them whenever something unique catches my eye.

Cheers, and thanks for looking.

Mike

 

[Tempsho]

Looks really good man! That garage must be building itself, because in every picture, I dont see one single worker!

 

[Dragster Racer]

This entire thread has major cool factor. Love the Uni. Love the building. Love the view. I had some septic issues with my shop also. Turned out fine though. Keep the pictures coming!

 

[rcleaver]

It looks like you have some sort of compact lift? What is that in the picture? Are there two of them?

Why did you pick Outback? Their web site doesn't have much detail, which makes me think their products might be difficult to assemble. They don't use red iron oxide like others. I gather they galvanize the parts, which may be OK. Did you consider that? I don't know which is better; I'm just curious.

 

[e-tek]

LOVE this one! What a cool plow too - you are gonna LOVE being nice and cozy inside when you have to work on it! I might have plumbed some drainage though, 'cause if you have to bring it in with snow on it (likely), it'll be flooding your shop with melt. I guess you can squeege it down the sewer

 

[6 Grrrs]

cool build. Love the Unimog, too.

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Looks really good man! That garage must be building itself, because in every picture, I dont see one single worker!

ROFL! Yeah, because I've been the one that drove nearly every single screw, drilled every hole, assembled every part. This is pretty much a solo job, though I've definitely had a little help here and there from friends, my boss, and neighbors. The help they've given me is significant, but the bottom line is that I've done about 80% of the work myself.

This entire thread has major cool factor. Love the Uni. Love the building. Love the view. I had some septic issues with my shop also. Turned out fine though. Keep the pictures coming!

Thanks man! Hoping the septic doesn't smell through once I'm done. I'm taking serious steps to ensure it doesn't happen.

It looks like you have some sort of compact lift? What is that in the picture? Are there two of them?

Actually, they were both rented from United Rental. They were going to sell me the hand crank one for $700, but backed out of the deal. I'll post up a picture eventually of the lift I got for $1250. Unreal deal. 4'2"x8'2". Drives and turns at max height (15'), built with parts from US Military aircraft. Get Smart lifts. 30 years old and works like a charm.

Why did you pick Outback? Their web site doesn't have much detail, which makes me think their products might be difficult to assemble. They don't use red iron oxide like others. I gather they galvanize the parts, which may be OK. Did you consider that? I don't know which is better; I'm just curious.

Did a lot of research and didn't want to build something I needed red iron for. Additionaly, the building structural elements are more significant as a whole than the red iron I beam buildings I looked at. The problems with the red iron buildings were that they didn't provide essentially any support except for the center column and beam. I had a budget of $13,500 for the main building package. I'm now into the building for about $27,000, not including labor or any peripheral bs, like tools, bits, etc.

Lots of loot, but when you see the pictures of the finished product, I think you'll agree that it was worth it. Additionally, I live at 9000ft and this building has already withstood winds well in excess of 100mph. Unfortunately, the jet stream regularly parks directly over the house. I've stood in the garage during these monster winds and can tell you that it doesn't rattle or flinch even the most remote bit. It is the most solid building I've ever been inside.

cool build. Love the Unimog, too.

Thanks bro! Appreciate the comments.

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Here are a few more..........

 

[Hardware]

Heavy duty build... the mog is badazz

 

[naki kid]

cool building,We are building a steel barn in late Jan.down here we call them American barns,the wife and me are going to live in half and a display room garage the other half.we have a 59 caddy coupe deville,a52 dodge full kustom with a chopped carson top was a 4door coverted to 2door extended the doors all the trad.kustom work.and a 37 chrysler 4door with a 440 and auto good skid car.

 

[naki kid]

Also how do you go about sealing the floor as acid etch will eat into the galv on the beams etc.so what will you use.

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Okay, here are some more. I'm way ahead of my postings, so I need to catch up. I think there's going to be a big part of the final roofing and stuff I missed. I'm now to the point of having wired the entire thing, just making final connections on a couple of the outlet runs, exterior lights and outlets. Also have to run the cable for my welder taps (2). Maybe tomorrow.

Yeah. Turns out I missed the rest of the side and front going on, as well as the roof. Oh well. Things were getting dicey with the weather.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

Great build !!! A few questions for ya.The snow load was that 85lbs
a sq.ft? Are you sure that slab was 5",it looks much deeper? how high did you set the wire mesh from off the ground? Thanks, will stay posted.

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Heavy duty build... the mog is badazz

Thanks man.

 

[CoMtnHigh]

cool building,We are building a steel barn in late Jan.down here we call them American barns,the wife and me are going to live in half and a display room garage the other half.we have a 59 caddy coupe deville,a52 dodge full kustom with a chopped carson top was a 4door coverted to 2door extended the doors all the trad.kustom work.and a 37 chrysler 4door with a 440 and auto good skid car.

Thanks Naki!. Sounds like a killer project!

Also how do you go about sealing the floor as acid etch will eat into the galv on the beams etc.so what will you use.

I'm not planning on sealing the floor at this point. Maybe I should, but this building has cost a tremendous amount of money so far and I just want to stop hemorraging money for a while!

Great build !!! A few questions for ya.The snow load was that 85lbs
a sq.ft? Are you sure that slab was 5",it looks much deeper? how high did you set the wire mesh from off the ground? Thanks, will stay posted.

Hi. Slab is actually 6-8" everywhere but the edges, where it's 16"x16" + bevel into the main slab.

To set the mesh off the ground, I bought about 35 concrete bricks and broke each in half. Then, the majority of the garage, aside from where the concrete trucks had to back in to do the pour was blocked up 3" off the gravel base by setting pieces under the mesh where the mesh crossed. Once everything in the back 3/4 was poured, we took five minutes to set in the last part of the forms, and tied in the mesh. Then we lifted the mesh onto the blocks and poured the rest. The concrete bricks I'm talking about are the ones that are about 2.5"x3"x6" (or so).

Cheers!

Mike

 

[PurdueSD]

Awesome place you've got there man! I must say i am jealous of your neighborhood!

That siding looks eerily famailar... you've got good taste!

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Awesome place you've got there man! I must say i am jealous of your neighborhood!

That siding looks eerily famailar... you've got good taste!

Thanks brother! I commented on your garage a while back too. Great looking place!

I'm nearly finished, but have been remiss in taking a lot of pictures of the roof and front siding going up. Also, all the electrical, lighting, hanging furnace, and garage doors are in. Will update as soon as I can with finished front pics, interior pics, wiring pics, etc.

Hopefully, I'll be able to afford insulation this year.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[TejasBimmer]

Nice Garage Build!
Looks hella large!
Cool MOG and FJ.

 

[Hardware]

Got alot of snow out there? NOTHING here....

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Got alot of snow out there? NOTHING here....

Man, I'm terribly sorry. I've been working and building, and nearly nothing else. Sorry bro.

Snow has been pretty thin this year, thank god. A big year means countless hours on the Unimog plowing the road. I'm the only reason any of the locals can get up here during the winter. Glad its been a mild winter.

Cheers sir!

Mike

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Here are some more pics. Missed a lot of construction because of massive need to accelerate operations and get $hit done before winter set in on us.

 

[Old61]

Looking Good! Do you plan on insulating it?

 

[CoMtnHigh]

Looking Good! Do you plan on insulating it?

Yeah. Eventually. Sunk so much loot into it so far that I haven't had the cash to insulate it. Going to go with a spray on insulation from the company of one of my neighbors.

This year, I've used only about 40 gallons of propane. Not too bad. I get out there even when it's super cold, but even so, when running the furnace, I never get it above about 40 F.

Probably be another winter before I'm caught back up enough to afford the insulation.

Thanks for looking!

Mike

 

[Stargeezer]

What a project for sure! Well done so far. You are in God's roost way up there in the mountains. Bold place to live. You must be young and hearty. What is that grounding plate you built and where is it going?

I commend you for tackling this building yourself. Monster undertaking. You are plenty skilled. I too chose an Outback and it is 30X40. Had a contractor put it up and had outback supply the insulation- plastic faces bats. Had a different crew come in and add sheetrock on the walls in the garage part and then the ceiling too in a hobby room that is 13X30 and then another crew texture it. Another crew added a storage room inside..and another guy ran all of the electrical (still in progress). All this over a two year period. I like the building-as I'm sure you'll enjoy yours. The contractor and his whimps whined about having to drill the holes and make some cuts. Guess they were used to 100% prefab kits. But it got done. Mine is not braced as well as yours-only 80MPH wind loads and not as heavy snow load requirement either I'm sure-as we are only at 5,000' ASL.

Love the look of the galvanized beams- they hide the EMT. I left them unpainted throughout and it looks industrial. I did extensive sealing and ran the EMT exterior to the walls so there is little air leakage. Just put in the heater last week.

 

[katmat]

Love to see that used EMT!!

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

What brand building is that?

 

[Stargeezer]

What brand building is that?

these are Outback buildings from Wa. state