Mark's Monster Garage....3800 sq ft

[e-tek]

Greg Smith and BenPak have the same warranty....1 year hydraulics, 2 years structure. BenPak has free shipping and you pay for shipping for Greg Smith so the gap narrows!!

I did a LOT of research before getting my BP and developed an interest in lifts ever since. I've done polls and met several of the players in the market over the years and I say BendPak all the way.

Terry, I talked to Greg Smith's son who runs the Georgia warehouse when I got my new 4 post lift from them. I told them I would document the build of the lift on my GJ thread which I did. He gave me about $250 off the lift and said he was selling it to me at what their dealers pay. I didn't ask for a free lift and I am sure they would not have offered one.

I'd have to say you were talking to the wrong people Mark! Smith's short-sightedness really surprises me.

Are you looking at new shop equipment too? BendPak also owns Ranger (www.Bendpak.com), so maybe take a look at Ranger's offerings in everything from tire changers to tool boxes - then PM me.

Cheers!

 

[IGO2XS]

Where did you find an amateur?

ME!!! I am just lucky........

I did a LOT of research before getting my BP and developed an interest in lifts ever since. I've done polls and met several of the players in the market over the years and I say BendPak all the way.

Cheers!

e-tek.......I must agree with you on the BendPak. I have looked at quite a few lifts and really think they have the best game going. I didnt realize they owned Ranger as well. Really appreciate the thumbs up.

 

[Re-Volv]

Yes the bank had an environmental done. They difinitely were not used to buyers like us. My wife retired a few years ago at 48 years old from commercial banking and has lots of contacts. She had the surveyer on site within 2 days after they signed the contract. I had 6 contractors on site to do all the inspections within the first 3 days. We kicked major **** and had our due diligence done in record time. I pretty much told the realtor I wanted to close ASAP so here we are closing within 3 weeks of going into contract on a bank owned commercial building. Not bad for an ameture!!!

Amateur?! That's better than 99% of the pros out there! lol Congrats Mark!

As for the lifts, I have not used a Bendpak myself, but I can say that by comparing the photos and close-ups they provided on their site that the Challenger CL10V3 is a much "beefier" design. Big noteworthy difference between the Challenger and pretty much all the others is that Challenger actually fully sleeves the arm mount pin and even has a grease fitting on each one to minimize wear and make them easy to move. That way after 10 years of daily use, you won't have the sagging arms like many other lifts.
Challenger also has 3 stage arms front and rear on the CL10 to make it easy to load symetrically or asymetrically.

I have no affiliation or connection to the company, but it's an EXCELLENT piece of equipment.

Can't wait to see more pix of the new place

 

[RoarkIndustrialSolutions]

Haven't been on here very much. Congrats on the continued success and growth!

 

[IGO2XS]

Just got back from Las Vegas yesterday and getting back into the swing of things. We started cleaning up at the new building today. I keep forgetting to take my camera but I will tomorrow......I know I know......I keep promising tomorrow but it will be tomorrow.

I will bring you up to speed on projects. The guys have been working on the 58 Corvette this past week. the first order of business was the fuel tank. We have decided to put the fuel cell in the trunk so we have to build a box to house the it. The tank normally sits behind the passenger compartment but the owner of the car didn't want it in the cockpit.

We started by cutting the spare tire carrier out of the trunk .....



I purchased some 1/4" fiberglass sheets from McMaster Carr. I have built battery boxes out of this material and it just seemed the easiest way to build a fiberglass box and floor system.



Built a pretty nice box and then glassed it....






Brushed on some gel coat.......



and filling in the rest of the pieces.......

 

[duggie]

It's "tomorrow", so where are the new shop pics ????

 

[shopnut]

It's "tomorrow", so where are the new shop pics ????

Looks like the natives are getting restless (including me! )

 

[IGO2XS]

It's "tomorrow", so where are the new shop pics ????

Man its a tough crowd!!!! I only have two cell phone panoramic shots i took this afternoon. I was remembering I made a promise and I just took these very quickly. I need to take my good camera for better shots.

On the far right is the loading dock which is 26 x 26. It has a roof and walls on 3 sides with the front open. There is a large roll up door from this dock to the main warehouse. I am considering closing in this dock at a later time to add space.

Immediately to the left of the dock is the main warehouse at 60 x 100. The picture doesnt show all of the building but it is obvious because it is much taller than the rest of the building.

On the very far left is a 60 x 60 building. This is 60% two story office space/ parts department.

There is a 25 x 35 connection between the front building and the main warehouse with a large roll up door on it and a awning out in front of it.

Right now we are riping out carpet and office furniture and working on the inside. I will try to post pictures each day and take you guys on a tour of the place.

 

[383]

When you add space, you REALLY add space! Congrats on the new place, can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[shopnut]

Congrats! Looks like a great set-up. The transports can back right up and deliver all the goodies.

 

[Wingnut65]

Looks great, Mark! Lots of space for parking cool cars that stop by...

 

[IGO2XS]

Thanks guys. There is alot of nice space back there. This area is all fenced in with a gate so its pretty secure. I cant wait to get the yard cleaned up so it looks better.

 

[Toolfool]

What a great space to make your own. Wishing you the best of luck with this endeavor.

 

[HOTFR8]

New shop
What is happening with the old one ?

 

[Kevin54]

New shop
What is happening with the old one ?

Neighbors starting to complain, plus he needed more room to expand his business. He did promise the new place will be as cool as the old place

 

[shinertx]

Looks like the building is cooled with all the units laying around.?

 

[Re-Volv]

Mark, What was the previous use of the building?

 

[HOTFR8]

Neighbors starting to complain, plus he needed more room to expand his business. He did promise the new place will be as cool as the old place

Well that answers half of that but what happens to the old place ?

 

[Bob Heine]

Mark, What was the previous use of the building?

I'll quote Mark from post 1898:
It was a audio video company that provided sound systems for churches and concert centers. The big warehouse picture I share was once full of pallet racks from floor to ceiling. They must have once been a very big operation.

 

[Bob Heine]

Well that answers half of that but what happens to the old place ?

To quote Mark in post #1872:
No it won't be left idle. I will be able to turn it back to a show garage instead of a work station. I will have to figure out what new decorations I can hang up. I will be leaving one of the lifts but I would imagine most of the toolboxes will go to the new building.

 

[56vette461]

Bob, your turning into one hell of a memory bank for this site. If your have an index of the posts you gotta share it, Otherwise with that memory of yours you are a real scary dude! Bet you drive your wife crazy

 

[IGO2XS]

What a great space to make your own. Wishing you the best of luck with this endeavor.

Thank you very much. Yes I want to make it my own but the wife says I have to take it slow. She is right as I need to get it set up for work first and then decoration later.

Neighbors starting to complain, plus he needed more room to expand his business. He did promise the new place will be as cool as the old place

You are really putting alot of pressure on me now!! I dont know if I can make it as nice but we will try.

Looks like the building is cooled with all the units laying around.?

This dang place has 7 central A/C units!! The electric bill is going to be a little scary. Right now I am working on getting the insulation updated in a few areas in preparation of the summer. We were looking at adding a 18 ton 3 phase unit to do the main cooling. I am not sure yet how we are going to do this. Right now we are in the research phase.

To quote Mark in post #1872:
No it won't be left idle. I will be able to turn it back to a show garage instead of a work station. I will have to figure out what new decorations I can hang up. I will be leaving one of the lifts but I would imagine most of the toolboxes will go to the new building.

Thanks for keeping the facts straight Bob!! The only problem is I have sold most of the "toys" because of this new building so I might just have an empty show garage!!!

Today we started scraping the popcorn ceiling and removing the wallpaper. With all of the floor covering out it seemed like the right time. I want to do a knockdown on the ceiling and do something more modern with the walls....we found a signature from the original paper hangers from back in 1988. We had 6 guys in there today and it was one heck of a mess. What you see right here is the foyer as you walk in the main entrance....check out all the filing cabinets on the left.




Here we are scraping one of the ceilings.......we did the foyer and 4 offices today.....



This is the conferance room. We have things stacked on one side for now. Its a pretty nice room and should come in handy for meetings.

 

[rixtrix1]

Mark, I may have missed this, but what was the building use for previously, some kind of manufacturing or distributing?

 

[HOTFR8]

To quote Mark in post #1872:
No it won't be left idle. I will be able to turn it back to a show garage instead of a work station. I will have to figure out what new decorations I can hang up. I will be leaving one of the lifts but I would imagine most of the toolboxes will go to the new building.

Thanks Bob. I have caught up on it all now.

 

[IGO2XS]

Thanks Bob. I have caught up on it all now.

Bob is the official spokesperson of Mark's Monster Garage!!

Mark, I may have missed this, but what was the building use for previously, some kind of manufacturing or distributing?

Yes it was audio video distribution. The entire warehouse was pallet racks.

I am going to sell about half of those Steel King Pallet racks. They are over 20 feet tall and they are NICE units. Any suggestions other than eBay??

 

[rixtrix1]

I am going to sell about half of those Steel King Pallet racks. They are over 20 feet tall and they are NICE units. Any suggestions other than eBay??

We have a company in Phoenix called Storage Solutions that buys/sells shelving, pallet racking, etc. Should be something similar in your area if you need to unload them fast and with little effort on your part. I saw them on Craigslist, which could be another outlet for you.

 

[Dinasaurkiller]

Holy cow- I was scraping a popcorn ceiling yesterday!
Same technique- pump sprayer to keep it wet- but instead of a 4"/6" or 8" knife to scrape with- I use a common straight blade garden hoe - it lets you (stay)get away from the dropping debris -
-and it doesn't have the sharp points that the knives have so it's not as likely to DIG into the ceiling after its damp-
I've used this same hoe for 15 years - it's never seen 'dirt'-
Thankfully removing popcorn is not something I've had to do on any regular basis-
Have fun!

 

[Bob Heine]

Thanks guys. I only posted those quotes to save Mark some time. I can't handle a 385-mile commute to help Mark in person so I'm trying to fill a "Virtual Assistant" role.

As far as the memory goes, I enjoy my moments of clarity though they are frequently interrupted by long blank periods. I know I will eventually find that 7mm socket but it won't be because I remember where I used it last. I'm also really enjoying my 70th year but I'm not always sure why.

 

[IGO2XS]

We spent most of the day at the new shop today. We made a second pass through the first floor offices and ripped out all of the recessed flouresant lighting. The ceiling of course is the floor system for the second floor and it is 2 x 12. The lights were recessed in the ceiling with "egg crate" lenses and trimed with rough sawn cedar....... I might as well get it over with and update it with recessed can lighting. The problem is the floor joist's run the wrong way so running wire will require cuting the drywall in the celing. You can see the ceiling in the foyer has the recessed flouresant lights also. I am thinking about some discrete track lighting in this foyer area to light the walls so we can have some cool pictures on the wall. We will just cover the flouresant openings with drywall. I even thought of some corregated metal on the walls to get it a industrial look but not sure yet.






The wife came in the shop today and made a few decisions!!! They were actually very good decisions. The first decision she made was we should have a kitchen/ louge area. This room pictured is the first room to the left as you come in the main door and it is also open to the clean work area. We are gong to put a kitchen, couch, table, Tv and make it a cool place to hang out. The room with the glass window and door will be another computer room for the guys to do any research without going into Deanna's office.



The other decision my wife made was to make the conference room my office I really had planned on taking a small office but I guess she has other ideas. I see her point we dont need a conference room. She says it would be nice for me to bring customers into a big office.



The other project we had today was in the clean room. We have pretty much gutted this room and plan to use it for vehicle assembly, interior work, or just a finish area. It is separate from the rest of the shop. I am really excited about not havng the entire operation in one room..........guys doing bodywork in the same room we are working on a finished car.

This area is in the older part of the warehouse. When they added on the new warehouse they closed in a roll up door in this room. Thankfully they left the door installed. Bob got a wild hair up his **** and got out his angle grinder. and cut the metal out in the door frame and now we have another door into the shop......

BEFORE




AFTER

As you can see we have taken out some of the walls and getting the place opened up more.




And from the outside the new garage opening is on the left. We now direct access to this area instead of driving through the shop. It is going to create alot more usuable area not having to leave a pathway open through the shop for access.

 

[JCQuick]

Mark I agree with your wife Back in my BS days the boss had a large office and in that office was a large conference table that when we had meetings was used or the chairs couldseat 2-3 people around the boss's desk for small meetings of the personal type

Yeap a kitchen type area is always good for employee happyness I have found + they come in handy when having a grand opening party

Wish I was closer I'd be hanging round so much you put me on the payroll just to justify me being there

The shop I where I worked had the bodyshop and parts department on one side of the street and the paint shop was on the other along with the office and detail department which made it nice.

There is a high end shop here in longwood thatwhen customers come in the door there is a big picture window looking into the paint department very impressive. Not to give you any ideas or nothing

 

[Homebody]

Smart wifey! But we already knew that by the looks of your house decorating ideas posted early in this thread!

Love the new place, it should serve you well!

 

[IGO2XS]

Mark I agree with your wife Back in my BS days the boss had a large office and in that office was a large conference table that when we had meetings was used or the chairs couldseat 2-3 people around the boss's desk for small meetings of the personal type

Smart wifey! But we already knew that by the looks of your house decorating ideas posted early in this thread!

Yep guys I have a very smart wife.......she definitely lowered her standards when she married me.

Here is the fuel tank area we finished up on the 58 Corvette after gel coating. Looks pretty nice I think. It still needs to be sanded and once painted it will be finished in the same color as the exterior. We will be mounting the battery under the passenger rear fenderwell. Once the tank is in it will be covered with a floor and upholstary.



The guys are getting to work on the rear quarters. They had a nice little lip on them from the last shop and after further investigation they were built completely with bondo. We decided to shave them off and start over with fiberglass. While we are at it the rear quarters done match in contour so Dwayne is going to reshape them.





In case you guys are wondering how us professions flare a fender here is the secret..........its called a paint stick!!! The quarters are pretty flemsy so we will layer them with some glass and then add the small lip on the edge.

 

[rixtrix1]

Vette's looking good. I've got a lot of experience with old Vettes from when I started doing mechanical work in the '70's and fixing that lip right is the way to go.

Nice find on the hidden roll-up door in the new place. It should really help with the flow!

 

[hysinthius]

Mark,

Ive read bits and pieces of this for the last 2 years. Yesterday afternoon I sat down and read this from the beginning to this point. I'm a younger fellow (35) and I have started to wonder if I am happy where I am and how late is to too late to take on new career changes. For what I do now, I have done pretty well for myself with no college back ground (IT Security and Physical Security testing). But... its definitely not going to put me where I'd like to be when I'm 50 or 60. Its awesome to see that with the right motivation and passion you have taken a huge step in a new direction...when at your point in life you could be just sitting back and relaxing.

I'm looking forward to what you have in store for us next. As for garages I don't have one yet but have been in planning of a build for the last 2 years and will hopefully break ground this spring. still haven't finalized the dimensions yet but have already been given a thumbs up for anything up to a 40x50 from the local town zoning guy. right now I'm thinking 36x40 or 40x40. but that extra 10 foot to go to 50 is tempting. What would be your advice to us novices when planning a build that's more then just a box to put our junk in.

Id like to thank you as this really has been a inspiring read.


JD

 

[IGO2XS]

Mark,

Ive read bits and pieces of this for the last 2 years. Yesterday afternoon I sat down and read this from the beginning to this point. I'm a younger fellow (35) and I have started to wonder if I am happy where I am and how late is to too late to take on new career changes. For what I do now, I have done pretty well for myself with no college back ground (IT Security and Physical Security testing). But... its definitely not going to put me where I'd like to be when I'm 50 or 60. Its awesome to see that with the right motivation and passion you have taken a huge step in a new direction...when at your point in life you could be just sitting back and relaxing.

As for garages I don't have one yet but have been in planning of a build for the last 2 years and will hopefully break ground this spring. still haven't finalized the dimensions yet but have already been given a thumbs up for anything up to a 40x50 from the local town zoning guy. right now I'm thinking 36x40 or 40x40. but that extra 10 foot to go to 50 is tempting. What would be your advice to us novices when planning a build that's more then just a box to put our junk in.

Id like to thank you as this really has been a inspiring read.


JD

JD,

You make me smile buddy and thanks for taking the time to read this thread. I am 57 years old and I think most guys my age are thinking about retiring or getting a second home in Florida!! This past week we were working at the new shop and I had a 20 year old working along side me.....he said for an old guy I still had it!!

I think we all go through transitions in our lifetimes and I think the message here is it is not to late to do something different. This just feels right and I am going with it.

It sounds like you are doing pretty good for your self. I am not sure what to tell you other than it isnt too late but dont do anything wreckless. I feel the most important part of life is your happy with what you are doing. Yes there are bigger houses and bigger garages but that does not mean happy if your not enjoying what you are doing.

On your garage I would vote on 45 foot deep if not 50. I picked 45 feet on my garage because there is room for two cars end to end and a workbench on the end. It sounds funny but I got out a hammer, a pile of stakes, and a tape measure and layed out my garage in the dirt before I worked it out on paper just to get an idea how it looked.

 

[IGO2XS]

I got started on the air lines today. I finally resolved to using schedule 80 pipe. We had a commerical pipe threader and all the equipment but we decided the labor time was just not worth it. Please dont look at the dust!! I was so excited to get started on the pipe I did not clean much. I am working off scaffold right now but plan to rent on of those Genie Lift and get around and clean all of the steel.

I am going to make a drop about every 20 feet around the building and then add the hose reels where need. The nice part of the schedule 80 is future additions and changes should be easier. I just know I need to get a really good oil separator to keep the pipes clean.

What do you guys think of the schedule 80??

 

[rixtrix1]

I'm assuming you are talking of Sch 80 PVC? I would never use PVC in any schedule for air. Fluids yes, as any cracks just leak, but air seems to cause explosions from failures as slight as a bump( such a leaning a ladder up against a line) with sharp plastic shards flying everywhere. Gluing plastic is another concern. It's kind of like MIG welding' easy to make a joint that looks good, much harder to make a joint that is good. Lots of prep, proper primer and glue is a must. It may work just fine for a while, but then... I wouldn't want to take that chance. All 64 of the shops in the company I work for have copper air lines and our oil supplier has installed copper in over 500 locations in AZ with no failures in 25 years. Yes, the cost is higher, but the safety factor is much higher. When I was starting in the business in the '70's everything was threaded galvanized steel pipe. I was a wholesale plumbing warehouse foreman and estimator for 7 years before going into mechanical work.

Regardless of what material you use, you need to add a tee and a 6-8" drip leg and valve at the end of each drop to capture and vent moisture out the bottom and supplied air out the side. Moisture in airline condenses in turns in the runs. I think you will find much higher condensation using plastic, too. Don't know why, but it's all I've ever heard, too.

 

[jnyost]

Agreed. You've just created a pipe bomb.

 

[IGO2XS]

I'm assuming you are talking of Sch 80 PVC? I would never use PVC in any schedule for air. Fluids yes, as any cracks just leak, but air seems to cause explosions from failures as slight as a bump( such a leaning a ladder up against a line) with sharp plastic shards flying everywhere......

Regardless of what material you use, you need to add a tee and a 6-8" drip leg and valve at the end of each drop to capture and vent moisture out the bottom and supplied air out the side. \

I cannot argue your point as copper would most definitely be the best solution. With the schedule 80 I am not so concerned about an explosion as I would be a fitting not glued properly. We are using a industrial primer and glue. I must say I had this all set up to my airlines in galvanized pipe....had the threader and everything on site. My plumber talked me out of if. I will probably have another converstion with him tomorrow.

Here is something I have been wanting to show you guys....a floor plan of the building. I am surprised no one asked me to see one but here it is. One of the guys did the plan in autocad but I couldnt print it out so here is the rough version.

This is the overall view of the building. What I call the main warehouse is the tall building with the 25 ft ceilings.



The sketch I have below is the front building marked 2 story offices. I am just showing you guys the 1 floor plan which is offices, a reception area, kitchen/break room, build room, and warehouse space.

I will get a better plan loaded up sometime this week.



What I have been dealing with this past week was the front 60 x 60 building. We finally have all of the popcorn ceilings stripped in the offices and all of the wallpaper removed. Right now just waiting on the network, security, and new recessed lighting to be installed before drywalling. The other issue i have been dealing with the insulation in this building. Most of the interior of the metal siding was coated with old paper insulation. We have stripped all of it off and now the metal is bare I am finding some siding problems. I had a metal building contractor show up over the weekend and we are looking at replacing most of the siding on the front building. I should have the estimate Monday.

 

[JCQuick]

You need to turn the tee;s up at the split off locations go up then back down off the feed line. I'm like others BLk pipe is best for air lines Not PVC