Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT My 1st Garage Journal

[Idle Serge]

My 1st attempt on making this garage into my own:

Before:



View coming in from side door (this is in fact after I started to dig into it a little bit--began knocking down "walls" and realized I didn't have any pics yet lol)







There was no way of telling if there was concrete flooring or if there was insulation without actually tearing into it which obviously we couldn't do prior to making a purchase. In addition, it was a foreclosure home that had been vacant for about 2yrs, so it wasn't something we could simply ask the pervious owner

Anyhow, there wasn't any concrete flooring:



Safe to assume there was no insulation as well:



I'll fast forward to the most recent and update from here--if you would like and have the time please check out my 1st Home Thread below! It goes more into detail about both home and garage prior of todays updates:

http://www.hondasociety.com/board/showthread.php?t=154728


Needed a garage door so I made sure to have one installed:



Framing is completed but I am holding off on the door for a couple of more days--I wanted the concrete phase to be as hassle free as possible, therefore; I left it as accessible as possible:



We had to take loads of dirt out as it was way too high--about 6" throughout.



AS we begin getting deeper into it, we make a discovery; the foundation pictured is all made up of bricks :/ therefore; prior to pouring in the floor we will have to finish up the foundation which is currently where we are at. Meaning we will have to support the wall with some jacks and go from there:



That's all I have for now--with trying to juggle landscaping and this, the updates will be somewhat slow but steady! Currently trying to figure out my AC/Heat setup along with electrical and debating between drywall or plywood.

 

[Tonus72]

Looks like you have a good little project there Serge...

Lucky you looked under the floor before it was too late!

 

[dubber]

Wow! Now that is quite the project. So the garage was set up for living quarters? Congrats on the purchase and best of luck.

 

[0150carmac]

looks like you got a good workable size in there when is done look forward to reading your updates

 

[RonB001]

the foundation pictured is all made up of bricks

Hi, Idle Serge

Just because the foundation is made of bricks, doesn't necessarily mean it is bad.

Are they mortared together, or just stacked in a row?

Is there any concrete underneath them, or a the bricks just laid on the ground?

Having concrete is better than not, but not having concrete does not necessarily mean you will have problems.

A previous house of mine was built in 1978, and the foundation was a single layer of bricks, with a "pier" of an extra layer stacked up on the inside every 8' or so. It did not have a proper footing, either, just a row of bricks on their side on the ground with mortar.

Even though the house was over 30 years old, and the foundation was quite inadequate by modern standards, due the the ground being stable there were zero signs of foundation settling or cracking.

Do you know how old your house is? Is there any evidence of settling or cracking in other parts of the house? Do other houses in the neighborhood have settling or cracking? If it is an established house with no current evidence of deterioration, you might not need to do anything extra to the garage foundation.

If you have the time, money, and inclination, by all means tear it out and make it right. If not, a bit of examination might show that it is not completely necessary.

Regards,
RonB

 

[Idle Serge]

Looks like you have a good little project there Serge...

Lucky you looked under the floor before it was too late!

I know right! Thanks for the support Tonus!

Wow! Now that is quite the project. So the garage was set up for living quarters? Congrats on the purchase and best of luck.

Yup--you nailed it! It started out as a tattoo shop then a living space or something along those lines. Either way, I saw potential of turning this into a workable garage

BTW--Luv what you have done to your garage space!

looks like you got a good workable size in there when is done look forward to reading your updates

I will update as soon as I have any!

Hi, Idle Serge

Just because the foundation is made of bricks, doesn't necessarily mean it is bad.

Are they mortared together, or just stacked in a row?

Is there any concrete underneath them, or a the bricks just laid on the ground?

That is very true--I've heard of homes having rail road ties as foundations and are fairly adequate in strength.

They are in a single row stacked on dirt; some don't even have pressure on them.

Having concrete is better than not, but not having concrete does not necessarily mean you will have problems.

A previous house of mine was built in 1978, and the foundation was a single layer of bricks, with a "pier" of an extra layer stacked up on the inside every 8' or so. It did not have a proper footing, either, just a row of bricks on their side on the ground with mortar.

Even though the house was over 30 years old, and the foundation was quite inadequate by modern standards, due the the ground being stable there were zero signs of foundation settling or cracking.

Do you know how old your house is? Is there any evidence of settling or cracking in other parts of the house? Do other houses in the neighborhood have settling or cracking? If it is an established house with no current evidence of deterioration, you might not need to do anything extra to the garage foundation.

If you have the time, money, and inclination, by all means tear it out and make it right. If not, a bit of examination might show that it is not completely necessary.

Regards,
RonB

The house was built in 1915 but doesn't show signs of weakness--the garage however; has a different story--in simplest and short terms: it was once a small wood shop, split down the middle a few years back and then had an added extension down the middle. The west side foundation was left while the rest got new foundation.

As I mentioned prior; some of the bricks had no pressure on them and I could simply grab one of them and pull it out effortlessly. In addition, the wall did in fact settle about an inch

Not to sound boastful, but I am fortunate enough to have the money to have this repaired--but the concrete guy hasn't gotten back to me yet

 

[Idle Serge]

Not much to report :/

Been wrking on the foundation aspect a few hours at a time after wrk:



beginning of Wednesday afternoon:



Not pictured but concrete for foundation is ready to be poured then a few days after that we can finally get the floor poured in followed by wiring, insulation then drywall/plywood; not sure which route I am going yet.

 

[dubber]

Yup--you nailed it! It started out as a tattoo shop then a living space or something along those lines. Either way, I saw potential of turning this into a workable garage

BTW--Luv what you have done to your garage space!

Great vision for that place, and thank you!

 

[Idle Serge]

Great vision for that place, and thank you!

Thanks Mr. dubber!





Not much happened to the garage this weekend since the front of the house kept us busy

Threw in some gravel--need about another yard or so.





I'm thinking about having a lift installed--a MaxJax in particular but I wanted to use different anchors and bolts. However, I would also need the dimension of the post and how far to space them and so on and so forth...I will do some research, but does anyone have any info on hand?








Just to show what kept me busy all weekend

 

[Kevin54]

The garage looks like it's coming along nicely. Are you going to pour the floor underneath of your walls, or are you going to put some sort of a block foundation before the floor pour.? Just changing the door opening out made a huge difference in the looks.

As far as not working on the garage because of yard work.....You had all of your time ******* in all of that. Was the lawn really crappy, or what was the reasoning for tearing it all out. I imagine it's going back together using sod?

Looking forward to updates!!!!

 

[HSpencer]

A very good and ambitious project and thank you for saving an existing building. Time and money and you will be very pleased, I am sure. I will be one watching the work, and look forward to more postings!! Looks like many pretty Dogwoods in the neighborhood.

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[nine4gmc]

Great job so far, I think I would go with chip board walls to screw into and hang things on.

 

[coykiam]

Now your making me want to join my wife do the landscaping...
Except I get kicked out every time I touch something...so I stay in the garage

 

[Idle Serge]

The garage looks like it's coming along nicely. Are you going to pour the floor underneath of your walls, or are you going to put some sort of a block foundation before the floor pour.? Just changing the door opening out made a huge difference in the looks.

As far as not working on the garage because of yard work.....You had all of your time ******* in all of that. Was the lawn really crappy, or what was the reasoning for tearing it all out. I imagine it's going back together using sod?

Looking forward to updates!!!!

I'm having concrete poured underneath the walls; basically yes the floor will be going under the walls--however; since the west side wall had a sag, we had to lift it and support it from the inside, therefore, we have to so the foundation 1st then drop the wall and move onto the floor was the support beams are out of the way. (I'm no expert so please excuse my lack of terminology )

As far as the lawn goes...well there really wasn't one house had been abandoned for a little over 2 years. I haven't priced sod much but planned on seeding it

Thanks for tuning in Mr. Kevin!

A very good and ambitious project and thank you for saving an existing building. Time and money and you will be very pleased, I am sure. I will be one watching the work, and look forward to more postings!! Looks like many pretty Dogwoods in the neighborhood.

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

Thanks Mr. Spencer! My girlfriend loves the Dogwood tress!

Great job so far, I think I would go with chip board walls to screw into and hang things on.

That sounds like a good plan!

Now your making me want to join my wife do the landscaping...
Except I get kicked out every time I touch something...so I stay in the garage

I can't wait to get back into the garage!!!

 

[Idle Serge]

Footing was poured





Cost of concrete....FREE they had extra from the days job so they came by and filled it in



The rest of the floor will be just shy of 6" thick--pretty good for lift perhaps?? hehe

 

[Xporter]

Nice project you got going there, looking forward to the progress.

 

[Idle Serge]

Nice project you got going there, looking forward to the progress.

Thanks Mr. Xporter!



I need some input gents!

Narrowed it down--let me know what you guys think!


Option 1: MaxJax Portable Two Post Lifting System by Dannmar $2100 Shipped Brand New:

http://www.e-autolifts.com/MaxJax/majax.html

In my case, Pros:

-Portable--can be moved out of the way when not in use (since my garage is a fairly conservative size, this is very appealing to me)
-Motor only requires a 110V 50-60hz
-Low ceilings compatible

Cons:

-Less capacity
-Less height lift
-More money

Option 2: Atlas® BP8000 Baseplate 2 Post Lift $1500 + Shipping

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas-BP8000?ext=F

Pros:

-More Lift
-More capacity
-Still compatible with low ceilings
-Less money

Cons:

-Much heavier--+400ish lbs
-Not portable--once set it is set (unless you are completely disassembling it)
-Motor 220V :/





THoughts?

 

[RonB001]

Thanks Mr. Xporter!



I need some input gents!

Narrowed it down--let me know what you guys think!


Option 1: MaxJax Portable Two Post Lifting System by Dannmar $2100 Shipped Brand New:

http://www.e-autolifts.com/MaxJax/majax.html

Option 2: Atlas® BP8000 Baseplate 2 Post Lift $1500 + Shipping

http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas-BP8000?ext=F

THoughts?

I really like the portability of the MaxJax.

Depending on what you are planning to do (and how much time you plan on spending under cars) the 6' lift height of the Atlas might tip the scales compared to the MaxJax 4'.

Of course, your ceiling height and car height might make some of the added lift academic.

Regards,
RonB

 

[Idle Serge]

I really like the portability of the MaxJax.

Depending on what you are planning to do (and how much time you plan on spending under cars) the 6' lift height of the Atlas might tip the scales compared to the MaxJax 4'.

Of course, your ceiling height and car height might make some of the added lift academic.

Regards,
RonB

Thanks for chiming in Mr. RonB!

I'm leaning more towards the portability myself at this point mainly due to it's mobility.

I currently only own a 94' Honda Accord (Avatar) and my girlfriend has one as well along with her 04' Acura TSX. I recently sold my 2005 Cadillac STS

So as far as seeing garage time, my accord will be in there the most of all 3 besides regular suspension work and what not--4' might be plenty sufficient.

 

[Idle Serge]

Not much to report on the garage besides the fact that it shall see the concrete floor sometime this week.

But we did get the rock in







More on the garage coming soon--also I decided to go with sod based on a few reasons; convenience and instant grass.

 

[GRN96WS6]

Nice work, should work well once completed.

 

[Idle Serge]

Nice work, should work well once completed.

Thank you SiR!

 

[Idle Serge]

Not much to report on garage--concrete floor was delayed tho I'm not certain why

Should be started on Wednesday as today it has been compacted but tonight I need to figure our where the recessed anchors need to go that way I can dig it up and make the floor deeper.

Reviewing the MaxJax now...

 

[js289]

Coming along good!

 

[FBJR]

Nice work on the garage, got a little thread going myself.

I was going for a 2 post but went with a scissors. Waiting for the slow boat from China now. When installed it will replace alot of cracked concrete in the middle of my floor.

 

[Idle Serge]

Coming along good!

Thank you SiR!

Nice work on the garage, got a little thread going myself.

I was going for a 2 post but went with a scissors. Waiting for the slow boat from China now. When installed it will replace alot of cracked concrete in the middle of my floor.

I pondered the idea of a scissor lift but I think a portable 2 post lift would suit me better for this garage.

 

[Idle Serge]

Not much on the garage but I got a small team together and ready by 9am on Friday to start the Sod install

However; sod did not arrive on time :laugh:

Scheduled for 9am but delayed till 11:30

3200sqft = 6 Pallets total:



The A Team hard at work



After about 4hrs we got it knocked out





I only calculated for the front lawn and I knew I was being conservative with my numbers but we had enough to do a part of the back yard plus about 10 rolls (2'X5') which I was able to give to a few of my helpers who needed to patch things up at their homes





Currently wrking on the sprinkler setup...and about $200 dollars later, I think I got it :laugh: in addition also tossing up ideas for the front walkway.


Garage update: concrete SHOULD be coming in this week at least that's what I'm being told.

 

[Idle Serge]

Concrete is in





I didn't get pics of the before but I had them dig up 14"X130"X8" in the middle towards the left to accommodate for the lift...when I get to that point





Now to finally have them do the door lol

 

[Idle Serge]

Straying away from the garage once more our mini split came in Friday!!!

It came in one big package but the truck that delivered it didn't have a lift gate, therefore; I had my buddy back his truck in and we dropped it into the bed of his truck--we then opened the package and took it in a few pieces at a time.

Compressor and base/slap.



Indoor unit and Evap:



There were a few other pieces such as the hardware and some covers for the outside unit--overall: very well packaged!


I'll be honest--I didn't do a "write-up" type documentation based upon the fact that the instructions do a mighty fine job of instructing you in the correct path.

I did take a few pics regardless:

Lineset connections on outdoor compressor:



220V connection which comes from the INDOOR EVAP UNIT:



Inside unit installed--simple and easy! Screw bracket on then the evap hooks and clicks on to that bracket:



We were very limited on space and this was truly the only option we had to place is as everywhere else it was either too close to the doors and/or would be facing in the wrong direction, not utilizing the flow directed to the back rooms.

You can see it's very close to the natural gas fire place, therefore; we will either have to move the exhaust or wrap it to prevent it from damaging the evap--not that I think it'll get that hot but better to be safe. we have some time to decide as we wont be using the fire place in the near future lol



onto the outside--2 connections and we were done!



The wiring pigtail was a simple click



Slapped the covers on:



As it sits:







This was truly a simple and painless process! I do recommend having a few helping hands tho as you don't want to kink the lineset! But other then that, a 3" Hole Saw and a big enough drill to accommodate that and you're set to go with a trim knife, Phillips and and 1/2" socket for 4 bolts on the compressor to slap. PLUS the fact that you need to wire up a new 220V outlet from you panel box which I still need to have done

On the garage note--door will be going in on Friday!

 

[Idle Serge]

we got it wired up and ready to go--I will admit, tho, we are going to have to redo the wiring and run it properly under the house since currently it is routed along the outside of the house it was the easiest and quickest way.



Within no time we had power



And brought the new lawn mower out and gave the lawn it's first cut:



Hope to go home to some nice additions!

 

[Idle Serge]

Been a while but it's been a real busy few weeks

Not much to report--I upgraded to a fully insulated garage door since it was available a whole week early for an extra 200 bucks and also I needed to change up the opener due to clearance issues which worked to my favor





Spacious opener



There's a lot I still want/need to do but I'm a slow it down a bit--I'm going to focus on working out minor details in the front lawn and try to get a little organized. The shop is no where near where I want it to be, however; I need to save some more money/enjoy the summer a bit.

Things to do:
-Concrete in front of garage door
-2nd half of the back yard
-gravel outside parking
-install gate for access to garage
-install fence on side of house
-crushed gravel into side of house between fence and house
-Boarder front trees and pathway
-edge the lawn
-Fix cellar doors
-shyt the list goes on

 

[GRN96WS6]

Nice!

 

[Kevin54]

Dang man.....that is looking SUPER!!!!! And the grass is coming along great. It really makes a difference in the looks for certain.

BTW....who is it on the right either shouting out orders, or maybe just might be a little gassy from some bean Burrito's?

 

[Nolift911]

Looking good - lots of hard work here!

 

[Idle Serge]

Nice!

Thanks!

Dang man.....that is looking SUPER!!!!! And the grass is coming along great. It really makes a difference in the looks for certain.

BTW....who is it on the right either shouting out orders, or maybe just might be a little gassy from some bean Burrito's?

ikr!

That was my cousin, next in the grey long sleeve is me, right behind me in wht is our contractors little brother, after him is my girlfriends brother and at the end is our contractor himself. (they donated their time to help )

Looking good - lots of hard work here!

Thank you SiR! Lot more to come!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Great work! I can see a HUGE raise in equity you are adding into your property@!

 

[Idle Serge]

Great work! I can see a HUGE raise in equity you are adding into your property@!

Thank you Mr. sean! I'm happy to hear that

 

[Idle Serge]

This dang grass grows FAST--how often do you gents mow? I been on an every 3 day schedule :/



Cleared out the back yard some--not sure which route we will go here I was thinking about seeding it and just having a lawn here but I feel like a BBQ area is in order...thoughts?

We will level it out of course:





Gathering more options here--I know we want to utilize this space as storage since I don't like the idea of using the garage to store the lawn mower and such.

The idea was to fence off the front, trim the tree around the house and put in 5/8th crushed gravel. However; I was wondering if adding a car port or some sort of shed would be a good idea? Or maybe just a roof? Ideas welcomed

 

[madoc1]

looking great. I think you should fence off the front of the space in your last pic and the just build a lean-to type structure (roof only) , then install a gate on the back yard end. then you have a semi protected space for yard equipment, extra lawn chairs, etc.
jim

 

[fireeqpsrv]

I agree with madoc1. Fence it off and put the roof in and have it as a somewhat protected area