The Garagemahal Build Thread

[mopar440_6]

After the warm welcome I received in my introduction and "help!" threads, I figured I should probably just go on and make a thread to follow the build progress of my 50'x60'x14' shop. The wife has nicknamed it the Garagemahal because it's bigger than the house.

So, after 15 years of working in dirt floor machine sheds and dimly lit rentals with flooding problems, I finally had the opportunity to build my dream garage. The Mrs. knew that being able to build the shop was a requirement for the new house and we got lucky finding a house that met all of her qualifications and a price and lot that met all of mine. After almost a year of sketching, planning, and quoting I was ready to build. Due to budget constraints I had to scale the plans back a few times but what is going up should be enough for now.

And before anyone asks, no the junkyard is not mine (though the wife seems to think I operate one)...

Prep

After quoting with about 6 different builders, 3 electricians, and 2 excavators, I was finally knew who was going to be doing the work. A full month went into finding out if PPL would upgrade the service from 200a to 400a. The builder put me on the schedule to start in early Nov. 2015 so I had plenty of time to get everything in order (so I thought).

In mid-July a friend came over and helped me drop 11, small to medium sized black walnut trees along the rear of the property that were within the area where the shop was to go.



After the trees were down and the area staked off, I decided to go ahead and submit the permit application so we could start with the excavation. The state and township surprised me and had the permits approved in less than a week, good thing too.

 

[mopar440_6]

Excavation

The yard had a significant grade from one side of the shop area to the other. It needed to be built up about 30"-36" on the side closest to the property line. Also, the yard is 15' lower than the house, so I needed a driveway built. On August 28, 2015, the excavator came out and started peeling off the topsoil.



28 tri-axle loads of slate later, we have a finished building pad and a way to access it.

 

[mopar440_6]

Framing

A few days after the completion of the building pad, I get a call from the builder. He asks if the excavation is done yet and I tell him "Yes, why?" He proceeds to tell me that the big job they had scheduled for September and October got cancelled because the customer decided to move instead of build and that they're ready to start next week. Two months AHEAD of schedule? How often does that happen?!?

The crew showed up on Labor day to start setting posts.



Work progressed very quickly over the next two weeks.

 

[mopar440_6]

Radiant

I knew from the minute I set out on this project that I wanted to be DONE with torpedo heaters and all other forms of temporary heat. Radiant seemed like the best option. The builder had gotten me a quote for installing radiant that was actually cheaper than a forced air waste oil furnace sized to heat the same space. The quote specified 1/2" PEX and 2" foam insulation under the slab, perfect.

This is where things start to head south. The builder says that the sub who originally quoted the radiant was too busy and they were going to use a different sub. Sure, as long as its getting done, right? Wrong.

Something doesn't look quite right here.



That doesn't look like 2" foam board, because well, it isn't. ****.

Enter GarageJournal.com to save my hide.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=304464

With less than 12 hours until the concrete was scheduled to be poured we got the train stopped. After a bunch of frantic phone calls, a couple of very heated discussions, and a few concessions. I reverted to "if you want it done right, do it yourself."

The evening after the concrete was supposed to go down, I called in a friend and a case of beer and spent 4 hours tearing out an entire days worth of work by the HVAC contractor. The next day the builder came back, removed 2" of stone, compacted the remaining stone, and delivered 100 sheets of 2" XPS.

So, we put down a 6mil vapor barrier, then spent the remainder of the weekend laying, cutting, fitting, and taping insulation board.



After doing a proper calculation and layout in LoopCAD, we put the tubes down. 9 circuits with less than 6% difference



By this point the concrete was rescheduled to be poured the next day so we spent a VERY late night moving in the wire, adding some rebar around the lift pads and doors, and putting all of it up on 2" chairs.



Test manifold in and held 40psi overnight, we're good to pour.

 

[mopar440_6]

Concrete

I was still finishing putting a few more chairs under the wire when the conveyor belt truck showed up. Everybody showed up right on time, in the pouring rain, that morning. I was dragging after only getting 2.5-3hrs of sleep but 9-30-15 was pour day. I'm honestly not sure who was more excited when that first truck revved up full bore, me or my 3 year old son.

First load down.



Conveyor belt done, finishing up the last few yards. We ran right to the wire and had to rush order another 4 yards at the end that were just BARELY enough to finish.



All bull floated and waiting on the power trowels.





I had to run some errands and by the time I got back they were loading the Sof-Cut saw into the truck and heading home.



I spent the evening vacuuming up the dust from the saw. Two drywall bag fulls later it was all cleaned up and waiting on the next step. That's all for now...

 

[mopar440_6]

Service and Interior

Nearly a month after pouring the slab, the weather, electrician and I were able to cooperate and start the service upgrade. The GC was still working on other jobs so we made a plan to rough the panel in until the interior was installed.

I rented a mini-excavator and started digging the trench. Everything was going great until I found a Volkswagen sized limestone boulder about 4 feet off the corner of the house where the garage service needed to tie into the new meter base. ****. So, I called the rental company and had them deliver a breaker/hammer for the excavator. After another day of work, I had finally busted the thing into manageable pieces and hoisted them out of the trench. Here's the hole it left.



The next weekend, we set the yard hydrant and ran the water line in the bottom of the trench and covered it over with 6" of pea gravel.



Then we ran two 1-1/2" conduits. One for coax and LAN and the other for future proofing. On 11-9-15, the electrician came out and did the service upgrade and pulled power to the shop. I rented a skid steer and filled the trench in that weekend.

The following week, I got a call from the GC that they were ready to start the interior. They came out and installed the ceiling on 11-13-15 and the insulation crew came out and insulated the building on 11-15-16. By 11-20-15 the liner was installed and the rooms were framed.









The Monday before Thanksgiving, the garage door company came out and installed the overhead doors. Two weeks after Thanksgiving, the GC was finally able to come out and finish the paneling and doors on the office and mechanical room.

Shortly after paying the final bill, I found out that my building was the last job my GC was doing, ever. Turns out the owners (who are both in their late 60's) had decided it was time to hang up the tool belts. Last time I spoke with them, it sounded like a few of their workers were going to step up to buy the business. So, a big thank you to Harvey and Amos of Walnut Bottom Construction for putting in all the care and effort right up to the very end.

The week before Christmas, the excavator came back out and did the finish grading and put two loads of 2A on the driveway.

Sorry for the lack of pictures but it was rather difficult to take any in the dark.

We're ready for electric!

 

[mopar440_6]

Electric

While all of the above interior work was going on, I was spending hours pouring through the Lighting & Electrical sub-forum. Thanks to a lot of help from Platonic Solid and many hours working with DiaLUX, I determined that the best lighting solution was to build my own fixtures.





In early December, I ordered 36 tandem 8' housings, 40 Sylvania ballasts, and 150 Sylvania 3000lm T8 bulbs. Due to some other jobs and the holidays, the electrician wasn't available to start until 1-4-16. On the Monday after Christmas, my friend came out and helped me build and test all 36 fixtures.

On Monday, January 4th, the electrician's crew showed up and started roughing in the conduit. After a week of work they had all of the lights installed and all of the outlets roughed in.







As of Monday, January 18th the electric has been completed.









Mechanical Room


Office


The pictures really don't do the lights justice, this place is BRIGHT. The final total came to 23 quad-duplex outlets on 10 circuits, dedicated circuits for each of two lifts, air compressor, and welder. Along with the five exterior outlets, the exterior lighting is provided by 1 Lithonia TDD LED area light and 3 Defiant 180* LED motion sensing flood lights.

Next up, heating and floor coating...

 

[mopar440_6]

Reserved - Finishing Touches

 

[larry4406]

Very Nice!

 

[UnionMan]

Looks good. I just had a similar size shop built, 40x60x12. I know where your coming from with having to end up doing work yourself. Luckily I didn't have to do that on the shop build but I recently had a home build and also in the process of my father having his home built and find myself working on things more then the contractors.

I assume the bracing from the walls to the roof trusses is only temporary?

UnionMan

 

[Jmasishin]

wow....

 

[MacTexas]

How did you ever convince you wife it is OK to live next to a salvage yard?

Looks like yo are off to a good start.

Did you sell the walnut trees to a sawmill?

 

[CodeRedZ]

So whats the story with the salvage yard behind?

 

[mopar440_6]

Very Nice!

Thanks Larry!

Looks good. I just had a similar size shop built, 40x60x12. I know where your coming from with having to end up doing work yourself. Luckily I didn't have to do that on the shop build but I recently had a home build and also in the process of my father having his home built and find myself working on things more then the contractors.

I assume the bracing from the walls to the roof trusses is only temporary?

UnionMan

Thanks UnionMan!

The bracing is still there only because they sent the man lift back right after the tin was put on. They'll be removing those when they come back to install the steel liner and insulation.

wow....

Good "wow" or bad "wow?"

How did you ever convince you wife it is OK to live next to a salvage yard?

Looks like yo are off to a good start.

Did you sell the walnut trees to a sawmill?

Thanks Mac!

When we pulled in to look at the house, we were standing in the driveway waiting for the realtor. She was just STARING at the field of cars. I looked at her and just asked "Well?" she said "It's no worse than staring at all of your junk!" So, we ended up with the house. We're pretty sure the salvage yard is the reason we got the place so cheap. Its a really nice house but it had been listed for 3 years and we ended up getting it for $12K less than the previous owners paid.

I had a friend who owns a sawmill look at all of the logs and he said they were all too small to have enough heartwood to make good lumber. So, unfortunately they're now on the firewood pile.

So whats the story with the salvage yard behind?

It was there before the "development" (I say it in quotes because our lot is the smallest at 1.5ac, biggest is 16ac) went in so it's grandfathered in the zoning. The development is pretty nice and most of the properties that border the salvage yard all kept the back part of the property wooded so that it blocks the view. I, on the other hand, didn't care about seeing it and having the smallest lot, we needed all of the space we could get. Also, the owner of the yard lives behind it and is a really good neighbor. Already working deals out with him on getting me some parts cars.

 

[Jmasishin]

Thanks Larry!







Thanks UnionMan!



The bracing is still there only because they sent the man lift back right after the tin was put on. They'll be removing those when they come back to install the steel liner and insulation.







Good "wow" or bad "wow?"







Thanks Mac!



When we pulled in to look at the house, we were standing in the driveway waiting for the realtor. She was just STARING at the field of cars. I looked at her and just asked "Well?" she said "It's no worse than staring at all of your junk!" So, we ended up with the house. We're pretty sure the salvage yard is the reason we got the place so cheap. Its a really nice house but it had been listed for 3 years and we ended up getting it for $12K less than the previous owners paid.



I had a friend who owns a sawmill look at all of the logs and he said they were all too small to have enough heartwood to make good lumber. So, unfortunately they're now on the firewood pile.







It was there before the "development" (I say it in quotes because our lot is the smallest at 1.5ac, biggest is 16ac) went in so it's grandfathered in the zoning. The development is pretty nice and most of the properties that border the salvage yard all kept the back part of the property wooded so that it blocks the view. I, on the other hand, didn't care about seeing it and having the smallest lot, we needed all of the space we could get. Also, the owner of the yard lives behind it and is a really good neighbor. Already working deals out with him on getting me some parts cars.

Neither. AWESOME wow lol!!!


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[captain14]

That's was my question about all the cars in the back of the property. Now it has been answered.

Nice size building so keep us updated on the progress.

 

[mopar440_6]

That's was my question about all the cars in the back of the property. Now it has been answered.

Nice size building so keep us updated on the progress.

I'm pretty sure my wife has told a couple people, "Oh, he just really likes cars"

Thank you. I'm in a holding pattern right now; the builder is on other jobs for the next two weeks (trying to get the outside work done before it gets ugly) and the electrician can't start on the service upgrade for another week or two.

 

[CodeRedZ]

It was there before the "development" (I say it in quotes because our lot is the smallest at 1.5ac, biggest is 16ac) went in so it's grandfathered in the zoning. The development is pretty nice and most of the properties that border the salvage yard all kept the back part of the property wooded so that it blocks the view. I, on the other hand, didn't care about seeing it and having the smallest lot, we needed all of the space we could get. Also, the owner of the yard lives behind it and is a really good neighbor. Already working deals out with him on getting me some parts cars.

Very nice!! Old cars, new cars, or both?

I used to love going through pick/pull part yards.

 

[mopar440_6]

Very nice!! Old cars, new cars, or both?

I used to love going through pick/pull part yards.

Mainly new cars with a few older ones scattered through. I have a standing offer to go ride around the yard in the owner's Razr some Saturday but I've been too busy lately to catch up with him.

 

[mopar440_6]

Well, switching jobs and the holidays seem to have kept me away from GJ for a while. Since Snowmageddon has me hunkered down with a couple cases of barley pop and a fire in the woodstove, I figured it would be a good time to update the progress on my Garagemahal build. As of 1-18-16, the electric is finished and the only items left are heat and floor coating.

 

[Kevkx125]

Cool nice build, have fun.

 

[The Original Fisho]

Any finished photos?

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