BuickFarmer
Well-known member
.
And btw , like the stepped cabinet design! What are those item hanging aver the bottom one, especially the one with what looks like a horn sticking out the bottom of it.
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Bob Heine's Auto Emporium
- Thread starter Bob Heine
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
And btw , like the stepped cabinet design! What are those item hanging aver the bottom one, especially the one with what looks like a horn sticking out the bottom of it.
shortykorte
Well-known member
I know I’m risking my man-card
.
Good plan keeping the bottle of alcohol next to the water. "honey, honestly I thought I grabbed the water!"
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Bob: i have to say your garage is cleaner than mine and if my wife wasn't around it might even be cleaner than my REAL kitchen. what's in the cupboards up above the coffee pot bench?
just an FYI. i bought my 1970 Mach 1 for $3,600 cash in 1977 and not yesterday.
just an FYI. i bought my 1970 Mach 1 for $3,600 cash in 1977 and not yesterday.
Sorry for the delay -- my monthly shots for hives shot my morning.
I've managed to provide sustenance with very few poisonings (at least fewer than Chipotle).
Not sure how it is with everyone else but I do have a very clear memory of my first new car. I didn't remember the detailed price breakdown but my copy of the order sheet is somewhere in my files. I file things like that very carefully but maybe a little too carefully -- I couldn't find it. Thank goodness for Google -- I found the prices somewhere in the Intertubes.
I enjoy really fast and powerful cars but my red and gold Corvette convertible screams mid-life crisis but isn't all that powerful. It doesn't bother me because at 71 I'm way past the middle of my life.
I actually prefer sleepers. It's more fun to blow the doors off a base Camaro or Mustang with my PT Cruiser than the Corvette. The Cruiser is pretty plain-looking with the original Turbo badging removed. I've upgraded the intake and intercooler plumbing as well as the exhaust. The engine controller is upgraded to Stage I and upgraded further with a Diablo tune.
I guess 23 is the magic age. That's how old I was when we bought the GTO. Paid an outrageous $600 a year for insurance until I turned 25. I think it went down to $180 at that point.
I still remember the 1954 Buick Century 2-door hardtop my aunt bought. It was my first closeup look at the new wrap-around windshield. I was nine and didn't know the Century was a revived name -- I thought it was new and unique. Only disappointment was its color -- it was beige.
Atlatl:
Herb, you're more than right. When my wife and I married she wanted to stay home and raise the children. Both our mothers worked full-time and we thought it was the cause of our delinquency. The few times she worked outside the home everything she earned went to babysitters, work clothes, gas and fast food meals. Had she been the primary bread-winner I know we would be better off because she's smarter, better at delegating, and doesn't take **** from anyone (and she's better looking). When I retired at 50 she asked when she could retire. I consumed more than my fair share of alcohol back then so apparently I said I'd take over the cooking and dish-washing. I don't actually remember saying that but she swears I did.
I've managed to provide sustenance with very few poisonings (at least fewer than Chipotle). Drives, I'm just glad that hardware isn't inside me.
Not sure how it is with everyone else but I do have a very clear memory of my first new car. I didn't remember the detailed price breakdown but my copy of the order sheet is somewhere in my files. I file things like that very carefully but maybe a little too carefully -- I couldn't find it. Thank goodness for Google -- I found the prices somewhere in the Intertubes.
I enjoy really fast and powerful cars but my red and gold Corvette convertible screams mid-life crisis but isn't all that powerful. It doesn't bother me because at 71 I'm way past the middle of my life.
I actually prefer sleepers. It's more fun to blow the doors off a base Camaro or Mustang with my PT Cruiser than the Corvette. The Cruiser is pretty plain-looking with the original Turbo badging removed. I've upgraded the intake and intercooler plumbing as well as the exhaust. The engine controller is upgraded to Stage I and upgraded further with a Diablo tune.
LCG, I'm pretty sure it hurts because your metal-chomping goat took a test nibble.
Thank you Bob.... now my ankle hurts for no reason.
Sub, Glad you love the bar. My wife likes cars but doesn't care for photos that don't include people. I probably have others but this is one taken when the car was almost new.
I guess 23 is the magic age. That's how old I was when we bought the GTO. Paid an outrageous $600 a year for insurance until I turned 25. I think it went down to $180 at that point.
Bighead38, I'm guessing that you're a better predictor of weather changes than your local TV News station. I had to laugh -- I'm pretty sure it doesn't feel fake to Shopnut.
Tinbender 66, so nice of you to stop by. I don't think I ever posted on your thread. I couldn't think of anything I could add to a garage like yours with real barn siding and a copper urinal.
coljar, thanks for stopping by and I'm glad you enjoyed my comments. I didn't think my garage was special enough for its own thread.
Lyndon, don't overdo it but I'd appreciate it if you would have a lovely glass of Australian wine in my honor. I loved doing the Hunter Valley winery crawl and took friends and family there many times (as best I can remember). Also visited the Hardys winery in the Barossa Valley. Upon return to the US I found a half case of Hardys 1982 Vintage Port. The last bottle is waiting on a special occasion.Bob
Your thread is certainly proving that it was worth you starting it....
And your retorts are proving that real guys ("blokes" down here) can share this sort of stuff. And be better for it.
Keep it up.
Lyndon
Have I had 4 glasses already - ok, time to stop (or hide from you know who - it is Friday night after all).....
BuickFarmer, thanks for the visit and I love your place and your cars. I've been a silent visitor for quite a while.
I still remember the 1954 Buick Century 2-door hardtop my aunt bought. It was my first closeup look at the new wrap-around windshield. I was nine and didn't know the Century was a revived name -- I thought it was new and unique. Only disappointment was its color -- it was beige.
BF, that's my weapon wall. Some are Australian Aboriginal weapons (Atlatl spear thrower extension at the top and its spear below), some are New Zealand Maori weapons (two clubs below the spear) and a Papua New Guinea axe (the big one with the horn-like handle). The two funny sticks (bottom left) that have broken rattan bindings are the handles for stone adzes that are common to many islands in the South Pacific, including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.
Atlatl:
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Shorty, I actually made a mistake last week. I use a Waterpik and add a capful of mouthwash and another of hydrogen peroxide (brown bottle next to the alcohol). Not paying attention, I poured isopropyl alcohol into the Waterpik along with the mouthwash and water. Had a mouthful before I realized my mistake. I was going to pour it out but then thought: "what doesn't kill me may make me stronger!" If I stop posting updates, you'll know what happened.Good plan keeping the bottle of alcohol next to the water. "honey, honestly I thought I grabbed the water!"
Before anyone razzes me, the answer is: "Yes, I shave, brush my teeth and use the Waterpik at my garage sink." I use the loo in the guest bathroom (my fondness for chili and bean soup does have its side-effects) but I don't like to have to clean the mirror, sink and counter every day. Taking out and putting away the electric toothbrush and Waterpik is also a waste of time to me. Thus the garage sink gets used every day.
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Drives, looks can be deceiving. I do wipe the cabinets down every so often but between the leaves and sanding and grinding dust, it's a chore to keep it from spiraling down.Bob: i have to say your garage is cleaner than mine and if my wife wasn't around it might even be cleaner than my REAL kitchen. what's in the cupboards up above the coffee pot bench?
just an FYI. i bought my 1970 Mach 1 for $3,600 cash in 1977 and not yesterday.
The Coffee Bar cupboards have household stuff in them. There are three compartments in the two cabinets.
The upper left compartment has a crock pot, bulk vanilla, whole house water filter cartridges (not a good idea to keep them in cabinets that store thinners and degreasers), extra coffee grinder, coffee and a water cup.
The right compartment (it includes the space behind the center panel) holds plastic bags, non-corrosive pool chemicals, pool water testing kits and plastic utensils (back of bottom shelf).
The bottom compartment houses my wife's gardening shoe collection and other gardening stuff.
My wife has recently purchased several pairs of womens' golf shoes. They grip better on wet grass and they're the same price as most of her shoes (under $5.00). I should mention that my wife makes up for not bringing money into the home by not spending much of the money that does come in. Typical shopping day at the local thrift stores yields a $700 hand-woven in the Hebrides sport jacket for $3 and golf shoes for $2. She hasn't been inside a mall in about six years (at least with me
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taumac
Well-known member
At a point in time I thought that Bob role in the Florida Garage Life would be the group comedian. Bob will still keep that title since he is funnier than many of us combined. After today's post I will sit down with Cbacres and see if he can have you made up a Florida Garage Life apron since seem to have taken up the role in your household in which one is needed. We all our not as well trained or domesticated as one Bob Heine so you will be a shoe in for the FGJ " Kitchen *****". LOL.
Great thread Bob. [emoji482]
Great thread Bob. [emoji482]
Gerard, I'm honored to be the FGJ "Kitchen *****" but I should warn you about the rules. The first person to complain about what I cook becomes the new "Kitchen *****." This is a long-standing rule that started when my friends and I went hunting. By the fourth day I was tired of doing all the cooking so I used moose droppings instead of venison for the meatballs to go with the spaghetti. My best friend looked at me and said "This tastes like moose sh*t..." I started to smile until he said "...but it's real good!!"
drivesitfar
Well-known member
Bob: you do have a nasty little PRANKSTER in that soul of yours don't you? or is that a once in 20 year type thing?
so are you saying the Plymouth is faster than your VETTE?
so are you saying the Plymouth is faster than your VETTE?
Kevin54
MEMBER EMERITUS
Bob....great thread, and congrats on the 54 years of marriage. Looks like you have a keeper for sure.
I may have missed it, but how big is your garage? I saw the size of the other rooms but not of the garage, I don't think. From the looks of it, you have it jam packed full, but the cabinets really take care of organizing. My wife is wanting me to add some more cabinets in the house garage, but I don't want to. I told her that she needs to get rid of some items. I think if I don't build some more cabinets, I may just be that item
I may have missed it, but how big is your garage? I saw the size of the other rooms but not of the garage, I don't think. From the looks of it, you have it jam packed full, but the cabinets really take care of organizing. My wife is wanting me to add some more cabinets in the house garage, but I don't want to. I told her that she needs to get rid of some items. I think if I don't build some more cabinets, I may just be that item
Drives, I don't do it that often but every once in a while the stars line up (or maybe just the right amount of Johnny Walker) and it happens. I don't really plan it and sometimes it even surprises me. Probably told this one too many times.
I was enjoying cocktails with friends at Club Med Cancun in 1980. It was awards night so some of us wore our formal clothes(?). I received an award for "Best One-Armed Water-Skier" so I may have had a few too many. Young woman walked up to me and asked: "What happened to your arm?" and I looked down at my stump and screamed "Holy Sh*t!" I had to chase her down to apologize. This image might help:
Kevin, it's so nice of you to visit and thank you. I think it's important to be mindful of the keepers in our lives. In addition to being someone I want to keep, my wife helps me keep my sanity. She's the worrier 90% of the time but when I start worrying she always knows how to fix the problem.Bob....great thread, and congrats on the 54 years of marriage. Looks like you have a keeper for sure.
I may have missed it, but how big is your garage? I saw the size of the other rooms but not of the garage, I don't think. From the looks of it, you have it jam packed full, but the cabinets really take care of organizing. My wife is wanting me to add some more cabinets in the house garage, but I don't want to. I told her that she needs to get rid of some items. I think if I don't build some more cabinets, I may just be that item
The garage is 28 feet wide by 24 feet deep (8.5 x 7.3 meters) with a 2 x 8 foot (0.61 x 2.4 meter) deeper section for the water heater, freezer and sink cabinet.
When we bought the house in 1996 I put all those cabinets in and didn't have them half full. It didn't take long to fill the other half. My wife noticed a bunch of empty space above the cabinets where she could put her little collection of baskets. The collection grew to fill the space.
The big counter in the garage is 14-feet long, made with a 6-foot section and an 8-foot section. She requested and I ceded the 6-foot section of counter-top along with the cabinets above and below that section. They are filled to overflowing with irreplaceable treasures. My 8-foot section is filled with my worthless **** (you know, computer parts, tools and garage clothes).
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This post is for Kevin54:
Sometimes decisions come back to bite you. Three years after we bought our dream house, in the fall of 1999, I noticed the top of one of the doors on my shallow cabinets wouldn't open because it was hitting the garage door track. I was pretty sure I left close to a half-inch space up there so I opened some of the other cabinet doors. There was mold on the painted sheet-rock at the back of the front-most cabinets.
I cut an inspection hole that spanned the studs and discovered I didn't have studs. I had termite tubes. I called Terminix and told them they needed to repair my garage wall. They informed me the repair was my problem because the previous owner paid for a one-time treatment rather than a full-protection contract. They did send someone out to do a free inspection. The guy points to the ceiling at the front corner of the garage where there's a faint damp spot. He tells me I have a roof leak and that's giving the termites a supply of water that they are using to build their mud tubes. No treatment will fix the problem until the roof is fixed.
An attractive feature of this house was it's rustic cedar shake roof. I had watched enough This Old House episodes to know what a proper cedar shake job looked like. When I checked mine it had no breather membrane under the shakes. The shakes were just nailed to the tar-paper-over-plywood roof sheathing. The shakes were soaking wet and most were completely hollowed out. The original owner gifted me the blueprints for the house so I got them out to see what was done. The house plan showed an asphalt shingle roof on the plans so I called the guy. He told me his wife wanted a cedar shake roof after the plans were approved and the house dried in. The builder had no experience with cedar shakes so he just nailed them on.
I called several roofing companies for quotes on standing-seam metal roofing and they were all very close to $30,000 plus any rot/damage replacement would be additional. One of the salesmen told us rot replacement would be $1,000 a square. My wife thought he meant square-foot but I told her a square in roofing is 100 square feet. The roof is approximately 4,000 sq. ft. (372 sq. M.) and an asphalt shingle roof was quoted at $6.000.
I thought -- easy decision -- we're going to have a slightly less attractive asphalt shingle roof but my wife said she really likes the look of the shakes. In addition, the place we rented in Australia had a metal roof and she didn't like the noise (that I loved). To me, putting on another shake roof was a "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" situation.
We ended up spending $22,000 for a concrete shake roof but the price included up to 3 squares of roof deck and fascia repair. I checked the company's BBB rating and got nothing but rave reviews about their roofing jobs. When the salesman/company owner showed up, I told him he couldn't even start on the roof until the south wall and a portion of the west wall was repaired. I had already removed all the sheet-rock from the infested wall and discovered some weird framing. There was framing and a header for a 6-foot doorway in the wall. I was afraid the whole place was going to come down so I asked if he could do or knew someone else who could do the job right away. He said he had a crew that could handle it and they would start the next day. The 24-foot wall would be rebuilt for $6,000, including the engineering plan (28-foot truss span requires a steel plate reinvorcement) but not including electrical or interior finishing. I wanted to do the interior stuff myself (for selfish reasons). I didn't think to check references for the construction side of the business.
Crew shows up along with a stack of lumber (I asked for all pressure-treated) and plywood. They made a brace with a couple of 2 by 4s and a 4 by six or eight. They put 2 Harbor Freight floor jacks under the 2 x 4 verticals and raised the roof trusses up to their original height. They then removed the stucco and plywood from the outside so it was an open wall of imitation studs (termite spit and dirt). They leaned a few sheets of plywood against the remains of the wall and left for the day.
When no one showed up the next day, I called and discovered there was a problem with a previous job that had to be fixed. OK, when are you coming back to do my job? "Couple of days" is the answer. I'm chhecking the jacks every day and cut a couple of 2 by 4 safety studs so it doesn't collapse in the next "Couple of days." Three weeks (with daily calls) later they show up at my house in an almost empty van. They have one circular saw, a pancake compressor and a framing gun that looks brand new. I'm expecting these carpenters to build a couple of sawhorses like Norm but they don't. They just use a tape measure (no pencil) and cut studs, headers and plates with the saw (one end of the stud on the floor and holding the other end against their thigh.
While I'm on the phone with the 'boss' they are wailing away with the nail gun like I've never heard before in my life. The guys leave before I finish the call and I go out to look at their work. Most of the studs, with the exception of two, are long enough but two are almost an inch short. Instead of cutting another stud to the correct length, the "craftsman" (as in "tool") filled the gap with nails. Picture (of which I have none) 30 nails driven through the bottom of a stud. I called the boss back and told him to halt all work and if he wanted me to pay another nickel (he got $7,300 to start work) I wanted him to do an inspection.
Turns out the crew wasn't his -- his crew was still re-doing their mess at a mansion on the ocean. My crew was a bunch of day laborers who had no skills. Two weeks later another crew re-did the studs, sheathed and stuccoed the outside and the roofing job commenced. They did a good job on the roof itself.
Sometimes decisions come back to bite you. Three years after we bought our dream house, in the fall of 1999, I noticed the top of one of the doors on my shallow cabinets wouldn't open because it was hitting the garage door track. I was pretty sure I left close to a half-inch space up there so I opened some of the other cabinet doors. There was mold on the painted sheet-rock at the back of the front-most cabinets.
I cut an inspection hole that spanned the studs and discovered I didn't have studs. I had termite tubes. I called Terminix and told them they needed to repair my garage wall. They informed me the repair was my problem because the previous owner paid for a one-time treatment rather than a full-protection contract. They did send someone out to do a free inspection. The guy points to the ceiling at the front corner of the garage where there's a faint damp spot. He tells me I have a roof leak and that's giving the termites a supply of water that they are using to build their mud tubes. No treatment will fix the problem until the roof is fixed.
An attractive feature of this house was it's rustic cedar shake roof. I had watched enough This Old House episodes to know what a proper cedar shake job looked like. When I checked mine it had no breather membrane under the shakes. The shakes were just nailed to the tar-paper-over-plywood roof sheathing. The shakes were soaking wet and most were completely hollowed out. The original owner gifted me the blueprints for the house so I got them out to see what was done. The house plan showed an asphalt shingle roof on the plans so I called the guy. He told me his wife wanted a cedar shake roof after the plans were approved and the house dried in. The builder had no experience with cedar shakes so he just nailed them on.
I called several roofing companies for quotes on standing-seam metal roofing and they were all very close to $30,000 plus any rot/damage replacement would be additional. One of the salesmen told us rot replacement would be $1,000 a square. My wife thought he meant square-foot but I told her a square in roofing is 100 square feet. The roof is approximately 4,000 sq. ft. (372 sq. M.) and an asphalt shingle roof was quoted at $6.000.
I thought -- easy decision -- we're going to have a slightly less attractive asphalt shingle roof but my wife said she really likes the look of the shakes. In addition, the place we rented in Australia had a metal roof and she didn't like the noise (that I loved). To me, putting on another shake roof was a "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" situation.
We ended up spending $22,000 for a concrete shake roof but the price included up to 3 squares of roof deck and fascia repair. I checked the company's BBB rating and got nothing but rave reviews about their roofing jobs. When the salesman/company owner showed up, I told him he couldn't even start on the roof until the south wall and a portion of the west wall was repaired. I had already removed all the sheet-rock from the infested wall and discovered some weird framing. There was framing and a header for a 6-foot doorway in the wall. I was afraid the whole place was going to come down so I asked if he could do or knew someone else who could do the job right away. He said he had a crew that could handle it and they would start the next day. The 24-foot wall would be rebuilt for $6,000, including the engineering plan (28-foot truss span requires a steel plate reinvorcement) but not including electrical or interior finishing. I wanted to do the interior stuff myself (for selfish reasons). I didn't think to check references for the construction side of the business.
Crew shows up along with a stack of lumber (I asked for all pressure-treated) and plywood. They made a brace with a couple of 2 by 4s and a 4 by six or eight. They put 2 Harbor Freight floor jacks under the 2 x 4 verticals and raised the roof trusses up to their original height. They then removed the stucco and plywood from the outside so it was an open wall of imitation studs (termite spit and dirt). They leaned a few sheets of plywood against the remains of the wall and left for the day.
When no one showed up the next day, I called and discovered there was a problem with a previous job that had to be fixed. OK, when are you coming back to do my job? "Couple of days" is the answer. I'm chhecking the jacks every day and cut a couple of 2 by 4 safety studs so it doesn't collapse in the next "Couple of days." Three weeks (with daily calls) later they show up at my house in an almost empty van. They have one circular saw, a pancake compressor and a framing gun that looks brand new. I'm expecting these carpenters to build a couple of sawhorses like Norm but they don't. They just use a tape measure (no pencil) and cut studs, headers and plates with the saw (one end of the stud on the floor and holding the other end against their thigh.
While I'm on the phone with the 'boss' they are wailing away with the nail gun like I've never heard before in my life. The guys leave before I finish the call and I go out to look at their work. Most of the studs, with the exception of two, are long enough but two are almost an inch short. Instead of cutting another stud to the correct length, the "craftsman" (as in "tool") filled the gap with nails. Picture (of which I have none) 30 nails driven through the bottom of a stud. I called the boss back and told him to halt all work and if he wanted me to pay another nickel (he got $7,300 to start work) I wanted him to do an inspection.
Turns out the crew wasn't his -- his crew was still re-doing their mess at a mansion on the ocean. My crew was a bunch of day laborers who had no skills. Two weeks later another crew re-did the studs, sheathed and stuccoed the outside and the roofing job commenced. They did a good job on the roof itself.
Based on the damage to the south wall, I stripped the sheet-rock off the north wall. It wasn't as bad but still needed to replace a number of studs. I decided to do the job myself and after investing $300 in lumber, insulation and electrical I had a repaired wall. My garage is whole again.
Turns out leaving the garage wall open is not the best idea. Unless you love rats. Rats decided my temporary cardboard boxes were luxury condominiums for them. I like the idea of delivering food to the hungry so I delivered gourmet green meals to all my new cardboard condo tenants. That was my revenge.
The rats' revenge was to die inside their condos. All work came to a halt so I could track down my victims. I thought it would be easy -- just put your nose up to the hand hole in the box and sniff. I was very successful with finding the first one but that's not actually a good thing. A whiff of d-comp is one thing, a snout-full is enough to last a really long time. It's like the rat died up inside my nose and it's not coming out. OK, the d-comp snot eventually comes out but I chose to sort through the boxes less intimately, opening each at arm's length.
Turns out leaving the garage wall open is not the best idea. Unless you love rats. Rats decided my temporary cardboard boxes were luxury condominiums for them. I like the idea of delivering food to the hungry so I delivered gourmet green meals to all my new cardboard condo tenants. That was my revenge.
The rats' revenge was to die inside their condos. All work came to a halt so I could track down my victims. I thought it would be easy -- just put your nose up to the hand hole in the box and sniff. I was very successful with finding the first one but that's not actually a good thing. A whiff of d-comp is one thing, a snout-full is enough to last a really long time. It's like the rat died up inside my nose and it's not coming out. OK, the d-comp snot eventually comes out but I chose to sort through the boxes less intimately, opening each at arm's length.
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End of the roof story. The front room on the other side of the house had termite damage similar to the garage so I rebuilt those three walls. I added a low voltage cat-5, coax and speaker wire outlet to the outside wall and made a couple more outlets in the room switched. Because this was the year I retired for good, I turned this front room into my office and made the back room the guest room. The office has the stack of oak cabinets and weapon wall. The back room has a sliding glass door to the screened-in patio and a screen door to the yard. Less cell-like than the front room.
The guest room is also my TV room. When our failing eyesight couldn't read the subtitles on the 55-incher in the Master bedroom, we upgraded to a 70-inch and moved the little TV to the guest room. The 32-inch TV from the guest room got moved to the office. While this may look silly, when you turn 70, let me know how you feel about this BIG TV....
The guest room is also my TV room. When our failing eyesight couldn't read the subtitles on the 55-incher in the Master bedroom, we upgraded to a 70-inch and moved the little TV to the guest room. The 32-inch TV from the guest room got moved to the office. While this may look silly, when you turn 70, let me know how you feel about this BIG TV....
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Lyndon
Well-known member
What BJ said ^^^^
Great stories Bob. Keep it up.
Lyndon
It's easier to sit at my desk at present than stand in the shower. But I'll get there.
Great stories Bob. Keep it up.
Lyndon
It's easier to sit at my desk at present than stand in the shower. But I'll get there.
Back to the garage....
Before I closed up the walls in the garage and office I sprayed the wall cavities with professional termiticide and installed R-13 insulation. The office got 1/2-inch and the garage got 5/8-inch sheet-rock. Luckily a friend who used to be an installer helped with the first garage wall sheet-rock job. He moved before I got to the ceiling and I think I still have a flat spot on my forehead from holding that stuff up against the trusses. Before you tell me about drywall panel hoists, this is before I found Garage Journal and before the arrival of Harbor Freight stores.
As best I can, I try to turn lemons into Martini garnishes. To that end I made some changes to the garage.
The ceiling above the left-most garage door had to be opened up to gain access to the gable end of the garage. Once the wood structure was repaired and before I put up new sheet-rock, I installed a second drop-down attic ladder. It's a tight squeeze with all that garage track and opener stuff close by.
The garage gable is a nice-size space and having the staircase made it a lot easier to put R-19 fiberglass insulation bats up there. Because the bats require by-six depth and the trusses are only by-four depth, I added 2 by 2s to the trusses before putting 5/8 ply for flooring up there. Also added a gable-end attic fan to the garage gable and another to the south side gable end on the main section of the house (I left the third gable vent alone).
While the garage was being rebuilt I used some tall plastic shelves to store the rat condos.
I got rid of the legs, fitted some 2 by 4s in the trusses, added some closet-rod pieces as locators and put the plastic shelves in the new garage attic storage space.
The attic space is great for bulky stuff that doesn't weigh too much like urethane bumper covers, interior pieces and fiberglass body parts.
Before I closed up the walls in the garage and office I sprayed the wall cavities with professional termiticide and installed R-13 insulation. The office got 1/2-inch and the garage got 5/8-inch sheet-rock. Luckily a friend who used to be an installer helped with the first garage wall sheet-rock job. He moved before I got to the ceiling and I think I still have a flat spot on my forehead from holding that stuff up against the trusses. Before you tell me about drywall panel hoists, this is before I found Garage Journal and before the arrival of Harbor Freight stores.
As best I can, I try to turn lemons into Martini garnishes. To that end I made some changes to the garage.
The ceiling above the left-most garage door had to be opened up to gain access to the gable end of the garage. Once the wood structure was repaired and before I put up new sheet-rock, I installed a second drop-down attic ladder. It's a tight squeeze with all that garage track and opener stuff close by.
The garage gable is a nice-size space and having the staircase made it a lot easier to put R-19 fiberglass insulation bats up there. Because the bats require by-six depth and the trusses are only by-four depth, I added 2 by 2s to the trusses before putting 5/8 ply for flooring up there. Also added a gable-end attic fan to the garage gable and another to the south side gable end on the main section of the house (I left the third gable vent alone).
While the garage was being rebuilt I used some tall plastic shelves to store the rat condos.
I got rid of the legs, fitted some 2 by 4s in the trusses, added some closet-rod pieces as locators and put the plastic shelves in the new garage attic storage space.
The attic space is great for bulky stuff that doesn't weigh too much like urethane bumper covers, interior pieces and fiberglass body parts.
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Thank you BJ, I'm very happy my grumpy grandpa stories are OK.
As to the Corvettes, my wife asked me what I wanted for a graduation present, I told her "A Corvette".
This may be confusing because I graduated high school shortly after we married in 1962. I thought I could make a good living with my hands but when I lost my arm in 1965 it occurred to me I might need an education if I wanted to get ahead. When we moved from Long Island to the Hudson Valley (Wappingers Falls) in upstate NY I started going to night school. Fast forward(??) twelve years and I'm graduating from college with a BA in English (company reimburses job-related tuition and I'm a technical writer).
I had been babbling about owning a Corvette since 1963 when I had a chance to buy a blue (with red interior) 1954 Corvette in mint condition for $400. She knew by the look on my face that I was serious and we had just gotten rid of the GTO because it didn't have A/C. We got along without A/C just fine until the day we took the kids to Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach, Florida. Rolling the windows down when there are lions just outside is not an option. Lincoln Town Car, here we come.
I still don't earn a lot of money and our mortgage tripled when we bought our first Florida house (went from $110 to $335 a month). We agreed it couldn't cost more than $3,200 (same as the new GTO). In 1977 used Corvettes were selling for more than their original sticker prices. Lucky for me the first oil crisis (1973) quadrupled the price of gas, from $0.25 a gallon to $1.00 a gallon. People were swapping big block engines for small blocks. Seriously! The cheapest Corvettes were the big block cars.
I wanted a big block Corvette and I found a 1969 convertible with 99,000 miles on it. It was the low-horsepower big block with only 390 hp and 460 lb ft. It was a 4-speed fully optioned car, with A/C, PS, PB, PW, leather upholstery, AM/FM stereo radio but no cup holders. I didn't take a lot of photos of the car but here's one of it in front of our first Florida garage.
I have another Polaroid of my first Corvette, taken a few months later when I took it out for a test drive of the 6 new universals (axles & driveshaft). I probably should have bought new tires for driving in the rain before I bought universals.
Even though I assured my wife it would buff out, she said I had to part it out (didn't have collision on it) and buy another. BUT it couldn't be a convertible and it had to be an automatic. I had been driving standard shift cars for the past seven years with one hand yada yada yada. She was right, driving a Triumph Herald and a Vega GT with 4-speeds wasn't the same as a big block. Steering with your knee while power-shifting is NTB (not too bright).
Six weeks later this followed me home...
It's a 1972 coupe with a 454 270 hp 390 lb-ft engine with a TuboHydro 400 3-speed automatic. Similar options to the '69 but vinyl upholstery and monaural AM/FM radio.
OK? ^^^^What BJ said ^^^^
Great stories Bob. Keep it up.
Lyndon
It's easier to sit at my desk at present than stand in the shower. But I'll get there.
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Lyndon
Well-known member
Bob
Not that experienced with the Bow Tie crowd, but when we were in your western state last year (Hawaii), this was in the garage of the house we stayed at:
View media item 58092
Unfortunately - we weren't allowed to drive it.
Lyndon
Nicely relaxed now.
Not that experienced with the Bow Tie crowd, but when we were in your western state last year (Hawaii), this was in the garage of the house we stayed at:
View media item 58092
Unfortunately - we weren't allowed to drive it.
Lyndon
Nicely relaxed now.
metalhead140
Well-known member
Nice Vettes Bob. Tell us more!
Lyndon, that looks like a 74, 75 or 76 model. Very nice looking car. Yeah, Corvette owners don't generally let folks drive their cars. After wrecking mine I was much less strict about who could drive my Vettes.Bob
Not that experienced with the Bow Tie crowd, but when we were in your western state last year (Hawaii), this was in the garage of the house we stayed at:
View media item 58092
Unfortunately - we weren't allowed to drive it.
Lyndon
Nicely relaxed now.
I drove the orange Corvette to work every day and took it to all kinds of driving events. I didn't put the car in shows because the dark bronze paint on the hood and fenders was badly checked. Someone had sprayed some heavy coats of clear lacquer and the checking went down into the color.
One weekend, coming home from a high-speed autocross at the TiCO (Titusville/Coco Beach) airport, the oil filter seal blew out and oil pressure went to zero for a few seconds. Lifter racket was the first hint. One of my fellow racers unloaded his race-prepped Corvette from his trailer and put mine on.
My avatar photo was taken during the engine rebuild process. I was happily scrubbing the engine bay in preparation for putting the refreshed engine back in. One of my Corvette Club members worked at his father's small engine machine shop and he wanted to work on mine. With his father's approval he had purchased all the expensive Sunnen equipment to blueprint larger V8 engines. He had already built a couple of dozen small block Chevrolet engines for circle track and drag racing. There was good money in that business but the biggest money was in offshore race boat engines and most of those were big blocks. My 454 was his first foray into that world but mine was going to be close to stock.
I only paid for parts and he only worked on my engine when I was working alongside him. Oh please -- don't throw me into that brier patch!!! We line-honed the main bearing bore and then trued the decks (the process removes the engine # stamping so I can't prove it's the original block -- meh). He purchased a big block Chevy engine boring torque plate so he could accurately bore and hone the cylinders 0.030 oversize. Before he started on the block, he magnafluxed it and found no cracks. After he polished all the crank journals, we magnafluxed all the rods before re-sizing and rounding the big ends of the rods. After measuring the crank main journals and bores, ordered new main bearings and pressed new pistons on the rods. Once we gaped and installed the rings, my machinist friend balanced the rotating assembly. I wasn't there for the balancing but he made sure the process included the flex plate because these engines are externally balanced.
When we magnafluxed the cylinder heads there were cracks in the combustion chambers so he scrounged up two used cast iron heads and they didn't have any cracks (or so we thought). After prepping the heads with new sintered bronze guides and 3-angle seats, we lapped the new valves and installed new springs, seals and keepers. We re-assembled the engine and scheduled a party at my house.
In my leisure time I rebuilt the automatic transmission. It was my first attempt so I carefully followed the instructions in the 1972 Chevrolet Passenger Car Overhaul Manual. It's the companion volume to the Service Manual but goes into much more detail on the rebuildable parts of the car. I used higher performance clutches and modified the valve body to firm up the shifts. Back then B&M sold a high performance transmission fluid so that went in as well.
Party Time
A bunch of people showed up, along with an engine crane and some meters. The 2-car garage suddenly seemed small but we managed to stuff the engine and transmission into it's home without adding chips to the already ruined paint. Somehow my wife was tasked with holding the A/C compressor out of the way (I hadn't wanted to open the system).
You'll notice the open shelves behind my wife. I added sliding doors to cover the mess a few years later -- this is the look I was trying to avoid in the Emporium.
We started the party fairly early in the morning and by the end of the day we had it running and even put the hood back on. I'm a happy camper!
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After everyone left, I took the car for a short test drive. Everything seemed fine until I parked the car in the garage. I could smell engine coolant. My machinist friend and another Club member came over to have a look. It turned out one cylinder head had a crack in the exhaust runner and it was leaking coolant into the exhaust system. The head came off and went to the other Club member's employer's shop. He worked for an overhead sprinkler system installation company and they had a cure for the leak.
When you install large multi-story fire suppression system, there's always a chance of a leak. Before they put any spray heads in, they test the system with high pressure. The fluid they put in the system has a glass-like compound that seals any minor leaks very effectively. My buddy installed some plates and pressurized the head with that fluid. Leak was gone.
When the head came back my friend offered to help install it. I thanked him but didn't want to take up more of his time.
A big block Chevy cylinder head is heavy, around 85 pounds (38.6 kilos). Even using my hook there was a danger I would drop the head and do damage to the car. My solution was to use a length of heavy chain bolted to each end of the head. I lifted the head with the chain around my neck. I looked like Flavor Flav but with a cylinder head instead of a clock on my chain.
When you install large multi-story fire suppression system, there's always a chance of a leak. Before they put any spray heads in, they test the system with high pressure. The fluid they put in the system has a glass-like compound that seals any minor leaks very effectively. My buddy installed some plates and pressurized the head with that fluid. Leak was gone.
When the head came back my friend offered to help install it. I thanked him but didn't want to take up more of his time.
A big block Chevy cylinder head is heavy, around 85 pounds (38.6 kilos). Even using my hook there was a danger I would drop the head and do damage to the car. My solution was to use a length of heavy chain bolted to each end of the head. I lifted the head with the chain around my neck. I looked like Flavor Flav but with a cylinder head instead of a clock on my chain.
metalhead140
Well-known member
Haha, classic. Nice to have the right friends to help out! There's always something goes wrong with jobs like that isn't there.
You're more than welcome to have a drive of mine if you're up this way mate - assuming you can drive stick of course.
Bob
Not that experienced with the Bow Tie crowd, but when we were in your western state last year (Hawaii), this was in the garage of the house we stayed at:
Unfortunately - we weren't allowed to drive it.
Lyndon
Nicely relaxed now.
You're more than welcome to have a drive of mine if you're up this way mate - assuming you can drive stick of course.
You've got that right!
Um, steering from the ditch side of the car as well? Upsetting to some to say the least.
At least you don't have to have that billboard on the rear of car. I saw them on the back of some classic American cars back in 1990. Something like this...
WARNING: DRIVER OF THIS CAR IS IN LEFT HAND SEAT
...or some such nonsense. I did a little checking and found the requirement in Western Australia was only changed in 2014:
"Left hand drive warning sign: A left hand drive warning sign no longer needs to be displayed on vehicles under 4.5 tonnes GVM. Owners who wish to display the sign may continue to do so."
http://www.transport.wa.gov.au/mediaFiles/licensing/LBU_VS_IB_106.pdf
BuickFarmer
Well-known member
Great stories Bob, especially the engine install. Always wondered what you avatar picture was of.! Cool.
BBChevro
Well-known member
Wow Bob, I go away for the weekend and suddenly a bunch of extra pages appear on your thread - I've finally caught up again.
Great stories...
Termites scare the hell out of me - we've had a couple of encounters with the little b@%$#^@%#s.
Love the car stories.
Great stories...
Termites scare the hell out of me - we've had a couple of encounters with the little b@%$#^@%#s.
Love the car stories.
BBChevro
Well-known member
When I started reading this bit, I was wondering how the hell you were going to do it - I "know" how heavy they are, and reaching across a fender adds to the degree of difficulty (I ended up climbing into the engine bay of the '74 Impala - but I would imagine that the 'Vette engine bay would probably be too tight to do that).
It was quite a physically demanding task for someone with two arms - so it would have been quite reasonable for you to let someone else do the lifting (without having to surrender your man-card).
I hope you don't think I'm being patronizing here Bob, I'm just somewhat awestruck by your determination and innovation.
taumac
Well-known member
When I started reading this bit, I was wondering how the hell you were going to do it - I "know" how heavy they are, and reaching across a fender adds to the degree of difficulty (I ended up climbing into the engine bay of the '74 Impala - but I would imagine that the 'Vette engine bay would probably be too tight to do that).
It was quite a physically demanding task for someone with two arms - so it would have been quite reasonable for you to let someone else do the lifting (without having to surrender your man-card).
I hope you don't think I'm being patronizing here Bob, I'm just somewhat awestruck by your determination and innovation.
I must admit you find ways of doing things when you have a handicap. A good example is a guy a played golf with on occasion. He had a handicap in which he walked with crutches. OoThis guy would go up to the tee box using both crutches put one of them down balance himself with one on his left arm and with golf club in other and swing a driver with one hand. You be surprised on actually how far he could drive the ball and good he played a round of golf. He could hold his own against men of his same age with no disability at all. You just find a way to get things done.
When I started reading this bit, I was wondering how the hell you were going to do it - I "know" how heavy they are, and reaching across a fender adds to the degree of difficulty (I ended up climbing into the engine bay of the '74 Impala - but I would imagine that the 'Vette engine bay would probably be too tight to do that).
It was quite a physically demanding task for someone with two arms - so it would have been quite reasonable for you to let someone else do the lifting (without having to surrender your man-card).
I hope you don't think I'm being patronizing here Bob, I'm just somewhat awestruck by your determination and innovation.
Mark and Gerard, I actually spend a fair amount of my time figuring out how to get things done. When I can't see any way to reasonably do it by mself, I always ask for help. I've been more amazed than anyone by how rarely I end up needing help. I have a small problem when people help with things I can do alone. The vast majority watch me for about 30 seconds and take over the job. I feel bad just standing and watching others do the work (same way they feel watching me do it).
I made a video one time to prepare for a small claim case I planned to pursue. I was unloading and unpacking a stove and when I played it back I wanted to give the schmuck in the video a hand. I do get it.
Hi there Bob! Occasionally I get a little time to check up on other folks projects and I just found your thread. Very cool indeed.
As you know I have a fondness for Corvettes and your period photographs working on them are terrific. Reminds me of seeing work done like that in Mr Johnson's old shop.
Your cabinet storage/bench solutions are pretty slick. As you know I'll be starting our new home construction project in a few weeks. Haven't settled on interior garage designs yet, too busy with other house details but it does give me some ideas.
Good luck and keep up the great work. I'll be following as I am able.
Thomas from the Restored 1930's Auto Shop
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567
As you know I have a fondness for Corvettes and your period photographs working on them are terrific. Reminds me of seeing work done like that in Mr Johnson's old shop.
Your cabinet storage/bench solutions are pretty slick. As you know I'll be starting our new home construction project in a few weeks. Haven't settled on interior garage designs yet, too busy with other house details but it does give me some ideas.
Good luck and keep up the great work. I'll be following as I am able.
Thomas from the Restored 1930's Auto Shop
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567
Back to the garage.
Once I had the ceiling and walls insulated and before we did the drywall, I roughed in switches for the two attic fans. When a fan goes bad, I expect it will make a fair amount of noise and I want to be able to shut either one off without shutting down the whole circuit. I also didn't want the switches at a the usual 48-inches off the floor but wasn't sure what the right height was. I ended up installing them the same distance from the floor as the outdoor lights on the house.
I was in a rush to get the wiring done before my friend showed up to help with the drywall but I also had to frame an opening for an air conditioner. You would think I would put the outlet for the A/C at the same height as the attic fan switch but you would be wrong. I also didn't notice the misalignment until after the drywall was up.
I told my wife I was going to move it and she just gave me that look. If you don't know the look, she's made the decision to put our terminally ill pet down -- very sad and very serious.
I did manage to add a double-pole switch for the A/C outlet to the opposite side of the garage. It's in the middle of the coffee bar. The house came with a ceiling fan in the garage and its switch is there as well. I just swapped a double box with the two switches in it. I don't like two power circuits in one box if I can help it but I have come across them before -- I put a label (hidden by the cover plate) warning that the box contains two different circuits. Now I can turn the A/C on when I go in the garage to make coffee in the morning and shut it off when I quit for the day. I can just reach the controls on the A/C unit so it's a great thing to have the switched outlet.
I don't know why but none of my homes have had outlets at the front of the garage but I end up using a lot of power tools in the driveway so I added an outlet to the front of the garage on both sides. This is the shallow cabinet wall and you can just make out the attic fan switch behind the garage door track.
The other outlet is on the "Problem" wall. I haven't found a solution for the stuff that just hangs on the wall. I'm happy with the compact vacuum for vacuuming the cars either in the driveway or in the garage (when it's Africa-hot outside). I'm also happy with the low voltage light controller. Unfortunately it means I have to unplug the vacuum to plug anything else in. I may have to replace that box with a double-gang box and add another duplex outlet. I just won't mention it to my wife....
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Thomas, I'm honored by your visit and thank you for the kind words.Hi there Bob! Occasionally I get a little time to check up on other folks projects and I just found your thread. Very cool indeed.
As you know I have a fondness for Corvettes and your period photographs working on them are terrific. Reminds me of seeing work done like that in Mr Johnson's old shop.
Your cabinet storage/bench solutions are pretty slick. As you know I'll be starting our new home construction project in a few weeks. Haven't settled on interior garage designs yet, too busy with other house details but it does give me some ideas.
Good luck and keep up the great work. I'll be following as I am able.
Thomas from the Restored 1930's Auto Shop
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567
I completely understand "as I am able" because it seems I have less free time now that I'm retired than when I worked full time.
Concentrate on the new house. We are all building it with you and Chris. If you ever get that feeling that someone is behind you and watching over your shoulder, don't worry because there is and it's a really big crowd of us.
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
What a great read Bob
I can hear you when you say "just don't mention it to your wife" and I can relate to that "look" my advice is that it is usually better ( sometimes any way ) to ask for forgiveness after the fact or say nothing at all.
Kind regards
I can hear you when you say "just don't mention it to your wife" and I can relate to that "look" my advice is that it is usually better ( sometimes any way ) to ask for forgiveness after the fact or say nothing at all
.Kind regards
Lyndon
Well-known member
I agree with Gerard here. When I was in my 20's I was the starter at my local golf course (I was friends with the "Pro"....). Anyway, every round I used to get on the last group for 18. In this way I became known to the Club President, and one day played a round in his group. He was 93!
When he tee'd off every single time it was a gentle swing and the result was a dead straight shot of about 150m. BUT, us young studs would belt the living daylights out of it, then get a cart to go 3 fairways across to recover. He whipped our backsides..... I don't think anything is handicap - it's just an obstacle to work around......And now I know.
Lyndon
Loving your thread Bob (gee I wish I too was retired).
Lyndon
Well-known member
What a great read Bob
I can hear you when you say "just don't mention it to your wife" and I can relate to that "look" my advice is that it is usually better ( sometimes any way ) to ask for forgiveness after the fact or say nothing at all
Kind regards
Oh - the "Look".
OMG - Run for the hills. It is chilling, isn't it.
Lyndon
In complete agreement
Apologies for my delayed response. I actually did work in and on the garage yesterday.
Two weeks later I was in the hospital recovering from my train-kissing party. I tried playing golf with one arm and it isn't that hard. I learned to back-hand the ball using left-handed clubs (lead with the right arm) but I had absolutely no accuracy. My right eye looks at my nose and is pretty much stuck there so I can't see where the ball is going to go. If I could swing while my my head is turned hard right, looking over my shoulder, it might go better. As it is, golf is possible but too annoying to be fun for me.
I enjoyed racket ball more than golf but the better I got, the fewer people would play against me. In addition, I was a terrible partner in doubles because I would knock my partner over every time they stepped up to my blind side. I could be wrong but I think it's hard to lose to someone with an obvious handicap (I feel that way about people missing both legs who can outrun me -- pretty much all of them from what I've seen).
1.2 Cup. I live by your rule. I was told it was the secret to my success at work. I always did the "off-budget" projects and went back for forgiveness (funding) once it was done. Rarely went badly, usually only when management above me was trying to get extra headcount to cover the work. At home I have a standard response: "Honey, you're right and I'm sorry. It will never happen again..." I try to remember not to do exactly the same thing again.What a great read Bob
I can hear you when you say "just don't mention it to your wife" and I can relate to that "look" my advice is that it is usually better ( sometimes any way ) to ask for forgiveness after the fact or say nothing at all
Kind regards
Lyndon, great story! As a child I whacked plastic Wiffle golf balls around the back yard. My father and mother played golf so after I joined IBM I invited my father to play a round at the IBM Country Club at Sands Point, Long Island. He had told me the same thing (just hit it straight) and for the first couple of holes I forgot and blasted the ball into oblivion (or the road next to the course). When I remembered his advice my game improved and I was closing in on his score at the end of the round.I agree with Gerard here. When I was in my 20's I was the starter at my local golf course (I was friends with the "Pro"....). Anyway, every round I used to get on the last group for 18. In this way I became known to the Club President, and one day played a round in his group. He was 93!
And now I know.
Lyndon
Loving your thread Bob (gee I wish I too was retired).
Two weeks later I was in the hospital recovering from my train-kissing party. I tried playing golf with one arm and it isn't that hard. I learned to back-hand the ball using left-handed clubs (lead with the right arm) but I had absolutely no accuracy. My right eye looks at my nose and is pretty much stuck there so I can't see where the ball is going to go. If I could swing while my my head is turned hard right, looking over my shoulder, it might go better. As it is, golf is possible but too annoying to be fun for me.
I enjoyed racket ball more than golf but the better I got, the fewer people would play against me. In addition, I was a terrible partner in doubles because I would knock my partner over every time they stepped up to my blind side. I could be wrong but I think it's hard to lose to someone with an obvious handicap (I feel that way about people missing both legs who can outrun me -- pretty much all of them from what I've seen).
Ahhh, you've seen it then.Oh - the "Look".
OMG - Run for the hills. It is chilling, isn't it.
Lyndon
In complete agreement
One of the first improvements I made to the garage was insulating the garage doors. I replaced the wooden garage door on my previous house with a factory-insulated steel door so I knew what a difference it made. The three steel doors on my current garage were like a giant radiator in the afternoon when the sun started heating them up. I recently measured the temperature of a piece of white aluminum flashing in the same position as the garage doors and it gets to 140F pretty quick.
I bought sheets of 2-inch thick foam boards and cut them to fit the garage doors. Like others, I made the panels slightly oversize so they stayed in place. The garage was still too hot but it was within a degree or two of the 93*F (34*C) outside temps.
Once the repairs were done and the garage well insulated, I could run the 110v A/C unit and keep the garage cool for about a dollar a day.
I bought sheets of 2-inch thick foam boards and cut them to fit the garage doors. Like others, I made the panels slightly oversize so they stayed in place. The garage was still too hot but it was within a degree or two of the 93*F (34*C) outside temps.
Once the repairs were done and the garage well insulated, I could run the 110v A/C unit and keep the garage cool for about a dollar a day.
I received bad news in late 2000 after I finished repairing the garage. My homeowner insurance company sent me a letter telling me my wind (hurricane) rates were going to double unless I could prove my structure was in compliance with post-Andrew (1992) Florida building codes. They offered a free inspection by a structural engineer so I took them up on the offer.
My house was built in 1988 so I didn't expect it to meet the new code. The engineer told me my new roof exceeded the new code and my storm shutters for all the windows and sliding glass doors on the house also met the new code. Because my roof has gable ends (not hip-style) they had to be reinforced with a diagonal brace. No problem! I went in the attic and installed braces. I braced the garage gable with two 45-degree 2 x 4s that you can see in the attic storage picture.
The only thing that wouldn't meet the new code was my three garage doors. They were real thin stamped steel with no braces or reinforcing. They were so light the openers worked fine with 1/4hp motors.
I thought I would get something less than the 50% discount because of the garage doors but any item on their list that didn't meet the new code requirements negated all the items that did. I had to fix the door problem or pay an extra $1,200 a year for wind coverage. I discussed options with the engineer and he agreed that adding seven braces to each door and upgrading the mounting screws from 5/16 to 3/8 lag screws would meet the code.
It turns out the braces are going to cost more than $300 for each door and would have to be cut and drilled to fit. I would also have to change the springs because of the extra weight (extension, not torsion springs). It was also not clear the tracks and mounting brackets would pass if a different engineer did the inspection and had a stricter interpretation of the code (upgrading the old doors would not give them a wind rating, just a guesstimate).
In case any have forgotten, we received a Tax Rebate check in 2001 and mine totaled $600. A Clopay hurricane rated (un-insulated) single (7 x 8) garage door was $378 at Home Depot so I picked up three and installed them myself. Took me two days because I had to cut up the insulation from the old doors to fit the new ones. The old doors had only a single sheet metal vertical brace in the center of the panel. The new doors have three vertical braces. That's why my garage doors have jigsaw puzzle foam insulation (gaps filled with spray foam that has turned brown).
My house was built in 1988 so I didn't expect it to meet the new code. The engineer told me my new roof exceeded the new code and my storm shutters for all the windows and sliding glass doors on the house also met the new code. Because my roof has gable ends (not hip-style) they had to be reinforced with a diagonal brace. No problem! I went in the attic and installed braces. I braced the garage gable with two 45-degree 2 x 4s that you can see in the attic storage picture.
The only thing that wouldn't meet the new code was my three garage doors. They were real thin stamped steel with no braces or reinforcing. They were so light the openers worked fine with 1/4hp motors.
I thought I would get something less than the 50% discount because of the garage doors but any item on their list that didn't meet the new code requirements negated all the items that did. I had to fix the door problem or pay an extra $1,200 a year for wind coverage. I discussed options with the engineer and he agreed that adding seven braces to each door and upgrading the mounting screws from 5/16 to 3/8 lag screws would meet the code.
It turns out the braces are going to cost more than $300 for each door and would have to be cut and drilled to fit. I would also have to change the springs because of the extra weight (extension, not torsion springs). It was also not clear the tracks and mounting brackets would pass if a different engineer did the inspection and had a stricter interpretation of the code (upgrading the old doors would not give them a wind rating, just a guesstimate).
In case any have forgotten, we received a Tax Rebate check in 2001 and mine totaled $600. A Clopay hurricane rated (un-insulated) single (7 x 8) garage door was $378 at Home Depot so I picked up three and installed them myself. Took me two days because I had to cut up the insulation from the old doors to fit the new ones. The old doors had only a single sheet metal vertical brace in the center of the panel. The new doors have three vertical braces. That's why my garage doors have jigsaw puzzle foam insulation (gaps filled with spray foam that has turned brown).
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Fast forward 15 years and the seals on the bottom of the garage doors have gone from soft and flexible to hard and cracked. The apron between the garage floor and the driveway has always been a bit lumpy. It's just splash from the driveway pour and the door seals made up for the lumps. I ordered new seals and while I was waiting for them to arrive I ground down the lumps on the aprons.
Recently I have noticed light leaking at the ends of all three doors so I ordered a single (9-foot) and a double (18-foot) Clopay door seal from Home Depot. Even after I ground the aprons flat, the old seals still leaked light (and air) at the sides of the seals. It means cold air is leaking into the garage in cold weather and conditioned air is leaking out in hot weather. This is going to pay for itself, just like the new roof and the garage doors are paying for themselves..
The old seals are so brittle I'm having a hard time sliding them out of their track. I cut them with a utility knife and removed the two screws that kept them from sliding out. The little T-s left in the track came out easily.
The seals are a foot longer than the door so I cut six inches off the T-s at each end of the seals and folded the flap back into the end of the seal. This makes the ends of the seals a little more rigid so they should do a better job.
Slid the seals into position and put the two screws back into the T-slots and tested the door. It seals air and light tight.
Recently I have noticed light leaking at the ends of all three doors so I ordered a single (9-foot) and a double (18-foot) Clopay door seal from Home Depot. Even after I ground the aprons flat, the old seals still leaked light (and air) at the sides of the seals. It means cold air is leaking into the garage in cold weather and conditioned air is leaking out in hot weather. This is going to pay for itself, just like the new roof and the garage doors are paying for themselves..
The old seals are so brittle I'm having a hard time sliding them out of their track. I cut them with a utility knife and removed the two screws that kept them from sliding out. The little T-s left in the track came out easily.
The seals are a foot longer than the door so I cut six inches off the T-s at each end of the seals and folded the flap back into the end of the seal. This makes the ends of the seals a little more rigid so they should do a better job.
Slid the seals into position and put the two screws back into the T-slots and tested the door. It seals air and light tight.
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