HeelAndToe's Detached 24x24

[HeelAndToe85]

I bought my first house in 2012 close to downtown in Denver, CO. The original garage was 20'wide and 18'deep double wide brick with a load bearing wall in the center. It worked for parking one small car and some storage and workshop on the other side, but was never ideal. I like working on cars and house projects and it was tough working in the dirt outside! I had many ideas over the years... but have decided to scrape the existing garage and build a new 24x24 in it's place. I am hiring a contractor to build the basic garage... demo, slab, framing, roof and install the doors. I decided to go with an 18x8' door and 9' walls. I'm maximizing the allowable height to 17' for a little storage in the attic.

The original garage looking from the back door of the house.


From the alley


Single parking spot


Workshop Side


Before the demo could start I needed to figure out where to keep all of my stuff in the garage. I looked at many options including pods, shipping containers, offsite storage, etc but they are all so expensive and inconvenient. I decided to build a temporary shed out of 2x4s and 4x8 5/8ths OSB.

 

[HeelAndToe85]

My neighbor helped me cut down a tree that was on the property line.



Demo work is done!

 

[HeelAndToe85]

The concrete prep has started. It's a monolithic slab with 12" footings. I measured the projected slab depth ranging from 3-4 inches and even less in a few places. I've told the GC to get at least 4" everywhere before they pour. I requested they use a vapor barrier and nylon fibers in the mix.

 

[HeelAndToe85]

Moisture barrier and steel mesh. Moisture barrier is key for max strength and longevity of concrete. It's also important if you go with an epoxy or similar floor because if moisture comes from below it will destroy the coating.








Concrete blankets added to keep moisture heat in the concrete


Blankets removed about 7 days later. Overall I'm happy with the pour. They used 5000psi concrete.

 

[HeelAndToe85]

Materials delivered for framing.




They let me put some PL Premium construction adhesive between 2x12s used for the 18x8 overhead door header. Gotta make it work as 1 beam. Roof pitch is 7.5 / 12. The framers finished in 1 day.


I installed electrical and insulation behind the wall that's 6" from the property line before the drywall guys came. Drywall had to be installed as a firewall for code reasons. Electrical and insulation were hidden from the eye behind drywall until final inspections were complete.






I put a harbor freight tarp on the roof because it was going to rain/snow before the roofing was on.


Roof is done. I had them use ice and water shield on the entire roof because I planned for closed cell spray foam insulation. Lots of debate out there on the way to properly do a non-vented roof and if you even ever should do a non-vented roof. Reputable documentation and research shows the use of ice and water shield on the entire roof and closed cell foam is the best way to do a non-vented roof. It makes sense to me- keep water and moisture out from the top and bottom and you're good to go AS LONG AS you don't have any way to drive in moisture... because it will never get out and rot your OSB or other substrate if it gets in. You need to make sure the substrate is very dry prior to closed cell foam if you are doing non-vented roof like this.



Gutters installed

 

[HeelAndToe85]

Put 2 coats of mud up on all joints.


Friend helped me paint the wall. I used Glidden ultra-hide 770 semi-gloss white. Pretty dang cheap and bought it straight off the HD floor- no mixing required. Holding up well so far.


Caulked, primed and painted the bare 2x6 wood around the overhead door. This was just as winter was hitting in Denver- ideally I would have painted the entire garage at this point, but temps would not allow. Decided to wait until spring.


Caulked everything with OSI Quad MAX. That stuff is awesome. Expensive, but goes on so easy in all temps. Highly recommended.

 

[HeelAndToe85]

All inspections were done so I cut out the hidden electrical boxes. I used adjustable depth boxes to make this easy.


Starting electrical


The 2x6x24' ceiling joists are not strong enough to put a storage attic on top of so I bought 2x4s to put on the top and bottom. This increases the strength of the beams 7.5 times compared to just a 2x6.




Since I used nylon fibers in the concrete concrete mix if left the concrete kind of hairy. I am doing an epoxy floor so I burned off the exposed fibers with a torch.


I hired out the epoxy floor because I got a good deal from a well known contractor. It's a lot of prep work to grind the floor and tricky to use the epoxy mix within the pot life and get the right thickness down, etc.


This is a close up of the floor after they were done. After diamond grinding the floor they didn't notice the fibers standing up so some of the roughness you see here is from the fibers. Some of the roughness you see is from the grit used for anti-skid. It's hard to see but there are bare fibers sticking up through the epoxy. I did not like that. I called the floor guy and we agreed that I would burn off these hairs and he would sand the floor and do another coat. He did and it turned out well.


Working on exhaust vent fan for fumes and airflow in summer


It's itchy time!




Hired insulation contractor to do 2" of closed cell foam on roof for non-vented roof. Attic will be storage.


Insulation is done- starting to install OSB. Walls are 9' so 4x9 sheets of 7/16 were perfect. OSB vs drywall is quite the debate. I went with OSB because it is rugged- you can accidentally hit it moving things, etc and won't break it. You can put a screw anywhere to hang something. Drywall is better for fire rating and looks more smooth.




They didn't all turn out quite so perfect...


Caulked joints


Primed- used Zinsser Cover Stain Alkyd. It worked really really well. I did it when it was cold out and I didn't want to let heat out so I didn't ventilate. I got very dizzy and confused from the fumes. I also got sick to my stomach later that night. I should have at least used my ventilator mask. I'm dumb. Don't be dumb.


Paint is done, starting shelves






Moving in

 

[HeelAndToe85]

Used rigid insulation on gable ends and 7/16 OSB over top.


Got OSB floor for attic installed.


A little storage


More organizing


A buddy gave me his 1984 Honda VF700S Sabre. It's a cool old "muscle bike". It's got a V4 and around 80hp. Hasn't run for years so I'm working on rebuilding carbs now.


I don't like having things permenantly in the way of the floor so I am taking this leg off of the storage wall.


Used an OSB shear panel to hold up that upright instead.


The organization part takes forever!

 

[captain14]

Very nice build and photos. Thanks for sharing them

Looks like the original garage might have been used by 2 different occupants hence the Wall and 2 windows and service doors?


Here is another Denver build from. One car to two car

here.http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193002&highlight=Frank+Stein

 

[Richard Cranium]

looks good, keep posting pictures

 

[HeelAndToe85]

Very nice build and photos. Thanks for sharing them

Looks like the original garage might have been used by 2 different occupants hence the Wall and 2 windows and service doors?


Here is another Denver build from. One car to two car

here.http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=193002&highlight=Frank+Stein

Thanks- I checked out your build before I started mine. I thought about doing the a similar thing with a section of my original garage, but my brick was in much worse shape than yours. I wish mine came with a Porsche like yours did!

 

[captain14]

Thanks- I checked out your build before I started mine. I thought about doing the a similar thing with a section of my original garage, but my brick was in much worse shape than yours. I wish mine came with a Porsche like yours did!

Not my build but I remembered when he posted it a couple of years ago.

 

[taumac]

Glad to see you posting again. Made some great progress. Looking good