New to me 24x40 Morton building w/lift

[Josh662234]

I just sold my townhouse with an 18x8 attached, and moved on to 2 acres with a 1900 sq/ft home and a 24x40, wooden structure, Morton building out back. The garage has its own driveway, and is tucked well behind the house.

I'm not nearly as smart as a lot of the people on here so this will take time, and I will be asking a lot of questions.

History: This building has been up since the late 80's. The gentleman that put it up was an electrician and intended to use the garage as a auto detailing space for his son. Apparently this never came to fruition, per word of the neighbors. Since this family moved out, two others have owned the property. 2 owners ago, the garage was used for lawn mower parking, and a party room/bar, so basically they never really went out there. The next owner occasionally worked on his mustang, hence the lift install. Really, nothing has been altered or repaired since the original construction.
To say i am overwhelmed is an understatement. The garage is great, but not nearly where I want it. This will be a long transformation as the house needs work as well.

The garage will be the main focus of this thread.
Pros:
-Size
-6+" thick concrete pad
-Lift
-Separate driveway (although it is unpaved)

Cons:
-The garage lighting is awful. All of the walls are unpainted plywood. It is very dark.
-A lot of the light switches don't do anything, all of the fluorescent lighting does not work.
-There are two 10x10ish rooms at the front of the garage, with a (very creepy) loft upstairs. I feel like this is a giant waste of space, as i am just looking for a large garage to park/work on my own and my friends vehicles.
-It is a very ugly two tone brown

Early focus:
lighting - i need to get the fluorescent lights working again. this may require a scissor lift and an electrician. I did one lowering spring job in there already and I needed a flashlight and a drop light at all times.
**Any LED replacement advice would be greatly appreciated**
Organization/layout - I need to sketch out some different options but i feel like removing the loft, and the two rooms, will benefit me greatly. I may keep one, and make an open air loft for parts storage above it. Anybody with a similar size, single door, garage please chime in.

Eventually:
-Drywall?
-1 big ceiling fan to replace the 3 home/living room ceiling fans
-Paint the building
-Pave the driveway
-Remove the 1980's era 7K lift and replace with a 12K that can support my truck
-Install an additional, 4 post, lift for winter storage $$

(what is everybody using now that communists took Photobucket over)

 

[isb cornbinder]

I wish. Fantastic.

 

[Done That]

Looks like an awesome starting point. I kinda like the old two-tone look myself.

It appears it had gutters but they are removed? At least I think I see a downspout. I'd get gutters on there and stop all the outside splash up pretty quick...

 

[cajunfirehawk]

Nice shop, congrats!
Nice Mach 1!
My wife's mach 1

 

[Josh662234]

Looks like an awesome starting point. I kinda like the old two-tone look myself.

It appears it had gutters but they are removed? At least I think I see a downspout. I'd get gutters on there and stop all the outside splash up pretty quick...

I wouldn’t mind the two tone brown if it matched the house but the house is blue/white


There definitely used to be gutters. I need to
Get in contact with Morton and order each side. They rotted out and the PO never did anything about it. Not surprising at all

 

[Josh662234]

Nice shop, congrats! [emoji106]

Nice Mach 1! [emoji481]

My wife's mach 1

Thanks! I love the AFS Mach replicas. I wanted a set for this car but came across my old FR500’s so I bought them back. The Mach in the photos is actually one I’m selling right now.
This is my keeper. It’s in the garage attached to the house:

 

[Josh662234]

Here are some more photos of the interior, including the rooms downstairs and the creepy loft.
Excuse the mess, we’re still moving in.
Somebody was definitely living up here years ago.


Zoom in for the lighting/wiring nightmare

 

[LXCam]

Congrats on the new digs. Ain't nothing better then buying a shop with a lift and a creepy loft and they toss in a house to boot!

Just a suggestion. Keep the loft and the room if you can spare the space. It's really nice having storage completely isolated from the work area. You're obviously into the car scene and having a location to store parts, interio pieces, etc is a godsend if you do any kind of metal / paint work. Some of these she smells are extremely hard to get gone from interior pieces.

If I were you I'd just spray the walls with a good primer then a semigloss white. Toss the existing lighting and get some new LED fixtures and go from there.

Anyhow just my $.20 and good luck setting her up.

 

[rattle_snake]

Looks like a good starting point. .

Tell us more about your Mach. Terminator motor? Looks fun.

I suggest spending some time planning before dropping a bunch of money on stuff including lighting. I would attempt to fix florescent lights, could be something simple. Painting the wall as they are will really brighten thing up too.

As for the rooms & creepy loft, I would keep them. Maybe remove the wall with the doors to open up and replace with a post or 2 to support the loft. The loft can be clean storage as Cam has suggested. Tool boxes and such can go under the loft

 

[Josh662234]

LXCam & rattle_snake you guys really have me thinking about keeping the rooms. i would need to relocate the lift tho because right now this massive garage really only fits one car. I like the idea of putting up some posts to support the loft and ditching the walls too. Lots of planning to do

Does anybody know if the fluorescent bulbs can just be replaced with a cost effective/bright LED bulbs?

 

[Josh662234]

Tell us more about your Mach. Terminator motor? Looks fun.

Thanks man it’s a blast.
2003 Mach 1 60K miles
Complete Terminator drivetrain
04 Reman motor from ford with 3K miles on it now. Bored .020 over Manley rods Mahle pistons 96 Cobra intake cams.
Return fuel, whipple 2.3. 613/612 on pump gas
T56 with 26 spline input shaft
IRS built like a brick **** house with everything from Full tilt boogie’s website, and level 5 DSS half shafts
Cadillac CTSV Brakes

 

[rattle_snake]

Nice looking car. I like the wire tuck, looks really clean.

I would move the lift to one side, especially since you have 6" concrete. Not that hard to do.

 

[DCarr2]

First....

STOP moving into the new shop... just STOP NOW.

Second, where are you located?

Third, go rent a sprayer...

Go to Sherwin Williams and open an account.

Then talk to the manager about getting atleast 3 5 gallon pails of MoistureGard latex paint (they will have to order it - $150 a pail) This is the same stuff the insulation people use to add a 'moisture barrier' to their spray foam.

Then, buy 3 5 gallon pails of Masterhide Gloss latex enamel.

buy a box of painters plastic... theres two boxes, there a longer one and a shorter one... buy the longer one.. while looking at the plastic there should be even a longer one like 3' long, buy that too.

buy 2 rolls of 1.75" white masking tape - blue painters tape is a rip off.

Plastic off ANYTHING you dont want painted.

your replacing the lights so those dont matter..

PRIME the walls with Moisturegard, 2 coats.

then paint the walls 2-4 coats with Masterhide... walls and ceiling...

buy a case of caulk... we use 850, and a dripless caulk gun.

after you prime, caulk any 'cracks' you see, like between all the sheets of plywood... caulk the base where it meets the floor...

then spray your finish...

buy new switch plate covers at lowes...

you can 'rest' the spray gun, for up to 8hrs by putting the entire gun in a bucket of pottable (drinkable) water... and covering the bucket at the pumps with plastic...

clean the pump using water... and dump the dirty water behind the shop... itll take about 10-15gallons of water... to clean out the pump...

Dont worry if you have never sprayed... I never sprayed, and I sprayed oil primer on all walls and ceilings in my ranch house (3200sqft) and then did my shop, using the method I just outlined...

Forget the scissor lift, go on craigslist and buy 2 sections of 8x6 steel scaffold. with wheels.

 

[DCarr2]

You could turn one of those rooms into a 'spray booth', use the other room to store all your paints and flameable liquids and solvents...

Dont forget to get a bunch of $40 ABC fire extinguishers from Home Depot...

you CAN paint your vinyl as well... go rent a pressure washer, and snag a friend or the wife, and a bottle of dawn dish soap and hand wash the house, itll take about 4 hours... remove the shutters, theyre either screwed on, or more likely held on with push pins... cut the heads off with dykes and pull the off the shutters, then remove the pins...

Talke to sherwin Williams about vinyl safe colors...

Pick a color, buy 3 gallons of Emerald, and 2 3' brushes... and BRUSH the house... start with 3 gallons... Me and my cousin could brush your house in under 30hours...

Do it yourself and save 2-3K.

You can buy new shutters at home depot or lowes.

 

[dave_dj1]

Nice shop! I wish I could have something that size. My first advice is to rent/buy/hire someone with an airless sprayer and spray the interior a lighter color, maybe an off white. LED fixtures are the only way to go in my opinion I have replaced all but a couple in my shop with them. I have read where some people are buying LED strip lights and mounting them on the ceilings and they are cheap. The outside can be painted with some attention to prep and the same airless sprayer.
Good luck.

 

[Muzzy]

Awesome space! I've used the hyperikon 8' LED tubes with success in old fixtures like the ones you have. Check amazon for pricing.

I also second keeping a "clean" storage area, though what you have is definitely creepy.

 

[Fasthotrod]

Does anybody know if the fluorescent bulbs can just be replaced with a cost effective/bright LED bulbs?

If the old fixtures are in decent shape but not working, it could be the bulbs, the ballast, or both. Thankfully, you can install LED replacement "tubes" in there. There are a bunch out there, Amazon and EBay list more than I can count. Here's one example:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071918P5H/?tag=atomicindus08-20

A friend of mine recently did all of his... he went ahead and removed all of the balasts and wired the 120 volt feed to the sockets and dropped in the LED replacements. He says it's much brighter now, and no flickering.

Might be worth a few bucks to try them out on a light or two, then decide where to go from there. Good luck!

Mark

 

[Augus7us]

First, figure out what your end game is. You have a shop now, you can do whatever you want with it, but whatever you do, once you start using it there is no going back. At least not without a lot of headache and additional $$$.

So plan ahead and future proof things like: Room layout, sheathing, power, water, bathroom, floor, etc. These are all things that once you are using it and put your tools in you're going to have a hard time going back and upgrading down the road.

Trust me, it ain't easy and I'm dealing with all this right now myself. But, I've been down this road and know the gut wrenching pain of "if only I had spent $100 up front or another day doing this" and now its spend $1000 and a week to retro-fix the same issue...

The other recommendation would be draw it out. Use graph paper, auto cad, sketchup, viso, etc. Anything will work but 3D tools are best, but have a more difficult learning curve.

-Clint

 

[NUTTSGT]

Before you get too carried away, check to see if there is any insulation in the walls. If not, you may want to pull off the plywood, sheet by sheet and insulate. While it's off, you can run the wiring behind the walls. Replace and paint.

I'd add some new lighting from the get go instead of messing with the 30 years stuff, either way, they do make some LED direct swap replacement bulbs.

I'd be keeping the loft for storage or a place to hang out or shop office.


Sit back and make a plan.

 

[58Yeoman]

Hey, your messy shop is cleaner than my clean shop. It was about 3 years after moving in that I could even walk through my shop. It was wall to wall 'stuff.' Like others have said, keep the rooms if you can. Get rid of the carpet upstairs, and the 'creepy' goes out with it. I have to use a ladder to store light stuff up in my attic through a small door and 8' stepladder. Car looks great. I don't think I've ever seen an engine that size in a Mustang.

 

[Josh662234]

Not much to update today. I’ve taken the advice of everyone responding and made notes, started to sketch out the garage using a room planning app, and researched lighting and paint. I really appreciate all the responses, they have been a great help.
I will tackle one thing at a time, I feel the first should be the lighting.
I bought a 6’ scaffolding set at HD and pulled down a few bulbs. I am going to purchase a couple 8’ LED T8 drop ins tonight so I can bypass the ballasts this weekend and see how I like them.
This scaffolding supposedly supports 1100lbs but it is very shaky. I can’t imagine it with the 39” extension

 

[TylerRNEMT]

It’s @thezebrajackson.... kind of “instafamous!!!!

Can’t wait to see what you do with the garage! Your taste in cars is pretty impeccable!

If we’re showing off Mach’s....

Here’s mine:

And in my little 26x30 detached

 

[Josh662234]

It’s @thezebrajackson.... kind of “instafamous!!!!

Can’t wait to see what you do with the garage! Your taste in cars is pretty impeccable!

Hey its 4VMach1 haha thanks man! that garage is real nice! i need white walls stat

 

[TurnipTruck]

Looks like snow slid off your roof and obliterated the flue. Maybe snow took out your gutters, too. Don’t run the heater until you replace the stack, then add a snow knife so it doesn’t happen again. Poking a new stack through the roof near the peak would be even better.

 

[cullen]

That scaffolding at full height is wobbly. I put some ratchet straps on the bottom of mine to tighten it up.

 

[Josh662234]

Looks like snow slid off your roof and obliterated the flue. Maybe snow took out your gutters, too. Don’t run the heater until you replace the stack, then add a snow knife so it doesn’t happen again. Poking a new stack through the roof near the peak would be even better.

unfortunately the previous owner removed the heater years ago for some unknown reason. all of the piping will be removed and ill seal off the holes in the wall.

That scaffolding at full height is wobbly. I put some ratchet straps on the bottom of mine to tighten it up.

solid idea. my 8' LED lights are showing up today, ill give that a try

 

[TractorJeff]

LAST, Last thing to EVER worry about is the unpaved driveway!
Don't waste money on that now!

 

[Josh662234]

The ratchet straps on the bottom of the scaffolding were a huge improvement, thanks Cullen.

Tonight was a huge success. I put in 4 out of 14 8’ LED retrofits and what an amazing improvement. I’ve already ordered the other 10 and they will arrive Wednesday. The wiring to bypass the ballast was a breeze and I highly recommend it to anybody still running florescent bulbs.
Before, with 9 old flood lights on

After, with 1 8’ LED in each corner. No other lighting turned on


We also pulled back some plywood to see what the insulation situation was. The two rooms have plenty of insulation:
The open garage appears to have been poorly insulated at one time, but mice seem to have destroyed most of it:
I don’t think I’ll spend too much time worrying about insulation right now as I see it being very costly, and time consuming.

Tomorrow may begin the demolition of the loft/rooms. Right now I have the biggest one car garage and it’s driving me nuts

 

[Josh662234]

Small update as my frustration with the previous owner grows.
I cleaned up about 25’ behind the garage today.

All of the construction debris (old concrete, bricks, cinder blocks, fence, etc) was dumped behind the garage when the yard was torn up during the new septic system install 8 years ago.
I filled in some critter holes, I’ll check back tomorrow to see if they have returned.

The rest of my 8’ LED tubes show up tomorrow. I’ll try and get those all retrofitted after work.