Above 1200 Sq/FT Swiss Garage / Workshop / House Build

[Hostyle]

That's the money shot! Great to see the houses without the scaffolding. The big windows are awesome!

 

[sponaugle]

So much incredible progress! The look is so clean and modern. I like it.

Did you end up doing any fiber pulls, or just Cat 6?

Jeff

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So much incredible progress! The look is so clean and modern. I like it.
Did you end up doing any fiber pulls, or just Cat 6?
Jeff

Thanks guys for the kind words
Currently fiber is not available yet in our countryside area. but we're prepared for it, Once it will arrive here, i just have to pull one cable from the street into my house. the pipe is already there The rest is Cat5 or Cat7 for the PoE parts which require higher current

Today the work on the terracce roof started:

And i got this beautiful aereal shot from our neighbours, which i know from my childhood at the boy scouts and just realized that after we started to build

Also finally ordered the workshop lift

 

[sponaugle]

Thanks guys for the kind words
Currently fiber is not available yet in our countryside area. but we're prepared for it, Once it will arrive here, i just have to pull one cable from the street into my house. the pipe is already there The rest is Cat5 or Cat7 for the PoE parts which require higher current

Very cool! Good planning for future expansion. I'm a few weeks away from low voltage pulling, so getting into this now.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

soo, the scaffolding is now completely gone. A side from a few small things it's finnished on the outside and the landsapers can start with their work

The painters are almost finnished too and the electricians are busy now installing all the lights, switches and outlets:

And then the painters sanded down the concrete floor in the garage / workshop area, so they soon can put the epoxy layer down before the lift arrives. at least i hope. they're still discussing if the floor is dry enough to get the job done...

And then i spnt the whole evening in the hot weather getting the weeds and bushes cut down before the landscapers arrive. so i guess i earned myself a nice gin and tonic now

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

After double-checking with the paint producer, the painters figoured out that the garage floor is dry enough to paint it and started to primer the lift area today. On monday they'll paint it so by saturday next week i should be able to install the lift. yay

In the living area the flooring guys prepared (sanded) the concrete in all areas and painted it with some kind of primer for the glue. I guess tomorrow they start to lay down the wood flooring:

And i myself started a little side project: Automated garden watering.. so i got my puzzle almost complete and now the fun of assembling / plumbing begins:

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Yestday the guys were busy. they laid down the remaining water lines for the roof water to the tank:

On the inside, the flooring guys started at a quick pace. i guess in 1,5 weeks w should be done:

And the painters added some wallpapers too:

The Lift area got its first layer of paint:

Today i was finally able to add the IPC Mounting brackets to the frame:

And i decided to close some remaining concrete spacer holes from the construction with special plugs, so there won't be air and noise going through the wall and to give it a smoother look

Next week should be pretty busy with the landscaping work start, Lift beeing delivered and installed, We have our topping celebration (a bit late, i know), the kitchen should be finnished, and the bathroom appliances and restroom furtniture should be installed as well, additionally to the Painters, Electricians, Plumbers and Flooring guys continuing their work. Maybe they'll also finally be able to get the heating system running...

 

[matt_i]

Very impressive build here and it looks great with the scaffolding removed. I was admiring the electrical panel when reading forward thinking it looked like a PLC cabinet and I see that you work with them daily, so it makes sense I actually put a PLC in my garage, but much, much simpler , all hardwired and no network connectivity, things like security system, air compressor, motion control for a tilting staircase. Its still just ahead of the "dream" state: a bundle of labeled wires and many drawings on paper and an enclosure waiting for the drywall and paint to finish.

Sounds like the move is getting very close! I think having 1 month of overlap is perfect, I'm sure it will still be very busy.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Very impressive build here and it looks great with the scaffolding removed. I was admiring the electrical panel when reading forward thinking it looked like a PLC cabinet and I see that you work with them daily, so it makes sense I actually put a PLC in my garage, but much, much simpler , all hardwired and no network connectivity, things like security system, air compressor, motion control for a tilting staircase. Its still just ahead of the "dream" state: a bundle of labeled wires and many drawings on paper and an enclosure waiting for the drywall and paint to finish.

Sounds like the move is getting very close! I think having 1 month of overlap is perfect, I'm sure it will still be very busy.

Sounds like a fun project. Have to find and follow it

Yeah the move is coming closer. just packed a load of boxes. Luckily we decided to have a month of overlap, because we wouldn't be able to do it without, since the build is delayed by approx two weeks. But with everything we have to move (including the workshop, garage, cars, etc..) and handling the finnishing of the house ourselves while shopping new furniture and decoration and cleaning the old one out it would require some incredible multitasking skills and some weeks without sleep

 

[rixtrix1]

The house will become a wonderful home when finished!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Today the gardener / Landscaping guys showed up and started their work:

And we also got the first delivery of polish granite bricks for the outer wall

I Installed the ultrasonic sensor to measure the water level in the tank:

And started with the installation of the automated garden watering system as well as the hose to pull the wire for the the Lawn mower charging station:

Made a first test with the IPC panel to see how it fits into the frame and if it works with the power supply etc. Seems to work
Once it's definitely installed (by the end of the week, when kitchen workers are done and can't damage it anymore *lol*) there will be a surrounding frame in front of it so you won't see the mounting brakets or the edges.

And as a little side project i got myself a bunch of cast iron pipes and fittings which will make up a fabulous Curtain rail for my "Industrial" Themed Man cave / office room

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Getting close now!!

 

[Finallygotit]

Oh so close!

 

[Ronin22]

3 days and no news.
I need my "Swiss Garage / Workshop / House Build" fix! Hehe...

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Getting close now!!

Oh so close!

Indeed, a few days left of work before i can start to move stuff.. but we have no hurry

3 days and no news.
I need my "Swiss Garage / Workshop / House Build" fix! Hehe...

*lol* yeah, things are a bit hectict, so i'm usually on site until late and have to catch up sleep instead spending time on this website. But don't fear, here comes an overdue update

The landscaping work started. First they dug a channel:

Then they filled it with gravel, so i can be used as a drainge base:

Before they started to set the bricks today:

They'll bring a bigger crane tomorrow so they're faster

On the terrace they got the posts "Feet" mounted and waterproof:

And started the work on the attached shed walls / Doors:

On the inside the flooring guys were busy:

As well as the electrician:

I spent some time installing the in-wall speaker connection system, to have the speakers hardwired without any wires laying around:

And today i got the big IPC up and running, connected to the PLC in the technical compartment:

The plumber got a lot of stuff installed today and will continue tommorow:

And i finally also got my washing area in the workshop to clean stuff:

Currently the site feels like a bee hive or ant stack with so many people running around busy. The main reason is probably that we have our inauguration party tomorrow. Traditionally this is done much earlier, as soon as the roof beams are up. but we're a bit late to the party. Nevertheless, i think everybody is trying to finnish as much as possible until this event tomorrow evening so they can show off their work to the others, because this brings them some reputation in the area. It's not your average house for most of the guys here. Not too special, but just abit above average if i dare say that

 

[Finallygotit]

.........Currently the site feels like a bee hive or ant stack with so many people running around busy. The main reason is probably that we have our inauguration party tomorrow. Traditionally this is done much earlier, as soon as the roof beams are up. but we're a bit late to the party. Nevertheless, i think everybody is trying to finnish as much as possible until this event tomorrow evening so they can show off their work to the others, because this brings them some reputation in the area. It's not your average house for most of the guys here. Not too special, but just abit above average if i dare say that

Well isn't that neat, and different. So many cool things going on here.

 

[Ronin22]

On the inside the flooring guys were busy:

I LOVE that kind of floor! Nice

I spent some time installing the in-wall speaker connection system, to have the speakers hardwired without any wires laying around:

I'm in love. I need this kind of well and pre-thought things in my life

 

[rixtrix1]

Just fantastic so far!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just fantastic so far!

Thanks mate, Big updates expected today and tomorrow, also the whole next week

I LOVE that kind of floor! Nice
I'm in love. I need this kind of well and pre-thought things in my life

Thanks it's Austrian Wild Oaktree hardwood parquet. Planed, brushed, Smoked, and oiled.
We spent some time finding the right mix of a warm and natural look but without beeing too rustic.

Haha, yeah those speaker outlets are a thing that i learnt about many years ago when i was an audio electronic engineer. pretty neat More audio stuff coming soon

 

[Pressingonward]

Just read through your thread - very cool house and garage! Thanks for sharing the build with us. As others have said, it is fascinating to see construction projects in other countries or areas and how the work differs. Nice to see all the finishing touches coming together - I bet you and your wife are excited to be in the home stretch!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Just read through your thread - very cool house and garage! Thanks for sharing the build with us. As others have said, it is fascinating to see construction projects in other countries or areas and how the work differs. Nice to see all the finishing touches coming together - I bet you and your wife are excited to be in the home stretch!

Thanks for the kind words. We are indeed very hyped to move into our "dream coming true" house soon.

Yesterday everybody was busy completeing some stuff, and i'm absolutely in love with how all the things we picked, ended up looking assembled and together. until that, you never really know if the single pieces match at the end.

The outer stone brick wall starting to take shape....

And then we had our inauguration party. which was quite cozy in the chilly garage, while outside sun was burning:

Today i started to figure out some details about the in-ceiling sound system. need to get some little things before i can install it...

But THEN, my real highlight happened. What started out like this today morning:

Rapidly changed when these guys showed up with a big crate box and some tool cabinets:

Six hours later, one big box on the wish-list of my life got ticked.
A brand new two-post lift - in my own house. YAY!!!

Had to test it immediately, of course. and just realized my car needs a wash *lol*.

this is it for today. expecting big updates again next week

 

[anth]

So many great things happening lately! Can't wait until we see the Z on that lift

 

[Ronin22]

Beautiful bathroom, and your own lift.

This was a great update lol!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Time for another long overdue update. Mostly small visual stuff. but next week there should be some updates on the workshop area, before i can finally start to set up my workshop area with all the nice tools and worktables, etc..

The stair steps got installed:

The attached sheds got some walls and doors:

The carpenter was busy building a wardrobe for us:

And a laundry chute (Still needs the top cover plate)

Which is hidden inside the laundry basket:

We also got this glowing LED Glass picture installed in the bathroom, so it is now almost complete:

I modified some of the power outlets to have an additional integrated USB outlets so there is no need for an extra charger / just plug the phone directly into the USB output.
Additionally there's an Bluetooth recceiver integrated on top of it, so i can connect to it by phone or any other bluetooth audio device.

Inside the walls there are hidden Audio amp's which go to those In-ceiling speakers above the kitchen and dining area. Me and my wife love to cook and listen to music while doing so. also it's nice to have some easy background music at a dinner with friends or party. so this will come handy and is much more practical than those portable devices we used to use in the past or a full HiFi system..

Now have to fix a lot of things in the ould appartment and ordering lighting and furniture for the new house. But i'm really looking forward to finally move all my tools and stuff into my new and own garage / workshop

 

[Norcal]

You're right. i have to correct that.

240V and 400V AC and 13 or 16A for the brakers. I think only one Braker was 10A but don't remember what it was. Maybe just the logic.

I'm still so used to the old voltages

In the US people still refer to 110/220 volts, even though they were pre-war voltages, instead of the current 120/240V, to add to the confusion all the other voltages supplied such as 208Y/120V, 120/240V 3 phase, 480Y/277V, plus a few variants too, and in some cities, Philadelphia being one, have legacy 120/240V 2 phase, that dates back to the very early days of electrification the whole mess started with Edison's 110V DC, & Tesla, & George Westinghouse, having to supply 110V AC to compete, since incandescent lamps did not care if the power was AC or DC. 400Y/230, 415Y/240V is a lot simpler but changing the US is not going to happen.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Time for another update before i (probably) start to move the garage / Workshop / Tools / Car parts tomorrow evening. Still a bit to do here and there but mostly details. over the next couple of weeks we start to move our other stuff as well.. So here are some of the finnishing touches that happened lately:

I had the roof beam in my office etched to fit the rest of the wood in the room

The stairs woodwork and paintwork got finnished:

We got shutters / Blinds / shades / whatever you call them

And the landscaping wall is taking shape:

In the garage area they (finally) started insulation work for the in-laws house part so that the house is insulated from the (unheated) garage area (a requirement over here):

Same in our part of the garage, already covered up with a net and plaster work. still a bit to do, but they ran out of insulation material...

They also started with primering the workshop area floor. Paint should be applied today. They waited that long because it would cut the access to the technical compartment where a lot of installations are going on.

Still a few things to do here and there, but most of the work is done and now our part of the work starts and i can start to set up my workshop area soon. however i'm a bit afraid because the work on the in-laws house is still in progress and don't want to have expensive stuff laying around while the garage door is open all the day (access for the workers) and many workers are around all day.. so i'll probably just move my stuff yet but have it all locked up and in some corner until i'll start with the real setting up in a few weeks or so. we'll see...

 

[GLTHFJ60]

This whole project is just incredible. I love that huge block wall. How is it pinned together?

 

[Ronin22]

Jesus! Can't wait to see the EK9 and Datsun down there!!!

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

This whole project is just incredible. I love that huge block wall. How is it pinned together?

It's just held together by its own weight. those bricks are damn heavy. There's also a slight tilt inwards so that gravity is forcing them against water that might press from the inside. there's also a compacted gravel layer under and behind the wall to give it support and to avoid the build of backwater behind it..

Jesus! Can't wait to see the EK9 and Datsun down there!!!

Ha, me either. Well soon i guess

 

[Hostyle]

Man! This coming along!

Out of all the great details, I'm particularly liking the stairs. The combination of the wood with the white plasterwork is awesome.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

Man! This coming along!

Out of all the great details, I'm particularly liking the stairs. The combination of the wood with the white plasterwork is awesome.

Thanks mate, will post more updates from today and the weekend soon, also the internet connection already moved to the new house so i have to post from either mobile phone or the office

I'm really happy too with how the stairs ended up. The hardwood company who made the floor planks also offered various options for stairs steps.
The white paint on the stairs steps front / face is a special latex paint, which is easy washable with water when it gets dirty from shoes and the likes. At least that's what the painters promised us

 

[Hostyle]

We've got the same idea paintwise! We've got a dog that drools quite a bit Slobber comes of the white walls easily.

I've got some trimwork to do around the windows, I think I'm going to steal your idea with the wood. But I'll be using light oak, that matches better with our kitchen worktop.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

So, this is probably my last post before my internet gets capped
On the outzside the gardening guys are almost finnished with the wall:

And we got our first delivery of walkway stones (Interlocking concrete pavers):

The Plaster guys started with covering the plaster-work which will be below soil-level with a tar-like paint (moisture protection), which also includes a capillary-cut, to prevent the plaster-work above soil-level to soak water. A smart little detail you won't see later.

On the inside the plaster guys completed the insulation and covering in the whole underground level:

The paint in the workshop was finnished:

We got our De-mineralizing system delivered and installed:

The carpenter completed the Wardrobe:

And i spent almost a day doing plumbing and installing the valve-boxes for the automated garden-watering system. Pretty damn satisfying, that feeling when you did something you've never done before and it seems to have worked out pretty nice

Since my father was here in the area these days he helped me move the workbenches i was storing at their place:

Of course we had to set them up immediately and my wife started to sand them down while i was working on other things

 

[Motoman1100]

JDM, this has to be one of my favorite threads. I love seeing how people do things in different countries, and I really wanted to say thanks for taking the time to detail this thread with such great pictures.

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

JDM, this has to be one of my favorite threads. I love seeing how people do things in different countries, and I really wanted to say thanks for taking the time to detail this thread with such great pictures.

Thanks a lot for those kind words. and you're all very welcome. I'm not the person to show off i think, but i really just like to document the things i do, also for my own reference. I had to come back and check old pictures for some details very often, so this thread and the many more pictures i took come in very handy some times

Had big plans yesterday, but it seems like everybody around us just aligned to keep us of getting stuff done. At least i was able to set up a few shelves, clean out a few things, and complete a little side-project of mine: "Restoring" those nasty old Lista workbenches, which i was able to obtain from the closed Factory from the big company i work in (See last picture in my last post). After I removed all the old sticky tape from it, my wife sanded it down with the machine, i painted it in Linseed oil.


See left freshly Sanded and right freshly oiled:


Linseed oil corrodes with air and gives the surface a natural protective layer. Also smells good, if you like it
After you oil it, you let it soak for 10minutes or so, before you polish off the excess with some paper towels or something like that.
Love the "vintage" and worn look it got, while looking fresh and restored after we were done.


Also nice to know that those were used in the assembly line at the factory at my work for many decades before i got them now. It has a rich history..
Still not fully done though with the workbench project

 

[Ronin22]

LOVE those workbenches, turned out gorgeous!

 

[smschriefer]

How are things going in the new house? Getting everything in order?

 

[JDMjunkies.ch]

How are things going in the new house? Getting everything in order?

Over the last few days i've been moving our home and car parts and the complete workshop mostly alone or with my wife. Also cleaned out our complete old home and had to fix and paint a lot of things, makeover the complete garden of our own house while installing lamps etc in our new house and setting up so that the basics like showering and eating can be done.
Since today the move is offically completed and we can start to set up in our new home and get back some comfort. Also i had a nie flu with fever at 37°C outside temperature. perfect for muving stuff

This is how the garage looks currently. Now have to find space for all the parts and stuff... But the living area has priority of course. so this will probably take another few weeks...

 

[smschriefer]

You sir, are a busy man. Für Ihre Gesundheit!

 

[pat9198]

Your house has turned out beautiful! I've been following along on your build from the beginning and I hope you are enjoying the move in, even though it's a ton of work. Thanks for sharing.