Recent content by rothwem

Dust has been my garage nemesis since it was built--the drywall is one factor, but our cars bring in a ton with the open doors, and the concrete and knee wall blocks also produce some dust. I used a leaf blower/shop vac/wet mop strategy immediately after the drywall was installed but the dust...

Now that’s not a bad idea, might actually do this one. I don’t get to buy a sweet concrete chainsaw but it seems better to me than just locking the door and having a massive hazard in the form of a two foot drop behind the door. It also wouldn’t require cutting the bond beam or repairing...

That would put the existing door well below grade, I’m concerned about water. That’s the existing door there from the outside. Awesome, thanks. Do you have a link with pictures of what you’re talking about? I’m visualizing a wide u-shaped plate of steel under either side of the door opening.

Your blocks looks solid though, are they filled, hollow or 100% concrete?

Thanks for the compliment, I’m mostly happy how it came out despite the landing being annoying. Tuffshed did an awesome job and it’s tough to tell it’s not a regular stick built structure. The landing is stupid tight, check this picture out here where the cars are parked— It’s currently a...

Now people are getting what I'm saying. The issue is twofold: -The top course is a bond beam, basically what is holding the block wall together. -The back of the garage is below grade, so I can't take the top two courses off the whole way around. Here’s a pic of the back door:

Dammit, I already own a sledgehammer! Next solution!? But yeah, have definitely just considered removing the landing and just keeping the door locked. I've got little kids, so I'd have to put a wood block on there or something to keep them from messing with it and leaving a 2' drop behind an...

Yes. Its hard to tell from the pics, but the ground slopes away on the far side of the property. If I filled it in to make it level, the driveway would be incredibly steep. I just put in a pic of where I'm thinking of putting the outside door. What is it you're looking for in the pics...

Apologies in advance, I couldn't find an answer for this while googling. You can skip to the bottom paragraph if you don't want to read the backstory. When my detached garage was built, I originally planned for a man door in the back and a garage door in the front. I had "Tuffshed" do the...

Hm, I might try the patching cement on a small section to see how it looks. One of my issues is that the concrete that they filled the top course with is not perfectly level with the top of the block in all places, so the cement might not be flat. I might be able to get it *flat enough* to do...

My garage uses a stick built 2x4 frame set on top of a three course block wall. The wall is 8" thick and the stick built wall structure is 4" thick, so I've got a 4" wide block top sticking out from the wall along the perimeter of my garage. Any thoughts on how to make this look nicer? They...

Thanks for the detailed reply! I think that you and the others here have convinced me that a mini split is the way to go if I end up doing HVAC in here. I was talking to a friend that DIY’d his and it actually doesn’t sound as bad as I was anticipating. As for the comments regarding...

I used to manage a quality lab at an axle plant, I had to arrange eye tests every year for the inspectors working in that lab. People's eyeball calibration really could be out! Haha my oldest is still in diapers, but I can totally see him doing that. Me taking a wizz outside in my...

Alright, we’ll I’m going to pull the trigger on the asphalt. Still waffling on drywall. I might see how this winter goes with one of those electric resistance heaters to keep it above freezing. I suspect that parking a warm car in there might do a lot to counteract pipes freezing though.

Thanks for the info re: baffles, just read up on them. Will definitely keep that in mind. That little space has the electrical panel, but I’m planning on putting a compressor enclosure under there, there should be room, and if I put a plywood cover/floor it should still allow someone to stand...