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I have a 24x40 garage and the drywall is installed and all of the seams are taped with the first coat of mud. Some seams have 2 coats of mud. In any case, I got tired of mudding myself and am not that great at it so decided to get a quote to finish the job. The guy that came up today wants...

I am considering adding a 10'Wx8'D covered porch to the front of my house. I have a single story ranch with a gable roof. The plan is to have a gable roof on the porch as well but run perpendicular to the house roof. Anyone here have any experience doing this? Any pointers would be helpful...

I am getting ready to install fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling of my garage. I was just wondering what other people do as far as running the wire into the fixture. Do you install an electrical box in the ceiling above the light fixture or just attach a romex clamp to the fixture and run...

I had a garage built in the fall of 2011 and the concrete guy that did the slab didn't do the best job at creating a flat slab. On one side of the garage, there is a concave area that collects substantial water. He was supposed to create a 1" slope down toward the doors, which didn’t happen. It...

I am working on insulating the ceiling of the covered connector between my house and the new garage and was wondering what the standard practice is for using vapor barrier in ceilings. The local codes enforcer tells me that I should not have a vapor barrier in the ceiling but this seems contrary...

I am getting ready to hang lights in my garage and came across a craigslist ad for 2'x2' light fixtures for $10 each. They hold 4 T8 2' bulbs. Ad can be seen at link below. Any opinions on value of fixtures? Does this seem like a reasonable deal and any issues with using 2' fixtures instead of...

I just installed a 6' wide garage door with extension springs similar to the one in the picture below. I understand how to adjust the tension on the spring but am having a very hard time getting the tension perfect. When I close the door, the door has a tendency to want to spring up just a...

Anyone here frame their own roof for a 24 foot or wider garage? I like the idea of framing my garage roof instead of trusses simply for the storage space. The garage is 24 feet wide and would like the ceiling joists to clear span this distance without a center support. This is where I am running...

I am getting ready to frame the walls on my garage and need help to figure out how to trim out the garage door openings. The doors are 9'x7' and the openings are 9'x7' as well. The stem wall is 8" block and the framed walls will be 2x6 with 1/2" sheathing. The instructions for the garage...

Starting on my garage build and had my footings poured by a contractor. He has turned out so far to be the biggest hack ever. I have the following issues with my footings: 1. Look like ****. Concrete is not flush to the top of the form boards in multiple locations. I guess he has never heard of...

After about 2 years of planning, I finally got underway on my garage build. The garage/workshop will be 24x40 and attached to the house via a 8x18 connector/breezeway. Some design pics are shown below. I still have a few days to figure out if I want a man door or not. The back part of the garage...

So the excavator is coming tomorrow to start digging footings for the new garage. The mason was here today to stake out the garage but only got 3 stakes in the ground, and at the wrong locations at that. I am already scared by this mason who has been in business for > 20 years. But that's...

Excavation for my new garage is to start this Sunday but the excavator plans on using bank run gravel for backfill and under the garage slab. What is bank run gravel? Is this standard practice and any concerns here? I think he is using it because it is cheap for him.

So I have been getting quotes for the foundation and site-work required for my new garage. I have gotten six quotes and found that none of the quotes are very detailed at all. They all have just a few line items describing the high level work to be completed but not down to details like concrete...

I am considering renting concrete forms from a local rental house to form up my footing and walls for my new garage build. Does anyone here have experience using the wall forms and pouring walls? Is this a DIY job? Seems like it should be fairly straight forward.

Hi all. I am getting very close to starting my garage build. I have nearly completed the meter relocation which was the first step. I wanted to present my design to the group to see if anyone had any comments or suggestions for me. My current house is approx. 28x50 and the plan is to add a new...

My new garage and breezeway build is going to include a window that will be a little less than 3.0 feet on the diagonal from the meter socket for underground service. Does anyone know of a NEC code that this would violate? I found Article 230.9 that deal with clearance of open conductors to...

I am installing a new 200A meter socket for underground service and need some advice on how to route the wire inside the meter socket for the load side. As can be seen in the attached picture, the feeder cable will come in the left side of the socket and the load is going out the right side. The...

I am researching different methods of construction in preparation for a new garage. I like the idea of using socket systems to build a pole barn type garage but want to attach the garage to my house. Has anyone attached a pole building to a house before and if so, are there any special...

I am installing an LB conduit body on the outside of the house below a new meter socket. What is the proper way to mount the conduit body? The house has vinly siding so I was planning on mounting a J-Block behind the conduit body and somehow mount the conduit body to the J-Block. But there are a...