Broadway Wrecker Service Garage

Looks good so far.

One thing I don't understand is the down-sloped pad leading into the garage. Why didn't you set in a drain all the way accoss? With the current set up, I would think you would have a problem with rain. All the water that hits the pad when it rains will funnel directly into the garage.

Skyline said:

One thing I don't understand is the down-sloped pad leading into the garage. Why didn't you set in a drain all the way accoss? With the current set up, I would think you would have a problem with rain. All the water that hits the pad when it rains will funnel directly into the garage.

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Drainage is a big concern with the new driveway and garage -- that's why there is a "valley" that acts as a channel built into the concrete just before it meets the garage doors (along with a slight slope in the concrete up into the garage). This valley in the concrete slopes from west to east, moving the water to the wider side of the back yard. There will also be gutters and downspouts on the garage, as part of the next round of work. Once we see how the water is affected by the new garage, roof, driveway, etc. we'll probably add more drainage ("french drain" or similar) in the backyard as part of new landscaping once the garage is finished.

jca said:

Drainage is a big concern with the new driveway and garage -- that's why there is a "valley" that acts as a channel built into the concrete just before it meets the garage doors (along with a slight slope in the concrete up into the garage). This valley in the concrete slopes from west to east, moving the water to the wider side of the back yard. There will also be gutters and downspouts on the garage, as part of the next round of work. Once we see how the water is affected by the new garage, roof, driveway, etc. we'll probably add more drainage ("french drain" or similar) in the backyard as part of new landscaping once the garage is finished.

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Oh...I see. I did not notice that when looking at the picture, but now that you mention it, I can see what you're talking about.

The lighting looks great. Where did you get your lamps? Were they reasonably priced? The simple light fixtures that I want (basically just like yours) price out at several hundred dollars.

I definitely like this renovation, there are many similar buildings around like this and they too fall into the "grandfathered in" catergory in that they couldn't be built today. This is another build I'll be watching.

You would not think the Mini would give you trouble going into the garage.

That looks like one heck of a transition going on there, I look forward to seeing more pictures as you move along with it.

Looking great now. What are the plans for the outside. Repainting white, different color, ???

Looking great. I too wondered about the slope into the garage doors. Hopefully the
pitch you talk about to lead the water towards the side is enough in heavy rain.

Looking great. Can't wait to see new pics.

Appreciate everyone's comments, feedback, replies, etc.

993James993 said:

The lighting looks great. Where did you get your lamps? Were they reasonably priced? The simple light fixtures that I want (basically just like yours) price out at several hundred dollars.

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I spent a lot of time looking for inexpensive lighting -- we wanted "barn" (warehouse, RLM, etc. style) lights rather than standard florescent tube fixtures. Unfortunately that style of lamp can get expensive and our project is already over budget.



For inside the garage we went with six American Fluorescent YL107-4 Lite Yard pendant lights, which a lot of online retailers carry, but we found the best price at acehardwareoutlet.com. Each light has a 23 Watt CFL (100W Equal) bulb. I was surprised how well these lights work and the garage is pretty well lit. We also have three standard 48" T8 florescent tube light fixtures on the trusses near the roof peak, for when we put down attic flooring and use it for storage above the garage.



On the outside above each garage door we have three Farm & Barn All Weather Warehouse Wall Mount lights from Barn Light Electric. I believe this is the exact same light as the American Fluorescent lights we have inside, just with a different mount and available in colors (black, in our case). Barn Light Electric sells this same style light in different mounts/colors. These three outdoor lamps are running on a (dusk/dawn) photocell with a shatter resistant 14 Watt CFL (60W Equal) bulb in each. The light they put out points down and works well since our garage doors face the back of our neighbor's house, so I'm sure they wouldn't want some type of flood light pointed at their back windows all night.

Kevin54 said:

Looking great now. What are the plans for the outside. Repainting white, different color, ???

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We need to finish the Hardie siding on the rest of the building, add gutters/downspouts, and paint the garage the same off-white color as the house (which is the color we got approved by the historic committee).

Broadway Wrecker Service Garage update

So I wanted to update the "progress" of our garage renovation.

(Warning: Long post.)

Unfortunately we have hit several snags to the progress of our project. Initially we planned to complete the exterior of our garage in two phases as two completely separate jobs with our contractor. The first phase is what has already been covered in this thread and was completed last year. We were due to start phase two of the project, essentially finishing the rest of the exterior. Unfortunately our original contractor was not able to work on the second round job on our project, so phase two has been on an indefinite hold due to unexpected delays.

Since parts of the job have been on hold, we decided to try to complete some work ourselves in the meantime, most notably staining and sealing the interior concrete floor -- something we knew nothing about at the time.

We did not want to epoxy the floor or just apply a clear seal. The original idea was sort of an "old" look to the floor, so we wanted a semi-transparent brown, almost a dirt color with some of the original concrete texture showing through.

We decided to try an acrylic based concrete stain along with a clear sealer for the garage floor. Based on a bit of research (and the lack of concrete stain products available locally at the big box stores and paint stores), we decided to order online Seal-Krete products for the job. I actually called Seal-Krete directly and gave them the details of our job so I knew to order the right amounts/products. Seal-Krete customer support recommended the following, which we ordered:

• SEAL-KRETE Clean & Etch
• SEAL-KRETE Concrete Colors Semi-Transparent Stain (Terra Cotta)
• SEAL-KRETE Concrete / Garage Floor Sealer

The plan was to clean/etch, followed by one coat of stain rolled on, followed by one coat of clear sealer rolled on. We cleaned the concrete floor using a cleaner/degreaser. Rinsed the floor and allowed it to dry several days. Following the instructions, we then applied the Clean and Etch with a sprayer and brushed in with a stiff brush/broom. The instructions said you should see smoke and a foaming action when brushing (the acid eating tiny holes to profile the concrete) and to leave it on a bit until the foaming stops. We saw very little smoke or foam coming from the floor, which was the first red flag. Since we didn't realize that was a problem, we continued and finished applying the clean/etch to the entire floor, followed by lots of rinsing.

A few days of drying time later, we began rolling on the Terra Cotta color concrete stain. The Terra Cotta color wasn't exactly what we were looking for, but it was the closest choice of the available colors. This was a really difficult application and took a really long time to complete -- 1200 square feet of rolling on the stain. This process did not work well for us and we were not happy with the look of the stain as a result. At the time, we did not know if it was the stain, the amount being applied, the condition of the concrete, our application/workmanship, etc.

So a few days of drying time go by. We were ready to apply the final single coat of clear sealer. There were a few leaves in front of one of the garage doors that had blown in while the door was slightly raised during drying. I picked up a push broom to sweep out the door area, and proceeded to put streaks with the broom into the stain with little effort. Oops.

Obviously the stain had not taken to the concrete. A call to Seal-Krete support suggested that I do a "tape test" and put a piece of duct tape down and rip it up after a few minutes. The duct tape removed all of the stain cleanly off to reveal grey concrete underneath. The acid/application of our Clean & Etch was not strong enough to etch the power trowled concrete floor, which meant the stain was not penetrating the concrete and was simply floating on top with no bond.

Told support the results of the tape test, and they confirmed the bad news: We would have to remove all of the stain, re-etch the concrete with stronger muratic acid, then reapply the stain and sealer all over again.

Ugh.

The good news is that Seal-Krete sent us a replacement batch of stain free of charge and reimbursed me for purchasing muratic acid locally -- so kudos to them for standing behind their product and working to help solve our project woes.

So the suggested method to remove the failed stain was to use a pressure washer to blast off the stain. We borrowed a pressure washer and started the removal -- unfortunately the pressure washer worked very very slowly and only did a so-so job removing the stain. Some random spots (where the stain had penetrated a bit) would not come off with a blast of water. What did come off took many days of work to remove. It took so long that we eventually broke the borrowed pressure washer, causing a few oil leaks and marks on the concrete as we cleaned it. So we rented a replacement pressure washer to try to finish, but our rental time ran out before we could finish the entire floor.

(Continued in the next post...)

Broadway Wrecker Service Garage update (cont)

(Continued from previous post...)

Since the pressure washer work had gone on far too long and wasn't working on removing stain completely from the entire floor, we decided to return the pressure washer rental and rent a walk-behind sander to finish the job. The large belt sander seemed to work a bit better, and it was a nice change of pace rather than being soaked in water day after day. The only problem with the sander is that it was a bit easy to overlap where you had already sanded, which can create subtle dips and divets in the concrete.

With the sanding completed, we spent several days cleaning and degreasing the concrete floor again, trying to remove any residue from all the previous cleanings, washings, sandings, tears, etc. This was followed by the application of muratic acid mixed with water, which we applied liberally using a plastic plant watering can and lots of stiff brushing. We saw more smoke and foaming action this time. Following the cleaning/removal of all the acid and water, the concrete felt rough like sand paper as it was supposed to.

During this concrete floor staining debacle, we got a few estimates from various contractors on what they would charge to (first undo our mistakes and) stain the floor. Although we decided to continue the job on our own, several contractors giving estimates offered advice on how to proceed with the next round of do-over staining. One piece of advice was to not roll on the stain and instead use a plastic pump sprayer to apply the stain using a circular pattern.

So we bought an inexpensive pump sprayer and applied the new batch of concrete stain using the suggested circular spray pattern. This method was much easier and faster than using paint rollers. The only issue we had was the sprayer tip would sometimes splatter instead of giving an even fan spray pattern. During the spray application we were so gun-shy and apprehensive about making a mistake that we applied a thin coat of stain, with some of the concrete showing through in the mist spray pattern rather than complete solid coverage. We wanted to make sure the stain and following coat of sealer bonded to the concrete.

After a few days the concrete stain seemed to be holding up and bonded to the concrete. I wasn't able to scratch off the stain with a finger nail as I could have with the first attempt. We then applied two thin coats (rather than one single coat) of our clear sealer (with antiskid grip mixed in) using rollers.

(Unfortunately, we do not have any photos of the second attempt at staining. By that time no one was in the mood to bring out the camera and simply wanted to get the job done rather than stopping to take pictures.)

After a week of drying, things seem to be holding up -- it looks like we have finished our concrete garage floor staining project. A lot of mistakes, and the final result did not turn out as well as we had pictured, but I guess it all counts as a learning experience.

It was a lot of work, I’m sure, but that’s a good looking floor. To me, the best part of a stain like that instead of the epoxy coat, etc., is that it tends to have a little more variation in tone which gives it more character. Good on you for keeping after it and getting it done.

Just remember- it’s not “messed up-“ it’s got “character.”

It sure looks good from what I can see of it

thumbs up to your stain supplier and your perseverance!

Thanks for the kind words.

Next up, getting Drylock paint on the cinder block walls.

Drylock is some thick stuff - a real work out to apply - just think of it this way - you're improving your property and getting a great work out in the process!

What an amazing transformation!

Instead of Drylock, use Thorocoat. Its an industrial coating for concrete tanks thats available at ACE Hardware

All I can say is awesome!

Wow, what a transformatioin!! I liked it a lot in the "before" pics. It had great potential and you are really pulling it off. Love that floor............

Looks great. I really like all of the changes that retain the vintage flavor but give you a great usable space... Nice!

I like the floor stain.

Wow,

how did I miss this thread? It was funny, because based on the first few posts you made at the beginning of the thread, I was going to make some suggestions about how you could proceed. Then I get to page 2...and 3....and wow! Above and beyond the call of duty. Now I have no suggestions, only praises! Great job!!! It looks incredible!!

Have you thought about the wall and ceiling and what you want to do with them? Insulate and frame? Paint? For the ceiling...leaving it bare and sealing the rafter beams? Lots of options from there.

The good news is that it looks like the biggest/hardest/most expensive things (new framing, roof, doors, concrete driveway, draining, etc) are all done or nearly all done and your almost at the stage of the really fun stuff - the decorating (heheh).

It looks fantastic and I bet that will really, really at a lot of value to your house. It went from a borderline "should this maybe be torn down?" to "wow, look at this amazing garage"....which is HUGE.

Congrats and keep up the great work!

The finished (well, almost) product is very nice. All the hard work pays off in the end. I'm so glad you didn't tear it down.

Chris

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Red Leader said:

Have you thought about the wall and ceiling and what you want to do with them? Insulate and frame? Paint? For the ceiling...leaving it bare and sealing the rafter beams?

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Next step for the interior is Drylock paint on the cinder block walls and T&G plywood for the "attic" flooring.

Subscribed! Very cool garage thread, and the history of the past work inside sure gives it some prominance! Looks like you are gonna have a great place to hang out and get away...best part, making it the way you want!!!

So an update to our Broadway Wrecker Service Garage project:

As we mentioned previously in this thread, we had a really difficult time trying to stain the concrete floor of our garage. Since that time, we've seen the stain come up in several spots, especially "hot tire" marks from parked cars (see attached photo). Sorry to say we were not able to make that project work out well after all that trouble.

Attic flooring (tongue and groove plywood) was installed, so we now have almost doubled the storage space in our 1200 sq. ft. garage. Not sure what our plans are for the attic (it was built to be rated for storage/use/etc.) other than simple storage. Unfortunately we only have an old wooden pull-down attic ladder for access to the garage attic at the moment. We will have to put in a proper stair case at a later time to make the attic usable.

We also got the cement block walls covered with Drylok Masonry Waterproofer latex paint. We went with a green color (which I believe has also been used in a few awesome looking garages posted on Garage Journal) to compliment the orange/red tone of our floor stain. Our goal has always been to stay away from any white/greys/cool colors in our color scheme.

Speaking of color and Drylok masonry paint, I wanted to pass on a tip that may be useful.

Drylok only comes in four colors: White, Gray, Beige and Blue

Those limited color choices for Drylok were not going to work in our case. And since Drylok is a latex based waterproofing paint, I'm not sure that you can just use any brand/paint tinting formula to match a color since it's not the same as traditional latex paint. I don't think the big box retailers would even do that on the fly since their tinting formulas are specific to brands via their computer at the mixing station.

What we had to do was use the tints for a competing product, Behr Basement & Masonry Waterproofing Paint. Since it was a similar type of latex masonry sealer, you can use the tints available for the Behr paint to tint your Drylok. (We weren't interested in using the Behr paint.) The Behr paint has 32 colors (and some color matching options according to their literature) available, so we chose our green from the Behr chart. Seemed to work out fine tinting the Drylok.

Drylok is hurting their own sales/product with their 4 color limit -- most consumers won't jump through the hoops we did to get a decent color.

We also got the custom wood windows stained with a dark stain. Now that the cement paint and window stain have been finished, we need to finish trimming out the windows so you don't see the spray foam insulation we did around the edges.

Hope to finish up some other interior stuff soon, and then move to finishing the long overdue exterior.

Re: Broadway Wrecker Service Garage update

dont worry,a lot of people wont buy a house unless the garage is bigger than the house,im one of them

Very nice transformation.


Love the barn lights, I may have to go this route over the long fluorescent lightings in my own garage. Thanks for the heads up on where to buy.

Not much of a fan on green walls (I like to keep colors nuetral from one another. Brown,Light Tan,Wood Colored, etc..), but that floor looks fantastic!

Keep us updated.

I wouldn't worry about the garage being 200 sq ft larger than the house unless you are planning on flipping it in 5 years or less. I have had a lot of people tell us we are over building our house "for this neibhorhood". Tile in the bathroom,real wood cabinets vs press board,etc. I keep telling folks"I aint building it for the hood! I'm going to live here. In small scale granduer!" Besides, our house is 960 sq.ft. and my garage will be 1152 sq.ft. {24x24 with a full loft}

I really thought the concrete stains worked differently than what you have experienced. It's as if your stain is just sitting on top of the concrete. The stains I researched change the color by having a chemical reaction with the concrete, and not simply a pigment change. Sorry it did not work out for you. I had a similar "try, try again, and fail" with a wax product for wood floors. It's a real bummer to have to do that, but you just move on and enjoy the parts that worked out well.

If and when you decide to sell put up an ad in the GJ classifieds. There are people on this forum who would relocate across the country for a garage/shop like that.

Bib Overalls said:

If and when you decide to sell put up an ad in the JG classifieds. There are people on this forum who would relocate across the country for a garage/shop like that.

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What are "JG classifieds"?

WOW!!!! cant wait to see the finished product.

updates?

The place looks really good. Any updates?

Man that place looks awesome. Would love to see some pics of the historic house as well.

Hey, could you tell me what the green color on your walls is called, color code or whatever? I understand you picked it from a Behr color chart.

Wow! You really brought the place around. It looks great. I really like the floor stain. I think Jack Olsen is going to have to apply for a patent and trademark on that color of green!!!!