Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT The Garage at The Place in The Valley (Garage Condo 45x23x20)

@Bib Overalls - The plus sign is there because the TVs have a frame around them. There is no way around that unless you buy frameless TVs. They make such things for commercial signage but they cost more than a 98" TV. It really is not perfect but it is fun and different.

Looks like your car wash turned out great!

The washer/dryer is pretty neat, I had no idea they made such a thing. I imagine it would be a big hit with the motor home crowd.

C_F said:

Looks like your car wash turned out great!

The washer/dryer is pretty neat, I had no idea they made such a thing. I imagine it would be a big hit with the motor home crowd.

Click to expand...

Big hit with the tiny home and micro apartment crowd also.

Great idea for the bench especially having storage underneath. Especially like your purse. lol.
Will have to give the rinseless car wash a try. Definitely good idea in the winter. Summer nothing better than washing car outside in a speedo getting a tan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is there an inside drain or will you wash outside in warmer weather?

@shortykorte - Hey - it goes with the purple coat!!

@1959_caddyman - No inside drain. It was one of our first questions to the contractors and they came back with a $15k price (crazy!!) for a drain because it would have to have an oil/water separator to meet code. So, rinseless (no hose) wash on the inside in the winter and hose wash outdoors when it is warm. There are storm water drains in the center of the courtyards and washing in the courtyards is allowed.

shortykorte said:

Summer nothing better than washing car outside in a speedo getting a tan.

Click to expand...

No photos needed, okay?!?

One photo to erase the mental image of the speedo:

slik560 said:

One photo to erase the mental image of the speedo:

Click to expand...

Thank you!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

shortykorte said:

Thank you!!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So, I'm not a big fan of cold weather and even less of a fan of all the salt on the roads. My poor daily driver was a bit under the weather. I think you can tell by the streamlines that I still *drive* during winter....


I was going to clean the car using the rinseless wash today but the weather turned warm and I decided to just wash outside the unit. I got to try out my new hose, buckets, and foam gun.


We washed my wife's winter beater (VW EOS) as well. The 997.2 is still bedded down in the unit. We probably could have washed it too. All-in-all, It was a nice day to put on some tunes and enjoy The Place.

Over Christmas break, I had a bunch of free time and posted a bunch about the little things we have been doing to get The Garage at The Place in The Valley up to speed. I hinted that my wife ordered a new custom piece of are work. Ok - that was probably stretching it a little. I'll let you decided if it is really a work of art ...


I actually hadn't expected it yet so now I need to figure out how to mount it. We left a plug on the outside of the mezzanine stub wall just for mounting some neon. The sign has a little metal chain to hang it by but I'm thinking I want a little more than that to hang it up. If it were to fall - not only would it break but it might well do some damage to the vehicles hanging out below it. I also want to get a wifi plug so I can turn it on and off with my phone or a remote. I was not smart enough to set up a switch for that plug.

I just looked at the date and realized this thread is just over 2 years old now. It has been quite the journey with ups and downs and well over 800 posts. Thanks for coming along with us and I hope we have more to show as we continue to fill up The Garage at The Place in The Valley.

Love to watch the progress!

I’m interested in getting a foam gun. What did you get & what’s your opinion of it, is washing the car with a mit still needed or does it lift dirt off?

@PheonixRising - Thanks. I’m enjoying the progress too!!

@ 1949 caddyman - The foam gun gets suds out quickly onto the car but you still need to take a mitt or sponge to agitate to get the dirt off. It is kinda like a touch less car wash at a gas station without using a mitt. It gets a lot of the dirt off but won’t get it all without the mitt. I picked up the Girot’s model. I’ve only done the two cars so far. I tried two different nozzle sizes and did not see a big difference in the amount of suds. It comes with three little plastic nozzle that are supposed to help based on your water pressure. I also only used the one soap - I think it was Snow Foam by Chemical Guys. I think it saves time because you are not constantly going back to the bucket to wet the mitt. But you need to still go back to the bucket to make sure you wash the dirt off the mitt and don’t drag dirt around scratching the paint. The end analysis - it helps some on time but isn’t any huge revolution in car washing.

The Porsche crest in neon is art. Period. A lot of work went into that piece, and it will be a real focal point wherever you mount it.

The developers of The Place met with a realtor sometime recently and took some professional pictures of the facility and some of the units. I'm not sure exactly when because the first time I knew about it was when the pictures showed up on Facebook. These shots are nice because it shows some of how other units at the Place are being used. They also used a filter or at the very least a wider angle lens and the pictures are better than the ones I have taken. Enjoy...


First, a picture or three of the clubhouse...




This is unit 34 that is directly across from the clubhouse. It is 45'x23' and has a very unique dual lift set up with the ability to walk around and look at the cars at the top level of the lift. This guy is a collector and usually has 4 cars in the unit and definitely has an Route 66 / Americarna theme going.




I think this next unit is unit 17 that is on the airport side of the facility. It is a 60'x23' unit with windows out onto the airfield. It has a more modern look with glass mezzanie walls and a blue/grey epoxy floor.




The next unit is one where the owners purchase two units (#13 and #14) and combined them into one huge unit with two garage doors. I'm not actually sure of the dimensions but it is at least 60' deep and probably more than 60' wide. The total square footage is over 3800 sq. ft. The owner wanted one of the units in the corner to make it easier to back his RV straight back into the unit. The mezzanine is in one corner has a bathroom and bar on the ground floor under the mezzanine.




I think this next picture is from unit 33. It is mainly being used to store a very large RV that just fits in this 45'x23' unit.




That is it for the professional photos. But, I thought I'd add a few more that I took at different Cars & Coffee events to get pictures of as many units as possible into one post.


This is unit 3 (60'x23') that is used as a combined wood working shop and RV storage. This photo was taken at a 9/17 C&C event at The Place.




This picture is from unit 2 that is right next to the club house. It is a 60'x23' unit as well. I believe this unit has no improvements to it and is just used to store a large RV (but I'm not really sure). This photo was taken at that same 9/17 C&C event and things may have changed.




This is my next store neighbor in unit 26. It is a 45'x23' unit and has a mezzanine. I believe some improvements have been done since this picture was taken at the 9/17 C&C event.




I have not seen this unit open much but it was open when we had our grand opening in 2016. It is unit 8 and is one of the trapezoid shaped units that is double wide and still 60' deep. This one has just a little over 2100 sq.ft. of floor space.




I think that covers most of the units that have been sold at The Place. I know there is a race team that purchased and uses Unit 16. They have multiple lifts and I have seen at least one open wheel car in there. I have seen them working in there with the door open but they have never been open at a C&C event and do not feel comfortable taking pictures of someones place without them showing it. I also think some of the small end units (28 & 29) have sold but I'm not sure I have a picture of those since the early build days.

I know I jumped around a bit on the units. I wanted to show the professional pictures first and then fill in with some shots of the other units. I'll leave one more set of pictures here of our unit - just for completeness sake.



I hope the realtor helps make a push and sell out the remaining units. We are really enjoying our unit and I would love to see more people in the facility. There are also still plans for phase 2 that will not see fruition with out selling more of the phase 1 units.

This is a silly question, but why not back the Eos in and park it closer to the wall so the TT has more room?

@ PhoenixRising - There is actually more width under the mezzanine with the sink/washer/cabinets than I have in my garage at home. It is easier to pull in and back out and since there is plenty of room ... why bother doing it the hard way. I dunno, maybe I’m under thinking it....

I figured the answer would be that you had the room. Just curious

Greg_STL said:

Click to expand...

I am baffled that railing or a half wall was not required on the open side of this staircase per code.

JettaGetUpandGo said:

I am baffled that railing or a half wall was not required on the open side of this staircase per code.

Click to expand...

Maybe the railing is out being powder coated.
I like the way that guy used his dual lifts, neat idea. I also notice that they seem to lift much higher than usual, with lots of head room underneath.

JettaGetUpandGo said:

I am baffled that railing or a half wall was not required on the open side of this staircase per code.

Click to expand...

I’m pretty sure he ignored code on the whole project.

PhoenixRising said:

I’m pretty sure he ignored code on the whole project.

Click to expand...

It would appear so. Open risers on the staircase. I'm not sure how the lift area would be handled as that's a bit unique, but I would imagine that would require a rail around it so no one could fall when the lifts were lowered.

No permits pulled for the work or inspections?

JettaGetUpandGo said:

It would appear so. Open risers on the staircase. I'm not sure how the lift area would be handled as that's a bit unique, but I would imagine that would require a rail around it so no one could fall when the lifts were lowered.

No permits pulled for the work or inspections?

Click to expand...

Also, I couldn't tell if there were fire sprinklers under the walkway, around here it would need them.

Yet Greg had to ditch his bathroom due to ADA requirements. What a travesty of justice.

I haven't done much in my garage this week but this weekend was busy. We attended a special Cars & Coffee at the STL Autoshow. Now the STL Autoshow has no concept cars and not even all the OEMs attend but it is a chance to see the new cars all in one place.


The Car & Coffee shut down a couple blocks of a single street and the people that participated got free parking and free admittance to the bigger show. It filled up very quickly which was impressive since it rained on us on the way to the show. I always love the diversity you get in the C&C crowd.


Inside, it was not that impressive but I did see a few vehicles I had not seen before. This is when it first opened and almost no one was there.


They had a NSX at the Acura booth.


The new CJ and Trackhawk were both at the Jeep booth.


Over at Honda, they had the new Civic Type R and a couple high efficiency models.


Although not a new model this year, Nancy and I spent some time sitting in this nice ND Miata. We both could see owning one - maybe as a replacement for the VW EOS.


They even had an area for the owners of Classic Car Studio that has the new TV show "Speed is the New Black" (I think on Velocity). They brought a couple cars out and were signing autographs and selling posters/t-shirts...


Sorry for the somewhat random pics but that is the nature of wandering around a busy show with a cell phone....

Remember how I said that the OEMs do not all attend the STL Autoshow. Well, for Porsche that is true. Neither the OEM or the local dealers are part of the show. This year, the local club (STL PCA) decided to bring some member cars and attend the show. My wife was down manning the booth this morning.


It was the first time the club has tried this and the stanchions may not be the way to go. People also thought they were trying to sell them a Porsche where it was more of a club visibility event. I guess you could say they were trying to sell club memberships - but since you have to have a VIN number from a Porsche to join - the club membership is actually a pretty small incremental cost.

And to show that I do actually do things in The Garage at The Place... I installed the Porsche neon sign this afternoon. I first put in a WiFi controlled outlet so I can turn the light on and off with my phone. It would probably have been better if I had wired a real switch in but this will do.


The cell phone really struggled with the light levels ... or the owner struggle with the cell phone ...

Greg_STL said:

And to show that I do actually do things in The Garage at The Place... I installed the Porsche neon sign this afternoon. I first put in a WiFi controlled outlet so I can turn the light on and off with my phone. It would probably have been better if I had wired a real switch in but this will do.

​

The cell phone really struggled with the light levels ... or the owner struggle with the cell phone ...

Click to expand...

Looking good


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

It looks good in there, and the sign looks right at home.

I enjoyed the car show photos as well, thanks for sharing them.

I was out but The Place today. I drove by, and my wife was not convinced that it was something we needed in the future. One can dream. Things are looking great Greg! Can't wait to see it in person.

jay8s said:

I was out but The Place today. I drove by, and my wife was not convinced that it was something we needed in the future. One can dream. Things are looking great Greg! Can't wait to see it in person.

Click to expand...

I was just down there installing an Apple TV. You should have PM’d me.

I killed my satellite DirecTv account at my house and started a streaming DirecTv Now account. We were paying way too much for tv that we didn’t really watch. With the streaming, I can have one account and stream to either the house or the garage. No DVR but they actually have local ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. I was struggling getting the locals in the metal and concrete at The Place. For only $35 a month and a promotion of a free Apple TV if you pre pay 4 months, I thought why not.

Now I’m messing with the Home app on my phone. The Apple TV acts as a hub so you can control things when you are not there. Progress is slow..... It is so simple I can’t figure it out. ;-)

Greg_STL said:

I was just down there installing an Apple TV. You should have PM’d me.

I killed my satellite DirecTv account at my house and started a streaming DirecTv Now account. We were paying way too much for tv that we didn’t really watch. With the streaming, I can have one account and stream to either the house or the garage. No DVR but they actually have local ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX. I was struggling getting the locals in the metal and concrete at The Place. For only $35 a month and a promotion of a free Apple TV if you pre pay 4 months, I thought why not.

Now I’m messing with the Home app on my phone. The Apple TV acts as a hub so you can control things when you are not there. Progress is slow..... It is so simple I can’t figure it out. ;-)

Click to expand...

If I didn't have everyone with me I would have done that. I did get a bit of time to run by ITAP for their 9th birthday.

Directv now is GREAT. I was an early adopter, and have been very pleased with it. I am beta testing the DVR version, and am very impressed. This will take it to a very main stream thing I think.

I picked up a compressor for the garage. I looked for quite a while and waffled on getting something large that would power air tools or very small to just pump up tires. I went somewhere in the middle. I have Milwaukee fuel ratchets and impact wrenches so I'm not positive I even need the air tools.

I had it shipped to my house where I un-boxed it and ran the break-in. It is small enough I could just put it in the RAV4 and drive it down to the Place. It an EA-6500 Eagle Silent Series compressor. It is 110v, has a 20 gal tank, and can put out 6.0 CFM at 90 PSI. It is also very quiet - very similar to the California Air Tools compressors but this one looked to have a higher quality to me. The wheels are nicer and the enclosed frame around the compressor is a nice touch. It was certainly boxed up nice for shipment and arrived with no issues.


It has two quick disconnects on the front. I bought a 50 foot hybrid hose, some Milton disconnects/couplers, a two head tire inflator, and a little lever blow gun. The 50' hose is probably overkill but reaches to anything on the ground level. I plugged it in right next to my tool box on circuit that only supplies that one plug - it was set up that way from the beginning to support a compressor. So far, I've filled up the tires on the RAV4 that were getting low. I'll wait to see how the Milwaukee electrics work before I decide if I need to buy air wrenches and ratchets.

Fantastic build! Just finished the entire thread. Had no idea this facility was out in Chesterfield. I lived in STL for 10 years over 30 years ago and remember that area being cornfields!

Great work all around!

neil

Greg_STL said:

... The 50' hose is probably overkill but reaches to anything on the ground level.
... see how the Milwaukee electrics work before I decide if I need to buy air wrenches and ratchets.

Click to expand...

I've spent the majority of this day enjoying the progress from page 1 & so many good things to say about this thread, especially since I'm a German Auto fan.

You have done an exceptional job creating a clean & classy space.

A couple of things as food for thought.
1. You'll never find that you have too much air hose, only that you don't have enough efficient storage for it. which leads to -
2. Air Hose Reel - Might I recommend a simple Uni-Strut design for mounting point under your staircase & next the compressor. Based on your attention to detail, I'll leave it at that for the pro's/con's & execution as I'm sure it would be flawless.
3. It is true that electrics have come close to replacing most pneumatic tools, especially in portability. Though even with working in professional shops that also offer off-site/track support, I find that most techs still use Air "in shop" & Electric "out of shop"; with the exceptions being small electric screw guns & the like. Personally with the compressor (specs) that you have & the "light" work you indicated earlier you'd be doing I'd hold off on Air for Impact & Ratchet & use that money first towards expanding/rounding out your new Husky box/hand tool collection. Then look at air tools at will either be more efficient then the electric & hand or give a higher quality result to the job at hand. You might find that the first air tool you need to buy is something like this - (just a product example, I have no affiliation with retailer or product other then I regularly use both) -
https://www.tooltopia.com/astro-pneumatic-3018.aspx
If only simply to save the time & tools it takes to inflate & then gauge check, especially if you find yourself checking for "daily driving" frequently.

Finally only because I didn't see it addressed & I can't quite tell from the various photos, but I think you might already have a handle on this one -
Make sure you put something under your wheel stacks, so that that the rubber doesn't stain your floor.
In one earlier photo I though I noted a cardboard disc (open/non Tire Rack bagged stack, but not 100% sure.
So I though I'd point it out for your reference & others that might also be reading (especially if a lighter colored floor &/or less professional materials installed, it can only take a couple days for the stain to develop)
Possibly solution for your storage area just popped into my head, simple low profile "dolly" design (like your wash bucket, but larger diameter) that would allow you to load & unload next to the vehicle then roll under the stairs for storage.

Keep up the great work & thanks entertaining all of us!

@neilc - Thanks for reading! I'm always amazed that people make it all the way to the end. It took me 2 years to get to here after all...

@Matt Johnson - Wow, good post and good advice.

I looked at hose reels but I couldn't decide how I was going to mount it. The wall is the obvious choice but it would be behind the compressor. I wasn't sure how to work the lead in hose and wasn't sure if it would get tangled up in the tires and tool box. I wanted to get going so I bought a inexpensive 50' hose and figured I could take some time to figure out hose storage or an eventual reel.

As far as your first suggested air tool. I bought this Milton inflator instead. I was getting female and male connectors to put on the hose and just loaded up on the Milton items in the shopping cart.


I do like the dial gauges in general better than these linear pressure gauges. I do have a nice dial pressure gauge that I use during autocross. Chances are I will over inflate with this air tool and then come back and fine tune the pressures with the dial gauge.

As far as the hand tools ... I have been adding to my tool box and taking some items back to my home garage as I've bought new stuff. I went ahead and picked up the 3/8" and 1/2" Sunnex master sets for impact sockets (metric and SAE). I added a set of Tekton combination wrenches and took my old craftsmen one's to my home garage. I'm not positive why I'm on a Milwaukee kick but I started filling out my screwdriver and wrench drawers to match my electric tool drawer. I have more organization to do but they sold out of the Olsa socket rails at Amazon and I'm waiting to see if they re-stock.


I do have cardboard under the tire stacks or at least the ones that are not in individual covers. I actually hope to get ride of some of these stacks. I currently have three sets of rims/tires for my TTS. The OEM, a nice set of aftermarket Volks, and cheap set with winter tires. I found I actually like the OEMs with all seasons rather than the dedicated winters so those will go on e-bay when I get around to it.

I thought about using these TruStack dollies. They are cool but at $125 a piece I just couldn't pull the trigger. Plus, my current storage is under the stairs and the dolly adds height to the stack and would limit how many stacks I can get under there.


I am thinking I need to seriously consider wall storage for the tires. I could see putting them on the long wall opposite the stairs or maybe over the washer/dryer and sink under the mezzanine. I think the 8" studs would support the weight but part of me does not want to have to lift the tires up onto overhead storage. It is really nice having them on the floor but they take up a lot of my limited floor space.

Last but not least, I ordered a QuickJack for tire changes and light maintenance. I finally found someone that could confirm that my TTS will fit on the 5000SLX model. The Porsche 997 also fits the same 5000SLX model and the VW EOS with a steel pinch weld along the whole rocker will surely fit as well. I still have eventual plans for a four post or two under the mezzanine for storage but I really do not have enough cars right now to need them yet. I'll post more when the QuickJack arrives.

As far as tires, I'm going to experiment with the roller/dolly that goes underneath a BRUTE trash can that I have. It's a smaller diameter, but I can adapt a piece of plywood to cover that. Ditto on the 50' hose - you won't regret it. I wonder why the compressor people have not incorporated a hose reel into the portable-roller-units; kind of like a welding card but for air tools. Maybe they have and I've just not seen it yet.

Still a great thread; end-to-end

Unless you are changing tires frequently, I would think wall storage overhead would be better than taking up valuable floor space and having to work / walk around them.