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Leaning Tower of Piece-A-....

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Talonslair

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Cleveland, OH
Hello all,

I've been lurking around here for the last few weeks(introduced myself in a new thread), and thought I'd start a new thread on my garage project. At one point I was going to knock my garage down and put up a shed but thanks to this site I'm going to repair my garage. Some of the other garages that were rebuilt looked worse than mine so I thought, "I can do this"! One of my neighbors said "tear it down and start over, it will be cheaper". I told him it would be WAY cheaper to fix what I have and put it to good use. I'll try to update my progress as I go but its going to take awhile to finish. I work full time and I have limited free time. Enough of the babbling, here are some pics so far.

I call this the leaning tower of piece-a-&#%$.


What kept this thing standing was this tree :shocking: (but his days are numbered now). This tree has actually grown with the garage.


The sills are really bad(the back was so bad it was rotted completely away).

 
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FlyingLow

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That thing is sweet! You can't build in that sort of character, I hope you are able to retain some of the look of the siding. Also be careful with the local building inspectors, don't remove too much at a time or they might make you tear it down and you might not be able to rebuild that close to your lot line. Just replace one stud or section of studs at a time. A good bottle jack will probably be of good use for you also.
 
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48RON54

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FlyingLow said:
That thing is sweet! You can't build in that sort of character, I hope you are able to retain some of the look of the siding. Also be careful with the local building inspectors, don't remove too much at a time or they might make you tear it down and you might not be able to rebuild that close to your lot line. Just replace one stud or section of studs at a time. A good bottle jack will probably be of good use for you also.
Click to expand...


X2, i love the look of that building.
 
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Talonslair

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The whole back wall is just hanging there. The sill felt like compost. It was rotted that bad. None of the studs are touching anything.


My neighbor has been helping me a lot with this project. We hooked up some come a-longs. We hooked them to my truck, took a section of his fence out and hooked up to his van. We pulled some and braced it up. Its close to plumb but we still need to pull it some more but we decided to give the building a rest for a couple days and go at it again. Here is a pic of where we stopped.


We're off of the tree now.
 
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Talonslair

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There was some kind of a cinder block in the back corner and upon inspection, it was broke. So we dug it out.


Then we dug down and made a form with some boards.....


.......mixed up some cement and poured it.


On one of the sides I noticed another block. If its loose I'll re-pour that one too. I just might bust the block out of there anyway.
 
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Talonslair

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FlyingLow said:
That thing is sweet! You can't build in that sort of character, I hope you are able to retain some of the look of the siding. Also be careful with the local building inspectors, don't remove too much at a time or they might make you tear it down and you might not be able to rebuild that close to your lot line. Just replace one stud or section of studs at a time. A good bottle jack will probably be of good use for you also.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the advice. We did do a small test with a couple of good floor jacks on one side with some heavy duty jack stands. We found out that once we do get it plumb, we'll be able to jack up a section and work on the studs one at a time. The inspector will not be bothering us. We entered a neighborhood program last year and had the house insulated for free. The neighborhood association had sent us a notice that the inspector will be coming around and to call them if we had any questions. I called them and told them our intentions. They said they were happy we called and marked down for the inspector to leave us alone. He came by about a month later but never bothered us. They know we are working on what needs to be done. We've live here about 4 years and have painted the whole house and rebuilt the front porch.


The siding will stay pretty much intact. I'm hoping I can find something similar at the lumber yard(its tongue and groove), to replace the bottom section that were rotted out.
 
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Talonslair

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48RON54 said:
X2, i love the look of that building.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I like it too. I'm not too thrilled about the doors that swing open though. I'm lazy so I don't want to have to swing them open and closed every time I park in there. Especially in the winter. My brother has a good friend that can get me an insulated door for cost, so I'm leaning towards that route :)
 
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FlyingLow

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Talonslair said:
Thanks. I like it too. I'm not too thrilled about the doors that swing open though. I'm lazy so I don't want to have to swing them open and closed every time I park in there. Especially in the winter. My brother has a good friend that can get me an insulated door for cost, so I'm leaning towards that route :)
Click to expand...

Swinging them open and closed is a pain, especially in the winter if you have to shovel the snow first but they look way cool. You can get some fancy overhead doors though that have fake hinges and handles to make them look like "barn doors". You might have to look at the height required for the door and jack it up to make the door opening work. Also keep in mind you will loose some height with the garage door tracks.
 
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Talonslair

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FlyingLow said:
Swinging them open and closed is a pain, especially in the winter if you have to shovel the snow first but they look way cool. You can get some fancy overhead doors though that have fake hinges and handles to make them look like "barn doors". You might have to look at the height required for the door and jack it up to make the door opening work. Also keep in mind you will loose some height with the garage door tracks.
Click to expand...

Yes, I saw those kind of doors and really like them. It was what I'm wanting to get. I think it will look better when finished. The opening for the door right now is just a few inches over 8' wide and 8' tall. There is hardly any headroom for the tracks so either I'll drop the height a foot or get the low clearance tracks(they are expensive though). An 8' X 8' door is a couple hundred dollars more than an 8' X 7' door too.
 
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bczygan

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Besides the rotting sills, half the problem with the leaning is that the entire front is taken up with openings. That wall needs to be more of a shear wall to resist that racking.

The siding boards on the outside do little to rectify the problem as they move laterally and the wall shifts like a parallelogram.

One thing you can do is to sheathe the inside of that wall with plywood (After you wire and insulate it), and glue and screw the plywood to the studs and top and bottom plates and other framing.

You could also do that on the outside by first removing the board siding and then sheathing it and putting the siding back.

Check the framing above the doors. It may not have been designed for an overhead door. You may need a new or bigger header.

What does the inside framing look like? Especially the roof framing.

Oh, and very cool to keep and renovate an old structure like that. There are a lot like that here in Detroit, or in the whole midwest, for that matter.

Is it a flat roof? What shape is it in?

And what is the foundation? Have you dug down to see how deep it is?

And how about the slab inside? In good shape?

Photos! We love em!
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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I like these old garage rehab threads too.

In fact, there should be an "Official Leaning, Derelict Garage Rehab Thread" on GJ showing Before, In-Process and After photos because I be there are lots of people needing the info.

Just because it's a personal "thing" with me, you did NOT mix up some cement. You mixed up some concrete. Cement is to concrete as flour is to cake batter.

And since I'm being an Ahole anyway, those AREN'T "cinder" blocks, they're concrete blocks. Very few areas ever used actual cinder to make masonry block.
 
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bczygan

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It will be laborious, but scraping and sanding and painting that board siding will make for a beautiful garage. Pick a contrasting or complementary color for the trim boards. Caulk the joints where proper to do so.

When you set new sills, place plastic insulating sill seal under them and caulk the joint inside and out to prevent water infiltration.

What is the existing roof, and what are your plans for it?
 
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nicksnothereman

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In the Mojave
Talonslair said:
Hello all,

I've been lurking around here for the last few weeks(introduced myself in a new thread), and thought I'd start a new thread on my garage project. At one point I was going to knock my garage down and put up a shed but thanks to this site I'm going to repair my garage. Some of the other garages that were rebuilt looked worse than mine so I thought, "I can do this"! One of my neighbors said "tear it down and start over, it will be cheaper". I told him it would be WAY cheaper to fix what I have and put it to good use. I'll try to update my progress as I go but its going to take awhile to finish. I work full time and I have limited free time. Enough of the babbling, here are some pics so far.

I call this the leaning tower of piece-a-&#%$.
Click to expand...

Wood is pretty expensive (for a complete wood structure) even if you're using stud wood. Plus the cutting/assembly would be a major pain (unless you're just trying to reinforce the structure which could potentially be cheap, depending on how you do it).

They sell pre-built metal structures, probably should just go with that. That's the difference between 3 weeks construction and just sitting there and watching it be delivered while you have a beer.:bounce:
 
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FlyingLow

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nicksnothereman said:
Wood is pretty expensive (for a complete wood structure) even if you're using stud wood. Plus the cutting/assembly would be a major pain (unless you're just trying to reinforce the structure which could potentially be cheap, depending on how you do it).
Click to expand...

Seriously? How's wood expensive and a pain to cut and assemble? He damn well shouldn't be making it out of cedar and 3/4" G1S fir plywood. Maybe some cedar siding but come on.
 
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Kevin54

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If it were me, I wouldn't worry so much about saving the looks of the siding. Vinyl can be bought cheap enough, that you can side it to match your house, which will look so much better and will probably raise the property value somewhat. Other than that, good save on the structure. If money is spent wisely, anything done to a property can be money in the bank. Decent outdoor structures, a great curb appeal as far as looks, and landscaping, all brings up property value.
 
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j p smith

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If you could move the man door to the side wall that would let you center the roll up door and have an area on each side of the roll up door for shear panels to strengthen that end of the building. Great you are saving the building, what is the roof like?
 
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Talonslair

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1320stang said:
I'm interested in what the door looks behind that plywood.
Click to expand...

I removed the plywood(yes, it is plywood - I didn't want to ruffle any feathers of wood lovers like with the cement/concrete.... Just busting your chops Dan in Pasadena :lol: ). The doors are beat. I'll try to post some pics when I can.
 
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Dan in Pasadena

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Talonslair said:
I removed the plywood(yes, it is plywood - I didn't want to ruffle any feathers of wood lovers like with the cement/concrete.... Just busting your chops Dan in Pasadena :lol: ). The doors are beat. I'll try to post some pics when I can.
Click to expand...

Ha ha, after posting that (and the edit time had run out) I thought maybe I shouldn't have said it. Thanks for taking it lightheartedly!

You're doing a good job, excellent to see it instead of the usual tear down, replace with a Garage Majal. I'm a fan of yours for certain now. - Dan

PS: Once she's straightened out, what are your plans? Will you finish the interior? Paint? Floor? Lights? Cabinets? Other?
 
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Talonslair

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Dan in Pasadena said:
Ha ha, after posting that (and the edit time had run out) I thought maybe I shouldn't have said it. Thanks for taking it lightheartedly!

You're doing a good job, excellent to see it instead of the usual tear down, replace with a Garage Majal. I'm a fan of yours for certain now. - Dan

PS: Once she's straightened out, what are your plans? Will you finish the interior? Paint? Floor? Lights? Cabinets? Other?
Click to expand...

No worries...its all good fun.
My plans are to straighten it up, strengthen it to keep it from racking again, run electricity to it, insulate it, and use it work/park my truck in it. All of my tools are in the basement right now but will be moved to the garage when finished. I do plan on adding lights and some storage ideas from the great threads in this GJ.
 
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Talonslair

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j p smith said:
If you could move the man door to the side wall that would let you center the roll up door and have an area on each side of the roll up door for shear panels to strengthen that end of the building. Great you are saving the building, what is the roof like?
Click to expand...

That is a possibility with moving the door. I'm leaning towards keeping the same look the way it is now. I'll just have to beef it up better. My thoughts are if I shrink the garage door opening down a little, it will add some strength with the extra lumber. The sill in the front needs to be replaced too.
The roof was redone before we bought the house. Someone added some new support beams but didn't do a very good job as there are some seems where it sags a little. I'll post some pics when I get some time.
 
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Talonslair

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bczygan said:
Besides the rotting sills, half the problem with the leaning is that the entire front is taken up with openings. That wall needs to be more of a shear wall to resist that racking.

The siding boards on the outside do little to rectify the problem as they move laterally and the wall shifts like a parallelogram.

One thing you can do is to sheathe the inside of that wall with plywood (After you wire and insulate it), and glue and screw the plywood to the studs and top and bottom plates and other framing.
Thanks for the good advice.

You could also do that on the outside by first removing the board siding and then sheathing it and putting the siding back.

Check the framing above the doors. It may not have been designed for an overhead door. You may need a new or bigger header.

What does the inside framing look like? Especially the roof framing.

Oh, and very cool to keep and renovate an old structure like that. There are a lot like that here in Detroit, or in the whole midwest, for that matter.

Is it a flat roof? What shape is it in?
Not a lot of pitch to it. Some small sagging spots. It has a few leaks on the outside perimeter of the roof.

And what is the foundation? Have you dug down to see how deep it is?
The foundation is in good shape except for a couple of places where concrete block was used. I didn't measure but it looks to be a good 8" or so.

And how about the slab inside? In good shape?
There is a crack in the slab. Its not a gaping crack though. It can be fixed.

Photos! We love em!
Click to expand...
Working on it.
 
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Talonslair

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pepi said:
Garage type door could cut down on the inside hight, what about sliding doors?
Click to expand...

If possible I'd rather push a button to open and close the door :lol2:

The inside height doesn't bother me too much. As long as I can get my truck in there and open the hood I'm fine with it. I won't be putting in a lift or anything like that :p123
 
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xtremek

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I LOVE THIS!!! Great work so far. I've subscrided. I always like it when someone saves a structure or at least parts of it instead of building new. What about finding a way to make a door opener to work on the current doors? The big draw back is that you'd have to shovel out in front of doors before you could open them when it snows. It might be easier on the install side, less structural changes. Maybe using linear actuators or hydrualic/pnuematic cylinders? Kind of like gate openers. The doors would need some extra reinforcement. I think that would be cool
 
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Talonslair

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Just a quick update on a little progress and some asked for pics. I'm very happy with today's progress. We pulled the garage some more and the front is totally plumb. Its hard to tell because the doors are crooked.

 
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Talonslair

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