wisconsin hillrod
Well-known member
I have been browsing Garage Journal for 6+ years and in that time have had three garage projects. I thought I would post them here to hopefully give people ideas, offer help, or answer questions in detail. This was my first project.
A little backstory…
I was planning to live at home and save up a huge down payment and jump right into a nice house. In late 2009 with interest rates going down and the $8,000 first time home buyer’s credit, I decided to look hard at homes I could afford, with a minimum requirement of a 2 car garage. Nothing worked out that was in my price range during the tax credit and I was pretty bummed out.
To my surprise the tax credit was extended and something popped up that I jumped on. At 23 after only working full time 6 months and barely meeting lending equipment’s I was the proud owner of a 1920s bungalow with a 20*22 garage built in the early 80s.
![url]](https://c3.staticflickr.com/6/5536/31164810242_5b5d3d4f83_z.jpg[/url])
Pretty much as soon as I got my tax credit money I set about having a new roof and siding put on the garage. I tacked the job of new garage doors (main and side entry). The roof + siding cost me ~$4,000 installed. I pieced scratch and dent garage doors together at Menards to the tune of $100, and spent $80 on a new side door as the original was very rusty.
I outgrew the garage within the first year, and put in a garden shed and a “boathouse” behind the garage the next summer.
Over the next two years I froze working in the garage in the winter and kept watching as the garage seemed to lean further and further to the right. I later discovered this was happening due to the floating slap settling and cracking and no OSB sheathing used originally.
My friends and I formulated a plan to pull it as straight as we could and then brace it up. We put some chains through holes we drilled in the header, attached a come-a-long and winched it towards my truck until it sounded like it was about to rip apart. We then shored up the front wall with ¾” plywood and lag bolts. After we let it off the truck it settled back some, but a few inches of our progress stayed.
I then rewired it as it was a mess. Added more 2*6 ties to the rafters as they were only run every other and added “W” bracing to the new pieces.
Added some insulation. R13 in the walls, and R19 in the ceiling.
½” BCX Plywood for the other 3 walls and 3/8” BCX for the ceiling. I went with BCX as I wanted a sanded face to paint.
5 gallons of the cheap Menards paint.
And some free cabinets from various old kitchens:
In before snow!
All said my interior finishing came in just under $1,000. Little did I know I would be tearing it apart less than a year later…
Thanks for looking!
-Hillrod
A little backstory…
I was planning to live at home and save up a huge down payment and jump right into a nice house. In late 2009 with interest rates going down and the $8,000 first time home buyer’s credit, I decided to look hard at homes I could afford, with a minimum requirement of a 2 car garage. Nothing worked out that was in my price range during the tax credit and I was pretty bummed out.
To my surprise the tax credit was extended and something popped up that I jumped on. At 23 after only working full time 6 months and barely meeting lending equipment’s I was the proud owner of a 1920s bungalow with a 20*22 garage built in the early 80s.
Pretty much as soon as I got my tax credit money I set about having a new roof and siding put on the garage. I tacked the job of new garage doors (main and side entry). The roof + siding cost me ~$4,000 installed. I pieced scratch and dent garage doors together at Menards to the tune of $100, and spent $80 on a new side door as the original was very rusty.
I outgrew the garage within the first year, and put in a garden shed and a “boathouse” behind the garage the next summer.
Over the next two years I froze working in the garage in the winter and kept watching as the garage seemed to lean further and further to the right. I later discovered this was happening due to the floating slap settling and cracking and no OSB sheathing used originally.
My friends and I formulated a plan to pull it as straight as we could and then brace it up. We put some chains through holes we drilled in the header, attached a come-a-long and winched it towards my truck until it sounded like it was about to rip apart. We then shored up the front wall with ¾” plywood and lag bolts. After we let it off the truck it settled back some, but a few inches of our progress stayed.
I then rewired it as it was a mess. Added more 2*6 ties to the rafters as they were only run every other and added “W” bracing to the new pieces.
Added some insulation. R13 in the walls, and R19 in the ceiling.
½” BCX Plywood for the other 3 walls and 3/8” BCX for the ceiling. I went with BCX as I wanted a sanded face to paint.
5 gallons of the cheap Menards paint.
And some free cabinets from various old kitchens:
In before snow!
All said my interior finishing came in just under $1,000. Little did I know I would be tearing it apart less than a year later…
Thanks for looking!
-Hillrod
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