78fj40's new shop build...

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

Had the idea to one day build a garage/workshop on my property for some time, ever since I built the house a few years ago. I even kept a pallet of bricks to make it match the existing brickwork.

I had thought about doing it steel, but I really didn't like the look and feel, so I went with a stick build. I was originally thinking a 30x30 build, but after working in Rob's (matzell) garage for the past couple of months, I decided to bump it out to 36' so you don't lose the wall space if you install a lift. (allowing 6' in between the wall and the lift) I had a set Rob's plans for about a year now, so I finally worked out all the details with the wife and got me a permit to get the work started.

Garage will be 30' deep by 36' wide, and over 14' to the top of the vaulted ceiling. It will have one 18'x8' garage door and a single 3' entry door. No windows. I live out in the country, but I don't want to advertise what's in the garage....

I had the trees cleared almost two years ago, but after finding out that my setbacks were 25' I needed to remove some more trees and turn the garage 90 degrees to make the door opening on level ground. So first thing was to clear out some more trees:

Then to have the site surveyed and marked:

Looking towards the house from the back:

Here is the driveway I had cut to service the garage/parking area:

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

So now I had to wait for the footing contractor to show up and dig the footings.....this took a few weeks:

Thank god the whole area didn't wash out from some of the storms we had roll through:

Then the cement (concrete) truck showed up:

Lucky I showed up just as the truck starting dispensing, they almost forgot my conduit.....

It steps to three levels on one side, two on the other and two in the back:

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

The mortar, block, and sand showed up sometime the following week and then 6am Sunday morning I was woken up by the dogs to this:

These guys worked fast. I threw on some boots and grabbed a pair of gloves to help move the block & brick around before long they got their rhythm going, and it was going up quick:

The front wall had four courses of block and the back had 7. This will require a lot of backfill:

To save a little $$ and the fact that I only have one pallet of brick, I only have the front and the side facing the house bricked:

They finished by noon. I had some beer and we cleaned up and had a few....here is the finished result:

I don't know if I will pour the floor or get it under roof first. I need to check how much gravel I can fill in vs. how much concrete will be needed. More updates to follow:

sharpshooter · Dec 1, 2006

MORE PICS MORE PICS, Looks good man keep the pictures coming

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

Woke up one morning and looked outside to see this:

Don't you just love trusses. They make your life so much easier......

I got a combination of scissor and storage trusses. The scissor trusses for where the lift will be one day, and the storage trusses over the work bench area. I think I have enough **** and spare parts to fill it up already....

Some nice engineered LVL headers for the garage door.....

JMURiz · Dec 1, 2006

Nice looking foundation, love the brick face. I didn't have any spare bricks so I'll have to do a veneer of brick on mine (cheaper).

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

Well the building has started:

Garage door header:

Roofers:

I have more pics of the construction, but I don't want to be too dial up unfriendly....

Here is a link to my flickr account:

Garage Photos

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

Went on a little vacation during the summer to come home and discover that the floor was poured......

Looks pretty good. I couldn't wait to install the siding and the doors....then I could get started on the electrical...

The view from inside:

I don't know what was better, having the floor done when I got home, or eating some of this we caught over that weekend.......

MMMMMMMM...good

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

After a few weeks to catch up at work, and let my checking account accrue some 0's, I was able to get the siding completed and the door installed. It took a few more months for some more $$ to get the electrical wired, and some grading and fill dirt dropped off.

Looking Good:

Took a cue from a friend and had the garage door tucked up into the ceiling, just look at all of that room:

Went ahead and planned for a vent fan to be installed at a later date. Just installed the lovers for now on the back of the garage:

Hopefully I can save some $$ sometime soon. I can't get over the price of floor Epoxy to coat 1080sf of space....grrrr..

78fj40 · Dec 1, 2006

JMURiz said:
Nice looking foundation, love the brick face. I didn't have any spare bricks so I'll have to do a veneer of brick on mine (cheaper).

Yeah, I kinda made the deal when I built the house to get a pallet of them left behind.....this way if I either did a deck, or decided to build the garage, I had some matching bricks. I'm just glad I had enough to do two sides. It didn't go as far as I thought it would.....

snorvet · Dec 1, 2006

great garage & awesome site!

Sack · Dec 1, 2006

So where is the 40?????

Baer · Dec 1, 2006

Great pics to document the build. Its very helpful to see how it progressed. Thanks for all the detail!
Enjoy!!
Baer

Randall Edge · Dec 1, 2006

Sack said:
So where is the 40?????

Yeah, lets see it. Even if it is a wanna be Jeep. :evil:

78fj40 · Dec 2, 2006

Sack said:
So where is the 40?????

I'll post up a photo when I get the chance. I actaully sold it a few years ago. I had the thing since I was 16, moved out to AZ in it, and then bought a Tacoma. Took a job back east and decided if I was going to pay to move the truck back east, I would rather pay for a rust free truck. So I sold it.

Nowadays I drive a GMC crew cab diesel that tows around this monster:

Does a little better than the 40, but I still miss her....

78fj40 · Dec 2, 2006

snorvet said:
great garage & awesome site!

Yeah thanks.

A lot has happened since I took these last photos. I epoxied the floor, ran the electical, and started the insulation. Did some grading around the garage, and now waiting for the gutters to get installed. I also cam across some serious cabinet hardware...I'll need to post up when I take some more photos....

Now all I need is to find a guy in the Richmond area that can buy me the HVAC duct supplies that I need. I picked up a brand new 2 ton unit to cool/heat the garage, but no supply house in town will sell me the duct sheet metal that I need to complete the job. I did the lineset, electrical, and condensate lines, most of that is easy to come by. If nothing comes up soon, I'm going to wait until I head up to CT for Christmas and pick it up then. Hopefully I can get this done soon so I can get the sheetrock in and then I can start organizing the garage.

Enjoy...

DynoDave · Dec 2, 2006

That's a great looking place, Norman. I guess great minds think alike. I am also building a 30x36, part storage truss, part scissor truss (for a lift later). Large o/h door following the interior ceiling pitch. Similar colors, though I couldn't find a matching brick for mine. It's great that you had those around to add that detail. It looks great.

78fj40 · Dec 2, 2006

DynoDave said:
That's a great looking place, Norman. I guess great minds think alike. I am also building a 30x36, part storage truss, part scissor truss (for a lift later). Large o/h door following the interior ceiling pitch. Similar colors, though I couldn't find a matching brick for mine. It's great that you had those around to add that detail. It looks great.

Yeah, I came up with that size when a buddy of mine built a 28x30 garage. H has the lift to one side, and when you have anything up on the lift, you cannot get around the side of the lift easily. Only 1ft of room. Plus you lose all of the wall space to the lift. With the additional 6' you can put some 15" deep cabinets in there and them you still have 4 feet to get around the lift. I'm using old 3 drawer steel lateral file cabinets. About 40" tall. Then some 15" deep slide door overhead cabinets with shelves completes the whole wall. I'll have to get some photos up when it's all complete. Right now there are just piles of cabinets everywhere......

As for the depth. The extra 2' is needed so that when I pull in my Crew Cab Long bed tow rig, I can get around the back with the garage door closed. If I'm going to be wrenching in cool AC I don't want to waste energy....

hehehe

Do you have pics of your project. I'm always looking for ideas.....that's why I;m posting up to this site.....

Sack · Dec 2, 2006

78fj40 said:
Nowadays I drive a GMC crew cab diesel that tows around this monster:

So you sold your soul and crossed over to the dark side eh? Is that Photo from PAP?

Don't mean to derail the thread. Sweet garage though man.

DynoDave · Dec 2, 2006

78fj40 said:
Yeah, I came up with that size when a buddy of mine built a 28x30 garage. H has the lift to one side, and when you have anything up on the lift, you cannot get around the side of the lift easily. Only 1ft of room. Plus you lose all of the wall space to the lift. With the additional 6' you can put some 15" deep cabinets in there and them you still have 4 feet to get around the lift. I'm using old 3 drawer steel lateral file cabinets. About 40" tall. Then some 15" deep slide door overhead cabinets with shelves completes the whole wall. I'll have to get some photos up when it's all complete. Right now there are just piles of cabinets everywhere......

As for the depth. The extra 2' is needed so that when I pull in my Crew Cab Long bed tow rig, I can get around the back with the garage door closed. If I'm going to be wrenching in cool AC I don't want to waste energy....

hehehe

Do you have pics of your project. I'm always looking for ideas.....that's why I;m posting up to this site.....

Here's a link to my post.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5786

I had a similar experience on deciding the size of mine. My neighbor’s garage (seen in the background of some of my photos) is 24' deep. My current attached is 22' deep. I wanted to go a little deeper to get my Suburban inside comfortably. Heck, the Dodge and Chrysler are 18' long. At 22' feet in my current garage, it's very snug at the front of the car with a tool box there, and the back is against the overhead door. That's why I also went with 8' high doors instead of 7'. Used to have to lift up on the open door to get my old conversion van inside. I didn't want to face that again some day. Same with the extra width (9' single, 18' double). By the time I finish this shop, and a couple of old cars to go in it, I won't be too young myself anymore. I'd be sick if I scraped the side of a car backing out of a narrow door way. So I went for extra width. Mine will still be very snug when filled, but it's as big as the law would allow in my circumstance.

Looks like I need to resurrect that post, and bring it up to date. Though not too much has changed visually. I've been trying to do as much as I can myself, which with winter coming on, and day light savings time, has really slowed my progress. And now the Holidays.

But, since those photos...trenches were dug and conduit is in for electrical, and for "accessories" like phone, cable, internet, etc. Gas line is also buried. Both have passed inspection. New 200A panel in the house to accommodate the 100A for the garage. Overhead doors were ordered, are now in stock, and are supposed to go in next week. I'll order the furnace this week also. I still have some boards to nail up inside, and a little plywood work to do on the front of the building. I'll be out there again tomorrow hammering away!

78fj40 · Dec 4, 2006

So I've been taking a few months off here because I have been spending too much time on projects and not enough time on my wife and daughter. I took this opportunity to do some smaller projects around the house. I

n the meantime I went to a few auctions and picked up some goodies. I first bought a whole pallet of semi used counter tops in various colors:

I don't plan on using a lot of these, so anyone in the Richmond area in need of some counter space just drop me a line and we can talk.

Then from my previous post about the width and fitting a lift into the garage I bought a few 3 drawer lateral file cabinets like this one below:

I figure I need about 6 or seven of them all along one side of the garage. They measure roughly 36Wx18Dx40H. I also got a few that are 48" wide. I'll use the aforementioned counter tops to cover them and give a uniform surface. I don't have a long continuous piece of counter, so I'll trow in a 2 drawer in between sections to allow for multiple sections to be used:

Above that, I'll mount a bunch of these. They are normally used to mount on top of 5 drawer lateral file cabinets, but with a drill bit and some careful stud locating you can easily mount them on the wall. They mostly measure 36WX18DX28H, there are also a few that are 48" wide as well. I think I picked up about 20 or so of these units, and I'll spread them around the shop:

When I look at the prices for some storage solution cabinets, my knowledge into the used office equipment market paid off. My family owned a office supply store up in CT for years and I still have the inside track on local FDIC auctions. You would be amazed on what you can pick up for so little.

My problem is that I have to store all this **** while I wait for the garage to get done. Some deals I just can pass up.

I hate clutter. Now I can store all kinds of **** and still have room to get around the side of the lift. After looking at a few other project here on the board, I feel like I'm building a storage shed for some of your lawn tools....

I forgot my camera at home today, I snapped a bunch of photos for you to check the progress as of late....

cdrewferd · Dec 4, 2006

Great looking garage. Where did you get thos lateral files as I am trying to find some to put in my garage?

78fj40 · Dec 4, 2006

cdrewferd said:
Great looking garage. Where did you get thos lateral files as I am trying to find some to put in my garage?

A wise man never gives up his secrets. At least out on the web. I'll shoot you with a PM and you can go from there....

cdrewferd · Dec 4, 2006

Awsome. Thanks.

78fj40 · Dec 5, 2006

Update with Photos

Okay,

so I promised some photos, and here goes. Got the tractor from my dad and borrowed a box blade from my neighbor. Spent a weekend attempting to move dirt around from the front of the garage to the back. Raked down the tall spots and planted some grass seed, that didn't seem to take at all. Then it rained, a lot, for days. So now it looks worse then when I started.....

So anyway I found a 2 Ton 13 SEER heat pump for sale new in the box. The guy even installed it for a small fee:

I stll need to get a few loads of dirt in the back so it's not perfectly level yet. I figured that the power company is coming in a few days to install the meter and hook up power, so i'll wait until then to finish the grading..... Made up this sign so that they don't wreck the drainage pipes around the foundation:

78fj40 · Dec 5, 2006

Update with Photos Part 2

So while I was waiting for the HVAC guy to install the heat pump and air handler, I decided to get out my electrical tools and begin to wire up the outside receptacles and flood lights. When I built the house, the electrician talked me out of putting flood lights on all sides of the house. Not this time. I put floods on all sides of the garage:

On the Peaks:

Around back:

In the Front:

I also have some plug receptacles on each side of the garage as well.

78fj40 · Dec 7, 2006

Okay now you need to go back in time a bit. The construction was complete and the doors installed back in June. Then the project sat idle for three weeks until I conned my wife into helping me put 6 gallons of Epoxy down. We did this over the 4th of July. It came out better than I expected:

I should of taken photos while we did it, but the camera isn't always my first thought when I have a project in mind....

Then the shop went to the back burner for awhile while I constructed a 'play area' for my daughter…

Before:

After:

I also re did the laundry room with some new cabinets and wains coating and then installed some curtains in the master bathroom. I also managed to take took the family on a little road trip after I bought my wife a new RAV4.

The new car definitely brought me back in the plus so I was able to start back up again on the shop…..

78fj40 · Dec 7, 2006

Okay now I was ready to get down to business on the electrical. I knew that I was going to get a meter installed on the shop, so I went with a 200 amp panel. With plenty of space I went with the following:

3 - 15 amp 115v lighting circuits
2 circuits for 8 interior HO T12 fluorescents and 2 attic lights
1 circuit for all exterior lighting
6 - 20 amp 115v outlet circuits
3 alternating circuits along the 3 walls
1 circuit for ceiling outlets/exhaust fan and ceiling fan
1 circuit for a fridge
5 20-30 amp 240v circuits
3 circuits, one for each wall
1 circuit in ceiling for lift
1 circuit for heap pump condenser
1 40 amp circuit for a compressor
1 50 amp circuit for the electric coils in the air handler in the attic

I knew that I wanted plenty of outlets, so I put one every three studs….

When designing the trusses for the roof I ordered two less scissor and two extra storage trusses to make a separate 'attic' for the air handler….

I found a killer deal on the heat pump, now all I need is someone who can sell me/help me purchase the HVAC ductwork. I didn't realize that you needed a HVAC license to buy anything in Richmond. Anyone out there in the Richmond Virginia area who does heating and AC?

Anyways… I picked up the meter base and installed it and ran the lines to the load center:

Even with all of those circuits I still have a few empty spaces so I added a empty 2" conduit that runs from the load center to the attic so I can easily add in circuits later on if need be…

As you can tell from the pictures, I passed the electrical inspection (did all the electrical work myself) and started the insulation. Waiting to finish it when I get the rough in completed for the heat pump and ducts. Then comes the task of installing the Sheetrock. I would love to get more done before the end of the year, but with my wallet being filled with nothing but cobwebs, everything may have to go on hold until I can save up some more money…….or sell a kidney….

cdrewferd · Dec 12, 2006

That garage is looking really nice. Good job on the electrical.

78fj40 · Dec 12, 2006

cdrewferd said:
That garage is looking really nice. Good job on the electrical.

Thanks. It's been a dream of mine for 15+ years to build this garage. The only part that drives me crazy is not having enough money or time to work on it....

Found a couple of guys to do the HVAC ductwork for me. They'll be here on Sunday. Applied for the Mechanical Permit and it was approved. Once I get it inspected next week, then I can get the sheetrock done. That will have to wait until the new year. Bummer....

I'll post up the most recent photos later this week.

78fj40 · Dec 13, 2006

Gutters finally installed

After months of waiting for someone to call me back on seamless gutters, I finally got someone to come out and install them....

Just like I wanted. Connected them in with the underground drainage pipes and now I have no worries about water washing out around the base of the downspout...

In the front

In the back of the garage too....

Took the rake on the back of the tractor and attempted to straightened up around the garage, planted some rye grass and crossed my fingers.....hopefully I can get this under control until I get some loom and gravel in when I can afford it....

I also woke this morning to the sounds of big trucks pulling into my driveway. The power company decided to start the process of giving me power. They took one look at the engineer's drawing, and said "Let's do this another way" so I may be a day or two until they are finished. I also found out that they need to double the size of the transformer feeding the house. Just for another 200A....nice :thumbup:

I was joking with them as asked if they would mind dropping in a 10KW generator while there were there. No dice.

78fj40 · Jan 3, 2007

Wanted:

Free Fill Dirt.....

78fj40 · Jan 4, 2007

Finally remembered to bring in the photos so that I can post some more up for you guys......

Let's start off with Dominion Virginia Power coming out to hook me up to the transformer......this photo is looking down my driveway away from my house and the road towards the back of my property and the neighbors house. The truck is parked next to the transformer, which sits on the edge of my property line....

Now when I turn 90 degrees left you can see the driveway to the garage/shop and their other truck parked with the small track hoe....

Photo of my daughter who seems more excited about big trucks than I do.....

DynoDave · Jan 4, 2007

78fj40 said:
Wanted:

Free Fill Dirt.....

This may sound goofy, Norm, but have you checked Craig's List for your area? Under the FREE area, there's always someone in this area getting rid of fill dirt. It might be worth checking.

78fj40 · Jan 5, 2007

DynoDave said:
This may sound goofy, Norm, but have you checked Craig's List for your area? Under the FREE area, there's always someone in this area getting rid of fill dirt. It might be worth checking.

Check it everyday....Only problem is how do I load it? Plus I live way out in the sticks, so there is NO way I'm getting a free drop off.

There is a gas station going in down the street, (5 miles or so) and they have hug piles of dirt laying around from digging the tanks/drainage/foundation. I need to stop by and see a forman or something....

Matt2point4 · Jan 5, 2007

"There is a gas station going in down the street, (5 miles or so) and they have hug piles of dirt laying around from digging the tanks/drainage/foundation. I need to stop by and see a forman or something...."

You should hurry up and try to get a word with him, from my experience construction companies like to get rid of piles of rubble/dirt as soon as possible to clean the place up and prevent accidents.

78fj40 · Jan 5, 2007

Matt2point4 said:
You should hurry up and try to get a word with him, from my experience construction companies like to get rid of piles of rubble/dirt as soon as possible to clean the place up and prevent accidents.

Yeah I know. It's been raining so much lately, no one has been around the site...I think they are waiting for a dry spell to hit so that they can finish the work......

Matt2point4 · Jan 5, 2007

.. or it might be because they knocked off for Xmas? anyway I doubt they'll refuse you place is probably closer than the dump spot they use, and it should save them money too!

78fj40 · Jan 5, 2007

Matt2point4 said:
.. or it might be because they knocked off for Xmas? anyway I doubt they'll refuse you place is probably closer than the dump spot they use, and it should save them money too!

That is my home and dream.....I would love it If I could bring up the level of the rear of the garage to the same as the front. I already brought it up about 10" or so with some dirt from my neighbors, but would love about 10 or so loads dropped off back there.

78fj40 · Jan 5, 2007

So where were we.....

Ah yes. the power company....started to hook up the shop, and they stopped by with all of this equipment and it started to rain...grrrrrrrrr

So they only wired up the top half of the meter base:

I don't know why they needed to upgrade the transformer, but they did.....the new one is to the right of the old one...

They also didn't want to dig up the driveway so they ran it through the woods leaving sinkholes everywhere.....

Well now that I have power I can hook up some outlets and lights to aid in the finishing off the project. Next comes the rest of the HVAC work, and then some more insulation, and finally the Sheetrock....

78fj40's new shop build...

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