1935 Gas Station Resurrection

[oldironfarmer]

Looking really good!

With the blue boxes, that was not a really old installation. The plumbing supports look solid

 

[madoc1]

any idea what that small enclosed area was for? a private office? demo work is fun! my mother used to wait till dad was out of town then would get me to knock down the walls she wanted removed to remodel the house. did this a couple of times.

jim

 

[BUGTHUG]

So do you have help on this project? Man you work faster than my hired contractors do

 

[C_F]

With the blue boxes, that was not a really old installation.

Same thing I was thinking, those look to have been installed fairly recently. Man, that "junction box" is sure sketchy though, good thing that's going away!
Love the pipe supports.

Are you going to remove the block walls also? I assume one or both are load bearing walls?

 

[HD FLHX]

Looking really good!

With the blue boxes, that was not a really old installation.

The inside of that room was redone by the owner I bought the building from. He installed the drywall, carpet, trim and a couple can lights in the ceiling. It was done sometime in the past 9 years he owned the building.



Most all the outlets and boxes have Menards price tags on them, no UPC code in sight. A few have sale prices on the outlets for 29 cents.

any idea what that small enclosed area was for? a private office?
jim

I believe when it was the flower shop they had coolers in that room for the flowers. The previous owner I bought the building from redone it and used it as a guest bedroom for when he had family in town.

So do you have help on this project?

Nope just me, very rare I will ask anybody for help. I prefer to work alone.

Are you going to remove the block walls also? I assume one or both are load bearing walls?

The walls will have to stay. They support the roof rafters. The one with the intact doorway I will leave exposed and just cap the end. Not sure what I'm going to do with the other one yet, may cover it entirely or just the frame the doorway back in then cover the busted out section with galvanized panels

 

[HD FLHX]

Didn't get as much done as I would have liked yesterday. I did get my trailer unloaded at the landfill, another 3200 lbs of debris which is the same as the last load. 6400 lbs have been removed so far with no end in sight.



Was successful in making a pretty good mess in the first shop bay dropping the drywall ceiling.




Cleaned up and all the debris in the trailer.




With the ceiling removed, I am able to get a look at the structure of the roof and the modification that were done in the past to open the inside of the building.



This building had 3 I- beams installed to support the roof and allow for the brick interior walls to be removed. Here's a look at one of them. There is also 2 layers of R19 insulation in the ceiling, which I was happy to see.




I took this pic of the roof a few weeks ago and kept forgetting to post it. It shows how much pitch the roof has front to back that is masked by the fake brick facade. The dura-last roof membrane was done in 2004 so hopefully I'll be able to get many more years out of it.



The magazines on display in the front office

 

[rmmiller]

Pretty cool watching as you peel back the layers exposing the buildings history. It's crazy to see what has been done to alter the building in order to fit the next occupants needs.

 

[Zeeman]

I've enjoyed reading your thread. Great job on the restoration. I believe I have a Sinclair Credit Card sign somewhere. I'll try to take a picture of it for you. Your display case looks very nice.

 

[YJ4000]

Your doing a great job. I think doing a section at a time is a good way to go. Won't seem as overwhelming. Thanks for taking the time to show us.

Ryan.

 

[BUGTHUG]

Those 2 X 4 's are the real deal. Back when man were man, and women were ladies. No third rest room, needed!

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Those 2 X 4 's are the real deal. Back when man were man, and women were ladies. No third rest room, needed!

 

[Dave_Car_Guy]

Awesome, I'm really excited to see your progress! Used to work in a gas station that was originally from 1938 which stayed working through the 90s.

 

[wisconsin hillrod]

Neat. Subscribed.

 

[TomcoPDR]

you're an animal doing this by yourself, hats off to ya... wow. (let alone the time it takes to load photos, description)

 

[shortykorte]

"Easter Basket Joy"ce.

You're moving right along. I've always loved demo work. It's the finish work that I struggle with.

 

[oldironfarmer]

I liked those old outlets with the push connectors for 12 ga. I guess the rules change because they will only take 14 ga now. I just never use 14 ga.

Progress is looking great and you've demonstrated the ability to produce a well conceived finished product.

 

[HD FLHX]

Been a LONG couple days, but the overhead door in the first shop bay is installed.




By Sunday evening I had the opening reframed to fit the 8x10 door and the inside buttoned up ready to start the door install this morning. Threw a few sheets of OSB up to try to keep some of the heat in overnight.



On one of these doors I'm going to remember to take a few pics of the installation process, but today wasn't that day. Door installed and springs tension set.



Still have some trim work to do on the outside. The jambs are wrapped in metal and the outside weather seals installed. Ran out of daylight so I couldn't get a pic this evening.

 

[sids04]

Looks great ! I love the process.

 

[rpenner54]

When I look at this picture I see one of those panels as a "sliding garage door" That can "close" off your front display area. The panels to the right look like if they were hung on a track they would be a perfect door to the opening on the left.

Love the way this looks.

Galvanized Pro-Rib panels installed on the two walls where the metal working equipment will be placed.

 

[HD FLHX]

When I look at this picture I see one of those panels as a "sliding garage door" That can "close" off your front display area. The panels to the right look like if they were hung on a track they would be a perfect door to the opening on the left.

Love the way this looks.

I was kicking around the idea of putting a sliding door in to separate shop bay 1 & 2. I was just going to make it out of osb, but I like the idea of using the galvanized panels instead.



I have one in my shop at home that closes off my paint room from the shop side. They work well.

 

[HD FLHX]

Been a busy week at work so my time at the building was limited. Just got some more demo done in shop bay #2. The floors had 2 layers of vinyl tile on top of a plywood underlayment that was glued to the concrete floor. All that is now gone along with the last remaining piece of carpet in the old cooler room. Opened up the east wall where the overhead door will be reinstalled. The drop ceilings in this bay will have to be removed and rebuilt because above the old cooler room the ceiling was never dropped. I think I'm going to set the ceiling height in this bay at 11 feet. That will leave enough room above to insulate it well.









Something I didn't think much about till yesterday morning...I have 175' of sidewalk I'll have to maintain now every time it snows..

 

[Loose Ctrl]

Is the brick sidewalk cemented in? If not, maybe a small hydronic under floor heating type set up to keep it clear. Use copper pipe instead of PEX or PVC. Reflective backed foam insulating board laid down, and set everything in sand ontop of it. Just an idea.

 

[wasfast]

Would it make sense to replace the 2 steel round columns with a single larger column centered in the opening? Seems that would make a better passageway width.

 

[shortykorte]

Something I didn't think much about till yesterday morning...I have 175' of sidewalk I'll have to maintain now every time it snows..

Looks like beautiful Florida panhandle beach sand.

Maintain? Is it a requirement that all sidewalks have to be cleared when it snows?

 

[HD FLHX]

Something I didn't think much about till yesterday morning...I have 175' of sidewalk I'll have to maintain now every time it snows..

Looks like beautiful Florida panhandle beach sand.

Maintain? Is it a requirement that all sidewalks have to be cleared when it snows?

Yes sir, city ordinance. Has to be cleared within 12hrs of any measurable snow fall

 

[madoc1]

what do you do with the snow? just blow it out in the street? is this ordinance for the residential areas also? i live in the middle of tex and we see snow about once every 10 years.

jim

 

[HD FLHX]

what do you do with the snow? just blow it out in the street? is this ordinance for the residential areas also? i live in the middle of tex and we see snow about once every 10 years.

jim

It is a city wide ordinance, as a property owner you are responsible for clearing snow from any sidewalk that is on your property. Commercial or residential it doesn't matter. You just pile it on the edge of the street. One thing Perry does that a lot of cities don't is in the downtown area they will come in with a large tractor mounted snow thrower run it down the street edges filling the back of a dump truck and haul it out of downtown so you don't have big piles of snow on the curb sides. One of the city employees made a video a few years ago and it shows the snow thrower at about the 3:15 mark. Most of the downtown portion of this video was shot a block west of my building.

Keep in mind we're a small town in the middle of nowhere Iowa...we are easily entertained

 

[HD FLHX]

Is the brick sidewalk cemented in? If not, maybe a small hydronic under floor heating type set up to keep it clear. Use copper pipe instead of PEX or PVC. Reflective backed foam insulating board laid down, and set everything in sand ontop of it. Just an idea.

It is cemented in. For being a 30 year old installation it has held up well. Its really not that big of a deal to clear, just something I hadn't thought about till Saturday when we got a little snow.

 

[vettex2]

Awesome !!!

 

[Loose Ctrl]

It is cemented in. For being a 30 year old installation it has held up well. Its really not that big of a deal to clear, just something I hadn't thought about till Saturday when we got a little snow.

I'm lazy when it comes to building maintenance. I'd rather be working on something more interesting.

 

[madoc1]

cool, well cold video! smart people in your town.

jim

 

[IowaMercMan]

I live in Iowa too. Here, they don't even get the trucks out for that little bit of snow. Cool video.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pmason0]

I remember growing up in a small town in Iowa that they used large end loaders to load the dump trucks with all the snow on the downtown square.

But this is a cool project, great job bring things back.

 

[95riosnake]

I think this is one of my favorite threads on this site to date. Love all your work so far. That's going to be an incredible work space when you're finished.

 

[nh_yota]

You need a Trackless MT:

http://tracklessvehicles.com/Products/MT6

 

[HD FLHX]

The new restroom is framed out. Its small, but functional. The inside dimensions are 4'x4'. The sink will be mounted on the wall beside the toilet. I still have to frame out a drop ceiling inside the restroom. The ceiling height will be 7 feet.

 

[shortykorte]

Interesting entrance to the restroom. I guess the door will swing out and step will be enclosed by door.

Wishing I had your energy and drive.

 

[andyaus]

Great work, please keep the updates coming


ps: have fun with that sidewalk

 

[Capstone]

If you already mentioned this, sorry for the repeat. I just went through the entire thread, but skipped reading much of it. The pictures speak for themselves!

I think color matching the building brick to a paint for the back wall on the right and then some kind of faux mural or signage would make the whole building look even more impressive and awesome.

BTW, Really super cool project. Thanks for sharing your progress!!

 

[Capstone]

Keep in mind we're a small town in the middle of nowhere Iowa...we are easily entertained

This is so much Midwest silliness. More reasons for me to move even further away from the snowbelt. LOL