25x28 Detached Garage

[Gentle_Ben]

I wanted to post an update of how the free flow race deck tiles looked and worked after a long and messy Canadian winter.

My wife pulls her SUV in and out of this garage several times a day all winter long, bringing in tons of slush and slop, snow, salt, gravel, sand, etc. We did absolutely no maintenance whatsoever, not even a quick mop and this is what it looked like. Not bad at all in my opinion, at least on the surface.

Once we took the race deck out after unclipping it from the side pieces we could see the mess that was left behind.

Originally I was going to spray a cleaner on it and pressure wash it like I've seen others done but I was pressed for time and the dirt and grit had dried to a point where I could just sweep it up. I was curious so I weighed it, over 8 lbs of sand and grit were on the floor.

Pulled the racedeck out onto the driveway and sprayed a cleaner all over it to cut through the grime then I pressure washed it.

I had pulled it all out of the garage in one big piece, but there was no way I could install it again in one big piece so I divided it into three pieces to make it easier.

Installed again and looking like new.

Overall I am very impressed with how racedeck handles winter slop. I like things low maintenance and this was just so simple to take care of. My buddy with a bare concrete floor sweeps his out weekly all winter long and this was just a quick clean up in the spring. I think as long as I have a garage I will run racedeck flooring.

 

[JohnnieMo]

That looks as stunning as ever. I cannot believe it was a full 8lbs of grit. (I'm also enamored that you took the time and effort to weigh it)

Is the outside trim and inside fill the same colour black? Or is it just an optical illusion?


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[Gentle_Ben]

That looks as stunning as ever. I cannot believe it was a full 8lbs of grit. (I'm also enamored that you took the time and effort to weigh it)

Is the outside trim and inside fill the same colour black? Or is it just an optical illusion?


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My wife was like "what are you doing with my scale?" as I walked past her carrying it outside. I didn't answer and she followed me out to see me weighing a garbage bag on the driveway on her bathroom scale, she just shook her head and walked back inside.

The inside is graphite, the outer trim is black.

 

[AXDB]

My wife was like "what are you doing with my scale?" as I walked past her carrying it outside. I didn't answer and she followed me out to see me weighing a garbage bag on the driveway on her bathroom scale, she just shook her head and walked back inside.

The inside is graphite, the outer trim is black.

Pretty much what happens every time I'm in the garage.

 

[21lostboy]

Subscribed.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Pretty much what happens every time I'm in the garage.

Haha yeah pretty much.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Part of the bi-annual maintenance of the drainage trench is taking all the grates out and giving them a coat of paint. While the grates are out we also take the opportunity to give the trench a good cleaning.

Result of 4 XL spray cans of Rustoleum Rust Paint in glossy black and they are ready to be installed again. These suckers got really hot while drying in the sun and ended up burning my hands a bit after being too stubborn to get and get gloves.

Also finally got my microwave back that I had lent out 4 years ago, happy it fits in the spot that was designed for it. It actually comes in quite handy out in the garage for making microwave popcorn and pizza pops.

__________________________________

 

[55cadillacking]

Good work on the grills. I'm sure it makes a difference once they are painted up.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Good work on the grills. I'm sure it makes a difference once they are painted up.

Its weird, now with a fresh coat of paint they just sort of blend into the driveway better. They were more noticeable with a bit of surface rust I guess.

 

[dsfd722sts]

that gun case is outstanding! I may have to borrow this idea for my toys.

 

[Firefighter1406]

Quite impressive indeed. Top notch work for sure.

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

Why not use some DTM (Direct to Metal) Paint. Rustolem you buy at the local hardware store is never going to last.

 

[dubber]

Nice job on the racedeck cleaning. Thats truly the beauty of this flooring. Do it once after a winter to rid the garage of the filth and your good to go for another year.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

that gun case is outstanding! I may have to borrow this idea for my toys.

Thanks, I really like it too. If I could change one thing it would have been to make it larger, but since it was a last minute addition to the plans, I had to work within the dimensions already set.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Quite impressive indeed. Top notch work for sure.

Thanks!

Why not use some DTM (Direct to Metal) Paint. Rustolem you buy at the local hardware store is never going to last.

I didn't know there was that option. I just went to the paint store I use for everything else and asked what was the best and most cost effective option and they recommended the spray paint I used. If it costs me $20 in paint and a couple hours of my time once every 2-3 years I don't think its that bad.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Nice job on the racedeck cleaning. Thats truly the beauty of this flooring. Do it once after a winter to rid the garage of the filth and your good to go for another year.

I agree. I was a fan of this stuff based on looks alone but now that I've had a seasonal cleaning cycle with it I like it all over again.

My next job before fall will be cleaning the floor in the detached garage. I don't have the ability to drag the flooring outside like with the attached garage because of the gravel driveway back there, so I am thinking about breaking the floor down into smaller sections and putting them on my trailer instead.

 

[racer-john]

Just finished reading all thru your magnificent build and reconstruction.
However I still can't see the pictures that are suppose to be on page 31.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Just finished reading all thru your magnificent build and reconstruction.
However I still can't see the pictures that are suppose to be on page 31.

Thanks for your read through of my thread.

I will fix up the pictures on page 31, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Some new updates on my house and garage.

Ever since sealing our house up and making it much more energy efficient, we have been dealing with our indoor humidity being out of control in the colder months of the year.

After looking at a few options we decided to install an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator) unit to control the humidity in the house and to provide air circulation.

A proper HRV system should have its own ductwork to each room, but since that's not really feasible in a fully finished home we opted for a retrofit unit which is much simpler to install.

This is how the unit works.

First step make some holes for intake and exhaust vents.

9 inches thick walls were a bit challenging for finding screws with a small enough head to fit in the vent covers but yet long enough to reach the wood to fasten the vents covers in place.

Tearing apart the laundry room. Luckily we put a tile drop ceiling in here initially so we had access to run the flexible duct line.

6 inch intake and exhaust vents installed. In the center is the dryer vent exhaust.

HRV unit installed and functioning.

Everything neat and tidy once again. We made it as unobtrusive as possible, I think it blends right in.

Next it was time to address the same humidity issue in the attached garage. You can see the moisture on the window here already and its not even that cold out yet. We can't use any systems from the house to dry the air in here so it has to have its own independent system. We tried using a dehumidifier but we don't keep it warm enough in here for that to work.

First step was to add an exterior intake vent to the attached garage. This was reused from the house since it already had a 4" fresh air intake for the furnace previously.

On the backside of the intake vent we have a flapper vent which opens once there is negative pressure inside the garage.

Next we mounted an exhaust fan in a spot that would hide it. This is 260CFM I believe.

The air exhausts out the back of the house out of a 6 inch flapper vent. We wanted to create a bit of a vacuum in the garage, that's why we went with a 4 inch intake and 6 inch exhaust.

The garage ventilation system is hidden inside the walk in closet. You can see the 6 inch intake vent in the upper right hand side of the closet. The system is controlled right now by a humidistat on the wall, however we have found with the lower temperatures its not reacting how we would like so we may change this out for a dew stop switch in the future which allows automatic control of humidity as well as timed operation.

Overall we are very happy with both system and they both are functioning very well. The HRV in the house lowered the humidity 20% in the house in the first day. The garage vent system got the condensation off the windows in about 6 hours of operation and now has only kicked on a few times to maintain it.

 

[anuccite]

Just found this thread this AM...... Super Job.

A, Outstanding wood work, and some great ideas will be taken from this thread.
B, Nice Toys (Guns, Sled, and UTV)
C, Love the lighting scheme and look.
D, You can keep all that snow!

One question. maybe I missed someone else ask this. with the garage doors opening up above sheetrock, have you had any water dripping issues to speak of? or did you handle that some other way I missed?

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Just found this thread this AM...... Super Job.

A, Outstanding wood work, and some great ideas will be taken from this thread.
B, Nice Toys (Guns, Sled, and UTV)
C, Love the lighting scheme and look.
D, You can keep all that snow!

One question. maybe I missed someone else ask this. with the garage doors opening up above sheetrock, have you had any water dripping issues to speak of? or did you handle that some other way I missed?

Thanks for the compliments!

I haven't ever really had much moisture to speak of on the garage doors. The overhang keeps a lot of the weather off of them, and there is a ventilation system in place to keep condensation off of the inside of them.

We did anticipate that water might drip off the doors in certain circumstances, so the backside of the drywall in the door pocket is lined with poly, and then we have two intakes for the ventilation system up there to keep air moving through and carrying the water away as it evaporates.

 

[HemiRamOn22s]

Hey Ben i was looking back through some of your pictures when you remodeled the house but the links seem to be broken? Did they get moved?

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Hey Ben i was looking back through some of your pictures when you remodeled the house but the links seem to be broken? Did they get moved?

Had an issue with my original image host. I've restored a lot of the after pics for the house remodel this morning, I just have to upload the before pictures again.

 

[Maddog10]

Beautiful house, garage(s), lawn, toys, etc. This is one of the more entertaining threads I've seen on GJ.

Apologize if I've missed it, but could you post a link to the pot lights you used for the under cabinet lighting? Or even just a general description if you can't find a link.

Really nice work. Mark me as jealous!

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Beautiful house, garage(s), lawn, toys, etc. This is one of the more entertaining threads I've seen on GJ.

Apologize if I've missed it, but could you post a link to the pot lights you used for the under cabinet lighting? Or even just a general description if you can't find a link.

Really nice work. Mark me as jealous!

Thanks very much!

I can't seem to find the puck lights I used from my local hardware store online anywhere. But they are basically a generic xenon puck light kit much like this one. https://guide.alibaba.com/shop/5-pack-120-volt-xenon-puck-kit-cabinet-lights-3-level-dimmer-new-in-box-036653_9255515.html

I see now that there are lots of LED puck light kits now which would likely be a better option than the xenon. My biggest thing was I needed them to be dimmable. We have a dimmer switch wired to an outlet in the cabinet, and these kits plug into the outlet.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Our homebrew ventilation system in the attached garage seems to be functioning very well so far. Normally our garage windows would be heavy with condensation and they remain clear with the fan kicking in occasionally, usually after a vehicle pulls in.

 

[rusty1]

Awesome build on your garage and house,...I could not work in that garage or even pull a vehicle into it, couldn't take seeing it get dirty or marked up!

what did you make the garage cupboards out of?..car siding or ?

what's the meaning behind the stars everyone is hanging on their houses and buildings?

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Awesome build on your garage and house,...I could not work in that garage or even pull a vehicle into it, couldn't take seeing it get dirty or marked up!

what did you make the garage cupboards out of?..car siding or ?

what's the meaning behind the stars everyone is hanging on their houses and buildings?

Well I do get it dirty, and we work on stuff in there all the time, I just do my best to keep it clean while doing so. One of the stipulations of my wife getting on board with this project was that I had to guarantee to keep the garage clean.

Not sure what you mean by car siding, but the cupboards are made out of pine.

Not sure what you mean by the star comment either?

 

[rusty1]

...carsiding is tongue and groove boards...
...someone posted on your thread that had a large metal star hanging on their house;...did some checking and those stars are to ward off evil spirits, etc....many Amish people have used them for years.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

...carsiding is tongue and groove boards...
...someone posted on your thread that had a large metal star hanging on their house;...did some checking and those stars are to ward off evil spirits, etc....many Amish people have used them for years.

Ah ok, I have never heard that terminology before. We call it tongue and groove here.

I must have missed the comment about the stars on houses.

 

[KDXSR5]

This is a very nice build. Thank you for sharing!

 

[Gentle_Ben]

This is a very nice build. Thank you for sharing!

Thanks!

 

[Gentle_Ben]

One of the reasons I built this garage was to have a space to work on my hobbies, one of which was snowmobiling and snowmobile racing. I had to set snowmobiling aside with starting a family and dealing with construction and renovations for the past 4 years but finally this year I got the green light to jump back in.

Pictured is my wife's 2003 Firecat F5 Sno Pro in the foreground and my 2017 ZR 6000 R XC racer in the background. 14 years difference between these two machines!

Its been awesome having a nice heated space to work in, and being able to have the machines prepped and ready to go like this is exactly what I wanted to be able to do with my shop.

 

[cros13]

Awesome build mate, I read your thread a while ago, stumbled on it again and read through the whole 34 pages again.

Have to say i think your Garage is one of my favourites on the forum.

Its strange for me to see your backyards over there with no fences, unheard of here down under. I like the new turf in the back yard. Where you stopped, on the left hand side, is that your property line with your neighbour? as in you don't have a fence on the left hand side either? On the first few pages with no fences it looks like you had a massive lot, guess not?

I really love your gun collection too. Subscribed!

Rudi.

 

[b-dog]

Superb build....there went a couple hours of my life.

Cheers!

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Awesome build mate, I read your thread a while ago, stumbled on it again and read through the whole 34 pages again.

Have to say i think your Garage is one of my favourites on the forum.

Its strange for me to see your backyards over there with no fences, unheard of here down under. I like the new turf in the back yard. Where you stopped, on the left hand side, is that your property line with your neighbour? as in you don't have a fence on the left hand side either? On the first few pages with no fences it looks like you had a massive lot, guess not?

I really love your gun collection too. Subscribed!

Rudi.

Thanks for the read throughs on my thread and thank you for the compliments on my garage.

The community I live in its a bit of a mixture of fenced and non fenced yards. Where we stopped with the sod was just short of the property line with my neighbor there. I've talked with that neighbor about splitting the cost of a fence but the reality is we get along so well with each other and we both help with maintaining the grass that's between our two houses that neither of us really wants a fence at this point. It makes both our yards appear bigger too since they flow into each other.

My neighbors on the other side though, they are renters unfortunately and do not maintain their yard or make any effort at all to maintain the property they are occupying. The landlord gave me some of the materials to put towards that fence so the decision to put one up on that side was easy. We are actually looking at extending it this summer further along my drainage ditch to improve privacy a bit.

 

[Gentle_Ben]

Superb build....there went a couple hours of my life.

Cheers!

Thanks very much!

 

[TomcoPDR]

Impressive building skills. Any pics of just the flourscent lights on?

 

[sean Buick 76]

Super nice to see the KILLER 2017 ZR 6000 R XC racer thats AWESOME!!! I can just hear it now!!!

 

[tomkvalsund]

Subscribed..!
Just spent 3 hours reading through your thread.. Really, really nice build..!! [emoji1][emoji1303]

Cheers from Norway..[emoji482]


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