27x68 so cal
- Thread starter waggie
- Start date
mdkingsley
Well-known member
This is going to be a nice shop, I like how you cant even tell it from the road.
W0rLDWaR4
Well-known member
Just read/saw the whole thread. Looks amazing! Great results thus far 
mygarageone
Well-known member
Great looking addition it should serve you well.
When I saw the dog down in the hole , I thought to my self , must be the building inspector
When I saw the dog down in the hole , I thought to my self , must be the building inspector
ddawg16
Well-known member
I'm not sure how you got the permits approved.....I guess Upland is a bit more lenient....
But I like how you have made it look like part of the house....from the street....it looks great. How is your neighbor handling it? Hopefully he is a beer drinking buddy.
Once it's all done....I can't how your neighbors can complain....it's going to look good....certainly not any kind of eye sore.
But I like how you have made it look like part of the house....from the street....it looks great. How is your neighbor handling it? Hopefully he is a beer drinking buddy.
Once it's all done....I can't how your neighbors can complain....it's going to look good....certainly not any kind of eye sore.
KCarGuy
Well-known member
WOW! That sure is a Big Addition to your Garage,
And I Love the Look on how it ties into your existing Style Outside.
I cannot wait to see how you finish the inside!
Nicely Done so far!
And I Love the Look on how it ties into your existing Style Outside.
I cannot wait to see how you finish the inside!
Nicely Done so far!
softailgarage
Well-known member
Man, that's one helluva big add on. The garage is bigger than the house, I love it 
The place does look great and I'm wonderin about the neighbors as well. For SoCal. that's a monster garage.
The place does look great and I'm wonderin about the neighbors as well. For SoCal. that's a monster garage.bczygan
Well-known member
What a monstrosity!
I'd be so pissed if a neighbor built that in my neighborhood.
In fact, one did, and I have to look at the eyesore whenever I look out my bedroom window. It is an eyesore because it is all out of scale to the house and neighborhood. And the windows are tiny and badly placed. I looks like a beached whale added to the back of the house.
That said, I designed a similarly sized detached garage for my brother. Although it isn't as tall, it does have a second story and it dwarfs the house in overall size.
And my step-son has an attached similar to the OP's and I envy him (And the OP).
Wish I had the room to build that big.
Nice job with the roof line, so it doesn't look so big from the street.
Bill
I'd be so pissed if a neighbor built that in my neighborhood.
In fact, one did, and I have to look at the eyesore whenever I look out my bedroom window. It is an eyesore because it is all out of scale to the house and neighborhood. And the windows are tiny and badly placed. I looks like a beached whale added to the back of the house.
That said, I designed a similarly sized detached garage for my brother. Although it isn't as tall, it does have a second story and it dwarfs the house in overall size.
And my step-son has an attached similar to the OP's and I envy him (And the OP).
Wish I had the room to build that big.
Nice job with the roof line, so it doesn't look so big from the street.
Bill
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I haven't built anything outrageous, at least not in my area. On my block there's:
1. a guy with a 40x40x12 garage (car collector),
2. another with 6 car garage/pool house (he also works and collect race cars, and motorcycles)
3. a 4 car garage with a second story game room
4. a 4 car garage
5. a 4 car garage, plus a three car garage both on the same lot.
6. a 900 sq ft wood shop
7. a 3 car garage wood shop
Obviously, I can't just tell the city I am building a workshop to do experimental glass blowing, metal casting and a metal fabrication shop, even though it might be ok. But the plan is requested as a RV garage (there are at least 10 RV garage within 5 minutes walk in my area), and the city is deathly afraid that people will park their RV on the street/driveway. So an RV garage isn't unusual. The fact that I have industrial metal fab tools, that's a little unusual. But I've had those tools in a two-car garage, on the same property, and sometimes play way into the early A.M. hours with loud music blaring on top of an air compressor... No one can hear anything from the street, though.
The roof height regulation in my area is 24 or 25 foot, mine comes in at 22' and change, so I'm all good. DOT height regulation for 18 wheeler is 14' 6", so I guess RV's can't be higher than that. That's why the door is so tall. It's not that I personally need a door so high, it's that if i were to sell this place, whoever looking to buy it is going to be looking for a place to park his RV, since no one is crazy enough (except the people on this forum) to buy a house with an 1800sq ft garage. Which is a very small percentage of the real estate market. Besides, I've never seen anyone complaining about "man, I should have built the garage/shop with lower ceiling"
so far, all the neighbors are very supportive. This neighborhood has a tradition of "car-people" so most of them are quite intrigued by the project. The neighbor immediately next to the garage had just built a 3 car garage of their own, and renovated the entire house. It was a year-long project. There were work trucks at their house every single day. So, he's also pretty familiar with the city building code. As long as I stay within the limits of the building code, I dont see how or why anyone would complain.
So far, the only concession I have had to make is to install wood siding, as there were wood siding on the previous garage. I had wanted to just stucco the entire 68ft wall, but the city wouldn't go for it.
With all the car people on my block, i've done some metal related favors here and there. Once the shop is up and running, I'll be doing a lot more. All the wood workers here are pretty stingy with their time/shop/tools, not me. If it's something I can fix/weld/mill/lathe within a reasonable amount of time, I just do it for free for my neighbors and friends.
sorry about the incoherent rant
dubber
Well-known member
WOWWWW!! This is a dream project. Love what your planning and doing. Definitely going to be checking back on the status of this one. Nice work!
roscoe2000
Well-known member
Looking good from the rear, your additon doesn't look our of scale. Seeing that you mimic the roof line and other house characters. A year from now and most people will not really notice it. Great job
my58
Well-known member
What an absolutely great thread! I look forward to watching you fill this place up and getting some projects going. Would enjoy knowing about your Mill and other equipment also. How are you planning on lighting it?
Thanks for allowing us to follow along. Subscribed.
Thanks for allowing us to follow along. Subscribed.
Nighttrain
Well-known member
The garage is awesome. No need to explain why it's so big. In fact I am going to say why not go bigger! Your builder obviously know what he is doing by adding to the foundation under the house. Adding those windows up high and going with the tile roof is really nice. Here's to many days of happiness in the shop with your dog.
as far as lighting, it's a toss up between T5HO vs T8 with electronic ballast.
I have had excellent luck with T5HO, and regular T5. Unfortunately, there isn't much selection for T5HO fixtures.
None of the electrical is ran. Only thing in the garage is two 110 plugs, and a switch that turns on three 2xT5's.
*note, photo taken without flash*
They're not HO ones, but at 9 feet off the floor, they'll be fine. This is the part of the shop that was the old 2 car garage, so it's only 20 feet wide. Since it' the lowest part of the shop, the milling machine and lathe will go here. Also, since it's the lowest part, it's the only area of the ceiling that i can reach with a 6 foot ladder.
I need to decide on the lighting pretty soon, though.
I have had excellent luck with T5HO, and regular T5. Unfortunately, there isn't much selection for T5HO fixtures.
None of the electrical is ran. Only thing in the garage is two 110 plugs, and a switch that turns on three 2xT5's.
*note, photo taken without flash*
They're not HO ones, but at 9 feet off the floor, they'll be fine. This is the part of the shop that was the old 2 car garage, so it's only 20 feet wide. Since it' the lowest part of the shop, the milling machine and lathe will go here. Also, since it's the lowest part, it's the only area of the ceiling that i can reach with a 6 foot ladder.
I need to decide on the lighting pretty soon, though.
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Time for another update...
Outside: second coat of stucco (I believe they call this Brown Coat? the first coat was called Scratch Coat, I think.) A week later they'll do the final coat.
Well, I picked up 3 pairs of Home Depot's T5HO fixtures and went to town. 4 of the fixtures are 19 foot off of ground. For someone (me) with fear of heights, this installation was extremely difficult. These lights are super easy to install, but not when you're doing this all alone, with almost crippling fear of heights. It took me almost a week to just get the fixtures installed.
Most of time was spent frozen in fear, half way up the ladder... white knuckle, monster gripping the ladder... sweating bullets... take another step... grip...dont look down, don't look down... dammit, i looked down... take another breather while I imagine my friends coming to visit after not hearing from me for a week, and discovering my body on top of the broken ladder...
anyway, personal issues aside, here are the pictures.
got two rows wired in, couldn't wait to install the third rown, had to turn them on.
crappy picture taken from about 60 feet away.
Fixtures: $70 a piece from Home Depot
Bulbs: $203 40pack. $5.08 per bulb. from Amazon (seller: 1000Bulbs.)
Contractor said we should be done by the end of next week. I'm running the electric myself to save a few bucks, so that'll just get done when it gets done. Only thing left is painting, concrete for areas surrounding the shop, and re-hook up the AC.
Outside: second coat of stucco (I believe they call this Brown Coat? the first coat was called Scratch Coat, I think.) A week later they'll do the final coat.
Well, I picked up 3 pairs of Home Depot's T5HO fixtures and went to town. 4 of the fixtures are 19 foot off of ground. For someone (me) with fear of heights, this installation was extremely difficult. These lights are super easy to install, but not when you're doing this all alone, with almost crippling fear of heights. It took me almost a week to just get the fixtures installed.
Most of time was spent frozen in fear, half way up the ladder... white knuckle, monster gripping the ladder... sweating bullets... take another step... grip...dont look down, don't look down... dammit, i looked down... take another breather while I imagine my friends coming to visit after not hearing from me for a week, and discovering my body on top of the broken ladder...
anyway, personal issues aside, here are the pictures.
got two rows wired in, couldn't wait to install the third rown, had to turn them on.
crappy picture taken from about 60 feet away.
Fixtures: $70 a piece from Home Depot
Bulbs: $203 40pack. $5.08 per bulb. from Amazon (seller: 1000Bulbs.)
Contractor said we should be done by the end of next week. I'm running the electric myself to save a few bucks, so that'll just get done when it gets done. Only thing left is painting, concrete for areas surrounding the shop, and re-hook up the AC.
All the lights are in.
the three rows are T5HO's. Two of which are about 18'-19' off the ground, one is about 16'.
The last row is about 10' off the ground, those are just regular T5's, not High output ones.
View from my kitchen. These are the glass blocks with the least amount of distortion. I took this picture at this angle on purpose, this is as distorted as it gets. While it's never going to be as clear as a normal window, but it's not as bad as this in person.
the three rows are T5HO's. Two of which are about 18'-19' off the ground, one is about 16'.
The last row is about 10' off the ground, those are just regular T5's, not High output ones.
View from my kitchen. These are the glass blocks with the least amount of distortion. I took this picture at this angle on purpose, this is as distorted as it gets. While it's never going to be as clear as a normal window, but it's not as bad as this in person.
here's the wires jerry rigged. They're tied into the 220 washer outlet. This area was outside before the shop was built, so it's really strange place for a 220 outlet. The wire was ran there, but just capped. There is a laundry room inside the house, so this was just a spare 220. I know it looks really mickey mouse, but it's just temporary.
All done. Put these conduits in after 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of semi gloss exterior paint. Behr exterior paint. It's really low quality. Of all the paint I've ever used, this is the worst. It doesn't show up on the picture, but up close, you can tell it's low quality paint. It wasn't cheap either. Oh well, live and learn. Bending EMT with EMT bender was fun. This was my first time.
these were harder than i thought. Took almost half an hour to make the bends for those 3 vertical EMT (12 bends!!).
All done. Put these conduits in after 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of semi gloss exterior paint. Behr exterior paint. It's really low quality. Of all the paint I've ever used, this is the worst. It doesn't show up on the picture, but up close, you can tell it's low quality paint. It wasn't cheap either. Oh well, live and learn. Bending EMT with EMT bender was fun. This was my first time.
these were harder than i thought. Took almost half an hour to make the bends for those 3 vertical EMT (12 bends!!).
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After my neighbor told me about Sherwin Williams paint years ago and I tried it, I've never bought another brand. It goes on like melted butter and covers in one coat.
Steve
kazlx
Well-known member
Janus 2500I doors. The "I" denotes insulated. I hope they work as well as they advertised.
Before the build I've visited another GJ member with roll up doors. He lives less than 5 minutes away from me, imagine that! He told me horror stories about his roll up door installation (mostly due to inexperienced installers). But the installer I used turned out to be pretty good. They install doors like these on a daily basis and work in local area. Turns out, another GJ member also had experience with them. The doors came out great and the two guys they sent got it done all in one day..
Before the build I've visited another GJ member with roll up doors. He lives less than 5 minutes away from me, imagine that! He told me horror stories about his roll up door installation (mostly due to inexperienced installers). But the installer I used turned out to be pretty good. They install doors like these on a daily basis and work in local area. Turns out, another GJ member also had experience with them. The doors came out great and the two guys they sent got it done all in one day..
It's been awhile since I update this, I took a month off to take care of other stuff that needed attention. Finally have some time to myself to work on the shop. Here some moving-in pictures.
Of course, after moving my lathe in, I decided it would be a good idea to cover the open stud wall with some OSB. So, here's some pictures of OSB installation in progress. Hanging OSB alone is pretty hard. After seeing the pro's do it during the construction, that makes me an expert in hanging OSB's, right?
Can't see the lathe, it's just behind the yellow toolbox.
I managed to four 4' sections in an afternoon. This is my first time, hopefully, second day will make better progress. I will get more difficult, since it will get higher from here... 18' ceiling
OSB boards are screwed in, in case I need to get access behind them.
Some notes...
Ran the wires myself. All of the plugs here are 10/2 Romex, 20amp for the 110V. All to GFCI plugs, then loaded to a non-GFCI. Took some time to figure out how to do it, but figured it out eventually.
The black romex hanging off the top is a 6/3 Romex. That's my 3 phase line. It originates from a phase converter in another shop 20 feet away, goes into underground raceway (via 6 AWG THNN) then into a junction box in this shop, then 6/3 romex. Where this 6/3 ends is where my milling machine and lathe will be (far, far away from the phase converter). I didn't want to bury the 3 phase line behind the OSB, I might need to add more 3 phase plugs later. BTW, phase converter is only 5hp, no need for 6 gauge wire. I chose larger wire for future proofing
Of course, after moving my lathe in, I decided it would be a good idea to cover the open stud wall with some OSB. So, here's some pictures of OSB installation in progress. Hanging OSB alone is pretty hard. After seeing the pro's do it during the construction, that makes me an expert in hanging OSB's, right?
Can't see the lathe, it's just behind the yellow toolbox.
I managed to four 4' sections in an afternoon. This is my first time, hopefully, second day will make better progress. I will get more difficult, since it will get higher from here... 18' ceiling
OSB boards are screwed in, in case I need to get access behind them.
Some notes...
Ran the wires myself. All of the plugs here are 10/2 Romex, 20amp for the 110V. All to GFCI plugs, then loaded to a non-GFCI. Took some time to figure out how to do it, but figured it out eventually.
The black romex hanging off the top is a 6/3 Romex. That's my 3 phase line. It originates from a phase converter in another shop 20 feet away, goes into underground raceway (via 6 AWG THNN) then into a junction box in this shop, then 6/3 romex. Where this 6/3 ends is where my milling machine and lathe will be (far, far away from the phase converter). I didn't want to bury the 3 phase line behind the OSB, I might need to add more 3 phase plugs later. BTW, phase converter is only 5hp, no need for 6 gauge wire. I chose larger wire for future proofing
kazlx
Well-known member
Looking good dude.
Sunbimmer
Well-known member
Nice place, also extremely nice Bimmer, love the color 