30'x40'x13.5' Garage Build

[DemonFD]

So the GF and I have always wanted to build a place for us to work on our toy cars and other projects. She has a drag honda EG hatch and soon a S2K that'll be getting a LSx swap, I have the FD and a MR2 Turbo. So we don't have much room in just the 2 car standard garage. We bought our current house with the back yard in mind just for a pole barn to be built.

The barn will include the following:

30x40' Floor space
14' Tall ceilings
Radiant heated floor
2 Post car lift with overhead connection
Tons of workbench space, including a 4'x8' Steel flat top table for welding
Insulated with A/C
Full entertainment system with a bitchin stereo and nicer speakers than most home theatres
Full Security system with control over the cameras and garage door through my iPhone (having a trailer stolen has made me paranoid over theft)
Network for internet
Satellite TV
400 Amp electrical service for future CNC equipment in a few years.

So here is the pictures of the start of the driveway and the building of the barn up to today (getting ready for steel).

.........

Barn assembly is DONE. Took the guy 1 week and 6 hrs by himself, and dealing with mud from rain.

Here are the up to date pics showing the roof going on with the condensation blanket under it and the soffit overhangs. The next step is grading the floor for the radiant insulation and tubing to go down, then pour the concrete on top of it. I'll be doing the electrical while waiting on the concrete.

And here is what I picked up from Kirby Risk Electrical Supply to get the barn ready for the service hookup:

(2) 200A Siemens PL Load centers
400A Meter Base
20ft 400MCM gauge copper wire
10ft 350MCM gauge copper wire
18ft 2/0 copper wire
10' 3" steel conduit

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Didn't get a chance to get much done on it this weekend, I had to run to cincinatti on saturday and the IndyCar race was on today so that absorbed a few hours.

Got about 99% of the wiring needed for the inspection and getting the place cleaned out and ready for the concrete guys to come in and grade the inside so I can start laying down the radiant floor.

Onto the pics of the electrical ****:

400A Meter base with 2 holes for twin load centers

Made the woman and her friend with a broken ankle shove my rods into the ground :

Got late and I needed a head lamp, but I wasn't going to the store, so I shoved my flashlight under my hat lol

Meter base bottom half wired up, only thing left is the top half and the 10' mast with the main power wires

Twin 200A load centers wired up and ready for service:

Trying to get the electricity setup and the concrete guys started cause sadly I'll be gone racing this week starting tues-sunday.

........

Soooo, been kinda busy with work. So last week I got back to the barn after work hours during the week:

Had the ground graded and prepped for the concrete pad:

Then started the preparations for the radiant floor system with a vapor barrier underneath 2" of XPS foam insulation:

Laid out the first few rows of the radiant tubing and painted on the ground the no go zone for the tubing as that's where the lift will be located, and I don't want to drill through the tubes after the concrete is down, and had some help:

My staple of death to hold down the concrete form for the tubing to come up out of the concrete :

And how it looks today after I hung up a few temporary lights, concrete gets poured in monday, then the rest will fly together:

Getting there for sure, its been a fun project so far.

 

[BigBoyinMS]

Now this is a serious first post!
One question... lifts require a minimum slab thickness and concrete psi where it will sit. Are you pouring the entire slab to the minimum specs for the lift you are installing?

 

[DemonFD]

Yes, it was 4" 4000psi over the whole pour.

I was just waiting for my account to be ok'd to post some more, and that first post was over the 10000 character limit.

here is the rest of the build:

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Monday morning the concrete guys showed up and poured over the insulation and radiant lines, even left me a 2' sloped approach to the garage level:

The radiant tubing survived and is still holding pressure in the lines after 4 days:

After a day its still curing, so I can only walk on it and can't put a car on it yet

Today I had a friend install the 16x9' garage door and the opener:

This model opener was used so we could make the door go all the way up to the ceiling to not be in the way of the car on the lift:

It is insanely quiet and has some cool features like it slows down just before it hits the ground to make a soft landing with the door, and an electric lock for added security.

If anyone needs a garage door and/or opener fixed/installed, this is the guy to call for sure:

This weekend is grading the outside and fixing the dirt highway in my yard. Also another shipment of gravel to finish the grading of the drive to slope up to the garage. Might even start on planning out outlets and boarding up the inside to prep for drywall!

.......

Finally got some time away from a crazy few weeks at work and had a chance to finish the planning and layout the electrical plans. I've only shocked myself once so far :yay:. I've been fighting with my concrete guy as he's trying to rip me off by charging almost double what the estimate was, so that has pulled me away from working on it as much as I'd like to.

Not a whole lot to see in the pictures, just some wire being put into place and some outlets going in. The concrete stain and sealer should be here next week and I'm going to try to get that down next Saturday as the Monday after memorial day I'll start rolling in some equipment, aka lift, 8'x5'x1" thick steel table, big *** welder, and maybe a mill/lathe aswell if I can get a local fab shop to part with theirs.

Onto the pointless pics:

Shot from the side road

Long story short, only thing that failed inspection was having a plastic culvert instead of a metal, so I shoved the metal one inside and covered up the plastic one

Balancing out the loads on the breaker boxes, I think I'll have some headroom

As of tonight

........

Spent the day today prepping and laying down the stain, its a black stain that goes down yellow, then quickly changes to light brown, then dark brown, then finally black after it gets neutralized.

Here's a pic of it freshly pressure washed and prepped for acid:

And with the wet acid laid onto it that still looks dark brownish:

........

Here is how the floor turned out, I'm very happy with it, and the urethane top coat has held up great to ATF and brake fluid already:

Threw some anti-skid into the top coat to give it some friction:

Here is the beginning of the restoring of the 8'x5'x1" flat steel welding table:

Moved in, sat down on car dolly's (table weighed in at 2900lbs) and played around with the welder:

New motivation for the barn progress (brings friends over for help):

They make great material holders for tacking:

After some liquid inspiration, we cranked the welder all the way up to 415 amps and blew through some aluminum:

WHATS THIS?!?!?!

O HAI

GF helped me with my wood:

As finished for the day:

And going in tomorrow... AIR CONDITIONING!!!

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Another small update... this summer heat is kicking my motivation ***:

Got the A/C up and working, it definitely works and will be more than enough to cool down the entire barn, just with no insulation up yet, it runs 100% of the time and spins the meter, so it sits idle

Took a little time to play with the lift, had the FD, the dually, and the bro in laws new M3 that he put on new wheels, pagid brake pads, and exhaust to get it ready for a track even this past weekend:

Had a semi show up with all the insulation and drywall, that 4'x14'x5/8 drywall is F'ing HEAVY!

Rented a trencher and put in two trenches... one to the house for internet and satellite TV feed to the barn. Another to a mini shed I have behind the main barn that will hold the huge compressor setup I'm building. That way it doesn't take up floor space in the main barn and you'll never hear it.

Hopefully soon I'll have the air lines ran inside the walls and we can start putting up the insulation and putting up the drywall/ceiling!

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Finally got a chance to get back into the garage this weekend:

Needed a nice way to bring the air lines from behind the walls through them, so I got some blank SS 304 wall plates and ordered some SS 304 1/2" NPT to 1/4" NPT bushings and had my twin weld them up. Being so thin a few of them warped a bit, if we can't get them to straighten back out, I'm going to have some made in the CNC machine.

Got under the house and wired up the satellite and internet so now I have TV and internet in the barn, wo0t!!

Scored this on craigslist, looks like it was damaged when it was delivered/picked up (knocked off the control pressure switch). Only $35 later and I saved $500 on a badass compressor that will be more than enough for 5 people using the air at the same time.

And the gf and her friend helped put up the insulation for the walls... just doing that made it much quieter inside and the air conditioner started to cycle at 70*F inside instead of just going full bore all the time (It was 92*F outside today, and 71* inside)

So next is starting on the ceiling so it can be boarded up, then its time to find me some cheap labor to put up the drywall and finish it!

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Picked up some more wood to frame in the ceiling:

Started throwin some wood up:

Up goes the 7/16" OSB painted white (probably going to change this to steel, I'm not liking the finished product):

In came the drywallers:

Then paint (the green is a ton brighter in person compared to the pics, it makes a good contrast/pop look)

The lift got used at SNS to work on mech-head's car:

Filling the radiant floor system, which is doing an awesome job heating the place now:

Taking the welding table to a place to get ground flat within 0.015":

And pretty much where its at now, just need to start cleaning it up and moving in tool boxes and project cars:

Wanted to thank this forum for the help! I lurked on here for the majority of my build, hopefully my pics can help someone out like all of yours helped me!

 

[NCAudi]

That's going to be a great space, looking forward to seeing it get finished.

 

[DemonFD]

Can finally bump this thread up now that everything has been approved for posting.

Thanks!

 

[xJoey Dubsx]

Badass.. I am envious.

 

[blk00ss]

Love it. Reminds me a lot of my shop! Where did you get the oil drain?

 

[4EyedTurd]

I just jerked it to your shop. It's damn nice, and it was a one man show putting it up?

 

[FunkyfullWidth]

How do you like that side mount door opener? What other options did you look at as far as side mounts? I have just about a 13' ceiling with 12 foot doors and i'm not diggin on the center mount opener. When it comes to putting lights up it kind of cramps things...

Shop looks good, lets see some project pics now!

 

[bigfredtn]

Nice looking garage. Couple of questions. Why did you put it so close to the big tree? The cables for your Internet and TV. Did you get the cable that is rated to be buried?

 

[Kevin54]

Wow!!!!! You don't mess around do you? Thats a great looking space for sure. I noticed on the cover plates you made that you said if they didn't straighten out you would CNC them. Do you have your own machine that will be going in the garage, or just run one at work?

 

[perfect]

Awesome garage! You look familiar - did you go to Purdue?

 

[DemonFD]

Thanks everyone!

Love it. Reminds me a lot of my shop! Where did you get the oil drain?

I got it from greg smith equipment in Indianapolis, IN.

I just jerked it to your shop. It's damn nice, and it was a one man show putting it up?

One 65 yr old diabetic that worked from 6am-2am every day, taking only a 20min lunch break and a 45min drive to and from home. Guy was nuts.

How do you like that side mount door opener? What other options did you look at as far as side mounts? I have just about a 13' ceiling with 12 foot doors and i'm not diggin on the center mount opener. When it comes to putting lights up it kind of cramps things...

Shop looks good, lets see some project pics now!

The opener is hands down one of the best things in the whole barn. It is a very intelligent opener that is quiet enough that you literally can not hear it if you are talking to someone. It is smart because it slows down right before it hits the ground for a soft landing, and it also has an electric lock that locks the door all by itself.

I have too many projects, Fiance has a 850whp Honda Civic drag car, I have a 520whp road racing LSx V8 swapped RX7, and a 1100hp Toyota Supra turbo. All 3 will be getting love for more power this winter.

Nice looking garage. Couple of questions. Why did you put it so close to the big tree? The cables for your Internet and TV. Did you get the cable that is rated to be buried?

The TV cables are meant to be buried, the network not, but oh well, I had it laying around for free. No issues yet on a 170' run.

Wow!!!!! You don't mess around do you? Thats a great looking space for sure. I noticed on the cover plates you made that you said if they didn't straighten out you would CNC them. Do you have your own machine that will be going in the garage, or just run one at work?

I will be getting a digital readout bridgeport mill and a collet lathe soon, but I'll use the ones at work to make the pieces as I'm not really that happy with how much warping those plates did.

Awesome garage! You look familiar - did you go to Purdue?

I went to Purdue for only a year, dropped out and got into racing full time.

 

[muibubbles]

ugh, you know what tops this build? that you have a rx7 as well!

 

[4EyedTurd]

I would have liked to see how he got those trusses up by himself