A Tipsy 30x40

[foglght]

I realized in the years I have been reading on this forum, I've never posted since my garage was built. We bought our current home that came with a really nice oversize 3 car garage. It already had a heater and 3 years ago I decided to give it a refresh. I really just wanted hoist to do some work and stop laying on my back. Here are some finished pics. I didn't spend a ton of money on this, because I wanted to spend the cash on the hoist. I had a company come out and measure and get the concrete thickness and everything was good.

When the hoist guys came out on install day, they stopped the presses and told me they couldn't install in the middle bay, because the drain in the floor was going to be too close to the left post. There was basically nothing I could do and the hoist project was scrapped. I had a nicer garage, but was not what I wanted.

To be continued...

 

[foglght]

At the time, I was still racing and the setup:

And used the dually for towing. We stored the trailer off site and outside. Storing the trailer outside creates so much extra wear and tear I was spending a lot of time and effort just cleaning and caulking almost every year. I really wanted to store it inside somewhere, but local places were ridiculously expensive and I'm not allowed to store it on my property without it being in a garage.

Wife 1.0 and I had been planning for 2 kids and we have 2 dogs, which is why I had a crew cab pickup and the 5'th wheel. Well, that all fell apart when she announced we were having twins.



I sold the race car, but kept the trailer. We towed with it twice with all 3 kids and both dogs in the truck. It was not a fun experience. Couldn't put the dogs in the trailer because the generator was not integrated to the trailer. You had to run a huge 50 amp plug from the generator to the side of the trailer, so no AC while driving. This means no dogs in the trailer. I put my BBQ grill remote temp thermometer in the trailer while driving and it just got too hot in there during the summer months even with the vents open.

Looked into getting the trailer re-wired for integrated power and even doing it myself was going to cost well over $1,000 and the dealer didn't even want to touch it.

We decided to sell the trailer and the truck.

The next camping season we rented an RV. That was an awesome experience. Kids start crying/screaming, the wife or I can get up and go to the fridge to get some snacks or milk so they calm down. We could stop at rest areas for lunch and not have to wait in huge lines at exit restaurants. With 3 kids and 2 dogs, that stuff gets complicated and really stressful.

I spent the next 6 months figuring out how to make our finances work, build a garage that would fit an RV, what type of RV we should get and ensure there would be room for racecar stuff when we could afford it again (read: after kids are not in daycare). If any of you don't know how much daycare costs, in our area its about $1k/month/kid. Thankfully, my daughter was in regular school at this point, but it is still ridiculously expensive.

Banks were called, drawings were made.

To be continued...

 

[foglght]

First part of the plan was to get a contractor. I have never been a part of a more frustrating situation. I ended up hiring a contractor that was a referral from a co-worker. While that seemed like a good idea at first, later it proved to be a less than ideal choice.

We have a decent sized property, but the way it is laid out, the only good spot for a garage is in the back yard. We have a walk out basement ranch, so the property slopes quite a bit from the front to the back. Knowing that we were looking at an RV to go in the garage, I had to measure a bunch of RVs at the local dealership for overhang and approach angle for going down the slope and ensure I won't scrape.

Finalized all the layouts and drawings and marched forward. I didn't get as many pics as I wanted to since I was working:

The main floor concrete is 5" thick with rebar reinforcement and fiber mesh.

So, the concrete work was just ok. The rebar reinforcement wasn't laid out as I thought it would be and they just pulled it up to set. I thought they would have pinned/tied it to ensure it was in the middle of the layout.

This was all the lengthy part and now some sticks can go up!

 

[foglght]

This is the point where things went south for a while. The long story short, they began putting up the building and didn't brace it well. Pictures do the talking here:

What I didn't get was pictures after one of the walls completely collapsed.

It took a week or so, but they did come back and fix it all.

Some of the almost finished project:

One door is a 9x9 and the other is a 13x12. The garage sat in that condition for over 3 months. I couldn't get the contractor to come out and finish the doors or the rest of the siding. They also backed out of digging the gas line and finishing the retaining wall. Laundry list of problems later in finishing the job, they did the trim work and the doors and left a lot on the table. They refused to finish the work so I had to fire them. I moved on.

 

[foglght]

Next big thing was to get the floors coated before anything went in there. I decided on PPG Aquapon in bright white with clear coat. It turned out really nice. It isn't as durable to dropped items and scratching as I had hoped, but it does look purdy:

So, now the garage was built and the flooring was in, so it was then to start RV hunting. I found out that I can rent it out when we aren't using it, so I put a business plan together, made it all legit and bought the RV.

I got really nervous the first time I backed it down the new driveway to the barn. At least my math was right. It's close, but the trailer hitch clears with about 2 inches to spare.

Next step has been "everything electrical." I read a lot, I cried, I threw things and drank a few beers. Most all the wiring is in now and just recently I went back and actually put in the hoist. It isn't a super high end one, but a decent 10k lb. Challenger LE10.

The only other things I have done is add garage door openers and have the 9x9 door tracks raised to high lift tracks.

Next up.......look for potential gas line installation, finish my wiring, get an exhaust fan and start insulating/finishing the interior.

 

[forAK]

I thought it was my eyes when I saw the scaffold leaning over! Man, that was insane. I couldn't imagine how I'd feel watching it go over! Glad for ya that it got rectified. Shop looks great - Great story

 

[C_F]

Man, that ***** that you had to deal with such a shoddy builder. My **** puckered a little when I came to the leaning wall photos. It looks like it turned out pretty nice though, looking forward to future updates as you finish the interior!

 

[LXCam]

Holy **** dude, what a story. Obviously imthe framing was ****, had they nailed/spliced the top plate correctly that wall wouldn't have tweaked like that. I hope in the end you got it for a good price.

Anyhow, nice set up all around and congrats!

 

[foglght]

Well.....update time. Its been over a year.

First up is the flooring. I thought I did a lot of research on the epoxy coatings and decided on the PPG. It was nice for about 6 months. Then, tires started to leave marks and pulled up the coating. I have quite a few marks of bare concrete now that I'm pretty pissed about, but not sure there is much I can do about it right now.

About 3 months ago, we decided to finish the interior. I did all the electrical myself, which was.....a learning experience.

I hired an insulation company to do blown in NuWool insulation. They are coming to finish the lid on Monday. Spent today out there cutting an access panel in the drywall so they can get up there.

Drywall guys came out and put up the rock. I really didn't want drywall all that much, but after talking to probably 25 different contractors, I gave in. 1/2" on the walls and 5/8 on the lid. They took it to a level 3 finish, which was a little less than I thought a level 3 actually was. Apparently I have to do some sanding now.

Finally found a guy to run a gas line and install a natural gas heater. Went with a Modine 75k btu heater. That was probably the easiest contractor to work with. You know, he showed up on time and actually finished the job.

Next week starts the decision process for painting. I think I am going to buy a sprayer and paint it myself. The biggest question is about the lower portion of the garage. I mop and spray the floors a few times a year to keep it nice and clean. I don't want the drywall getting messed up. The floor is sloped an inch for every 10 feet. So, at the end of the garage where the doors are there is 4" of cinderblock showing with the 1/2 drywall overhanging.

I was told by a few people I should just use a 1-2-3 primer over the whole garage (masonry and all) to seal it up and then just use a semi gloss paint with 2 coats for the lower section (maybe first 4 feet). I don't really want an all white garage. Maybe I should do teh lower section in a dark gray?

Tons of work left, but I think by Christmas it should be all done!

 

[HOTFR8]

Great to see an update.

 

[oldironfarmer]

I watched you last year and am glad to see the update too!

I would use an exterior paint in your chosen color for the bottom four or five feet, block included. You're not getting it real wet, just the occasional washing.

With all you've been through the results are looking good!

P.S. I like the durability of bare concrete. But I'm in the minority.

 

[foglght]

So, here is an update. The drywall is in and the level 3 mud/tape is done. The guys that did the work left a lot of slop (drywall mud) on the ground and it has now dried on the floor. Some of it looks hard to get off. I mentioned to the contractor that he needs to clean all that up.

He says, "Had I known you wanted us to protect the floor we would have put cardboard down or something similar."

How on earth could any contractor walk into a garage with a bright white epoxy floor and think I would want drywall mud all over it?

Good news is the first coat of primer is on. Heading back to Lowes tomorrow mornign to get the paint. I bought a sprayer (Graco) and it worked really well. Seems like it might waste paint, but very worth it to get all 3,200sq. ft. of wall done in 3 hours.

 

[LXCam]

Looking good FL. As for the mud on the floor it will clean off but as much as you want the contractor to do it, that would be a massive mistake IMO. He'll probably send some flunky over with a floor scraper and you can kiss that gorgeous floor goodby. If you saturate it with water it'll soften up enough to get the thick parts scraped off with a plastic putty knife. Then it's all about water and rag work. It ***** to do but itlll save your floor.

Good luck

 

[foglght]

Ok, more updates.....Finally got the painting done. Progress pics. I bought an airless sprayer to get it all done. If I ever have to do this again, I'd change a few things.

The sprayer worked well, but wasted a **** load of paint. All said and done it took around 35 gallons of paint to complete the project. So much time spent prepping and covering everything.

At the end of the day it looks like a 6 or 7 up close. A few paint runs that I just let be. Lots of areas I missed with the sander and are rough. Some areas the drywall guys just sucked at. I'm finishing up the cleaning of the floor which is taking forever and I'll take some better pictures.

Next up is getting some wood for the sills. Unsure of how I want them to look. Considering painting them in the blue I used for the wall stripe, or just staining it.

I'm considering just upping my game here and buying some cabinets, but the ones I want are just not in the budget after all this expense.

 

[lethal-6]

How tall is your ceiling? I didn't see that.

 

[Deezler]

Nice building! Yeah dang, that rear overhang on the RV is crazy long.

What was up with the "wife 1.0" comment.... ?

 

[foglght]

How tall is your ceiling? I didn't see that.

14 foot

 

[jeepinerdeep]

Wild build story man!

 

[53PontiacSD]

Wow, I thought the contractors on my metal building were bad, but yours take the trophy. The only person that I was pleased with was the overhead door guy. The rest pretty much sucked and took our money. But at least it wasn't to the extent as yours. Those drywall guys should have done better as far as cleanup. That's just poor quality workmanship. Well, glad you have as much done as you have. The shop looks great. Great idea on the wall colors.

Billy

 

[foglght]

Wow, I thought the contractors on my metal building were bad, but yours take the trophy. The only person that I was pleased with was the overhead door guy. The rest pretty much sucked and took our money. But at least it wasn't to the extent as yours. Those drywall guys should have done better as far as cleanup. That's just poor quality workmanship. Well, glad you have as much done as you have. The shop looks great. Great idea on the wall colors.

Billy

The drywall contractor ended up rewiring the door openers incorrectly when they did the lid install, so I had to have the overhead door guys back out 3 times.

The first time was for them to fix the brackets. They installed brackets into the ceiling trusses vertically, so there would have been holes in the ceiling. They charged me for that, even though we specifically discussed that I was going to have it finished at some point.

The second time was the drywall guys wiring it incorrectly. Neither door would work correctly. The large door sensors were wired backwards so it wouldn't hook up with the sensors across the bottom and would not close unless you held the button down.

The 3'rd time was for the smaller door. The sensor that detects how far the door has gone crapped out. We think it was due to the insulation installers getting the blown in insulation in there and causing the sensor fault, but he replaced it under warranty anyway. Thankfully.