Alfa haven

[155'Ringman]

Fantastic build.

I spotted a Fiat Stilo and Fiat bravo. I come from a family whose well into their fiats and Alfas. Nice little motors.

The doors look incredible, they really ooze quality. Looking forward to seeing this roofed and the next fun stage starting - fitting out!

Jordan

Yeah, I've had Alfas for the last 15 years or so and the Fiats are good value too so got a few of them for the wife and daughters. The garage will have plenty of Alfa content!

Got the tiles delivered on Monday so now trying to get a date from the tiler for the roof installation. Rear doors have to be done too but those are just a pair of standard exterior doors from the builders merchants in a treated frame, nothing as fancy dancy as the front doors. Then it's the floor, insulation and external rendering and then into interior fit-up. LOTS of smaller jobs to do in between but definitely heading the right direction.

 

[155'Ringman]

Pretty tired after a major workout yesterday and today.
I had some tilers come to take a look at the roof yesterday morning, we agreed a price there and then and they started straight away. I had a lot of small jobs to sort out to let them get on with it, not least of which was sorting the telephone line out as it had been strung through the rafters.. oops. There was some vent strips and eve protectors to go on too but it was all sorted out. They got the felt, laths and lead on yesterday followed by the tiling today. Myself and the boy lifted the tiles up from the pallets onto some scaffolding to pass up onto the roof. 4 pallets = 850 tiles.


How we started this morning..


Back side coming together


Other side


Getting the front edges done


This is how it was left at around 4:30 this afternoon when the light was starting to fade. Front roof loaded up with tiles ready for them to come back during the week when they have time.

 

[155'Ringman]

The boys came to finish off the roof this morning and were on their way by 2pm.

 

[GBsnoopy]

Nice to see it water tight.
That will look fantastic once the renders done and matches the house.

 

[155'Ringman]

Thanks, yes it's mostly watertight but I still have nor rear / side doors on which is next weekend's job. I've also got the plywood to do the soffit's to properly seal the building from birds as they currently think it's a very large hangout for them..

Then there's the small matter of the floor too which I'm going to have to remove the old driveway tarmac to lay according to my building control inspector. I spent sunday removing the scaffolding inside the garage so I can get on with the floor. It's really big in there.

 

[155'Ringman]

Not been getting much done on this due to other house maintenance and DIY emergencies..
The daughter's Stilo needed two bottom arms and drop links and it was snowing so I rigged up a 'bridge' over the door soleplate and got it inside. Great to be inside working for a change. It is rather big..

 

[Canadian Charlie]

Great build, keep us posted

 

[GBsnoopy]

That looks a real nice size.

 

[viewmaster]

Im impressed by those beautiful Alfa's, and the body work you do. I wanted to buy an Alfetta in 1978, but to expensive. Bought a Scirraco.

 

[viewmaster]

Im impressed by those beautiful Alfa's, and the body work you do. I wanted to buy an Alfetta in 1978, but to expensive. Bought a Scirraco.

 

[155'Ringman]

Well, been a bit busy of late with work and had a couple of targa rallies with my son too which was great craic.
The garage has suffered a bit as a result but I have been getting other people to do things that I can't do myself. That meant waiting around for said people to actually turn up and do what they said. I wanted to get the cavities in the garage pumped with insulation but was keen to get the house sorted out too as it had been built in 2001 and the cavities were filled with rockwool that had settled down in the walls and we were getting damp inside the house. So I made a deal to get all the existing insulation extracted and new stuff put in and including the garage...

Bunvac 6000 taking the old insulation out..


First targa rally, ended up 40th after getting times that would have put us in 25th but got lots of penalties.


After the insulation was done, got the rendering started, nearly three weeks ago. Scratch coat done and doors taped up..








Second targa, got times for 19th but ended up in 45th with penalties.


Got the render coat done inside this week..




And then up to date, stuck the coins on today in preparation for the plasterers coming back to render the outside..

 

[Cris B]

Stunning space Shame about all those rally penalties

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, I'm pleased with the size of it but I'd like to be inside looking out rather than outside looking in. Weather is more like winter than summer at the moment..

Looked at your 'Rallye' content on your thread, very nice. A 106Gti came 4th in the last event we did. ;-)

 

[bonecrrusher]

The garage door entrance from the old garage to the new garage - are you going to be enlarging that at some point?

 

[155'Ringman]

I've thought about it a few times that it would be great to have one space right the whole way through but I've decided to keep it the way it is with them separated by the original door. That way I can keep the back as a proper restoration / big build / dirty area and the front as a maintenance and clean(er) area.

Plasterers have not come back this week to finish the external rendering yet. Have the get on with the floor next.

 

[Water Boy]

Updates?

 

[bonecrrusher]

Any updates?

 

[155'Ringman]

Long overdue a bit of an update on this. Been trying since may to get someone to excavate the garden alongside the garage and put in the soakaway for the guttering downpipes. I also wanted to get a hard standing area to park more tat and a wash area with a proper drain so all the silt doesn't end up ingrained in the tarmac..
Not that I'm a fanatic washer but I'd like to make it easier to just wash the cars without having to then hose down the feckin drive afterwards..

Before:



Got the external rendering finished in June after a couple of months of the plasterer trying to fit me in amongst other jobs.. :roll: It is a pretty flawless job though so happy about that

And after three other guys failed to turn up in June, July and August, a bloke recommended by my father in law turned up in a Ford digger last week with an 'Ormond Chistie - World Hot Rod Champion' sunstrip which was a good omen. :thubuo:

 

[TIMI]

Alfamen

 

[155'Ringman]

Getting on with the floor at last. Had to break up the old ramp in front of the old garage door. I had laid that 13 years ago when we moved into the house and I knew I would be doing plenty of work in front of the garage so I cast the ramp at around 6" thick. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was, until it came time to break it up. My arms are still vibrating after a day on the kango hammer..









Started on the tarmac inside the garage from the old driveway that the new garage is built over. Tomorrow I'm going to continue on that until the kango has to to go back to the hire shop.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Are you going to raise the level of concrete that is in the new garage? It looks like you have varying levels of floor there.

Are you also going to have to build a ramp up to the new garage as well?

 

[155'Ringman]

Yes, the level of the concrete in the new garage will be the same as the old one. I had to dig out the step and the ramp from the old garage because they didnt have dpc membranes under them and as you correctly pointed out the levels were all wrong. The tarmac that was the old driveway has to come up too as the building control inspector said its compressable.. He say, I do so I can get a certificate when its done..

So, todays work, the kango was starting to wilt a bit last night and gave up the ghost this morning completely so I took it back to the hire shop and they gave me another smaller one to do the tarmac with as it was only a couple of inches thick. My. Arms. Are. Sore.







And this pile didn't disappear overnight either..

 

[thunderbird61]

Ouch, my back hurts just looking at the pictures

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Been there many times. Well done.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Love this build - thanks for explaining the multiple layers of concrete and asphalt you have there!

 

[155'Ringman]

No problem BC, it's all a bit of a mess still but I'm getting there slowly. Very Slowly. This work stuff keeps me away from getting on with it but hey, I'll get there sooner rather than later.

Talking of progress, I was determined not to leave the broken up concrete and tarmac lying there as I go back to work again next week so I spent the day drawing loads to our local council tip or recycling centre to give it it's politically correct modern name..


My trailer is only 5' x 3' but I have 750kg indespension units in it so I was carrying at least 500kg per trip. I got 7 trips in before I lost light. Cheaper than hiring a skip.


That's that pile gone.


stacking the tarmac 'squares' in the trailer


Making progress.

I got everything over to the last row of squares on the right side so I recon there's maybe one or two more loads to clear it before I can get the stone in and get on with getting the floor laid. It'll be a few weeks before I get back to it now as I have a couple more rallies that I'm entered for and it can't be all work and no play.

 

[Cris B]

Wow, great progress. Makes me thirsty just looking at that graft, hope you were celebrating the hard work at the end of the day

At some of the recycling centres I've used they are really tight on rubble, no more than one black bin bag sized load a fortnight

This has caused a few tensions for both me and my father who has had similar experiences. It is no wonder that people are reverting to fly tipping by the roadside when there is such inflexibility in the system and the staff cannot be reasoned with.

It sounds like your local team are more accommodating!

 

[155'Ringman]

Wow, great progress. Makes me thirsty just looking at that graft, hope you were celebrating the hard work at the end of the day

At some of the recycling centres I've used they are really tight on rubble, no more than one black bin bag sized load a fortnight

This has caused a few tensions for both me and my father who has had similar experiences. It is no wonder that people are reverting to fly tipping by the roadside when there is such inflexibility in the system and the staff cannot be reasoned with.

It sounds like your local team are more accommodating!

TBH I thought they might raise an eyebrow at least lol, one of the blokes wandered over when I was on my 5th trailer load and I thought I might be rumbled but he was just over to shoot the breeze.
By the time I was done I'd half filled one of those roll-on-roll-off skips. I reckon I shifted over 4 tons today. Having a glass of wine or two..

 

[Bib Overalls]

You could have hired the whole job out and it would have bin finished in three months. Doing it your way not only saves money it gives you a real sense of ownership and I am positive you attention to details resulted in a better structure.

 

[155'Ringman]

Yep, there are times that I wish I had just got someone in to do it but I really like the idea of getting as much of it done myself as I can.

 

[155'Ringman]

No pictures as there was literally no light to take any!
My son had to work this weekend so I pulled my entry to this weekend's rally and did some work on the garage instead.
Got the remainder of the tarmac lifted and away to the local tip. It was cold and wet yesterday so my back is a bit tender today but glad to get it cleared. Now to order some stone to lay the base for the concrete.

 

[155'Ringman]

After all the post christmas storms and car related emergency work, I'm finally back to this and making a bit of progress again!
Spent the last couple of weekends building up a few layers of block under the front door bar. The step has to be just right to get clearance to the door seals and it's not the sort of thing that you'd want to be faffing around with when the rest of the floor is being done. Also sets the level for the rest of the floor to work to and I could set the DPC in the way I wanted too as well.





Another thing I wanted to sort was removal of an old drain pipe that I knew was in front of the old garage door. So yesterday I dug down and removed that and filled in the trench with some of the larger stones that were lying around.





Last thing to do now before I can get the floor sorted is dig down beside the house and find the central heating pipes so I can tee into them for a radiator in the garage when it's finished. Next weekend's job.

 

[bonecrrusher]

Any updates?

 

[155'Ringman]

Not much yet unfortunately. I got a flu bug that has been around which sort of knocked me out a little from doing garage work. I did go out three weekends in a row digging more and more holes looking for these central heating pipes but can't find the little beggars.. Got the lend of a CAT to help try to find them but there are too many other cables in that area to find the pipes. Sorta feels like this at the moment....

I'm off work this week but somehow got roped into putting a fence up for my father in law. Hoping to get a day or two at it before I go back.

 

[155'Ringman]

Been stupidly busy with work for the last while plus I bought an MX5 to do the targa rallies in so I've managed to fill up any free time I had..

One of the biggest problems I had with the floor was that I wanted to tee into the central heating pipes coming from the original garage to the house. Long story short, I dug lots of holes in an effort to find the ****** pipes and even got the lend of a cable finder but there were too many signals to get a clear position.
A while back I finally got my act together and dug my way out towards the house a bit more and found them knitted in amongst some drain pipes.







And finally almost 4 months after I first contacted him mad the contractor arrived on Friday to lay the paths either side and prep the garage floor for concrete.

Got the wash bay / parking area beside the garage concreted and another area to the other side of the garage done too. Tomorrow morning is the pour of the high strength mix for the garage floor.









The guys turned up yesterday morning and did the garage floor. I had ordered the fibre re-enforced concrete and the guys said it was nice to work with because smaller stones are used with a fibre mix. You learn something new every day!!









So, floor is down which means insulating, plasterboarding, painting and wiring / plumbing etc can all start.

 

[morshane]

Awesome work ! !!

 

[Boosted1]

Looks good.

 

[Fredriz]

Futur great place

 

[JD.]

1550Ringman - It's good to see another NI native on the forum. I've just had my first garage built and a lot of the building techniques were the same as yours. I had the inside of mine rendered too and it's the best decision I made!

I'm on the lookout for a second hand scissor/mid-rise lift so if you see or hear of one for sale in NI let me know!

 

[Sunbimmer]

You've been doing great work on your garage
Thanks for the update!