Almost Finished

[fxdlryan]

Nothing ever really goes as I plan it to, so why should this new garage be any different. I decided because of time constraints to hire the job out to get it done faster, as it turns out, I probably could have done it faster myself . I would have really liked 32 X 50 or 32 X 40 if I had the choice, but considering placement, zoning, setbacks, and so forth, 24X36 was about as big as I could hope to get away with. Contained in the 24X36 is a full bath and small area for utility sink and fridge. This area serves as our pool bathroom to keep outside entertaining outside. Also, a door between that bathroom/storage area and the official garage area to keep kiddies off trucks, motorcycles and lawn equipment.

I've still got some small things to do like baseboards in the garage area and computer/phone/sat tv hookup but I'm far enough along that I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.

This board has been a constant source of inspiration and information. Without the knowledge and input gained here, my project would have missed many little details that I now find myself appreciating. Thanks for the advice shared and the inspiration.

Daddy's new play area

Finally room for a Snap-on

Framing in progress

From the road

Looking into the Man Cave

Utility and fridge area

Bathroom Area

Low maintenance shower

Looking into the single garage door from behind the new garage

Mounting a door as high as humanly possible on a 12' wall

A Redneck Brutha has got to have tunes. I put in a multizone receiver so I could have angry music inside while the boss and princess listen to Top 20 or whatever outside.

Inside in progress, trying to mount and AirKing Fan, Mr Heater and paint the interior of the garage in 3 days

I only put AC in the bathroom area, but if it gets too hot, I have a 30,000 gallon air conditioner right outside the garage

Looking at the small 8X14 porch off of the garage

Looking towards the house and back porch from front of garage

The next project is to clean up and finish out the attached garage

 

[82_454_shorty]

very nice place buddy!

 

[bluesman2a]

VERY NICE space and setup.
I'm jealous of the bathroom/utility space, that's the big thing that's missing out of my space...

 

[sharpshooter]

The concrete around the pool, is that stamped???

 

[fxdlryan]

VERY NICE space and setup.
I'm jealous of the bathroom/utility space, that's the big thing that's missing out of my space...

It was a tough call, wanting more garage space or having a usable bathroom and utility area to service the pool. Though I would gladly take a whiz out of the back garage door, I chose a larger bathroom/utility area to stay in good graces with Queen and Princess of NoVa. There's plenty enough room for guests to change in the bathroom.
I did have a brief skirmish with the queen over decorating it though, I being the Court Jester held firm in auto/motorcycle motif and the Queen relented. Being foolish as most jesters are, I thought I'd actually won a battle with the Queen (actually smiled to myself as I walked away).

The very next day as I'm doing daily Court Jester business in the study (the only room I was previously allowed to decorate), the Queen walks in and makes the proclamation, "You need to move all of this tacky race sh17 out to your new Garage-Mahal." I respond with "WTF, this is the only room in the house that's mine? Are you truly willing to emasculate me so quickly?" I could go on ad nauseum but the bottom line is I clearly lost yet another battle in the long standing war of decorating. I now clearly understand I am a tacky Redneck with no taste, I'm allowed to stroke the check every month for the mortgage, I'm allowed to stroke the check when she picks out new furniture, I'm allowed to paint the color I'm told to paint, I'm allowed to do all the yard work, pool maintenance, and fix everything that breaks, but under no circumstances will I be allowed to make any further interior decorating decisions. And they ask me why I listen to Angry Music...

 

[fxdlryan]

The concrete around the pool, is that stamped???

Not stamped, they actually did a regular finish, and when it was pretty close to dry, they used a broom to etch the designs in the concrete. It's not fooling anyone into thinking it's stone, but visually it breaks up the vast expanse of concrete.

 

[sr71]

great job.... we just finished the pool this year.... soooo year two of the project is a shop with pool bathroom/changeroom. Did you have any trouble getting permits for the bathroom in garage?

 

[Nova72]

sweet man. im drooling over that silver snap on box. great setup.

 

[fxdlryan]

great job.... we just finished the pool this year.... soooo year two of the project is a shop with pool bathroom/changeroom. Did you have any trouble getting permits for the bathroom in garage?

We're zoned A3 which means we have a 25' setback from the property line for a living structure. Nonliving structures (sheds and sometimes garages) are allowed to be 5' off the property line. Since I already have a 2 car attached garage I was a bit nervous. The legal mumbo jumbo basically boils down to: It's supposed to be as small as possible and as low as possible. Depending on your interpretation, the bathroom changes it from nonliving to living. If you look at the outside porch picture, you’ll notice a 10X16 shed that I repurposed from lawn equipment to pool shed. I was really concerned that everything would go through (I believe there’s also a calculation for maximum percentage than nonliving can be to living), I’m lucky that I live in an older neighborhood with NO HOA, some garages and sheds are less than 1 foot from the property line by my eye.
The company I used to build my garage took forever, they’d show up for a few days and disappear for weeks. I would have fired them, except that they pulled the permits and I would have had to cancel the permit and pull new ones which could have drawn too much attention. And though it was promised to be completed in Dec or Jan 08, we still have to redo our final electrical inspection, but all the other inspections passed without issue. Lesson learned: IF I ever have anyone do another construction type project for me again, there will be an early finish bonus and a late finish penalty in the contract.

 

[fxdlryan]

sweet man. im drooling over that silver snap on box. great setup.

Thanks, I picked it up used for a great price, I lucked out in that it's a good match with the Galdiator cabinets and Elfa shelving.

 

[Kevin54]

Very nice place indeed. A lot of hard work to be proud of.

 

[bluesman2a]

It was a tough call, wanting more garage space or having a usable bathroom and utility area to service the pool. Though I would gladly take a whiz out of the back garage door, I chose a larger bathroom/utility area to stay in good graces with Queen and Princess of NoVa. There's plenty enough room for guests to change in the bathroom.
I did have a brief skirmish with the queen over decorating it though, I being the Court Jester held firm in auto/motorcycle motif and the Queen relented. Being foolish as most jesters are, I thought I'd actually won a battle with the Queen (actually smiled to myself as I walked away).

The very next day as I'm doing daily Court Jester business in the study (the only room I was previously allowed to decorate), the Queen walks in and makes the proclamation, "You need to move all of this tacky race sh17 out to your new Garage-Mahal." I respond with "WTF, this is the only room in the house that's mine? Are you truly willing to emasculate me so quickly?" I could go on ad nauseum but the bottom line is I clearly lost yet another battle in the long standing war of decorating. I now clearly understand I am a tacky Redneck with no taste, I'm allowed to stroke the check every month for the mortgage, I'm allowed to stroke the check when she picks out new furniture, I'm allowed to paint the color I'm told to paint, I'm allowed to do all the yard work, pool maintenance, and fix everything that breaks, but under no circumstances will I be allowed to make any further interior decorating decisions. And they ask me why I listen to Angry Music...

That's some funny stuff right there, I don't care who ya' are... Unfortunately I relate to all too much to many of those aspects. Better for me though, the Queen of Ga. has less strong feelings about decoration, so I lose less often.

On the bathroom thing, I ain't above droppin' trow behind the shop, but you know there are days when you're just so nasty YOU don't even wanna go into the house. Those are the days I want a MAN-shower. You know what I'm talking about... 5'X5' stall with a bench to rest your tired **** on with 2 shower-heads with an on-demand hot water unit for the endless shower for those really crappy projects where you just have to soak it out for a while...

 

[fxdlryan]

A Few Updated photos

A few inside decorations going in

Hey!!! How did Dale Jr get in here ?

Relocated toolbox and stereo cabinet to make room for an air compressor...

 

[UN4GTBL]

Looks great man!!

ha ha reaminds me of that line from "my big fat greek wedding" where the mother says that the husband is the head, but the wife is the neck that turns the head...

 

[thundercow]

I like the back patio...

 

[Dawgfan]

What make and where did the shelf bracket come from?

 

[fxdlryan]

What make and where did the shelf bracket come from?

The shelves are Elfa brand sold through the Container store. They're an almost perfect match with Gladiator cabinets. At normal price, they are pretty expensive, but the Container Store has a twice a year sale where they are 25 or 30% off and that's the time to get them. You only have to hang the head rail and then the vertical rails simply hang from the head rail. They have many different depths and widths with baskets, hangers, dividers, etc available. They hold 75 pounds per linear foot and I've used them in my old garage with loaded Craftman toolboxes on them without issue.

 

[fxdlryan]

Got some signs up...

Finally got some of my signs up, getting that Sinclair sign up 11.5 feet by myself wasn't much fun,

the bathroom decor is almost finished now

 

[Conor42]

Looking good! Some fun old artifacts, there.

And I feel your pain. My wife sometimes tells me how to decorate my car, too! "I don't like those wheels" and "put the spoiler back on!" are common complaints.

 

[RbrtAWhyt]

I like that gray color. Nice choice for the garage. Nicely done!

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Slick garage and nice yard ornament. I think I used my pool three times this year. My shop gets used daily year round. Attempt to keep a balance.

 

[Mikea57]

Hey fxdlryan,

Great looking space! How do you like your mini split? What size & brand is it? Also, how quiet is it? I'm considering one for my 24' X26' detached garage.

Mike

 

[fxdlryan]

Slick garage and nice yard ornament. I think I used my pool three times this year. My shop gets used daily year round. Attempt to keep a balance.

Hey, what can I say, she got a pool and I got a garage, all parties are happy

 

[fxdlryan]

Re: Hey fxdlryan,

Great looking space! How do you like your mini split? What size & brand is it? Also, how quiet is it? I'm considering one for my 24' X26' detached garage.

Mike

Sorry, it's not a minisplit, it's an Amana PTAC unit. It's mounted very high to keep it as far away as possible from the 400,000+ BTU pool heater located outside underneath it.

 

[cyclopsblown34]

What automatic pool cleaner do you have? We have the Polaris 380 and I can't stand it. It seems to migrate to the deep end and then just stay there.

 

[bchee]

awesome collection of vintage signs

 

[fxdlryan]

cyclopsblown34,
Mine is a Polaris as well, I'll check the model number when I get home tonight and send you a PM. Mine actually does a nice job. Every great once in a while, it would wrap itself around the table in the cozy corner, shortening the tube a few inches solved that problem though.

bchee,
Thanks, only a few of them are originals, the rest are reproductions. I had originally planned to do all vinatage signs, they're just so hard to find and damn expensive when you do. In the last few weeks, I went to Carlisle and Hershey looking for signs and project cars, the prices for both were insanely high. I'll likely stick with reproductions and place orginials in the mix as I find them.

 

[cyclopsblown34]

Thanks man, mine is the three wheeled unit with the bag on top. I'm just hoping to find something that works better and prefer input from people who actually use them rather than marketing hype.

 

[fxdlryan]

New Entrance Art...

I found this antique glass panel and had it framed to hang over the Garage Door Entrance, I think it tirned out well...

 

[goodfellow]

Nice place Ryan -- great job! The entire property is beautiful.

 

[akdiesel]

Your shop looks great as well as the pool. I like the signage you have around the shop.
It would be nice to have a pool and it could double as an ice rink in the winter for me too.

 

[fxdlryan]

Nice place Ryan -- great job! The entire property is beautiful.

Thanks, it would look better with some of your shop equipment in it,

 

[fxdlryan]

Nice place Ryan -- great job! The entire property is beautiful.

Your shop looks great as well as the pool. I like the signage you have around the shop.
It would be nice to have a pool and it could double as an ice rink in the winter for me too.

akdiesel - Thanks for the kind words. I'm not a fan of winter or cold weather, unless there's a snowmobile involved...

 

[fxdlryan]

New Lift

I picked up my Direct Lift Pro Park 9 Plus this weekend. woo hoo...
Installed lift:

As soon as we got the lift installed and tested, I had to repay one of my helpers by helping him replace an outer axle on his Honda Pilot.

 

[goodfellow]

Excellent Ryan -- very nice lift. How hard was it to manage the pieces, and to put everything together squarely?

 

[Arcticf7ext]

Excellent Job. The place looks great. I like the way you have planned stuff out and have it organized.

What does the R W stand for ? Initials?

 

[fxdlryan]

Excellent Ryan -- very nice lift. How hard was it to manage the pieces, and to put everything together squarely?

I picked it up from Greg Smith Equipment in Deleware on Saturday. I first had to assemble my new cherry picker to be able to offload the lift, . The pieces weren't too bad considering where we had to park the trailer and the fact that it was so freaking cold outside. The ramps were the only pieces that were difficult to manage (the one with the hydraulic ram and cables weighs about 800 pounds). We just got everything offloaded and into the garage on Saturday and called it a day. I read through the instructions Saturday night and some buddies showed up on Sunday. With a cherry picker and 3 guys, it was actually pretty easy. There were a few "Gotcha's" like making sure the orientation of the top plates were correct and the mechanical releases, but everything worked out OK. Squaring it up was the easiest part, simply attach the casters and lower it onto the casters, self plumbing and squaring at that point,

 

[fxdlryan]

Excellent Job. The place looks great. I like the way you have planned stuff out and have it organized.

What does the R W stand for ? Initials?

I wish I had some great story, but it's just my initials.

 

[jkherd]

love the asylum sign, need one of those myself

 

[fxdlryan]

New Toy

A new toy followed me home last week, been too busy enjoying it to post pics....