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bmwpower's garage build

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bmwpower

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Yea, 94Vette, I've probably put too much thought into the whole project. So much so, the wife is close to filing for divorce. :)

SuperKid, I'm dying to use it. I just got done hooking up the power. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a chance to pickup a car.
 
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bmwpower

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I'll see if I can snap some in use picts tonight.

I did get a pretty cool fridge for the garage. I snap some of that, too.
 
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bmwpower

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June 30, 2006 - Refrigerator install

I looked high and low for a affordable undercounter fridge that would fit in the space I needed, height and width,. I ended up buying a Summit FF7BSSTB at a local dealer.

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IMG_2567_1.jpg
 
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bmwpower

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Lift...in use

Here's couple of shots of my car and my friend's on the lift. The M is a little tough to get lined up just right so that the arms can hit the pickup points, but I think I have it down. The M is sitting at max height, on lock.

For install pictures, see the previous page (I updated it).

IMG_2563_1.jpg


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IMG_2572_1.jpg
 
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SuperKid

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Wow, that looks great! One thing I'd recommend, is to put the lifting pads completely perpendicular to the frame. That way there is more room for the car to move should it begine to slide from side to side for any reason.

Again, shop looks great! Enjoy it! :thumbup:
 
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bmwpower

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SuperKid said:
Wow, that looks great! One thing I'd recommend, is to put the lifting pads completely perpendicular to the frame. That way there is more room for the car to move should it begine to slide from side to side for any reason.

Again, shop looks great! Enjoy it! :thumbup:

That makes perfect sense...the only problem was that no matter what I did, I just could not hit the front pickup points. I even pulled the car up a bit off of the middle of the alignment plate in an attempt to get to the front pickups, but I was not able to for whatever reason. If I put the pad perpendicular, the car would be sitting on the arm tube (farther up the arm). Either I'm doing something wrong or the lift isn't made to pickup this car like the guy said it was. Hopefully, the former.

The other problem is there is little room to hit the pickup. If I let the pad hang too far towards the middle of the car, it looks like it will hit some stuff. I had no problem picking up my 5 series, but it has pinch welds, so the pickups are a little farther out from center.

Thanks for the nice comments! More to come....it ain't done just yet...
 
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bmwpower

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JohnZ said:
Beautiful garage, cabinets to die for, and great documentation of the project - congratulations! :thumbup:

:beer:

Thanks, John. More coming soon. I'm picking up the tops next Friday! The end is closing near....
 

66RICH

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Great planning, amazing shop!! Love the details like the ledge on the
blocks, lighting, and the door tracks. The lift color matches the cabinets!
Did this influence the color selection for the cabinets? Great job!
Rich
 
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bmwpower

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66RICH said:
Great planning, amazing shop!! Love the details like the ledge on the
blocks, lighting, and the door tracks. The lift color matches the cabinets!
Did this influence the color selection for the cabinets? Great job!
Rich

No influence on the color. I always wanted "Bright Blue" cabinets ever since I first saw them. A classic Lista color, IMHO. Just turns out that the lift was blue, too. I also have a blue engine crane. I guess I like blue somewhat, but everything except the cabinets was the default color choice.

Thanks for the comments!
 
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bmwpower

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RogerQ said:
I have ordered Lista Cabinets and a Rotary lift. Delivery happens the 8/31. Any advice on setting them up? I have an installer for the lift.

When the cabinets arrive, make sure everything you ordered is there and in perfect condition. When my order came, I was missing some drawer boxes, but I didn't find out until 1-1/2 years later when I actually unboxed everything. Lista has a strict policy with missing/damaged stuff in that you have to notify them within a certain amount of time after the order arrives (I think 15 days).

Did you order your cabinets with fork/pallet truck bases? If so, moving them around will be easier since you can rent a pallet jack and jack them into position. I didn't order any bases to save moeny, but when it came time to move things into place, it was a little harder since I had to get a friend to tilt the cabinet while I pushed the pallet jack under the cabinet. Definitely use a pallet jack either way though - much easier than anything I could think of.

How are the cabinets going to be laid out? Side to side? Lista makes hardware kits to bolt cabinets that are side to side for better stability. These kits need to be ordered/requested since they do not come with the cabinets by default.
 
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bmwpower

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August 4th, 2006 - The tops are picked up and the Sub takes a hit for the team

Silly me decides to pickup the stainless over wood tops I ordered from the factory in Holliston, MA to save on shipping and to avoid the hassle of having to deal with damaged tops during shipment. Well, I get there and it turns out the custom sized tops I ordered were of the wrong size! I even had Lista double check the sizes before I left to make sure the sizes I ordered were the exact sizes that were made. My design is a built-in design, so the tops have to fit just right or it throws everything else off.

According to Lista, when they make these tops the wood CORES are cut to the specs you provide and then the stainless is wrapped over it. You can see the dilemma in this method. I think I'm getting a top that is 28-1/2" x 88-1/2" when in fact I'm getting a top that is at least 28-11/16" x 88-11/16" - a big problem if your design calls for built-in tops. No one told me this was the case.

The good news is that I talked to a customer support person while I was there who was quite helpful. At the time I didn't realize that all the tops were going to be problematic. I only thought the one top that extends into the middle of the garage would be a problem since it has to be the same depth of the cabinet (28-1/2"). If it's not the same depth, you will see obvious overhang, not to mention it will push the top butting up to it to the right. In any event, I told her I'd be willing to take the tops and "try them out" to see if I have any issues as long as Lista would ship me out new ones on their dime. She agreed. Well, I didn't realize until I got home how many issues I would have.

See picts for some of them:
- All dimensions are larger by 3/16 to 1/4"
- And if that wasn't enough, one top has a different finish than the others. It looks like a mirror finish instead of a brushed stainless finish. I like the brushed finish better since it looks like it will hide scratches better. Not a deal breaker, but worth mentioning.

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To top it off, I got in an accident on the way back. My Dad's Suburban took a hard hit in the rear from some old guy not paying attention. My friend and I are okay, but a little sore. The Sub is not so good. The hit bent the frame and just about every other piece of metal/plastic on the back of the truck. One thing is for sure, the tops are definitely made very well. Even though the truck took a hit and pushed the rear doors in by a good couple inches, the tops withstood any damage - the rear doors just bent around the tops!

Overall, this past Friday is one I'd like to forget...

IMG_2673.jpg


IMG_2674.jpg
 
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Elky

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wow..that ***** man.
on both the tops and the accident.
glad to hear you are alright.

the mirror top confused me when i saw the pic.
haha
i couldn't quite figure out what i was looking at.
 

nova65ss

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That's a schweeet garage, I didn't think it could get any better until I saw the stainless tops. Hats off to ya on the thought and time that went into your planning.

Jimmy
 

73survivor

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Great looking garage! Did you use any rebar or wire mesh in the concrete floor? How do you like the vapor barrier? Does it work? How did you keep from puncturing it when you poured the concrete?
 
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bmwpower

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73survivor said:
Great looking garage! Did you use any rebar or wire mesh in the concrete floor? How do you like the vapor barrier? Does it work? How did you keep from puncturing it when you poured the concrete?

nova65ss said:
That's a schweeet garage, I didn't think it could get any better until I saw the stainless tops. Hats off to ya on the thought and time that went into your planning.

Elky said:
wow..that ***** man.
on both the tops and the accident.
glad to hear you are alright.

the mirror top confused me when i saw the pic.
haha
i couldn't quite figure out what i was looking at.

Thanks guys!

No rebar or wire in the floor, only fiber mesh.

I really liked the vapor barrier. I couldn't find anything worth buying around here, so I had to get something off the web. This stuff held up well to wheelbarrows and less-than-careful masons before the pour. The key to avoiding punctures is to get a barrier that has a high puncture resistance. The clear plastic they sell at Home Depot can't hold up to the better vapor barriers. As a test I tried to puncture a piece of the barrier with a nail. It took a good amount of force to pierce the barrier. A good barrier will stretch around the object and not break.

So far it seems to work. I never tested the vapor transmission.
 

Toolmaann

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Many years of careful consideration and preperation...many years of enjoyable use... :rocker:

Enjoy yor new "Men's Den", it's bitchin'
 

scarabboy

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Toolmaann said:
Many years of careful consideration and preperation...many years of enjoyable use... :rocker:

Enjoy yor new "Men's Den", it's bitchin'

Beautiful...what the size of this shop..ive read and maybe im blind but i thought i only seen the height
 

ultgar

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bmwpowerSilly me decides to pickup the stainless over wood tops I ordered from the factory in Holliston said:
This is why I use local fabricators to do the installs when it comes to stainless tops on Lista cabinets.

I installed a few cabinets today and have asked the client to hire a local countertop guy do the tops. With a 3hr drive (3 1/2hrs today in the rain) to get to this job from my house, I can't afford to risk the problems you've encountered with your tops from Lista.

I also went with a Rotary lift on this job....the cassette is in the floor and the local dealer will come back to finish the installation in the next few weeks. I've been recommending Rotary lifts (even over the Nussbaum units I sell) because there are plenty of dealers around the country to make sure the units get delivered, installed and serviced properly.SD
 
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enginerd

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ultgar said:
I also went with a Rotary lift on this job....the cassette is in the floor and the local dealer will come back to finish the installation in the next few weeks. I've been recommending Rotary lifts (even over the Nussbaum units I sell) because there are plenty of dealers around the country to make sure the units get delivered, installed and serviced properly.SD

Steve, who is the best rotary lift dealer/installer you know of for Northern NJ?
 

ultgar

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enginerd said:
Steve, who is the best rotary lift dealer/installer you know of for Northern NJ?

Where are you in Northern NJ? Saw you post about HID lights from a friends company....Dave Finch? SD
 

enginerd

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ultgar said:
Where are you in Northern NJ? Saw you post about HID lights from a friends company....Dave Finch? SD

Check your PM, might be easier to budding into this thread.
 
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benjacobs

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I too, wonder what you're going to do with all that ceiling space. You could put an apartment up there, or a loft for hanging out. Of course, it would also be nice for clutter storage. Then again, you could just leave it alone and enjoy the high ceilings. Whatever you decide, you've got yourself one nice garage. Great job on the build!
 
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bmwpower

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Tuesday, September 19th

Well.. I finally got the replacement tops and they're the proper size this time.

*Flashback*....Since the original problem, I've been trying to get Lista to pay for me to come back up and pickup the new tops. At the same time, I was going to drop off the old tops. Good deal for Lista, right? Well, I've been talking to a host of people at Lista to try to work things out. Last conversation I had with Lista late last week was that they were going to pay me to come back up. Goodie.

So, I get a call from my wife yesterday while I'm at work telling me that a guy is at the house dropping off the tops now. Oh, and he needs help taking the tops off the truck. What?!? In Lista's ever-increasing lack of communication in their back office, someone I guess decided I wanted the tops shipped. So instead of going on my business trip to NYC, I had to turn around and come back and make sure things were okay. Joy. Turns out the tops were okay, except for the edge on the biggest top which was banged in a little. I put that side to the back. Finally.

If I had a top complaint of Lista (cause I have several), it would be they are very unorganized. You have to stay on top of them all the time. And even then, things can happen.

All-in-all, I'm very happy with the product.

Oh...picts...Well I'm out of town at the moment. I'll post final picts when I return....
 
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86swb

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Yes, don't let us down. You start on your garage and three kids later you are getting close to finish it. Wow! Waited a little longer and you would have had plenty of help. Looking good.
 
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bmwpower

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86swb said:
Yes, don't let us down. You start on your garage and three kids later you are getting close to finish it. Wow! Waited a little longer and you would have had plenty of help. Looking good.

Yea, I know. I'm fooling around trying to get my truck back on the road while at the same time trying to get my tops and cabinets all shimmed up. Hopefully soon I will have it FULLY completed.
 
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Great. I wonder if you have a security system in the plan ? I sujest one that will let you know via a "silent alarm" so if and when the thieves come they wont leave with your stuff. I sujest this because you garage is a distance from the home. Just a sujestion
 
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