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Budget Garage Build in TX

AKS_Racing

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Jan 1, 2009
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37
Location
N of Houston, TX
Well I have been a member for almost a year, but something was amiss with my profile that did not allow me to post at all or even see other's pics. Everything is now fixed.

OK, here's the details, I live in a master planned community with very tight deed restrictions N of Houston, TX. Each year I try to do one "major project (side shed and dog run, executive gates, covered patio, etc). In 2007, I added this:
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Following the pool, my wife wanted a "wet room" for the neighborhood kids who swim over at our house so they wouldn't track water through the house when needing to use the bathroom. She wanted a 6' x 8' outside bathroom behind the existing 24' x 31' 3-car garage. I suggested that we add a complete extension across the back instead of just an "adjunct" out the back. We started to draw up an 8' x 31' extension, then I thought we should add additional room, and then I could park a car "tandem". Well as I began to draw, I decided that 50' deep was a nice "round" number, so the extension became 26' deep. So what next, a nice garage needs a lift, so that meant that one bay needed to be ~11.5' tall, which meant that I would need to raise the roof. That gave way to an upstairs room, which led to a large entertainment room upstairs (32' x 31', and I thought a balcony overlooking the pool would be nice (check out the cantalever balcony, no support columns!). All work was done between Thanksgiving '07 and May '08, with all labor by myself, with a bit of help from my son (Travis). I worked every weekend, and every vacation day on this project for ~6 months.

Here is what the slab looked like as work got under way in early December '07.
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2nd floor support beams. That large beam that spans 26' is an 10W34 which is over 880 lbs supported on the 4" square columns.
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Here are the first floor joists going into the I-beams. First floor framing and stairwell.
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Upstairs being framed and Hardi-planked.
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The back wall of the existing garage comes down to allow "tie-in".
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Canti-levered balcony detail (steel supports tied to main I-beams, sitting on 2" steel columns inside the lower wall). Also upper view of same.
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Finishing the hardi-plank and roof to complete "dry in". Pretty much finished from outwardly perspective.
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Inside view with some electrical completed (still have lots to go with the kilzs/painted OSB and the remaining interior work).
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The lift is now installed, and the kids have some games and electronics upstairs. I still have a lot of finish work to do, but my family and I are pleased with the results. Total cost (every nail, bolt, steel, all supplies, glue, and tools) including the slab and lift is still slightly below $20K, due to no labor costs due to doing the work myself. This goes to show aht one can do with a bit of incentive and some hard work.

I am open to additional suggestions and comments.
Aaron
 
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AKS_Racing

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N of Houston, TX
Inevitably people ask what you do with a garage like this in an area where I live.

I have storage for a few cars (the vettes, plus our daily drivers), and of course the projects.

I like to make damaged things look like new. The '87 above was bought when it was 2 yrs old totaled, and now looks very nice and runs very low 9s at low 150s.

The two bikes below were bought in early December.

The '05 ...

After -
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The '07 ...

After -
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I hope you all enjoy. And for those in the white states, we can pretty much ride all year long. :bounce:
 
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woodbutcher

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Nov 23, 2008
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Location
new york
i can ride too, i just ride my sled lol, are you one of those chop shops we always hear about ? no im kidding but it must **** to be you lol. very cool and nice craftmanship imo.
 

PurdueSD

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Mar 25, 2006
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Location
Indiana
looks like a nice place!

Why did you choose to have your concrete floor step up in the lower level of the garage?

Seems like it would be a pita.
 
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AKS_Racing

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N of Houston, TX
woodbutcher,
No chop shop, just lots of purchases on E-bay. If you can't find the parts needed on E-bay, give it a week or two. You can typically find all but the smallest parts. I used to do this for vettes back when I was going through college, but they have become so expensive (even wrecked)!

Purdue,
The step-up in the old section is the way that garages are poured down in this area. They have a raised area (3" raised) along the front and a variable raise (3" in the front, up to 5" in the rear, entry area of the garage) along the "man-door" side of the garage to accomodate the slope in the garage floor. I had quotes to sawcut the floor and slope the new concrete from the garage floor height to the raised height and they were very costly (lowest was ~$3500). The contractors are reluctant to sawcut the original slab due to the cables that run through the original post tension slab. For now, it will stay with the step-up, and I will use two scrap 2x12s to get cars over the hump. Hardly noticeable, other than it being a nuisance.
 

gbcamp72

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Joined
Dec 17, 2006
Messages
47
Location
Magnolia, TX
Your build is something I have been mulling over for some time. I live near you in the Woodlands. My home of 18 years is currently up for sale primarily to move to an lot to enable us to have a larger garage.

I am interested at the solution you have developed and would love to learn more from your experience. My needs would not be as elaborate in terms of the second story space but I would need the height for the lift and overhead storage as well.

Would you be open to sharing with me the steps you followed so I could explore if I might leverage what you have gone through?
 

atvmech

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Nov 6, 2008
Messages
252
Location
TEXAS
There is nothing budget about your property...lol...very nice


Budget is the 20x20 VW shop on this board LOL...nothing wrong with the 20x20 at all...i just wouldnt call this budget...
 

Jer

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Aug 8, 2008
Messages
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Oops, you made a typo in the title. You meant to write Overbudget :)
 

bluesman2a

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Aug 16, 2005
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1,312
Location
Atlanta, Ga.
LOVE the build... phenomenal features and finish for the $'s...

but come on, ain't no WAY this is a deck, it's a DIVIN' board man!!! :bowdown:

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TejasBimmer

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Mar 1, 2008
Messages
540
Location
off I-35, TEXAS!
Great build...love the way you rounded up to "50-feet".
I hope that the overhanging deck is at the real deep end of the pool.
I can bet that some one will be wanting to jump off it and into the pool.
 

Duke

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Dec 9, 2007
Messages
163
Location
Fort Leavenworth, KS
How did you get HOA and building permits to build such a high structure?

I grew up in Friendswood BTW. My wife is from Spring, we there for Xmas last month.

We met while going to SFA.
 
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AKS_Racing

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N of Houston, TX
Re: Budget (maybe Bargain) Garage Build

gbcamp72,
I certainly would be willing to share my experience and what steps I had to go through to make this happen. I live in your same area, so I know the difficulty of the Woodlands association and the HOAs. Feel free to PM me with questions.

atvmech / Jer / v8garage,
I call this a budget build due to the fact that all items (including the lift, concrete, steel beams, etc) were included in the budget and I am just now approaching $19K. In the scheme of the high $ builds of $100-$300K garages, I thought mine was definitely a budget build. I will say that the biggest savings is in the fact that all labor was provided "in-house", which probably would have placed the cost at $40-$60K otherwise. I think the money was well worth it! :)

bluesman2a / TejasBimmer,
That is the most common question I get, "Has anyone jumped off yet?". Of course followed by, "Can I?". The pool is 8' deep at that end, and the balcony overhangs by 1' over the edge, so it is not a matter of if, but when it happens. :bounce:

To all,
Thanks for the kind words! We really like the additions to the house, and feel that even with the suppressed housing market, we will easily cover our costs on all of these projects with plenty of room to spare. :thumbup:
 
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AKS_Racing

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Messages
37
Location
N of Houston, TX
How did you get HOA and building permits to build such a high structure?

No issue with the height of the structure, as it is not nearly as tall as the house. The garage addition is ~25' tall and you will note in some of the latter pics that it is only 3' taller than the existing peak on the old garage. The roof of my house must be 37'-40', as I know my 34' extension ladder will not quite reach the peaks on the front.
 

cyclopsblown34

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Jan 26, 2007
Messages
597
Location
Russellville, Missouri
If a person considers the results for the cash outlay, it is definitely a budget build. I'm very impressed at how you tie everything together. The pool looked awesome in the photo of it empty, now with the structure next to it, all I can say is wow. :bowdown:
 

atvmech

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Nov 6, 2008
Messages
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Location
TEXAS
I agree that $20k is GREAT...but i guess it depends on your perspective of budget...to a good ole' poor boy like myself....$20k for an add on is out of my line of sight completely! So...i understand you definitely make A LOT more money that I do..I built my shop house...furnished for about $50k...and its a 30x40x10....i dont have final figures yet but its close...and thats with me doing 90% of the work myself. Looks good though!
 
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cyclopsblown34

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Russellville, Missouri
My guess is the lift was 8-10k so the actual build was probably half the total. I still work with an old Sears floor jack and jack stands, can't afford a lift so it might as well be a million dollars. I have to budget my car/garage money pretty closely and generally performance modifications outweigh large equipment.
 
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AKS_Racing

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N of Houston, TX
Lift not too Expensive

My guess is the lift was 8-10k so the actual build was probably half the total. I still work with an old Sears floor jack and jack stands, can't afford a lift so it might as well be a million dollars. I have to budget my car/garage money pretty closely and generally performance modifications outweigh large equipment.

The Eagle 9000lb lift was ~$1600 with free shipping. I actually purchased in March, but did not install until November in order to capitalize on the free shipping. It ***** doing a ZF ****** install on your back.
 

cyclopsblown34

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Russellville, Missouri
Re: Lift not too Expensive

The Eagle 9000lb lift was ~$1600 with free shipping. I actually purchased in March, but did not install until November in order to capitalize on the free shipping. It ***** doing a ZF ****** install on your back.

Holy Schniekies, maybe I could use one of them when circumstances and rathole money match so I can build my shop away from the house. Then the 1050SF I currently do everything in will be my parking and man den. I'll finally be able to use my coffee table in a room of my own.
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dodgepolara500

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557
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San Jose, CA.
Very nice addition that looks well tied into the old garage a pool.

Did you end up addding a bathroom for the kiddies to use?
Also, why did you add to two roll-up doors in the back wall leading to the yard?

You certiainly made a great looking garage for 19K!
 

nathank

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Jul 2, 2008
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509
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West Texas
Fellow Texan!

Awesome build, and definitely a budget build at 20k. I was very surprised to read that number after looking at the pictures.
 

JohnK007

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Sep 13, 2007
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Downers Grove, IL
I was very surprised to read that number after looking at the pictures.

Me too !! I think you did an excellent job. You definately have some skills Bud. I see you lagged the floor joists through the center beam on one side. How did you attach the opposite joists, scabbed across the top? Did you have to hand drill those holes or was it shipped with the holes already bored?

Very nice project and well documented. Thanks!!
 
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AKS_Racing

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N of Houston, TX
Very nice addition that looks well tied into the old garage a pool.

Did you end up addding a bathroom for the kiddies to use? Also, why did you add to two roll-up doors in the back wall leading to the yard?

You certiainly made a great looking garage for 19K!

Indeed, I did add a bathroom for the kids downstairs, and have a second full bath upstairs for a "garage appartment" feel. Though the inside is not quite finished, it will be nice when everything is completed inside. My wife is pushing for the bathrooms to be finished by end of March when people really start using the pool again.

The roll-up doors are for ventillation, and the original intent was to allow me to store the oversized flatbed trailer behind the garage and get rid of my monthly rental charge. I just think it so clutters the back yard with any type trailer back there. We will see.

Me too !! I think you did an excellent job. You definately have some skills Bud. I see you lagged the floor joists through the center beam on one side. How did you attach the opposite joists, scabbed across the top? Did you have to hand drill those holes or was it shipped with the holes already bored?

Very nice project and well documented. Thanks!!

I hand drilled all the holes in the steel beams. The I-beams were actually sold in 60' sticks (best pricing vs 20' or 40' sections. I had Triple-S cut to the correct dimension with there bandsaw and then I welded all the attachment plates along with the columns.

The floor joists are attached to all of the steel beams. On the far side (that you can't really see), I cut the head off of 3/8" x 8" lag bolts and hand-die'd machine threads on the end without the heads. Then I drilled pilot holes in the ends of the one floor joist and threaded the lag bolt into the end 3.5". This floor joist then was set into the I-beam with the 4" of exposed lag bolt (the end with the machine threads) sticking through the hole in the I-beam. The next floor joist has a D shaped cutout with a hole that fit over the machine end of the lag bolt. I installed a washer and 3/8" not into the D-shaped cut-out and tightened it all together. There is a lot of strength in tying the floor joists together in this manner. I can certainly dig up (or take new) pics of this detail. It sounds quite involved, but once you make a template that fits, duplicating the design over and over is not too terribly difficult. The hard part was hand die'ing 40 lag bolts. :(

Looks great. I think the two doors on the back are for access to the next addition. :beer:

I don't know about that... :thumbup:

Again, thanks for all of the positive comments. I really appreciate the reinforcement.

BTW, I had a guy out doing Hurricane Ike sheetrock estimates on the house, and asked him for a quote to insulate, drywall, tape and float, texture, and paint all of the areas in the new garage, and he quoted just over $4K. Though reasonable, I'm not quite sure if this would blow the budget build. :)
 
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JohnK007

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Thanks for the reply. Yeah, if you don't mind, I'd like to see a photo of the opposite joist attaching to the steel. I understand what you're saying but I can't quite visualize where that D shaped cut out is located. Pretty ingenious. Is there a scab across the top (third picture), or is that just an illusion from the camera angle?
 

JohnK007

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Never mind about the scab question.... Just looked at the fourth picture a little more closely, no scab, the ends of the joists seem to be butted together above the beam. Yes?
 

justinmc

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KCMO
Man seriously.. for $20K thats ALOT of building. In that regard its totally budget. $20K is a killer price IMHO.

Just curious how you managed such a low budget? I notice some of the studs in the new addition look "used"... I'm guessing you got some crazy deals on old or used lumber like on craigslist, etc? How about the pad? Did you pour that yourself? Mix it yourself? Just curious what you did to cut corners and put cash back in your pocket/build..

I'm looking to expand/build something similar (though smaller) and I'm telling myself that I can surely do this on the cheap.
 
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AKS_Racing

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Thanks for the reply. Yeah, if you don't mind, I'd like to see a photo of the opposite joist attaching to the steel. I understand what you're saying but I can't quite visualize where that D shaped cut out is located. Pretty ingenious. Is there a scab across the top (third picture), or is that just an illusion from the camera angle?

I took some pics this evening and will get them loaded shortly. They will help explain in pics vs my earlier words of how the floor joists are run continually. Pics below...

Pic of the joists that receved the machine end of the 8" lag bolt.
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Closer shot of a single joist that illustrates the D-shaped cutout, as well as the cout-out in each end of the joist to allow the 2x12 to **** up against the receiving 2x12 on the other side of the I-beam.
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A shot of the other joists (receiver's) that got the lag end of the 9" lag bolt.
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Never mind about the scab question.... Just looked at the fourth picture a little more closely, no scab, the ends of the joists seem to be butted together above the beam. Yes?

Correct, the end of the joists are butted together. Everything is nice and tight with the lag bolts sucking each set together.

Man seriously.. for $20K thats ALOT of building. In that regard its totally budget. $20K is a killer price IMHO.

Just curious how you managed such a low budget? I notice some of the studs in the new addition look "used"... I'm guessing you got some crazy deals on old or used lumber like on craigslist, etc? How about the pad? Did you pour that yourself? Mix it yourself? Just curious what you did to cut corners and put cash back in your pocket/build..

I'm looking to expand/build something similar (though smaller) and I'm telling myself that I can surely do this on the cheap.

All of the wood was new when installed. Unfortunately when only one person is building (except for the few weekends my son was able to come home from college), the wood gets weathered before it was fully dried in. All of the wood was purchased from Bison Lumber, or the local HD / Lowe's. The big cost savings is in sweat equity as mentioned above.

Thanks for the kind replies. We really like the additional space.
Aaron

BTW, All I did this weekend was install insulation behind the pegboard and install the opposite wall on the closet below the stairs. Some of this detail takes so long...
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