Building too seriously

[ItBurnsWhenIPee]

Well I can see why you would do the work yourself.
No self respecting contractor would lower themselves to be treated like ****.
Good luck anyway.

And no self respecting homeowner would let the one without the money dictate the terms of a project.

If I want my building to be useful as a repair shop, a drinking hole, and a nuclear bomb shelter...And I have the money to pay somebody to build it to perform all three functions...Well then I get my "fix it and let's drink until the apocalypse" place out behind the house regardless of how probable the contractor thinks a nuclear war is, or how he feels about alcohol consumption.

In the real world, the people with money make the decisions and the people that want the money do what's asked of them in order to get it. Anybody that tries to tell you otherwise is either lying or selling something.


*walks around some more on his own little planet*

 

[TRC51]

Everyone needs a hobby. I have motorcycles, so I have some knowledge in that area. I frequent forum boards to pass that knowledge along. I do not go overboard with it, but somewhere in between most times. Still, what I am saying is... if someones focus of their hobby is their garage, then who are we to judge. I personally have turned into someone who researches things to absolute DEATH! I am usually pissed off by the time I buy anything, BUT, I am sooooooo glad there are experts like the ones on this board who can pass the knowledge and ideas on to me. If it were not for this board, I probably would have saved a little money, but I also would have had an oversized shed instead of the two car 24 x 30 that I am planning. Nevermind the things to consider when creating your dream build up front that saves you the money down the road when you say to yourself, "I wish I would have done...."

I am glad there are people out there that have a passion for this stuff. Just like there are some people out there who have been happy that I have shared my knowledge... as few as there have been... they are out there.

And BTW, if you want to see crazy obsessions... try getting on the AVS forum for electronics. I started searching that board when I was buying a large screen LCD. Those guys are nuts! They can change your mind about what is good and bad 100 times in a single thread. I finally just picked one of the better TV's and went for it... but still I am glad that there are the freaks out there that help my optimize it.

My opinion anyway.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Golden Rule=

"The man with the money, makes the rules"

 

[tcianci]

This is soo cool guys. And while the guy with the money makes the rules, that doesn't make him right. And you just may have a contractor who doesn't want to go down that path simply because the H.O. demands it. Contractors sometimes stand their ground or decline a job because they know that the project management (homeowner) will ultimately be unhappy with the result and because the contractor needs to work with the same inspectors on the next job in that town. Sometimes a bridge is burned... and for the contractor, that bridge can't be the one that leads to his next paycheck.

 

[kvom]

I found GJ through an aquaintance who was building at about the same time I was considering my own attached garage. While I was constrained by lot size, local codes, and HOA, I learned plenty here in planning my build.

While I did use a contractor for the big stuff, I learned enough on this forum, and through friends, to do almost all the internal finishing myself. I also learned enough to decide exactly what I wanted and to convey that to the contractor and other subs. I also learned enough to decide what I considered to be mandatory and what was optional. In some cases, I would say, "it's just a garage" when considering some extra bling. But I have tight insulation, lots of power, AC, and radiant heat. I don't have epoxy floors or Lista cabinets.

I now spend many hours a week in the garage, mainly building model steam engines or working on the Jeep. It's my retirement man cave.

 

[southpier]

"do it youselfer" is a contractor's best friend

 

[slopecarver]

My parents original garage built in the 50's was 16" out of square over 24'x24'
There was no such thing as "on center" for the studs, some were 16, most were not.

 

[rieferman]

soutpier wrote

"do it youselfer" is a contractor's best friend

only idiot DIY'ers. I'm a DIY guy, and my work is as good as the professional carpenters around here. I know because I'm friends with them and they've stated as much.

I'll counter with:
Overconfident, condescending contractors (which is NOT what all contractors are) are a homeowners worst nightmare.

 

[autoist]

4,000 square foot, 2-story garage and the only contractor I hired was to finish out the full bath & upstairs gameroom because I didn't have time & wanted the project done by a specific date......that contractor walked through my garage & couldn't understand why I needed him!

 

[Mattlt]

My parents original garage built in the 50's was 16" out of square over 24'x24'
There was no such thing as "on center" for the studs, some were 16, most were not.

16" OC wasn't as big of a deal back then, as they used rough boards for framing walls and floors, not sheet plywood. They just cut off part of the board. A lot of flooring and some walls were also installed diagonally, making the 16" OC even more of a non-factor - they had to cut every board anyway.

Lath for installing plaster was even more forgiving.

Not that I'm sticking up for them, a building that's 16" out of square is pitiful. Just remember to consider that building materials and practices have changed over the years.