FOWLERS Rookie garage build.

[FOWLER]

Well after way too many years of a new garage being shoved to the back burner I finally got started on my new 32x30 man cave this past August. Being a Mechanic by trade I really didnt posses much knowledge of building construction other than the basics so I pooled every resource I had available such as friends, books, web, and Holmes on Homes(lol) and got to work. It's pretty basic and boring but came out pretty nice, well to me anyway. I did as much as possible myself and farmed out what I couldn't or didn't feel comfortable with. Don't judge too harshly

Site layed out and footers dug and poured,footer is stepped due to site slope. Just waiting on Mason at this point.

Block done, it's awesome to watch a pro at his craft. Garage will be 3 block above the slab when finished. After this there was a 4 week delay till concrete due to flippin rain.

 

[FOWLER]

Floor Done Guys did a great job on it. Now onto my part...

Took a week off and broke in the new air nailers, floor had set for a few days at this time.

Took me a couple of weeks to get to this point where most would have been done by then lol.

 

[FOWLER]

Stairs to attic done, thank God lol. Roofers were showing up next day so I was panicking a little.

Finished the roof just in time for the roofers to do they're work. Installed the windows, railings, and some trim while the shingles were going on. Waiting on siding co. now. 6 weeks in at this point, but it's starting to look like something at least.

 

[FOWLER]

Sidings guys were pulling in as I was headed to work but when I got home I was totally shocked by the fact there was now a garage in my back yard
Took a day for the door co. To show up but it gave me plenty of time to stare at it

Two days later there were Doors! I went with 9ftx10ft doors so my Boat and F250 would fit easily. Time to stash some more$$ for the slab at this time so it sat this way for a few weeks. Started in August and it's October at this point.

 

[FOWLER]

Didnt get the slab done till this March as I took the winter off basically due to Funds(wife) lol. Found a local guy who needed the work and preferred cash so I got a helluva deal on it. On to the electrical....

This was the original service on my home, after quite the ordeal with the county and power co. I ended up upgrading it to 400a and dropping 200a off to the garage.

This is what it looks like now with the service dis-connect.

 

[FOWLER]

Picked up the cable and some 3/4 Pex, not shown is the 4 inch conduit. Now onto that 155ft trench I gotta dig..

Well I didn't rent a trencher because I thought it would be good exercise and it was, so says my Chiropractor lol.

 

[kfainf]

Looking great Fowler! Plenty of space. Keep us posted as the inside is set up. BTW what part of the country are you in? Seems there is quite a few of us Fowlers in the south east US.

 

[FOWLER]

Got everything buried and hooked up, added this hydrant with a tee that's capped underground so I can run water in the garage at a later date.

Got power going to this Siemens 200a panel ,and now onto the wiring phase.
It's this past April at this time.

Picked up 12 T5 HO 4ft lamps, kinda pricey for a Flourescent IMO, but if I figured correctly it should be plenty of light for my needs.

 

[FOWLER]

Looking great Fowler! Plenty of space. Keep us posted as the inside is set up. BTW what part of the country are you in? Seems there is quite a few of us Fowlers in the south east US.

Thanks!! I've got a lot of pics to go just takes me forever to post them lol.
I'm in VA. Smithfield to be exact , most of my family is from Southhampton co. Va. or in Syracuse Nebraska so I'd say we are spread out a bit

 

[G.researcher83]

Fantastic space. Do you have enough height for a lift? I'm a fellow auto tech, can't wait to build my first garage with a lift to work on.

 

[FOWLER]

Forgot to add this pic of the upstairs attic space earlier, one rookie mistake was that I went 7/12 on the pitch, I should have went 9/12 like the house. I'm 6,2 and can walk through it fine but it's close. The floor is 3/4 Advantech.

Lights are in and it's bright in there!!! Might be too bright with finished walls and ceiling, guess I'll find out.

 

[Ryf]

love this space, that I beam is massive, whats your static load limit for the floor?

 

[FOWLER]

Fantastic space. Do you have enough height for a lift? I'm a fellow auto tech, can't wait to build my first garage with a lift to work on.

Thanks!
A lift was in the plan from the start and I ended up with a 10ft10inch ceiling height, 12ft would have been optimum but I had to keep the garage within a certain range due to the county not wanting it taller than than my house. I had to compromise a bit but yes ,there are lifts that fit in there. I also ran my beam opposite of the ridge board so I could keep it out of my ceiling space due to that.

 

[FOWLER]

Got all my 110 stuff in and functional this past weekend, 30 receptacles total. I still have to do the 220, 8 total so I can move my welder around with ease. I also need to wire for a fridge, compressor, and hvac unit(future).
I also put in a few of these USB charger receptacles, thought they were too cool. They will be handy for my cell, iPad, laptop ,and scan tools.

 

[FOWLER]

Well that's up to date and I'm outta $$ so it will probably be a month or so before I move on to the next phase which is figuring out which way to go with the floor, (epoxy? Stain? Etc.) insulation, walls, ceiling and paint. Oh, also gotta figure out what size flat screen I'm gonna need in there lol.

 

[FOWLER]

love this space, that I beam is massive, whats your static load limit for the floor?

Can't recall but I'll look in the engineers paperwork and let you know, it's a 16in X 30ft beam.

 

[crazytrain]

Wow, very nice build so far. I can't wait to see more.

 

[Wrenched]

Fantastic and so jealous of your land and space.

 

[safexcrane]

Its awesome work you have done. Looks too good.

 

[dubber]

Rookie? Looks good to me

 

[CoconutPete]

Awesome!

 

[JCQuick]

Made any more progress? this is one if my subscribed threads I like the build so much

 

[FOWLER]

Made any more progress? this is one if my subscribed threads I like the build so much

Sorry I'm 5 months late responding lol. Shortly after the last pics I had to take care of a an overdue Hernia and back issue so I'm just now getting back on my feet. Only progress has been installation of some gutters but I'm going hard at the floor,insulation, and hvac when the weather warms up.

 

[RalloZ35]

This is an awesome build! Nothing too fancy, I like it and wanna build something similar someday!