Above 1200 Sq/FT Garage Refurb®

[NUTTSGT]

Been there, done that with the unbacked rug turning into an old sack slide. We have these under our big dining room rug and they work great. Dog still folds it up when she goes barreling in and does a 180 while playing catch, but great for foot traffic safety.

Dogs can destroy anything, given the chance.

The wife said something about taping them, I was sure that would not be a good idea.

We talked about it when I came home at 0700 from a shift at work.... We talked, I looked on The Jungle and by 10am, had her approval of what I picked and order placed.


It was a quick fix and I got some new decor for the garage.

 

[NUTTSGT]

At 1900, my Captain began his final stage of his career. He'll officially be off the books February 3rd. . . . Allegedly.......Until then, he's running accumulated time off the books.

He bought steaks and a couple on the shift jokers got him a cake.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I wanted a freezer.... yeah, a freezer in the shop... sounds minor doesn't it ? I have a fridge already.... and a microwave but I would like to have a freezer for a bag of ice and maybe some frozen snacks .. .. .

So as the wife and I were at Menards grabbing a few BF sales items and walked past the appliances, I said hey let's look at something. I had been eyeing a 4.7 cuft mini fridge with freezer... the current one is fine but hey, if you can't enjoy the little things in life...

So we come across the fridge I had been checking out.. regular price $228... I figured after the holidays and get a little extra OT, I might splurge.

I found the unit along the back wall... Oh... On sale for $199... Clerk brings it up on her phone...sale price $169... Oh heck yeah...$60 savings. Wife says, I will get it for you from Bones, our yellow lab for Christmas...damn, did I get a good one ??

Wife puts it on her "Green" card and the price is incorrect... Cashier checking with her phone and I overlook, appliances clerk added the 2 year warranty...void that but wait.... what did I see ?!?!?? A $50 mail in rebate ? That $228 unit comes out to $119 ....



Replacing the fridge that has accumulated a few stickers over the years... cabinet will need raised for total clearance....here.

 

[NUTTSGT]

BTW, for you guys without a Menards local..... sorry... You don't know what you are missing.

 

[rharman]

BTW, for you guys without a Menards local..... sorry... You don't know what you are missing.

Is 883 miles considered local?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Is 883 miles considered local?

Nope, not in my book but it might be relative to some...

 

[captain14]

Great score for the mini fridge/freezer combo.

Found this image from FB this week. I see your department favors locally built apparatus. Seagrave and Sutphen, both were built in Ohio.

Do you know the year of the Seagrave?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Great score for the mini fridge/freezer combo.

Found this image from FB this week. I see your department favors locally built apparatus. Seagrave and Sutphen, both were built in Ohio.

Do you know the year of the Seagrave?

I see the guy who posted the picture called it a '48. It is in deed, a 1949.

The '49 is no longer owned by the city, it's changed hands and partially owned by the Union, IAFF Local 1120, and the wife of one of the retired guys that passed away 2 years ago. It's currently sitting in the station as it needs a couple of small things done to it. I believe the chief is going to work on it.
It has become a parade truck and funeral truck with a place over the rear to haul the casket.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Back to the fridge, I did some cleaning, rearranging and thinking.... New fridge in place, plugged in and cooling down.


The key box is getting moved up and the hook for the earmuffs and BT speaker is getting moved.... same with bottle openers.


Speaker and muffs relocated.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Now, I need to figure something out with the microwave. I considered moving the cabinet up and stacking the microwave on the fridge. However, I think it'll make the cabinet too tall and render it useless.

I do have a plan and it will continue tomorrow...

It will include building something for this little spot here.



I also cut down a carpet tile to protect the top of the new fridge.

 

[rharman]

I sure hope there are goodies in the garage for Mr. Bones. Maybe some whipped cream in the fridge for a pup-cup.

 

[zmotorsports]

BTW, for you guys without a Menards local..... sorry... You don't know what you are missing.

Go ahead Eric, rub it in. I've never been in a Menards, but I hear good things about them. Hell, we just got a Tractor Supply a few years ago.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Go ahead Eric, rub it in. I've never been in a Menards, but I hear good things about them. Hell, we just got a Tractor Supply a few years ago.

Sorry Mike.... you've got a motorhome... sounds like a good reason for a road trip.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I sure hope there are goodies in the garage for Mr. Bones. Maybe some whipped cream in the fridge for a pup-cup.

Yep, he's got some treats out there.

 

[TwoBytes]

Why do you keep your knives in the fridge? Does it keep them sharp longer?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Why do you keep your knives in the fridge? Does it keep them sharp longer?

Cabinet can get a little dusty and not a real good place to put the knives... I found that after washing/drying them, sticking them right there in the fridge worked about the best.

For a garage fridge, I don't really have a good use for that little shelf...so the utensils get it.

 

[Bob Heine]

Is 883 miles considered local?

Roger, my Menards is 932 miles from my house. Just the gas for the PT Cruiser (93 octane) for the 1,864 mile round-trip run would cost me $400. I guess the 5% discount for using the Lowe's credit card will have to do.

EDIT: Forget the PT Cruiser, I'll take the 'Vette and swing by the Dragon's Tail on the way back. It wouldn't be the first time it has been my pickup truck car.

 

[madison069]

I just checked, apparently there is a Menard 84 miles from me in Wheeling, WV. In the old days I wouldn't hesitate to drive 84 miles to check out a store. These days I get too many looks from my family if I say it's no big deal to drive 40 miles to a store. Seems everyone's idea of what's acceptable is different from folks in West Texas and here in Pennsylvania. My youngest does have a softball tournament in the Wheeling area next year, so I'll plan to take a detour!

 

[NUTTSGT]

So I made a trip to Menards the day before yesterday and grabbed a few things.

A section of countertop and 2x4s.


Now if you notice the back splash is broken, you're correct. That's fine with me, it going to work for what I need.

I also grabbed an outlet, cover, caulk and you can probably read the price
lof the countertop...$20. I figured better than hacking up a large piece out of the 3/4" plywood I considered using.

 

[NUTTSGT]

One more thing I bought.... ripple effect from the fridge purchase...a new microwave.


I'm going from a 20 year old .9 cuft to a new .7cuft @$65. The box of the new one is about the size of the old one.

Getting the new one out of the box, oh way smaller.

 

[zmotorsports]

WOW Eric, fridge, freezer, microwave, knives, you'll never need to go in the house.

 

[NUTTSGT]

First up, let's swap out the ivory outlet...




and in with the new black set.



Now, I did get a bit of a surprise when I did this as the NM was 10ga. So working with that took a little extra effort.. I think I might have done 10ga years ago when we had a upright freezer in my garage...circa 2000 or so when we first bought the place.

 

[NUTTSGT]

WOW Eric, fridge, freezer, microwave, knives, you'll never need to go in the house.

Yes, I will.....no shower.

 

[NUTTSGT]

The tube of caulk was to fill some screw holes and I will slap some fresh paint tomorrow.



Then, I moved on to the countertop...mark and tape up.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I built a frame for the area I'm dealing with and the work in progress.





Countertop for the top and the shelf still get a smaller piece of countertop. This is where the microwave will live. There's a few times that while working in the garage, I will eat lunch out here. I'd prefer not to track into the house so, lunch@GarageRefurb it is.

I'm also going to try it out as a place to sit with the keyboard and mouse for the PC.

 

[NUTTSGT]

@captain14

Here's a few pictures of the '49.


For those that don't know, this is the pump panel. This is where the pump operator sends the water out the hoses and at what pressure.





As I mentioned, this is a parade and funeral truck. The plywood is where the casket rides during the procession. I believe I showed making those seat pads a few years back. One of the retired guys that I worked with from the beginning of my career ( and was one of the sub bus drivers when I was in school) passed away. I told the wife, I wanted to do something and build some seat pads. She went with me to get a sheet of plywood and then to Jo-Ann fabrics for some foam and vinyl material. I then spent the evening making seat pads. They're not perfect but they are better than what was there before. . . . nothing.



The guys asked me if I could make something to cover the area in the back to mount this large IAFF decal. I said sure, let me do what I do. I had to cut a bracket off and touch up some paint. I then riveted a piece of aluminum diamond plate on and then cut another piece. O the smaller one, I flipped it over and gave it the brushed look with a Scotchbrite disc. Drilled a few holes and they added the decal back at the station.

 

[NUTTSGT]

 

[NUTTSGT]

Some pictures of the '28 Seagrave.
Tim Musselman owned this at one point and did a complete frame off restoration on it. Tim is a local guy who worked for AEP at one point, he owned the '28, '49 and '55 Maxim Aerial. Pictures do not do this thing justice. It's F'ing beautiful. It'll be hauling Santa tomorrow during the Santa parade in town.

 

[captain14]

Seagrave made just about everything in house for those firetrucks. Some of the volunteer companies around me used Seagrave exclusively.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Seagrave made just about everything in house for those firetrucks. Some of the volunteer companies around me used Seagrave exclusively.

For some departments, it seems like a cult following.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Got some time in the garage yesterday after breakfast with the wife and granddaughter. First thing was cutting some polyiso for something at work. Some of you may have seen the pictures elsewhere here. If not, I'll post them again.

We have Murphy beds at the station. The station is a 120 year old brick building. It had a remodel done in 1988-89 and if was a half *** project. My bunk is in an outside corner, between two windows and the only bunk on an outside wall. I pulled my bunk down the other duty day and grabbed a TIC.

The wall directly behind the bunk, above. Below is after I grabbed the camera and folded the blanket down. The darker spot is colder from the blanket.





This picture is down behind the bunk, yea hard to tell what it is but look at the temperature in the bottom right.

 

[NUTTSGT]

So I have a left over piece of foam board I'm cutting to put at the bottom near the colder wall area



For those wondering, 3/4" R5 polyiso foil faced. These were what I bought for the ceiling of the addition. They were "seconds" I bought from an Amish place for about 50% off.

I will be trying to put it in place today at work.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Back to the garage work. Since I filled some holes the other day, I wanted to get a coat of paint on that area of the wall.



Showed the wife the stand I was building...her response....you bought a new microwave ? She realized the size difference, issue of the cabinet location and the microwave was about 20 years old...

Mocking it up.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Since it fit, it was time for paint... some simple black paint.



I also painted the edges of the countertops. The plan is to also caulk the edges with some black caulk.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Foil faced foam panel installed...

 

[DeeDubz]

wow murphy beds, I haven't had to sleep on one of those for at least 10 yrs. I take it your dorm is a gang dorm or open. Do you haves have the ability to put up patrician walls?

 

[NUTTSGT]

wow murphy beds, I haven't had to sleep on one of those for at least 10 yrs. I take it your dorm is a gang dorm or open. Do you haves have the ability to put up patrician walls?

There's 3 different bunk rooms, the Captains have their own with a bathroom...it was originally designed as female fighters bunk room but the Captains have it... with the bathroom, it's about 1/4 of the complete bunk room floor space.

There is what was once the Lieutenant bunk room, all Lts until we increased manpower for EMS. It now houses 2 Lts and 3 FFs. It takes up another quarter of floor space.

The the other half of the floor space is taken up by the FFs bunk room. All Murphy beds and a locker.


I've already had the discussion with the chief when February rolls around, I am not moving into the Capt bunk room. There's not enough room and typically only one Capt sleeps in the room at a time...an off shift Captain gas to find another place to sleep...I work too much overtime so F' that ****...I believe I have more space in my corner than the Capt bunk room does.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have my home, my garage and then home away from those....my corner.




Yes, looks like overkill but consider this, just counting regular duty days, 24 on/48 off, in the last 25 almost 26 years, I have spent 8 plus years of my life here. Since 2023 I have worked over 5300 hours of overtime....so I have spent a vast part of my time away from home, wife, and dog here.

 

[captain14]

When you spend a shift or more in a fire house , people will understand why you need a little quiet or away time form your coworkers. My BFC office was also where I slept, but the office area was surrounded by other offices, kitchen and main hallway. It was noisy all the time. The builder should have put a solid door without windows and a sound deadening in the walls.


Some of the newer built fire houses have 1/2 walls or individual sleeping rooms. The problems we had, the “new” stations were built for a crew of 5-6, but call volumes have increased so there are more EMS transport units, supervisors or specialty units assigned to the stations. One station I was in, the on duty shift crew doubled from 6-12 within 5 years .

 

[NUTTSGT]

When you spend a shift or more in a fire house , people will understand why you need a little quiet or away time form your coworkers. My BFC office was also where I slept, but the office area was surrounded by other offices, kitchen and main hallway. It was noisy all the time. The builder should have put a solid door without windows and a sound deadening in the walls.


Some of the newer built fire houses have 1/2 walls or individual sleeping rooms. The problems we had, the “new” stations were built for a crew of 5-6, but call volumes have increased so there are more EMS transport units, supervisors or specialty units assigned to the stations. One station I was in, the on duty shift crew doubled from 6-12 within 5 years .

Running EMS is a game changer for the fire service... More runs requires more people. More people means more personalities. More people banging around when others are trying to get sleep or grab a nap from being up the night prior.

I pulled the latches out of the 2 bunk room doors... that is one less thing for guys to hear as a door is shut, the click clack of the latch. It makes it a bit easier ft guys to be quiet at night.