Above 1200 Sq/FT Garage Refurb®

[NUTTSGT]

The trip to Menards went well this evening. Although, taking the wife and granddaughter upped the total at the register.

I bought 2 uprights and 8 beams, which gives me 4 shelves. Using this Performax racking, I can upgrade and expand it in the future. Whether it's more shelves or another bay, this could be the base for the future.
Uprights, 17" wide and 72" tall




48" beams and I can use plywood for the shelves themselves.


The holes in the beams call for one cross tie. I'm going drill 2 new holes and add 2 cross ties.



This will make the unsupported area go from 24" down to 16".

 

[NUTTSGT]

Progress ? I laugh at progress.....

I tried to finish up drilling and mounting the casters on the brake this morning. The 1/8" bit seemed to be walking off the center punched.



So I looked at the drill bit.,.hmmm. yeah I think this bit is junk. New bit on the right, old one on the left.

 

[NUTTSGT]

So I used the bit on the right....for about half a hole...

A trip to HD after breakfast with the wife and granddaughter, I walked out with these....a new bit and a spare.

On the bright side, my military discount is now working properly at HD.

 

[NUTTSGT]

After the HD visit, we had to go to my parents. They are having an issue with the pvc line from the gutters to the cistern. With his Alzheimer's, my stepdad was struggling trying to get it done with. So we went over and I took a look. I decided on an approach but have to order a couple of 3" ball valves.


Finally, I finished up the casters on the brake...done.

Then a quick project...a place to hang my keys when I am out in the garage.

 

[NUTTSGT]

After much delay and no progress, remember me laughing at progress?

I finally got to work on the new shelving...

You can see the two cross ties spaced at 16"; rather than one at 24".

Once the cross beams are assembled, they get plastic pins put in. I decided to replace the cheap little push pins with bolts.



Here's what was supposed to be used.


I'm replacing those with 1/4" bolts, some grade 5, others, grade 8... just depending on the length. I wasn't planning on all the fastener usage so I made an stop by TSC..

 

[NUTTSGT]

At work today and tomorrow so no garage time... however, I did have to break out a few tools. I needed to take care of something at work that happened about 3 weeks ago...


Unfortunately, custom things take a bit to show up...my new Captains badge.


This took about a week longer to arrive, out with the old and in with the new.
Couple of screwdrivers and a pair of needlenose pliers to the rescue.

Shield swapped out.


.... waiting to see if the Chief makes any comments about my favorite helmet decal now that I'm a Captain.

 

[LXCam]

At work today and tomorrow so no garage time... however, I did have to break out a few tools. I needed to take care of something at work that happened about 3 weeks ago...


Unfortunately, custom things take a bit to show up...my new Captains badge.


This took about a week longer to arrive, out with the old and in with the new.
Couple of screwdrivers and a pair of needlenose pliers to the rescue.

Shield swapped out.


.... waiting to see if the Chief makes any comments about my favorite helmet decal now that I'm a Captain.

As i said a minute ago..kickass bud!

But this one gets both a and a . Good luck on keeping the sticker. I don’t know what you guys go through but just last week when discussing how I handle my crews I was told I’m an HR nightmare. That comment elicited a response they didn’t like either. “You guys need to remember we’re a construction company, not a Fortune 500 corporate hand holder”!

 

[Jgaz]

I had a sticker on my tool box (a rare thing) that said “walking HR violation”.
It was given to me by an actual HR person.

She came down to investigate a complaint about my sticker.

When she asked about it I said I wasn’t sure where I was born so I picked Belgium, France, and Denmark.
She laughed and came back with my sticker

 

[Jgaz]

Congratulations on the promotion and thanks for what you do.

Sorry about the thread derailment

 

[NUTTSGT]

As i said a minute ago..kickass bud!

But this one gets both a and a . Good luck on keeping the sticker. I don’t know what you guys go through but just last week when discussing how I handle my crews I was told I’m an HR nightmare. That comment elicited a response they didn’t like either. “You guys need to remember we’re a construction company, not a Fortune 500 corporate hand holder”!

During the last administration, the Chief was off on Monday and as was the shift Captain. As the shift Lieutenant I had to gather the payroll sheets, make sure they were completed and take them down to City Hall for the SSD to sign off.

The previous Friday, sitting around the kitchen table, the Chiefs says, "I'm gone and Steve is gone, you'll have to take payroll down on Monday." Knowing that I don't care for the Mayor and SSD, he just grins when he says it.....

I simply replied back to him....."Are they aware that I'm bringing payroll down ?"

His smile faded away to a blank stare.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I had a sticker on my tool box (a rare thing) that said “walking HR violation”.
It was given to me by an actual HR person.

She came down to investigate a complaint about my sticker.

When she asked about it I said I wasn’t sure where I was born so I picked Belgium, France, and Denmark.
She laughed and came back with my sticker

Well that would be our department initials.... At one point in the past, under a different chief, our shift got some matching helmet decals.... because we felt that we were the "outsider" shift, we considered ourselves the black sheep of the department.


That chief thought it was something else... and required us to remove the decals...he questioned me about it. I told him as a Marine, I referenced it back to WW2 & Pappy Boyington and Black Sheep Squadron...a bunch of misfits that took care of business...he never asked me about it again.


As a side note, our late department Chaplain was in WW2, A Naval Chaplain in the Pacific theater. I never met him but he was the Reverend at the church behind the station as was the parsonage and a Paid on Call Firefighter. Anyways, during the Pacific theater, Pappy Boyington was shot down or had a mechanical failure going down in occupied Japanese territory.. 6 weeks later, he way rescued and brought back to his men... there's a picture in a WW2 era LIFE Magazine of Pappy Boyington and Reverend Paetznick talking and laughing.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Congratulations on the promotion and thanks for what you do.

Sorry about the thread derailment

It's all good.

 

[Jgaz]

Love the BS decals

 

[bugnut]

Congratulations Eric!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Love the BS decals

So did I but the guy that made the rules didn't.

Congratulations Eric!

Thanks.

 

[XJSuperman]

Not sure if this picture will show up . . .



Cool, wasn't sure. This is Performax shelving from Menards. Looking at what is available, I'm going to get shelving like this but not this big. I'm going to piece it together so it'll be 72" tall, 17" deep and 48" wide. It'll have 4 shelves.

Specs call for wire racking for the shelving. I'm planning to use either 1/2" plywood or 3/4" instead. I have both on hand, if it'll fit. It requires one tie bar for 48" wide, but for an extra $10, I can add a second tie bar for each shelf. I think this will be a cheap upgrade.

We'll find out later this evening and all parts show "in stock."

Thats what I bought for my garage not too long ago Eric. Its been great. Menards sells an mdf style filler shelf for it as well instead of the wire rack. I could have cut down some plywood but I just bought their pieces instead as they were cheap. A mixture of both that and wire worked for me.
Edit now that I've read the other new posts: I think I ended up adding bolts to the crossmembers as well. I'll have to look again. I didn't add more crossmembers, but I did add a custom spacing for one for my needs.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thats what I bought for my garage not too long ago Eric. Its been great. Menards sells an mdf style filler shelf for it as well instead of the wire rack. I could have cut down some plywood but I just bought their pieces instead as they were cheap. A mixture of both that and wire worked for me.
Edit now that I've read the other new posts: I think I ended up adding bolts to the crossmembers as well. I'll have to look again. I didn't add more crossmembers, but I did add a custom spacing for one for my needs.

The cross ties were a few bucks each, I figured cheap enough to add them and this stuff is way better than the shelf I bought/returned.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I cleaned up the corner the shelving unit is going.. this included pulling out the engine blocks and shop-vac'ing behind them.



Once I got to the 3rd shelf, I knew I was going to need another shelf to take advantage of the 72" height.



So the plan was to grab it this morning. However, I got called in to work so I am here today and tomorrow. I guess it has to wait until Friday.

If it works out, I can also pick up an order from the HD for e cistern project at my parents house.

 

[Jgaz]

It’s great that the individual pieces are available.

 

[NUTTSGT]

It’s great that the individual pieces are available.

It is a smart move and kind of awesome. What I saw listed on the website was mostly 96"wide units. I didn't realize the individual pieces were available until I saw this...

I thought, wow, if I can buy this and an upright, I can make a "special " one off shelving unit. So I put it in my CART, which said special order. However, it listed all the individual pieces and SKU numbers.

I was like, whoa, started clicking on the mouse and lo and behold... magic presto.

 

[Prospecter]

Once again wishing Menards would expand their service area to Mid-coast Maine.

 

[SilverJimmy]

And to the SouthWest!

 

[captain14]

I’d like them to set up shop in Maryland.

Rural King opened a store near Cumberland Maryland last year. Still 150 mile one way trip for me.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Once again wishing Menards would expand their service area to Mid-coast Maine.

And to the SouthWest!

I’d like them to set up shop in Maryland.

Rural King opened a store near Cumberland Maryland last year. Still 150 mile one way trip for me.

I wish all of you the best in having a Menards come close and set up shop near you. I have to be honest, the first time the wife and I went in there, we were not impressed. I think because it was so different big box store. Now, it's a main shopping place for us. From the DIY stuff to tools, to cleaning/laundry supplies, to toilet paper/paper towels, automotive shop supplies, groceries and HBA stuff.. . .

However, the most important stuff at Menards before we walk out is the dog aisle. A stack of Roofles and a toy for Mr Bones.




One of the nicest things about Rural King, we have 2 close and getting another which will close to where we shop, is RK Guns. Shop & buy online and have shipped to store. Do you paperwork and pick it up.

Just an FYI, if you have been on the Rural King website, you notice the links for the other RK stores, like RK Guns. I was on the phone with customer service several years back and trying to locate an item in one of their stores. As I was talking to the guy, I told him I had bought a gun from RK Guns and loved the idea and happy I could do it. In conversation, I asked him why their is no direct link to RK Guns on the regular Rural King website, as it's a "sister website." I told him it would be perfect for a direct link... he was like, I think we could do that. About 2 months later, the RK Guns direct link appeared on the Rural King website.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Li picked up the beams and cross ties this morning at Menards along with stuff for another project.

Once the top shelf was in place, with the help of 2 HF mover's dollies, I put it in place.

Then started to fill it up... mostly organized chaos.


A couple of heavy things on the bottom shelf, GT40 heads and Explorer intake.

Here's a better picture.

 

[NUTTSGT]

On to a couple of small projects... First one for work. We have a whiteboard in the kitchen at the station. We use this for riding assignments and pass along information. There's no place for the dry erase markers or eraser.

After a few minutes of work with some scrap plywood and a coat of stain, this will be going up tomorrow.




Next up, since I put the shelving unit in, the grease guns are a little bit out of the way...the one grease gun holder will be getting mounting on the vertical beam.

 

[NUTTSGT]

However, I needed another one for the rigid nozzle grease gun. Starting with a 12" chunk of 3" pvc pipe, I needed a cap. I spotted a test cap at Menards for 99¢. It's shallower and cheaper than a regular cap.

After gluing the cap on, I drilled a 3/8 hole to mount with a 5/16" bolt.


Wiped with some Brakleen and covered with some black paint, it'll dry till I get off work Monday.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I did a little work at my parents house today. They had their house built in '79 and the basement walls were poured concrete. They also had a cistern formed at poured in the back for of the garage.

The piping from the spouting/scupper box had some issues. You can see elbow mortared in wall has seen better days, 45 years of sunlight has destroyed it. After struggling how to fix this issue, I got the call to come and fix it.






I rigged up a temporary fix after making a decision on how to reroute/replumb. In my new design, I was going to add 2 ball valves. In case you might wonder, 3" pvc ball valves are not readily available.


One of the things I needed to take into account was when the cistern is full, is the diversion of the incoming rainwater.. when that time comes, it gets diverted in a 4" tile.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Putting in 2 ball valves and a Tee, allows the water to be directed.


This morning, I thought it might be better to "test drive" my design over the next 45 days or so with all the coming Spring rain.



After Summer arrives, I will break out the mortared elbow, fix that and mortar in a new elbow.

Ready for the test run.



My thoughts this morning, I came away with a final thought. Once the new elbow is in, I will continue to use the Furnco as the coupling. This will allow us to remove the assembly for cleaning or clearing any built up crud. I'm pretty sure this is going to be better than permanently gluing the long section to the elbow.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Once the cistern work was done, I came back home. Time to mount the grease gun holders.

First I thought maybe I should clean out paper towels I put in the bottom to absorb the leaking grease and oil.




I replaced it with some pieces of absorbent pads.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I mounted one above the other on the vertical of the shelving unit.



Since I had one test cap left, I figured I would make another one.... paint drying tonight.

 

[M.Brane]

I would do something to keep the direct sun off that PVC.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I would do something to keep the direct sun off that PVC.

I'm thinking of putting some paint on it, possibly gray to match the house, once I get the elbow in.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Ever wonder sometimes where does this saw dust come from ? It's not there one day and covering everything the next.





A little bench brushing and sweeping, it's clean enough.



Boxed up and ready for the next fire.

 

[larry4406]

Ever wonder sometimes where does this saw dust come from ? It's not there one day and covering everything the next.





A little bench brushing and sweeping, it's clean enough.



Boxed up and ready for the next fire.

Interesting disposal method.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Interesting disposal method.

A single dustpan usually gets dumped outside. If I have more and a few cardboard boxes, it goes in the box. Once the fire is burning, the box is tossed inside and as the cardboard burns away, the saw dust slowly burns.

 

[larry4406]

A single dustpan usually gets dumped outside. If I have more and a few cardboard boxes, it goes in the box. Once the fire is burning, the box is tossed inside and as the cardboard burns away, the saw dust slowly burns.

Shop wood stove or bonfire?

 

[NUTTSGT]

Shop wood stove or bonfire?

Wood stove in the shop.

 

[LXCam]

Back when I used to drink, I’d have gone through half a box before I told you your cheez-its have dried up and taste like **** bud.

 

[captain14]

Ever wonder sometimes where does this saw dust come from ? It's not there one day and covering everything the next.

Isn’t it Darwin that has piles and piles that came with his property and posted a thread about? Maybe he’s sneaking it in while you’re are work?