Above 1200 Sq/FT Garage where the ravens play

[sardonux]

High up in the mountains of Colorado at ~8,500 feet elevation, I’ve been quietly building my “forever home” including a 34'x 39' workshop with single-slope roof. At the low point, interior roof height is 9 feet, at the high end interior roof height is 17.5 feet. I’ve been building this workshop for a couple years. I’m now “moved in” to a space that is far from complete because I refuse to take loans for any of it so its more of a “build as I go” sort of ordeal.

Early days, after my excavator leveled out the spot for my workshop, including an in-progress french-drained concrete retaining wall. It was entertaining watching a guy with a Peterbilt 396 and a military surplus low-boy trailer hauling them up the mountain. Only a few could be brought at a time due to weight. You can see the water line sticking out of the ground, it was run down from my main home’s water system.



After the wall was completed the digging started and the foundation work ensued.











Once the frost walls were set, they laid the infrastructure for in-floor radiant heat and we got the floor put down.



Floor set with apron:





Good time to let it cure, put down some concrete sealer to keep it nice.



Next post, I’ll continue with the construction of the building itself.

 

[sardonux]

Delivery day:



The skeleton of the building went up pretty quick, was just a couple of days.





Mountain sunrise as the roof was going on and we started enclosing the building:





After enclosing the building, the excavation crew came back with the plumbing crew to drag my gas line to supply propane for radiant heated floors.



After they finished, I brought in 10 tons of gravel road base and did the work to grade the driveway a bit and give it some structure / cleanup.



Then came the crews to provide electrical and plumbing for radiant heated floors system. After they finished, the insulation crew came and sprayed closed-cell spray foam for the entire building.





Next post I’ll continue with doors and get us caught up to today.

 

[loganb]

Nice looking build and gorgeous site!

 

[sardonux]

Nice looking build and gorgeous site!

Thank you Logan!

While the crew was coming and going, I was playing cleaning patrol (I don’t like a messy job site, especially when it’s my own yard) and working on landscaping. It’s a luxury owning a Bobcat, no matter its size or age. Mine is new enough to have ISO controls and aux hydraulics which allow me to perform Colorado-style landscaping with a grapple. The driveway and parking pad needed shape and structure, so I brought down a few thousand pounds of large stones that I’ve collected.





While I was messing around with landscaping, my garage door crew came in to install my doors.



The doors are oversized, and have jack shaft garage door openers lifting them as high as practical for clearance. Finished product on the outside:





At this point, all the big crews were finished. I’m doing the remaining work myself over time. To provide some erosion control, I went ahead and brought in 15 tons of rip rap and set it all by hand. The Bobcat was amazing at doing the carrying around, just took time and patience and a few advil.

 

[thammel]

A beautiful site! Wow! How much land? Would love to see info on your house too!

 

[sardonux]

A beautiful site! Wow! How much land? Would love to see info on your house too!

I live in ~16 acres with a couple other similar-sized lots that I likely will have an option to purchase. In addition, I am surrounded by hundreds of acres of mountains and forests with cute little homes dotting the landscape here and there.

A couple of good pictures to represent the property and surroundings.

Sunset:



From behind “the view”:



Sunrise from the drone:



View from my yard wandering with one of my shop dogs:


Morning view from my front window at coffee time:



And of course, one of the reasons we all have garages / workshops:

 

[sardonux]

A glimpse of posts to come.

 

[kitdoctor]

I see many similarities to our project. Cut and fill site, difficult access, retaining walls...

Stunning views too.

 

[strength_and_power]

Great looking build. Keep the pics flowing

 

[Griff79]

Where in Colorado are you?
Griff

 

[wachuko]

Those views are too distracting to be able to get anything done . What a beautiful area. You would catch me sitting and looking out at the view…lost in thought and contemplating life.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Mr onetwo]

Awesome property,awesome shop, awesome Jeep....AWESOME job! All I can say is WOW!

 

[sardonux]

Where in Colorado are you?
Griff

Griff, I’m up in Conifer. Send me a PM, I’ll have you up for a visit.

 

[sardonux]

One of the things I am most grateful for is the ability to go out and enjoy the night sky. I grew up mostly in / nearby cities, and my travel showed me the way. Here are a few images taken with longer exposure to give comprehension of what its like at night:



The moon, accented by tail lights of a visitor





And when we have those specially named full moons and clear skies, its even more absurd:

 

[sardonux]

On of my residents in the shop is my 1977 Cherokee Chief. There are many like it, however, this one is mine.

The previous owner was a young man who joined the military and left this behind. He didn’t have the time needed to care for it, so it has some things which I am tending to. No, I am not going to paint it.

The day I bought it (the owner’s dad had some cool trucks, including a J truck in his workshop):



Most recent state:



I’ve had the transmission rebuilt due to minor issues and leakages.

The wide track Dana 44s have been rebuilt with oversized axle shafts, warn manual locking hubs, electric lockers and a high-steer conversion. I’ve got another set of the same in my workshop I am building for a Jeep CJ8 Scrambler project. The Chief is now sitting on a 4” BDS suspension lift, Billsteins and 35” BFG AT KO2s.

Last project was rebuilding the tailgate internals, converting from a dead power window lift to a manual lift.







Did you notice the bumper sticker on the bottom left? That was key to this truck’s origin story. The crazy patina which I am attempting to preserve is from being a southern California truck.

 

[sardonux]

One key thing I’ve found to performing as-you-go resto-mods is to clean everything as you unfuck all the dastardly deeds that were done to it by previous owners. Yesterday I decided was the day to start a big pile of that cleanup work.

First,I’ve got parts coming for a new Dakota Digital dashboard with integration module to my Holley Sniper EFI, which should allow me to bypass a bunch of old sensors that aren’t working. The only gauges on the dash that were working were the speedometer and ammeter.

Next, I am replacing the old and tired seats with a pair of Corbeau Trailcat seats. The bench is going away entirely in lieu of a custom-fabricated floor and drawer system in the back to carry all of my recovery gear. The full-sized spare tire is going to get mounted on the tailgate again rather than laying in the back.

First step: out goes all the old…

 

[quadrcr87]

Loving the shop and the Jeep! I had an '89 Cherokee in high school I called the Chief. To preserve the paint, check out the "shine juice" that Vice Grip Garage sells. I have never used it myself but preserving old paint while maintaining the character is his specialty.

 

[kwyjibo]

Great shop! and you're obviously a talented photographer. Keep the posts coming

 

[bakmopar]

Awesome Garage. And I love the old Jeep.

 

[sardonux]

To preserve the paint, check out the "shine juice" that Vice Grip Garage sells. I have never used it myself but preserving old paint while maintaining the character is his specialty.

Funny you say that - once I've cleaned and compounded the remaining paint (a delicate job for sure) I've been contemplating a similar product from these guys: https://sweetpatina.com/

Anybody ever tried it?

 

[sardonux]

Great shop! and you're obviously a talented photographer. Keep the posts coming

If you ever need another set of hands, call me I'll be your wingman. PM me if you wanna come up the mountain for a visit. It's a great drive, however, you'd have to leave those pretty and shiny cars at the end of the state maintained road and I'll come get you.

 

[sardonux]

For those of you who have regrets about cars you've let go, here is my most recent departure (just doesn't work with dirt roads):



2330 lbs, 351 Windsor pushed out to 410 c.i. DSS Level-20 Short block, Victor Jr. Racing heads flowed by AFR 10:1 compression, Edelbrock dual-plane intake manifold, Comp camps XE274HR-12 Lift: Intake: .555 Exhaust: .565 Duration @ .050 Intake: 224 Exhaust: 232 Lobe Separation: 112.0 degrees. Long tube headers with dual FlowMaster 40s underneath. Ran with MSD 6AL, billet distributor and fuel injection for drivability.

The wheels are custom-spec'd real knockoffs from Dayton wire wheel.

 

[Blackbyrd]

What a beautiful landscape! Nice shop as well, following along for the ride.

 

[TX4runner]

Breathtaking surroundings you have there. As someone with a 351W powered Cobra also, I'd have a hard time parting ways, but I also have fully paved roads everywhere. I'll be following along your builds!

 

[slim_grim]

HOLY SMOKES! That's a gorgeous place!

 

[Geoff289]

Breathtaking location!

Your shop is really nice but I'm wondering if access to the right-hand bay is kind of tight?

Love the Cobra.

 

[kitdoctor]

My build just can't compete with views like that!

 

[sardonux]

I'm wondering if access to the right-hand bay is kind of tight?

In the winter, my Bobcat sits in there to avoid cold starts. Otherwise it’s for metal fabrication, not vehicles. Try to envision three bays open late spring through early fall with a 4 post lift in the middle bay. The sun shines in all morning and its quite a nice environment for working on projects in the shop. Lots of space on both sides of the lift when left/right bays are flexible space!

When we’re not in snow season, the Bobcat is under my outdoor living space (deck).

 

[Geoff289]

In the winter, my Bobcat sits in there to avoid cold starts. Otherwise it’s for metal fabrication, not vehicles. Try to envision three bays open late spring through early fall with a 4 post lift in the middle bay. The sun shines in all morning and its quite a nice environment for working on projects in the shop. Lots of space on both sides of the lift when left/right bays are flexible space!

When we’re not in snow season, the Bobcat is under my outdoor living space (deck).

Gotcha. I guess a bobcat is perfect for that kind of access.

 

[roger440]

This is fantastic.

I thought i was high up at 1000ft, but 8500!!!!

 

[MongoTA]

Funny you say that - once I've cleaned and compounded the remaining paint (a delicate job for sure) I've been contemplating a similar product from these guys: https://sweetpatina.com/

Anybody ever tried it?

Haven't used that, but I've used boiled linseed oil, or the paint conditioner Penetrol, for the past 30 years. With both, wipe on (a little goes a long way) and let it cure. It'll protect the look that you have, even bare metal, and doesn't alter the patina. I started using Penetrol because it's what I had on hand at the time. Penetrol and BLO are what I also use on metal projects.

 

[Mr onetwo]

Hey sardonux,
Do you have any plans to cover up the spray foam or otherwise finish off the interior?

 

[littlebean]

great location, pretty cool vehicles too!