Grant's Michigan Car Compound

[Griznant]

Intro:

After lurking for quite awhile, and only posting an intro, I've decided to finally start a thread detailing my barn/garage progress, and my various little related projects.

I'm a gearhead through and through, and as a result I've accumulated numerous car projects. The primary problem I have is that I always see things that have "potential" and this results in me adding even more projects to my never-ending list. It also means I need more tools, and more space to store things, which brings me to the crux of this post: the development of my car "compound" since it goes far beyond one garage, and will encompass a good portion of my 2-acre rural homestead.

I live with my wife of 15 years and our two sons, ages 4 and 1. It's due to those boys that my actual "project time" is limited by the amount of daddy-time I want to spend.

So, here's the property courtesy of Google maps, circa summer of 2012:

As you can see, I've already built a few things in this pic, but I'll go into more detail later. The house, the deck, and the pool were already in place when we bought the place in 2009. I moved the playhouse onto the property in January of 2010 and built the barn in November of 2011.

We moved from our first house of 10 years where I had renovated the house (1950 build), built a 30x40 garage and a 30x40x10 pole barn. I had everything fairly organized with room to spare, but with our family outgrowing the house itself and a horrible school system, we moved here in the fall of 2009. The house was built in 2006, and we bought it on a short sale, so we got a pretty decent deal even though dealing with the bank on this type of thing is fun in itself.
The upside is a house that is far larger than what we had, has room for the boys and guests, is new construction, and Edwardsburg's blue-ribbon school system. Plus, it was 40 miles closer to my work, and 20 miles closer for my wife. Bonus!

When we moved I stored a few cars on site, and kept everything else at two rented storage units in town, and at a friend's barn. It sucked having everything so spread out and not being able to truly unpack and organize. After two years we had finally developed a good plan moving forward on what we wanted, and kicked off a local Amish crew to build the pole barn. I built all the things at my last house, but with work and the two boys (one being a newborn) I didn't have time to tackle this one in a timely fashion.

So, for $14k I hired the Amish to build me a 30x40x12 with a concrete floor and a simple 10x10 sliding door in one corner.

Pole Barn Build

I go to work at 6:30am, so the knock on my door at 6:00am was a bit startling. The delivery driver of the lumber truck was there and dropping off all the framing materials. So, I tell him where to drop the stuff and finish getting ready for work. I head out into the yard a little while later to find the lumber guy's 1-ton pick-up/trailer buried up to the axles in my yard thanks to the two days of rain we had had prior. Ugh.

After hooking up my Pathfinder to the front of the pick-up, I managed to move him another 40-feet before there was just no way I was getting him any further. The Pathfinder (or NPF as we call it) is a V8 beast that is a true workhorse and crawled through the mud without any problems of its own.
At that moment, the Amish crew showed up. Now, Amish craftsmen are pretty common in my neck of the woods, but it's always interesting to see how they manage to work in a modern world, while still holding true to their church's rules/limits.

The Amish crew arrived in a Duramax Chevy crew-cab dually towing a gooseneck trailer with a tracked Bobcat. Two Amish men and two Mexican helpers, who drove the truck. Atlee, the owner/builder of the construction company, came over, talked to me briefly about the situation with the stuck lumber truck, and said "We'll get this taken care of shortly." They then went to work.

I'll be honest, I've never seen ANYONE work the way these guys do. Without any obvious communication, and aided by small LED head-lights over top of their wide-brimmed hats (it was still before 7am on a drizzling November morning), the two Amish guys immediately set to work with the Mexican helpers following their lead to the letter. One set up the transit, poles, and stringlines to lay out the building while two others got to work unloading tools and assisting the layout work. Atlee fired up the Bobcat and got it off the trailer. With an uncanny display of skill (given that a Bobcat is a "modern" piece of equipment), he swapped the bucket for forks, and unloaded all the lumber from the stuck truck's trailer, carefully setting it on the worksite. He then went around to the back of the lumber trailer and gently pushed on it while the driver of the truck got back on the gas. POP, the truck was free and he basically scooted it all the way back up and out of the yard. He then set to sorting the lumber out with the bobcat and organizing it on the rain-soaked lawn.

I then went to work.

When I came back 10 hours later, this is what I had waiting:

Four guys, in the rain, in less than 10 hours had this done. Ok.

So, the next day, they were at it again, climbing all over the frame in the dark with only their LED headlamps leading the way. They had to finish another job in the afternoon so they only put in 4 hours (keep in mind, they had to drive 1-hour to be on site at my place to begin with).

This was after 4-hours of work:

Roof is done and all prep-work for concrete is done.

So, the weekend is now here and my eldest and I check out the work:

Alex thinks it looks great, so we are ready for Monday and work to re-commence.

Another day goes by and this is what I had:

This time I actually caught them finishing up with the concrete. I paid them the remainder of the contract, and they were done that night. Total: 2.5 days for four guys and a bobcat. I call that being Johnny-On-The-Spot if I've ever seen it.

There was one major casualty in all this: My yard.

This is what two concrete trucks did to my already ravaged yard. Ok, I can deal with this, but those ruts are 24" deep in places. Thankfully I've got a great neighbor, Ross, who came over with his 4-wheel-drive tractor and box blade and leveled it all out for me. He's one of those guys who has tons of "toys" and loves to do stuff like this just because he can. I was all for it.

So, here's a few more shots of the finished product:

The moisture on the floor is due to the temperature swings, and not still-wet concrete.

The barn has been up for over a year now, and it is perfect. No weird defects, no mistakes, nothing has leaked, come loose, etc. The price was right, the work was spot-on, and fast. If you live in Northern Indiana/SW Michigan, I suggest you look up AERS construction, they are the real deal!

Now comes the fun part: organizing.

 

[rumpity_z28]

Wow that's fast! Looks great

 

[Joe13]

Subscribed! this is gonna be an awesome build! and 2.5 days for that quality is nuts!

 

[Kevin54]

I'll be honest, I've never seen ANYONE work the way these guys do. Without any obvious communication, and aided by small LED head-lights over top of their wide-brimmed hats (it was still before 7am on a drizzling November morning), the two Amish guys immediately set to work with the Mexican helpers following their lead to the letter. One set up the transit, poles, and stringlines to lay out the building while two others got to work unloading tools and assisting the layout work. Atlee fired up the Bobcat and got it off the trailer. With an uncanny display of skill (given that a Bobcat is a "modern" piece of equipment), he swapped the bucket for forks, and unloaded all the lumber from the stuck truck's trailer, carefully setting it on the worksite. He then went around to the back of the lumber trailer and gently pushed on it while the driver of the truck got back on the gas. POP, the truck was free and he basically scooted it all the way back up and out of the yard. He then set to sorting the lumber out with the bobcat and organizing it on the rain-soaked lawn.

You can't beat the Amish for their work ethics. And as far as the Bobcat....as long as it's Diesel powered they will run them. If it's gas powered they won't. At least that's the way they are around here. They won't run a gas generator, but will run a diesel generator. Go figure.

And your barn looks top notch

 

[Griznant]

Organizing the Pole Barn

Organizational Plan

Initially, when my wife and I were planning what we were going to build on our land to store all of our (mostly my) stuff, we looked at doing one large building. In our area there are large amounts of the "gothic" dairy barns and while many have fallen into disrepair, there are a fair amount still maintained in their original glory. For example, one is actually across the street from our house, and for that reason, we wanted to emulate that.

Now, given that I'm a mechanical engineer, I have a pretty good skillset involving the use of CAD and 3D modeling. I discovered that "building" something in 3D will usually highlight problem areas way before they arise in construction, and my wife can SEE what the end result will look like. To that end, I've done about a dozen different designs on barns from the gothic, to a gambrel roof style, a carriage, house, and even generic pole barns.

Here's an early gambrel-style post frame barn concept:

And here is one of the large gothic barn concept we had:

In the end, we decided that what we needed was really TWO buildings. Far be it from me to argue with the logic that I would get TWO!

The reasons were pretty simple. I have a lot of projects that are waiting and probably will be for about twenty years or so. No use keeping those in the same building as the "working" projects, or in the area we plan to heat/cool if not needed. So, a simple pole barn was envisioned purely for "cold" storage. For all the random stuff that we are not working on RIGHT now, but want to keep hidden and out of the elements. This is what the 30x40x12 I had the Amish build for me is intended to be.

That leaves me with the need for a true "shop". The plan for that is to be 32x40x10 with a second floor to be used as a rec area/guest quarters.

Here's where the workshop is planned to go:

Until that is built, I need to focus on organizing my pole barn to store everything and yet still be able to access most items without *too much* difficulty.

I have a large amount of "junk". The majority of it is automotive and related to complete project cars, spare parts, or the remnants of "parts cars" that have come and gone throughout the years. A huge portion of that is aircooled VW related since that was what I first got into back when I was a teenager. In addition, a few other cars have come into the mix such as a '69 Alfa spider, a '69 Porsche 912, and a '54 Buick Century (the eventual family custom cruiser). As a result, I have a need to park these cars in addition to the usual equipment, and tools that may accompany my hobby.

Cars, for the most part, are easy to park, but they eat up a lot of floor space and since I'm not concerned about any working height restrictions, I could build a "loft" over top of them to store less-heavy items. My first project then became a 16'x16' loft, 6' off the ground that would be used as a shelf for various items.

Here was a ROUGH mock-up of what I intended to build:

So, I threw this thing together with a central support beam flanked by two banks of 2x8x8's spanning from that beam. These joists connect via joist hangers to a box frame perimeter. This perimeter stands off the floor and is secured by lags into the building posts and by carriage bolts to 4x6 columns at corners and mid-points. This creates two "bays" under the loft for storing cars.

I need to get a decent pic of the loft for a shot of what it can do, and what all is on it.

Here's my brother's "spare" car stored under one side of it right now for perspective:

And here's a pic of the barn after seven of the cars were put in there (the Porsche and Alfa are under the loft). The loft is to the right of the pic. I'll elaborate more on the "stacked" VWs in the background later.

In order to access the loft, I needed a way to pick up large items and put them up top. Obviously, since it is only about 6.5' off the ground (tall enough that I can walk around under it and not smack my head) I can easily slide items up there from the ground by hand. A ladder is handy for light items, but I intended on putting things like spare lawn equipment, patio furniture, car parts, etc. up there so I needed a way to get that up there. For the interim, I used my 1-ton gantry crane and chainfall to lift things and get them out of the way. My longer-term solution was to build a type of "elevator" with a hand winch so I could move the parts up there when needed. Here's the design for that:

Using angle iron, some 2x2 steel tubing, and a selection of custom laser-cut parts, I assembled the rack and winch assembly. The end result is *very* similar to the concept, but with the winch and cable added. It actually works too, if you can even believe it.

That got me into the first winter following construction. I needed to create a lot more room for various things, and to get a few more cars in there, so I'll elaborate more as soon as I figure where all the pics went.

More to come....

 

[Griznant]

Thanks for the kind words!

You can't beat the Amish for their work ethics. And as far as the Bobcat....as long as it's Diesel powered they will run them. If it's gas powered they won't. At least that's the way they are around here. They won't run a gas generator, but will run a diesel generator. Go figure.

And your barn looks top notch

From what I understand it's all dependent on the particular church bishop for that area. Some will allow bicycles, some won't. Some can have air in their tires, others have to fill them with foam! Either way, these guys did a helluva job and I would recommend them to anyone, just be aware that getting a hold of them on the phone can be challenging at times.

 

[Griznant]

Continuing on with the barn "elevator" project.

With the design figured out in CAD, I set about making the parts. As part of my job I have responsibility over two 4000W lasers, and can program and run either one along with doing the design, the CAD, and nesting. Talk about letting the fox guard the hen house.

Let's just say that these allow me to cut things most people don't have the luxury of making, so I get to "cheat" a little. Plus, with scrap drops that we can't use around the shop, I have lots of material choices for smaller projects.

In a nutshell, I made the main lift posts out of 2x4 1/4" wall A500 tubing. The winch post was 4x4, and the main rails on the platform are 2x3 1/4" angle and 2x2 3/16" square tubing. The lasered pieces are .375" thick A656 grade 80 material and it's all welded with 90ksi weld wire. It is NOT going to come apart.

The pulleys are leftover from some project that went in the dumpster at work years ago. Since they were nearly new, I put the box in my office and pull from it whenever a unique need calls for them. The top pulley bracket is more .375" and the pulleys are mounted to one plate, and then the whole works is welded to the top of the post. Not great for serviceability, but I highly doubt I'll ever need to with the actual use these will see.

The main brackets that guide the lift up and down the post are made from .375" and use some UHMW guides to slide on the painted post. I thought about roller bearings, but this was cheap and easy so I thought I'd give it a try first. Seems to work fine so far.

After the cable leaves the winch drum, it runs up over the two top pulleys and then down vertically along the post, looping under the pulley at the bottom of the platform-to-post bracket. It then goes under the length of the platform where it interacts with another pulley, then up vertically where it hooks to the top of the second post. Basically, the lift goes up and down by changing the length of the cable.

The winch is a simple 1200# unit, and since I won't be putting any items on the lift over 600# I think I should be good.

When the lift is in it's top position it is level with the loft floor.

I have to put a deck on the lift platform yet, and plan to use a simple piece of plywood for that, but so far I haven't needed to do that yet.

Once up even with the loft I can move the items easily into position for storage.

It's difficult to see given the lighting and my phone camera, but on the loft there are currently two 42" lawn tractors, two lawn/garden utility trailers, a moped, two push mowers, two full sets of lawn furniture, the pool pump/filter (for winter), a few fertilizer spreaders, about five pairs of seats, and numerous labeled rubbermaid totes full of car parts (actually on shelves attached to the building posts).

Here's a closer view:

The loft is built plenty stout enough, and I honestly believe you could park a fully dressed car up here without issue. Here's a view under the loft at the Alfa parked in the left "bay".

I've had this up for well over a year now and there total deflection at the point of greatest load is only .125". That's pretty acceptable to me. Many of the items are just bulky and not too heavy, but getting them off the floor was crucial for storing all my cars. I'll elaborate on that process a bit later.

And for those who may be interested, I dropped the lift down about 1/2 way and winched it up in this video to demonstrate the operation. I know, it's cheesy, but it works.

 

[Vernmotor]

Ha ! As I was reading all of this (by the way very cool ) I was thinking we need a Vid to see this work ! low and behold there is was !. That's the cat meow ! Very nice work

 

[got2boostit2]

Excellant, where can I buy one?

 

[Griznant]

I thought I'd post a few pics of the next steps in my organizational plan:

Car Stacking:

This isn't a new concept, but for a home-build type situation it's a bit unique. Before I moved from my old house, I built a simple frame out of some 6" angle iron that I bought and welded together. It was a trial-situation to store one of my VW bugs on top of another. It worked alright, so I thought I'd try it again.

With the addition of my trusty Harbor Freight 1-ton gantry crane, I decided to put my '68 VW Squareback up on the rack in the new barn. It was a little heavier than the bug I had up there before, but since it's basically a shell with no engine/glass/interior, it's not *too* heavy.

Here's a couple in-process pics:

And getting airborne:

I don't have a good pic of this frame, but there are a couple of other pics that show it in the background. It's not too impressive, just a angle iron rack that holds a car over another. Pretty simple.

Ok, so that one worked, but I wanted to upgrade the process since I ran out of travel by using straps around the car, and it was a bit ungainly once suspended. I thought that a secondary "basket" type rack that sat under the car and hooked directly to the chain fall would be best to pick the car up. Once the car was in the air, you could slide the primary rack under it, and with the aid of some pins and holes nest the two racks together.

With that concept I designed this:

A simple set up using some 2x3 .25" thick angle iron scrap we have around the shop, some old casters, and some laser cut 3/16" gussets.

I cut the various components, and welded two sections of 2x3 together to form a box section for the "legs". The rails are all single 2x3 angle, and the upper rack section consists of two long 2x3-welded box section rails with some single 2x3 connector rails. Since the basket "handle" to lift the car only has to handle about 1000 pounds, and only for a short time, the structure didn't need to be too robust. I used some simple angle for the uprights, and the cross bar with a large hole drilled in the center to accommodate the lifting hook on the chain fall.

I welded it all up with some 70ksi weld wire and my Millermatic 251 Mig welder at home. After that, I slapped some black Rustoleum on the frame and let it dry.

Ready for action! (you can see the Squareback on the first rack off in the background)

I slid the basket rack under my '73 bug where it nests between the tires and lifts the car by the bottom of the floor pan.

And using the chain fall I started to lift the "basket" with the car on it up into the air:

And up onto the primary lift rack:

I must say, I was surprised at how easily this went. Rack Version 2.0 was a definite success, but moving forward, I really need to get an electric hoist. Trying to operate the chain fall without constantly banging into the body is a challenge, and SLOW.

In the end, this is how it looked, ready for a car to slide under it:

With this up in the air, I was ready to start organizing the rest of the barn with my goal to get 10 cars in there for winter.

 

[Griznant]

Excellant, where can I buy one?

This was a one-off build out of scrap material. Maybe I'm missing out on a business opportunity?

Thanks,

 

[domecreek]

Wish we had these Amish crews in Alberta, Canada !

 

[mml665]

Wow extremely impressive

 

[got2boostit2]

This was a one-off build out of scrap material. Maybe I'm missing out on a business opportunity?

Thanks,

Hint, hint - yes you are, I can see a use for that and some space I' like to access for storage.

 

[geologist]

Pics of the Porsche please! =)

 

[Griznant]

Pics of the Porsche please! =)

Well, I have to take some new ones. The car hasn't been driven in almost 7 years now and the old pics either don't have the flares, or the euro-lights, so their not real "accurate". I am committed to getting it back on the road this year, so hopefully I'll get some more soon. I do have some "in the barn" shots coming up in this thread, so they may show a little more detail.

 

[Griznant]

Barn Electrical:

I needed power in my barn, but since the intention for this space is for "cold" storage, I don't need too much, and I don't need 220v, so it could be simple. The trick was to get it from the house out there.

My house is relatively new (2006) so the electrical is pretty good, and has a 200amp service. The house garage was woefully poor when it came to circuits and wiring, so I made the decision to put in a 100amp subpanel and feed it off the 200amp service. I sourced some service entrance cable, and proceeded to feed through my basement, up the inside garage wall, across the top of the garage ceiling and down to the subpanel box on the outside wall.

Obviously, this pic was taken after some of the garage interior work had begun, so I sort of skipped ahead, but you get the idea.

Here's a shot of the inside. I haven't labeled it all yet (I know what's what), because I've moved some breakers around and don't want to make a ton of labels over and over.

It's pretty simple. I have a couple 220v circuits for my shop equipment; a 20a one for the air compressor, a 50a one for my welder and my powdercoating oven when I need it, and another 20a one to run the drill press or table saw when needed. A few 20a 110 circuits and three circuits that run to the current outbuildings.

To get power to the barn (and my kids' playhouse, I had to trench the yard and bury some 2" conduit.

Here's the trencher I rented, and thankfully I decided to do this during the 100+ degree heat wave we had in July ('12).

And skipping head, here's the trench through the driest, hardest ground we've had in recent memory. Thanks to the summer drought. Ugh.

The trencher was pretty cool, and having been the first time I used such an animal, it wasn't very hard to figure out. Once I was done, and I returned it, my neighbor stopped by and said, "You know, you could have just borrowed the Ditch Witch I picked up a little while ago, it even has an excavator on one end." I need to start asking what all he has before I rent something.

See the rocks next to the trench? My yard is full of these suckers and ANYTIME I put a shovel in the ground I hit them. Some can be quite large, but mostly they are like 4" diameter and a royal PITA. The trencher choked on a few of them, but it won out in the end.

So, the conduit went in, and I tied it to the house, the playhouse, and the barn using some 2" LBs.

The conduit carries a 20amp circuit with stranded 12gage wire to the barn for lights, and one more for a generic outlet box. It also has a 15amp circuit with 14gage wire to the playhouse for some lighting that I'll eventually put in there for the kids to have fun when it gets dark.

The lights in the barn consist of four pairs of 8' T8 bulbs with conduit to each and every one. It's hard to snap a pic of lit lights, but if you look at the pics above of my bug "lift", you'll see them up there.

For an outlet, I just ran a small gang box with two duplex receptacles and called it a day. I only need this for starting the snow blower, running the occasional power tool, or a battery charger so it didn't need to be much.

I also have some conduit run to put a few outdoor lights on the barn, but I'm holding on that until the spring when the weather is nicer and I build the lean-to.

In the end, it sure was nice to get this done and be able to actually flip on the switch and light up the world out there. The four banks of lights are plenty, and for what the barn is for (storage), I won't need any more.

Next up: Organization.

 

[fflintstone]

I like it!

 

[Seabeebob]

Im currently getting ready to build a pole barn in SW Michigan. I cant find any info on aers construction. I would like to contact the people who built yours.

 

[Griznant]

Im currently getting ready to build a pole barn in SW Michigan. I cant find any info on aers construction. I would like to contact the people who built yours.

Last info I had was a phone and address of:

AERS Construction
(260) 768-8145
1300 W 450 S, Lagrange, IN, 46761

They are Amish, so actually getting them on the phone is a bit tricky, usually leave a message and they'll get back to you. They do show up when they say they will, do a great job, and I had no issues with them at all.

It has been 1.5 years since they did my job though, so I assume they are still in business, and I know they advertise in the South Bend Tribune.

 

[Schwinn68]

Great looking building! Also subscribing in case I need the info for a reliable builder.

 

[Griznant]

Barn Organizing:

Well, since the barn is for storage, and I have to make it hold ALL my junk until the workshop is built I have to cram things into every nook and cranny available. I've gotten a LOT of inspiration from looking at various projects on GJ and I have been trying to use some of those ideas here.

My biggest problem is that cars take up a lot of space when you take them all apart. Go figure.

So, I started with a simple goal: Get the cars under the roof for winter which include:

1954 Buick Century
1968 VW Squareback
1969 Porsche 912
1969 Alfa Romeo Spider 1750 Veloce
1972 VW Super Beetle
1973 VW Beetle
1982 Dodge D150
1987 Chevrolet Nova
2008 Nissan Pathfinder
2012 Mazda 5

And along with that go trailers, tons of lawn equipment, a truckload of spare parts, and my brother's '99 Chevy Prizm that he is hanging on to for whatever reason.

So, I had to get at least 10 cars in the barn along with the lawn equipment. The trailers will have to sit outside one more winter until I can build a lean-to to store those. You already saw how I managed to stack two of my VWs up, but this pic should help a little in how that whole mess fits togther.

This shows how the car racks come into play. The far rack holds the Squareback over the Super. The next rack carries the '73 Bug and fits neatly over the '87 Nova (my college car). Wedged between all of this is a 1-ton gantry crane (the orange frame).

Those cars are all relatively small, which brings me to the land barge of the group, my '54 Buick. This will be the family cruiser at some point, but for now it has to live somewhere, so it slots between those four, and the "loft" space I created previously. The first bay under the loft houses my Alfa. Plenty of room for this little Italian bird, so some random things take up space around her (a fridge, a 1950 Hotpoint range, and assorted parts). In the last bay under the loft is my brother's Prizm, and I showed a picture of that way back when I built the loft. Nothing too impressive there: it's white, burns more oil than gas, and he's had it since it was just about new, so it has sentimental value I suppose.

That takes care of seven cars, with still three more to cram in there.

The Porsche is relatively small, and since I'm not driving it right now, I put it up on dollies and slid it in front of the car racks and perpendicular to the Buick. That left me *just* enough room to back the Dodge in and allow me to get out of the driver's door. And I mean *just*.

And for a more birds-eye view of the indoor parking lot:

For those with a keen eye, you may have noticed the front of a white VW that is suspended between the bottom of the Squareback, and the hood of the light-blue Super. That is slated to become a toy-box for my kids at some point.

One spot remains, and this will be for a daily driver. Depending on the weather, this will rotate between the Mazda and the Pathfinder (my wife drives the Pathfinder when the snow gets deep). I back that in tip to tail with the Ram and it leaves me enough room to get out and walk around, so that works just fine. It just means I have to hoof it out to the barn in the morning and back at night to access whatever I'm driving, but it's a small price to pay for not having to scrape windows and for added security.

In the end, I got it ALL in my 30x40x12 with one car left out that parks up in the house garage. A garage that was basically unloved since the house was built. A *tiny* 22x24 that will receive the next round of upgrades!

 

[skeletonizer]

Cool collection of cars, however...

1987 Nova? Was that a typo?

If not all I can say is... "...looks good on you though."

 

[Griznant]

Cool collection of cars, however...

1987 Nova? Was that a typo?

If not all I can say is... "...looks good on you though."

No typo, and it's not a hatchback, but it does have a few upgrades.

And a closer peak under the hood:

JDM 4AGE 20v with matching trans and host of suspension/brake upgrades.

It's fun.

 

[draider]

All I can saw is WOW!

 

[nocones]

Very nicely done.

Any pictures/plans for the future shop?

 

[Griznant]

House Garage: The beginning

The house garage is a simple 24x22 affair that was essentially a bare slate when we bought the house in 2009. I do not intend for this to be the "working" garage long-term, but I wanted it to be nice and organized until I get the workshop built and set-up. Plus, I need to have a place to work out of while building the workshop.

To that end, here's roughly what I started with (I had already insulated the walls):

Pretty basic, and nothing fancy. First order of business was to sheath the walls and epoxy the floor.

I put up the first course of 7/16" OSB along the bottom edge of the walls, just above the foundation. I went with OSB because I like the durability, it doesn't look too bad painted, I can nail/screw things into it all over, and I didn't have to deal with mudding/sanding drywall. I HATE that more than just about any home-improvement project.

This is after scrubbing the floor and putting up the first run of OSB:

I used a walk-behind floor scrubber that I borrowed from work (you can see it in the back corner of the first pic). It did a pretty good job, and beats doing it by hand.

Here's a shot of what it looked like to start with:

Here is the result of the scrubbing:

Not too shabby, and took about one evening.

The product I went with to coat the floor was one we have used at work on various parts of the factory floor. It isn't too expensive, and I was familiar with the prep work, so I thought I'd give it a shot. It's a Devoe coating system with sealer/epoxy/urethane stages.

I acid etched the floor with a muriatic acid, and then rinsed thoroughly. Followed that up with an ammonia neutralizing rinse, and the several water rinses. That gave the floor some "tooth" for the sealer to bite into. Here's the after shot of the sealer application:

I wasn't overly excited about the way the sealer dried, and am not sure what was going on, but it stayed tacky for more than two days. The paint shop said it was OK to put the epoxy on, but I'm not positive that was true. Either way, I went with their recommendation, and applied the Bar-Rust 235 Epoxy coat:

And a close-up shot:

It's far from perfect, but it looks alright. It went down nicely, and dries evenly, but I noticed a color difference between the two cans I used, and since it was epoxy I couldn't mix them together to even out the color since it would have set-up before I finished the floor. So, I have color variation. Oh well.

The next step was to coat the epoxy with a clear urethane topcoat.

This gave the floor a nice gloss and makes it easier to clean up messes. It also makes the floor slick as ice when you have snow on your shoes in winter, but adding the grippy "sand" makes it a ***** to clean-up (we learned that the hard way on our factory floors). It's done now, so I have to live with it.

In the end, it looked a lot better, but I've had some issues. I don't think the epoxy adhered as well to the sealer as it was supposed to. When I left the Mazda parked in there over Christmas the tires stuck to the top-coat and it separated in a few spots down to the sealed surface. It is also easy to mark up, and I cannot do any type of fab-work on the floor without covering it with wood/cardboard/rugs since just about anything scratches it. I would NOT use this again, but what's done is done.

Now that the floor is down, I had to turn my attention to paint and finishing the OSB on the walls.