Above 1200 Sq/FT LilScorpion’s Fab Space

[lilscorpion]

My Garage Journal History, to date
In 2010 my wife and I purchased our house in Parker, Colorado. It had an attached 3 car garage that's really a 2 car with a tandem on the right hand side. Many of you followed along starting in November 2012 as I built custom cabinets to organize my tools in a thread I called "Tooling Organization" - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/tooling-organization.174553/.

The Tooling Organization thread did focus heavily on how I organize my shop however I wasn't very consistent as to what I posed in those threads many times documenting home projects, vehicle builds, etc. Since it had always bugged me, so in March of 2015 I broke out a Fabrication thread to document all non-organization-related projects called #FabSpace - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/fabspace.425872/

6 years later, in the same house with the same garage, I went a much different direction in the garage and created a thread named "Tooling (Re)Organization" - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/tooling-re-organization.381487/. In this thread I did my best to take advantage of all of the space that existed in the garage extending my cabinets all the way to the 10 foot ceiling and moving much of my storage to container-based vs. my previous strategy which was focused more on organizing into drawers on the original TO thread.

Endgame Planning

I suspect everyone has plans for their future in regards to their garage space. Things we want to do, capabilities we want to have, how much space we need, where it should be located, etc. After having my own commercial shop years ago, I never did let go of the idea of having more space I could use just for shop stuff.

• Where: On the same property as my house. Could be attached or detached, there are pros and cons of each.
• How much space: at least 1000 sq feet dedicated to shop projects. The more storage I have for other things external to the shop, the less I need a mass of floor space. e.g. if I want a trailer and I want it to be stored, it either fits in the garage space, or it has to be stored in the shop. If I store it in the shop I need more shop space to still have 1k of usable shop space.
• What kind of projects: one more vehicle build, cabinet making, shop/garage organization, welding, metal fab, etc.

House Hunting

I started looking 7 years ago. We've looked at dozens of properties since then, put in offers on some, and yet never found one that ended up working out. Throughout the process we've made half a dozen offers. We've been the higher offer that still didn't get the house, we've been under contract and had issues found during inspection encourage us to back out, and we've been out-bid (a lot) by cash offers or by dirty agents cheating the process.

The New Space

We have found a place that works for us, that's in a location close enough to stuff, but far enough away from people for us to be happy. or had a lot of adds when built so it’s got good bones, enough to be a good start. It does back to open space, space that will never be developed. I've now seen it in various weather conditions. Even when it's foggy or raining it's very calming.



The house has an attached 4-car garage that will enable us to get our cars in the garage and out of the weather from now on (or until we buy more cars of course).



House has this 4-car garage which is plenty deep enough for a long bed truck on the 2-door side and perfect for just about anything else behind the two singles. On the other side of the back wall is a shop that will work well for my stuff that's approx 21' x 46'. Here's the view from the doorway that goes between. Both floors have radiant heat.



So much to do to get prepped for moving in. Here we go, this is Day Zero of my new shop.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Wow, that is one heck of a garage property. Is the house all on the second floor is some of the first floor out back? Look forward to following your progress.

 

[lilscorpion]

Wow, that is one heck of a garage property. Is the house all on the second floor is some of the first floor out back? Look forward to following your progress.

Oh, you’re referring to my wife’s side of the house? I suppose this can be about her too. This is “the other half”.

 

[Johnno]

The new place looks fantastic! Can't wait to follow along and see what awesome projects happen here next.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

Oh, you’re referring to my wife’s side of the house? I suppose this can be about her too. This is “the other half”.

That is a great looking place. Love the outside porch with fireplace and a TV. That is likely where you would find me if I wasn't in my garage at my place. I use the inside of the house for so little except my day job and sleeping.

 

[XJSuperman]

Looks like a nice start. Lots of open flat space.

Standing by for updates.

 

[Trapps]

Very stoked to see this one develop!

As creepy as it sounds, WATCHING.

 

[Terranova]

Awwwwwwwe yeah. This is gonna be GOOOOOOD.

 

[MadeByMiller]

Congratulations on your new home, and double congratulations on the shop space!! It's going to be really fun to watch you develop this new space from the current blank slate. Your Tooling (Re)Organization thread absolutely caught me in a chokehold for many hours when I first discovered it.

Side note, I think maybe you have a typo in your thread title.

 

[lilscorpion]

That is a great looking place. Love the outside porch with fireplace and a TV. That is likely where you would find me if I wasn't in my garage at my place. I use the inside of the house for so little except my day job and sleeping.

100%. We’re really excited to have an outdoor space to chill with enough space between us and the neighbors that we can watch football without t one of them getting pissy. I’ve already been out there early a few mornings now and it’s also gonna be a nice place to have a coffe I quiet. Very much looking forward to both.

Side note, I think maybe you have a typo in your thread title.

Holy ****…guess who’s already tired as hell?! Thanks for catching it.

 

[Cruzan80]

Very nice. Still in (roughly) Parker area?

 

[loganb]

Congrats! Excited to follow along in what looks to be an awesome space!

 

[lilscorpion]

Very nice. Still in (roughly) Parker area?

Yeah, still Parker but now I’m more south-east Parker.

 

[Cruzan80]

Sounds like closer to me then.

 

[lilscorpion]

Day 1: before I move the machines I need to get the garage in order (the shell that is). Though don’t necessarily need the walls to be painted, I think that paining them will make the shop much nicer, the walls easier to clean, and the overall shop will be brighter if I use a very light/bright color.

Started by bringing out some of the tools I’d need to clean, prep, and paint.



After pressure washing all of the dirt and drywall mud off of the floors and footers, I went around and raped up the windows and doors. I always forget just how long basic prep takes.



Taping is easy but fixing the mudded joints took almost a day (mud, dry, sand, repeat). I didn’t eve fire the paint gun until the end of day two. My wife found a square footage calculator and I determined I should need about 10 gallons of paint. I got about 2/3rds if the walls done in just the shop and maybe a 1/4 of the ceiling, just the first coat. LOL



Back to get more paint tomorrow…

 

[Jayman17]

Congrats on the new place, love that view out back. Looks like a lot of shop space too.

 

[Boostingaz]

Does the end wall of the shop open? Are those doors?

 

[csp]

Congrats Matt! What a great space.
I remember seeing that place on the listings my real estate wife shows me daily. We are closing on a new place near Franktown next week and am looking forward to expanding the shop footprint as well with a 40'x160' barn. However, the 50 year old house hasn't been updated since new, so that will come first.

 

[lilscorpion]

Does the end wall of the shop open? Are those doors?

Yes they do. Floor to ceiling. It was a neat idea but execution was flawed. It would have been much smarter to have the wall swing into a pocket/jamb like a house door. Being floor to ceiling it has a gap all the way around it that lets wind, bugs, heat out, etc. I’ll give it to the PO tho, it does allow fantastic air flow when open.

It will be nearly impossible to open in the winter when there’s snow on the ground tho. The bottom of the walls scrub the concrete as it opens. Any snow or Ice and opening the walls will be a challenge.

BTW - paints done. Ended up using 45 gallons of paint to get both sides done.

 

[captain14]

Looks like a great place. Waiting for more updates.

 

[lilscorpion]

Congrats Matt! What a great space.
I remember seeing that place on the listings my real estate wife shows me daily. We are closing on a new place near Franktown next week and am looking forward to expanding the shop footprint as well with a 40'x160' barn. However, the 50 year old house hasn't been updated since new, so that will come first.

thanks!

You’re getting a 40 x 160?!? Holy **** that’s awesome, congrats to you and your wife as well. Throughout our search my wife and I have been amazed as to how many houses haven’t been updated at all since being built or need serious updating. It’s not that hard or expensive. That said tho, my wife is learning that many (if not most) homeowners really aren’t capable of doing much if any work themselves and most people seem to prefer to have a car payment they can’t afford. Which room are you going to tackle first?

This new house if ours didn’t need updating but it does need a ton of work so in this case newer didn’t help my condition over yours.

 

[Cruzan80]

When we moved in about 5 yrs ago, ours was the same. One set of owners, built the house in early 70s, then lived in it until they passed (we know he passed about 10-12 yrs ago, unclear on if she passed or had such severe dementia she was moved into a home). Niece handling the estate "updated" as much as she could within her budget (not well done qulaity-wise), but the house has great bones underneath. Still had the 70s green **** carpet in the upstairs. She was "so tired of dealing with everything", they gave us money for two rolloffs so we could dump anything else left in the house that we didn't want.

But like yours, the view sold it for us. 8.5 acres, and we see from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak unobstructed (well, there is a 200yr old pine in the way in one spot, but I am not cutting it down...). Now to get the wife to approve a larger shop (currently using the "detached garage", at about 25-30ft square).

 

[legenddc]

Congrats on the new place! Looking forward to seeing you move in and get settled.

Is this all happening in real time or is there a time delay? Did you sell your other house? Seems like this one almost the entire first floor is garage and/or shop. The hidden shop doors seem pretty awesome. I didn't notice it at first but was confused why that "wall" wasn't insulated or sheetrocked.

 

[rvieceli]

Great space.

Seems like since those doors open out you could fab something in that could act as a stop that could be weather stripped around the opening.

Ron

 

[Boostingaz]

I would possibly consider, depending on that wall size, framing it in a bit if you needed too and just get a good insulated garage door there?

Neat idea. But like you said, the lack of sealing would bother me.

 

[86turbodsl]

My Garage Journal History, to date
In 2010 my wife and I purchased our house in Parker, Colorado. It had an attached 3 car garage that's really a 2 car with a tandem on the right hand side. Many of you followed along starting in November 2012 as I built custom cabinets to organize my tools in a thread I called "Tooling Organization" - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/tooling-organization.174553/.

The Tooling Organization thread did focus heavily on how I organize my shop however I wasn't very consistent as to what I posed in those threads many times documenting home projects, vehicle builds, etc. Since it had always bugged me, so in March of 2015 I broke out a Fabrication thread to document all non-organization-related projects called #FabSpace - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/fabspace.425872/

6 years later, in the same house with the same garage, I went a much different direction in the garage and created a thread named "Tooling (Re)Organization" - https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/tooling-re-organization.381487/. In this thread I did my best to take advantage of all of the space that existed in the garage extending my cabinets all the way to the 10 foot ceiling and moving much of my storage to container-based vs. my previous strategy which was focused more on organizing into drawers on the original TO thread.

Endgame Planning

I suspect everyone has plans for their future in regards to their garage space. Things we want to do, capabilities we want to have, how much space we need, where it should be located, etc. After having my own commercial shop years ago, I never did let go of the idea of having more space I could use just for shop stuff.

• Where: On the same property as my house. Could be attached or detached, there are pros and cons of each.
• How much space: at least 1000 sq feet dedicated to shop projects. The more storage I have for other things external to the shop, the less I need a mass of floor space. e.g. if I want a trailer and I want it to be stored, it either fits in the garage space, or it has to be stored in the shop. If I store it in the shop I need more shop space to still have 1k of usable shop space.
• What kind of projects: one more vehicle build, cabinet making, shop/garage organization, welding, metal fab, etc.

House Hunting

I started looking 7 years ago. We've looked at dozens of properties since then, put in offers on some, and yet never found one that ended up working out. Throughout the process we've made half a dozen offers. We've been the higher offer that still didn't get the house, we've been under contract and had issues found during inspection encourage us to back out, and we've been out-bid (a lot) by cash offers or by dirty agents cheating the process.

The New Space

We have found a place that works for us, that's in a location close enough to stuff, but far enough away from people for us to be happy. or had a lot of adds when built so it’s got good bones, enough to be a good start. It does back to open space, space that will never be developed. I've now seen it in various weather conditions. Even when it's foggy or raining it's very calming.



The house has an attached 4-car garage that will enable us to get our cars in the garage and out of the weather from now on (or until we buy more cars of course).



House has this 4-car garage which is plenty deep enough for a long bed truck on the 2-door side and perfect for just about anything else behind the two singles. On the other side of the back wall is a shop that will work well for my stuff that's approx 21' x 46'. Here's the view from the doorway that goes between. Both floors have radiant heat.



So much to do to get prepped for moving in. Here we go, this is Day Zero of my new shop.

Followed your adventures for a while. This space looks absolutely perfect for you, with the additional icing on the cake of radiant floors. Well done sir!

 

[csp]

thanks!

You’re getting a 40 x 160?!? Holy **** that’s awesome, congrats to you and your wife as well. Throughout our search my wife and I have been amazed as to how many houses haven’t been updated at all since being built or need serious updating. It’s not that hard or expensive. That said tho, my wife is learning that many (if not most) homeowners really aren’t capable of doing much if any work themselves and most people seem to prefer to have a car payment they can’t afford. Which room are you going to tackle first?

This new house if ours didn’t need updating but it does need a ton of work so in this case newer didn’t help my condition over yours.

I can't wait to see how you set yours up. Have you moved everything out of the old place?

Here's a photo of the house and barn. There's also a 30x24 "single" car garage not visible as well as a mobile home that has to go.

We will likely start with the kitchen and master suite. I'm really not looking forward to using the nasty bathrooms and for some reason the mirrors are gone. It's an estate that the previous occupants passed and the kids are selling.

 

[lilscorpion]

Congrats on the new place! Looking forward to seeing you move in and get settled.

Is this all happening in real time or is there a time delay? Did you sell your other house? Seems like this one almost the entire first floor is garage and/or shop. The hidden shop doors seem pretty awesome. I didn't notice it at first but was confused why that "wall" wasn't insulated or sheetrocked.

It’s all happening in near real-time. I’m beat so im posting during coffee and I’m about a day and a half behind. Paint was completed Wednesday. My update from yesterday will be in about a hour. Probably catch up this weekend…or sleep.

Seems like since those doors open out you could fab something in that could act as a stop that could be weather stripped around the opening.

Ron

Yeah, I’ve been thinking about the options. There’s 2 I’ve come up with this far - first is to create (like you said) internal stops that the door pushes up against. Second option would be to put a face frame on the door itself that would overlay/overlap the building when closed. Both would prevent the draft. In either case the door is kinda flimsy so neither could compress a gasket…might not even be able to get the door closed.

I would possibly consider, depending on that wall size, framing it in a bit if you needed too and just get a good insulated garage door there?

Neat idea. But like you said, the lack of sealing would bother me.

This thus far is my favorite option. I know the PO did what he did because he stored a big boat and rv in the garage which requires wall to wall access. I don’t need that, could just be a single RV door and that would require to put in a header like you’re saying. Would be the most functional.

 

[lilscorpion]

I can't wait to see how you set yours up. Have you moved everything out of the old place?

Here's a photo of the house and barn. There's also a 30x24 "single" car garage not visible as well as a mobile home that has to go.

We will likely start with the kitchen and master suite. I'm really not looking forward to using the nasty bathrooms and for some reason the mirrors are gone. It's an estate that the previous occupants passed and the kids are selling.

I’ve not yet moved out of the garage. Have been bringing some stuff over to get work done. Maybe 5 Jeep loads but not very much compared to what’s left at the house of course.

That barn looks familiar but if I saw it then it was from a different angle. Could do so much with that! Does it have concrete or dirt floors?

I’d start with the master and kitchen too. I also would swap out the shitters immediately. Even if the entire bathroom(s) need to be remodeled, installing new ones won’t be wasted money…as long as you buy the ones you really want long term and not a throw away set that you’d have to replace later.

 

[lilscorpion]

Followed your adventures for a while. This space looks absolutely perfect for you, with the additional icing on the cake of radiant floors. Well done sir!

I’m excited to see how well the floors heat the space. Adding heaters to the other garage was a game changer. Not having to hear the fan seems like it will be a nice feature

 

[Cruzan80]

Speaking of houses, if you guys need a "bridge" carpet installed, let me know. We had a recommendation for a guy out towards Elizabeth that does hotels and things, then has the "leftovers" at his house. Basically just charges for install, and pennies for materials. Most of it is more commercial grade, but he has some decent builder stuff usually (if you need to replace green **** immediately, while you decide on what you want long term, for example). I can ask my wife for his info and pass it along.

 

[lilscorpion]

Speaking of houses, if you guys need a "bridge" carpet installed, let me know. We had a recommendation for a guy out towards Elizabeth that does hotels and things, then has the "leftovers" at his house. Basically just charges for install, and pennies for materials. Most of it is more commercial grade, but he has some decent builder stuff usually (if you need to replace green **** immediately, while you decide on what you want long term, for example). I can ask my wife for his info and pass it along.

Thanks for the offer. We actually just put a deposit down on carpet. All the floors had to be replaced and maybe most importantly, we need kilz put down or we’ll need to wear gas masks

 

[lilscorpion]

With the paint done in the garage, I met the floor coatings company first thing this morning too early…



They promptly got after unloading amd got set up to prep the floor.



The coaters use grinders to shave a small amount off the top so the coating has a clean and slightly rough surface for the polyaspartic coating to adhere to.



By the end of the day the floors were good to go.



The floors are so clean and level that my gut reaction was “let’s just leave them like this, they’re perfect.” The guys said that’s what everyone says.

 

[86turbodsl]

I’m excited to see how well the floors heat the space. Adding heaters to the other garage was a game changer. Not having to hear the fan seems like it will be a nice feature

Indeed. I love the quiet even heating on my radiant floor. You will need to address the big leaky wall though.

 

[rvieceli]

@lilscorpion the more I look at those doors the more of a PITA I think they would become. As mentioned framing the opening out and the putting in a standard garage door would be a good option. You might want to think about sticking a man door in that wall as well. If you need to bring some stuff into the shop you could use the smaller man door without opening a big door and losing heat and cooling.

Ron

 

[Boostingaz]

I'm mostly just curious. What do they look like from the outside when closed?

 

[lilscorpion]

@lilscorpion the more I look at those doors the more of a PITA I think they would become. As mentioned framing the opening out and the putting in a standard garage door would be a good option. You might want to think about sticking a man door in that wall as well. If you need to bring some stuff into the shop you could use the smaller man door without opening a big door and losing heat and cooling.

Ron

I’m going to submit an architectural variance request with the HOA. Technically we’re not supposed to have street facing but the PO probably broke their spirt by cheating the game by making opening walls instead. I’ve already chatted with my neighbors, they’d prefer a door to unsightly open walls. I laugh every time I say that…

I'm mostly just curious. What do they look like from the outside when closed?

I’ll snap a pic while I’m out there today. It looks good, from a distance you can’t really tell (which was why he got away with it)

 

[lilscorpion]

Floors are now coated. Polysoartic coating with flake looks so nice.



And the shop



And a Poser pic for perspective now that 24 hrs have passed and I can park on it



Time to start moving in

 

[lilscorpion]

Long Fn day and it barely feels like I got anything done. PO didn’t care if his dog went the bathroom inside or not, maybe even liked the smell it made when dried in carpet and the wood floors. Since we could smell it just fine, all has to go. PO installed the LWP (cheap wood floors) under the cabinets and island so in order to replace them, the island had to be removed before the flooring guys arrive tomorrow.



Demo was fairly straight forward. Removed the built-in kitchen table thing and then demo’d the cabinets outside in.



Pro tip - if you’re gonna install a facia board on the backside, then they’re really no reason why you can’t cut a hole in the back of the cabinet to make (die)connecting plumbing gravy.



These are some cheap *** builder cabinets. Decided to cut the floor out if it as well to make it easier to leave the plumbing intact. I’ll mess with it when I need to re-install the (new) cabinets.



By now I’m almost dizzy and near a break from the piss stank. Decided to shift gears and start moving the shop from the old house. Fortunately my planing ahead 5 years ago set me up nicely to be able to move a good portion of my stuff in my Jeep (remember, I sold my truck about 7 years ago now…LOL). These sustainers nest perfectly in the pull out drawer and back seat. In 2 trips I moved all my tools and half my hardware.



These containers are all of comparable size to a systainer and nest just as well which helped significantly.



Unloading was a snap. Just load the cart and wheel it in to the staging area in the shop.



Sustainers go up in the apartment (so they can be locked up during the day, containers piled up.



Not bad for half a day. Now the old house/shop has some empty shelves but still a long way to go.

 

[lilscorpion]

Main floor(s) started going in today. Trim and flooring removed then Kim’s applied. Rowarss
The end of the day my first “tool” purchase of the new house arrived. Kubota LX 2610. Started with the most logical implements - mower deck, forks, and bucket. I’ll need something for snow removal but have plenty of time between now and first snow to figure out what.



Crew worked late on the floors, got to see my first sunset, not shabby