Figured I would make a thread since I am finally making some progress!
In August my girlfriend and I started looking for houses - after a townhouse fell thru in September we decided to look more at houses. A nice ranch with a basically 4 car garage with 3 doors came up in our search and we both loved it. After looking at it we decided it was the perfect size and the garage was a major bonus.
So we bought it and moved in at the end of October. Since then I have slowly been making progress on the garage.
The whole house:
The garage from the outside:
Truck moved in (pic from the door to the kitchen)
All cars / toys moved in:
So as you can see the garage is pretty much a blank slate. Unfinished and begging for attention. Originally I was in a hurry to get it insulated and drywall up so I could work on the cars/bike over winter but I decided to slow down and take my time so I did things in the right order.
First thing was the garage only had three outlets - one on the wall and one above each garage for openers. So I called a buddy who is an electrician and told him I need more power in the garage because the main panel was full. He said he had a small subpanel he had swapped out at a job so he would come by and put it in. He came by - ran the pipe from the main panel and put in the subpanel before I could even say "what is that"
Originally I was okay with it being surface mounted because it was just in the garage but after finding out how cheap the panels are and thinking ahead I decided I needed a bigger panel and the whole garage needs drywall anyways so I might as well flush mount it. Another buddy and I tackled this project. While we did this we ran all the conduit for the added outlets. I ended up with 12 outlets and a 220v outlet for welding. I also ran an extra pipe into the attic into a box so I can add on as I please without having to take apart the wall again.
Next I wanted a sink so I could wash my hands before going inside and its always nice to have water available! So I called a plumber buddy and he took care of that in a couple hours.
Next was a lift - I knew before we even purchased the place I would be installing a lift. Originally I planned on having it just go into the attic portion and buying a full size lift. After doing some research and reading threads on here I decided on a max jax.
I am happy with it so far - Although because I have 9ft ceilings I might still end up putting an actual lift in so I can get closer to the ceiling so I can park underneath but that might just be remedied by taller extensions for the pads. Once I start doing actual work in the garage I will make that decision.
That is all I have done so far. I have a buddy who will be helping me run a gas line in the next few weeks so I can get a heater up. Planning to put it in the back corner farthest from the house. I have my eyes on a 75,000 BTU modine hot dawg.
Once the line is ran I will start insulating and putting up the drywall.
Before I do that I need to decide if I want to keep the door that is in the back left of the garage. I keep thinking it takes up too much room and it would be nice to have a work bench in that spot - other times I think a work bench might be better in the middle "bay" of the garage. The door walks out to the side of the house which is not really necessary but I am thinking it might be nice to have in the summer to create a cross breeze.
Another option would be to replace it with a window that goes over the work bench. Anyone have any opinions?
In August my girlfriend and I started looking for houses - after a townhouse fell thru in September we decided to look more at houses. A nice ranch with a basically 4 car garage with 3 doors came up in our search and we both loved it. After looking at it we decided it was the perfect size and the garage was a major bonus.
So we bought it and moved in at the end of October. Since then I have slowly been making progress on the garage.
The whole house:
The garage from the outside:
Truck moved in (pic from the door to the kitchen)
All cars / toys moved in:
So as you can see the garage is pretty much a blank slate. Unfinished and begging for attention. Originally I was in a hurry to get it insulated and drywall up so I could work on the cars/bike over winter but I decided to slow down and take my time so I did things in the right order.
First thing was the garage only had three outlets - one on the wall and one above each garage for openers. So I called a buddy who is an electrician and told him I need more power in the garage because the main panel was full. He said he had a small subpanel he had swapped out at a job so he would come by and put it in. He came by - ran the pipe from the main panel and put in the subpanel before I could even say "what is that"
Originally I was okay with it being surface mounted because it was just in the garage but after finding out how cheap the panels are and thinking ahead I decided I needed a bigger panel and the whole garage needs drywall anyways so I might as well flush mount it. Another buddy and I tackled this project. While we did this we ran all the conduit for the added outlets. I ended up with 12 outlets and a 220v outlet for welding. I also ran an extra pipe into the attic into a box so I can add on as I please without having to take apart the wall again.
Next I wanted a sink so I could wash my hands before going inside and its always nice to have water available! So I called a plumber buddy and he took care of that in a couple hours.
Next was a lift - I knew before we even purchased the place I would be installing a lift. Originally I planned on having it just go into the attic portion and buying a full size lift. After doing some research and reading threads on here I decided on a max jax.
I am happy with it so far - Although because I have 9ft ceilings I might still end up putting an actual lift in so I can get closer to the ceiling so I can park underneath but that might just be remedied by taller extensions for the pads. Once I start doing actual work in the garage I will make that decision.
That is all I have done so far. I have a buddy who will be helping me run a gas line in the next few weeks so I can get a heater up. Planning to put it in the back corner farthest from the house. I have my eyes on a 75,000 BTU modine hot dawg.
Once the line is ran I will start insulating and putting up the drywall.
Before I do that I need to decide if I want to keep the door that is in the back left of the garage. I keep thinking it takes up too much room and it would be nice to have a work bench in that spot - other times I think a work bench might be better in the middle "bay" of the garage. The door walks out to the side of the house which is not really necessary but I am thinking it might be nice to have in the summer to create a cross breeze.
Another option would be to replace it with a window that goes over the work bench. Anyone have any opinions?
