My own 'Mahal
- Thread starter JakeKohl
- Start date
automobiliben
Well-known member
What are your plans for the floor? Keep it plain?
I've been round and round with the floor downstairs. I think I've finally committed myself to getting a contractor to put in an epoxy floor in the garage. I got a quote the other day for $2.50/sq ft including diamond grinding...but that sounds too inexpensive and he got me really confused about what kind of product they would be using...and...he was leaning on my new Audi TT roadster while we talked in the garage (pet peeve)
. I'm going to keep looking around for a contractor.Upstairs will be vinyl plank flooring since it will be a graphics shop, is easy to clean, cost effective, and adequate to continuously run into the bathroom and kitchenette.
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automobiliben
Well-known member
I've been round and round with the floor downstairs. I think I've finally committed myself to getting a contractor to put in an epoxy floor in the garage. I got a quote the other day for $2.50/sq ft including diamond grinding...but that sounds too inexpensive and he got me really confused about what kind of product they would be using...and...he was leaning on my new Audi TT roadster while we talked in the garage (pet peeve)
Upstairs will be vinyl plank flooring since it will be a graphics shop, is easy to clean, cost effective, and adequate to continuously run into the bathroom and kitchenette.
Yeah, that would bother me about leaning on my car as well!
I am debating what to do on the new shop, I like the idea of RaceDeck so that when/if we move, I can tear it out and take it to the new house...
Let me know what you decide!
Thedoc14
Well-known member
I have all ways been a paint the floor with concrete paint, light grey guy.
Then redo it every other year. 
But after seeing the incredible jobs done here with epoxy and the paint chips thrown ontop, I know my garage will have that effect done now. Just need to get it to Australia.
But then you see some people with unlimited funds doing all sorts of things with paint.
How stable is racedeck, it looks like it would sound hollow and drummy. or is it a solid product??
Then redo it every other year. But after seeing the incredible jobs done here with epoxy and the paint chips thrown ontop, I know my garage will have that effect done now. Just need to get it to Australia.
But then you see some people with unlimited funds doing all sorts of things with paint.
How stable is racedeck, it looks like it would sound hollow and drummy. or is it a solid product??
automobiliben
Well-known member
I have all ways been a paint the floor with concrete paint, light grey guy.
But after seeing the incredible jobs done here with epoxy and the paint chips thrown ontop, I know my garage will have that effect done now. Just need to get it to Australia.
But then you see some people with unlimited funds doing all sorts of things with paint.
How stable is racedeck, it looks like it would sound hollow and drummy. or is it a solid product??
From the feedback on this board, it appears that it has a bit of a hollow sound to it, but people are using landscaping cloth as underlayment to prevent some of the sound. My shop will be most of a woodworking shop, so I don't think it will be getting all of the grease and oil that a car shop would.
***note: this is a collection of a previously aired program to catch up to the current status***
Progress ~sigh~ Finally!
by Jake on May.31, 2011, under Garage Mahal
I finally found some time this holiday weekend to invest some more time on the Garage Mahal and made some decent progress! The two 1 ton heat pump outdoor units are mounted and one is even wired. I have to get a couple more electrical fittings to finish wiring the downstairs unit. The writing / descriptions below are a little rough…I’m short on editing time (as usual lately).
My first time working with vinyl siding was rough…I don’t know anyone with direct experience that could help me sort out the trimming details so I had to figure it out as I went along. It took some time to get it right – but it is right ‘perty. I purchased a couple of brackets to mount the heat pump units on the wall. This gets them off the ground and provides more opportunity to get them further out of the weather and hidden. I had intended to mount them in a completely different location, but after conferring with Bonnie, she pushed for mounting them under the stairs on the north side of the building. This messed me up on the refrigeration line-sets because the two (rather expensive) sets I already bought were too short now. I’ll see if I can exchange them for a couple of longer sets. I’m also short on the control wiring to the indoor units so an inquiry as to the store’s return policy and some more buying are in my future. All said, I am quite happy with where they ended up. After trimming in the stairs with some lattice, the units will have a very protected and hidden home. I am a little concerned that they may be a little noisy facing the primary back yard – but these are supposed to be exceptionally quiet units…so fingers crossed.
The wall mount consists of a pressure treated 2×4 coated with multiple coats of stain, caulked to the sheathing/house wrapped wall, and secured with long lag bolts to 2×4 blocking I installed on the inside of the wall. After trimming out the first piece of wood, I decided I needed an easier method of providing a base for the ‘elbow’ of the mounting brackets…so I whipped out the welder and welded large washers on the head of more lag bolts. These are screwed into the wall (again into reinforced blocking) and lined up perfectly with the bumpers on the ‘elbows’ of the brackets. That was much easier than mounting another 2×4 and trimming it out. They should hold up just fine (everything caulked for good measure with a very long life caulk). I then trimmed in a couple of dryer vents to form an entry cowling for the refrigerant line-sets to enter the wall. They’ll later be sealed with expanding foam to keep the critters out. The electrical boxes were mounted to the wall with long wood screws and spacers to keep the boxes just barely spaced from the siding…again plenty of caulk applied. I also ran some PVC roofing material under the stairs to divert rain/snow/ice from getting to the units…I hate seeing heat pumps covered in ice during the winter when they’re trying to heat! The 220V 12 gauge power was also pulled to each unit – though I need to tie it into the breaker panel. I also started boring the 2″ holes for the four lineset tubes in the wall headers. I’ll end the linesets and control wiring in the areas that the indoor wall units will reside and can move on to making a couple of minor changes and finishing up the electrical wiring (which is very close to being ready for inspection!).
Temporary fixture for centering and welding the washer in place on the lag bolt head.
I think it's time for some real welding gloves - I've burned through the (non Kevlar) threads in these resulting in an occasional oweee when a spark flies in there!
electrical box mounted on spacers to keep it securely on the wall but not compressing the vinyl siding.
Progress ~sigh~ Finally!
by Jake on May.31, 2011, under Garage Mahal
I finally found some time this holiday weekend to invest some more time on the Garage Mahal and made some decent progress! The two 1 ton heat pump outdoor units are mounted and one is even wired. I have to get a couple more electrical fittings to finish wiring the downstairs unit. The writing / descriptions below are a little rough…I’m short on editing time (as usual lately).
My first time working with vinyl siding was rough…I don’t know anyone with direct experience that could help me sort out the trimming details so I had to figure it out as I went along. It took some time to get it right – but it is right ‘perty. I purchased a couple of brackets to mount the heat pump units on the wall. This gets them off the ground and provides more opportunity to get them further out of the weather and hidden. I had intended to mount them in a completely different location, but after conferring with Bonnie, she pushed for mounting them under the stairs on the north side of the building. This messed me up on the refrigeration line-sets because the two (rather expensive) sets I already bought were too short now. I’ll see if I can exchange them for a couple of longer sets. I’m also short on the control wiring to the indoor units so an inquiry as to the store’s return policy and some more buying are in my future. All said, I am quite happy with where they ended up. After trimming in the stairs with some lattice, the units will have a very protected and hidden home. I am a little concerned that they may be a little noisy facing the primary back yard – but these are supposed to be exceptionally quiet units…so fingers crossed.
The wall mount consists of a pressure treated 2×4 coated with multiple coats of stain, caulked to the sheathing/house wrapped wall, and secured with long lag bolts to 2×4 blocking I installed on the inside of the wall. After trimming out the first piece of wood, I decided I needed an easier method of providing a base for the ‘elbow’ of the mounting brackets…so I whipped out the welder and welded large washers on the head of more lag bolts. These are screwed into the wall (again into reinforced blocking) and lined up perfectly with the bumpers on the ‘elbows’ of the brackets. That was much easier than mounting another 2×4 and trimming it out. They should hold up just fine (everything caulked for good measure with a very long life caulk). I then trimmed in a couple of dryer vents to form an entry cowling for the refrigerant line-sets to enter the wall. They’ll later be sealed with expanding foam to keep the critters out. The electrical boxes were mounted to the wall with long wood screws and spacers to keep the boxes just barely spaced from the siding…again plenty of caulk applied. I also ran some PVC roofing material under the stairs to divert rain/snow/ice from getting to the units…I hate seeing heat pumps covered in ice during the winter when they’re trying to heat! The 220V 12 gauge power was also pulled to each unit – though I need to tie it into the breaker panel. I also started boring the 2″ holes for the four lineset tubes in the wall headers. I’ll end the linesets and control wiring in the areas that the indoor wall units will reside and can move on to making a couple of minor changes and finishing up the electrical wiring (which is very close to being ready for inspection!).
Temporary fixture for centering and welding the washer in place on the lag bolt head.
I think it's time for some real welding gloves - I've burned through the (non Kevlar) threads in these resulting in an occasional oweee when a spark flies in there!
electrical box mounted on spacers to keep it securely on the wall but not compressing the vinyl siding.
Thedoc14
Well-known member
Is that a magnetic earth clamp?
If so do you find it messes with the weld polarity if you place it too close.
I had a whole bunch of problems with mine if it was to close to what I was welding...
If so do you find it messes with the weld polarity if you place it too close.
I had a whole bunch of problems with mine if it was to close to what I was welding...
It is...I've hardly used it since I got it though. I actually don't care for it that much over the simple spring clamp. Where the spring clamp normally only requires one, the magnetic clamp takes two hands to operate and doesn't work easily on tricky surfaces (like that lag bolt).
What kind of problems were you having?
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***note: this is a collection of a previously aired program to catch up to the current status***
It’s a Real Steamer!
by Jake on Aug.02, 2011, under Garage Mahal
Hot. That’s been the word of the day around here for about two months now. Working outside, especially in the upper level with no ceiling or insulation to offer protection from the radiant heat coming from the roof, is brutal. I’ve been working in the early weekend mornings upstairs until it gets too hot and then moving downstairs until I’ve had enough (usually around noon). I then retreat into the house to catch up on things there. During the week, I’ll sometimes wait for the sun to go down and put on a head lamp to do some work in the garage and office followed closely by a fan.
I’ve been slow to get updates here – I have several to make and will break it up a little into different sections. For now, a simple post about sofit baffles. Sofit baffles protect the vented sofits from insulation and other debris that might block the air flow into the attic. They’re needed especially when you will be working with a blown-in type of insulation. I was a little unsure about the ridge vent roof ventilation system having heard some negative things about it. Since then, I’ve become convinced that most of the time folks have issues with a ridge vent, it’s probably because of inadequate intake ventilation in the roof…i.e., the ridge vent can only vent as much air as can be drawn into the attic. So I studied sofit baffles and settled on this particular ABS plastic type. I had to order these because most of the readily available baffles are of a lightweight foam type that are exceptionally fragile and just tuck straight down into the sofit. They offer very little shielding from the top plate and if pressed lightly, can buckle and fail. You can’t really tuck insulation in with those foam ones without risking breaking them. The baffles I ended up with first staple to the top plate of the wall and they lay across the top plate horizontally toward the roof sheathing where they bend sharply and follow the roof sheathing upwards. A few staples through the baffle attaches it to the sheathing and holds it in place. The molded stand-offs in the baffle allow multiple channels for air to flow from the sofit into the attic space while still allowing insulation to be tucked in deeply above the top plate to reduce any (very common) cold spots during the winter around the perimeter of the ceiling/wall joint. I first thought I was going to use a pneumatic stapler to attach these but the staples were shot so violently that it was shattering the ABS plastic. A manual stapler didn’t have the same issue…so I ended up manually stapling them in place.
It’s a Real Steamer!
by Jake on Aug.02, 2011, under Garage Mahal
Hot. That’s been the word of the day around here for about two months now. Working outside, especially in the upper level with no ceiling or insulation to offer protection from the radiant heat coming from the roof, is brutal. I’ve been working in the early weekend mornings upstairs until it gets too hot and then moving downstairs until I’ve had enough (usually around noon). I then retreat into the house to catch up on things there. During the week, I’ll sometimes wait for the sun to go down and put on a head lamp to do some work in the garage and office followed closely by a fan.
I’ve been slow to get updates here – I have several to make and will break it up a little into different sections. For now, a simple post about sofit baffles. Sofit baffles protect the vented sofits from insulation and other debris that might block the air flow into the attic. They’re needed especially when you will be working with a blown-in type of insulation. I was a little unsure about the ridge vent roof ventilation system having heard some negative things about it. Since then, I’ve become convinced that most of the time folks have issues with a ridge vent, it’s probably because of inadequate intake ventilation in the roof…i.e., the ridge vent can only vent as much air as can be drawn into the attic. So I studied sofit baffles and settled on this particular ABS plastic type. I had to order these because most of the readily available baffles are of a lightweight foam type that are exceptionally fragile and just tuck straight down into the sofit. They offer very little shielding from the top plate and if pressed lightly, can buckle and fail. You can’t really tuck insulation in with those foam ones without risking breaking them. The baffles I ended up with first staple to the top plate of the wall and they lay across the top plate horizontally toward the roof sheathing where they bend sharply and follow the roof sheathing upwards. A few staples through the baffle attaches it to the sheathing and holds it in place. The molded stand-offs in the baffle allow multiple channels for air to flow from the sofit into the attic space while still allowing insulation to be tucked in deeply above the top plate to reduce any (very common) cold spots during the winter around the perimeter of the ceiling/wall joint. I first thought I was going to use a pneumatic stapler to attach these but the staples were shot so violently that it was shattering the ABS plastic. A manual stapler didn’t have the same issue…so I ended up manually stapling them in place.
I had a big weekend in the garage this week...two more posts and this thread is up to date
...
***note: this is a collection of a previously aired program to catch up to the current status***
Garage Mahal Update
by Jake on Oct.20, 2011, under Garage Mahal
It’s no secret I stay pretty busy – this time of year is crazy. However, I have managed to clear a couple of weekends lately to dedicate myself to the garage and progress is being made…the list of major items is down to 1.5 (run compressed air distribution lines and button up the heat pump installation). I have a dream to be in the upstairs portion by 2012. This will be a quick update on a couple of projects that are completed or nearly completed.
I was having a conversation in my shop the other day and my compressor kicked on (located in the "tool room"). It was loud and I reconsidered placing a door between the garage and the tool room...in fact, I had a spare insulated exterior steel door...so, why not? The state of the pass through was pretty rough and slightly too narrow for the door I had. The opening where the window was also turned out not be plumb and so I had to cut an inch out and square up the opening…that is SUCH a messy job since the block in this structure is real cinder block that used coal cinders as filler in the concrete…the dust is black as night. I also had left the block at the top of the opening to support the top plate and ceiling joists and gable end of the roof structure and that needed to be removed so the top of the opening could be made higher and the support structure more permanent. Strangely, my ceiling joists are running in the wrong direction over the workshop – parallel to the ridge line in the roof. I needed to be conservative with the bracing to make sure nothing moved because I couldn’t really depend on what was and what wasn’t load bearing since it was screwy. The interior of the shop also has a stucco finish so I had to learn a little about that too:
This is an old picture showing the first cutting of the new opening before the building was standing.
the new header installed and braced. I had to install bracing in a series of successive steps (prior to this, the braces were on the interior of the shop to the ceiling to carry the joist load…which was odd because the ceiling structure wasn’t built correctly in the old shop for some reason).
The new stucco. I stapled wire mesh to the face of the wood header and troweled two layers of morter mix / stucco. The texture is a little different than the original walls – but it’s plenty close enough.
Up next was some more work on the heat pumps. I had several insulation contractors provide quotes and one of them got pretty uppity with me about my self-installation heat pumps. I later discovered that his company also does heat/air – so he was apparently taking my degree of do-it-myself personally. He also quizzed me relentlessly on the sizing of the units…who did your load calcs, how many people did you include in your calcs…or did you ignore the fact that people affect the loads?, etc. etc. I was genuinely getting close to asking him to leave but I kept my cool because I didn’t want to do insulation and he seemed to come from a pretty successful outfit. I explained that I used a high end software package to calculate heat loss and so forth…he continued to try to poke holes in my efforts. I walked him around the side of the building and showed him the installation of the outdoor units and his attitude shifted pretty quickly and he started asking me details about my installation, not out of spite this time, but (I think) genuine interest. I sensed him reverting back to a diminutive tone when he grinned sheepishly and started to ask what I planned to do with two dryer vents (in a sarcastic tone) – but before he finished the last word, his voice trailed off as it dawned on him that I was using those to cleanly snake the linesets into the interior wall structure and I think he was genuinely impressed. I probably should have asked him to leave anyway – his quote was 3 times the price of the three others and he stubbornly refused to insulate the floor between the garage and upstairs and kept repeating that I didn’t need to insulate that. I guess he wasn’t listening to me when I kept repeating that the downstairs area will not be heated and cooled all the time.
Through all that, however, he did make me start to question my load calcs so I ran through them again later. I had about 12% capacity remaining with the outdoor temps at 95 degrees…and it happened to be over 100 for several days at that time. I started to think that perhaps I had gotten a little overzealous with trying to size the units exactly right and didn’t include enough safety factor…a dirty air filter or anything that might cause a slight loss of efficiency might leave me with a cooling/heating system that can’t keep up. For the garage, I had accepted that the heating system would not be able to overcome the heat loss through the slab to maintain an indoor temp of 74 when the outdoor temperature was below freezing (which would be fine…I just plan for the system to dust off the cold downstairs)…but if I was going to start making changes, I might as well be warm (or cool) everywhere I might possibly want to be…..so I bought two new 1.5 ton heat pumps – this time with a 21.5 SEER rating (practically the best efficiency you can get without resorting to exotic technology). Thankfully, they mounted to my existing mounts with only a minor adjustment.
one of the line sets prior to wrapping with vinyl bundling tape (yes…all 50 feet of it – and all I could find was 2 inch bundling tape!)
the openings in the top plate to get the linesets into the floor structure
Linesets in the wall and snaked to their end destinations in the attic over the old shop!
The new upgraded 1.5ton heat pumps with linesets ready to flare and attach
A really nicely aligned and cleanly flaired tubing connection…except for forgetting to slide the nut onto the pipe prior to flairing the tubing, this was perfect! I had to cut it off and flair it again.
Another good looking flare, thankfully, with the nut pre-installed this time.
Installation finished with aluminum tape to protect the foam line insulation from the UV / weather (and it looks all cryogenic and stuff). I still need to finish up the upper unit and I’ll be finished out here.
...
***note: this is a collection of a previously aired program to catch up to the current status***
Garage Mahal Update
by Jake on Oct.20, 2011, under Garage Mahal
It’s no secret I stay pretty busy – this time of year is crazy. However, I have managed to clear a couple of weekends lately to dedicate myself to the garage and progress is being made…the list of major items is down to 1.5 (run compressed air distribution lines and button up the heat pump installation). I have a dream to be in the upstairs portion by 2012. This will be a quick update on a couple of projects that are completed or nearly completed.
I was having a conversation in my shop the other day and my compressor kicked on (located in the "tool room"). It was loud and I reconsidered placing a door between the garage and the tool room...in fact, I had a spare insulated exterior steel door...so, why not? The state of the pass through was pretty rough and slightly too narrow for the door I had. The opening where the window was also turned out not be plumb and so I had to cut an inch out and square up the opening…that is SUCH a messy job since the block in this structure is real cinder block that used coal cinders as filler in the concrete…the dust is black as night. I also had left the block at the top of the opening to support the top plate and ceiling joists and gable end of the roof structure and that needed to be removed so the top of the opening could be made higher and the support structure more permanent. Strangely, my ceiling joists are running in the wrong direction over the workshop – parallel to the ridge line in the roof. I needed to be conservative with the bracing to make sure nothing moved because I couldn’t really depend on what was and what wasn’t load bearing since it was screwy. The interior of the shop also has a stucco finish so I had to learn a little about that too:
This is an old picture showing the first cutting of the new opening before the building was standing.
the new header installed and braced. I had to install bracing in a series of successive steps (prior to this, the braces were on the interior of the shop to the ceiling to carry the joist load…which was odd because the ceiling structure wasn’t built correctly in the old shop for some reason).
The new stucco. I stapled wire mesh to the face of the wood header and troweled two layers of morter mix / stucco. The texture is a little different than the original walls – but it’s plenty close enough.
Up next was some more work on the heat pumps. I had several insulation contractors provide quotes and one of them got pretty uppity with me about my self-installation heat pumps. I later discovered that his company also does heat/air – so he was apparently taking my degree of do-it-myself personally. He also quizzed me relentlessly on the sizing of the units…who did your load calcs, how many people did you include in your calcs…or did you ignore the fact that people affect the loads?, etc. etc. I was genuinely getting close to asking him to leave but I kept my cool because I didn’t want to do insulation and he seemed to come from a pretty successful outfit. I explained that I used a high end software package to calculate heat loss and so forth…he continued to try to poke holes in my efforts. I walked him around the side of the building and showed him the installation of the outdoor units and his attitude shifted pretty quickly and he started asking me details about my installation, not out of spite this time, but (I think) genuine interest. I sensed him reverting back to a diminutive tone when he grinned sheepishly and started to ask what I planned to do with two dryer vents (in a sarcastic tone) – but before he finished the last word, his voice trailed off as it dawned on him that I was using those to cleanly snake the linesets into the interior wall structure and I think he was genuinely impressed. I probably should have asked him to leave anyway – his quote was 3 times the price of the three others and he stubbornly refused to insulate the floor between the garage and upstairs and kept repeating that I didn’t need to insulate that. I guess he wasn’t listening to me when I kept repeating that the downstairs area will not be heated and cooled all the time.
Through all that, however, he did make me start to question my load calcs so I ran through them again later. I had about 12% capacity remaining with the outdoor temps at 95 degrees…and it happened to be over 100 for several days at that time. I started to think that perhaps I had gotten a little overzealous with trying to size the units exactly right and didn’t include enough safety factor…a dirty air filter or anything that might cause a slight loss of efficiency might leave me with a cooling/heating system that can’t keep up. For the garage, I had accepted that the heating system would not be able to overcome the heat loss through the slab to maintain an indoor temp of 74 when the outdoor temperature was below freezing (which would be fine…I just plan for the system to dust off the cold downstairs)…but if I was going to start making changes, I might as well be warm (or cool) everywhere I might possibly want to be…..so I bought two new 1.5 ton heat pumps – this time with a 21.5 SEER rating (practically the best efficiency you can get without resorting to exotic technology). Thankfully, they mounted to my existing mounts with only a minor adjustment.
one of the line sets prior to wrapping with vinyl bundling tape (yes…all 50 feet of it – and all I could find was 2 inch bundling tape!)
the openings in the top plate to get the linesets into the floor structure
Linesets in the wall and snaked to their end destinations in the attic over the old shop!
The new upgraded 1.5ton heat pumps with linesets ready to flare and attach
A really nicely aligned and cleanly flaired tubing connection…except for forgetting to slide the nut onto the pipe prior to flairing the tubing, this was perfect! I had to cut it off and flair it again.
Another good looking flare, thankfully, with the nut pre-installed this time.
Installation finished with aluminum tape to protect the foam line insulation from the UV / weather (and it looks all cryogenic and stuff). I still need to finish up the upper unit and I’ll be finished out here.
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The place looks great. I do have one question regarding the dumbwaiter. Have you considered the implications for fire safety? Think about why balloon frame construction is no longer used. It allowed channels where fire could very rapidly spread upwards. Having a layer of wood in between floors could act as a fire-stop, and give time for escape or extinguishment. In essence, a dumbwaiter will act as a chimney in the event of a fire, bringing superheated gasses rapidly into the upstairs living/office area. Certainly stairs can also do this, but it would be easy to protect the dubmwaiter.
Regardless what building inspectors require of you, I would consider double layers of fire resistant sheetrock around and above that dumbwaiter closet, along with a steel doorframe and fire rated steel door. Mount the door on spring hinges or with a closer. That way, if a fire does start downstairs, it will be contained in the closet. For a few extra minutes anyway.
Regardless what building inspectors require of you, I would consider double layers of fire resistant sheetrock around and above that dumbwaiter closet, along with a steel doorframe and fire rated steel door. Mount the door on spring hinges or with a closer. That way, if a fire does start downstairs, it will be contained in the closet. For a few extra minutes anyway.
abstamaria
Well-known member
Jake, fpr some reason, your later photos are not showing up on my screen. Just boxes with a question mark. But an interesting plan and build.
by the way, I cannot imagine sailing 500 miles in an open cat.
Andy
by the way, I cannot imagine sailing 500 miles in an open cat.
Andy
Those pictures are hot-linked from Flickr..it's either that Flickr was down for some period or you're viewing through a firewall that has flickr blocked (like they do me at work). I checked with a different browser and they appear to be OK?
The first 500 mile race was full of "are we there yet" and "wow, my left **** cheek is killing me" or "man, a big up plate of pollo fundito sounds great right now!". The second race was full of actual racing. By the seventh year doing that race, it became a job and I got up every morning feeling like it was time to go to work. Every water tower, beach, every pier, intlet, jetty, big hotel...it was all familiar. About the time I was going to hang it up, the race folded and there's only a 300 mile race (or shorter) left in the US for beachcats. I'm thinking about switching to a Kayak and doing some of the watertribe events next year.
BHR4CE1
Well-known member
Fantastic job. Looking forward to more pics.
mobiledynamics
Well-known member
Hi Jake -
Dare I ask....
Aside from hanging the compressors, and then the indoor unit.....connecting the linesets, - electrical and control wiring, is it just a matter of *releasing* the freon from the unit. Or did you have a Pro nitro/purge the lines, measure freon , etc...
Curious if this was totally DIY'ed without a pro or additional special tooling like gas....
Dare I ask....
Aside from hanging the compressors, and then the indoor unit.....connecting the linesets, - electrical and control wiring, is it just a matter of *releasing* the freon from the unit. Or did you have a Pro nitro/purge the lines, measure freon , etc...
Curious if this was totally DIY'ed without a pro or additional special tooling like gas....
Hoist on a Rail
by Jake on May.11, 2012, under Garage Mahal
I know it’s been a while since I posted … things have been crazy busy and I lost the urge lately….but, I think I’m back for a while. There are a couple of items that I have completed in the garage but haven’t posted about – this is to catch up on one of those and I expect some progress to be had to get this sucker finished soon.
When we travel afar for a regatta, it pays to double stack two catamarans on one trailer to save on gas and travel in bigger groups. Once the garage is done, one of my next projects is to modify my existing trailer so I can once again double stack by fabricating a steel rack with a second set of cradles above the lower boat to enable traveling with two catamarans at once. The dilemma is that getting the heavier F18 boat up on the elevated cradles is cumbersome and usually requires four strong, able, bodies. It’s not always easy to get the number of hands needed to load the boat since you don’t want to bring your whole team to my house for 10 minutes of loading – it’s been a problem in the past and I’ve probably used up all my favors with my neighbors for help when this happens. Unloading is easy because we are at a regatta with plenty of people around ready to help. Occasionally, I also have a need to lift other heavy things and it’s possible I could get back into customizing cars (I have this nagging desire to convert a Mazda Miata to an all electric commuter vehicle, for instance). I have a pretty heavy duty engine hoist but it can’t reach out enough to get to the center of a catamaran and it eats up floor space during the 99.99% of the time it’s not in use…so after a little day dreaming, I determined that a ceiling mounted hoist would add a nice convenience factor to the garage and I set out to developed a plan.
I started sketching out plans for a hoist and decided it needs to be able to move on a rail. I sniffed around at work and found a 10 foot long 4 scrap I-beam in great shape and bought it for the measly sum of $14. I already have an electric 500lb hoist that I picked up a year or so ago for about $50 from a guy who never used it and a visit to Amazon.com yielded a brand new $60 I-beam trolley designed for a hoist. Another visit to www.mcmaster.com found the pieces of 1/2 all thread, blind nuts, and tapered washers (to match the webbing angle of the I-beam) where I probably spent something around $50. $175 in and I should have all the items need…which is less than I think I paid for that engine hoist 15 years ago. The plan is to attach the I-beam across seven of the floor joists and it just works out that it will align almost perfectly with the bridging / box spine I put down the middle of the floor which will help to further strengthen the hoist. I got a few raised eye-brows from some folks about bolting a lifting hoist to a ceiling / floor structure - but the engineering is sound….At maximum capacity (600lbs), it’s very similar to the loading required to support two of my 250lb friends standing back to back upstairs – and I wouldn’t be nervous about the floor breaking if that were to happen. In fact, the loading is probably a little less since the I-beam loads will be spread out over several trusses at once (given some minor deflection).
The trick now was to get all of these holes aligned and drilled. I also had to figure out the sequence of installation with regards to the drywall and insulation and I also wondered if compression of the drywall when I tighten the beam might be a problem. Chances are that it wouldn’t be – but I developed a plan for both.
First, snap a chalk line to make two straight linear marks matching the width between the holes to be later drilled in the beam.
Transfer identical lines on several pieces of MDF board that will serve as a spacer between the joists and the beam and take the place of what would otherwise be drywall in that space but this won’t stand much chance of compressing. The MDF will also help me by making a template of the holes I drill in the joists to transfer to the beam.
After also marking the upstairs floor with the chalk line (between four pilot holes marking the ends of the series of holes), I counter-bored those holes to receive a series of thread-locking blind nuts (rated for about 1,000 lbs each) so they would be flush with the subfloor and not impeded the future floor upstairs.
The MDF was clamped in place, splice plates were stapled and glued in place to make it one long continuous 12 foot piece, and small pilot holes (1/8) drilled to mark the holes. Small finish nails were pushed through the holes to pin the MDF in place and ensure it didn’t move.
With the pilot holes drilled, I drilled them larger to receive the all-thread and started installing the all-thread through the entire truss to the blind nuts in the subfloor. Each end of the truss also received nuts with locktite on the inside span of the trusses to prevent the chance of overtightening the beam to the subfloor causing an undesirable compression of the truss system. This also helps to ensure that the entire truss system works and moves together in response to changing loads upstairs and down. The nut on the upper member of the truss is snugged up to help compress the blind nut into the sub-floor ensuring that it is engaged solidly with the wood structure without adding compression to the truss below.
Each piece of all-thread was cut to a different length with the longer ones on the outer most ends of the beam to allow gradual hoisting of the beam and avoid having to line up 14 holes at once! The all-thread will need to be trimmed to fit once the beam is home.
I apparently didn’t get photos of it – but the MDF was removed from the joists and clamped to the beam. Sharpened finishing nails allowed me to ping the hole centers through the MDF into the beam where I drilled the holes to align with the all-thread now installed in the ceiling. The whole system is now waiting for me to get the insulation contractor out – they’re planing to staple up a mesh and blow cellulose in the floor/ceiling space. Sometime between now and then I will weld in a couple of end-stop plates on the I-beam to keep the trolley from traveling too far toward either end. This will make sure the load is distributed among multiple trusses and that my load doesn’t crash to the floor should the trolley run off the end of the beam. Then I can slip the MDF over the all thread pieces and bolt the beam in place ready for dry wall installation. Oh, and I guess I need to paint that beam too…thinking a light grey to contrast slightly with the off-white ceiling after a primer coat. I’ll probably wait to do that just a little before it’s installed to avoid scratching it since it’s going to be moving around a bit as work is completed elsewhere in the garage (it’s a little on the heavy side).
by Jake on May.11, 2012, under Garage Mahal
I know it’s been a while since I posted … things have been crazy busy and I lost the urge lately….but, I think I’m back for a while. There are a couple of items that I have completed in the garage but haven’t posted about – this is to catch up on one of those and I expect some progress to be had to get this sucker finished soon.
When we travel afar for a regatta, it pays to double stack two catamarans on one trailer to save on gas and travel in bigger groups. Once the garage is done, one of my next projects is to modify my existing trailer so I can once again double stack by fabricating a steel rack with a second set of cradles above the lower boat to enable traveling with two catamarans at once. The dilemma is that getting the heavier F18 boat up on the elevated cradles is cumbersome and usually requires four strong, able, bodies. It’s not always easy to get the number of hands needed to load the boat since you don’t want to bring your whole team to my house for 10 minutes of loading – it’s been a problem in the past and I’ve probably used up all my favors with my neighbors for help when this happens. Unloading is easy because we are at a regatta with plenty of people around ready to help. Occasionally, I also have a need to lift other heavy things and it’s possible I could get back into customizing cars (I have this nagging desire to convert a Mazda Miata to an all electric commuter vehicle, for instance). I have a pretty heavy duty engine hoist but it can’t reach out enough to get to the center of a catamaran and it eats up floor space during the 99.99% of the time it’s not in use…so after a little day dreaming, I determined that a ceiling mounted hoist would add a nice convenience factor to the garage and I set out to developed a plan.
I started sketching out plans for a hoist and decided it needs to be able to move on a rail. I sniffed around at work and found a 10 foot long 4 scrap I-beam in great shape and bought it for the measly sum of $14. I already have an electric 500lb hoist that I picked up a year or so ago for about $50 from a guy who never used it and a visit to Amazon.com yielded a brand new $60 I-beam trolley designed for a hoist. Another visit to www.mcmaster.com found the pieces of 1/2 all thread, blind nuts, and tapered washers (to match the webbing angle of the I-beam) where I probably spent something around $50. $175 in and I should have all the items need…which is less than I think I paid for that engine hoist 15 years ago. The plan is to attach the I-beam across seven of the floor joists and it just works out that it will align almost perfectly with the bridging / box spine I put down the middle of the floor which will help to further strengthen the hoist. I got a few raised eye-brows from some folks about bolting a lifting hoist to a ceiling / floor structure - but the engineering is sound….At maximum capacity (600lbs), it’s very similar to the loading required to support two of my 250lb friends standing back to back upstairs – and I wouldn’t be nervous about the floor breaking if that were to happen. In fact, the loading is probably a little less since the I-beam loads will be spread out over several trusses at once (given some minor deflection).
The trick now was to get all of these holes aligned and drilled. I also had to figure out the sequence of installation with regards to the drywall and insulation and I also wondered if compression of the drywall when I tighten the beam might be a problem. Chances are that it wouldn’t be – but I developed a plan for both.
First, snap a chalk line to make two straight linear marks matching the width between the holes to be later drilled in the beam.
Transfer identical lines on several pieces of MDF board that will serve as a spacer between the joists and the beam and take the place of what would otherwise be drywall in that space but this won’t stand much chance of compressing. The MDF will also help me by making a template of the holes I drill in the joists to transfer to the beam.
After also marking the upstairs floor with the chalk line (between four pilot holes marking the ends of the series of holes), I counter-bored those holes to receive a series of thread-locking blind nuts (rated for about 1,000 lbs each) so they would be flush with the subfloor and not impeded the future floor upstairs.
The MDF was clamped in place, splice plates were stapled and glued in place to make it one long continuous 12 foot piece, and small pilot holes (1/8) drilled to mark the holes. Small finish nails were pushed through the holes to pin the MDF in place and ensure it didn’t move.
With the pilot holes drilled, I drilled them larger to receive the all-thread and started installing the all-thread through the entire truss to the blind nuts in the subfloor. Each end of the truss also received nuts with locktite on the inside span of the trusses to prevent the chance of overtightening the beam to the subfloor causing an undesirable compression of the truss system. This also helps to ensure that the entire truss system works and moves together in response to changing loads upstairs and down. The nut on the upper member of the truss is snugged up to help compress the blind nut into the sub-floor ensuring that it is engaged solidly with the wood structure without adding compression to the truss below.
Each piece of all-thread was cut to a different length with the longer ones on the outer most ends of the beam to allow gradual hoisting of the beam and avoid having to line up 14 holes at once! The all-thread will need to be trimmed to fit once the beam is home.
I apparently didn’t get photos of it – but the MDF was removed from the joists and clamped to the beam. Sharpened finishing nails allowed me to ping the hole centers through the MDF into the beam where I drilled the holes to align with the all-thread now installed in the ceiling. The whole system is now waiting for me to get the insulation contractor out – they’re planing to staple up a mesh and blow cellulose in the floor/ceiling space. Sometime between now and then I will weld in a couple of end-stop plates on the I-beam to keep the trolley from traveling too far toward either end. This will make sure the load is distributed among multiple trusses and that my load doesn’t crash to the floor should the trolley run off the end of the beam. Then I can slip the MDF over the all thread pieces and bolt the beam in place ready for dry wall installation. Oh, and I guess I need to paint that beam too…thinking a light grey to contrast slightly with the off-white ceiling after a primer coat. I’ll probably wait to do that just a little before it’s installed to avoid scratching it since it’s going to be moving around a bit as work is completed elsewhere in the garage (it’s a little on the heavy side).
mobiledynamics
Well-known member
thanks. Out here in Gotham city, it's tough to run ducting in my Brownstone.
We had a multi lever Mr. Slim install and it's insanely expensive for the install relative to hardware. If give the options....I would have hung the compressors and units, ran conduit for the control wire, ran the linesets......and just hrly for the labor to hook the unit up and fire it. Well, that's an ideal world. U know how it goes....we did not sell the system, so much support goes, etc...
Sweet you got the knowledge down.
The Hvac trade is almost as bad as the plumbing trade out here.......right down kings ransom
We had a multi lever Mr. Slim install and it's insanely expensive for the install relative to hardware. If give the options....I would have hung the compressors and units, ran conduit for the control wire, ran the linesets......and just hrly for the labor to hook the unit up and fire it. Well, that's an ideal world. U know how it goes....we did not sell the system, so much support goes, etc...
Sweet you got the knowledge down.
The Hvac trade is almost as bad as the plumbing trade out here.......right down kings ransom
The HVAC industry definitely has a broad range of differently skilled people in it - for sure. When I had my house unit replaced, I was blown away with the different (and mostly unprofessional) approaches to replacing my system. Sorry about the tone of my previous reply, I thought you were a pro who was being a little snarky with me.
A Few More Posts to Catch Up on…
by Jake on Jun.06, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Things have been moving along at a pretty good clip lately…but first, I have a few more completed tasks that I need to get us caught up on. Late last year, I had debated tackling the old 12 x 19 shop before or after the garage was finished. I decided it would be best to commit to it now and get it done (which would make work easier completing the garage later). I got some help and hired a friend to help me manage the mess and reconfigure the workshop making it a little more usable back in January. I find that not only is the help much more efficient but I work harder when I know I'm paying the other guy out of my pocket...and they usually can't keep up! We cleaned out 60 years of **** in the attic (that the previous owner left behind) – there was probably about 400 lbs of thin gauge scrap steel, wood trim pieces (mostly unusable), shingles (melted), old vinyl tiles, four badly worn tires (why!?), two bags of lime, and one bag of concrete cured rock solid in the attic humidity (seriously now…). After that, we took to cleaning out my own mess of a shop cluttered with an appreciable amount **** I “would use some day”. We pulled everything out including the shelving and work benches. Things that were to be kept were stacked / shoved in the unfinished garage to make room for the work in the shop. Everything else was either given away or went to the dump. It was here that I created a new approach and with each item I evaluated I repeated "how will my life be different if I didn't own this tomorrow"...After two really full truck loads of junk were hauled away, we started to address the fact that I had two exterior entry doors within 6 feet of each other. I’ll never understand why it was built this way. The door that was never used was removed, framed in, and covered up. My shop bathroom, which is an incredible convenience, was far too small and even my small frame would have my knees hit the opposing wall if seated on the throne….not to mention that the toilet seat couldn’t possibly be lifted up because it hit the wall framing. And yes, my old shop was pink. Just changing that alone will be a great change! In hindsight, not only was this a good idea to undertake, it was necessary!
All the keep-able **** from the old shop – this is AFTER cleaning and getting rid of many things.
After gutting the old shop, this “extra” door was framed in and made to disappear…for some reason, there were two exterior doors within 6 feet of each other. I’ve never understood why. Closing in this door opening also allows me to reframe the bathroom walls to a more reasonable (and code worthy) size.
The old exterior window...now a "window to nowhere"...so it got patched over.
kitty litter being sprinkled on the wet paint to make a faux stucco (worked REALLY well!).
Donnie helping me finish the exterior of the door – we’ve got some brick work to be done on the chimney somewhat soon…when that gets done, I plan to have the mason brick up this opening.
the compressor in it’s old home but finally permanently mounted on rubber isolation pads. You can no longer feel the compressor vibrations inside the house.
loading up the old shop with new shelving and lighting
continuing to load and organize.
emphasis on organization...I don't want to do this a second time!
You can also see the exterior grade steel door I decided to install between the old shop and the new garage (isolates the compressor noise from the garage gives a little safety with additional fire resistance).
pneumatic manifold ready to run nylon distribution lines to the manifold in the attic which changes to flexible copper in the enclosed walls.
by Jake on Jun.06, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Things have been moving along at a pretty good clip lately…but first, I have a few more completed tasks that I need to get us caught up on. Late last year, I had debated tackling the old 12 x 19 shop before or after the garage was finished. I decided it would be best to commit to it now and get it done (which would make work easier completing the garage later). I got some help and hired a friend to help me manage the mess and reconfigure the workshop making it a little more usable back in January. I find that not only is the help much more efficient but I work harder when I know I'm paying the other guy out of my pocket...and they usually can't keep up! We cleaned out 60 years of **** in the attic (that the previous owner left behind) – there was probably about 400 lbs of thin gauge scrap steel, wood trim pieces (mostly unusable), shingles (melted), old vinyl tiles, four badly worn tires (why!?), two bags of lime, and one bag of concrete cured rock solid in the attic humidity (seriously now…). After that, we took to cleaning out my own mess of a shop cluttered with an appreciable amount **** I “would use some day”. We pulled everything out including the shelving and work benches. Things that were to be kept were stacked / shoved in the unfinished garage to make room for the work in the shop. Everything else was either given away or went to the dump. It was here that I created a new approach and with each item I evaluated I repeated "how will my life be different if I didn't own this tomorrow"...After two really full truck loads of junk were hauled away, we started to address the fact that I had two exterior entry doors within 6 feet of each other. I’ll never understand why it was built this way. The door that was never used was removed, framed in, and covered up. My shop bathroom, which is an incredible convenience, was far too small and even my small frame would have my knees hit the opposing wall if seated on the throne….not to mention that the toilet seat couldn’t possibly be lifted up because it hit the wall framing. And yes, my old shop was pink. Just changing that alone will be a great change! In hindsight, not only was this a good idea to undertake, it was necessary!
All the keep-able **** from the old shop – this is AFTER cleaning and getting rid of many things.
After gutting the old shop, this “extra” door was framed in and made to disappear…for some reason, there were two exterior doors within 6 feet of each other. I’ve never understood why. Closing in this door opening also allows me to reframe the bathroom walls to a more reasonable (and code worthy) size.
The old exterior window...now a "window to nowhere"...so it got patched over.
kitty litter being sprinkled on the wet paint to make a faux stucco (worked REALLY well!).
Donnie helping me finish the exterior of the door – we’ve got some brick work to be done on the chimney somewhat soon…when that gets done, I plan to have the mason brick up this opening.
the compressor in it’s old home but finally permanently mounted on rubber isolation pads. You can no longer feel the compressor vibrations inside the house.
loading up the old shop with new shelving and lighting
continuing to load and organize.
emphasis on organization...I don't want to do this a second time!
You can also see the exterior grade steel door I decided to install between the old shop and the new garage (isolates the compressor noise from the garage gives a little safety with additional fire resistance).
pneumatic manifold ready to run nylon distribution lines to the manifold in the attic which changes to flexible copper in the enclosed walls.
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The Beam is Beaming
by Jake on Jun.08, 2012, under Garage Mahal
A recent completed task is the beam for the ceiling hoist. I welded on end-stops to prevent the hoist trolley from traveling off the end of the beam and to also keep it somewhat inboard so that the trolley will, at most, travel to the center span between the last to joists so no one joist has to see the full hoist load. It also got treated with a wire brush in my side angle grinder, some rust-o-leam primer and silver grey paint.
I must also salute my Makita side angle grinder as it finally released the magic smoke while cleaning up the beam. I believe the gearbox started to come apart and overloaded the motor as my garage floor was sprinkled with metal shavings and my garage filled with the dirty-brown smoke. That grinder has cut more fiberglass, steel, and concrete than any angle grinder should be asked to do and has served me extremely well. I guess I’m shopping for a new Makita.
by Jake on Jun.08, 2012, under Garage Mahal
A recent completed task is the beam for the ceiling hoist. I welded on end-stops to prevent the hoist trolley from traveling off the end of the beam and to also keep it somewhat inboard so that the trolley will, at most, travel to the center span between the last to joists so no one joist has to see the full hoist load. It also got treated with a wire brush in my side angle grinder, some rust-o-leam primer and silver grey paint.
I must also salute my Makita side angle grinder as it finally released the magic smoke while cleaning up the beam. I believe the gearbox started to come apart and overloaded the motor as my garage floor was sprinkled with metal shavings and my garage filled with the dirty-brown smoke. That grinder has cut more fiberglass, steel, and concrete than any angle grinder should be asked to do and has served me extremely well. I guess I’m shopping for a new Makita.
ODIS
Well-known member
Magic Smoke! LOL! I know that one really well!
A pain on what you are doing, but I'm sure necessary. I have the 5 year rule and have amended (Thanks to the wife) to the newly established 3 year rule for all the stuff that I'm gonna use someday........
Ody.
A pain on what you are doing, but I'm sure necessary. I have the 5 year rule and have amended (Thanks to the wife) to the newly established 3 year rule for all the stuff that I'm gonna use someday........
Ody.
Insulating the Blast Furnace
by Jake on Jun.12, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Part of both the downstairs and upstairs walls mate up with the pre-existing attic space above the little workshop (now the “Instrument Room”). It gets pretty hot in that attic and I wanted to pay a little attention to insulating and sealing that area off from contacting the insulation in the new building walls. There was some studding in the old gable end wall but it wasn’t very even and not on standard centers (old construction)…batted insulation was pretty much out of the question. The old “exterior” side of that wall has some sort of really soft particle board on it. It’s been considerably damaged through the construction process and it full of holes. I also have a multiple utilities that penetrate that wall; electrical, pneumatic lines, HVAC linesets, HVAC communication wiring, network communication (Cat 5 and Coax), drain line for the upstairs HVAC, various plumbing, etc. My plan was to seal off the attic space from the inside, remove the soft sheathing, wrap, and tar paper, and have both stud bays (the new structure and the attic structure) filled with the blow in insulation planned for the rest of the building. Making that wall mostly air tight proved to be tricky in the confines of that low head room space.
You can see the felt paper and some of the broken sheathing just above the door opening.. This is a bit of a problem where it interfaces the floor because it’s unlikely this floor structure will be 100% filled with insulation. Any air filtration from the attic into this space can migrate throughout the entire floor.
The top of the gable end can be seen near the floor in this photo of the second story. It blasts hot air into this space like a furnace while open.
Showing some of the penetrations that go through this wall
First, I made a cardboard scoop for an old box fan so it could sit on the edge of the attic opening and draw cool air into that space – this really dropped the temperature up there significantly and made working up there in the evenings bearable.
the attic is hot (duh)…a modified box fan with a hood scoop helps bring downstairs air up dropping the temps up here significantly
To solve this problem, I precut several pieces of R-max foil backed insulation board, donned a respirator (that fiberglass dust is dreadful), long sleeves and pants, and headed to the attic to start trimming and taping the board into place. It took probably 3 1/2 hours of work to get it to this point and I still have a little more work to do to cut some smaller pieces to fit between the ceiling joists – but it’s mostly complete. Once those smaller pieces are in place, I’ll spray foam the penetrations and around the perimeter of the foam panels to seal it up tight and keep that hot attic air from coming into direct contact with my fibrous insulation.
I worked HARD for this insulation and sealing the air flow on this wall – still a bit left to go at the bottom followed by spray foam to button it up
by Jake on Jun.12, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Part of both the downstairs and upstairs walls mate up with the pre-existing attic space above the little workshop (now the “Instrument Room”). It gets pretty hot in that attic and I wanted to pay a little attention to insulating and sealing that area off from contacting the insulation in the new building walls. There was some studding in the old gable end wall but it wasn’t very even and not on standard centers (old construction)…batted insulation was pretty much out of the question. The old “exterior” side of that wall has some sort of really soft particle board on it. It’s been considerably damaged through the construction process and it full of holes. I also have a multiple utilities that penetrate that wall; electrical, pneumatic lines, HVAC linesets, HVAC communication wiring, network communication (Cat 5 and Coax), drain line for the upstairs HVAC, various plumbing, etc. My plan was to seal off the attic space from the inside, remove the soft sheathing, wrap, and tar paper, and have both stud bays (the new structure and the attic structure) filled with the blow in insulation planned for the rest of the building. Making that wall mostly air tight proved to be tricky in the confines of that low head room space.
You can see the felt paper and some of the broken sheathing just above the door opening.. This is a bit of a problem where it interfaces the floor because it’s unlikely this floor structure will be 100% filled with insulation. Any air filtration from the attic into this space can migrate throughout the entire floor.
The top of the gable end can be seen near the floor in this photo of the second story. It blasts hot air into this space like a furnace while open.
Showing some of the penetrations that go through this wall
First, I made a cardboard scoop for an old box fan so it could sit on the edge of the attic opening and draw cool air into that space – this really dropped the temperature up there significantly and made working up there in the evenings bearable.
the attic is hot (duh)…a modified box fan with a hood scoop helps bring downstairs air up dropping the temps up here significantly
To solve this problem, I precut several pieces of R-max foil backed insulation board, donned a respirator (that fiberglass dust is dreadful), long sleeves and pants, and headed to the attic to start trimming and taping the board into place. It took probably 3 1/2 hours of work to get it to this point and I still have a little more work to do to cut some smaller pieces to fit between the ceiling joists – but it’s mostly complete. Once those smaller pieces are in place, I’ll spray foam the penetrations and around the perimeter of the foam panels to seal it up tight and keep that hot attic air from coming into direct contact with my fibrous insulation.
I worked HARD for this insulation and sealing the air flow on this wall – still a bit left to go at the bottom followed by spray foam to button it up
jimmie jam
Well-known member
Wow, very nice build and thread! You never know what you'll pick up....I loved the gate engineering lesson.
Milestone!
by Jake on Jun.21, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Aaaahhhh…I think I’m cracking open a $16 bottle of beer tonight that I’ve been hanging onto for a while. I passed both my plumbing and electrical inspection with only a minor thing to fix…I had missed caulking a couple of upstairs top plate electrical penetrations but the inspector signed off on it and asked that I get that taken care of before insulating. I’m surprised at how anxious I was about that – I feel like a weight has been lifted! I had kinda hoped to get some kudos from the inspector for the effort I put in – but he was pretty matter-of-fact about the thing. No problems, his signature said it all! He then gave me instruction to call them back once the insulation is in to sign off on the framing…but my building contractor had taken care of those permits and I’m quite sure the framing permit was inspected and closed. I’m not quite sure what to do there but the inspector said he would look into it and that I should give him a call in the morning for some instruction.
Unfortunately my insulation contractor can’t get out here for about two weeks…so, maybe I’ll head to the lake for a little R&R at some point. Now that I have a kayak, I can take a look at the forecast in the morning and decide if it's a sailing or kayaking day and choose at that point.
by Jake on Jun.21, 2012, under Garage Mahal
Aaaahhhh…I think I’m cracking open a $16 bottle of beer tonight that I’ve been hanging onto for a while. I passed both my plumbing and electrical inspection with only a minor thing to fix…I had missed caulking a couple of upstairs top plate electrical penetrations but the inspector signed off on it and asked that I get that taken care of before insulating. I’m surprised at how anxious I was about that – I feel like a weight has been lifted! I had kinda hoped to get some kudos from the inspector for the effort I put in – but he was pretty matter-of-fact about the thing. No problems, his signature said it all! He then gave me instruction to call them back once the insulation is in to sign off on the framing…but my building contractor had taken care of those permits and I’m quite sure the framing permit was inspected and closed. I’m not quite sure what to do there but the inspector said he would look into it and that I should give him a call in the morning for some instruction.
Unfortunately my insulation contractor can’t get out here for about two weeks…so, maybe I’ll head to the lake for a little R&R at some point. Now that I have a kayak, I can take a look at the forecast in the morning and decide if it's a sailing or kayaking day and choose at that point.
automobiliben
Well-known member
Congrats on the inspection passes Jake, I am sure that that is a great feeling!
Are those RC sailboats in your old shop?
Are those RC sailboats in your old shop?
Yes! Actually, I had started designing and buying tooling to build a high performance semi-replica of USA17 (America's Cup Trimaran) with a 48" x 48" hull system and a 96" wing...when I realized I didn't have anywhere to store it and building it would require some really creative maneuvering. My garage project then got in the way....
those are two Seawind 1M boats - we have a huge fleet around here. I also have built my own US1M from scratch with a plug and a female mold.
I spoke with the inspector this morning about the framing permit he was asking for and he said I needed to open a new "minimum framing permit" to continue the framing from the original build...and he also got me on my lack of a mechanical permit. The good news is that he did inspect my mini-split installation and said it was just fine and he doesn't need to come back out - I just needed the permit. Down to the county office to spend another $200 this afternoon for me!
On another note - apparently hanging the indoor units on a piece of drywall and making the connections is sufficient for this process.
On another note - apparently hanging the indoor units on a piece of drywall and making the connections is sufficient for this process.
automobiliben
Well-known member
How much have permits cost you so far? If you don't mind me asking...
What on the mini-split do they actually inspect? Seems to me that if you are willing to pay them for a permit, they will "inspect" anything you want...
How much have permits cost you so far? If you don't mind me asking...
What on the mini-split do they actually inspect? Seems to me that if you are willing to pay them for a permit, they will "inspect" anything you want...
I'm pretty sure I paid $120 each for the plumbing and electrical permits. The mechanical permit will be the same. I'm hoping the "minimal framing" permit is cheaper but if not, I'll have almost $500 in permits for just my end of the work (contractor handled the structure/framing permits).
That's kinda what I was hoping for regarding the mini-splits...that they wouldn't need to inspect them. I guess I should have figured differently since it is the primary heating and cooling method for the building.
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Sheetrock is up on the ceiling! The milestones are clicking off quickly now. I have a contractor handling the sheetrock and insulation duties. I waffled on whether or not to do the sheetrock myself but after watching these two guys hang the entire upstairs ceiling and cut in the 24 can lights and other features in a little less than two hours, it’s clear I made the right choice. I also got to witness a circus-act like method of working around a room on an inverted 5 gallon bucket by wiggling hips (that was awesome).
The insulation guys then showed up on an afternoon during one of the hottest days of the year (104 degrees F) last Friday. They worked for about 2 hours before hanging it up. They returned on Monday and completed insulating the entire structure. They really did a nice job. The product is cellulose which is a recycled paper product treated with boric acid for a fire retardant and bug resistance. It also has some corn starch in it so they can blow the material into the wall through a water mist. The paper goes into the wall wet and dries to a firm padded consistency and is literally glued into the wall cavity. The beauty of this insulation is that it has much better air flow resistance than fiberglass and installation ensures that it packs well around all wiring, electrical boxes, plumbing, etc. and completely fills the voids. It’s only slightly more expensive than fiberglass and, although has properties similar to spray-foam, it’s about 25% the cost of spray foam.
DSC_3474 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
I’m waiting on a county inspector today and assuming that goes well, the sheetrock guys are scheduled to come back on Monday to start on the walls and ceiling downstairs. I’ve also got a painting contractor selected and hopefully paint will be done within the next two weeks!
The insulation guys then showed up on an afternoon during one of the hottest days of the year (104 degrees F) last Friday. They worked for about 2 hours before hanging it up. They returned on Monday and completed insulating the entire structure. They really did a nice job. The product is cellulose which is a recycled paper product treated with boric acid for a fire retardant and bug resistance. It also has some corn starch in it so they can blow the material into the wall through a water mist. The paper goes into the wall wet and dries to a firm padded consistency and is literally glued into the wall cavity. The beauty of this insulation is that it has much better air flow resistance than fiberglass and installation ensures that it packs well around all wiring, electrical boxes, plumbing, etc. and completely fills the voids. It’s only slightly more expensive than fiberglass and, although has properties similar to spray-foam, it’s about 25% the cost of spray foam.
DSC_3474 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
I’m waiting on a county inspector today and assuming that goes well, the sheetrock guys are scheduled to come back on Monday to start on the walls and ceiling downstairs. I’ve also got a painting contractor selected and hopefully paint will be done within the next two weeks!
All rough-in inspections are history now. Sheetrock is now up throughout the building! The guys are almost a week behind and while I really want to get cooking, their delays allowed me to finish a couple of minor things I wanted to do before the sheetrock went up. I haven’t been complaining much about the delay, but that’s about to change if it continues. They are, however, doing a very nice job so no complaints there. I had expected the mudding crew to show up yesterday but that didn’t happen. One thing for sure, I’m glad I didn’t take this job on myself.
DSC_3494 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
upstairs looking at the bathroom to the left and the dumbwaiter ahead
DSC_3492 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Another view of upstairs
DSC_3498 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
My future desk to be in the corner to the right
DSC_3501 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Downstairs looking at the door to the “instrument room”, dumbwaiter shaft, side entrance door, and the smaller garage door that opens to the back yard
DSC_3500 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Another view downstairs
DSC_3494 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
upstairs looking at the bathroom to the left and the dumbwaiter ahead
DSC_3492 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Another view of upstairs
DSC_3498 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
My future desk to be in the corner to the right
DSC_3501 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Downstairs looking at the door to the “instrument room”, dumbwaiter shaft, side entrance door, and the smaller garage door that opens to the back yard
DSC_3500 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Another view downstairs
KBoltz
Member
You have one SERIOUSLY nice garage.
I may email you when I buy the parcel of land next door and build my dream garage. I want an 8 bay garage with home theater and a good size bathroom, indoor grill and a kegerator.
My wife tells me to keep dreaming.
I may email you when I buy the parcel of land next door and build my dream garage. I want an 8 bay garage with home theater and a good size bathroom, indoor grill and a kegerator.
My wife tells me to keep dreaming.
Honestly, I’m about at the tail-end of my patience with the sheetrock contractor. I like the guys and they started off with good quality and speedy work…and then they got busy elsewhere and the work got sloppy. First, they forgot the rounded corners they quoted me (and I reviewed with them before they got started on the project). Then they forgot to wrap the windows and shop door opening as quoted (also reviewed prior to start). When they came back to redo the rounded corners and window openings, they got in a hurry and tried to do them all with one pass of mud before sanding…and came back to sand while the mud was still a little wet. I’m no expert, but I’ve never seen anyone try to do a joint like that with one pass before – they certainly didn’t try that on the previous joints and screw holes previously. Everytime I complain, a guy shows up for about 10 minutes late in the evening and sands a few more spots. Added to which, I just found an entire corner that doesn’t look like it’s been sanded from the very beginning.
Having gotten tired of rescheduling the painter (we’re now half a month into what was supposed to be a four day sheetrock job) and not being sure how picky I am really being, I scheduled the painter to get the primer up. I’m a little less pleased with the drywall work now that I can see it with paint on it and will be asking the company to do a detailed walk through with me and fix the items in three days, or walk away without their last 10%. It’s bad enough when I have to wait for myself to get things done – much less so when I’m paying someone to get it done because I didn’t think I had the time...and then watching them put me on the proverbial back-burner. The problems aren’t huge, but they are frustrating because I know it wouldn’t take these guys two short afternoons to just fix them if they would just commit themselves to getting it done right once and for all. As it is, they only seem to be committed to doing “just enough” to keep me from screaming.
In general, however, the larger mass of the sheetrock work does look pretty good. There are just several smaller spots that need to have blade scrapes and air bubbles filled. A couple of the window corners are pretty rough and there are a few screw heads that got missed above the baseboard level. I’m hoping to resolve this with the guys in morning and intend to have a plan for the painter to start putting color on the walls this Friday. (I just realized I didn’t get any pictures with the primer up).
DSC_3534 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3531 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3538 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
this shot shows a little of the lack of detail in the window corners. The corner molding/drywall forms should have been mitered – but they weren’t and they tried to make up the shape with mud. I’m sure it can be done…but it looks a lot like “the hard way”. (you’ll probably need to follow the link and zoom in to see the corner detail).
DSC_3522 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
On another note, after watching my entry doors get beat pretty hard by driving rain and leak occasionally to the inside floor, I decided to install some awnings to provide some weather protection. It took a while to figure out how to install the upstairs unit and it took quite a bit of maneuvering with ladders to get it done. I finally hatched a plan to temporarily zip-tie some aluminum rods to the awning structure to give it enough rigidity to support itself from two middle bolts. It worked like a charm.
DSC_3551 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3555 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3548 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
Having gotten tired of rescheduling the painter (we’re now half a month into what was supposed to be a four day sheetrock job) and not being sure how picky I am really being, I scheduled the painter to get the primer up. I’m a little less pleased with the drywall work now that I can see it with paint on it and will be asking the company to do a detailed walk through with me and fix the items in three days, or walk away without their last 10%. It’s bad enough when I have to wait for myself to get things done – much less so when I’m paying someone to get it done because I didn’t think I had the time...and then watching them put me on the proverbial back-burner. The problems aren’t huge, but they are frustrating because I know it wouldn’t take these guys two short afternoons to just fix them if they would just commit themselves to getting it done right once and for all. As it is, they only seem to be committed to doing “just enough” to keep me from screaming.
In general, however, the larger mass of the sheetrock work does look pretty good. There are just several smaller spots that need to have blade scrapes and air bubbles filled. A couple of the window corners are pretty rough and there are a few screw heads that got missed above the baseboard level. I’m hoping to resolve this with the guys in morning and intend to have a plan for the painter to start putting color on the walls this Friday. (I just realized I didn’t get any pictures with the primer up).
DSC_3534 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3531 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3538 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
this shot shows a little of the lack of detail in the window corners. The corner molding/drywall forms should have been mitered – but they weren’t and they tried to make up the shape with mud. I’m sure it can be done…but it looks a lot like “the hard way”. (you’ll probably need to follow the link and zoom in to see the corner detail).
DSC_3522 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
On another note, after watching my entry doors get beat pretty hard by driving rain and leak occasionally to the inside floor, I decided to install some awnings to provide some weather protection. It took a while to figure out how to install the upstairs unit and it took quite a bit of maneuvering with ladders to get it done. I finally hatched a plan to temporarily zip-tie some aluminum rods to the awning structure to give it enough rigidity to support itself from two middle bolts. It worked like a charm.
DSC_3551 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3555 by Team Seacats, on Flickr
DSC_3548 by Team Seacats, on Flickr