New and ready to build

[5thRail]

Just joined after years of lurking. We recently moved to KY and just bought a house on 10 acres. The lot is treed and not particularly level but has spots we could build. So we'll start with a survey, get our setbacks and utilities located, and then work on a design that will fit with the house, etc.

I'll be interested in help along the way, including such topics as:

plumbing and mechanic stuff down the drain and into a septic system

heating for winter - hydronic, or??? (we have a propane tank, and electric of course)

lifts (thinking Rotary 2-post right now) for working on the car

Control of moisture without constant air conditioning (not sure I will condition the space, prefer windows for air).

Critter management - we are in the woods and on the KY river.

Anyway, more on these and other topics as we get going.

And of course what little I already know, I'll be glad to share with others!

Mike aka 5thRail

(the user name refers to the local way of determining property owner's wealth - how many rails on your well-maintained fence. We have no fence.)

 

[Scout Driver]

Welcome to the Garage Journal, 5thRail.

Scott

 

[aqr81]

Welcome to GJ, 5thRail. Look forward to hearing about and seeing your progress.

 

[larry_g]

Welcome to the board. Tell us a bit more. One of my personel peeves is trying to answer questions that are a lot of the time dependant on the person and knowing nothing about them. What do you plan to do in your building? Park cars, have parties, hang with the guys, or are you of the type that will build cars from scratch, weld, mill parts, and do the body work? Or are you doing woodwork, taxadermy, or other interesting things. What are your skills, education and age? People here run the gamut of interests, skills, and means. Nothing wrong or right, just different.

What are you dreams that we can help you with, what are the realities we have to live with?

lg
no neat sig line

 

[5thRail]

larry g - I only intended to give a flavor of the issues I'm likely to be posting about as I get into the build, not to be asking for specifics just yet. But you ask a good set of questions...

I want to collect a few cars and maintain them - just 2-3. I like older BMWs, Porsches and odd ball cars like bubble cars, etc. (I check BringaTrailer.com every morning, if that tells you anything). I'm thinking the collection will cost under $100k total so that gives you an idea of the level of collector/budget I have to plan with. I also want to maintain our current cars - at least the minor stuff, and do track prep for them. So I expect maybe 4 cars and a trailer (now it is open, but enclosed may be in our future). This will require a lift, and all the wrenching is why I expect to want a parts washing and hand washing area - thus the concern about what gets into our septic system.

I do not have welding skills but would love to learn. I also don't have bodywork or paint skills (on a car) - just mechanical. I may take some classes and try to pick up those over time. Right now I'm thinking the best skills and tools I could get, from a money-saving perspective, would be tire mounting/balancing, and alignment/corner weighting.

During the week I unfortunately have to work to earn a living, but fortunately have a good job. My lot is 10 acres on the KY river and mostly treed, so not a big mow job but a few weekends of tree thinning, brush hogging, etc. We spend several weekends at the track with our cars. So my best in-garage work time will be winter weekends. This means I will want a good heat source in the garage.

I will welcome guys and gals to hang out, etc as we get to know people locally, but we are pretty remote so I really don't expect much of that. We'll probably host a party or two each year for club members, which might require some shop cleaning, although I'm fairly good at keeping things tidy.

In addition to the cars, tools and usual stuff, because of the track and winter we will probably store 20-30 wheels and a few more tires in the garage. The track tires like to be maintained above freezing.

The first challenge will be siting. I need to find someone to help design the garage and site it on the property where it is accessible but doesn't detract from the house or setting. There are setbacks, septic field, underground propane tank and lines, etc to consider. So I will start with a survey and probably include some topo points. At the same time, I'm looking at designs to get a general idea of what to style. Need to run a few of those by my night-shift boss as well.

I would love to build this from scratch myself, but I am more eager to use it than to build it so I'll hire most of the work.

sorry for the long post - hope that helps lay some groundwork for questions yet to come.

5thRail