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New Guy here in Pennsylvania (First post)

Neuswede

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
390
Location
Central Pennsylvania
Hello to everyone on GJ:

I've been a visitor many times over the past many months/years, but finally decided to join in on the fun. Have had several shops over the past few years; mainly small commercial space to keep my race cars, welder and fab tools. About 18 months ago, that changed with a move to a new town and another home, so I moved everything to a storage garage and have been planning the dream garage for many months.

The dream is now in motion, with approval of my zoning permit on July 1, and subsequent receipt of the building permit coming later this week. Excavation is set to begin on Friday AM, so the fun begins.

Briefly, the garage will be 28' x 54', with 12' interior ceiling height on the first floor. Construction will be concrete block, with full brick face nearest the house. 12/12 roof pitch with attic trusses for the second floor. 1 room on each gable end approx. 14'x16'. In the center, a reverse gable room approx. 22x28', with 3/4 bath/locker room and a bonus room in the remaining space.

The one gable end room will accommodate my 80 gal. compressor, bead blast cabinet and 50 gal. parts washer, with girder trussing to handle the additional loading.

The garage level will have 4000psi concrete with fiberglass, over a wire grid and pex pipe. Radiant floor heating in the slab. 3 carriage-style Amarr doors will be 9'4" H x10' wide, operated by Liftmaster 3800 jackshaft openers. The bay closest to the shop end will have a Rotary Smart Lift in-ground 2 post, with the shop side sized at 16x28'. Bought the Smart Lift already and will have delivery once main floor is poured, then do subsequent pour to Rotary's installation specs, with conduit set for the lift prior to initial floor pour.

Concrete block walls will be fully grouted every 4 feet and reinforced with rebar all the way to the footer, with J-bolts welded at the top to secure the top plate. About every other truss will be tied to the j-bolt attachment for additional strength. Footer is over-sized with steel reinforcement too.(neither the larger sizing nor the steel is required in our area).

Will post up some pics as the project moves along. For now, I just have some less than dramatic pics and video of the tree removal (all of them about 60 to 75' tall) and then the stump grinding.

You may ask, "Why not a pole barn?" We are in an older area of brick homes built in the 50's, so we want to maintain a residential feel and look, like something that could have been built back in the 50's. We are also in a termite area, and a tornado area, with 8 of them very nearby so far this year.

Anyways, that's how I'm spending the rest of my summer...hope yours is as much fun as mine will be.

Marc
 
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RAYJAY

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Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
2,638
Location
UNION DALE PA
welcome to the forum ......where in PA are you were by Scranton area the shop sounds great


Jeff
 

RAYJAY

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Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
2,638
Location
UNION DALE PA
Hi Jeff:

I am in the South Hills area of Lebanon (think Lebanon Bologna), about 12 miles east of Hershey.

Marc

were down that way some times, you have a couple of great car sows in that area the carlisle cars shows / marts are great i like spring better than fall mart and the hershey fall caer show is a great one
 
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Neuswede

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
390
Location
Central Pennsylvania
we do quite a few shows lin the area; we do the Carlisle Import Show in May; our local club brings about 250+ cars to that one, and we just did the Perry County show up in Shermansdale. This Saturday, our sports car club is running a drive and picnic from the AACA Museum in Hershey...should be alot of fun. With construction beginning on Friday morning, the show and racing time will be negligible...the plan is to focus on the garage with every waking moment available to get it functioning. Once I have some construction pics to share, I'll get a new thread started. Of course, if you are ever nearby and want to stop in for a visit, the garage door is figuratively speaking, "always open", and it's always great making new car friends..

Did have a quick question for you....what does this mean in your signature line?
"Thank You Snap On, I now know how it feels to be toilet paper".

Bad or useless distributor up in your area? Mine retired and when I had my warranty claim on my box, I dealt directly with Kenosha and I had a brand new roller cabinet box delivered to my door pronto. The rest of the story is that I originally bought it as a used box (at a substantial discount) from my local distributor, but they still replaced it with a brand new box 5 years later. I was astounded and elated all at the same time. I did go through the claims process which took a couple weeks, but everyone was responsive, polite and seemed genuinely concerned that I get a replacement box quickly. Anytime a distributor dicks you around, your recourse is to call Kenosha and get directed to the Regional Manager. The one in our area is excellent and I have his cell number and have always gotten a quick return phone call with any questions I have had.

Craftsman on the other hand jerked me around over a $39 ratchet that broke the first week I had it and then replaced it with a used one....Overall Craftsman have been good to deal with except for that one very bad experience.
 
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bad94sup

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
75
Location
Thornton, PA
Hey Marc, welcome! I'm not far away just outside west Chester, pa. Let me know if/when you're in the area!

Andrew
 
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Neuswede

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
390
Location
Central Pennsylvania
Hi Andrew;

Will do...same here if you get up to my area. Once the garage is under roof (notice I didn't say completed), we hope to begin having friends over and do some entertaining for our car friends...friends are always welcome and the refreshments are always cold...

Marc
 
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bad94sup

Well-known member
Joined
May 30, 2011
Messages
75
Location
Thornton, PA
Hi Andrew;

Will do...same here if you get up to my area. Once the garage is under roof (notice I didn't say completed), we hope to begin having friends over and do some entertaining for our car friends...friends are always welcome and the refreshments are always cold...

Marc

Thanks! Your garage sounds killer, would love to check it out sometime.
 

RAYJAY

Well-known member
Joined
May 29, 2006
Messages
2,638
Location
UNION DALE PA
we do quite a few shows lin the area; we do the Carlisle Import Show in May; our local club brings about 250+ cars to that one, and we just did the Perry County show up in Shermansdale. This Saturday, our sports car club is running a drive and picnic from the AACA Museum in Hershey...should be alot of fun. With construction beginning on Friday morning, the show and racing time will be negligible...the plan is to focus on the garage with every waking moment available to get it functioning. Once I have some construction pics to share, I'll get a new thread started. Of course, if you are ever nearby and want to stop in for a visit, the garage door is figuratively speaking, "always open", and it's always great making new car friends..

Did have a quick question for you....what does this mean in your signature line?
"Thank You Snap On, I now know how it feels to be toilet paper".

Bad or useless distributor up in your area? Mine retired and when I had my warranty claim on my box, I dealt directly with Kenosha and I had a brand new roller cabinet box delivered to my door pronto. The rest of the story is that I originally bought it as a used box (at a substantial discount) from my local distributor, but they still replaced it with a brand new box 5 years later. I was astounded and elated all at the same time. I did go through the claims process which took a couple weeks, but everyone was responsive, polite and seemed genuinely concerned that I get a replacement box quickly. Anytime a distributor dicks you around, your recourse is to call Kenosha and get directed to the Regional Manager. The one in our area is excellent and I have his cell number and have always gotten a quick return phone call with any questions I have had.

Craftsman on the other hand jerked me around over a $39 ratchet that broke the first week I had it and then replaced it with a used one....Overall Craftsman have been good to deal with except for that one very bad experience.

The snap on thing is because i was always on the road and never had a dealer, and as you know unless you sell them your sole the truck dealer's will not take care of you,


and being on the road shipping tools in does not work,


with sears i never had a problem, no matter what sears they all way's took care of me as long as the tool was in stock

jeff
 
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Neuswede

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
390
Location
Central Pennsylvania
not having a distributor can be awkward for certain. I don't have first hand knowledge, but have been told that warranty returns can play a part in how the regional guys and distributors get their incentive bonuses; there is an incentive for them to delay or deny warranty claims. Sounds contrary to the company mission, but that seems to be conjecture by many who have had issues. Sorry to hear about it when it happens. Hopefully Sears can make it through the year, but they too are bleeding cash rapidly and they need to reinvent themselves to compete with Target and Small-Mart. Would really **** to lose them as I have one about a mile from the house. Way too convenient and hard on the wallet.
 
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Neuswede

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
390
Location
Central Pennsylvania
Thanks! Your garage sounds killer, would love to check it out sometime.

Certainly...PM me anytime and I can get you my contact info and address.

You're welcome to stop up and check it out...I'll be posting a new thread in the gallery once I have some action shots. Right now, it's just the tree removal, stump grinding and site layout pics....very boring stuff. How exciting can you make batter boards, anyway?

The fun stuff will be the powdercoating on the steel Lintels, steel door casings and garage door hardware, and alot of the other gizmos and fabrication opportunities I've created for myself. There will be lots of pics and descriptions along the way.
 
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