NoDak 3 car

[MTguy]

I finally am getting around to working on my garage. It is my first garage and I've probably got bigger plans than budget, but hey... might as well dream big! I do expect to build a detached shop/garage within the next 5 years so I am finishing this one as more of an entertaining space, storage area and parking spot for our 2 vehicles. I am not into auto mechanics (can't even change my own oil!) but I do enjoy woodworking and electronics.

I've already purchased my garage heater (Mr. Heater 80,000 BTU/propane), insulation, and sheetrock. I've also got the rapidair m3800 master kit and fittings ready to go. That is the kit with the 1/2" inner diameter which is a compromise between the 3/4" kit that is not setup for in wall installation (like I intend) and the 1/2" outer diameter that I was worried would not be beefy enough.

I've currently only got three light bulb sockets for lighting so that will have to change. I think I will change that to six 4' t8 fixtures unless I can find an inexpensive LED hardwired fixture. I also only have 4 outlets, of which, 1 is behind the TV so I can't really use it either. Those outlets are wired with 12/2 on a 20 amp breaker by themselves so I will be adding 4 more outlets to that circuit. I would like to add a ceiling fan as well, but don't know what electricity source I would want to tap into for that so I might just pass on.

The first steps for me are to install the rapidair system and add the extra outlets. When that is done I'll insulate and then sheetrock. Hopefully, I'll have the rapidair and wiring done by the end of the weekend, but I'll only have Sunday to work on it and working in an unheated garage this time of year is not much fun.

Here are a few pictures of the garage as it looks today. Hey... I have to start somewhere.

Some of my plans for the future include a black stained floor with a gloss coat, galvanized metal wainscoting with black trim, bench and shelves will be made with galvanized metal pipe and DIY pine butcher block out of 2x2's.

Still trying to decide where I can keep my 2 kayaks? Ideas? I'm also not happy with my lack of a fridge, but don't see a good location for it.

 

[BBChevro]

Welcome to the forum MT, I'm sure you will find plenty of great ideas here.

My first thought for the kayaks would be to suspend them above your doors.

As for the fridge - if you don't object to a couple of steps, I'd consider putting it on the landing (to the left of the door to the house). It could serve "double duty" as additional fridge space for the house (parties, etc.) as well as providing refreshments for man-cave time.

It looks a bit cold there, what's all that white stuff outside?
(It's around 100 degrees F here today).

 

[cavegirl]

I want the rapidair system too. Here in brazil we call inverter for what i want. The kayaks should be stored away from clumsy people since wood is a very PRECIOUS material that can be easily damaged including water. But that can be easily fixed if u apply a coat of impermeabilizante b4 taking to water. So, coasters on kayaks. Yeah clumsy people should die. Oh no.

 

[cavegirl]

Oh, i meant canoe. Not kayak. Silly me.


TayTay

 

[dubber]

Congrats on your first garage! Its pretty huge so there is a ton of potential, especially with all of the plans you have already outlined.

 

[rottdogsparky]

If you can believe it I had not heard of the rapidair system so thanks for sharing!

You might consider running another 20 amp electrical circuit before you insulate and dry wall. If you are going to hire someone it might be worth running a small 50 amp sub panel even, think re-sale (pull permits to show it was done to code). Also might consider caulking or foaming the wall cavaties to stop air infiltration or throw up a clear polyethylene sheet after insulation as air infiltration is number one loss of heat for me.

 

[MTguy]

I never even considered adding an additional panel to the garage. Hmmm.... If I'm going to do it the time is now because I was hoping to be insulating and drywalling in the next 2 weeks. I wouldn't tackle that myself, so I would have to get an electrician out which takes 3 or 4 weeks anymore and it would probably cost me $500. To just wire in the remaining four outlets and the three light fixtures is only going to cost me around $70 in materials and I'll do it myself. I'll have to decide quickly I guess.

I never considered adding another 220 outlet because I'm not even sure I'll have a use for 1. I don't weld and I don't know that I'll ever get that big of an air compressor in this garage. The main reason I ran one initially was so I could easily add a ductless A/C system in the future if I wanted. Are there other 220 uses that I'm missing?

I actually have considered putting the fridge on the landing next to the door, but it is a really tight fit. It's not ruled out yet though. I also like the idea of having a space for muddy boots and clothes at the top of the stairs but at least I have a space for that just inside that door. Another thought I had was to rearrange my steps so I could put the fridge next to the sink. Argh... that one is really stumping me.

I forgot to mention that I was considering a wall of 36" tall x 12" deep cabinets and shelving along the "left" wall as well. It would provide some extra storage and another work surface too. On the "right" wall I planned to do a large (maybe 8'x8') pegboard area for yard tools and misc storage. I just don't trust the cheap pegboard sheets that I've seen here and I haven't seen any 4x8 sheets of metal peg or slatwall locally.

For the kayaks, I do have 2 cheap pulley lifts that I got for $15 on sale at Menards, but I'm not sure how good they'll work. I have been leaning toward putting them between the garage door rails and the garage door opener, but I'm worried that will get in the way of my lighting.

It's amazing how huge a garage seems until you start putting stuff in it. I don't even have a place for my fishing poles yet!

 

[polexican23]

no room for a fridge in a 3 car that size? How BIG is this fridge???

 

[MTguy]

Haha! It's really more of a 2.5 stall garage I know I can fit one, just not in the places I would like. I was just at the hardware store and picked up electrical supplies so I can wire this weekend. I'll be wiring in an outlet on the landing for a fridge just in case. Also scored a 50' air line and another 30' one on a retractable reel. Both were on clearance. Rapidair gets here tomorrow! Woot!

 

[MTguy]

A LITTLE progress on the garage today. I am waiting on parts for my rapidair system that I wanted to put in today so I started wiring my additional outlets and lights. As is often the case, the project grew as the day went on. Our outside lights, that the Mrs. and I both really love, just don't go with the outside of our house. They will fit perfectly with my garage though so we are going to pick out something different for the outside and move those lights inside. Of course, there were only 4 outside and I wanted 6 inside so I had to pick up 2 more of those for the garage.

I did get all of my outlets except 1 roughed in (ran short of wire), 9 lights roughed in and a ceiling fan roughed in. I also got my areas marked for the rapidair and most of the holes drilled for the lines to run. I'm worried I'm going to be about 20 feet short of tubing to run a loop in the attic so I'll have to decide if it's worth it to order another 100' for a complete loop or just have it as a T in the attic. I'll probably just use the T and call it good.

Here are a couple pictures of the wiring as it stands. The ceiling boxes on the wall up high are for the external lights I'll be moving in. I still need to decide on fixtures for the ceiling. Probably going to end up with 6 4' double T8 fixtures but it will drive me crazy as those will be the only non-LED in the whole house.

And now, the best part of the day. You see the ladder on the floor in the last picture? That's not where I set it. As I was getting ready to call it a night, I adjusted the ladder a bit so I could put the lid back on the attic access area. Right as I was getting ready to start down, the ladder fell. I managed to get ahold of the top of the attic "chute" which is about 30" above the ceiling (which is 11'4"). I was yelling at the top of my lungs at the Mrs. who was in the house, but after hanging on for about a minute I realized she couldn't hear me. My hands were bleeding from hanging on to the OSB and unfortunately the ladder fell right below my feet. I finally decided I was going to have to swing myself out a bit to avoid the ladder, but not too far so I didn't hit my mitre saw. I went for it and managed to land clear of anything. I'm pretty sure I will have some bruises on the balls of my feet, but I don't think I broke anything. I'm sure I'll be sore in the morning from that one. I guess I'm lucky, but I sure don't feel like it right now. Oh well, we'll see if I can get anything done this week. We'll be baby sitting the 13 month old niece all week which will keep us pretty busy.

 

[BBChevro]

That could have been nasty MT, glad to hear that you avoided (serious) injury.

Although it has been many years since my work required me to be "on call", I'm still in the habit of always having my cell phone in my pocket - which is comforting when I think "what if...?".

Fortunately I haven't needed it for anything more drastic than being let back into the house after the wife or one of the kids has accidently locked me out - do you think they're trying to tell me something.

 

[MTguy]

I had my cell phone in my pocket all day... until about 5 minutes before I went up the ladder the last time because it kept jabbing me in the leg when I was working in the attic. While my life was flashing before my eyes when I was hanging from the ceiling, I thought to myself... I wonder I had my phone if I could hold on with one hand and text with the other? Seriously, I had that thought...

 

[MTguy]

A little progress over the weekend. I don't know how people with kids do it. We've been babysitting all week and I don't think I've gotten anything done. I finished wiring everything and it is working fine. I also discovered that I am going to have to use 3 elbows in my rapidair system to get the line where I wanted. Not sure if I like that or not. Maybe I'll have to redesign my air outlet locations. Here are the few pics I snapped with my phone.

The ceiling fan I installed. Picked it up on Amazon for $66 and it is sturdy. It would no doubt cut your hand off if it was on high and you put your hand in there. This thing is solid metal and moves a lot of air.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B1C8Q6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wired each side wall for three of these lights (total of six). I didn't put them all in yet so I don't have to pull them down for insulation and sheetrock. I think they will help quite a bit to brighten the place up. Plus, they were free as I was changing out the outside lights anyways (which I did get done this weekend as well).

I decided I'm going to put up a soffit storage area above the long garage door. It would be roughly 2 foot tall, 2 foot deep, and 16 foot long. That way the walls will match up above the doors on both sides. I'm not sure if I'll do sliding doors or just put some hinges on the top and a latch to hold it open. Thoughts? This also shows where I wanted to put the rapidair line between the two doors in the corner. I will have to come in from above at about the middle of the long door, then use an elbow to go left, then another elbow to head back down. Add an elbow above the ceiling because the space is tight and one behind the outlet and you've got 4 elbows for 1 drop. Seems like a recipe for trouble to me. Really stinks because that's where I wanted to put my hose reel along with an extension cord reel.

The boss lady also allowed me to pick up this little beauty at Menards too

 

[MTguy]

Quick update. My brother and nephews were in town over Easter weekend so I got a little bit of work done on the garage. Got almost half the sheetrock up and the rapidair system roughed in. My nephews did almost all of the insulation themselves, which saved me quite a bit of time. I can't believe I didn't get a picture with any sheetrock up. I'll try to remember to get one tonight.

 

[MTguy]

Progress pics of the sheetrock. Don't mind the mess.... I'm still moving a year after I officially moved in.

 

[rottdogsparky]

Not sure I'd bother with doors for storage they seem to get in the way or made getting items out more difficult. New house I left them open and nobody has a problem getting items down with ladder.

Looks great so far the ceiling fan looks great not sure how long that would last with kids! Lol

 

[MTguy]

No kids for me. It is over 8' to the bottom of it, so that helps quite a bit. My older (wiser?) brother also said to skip the doors on the storage. We did brainstorm an idea with flip up lids that could lock in place that might work too. The Mrs. sure hates clutter so hiding might make her happy with me for a few minutes

 

[MTguy]

Made some progress on the garage. I have it taped, textured, painted and added a stripe. The stripes didn't turn out great. I did do a "seal" coat of the base color but it still had some runs. I'll have to go and fix them the best I can. The plan for cabinets is to use the unfinished wood ones from Menards and paint them. I plan to elevate them about 4 inches off the ground with galvanized plumbing parts. That way I can spray the garage out easier.

My other project was hanging my Mr. Heater Big Maxx 80,000 btu (propane) heater. The father in law helped me out, but I'm still a little uneasy that something might not be hooked up right. It's running fine so far, but I don't like messing with gas. Here's the proof.

 

[MTguy]

Thought I'd drop a quick update here. I got my cabinets in and my bench tops done. I've added some organizational stuff as well. Pictures or there's no proof....

I want to build a wall where the railing is and then all the way up to the ceiling for about the last 30 inches or so. Seems like a good space for a white board and a little more storage. Then I can add a storage bench and some upper shelves or cabinets on the landing for boots, coats, etc.

The vice isn't mounted here and I'm not sure if that's where I want it yet. This area will have a shelf that goes under the window all the way between the cabinets. I'm almost done with it. All of my shelves will match the bench tops. I'll put a small shelf on top of the storage in the corner where the extension cords are too. Other than that, I'll probably just install my beer opener by the fridge area and I'll be done with it.

This is my main bench area here. I plan to either do shelves above the bench or possibly a couple of matching cabinets but I'm short and they are going to be hard to get to. I've got an air line drain/mini cooler and filter to mount all the way on the right.

Here's a close up of one of the bench tops. They turned out pretty good I think. Not sure I really saved any money after figuring in sanding blocks/paper, polyurethane, stain, dowels, glue, etc.... could have ordered custom laminate for the same price.

I've got 2 kayaks to store in here somewhere and I tried the pulley kits from the big box store and they hang too low (hit the garage door). I could just strap them to the wall vertically but that will take up a lot of precious wall space the I could use to store other stuff. I'm also trying to figure out the best place for all my fasteners, washers, misc odds and ends. I've got a bunch of saved plastic screw tubs I can use and I picked up a couple of these Menards storage bins as well but I'm not sure where they'll go.

On a side note, I kind of screwed up my rapidair system so I'll need to make some adjustments to my plans. I should have used a solid pipe ****** coming out of the wall instead of the flexible line they send. Now I can't get the outlets close enough to the wall. I think I'll just use a 90 degree fitting and drop the line down a couple inches where it should be able to snug against the wall. Not what I wanted, but I don't want to open up the walls to change them out.

Anyways, that's where I'm at. Slowly but surely. I'll try to remember to post a pic of a huge vise I picked up at an auction. I think it's too big for anything I'll be doing so I might just clean it up and sell it. We'll see though.... time and money.