Old Garage Remodel Questions (Pic Heavy)

[jdg15]

Ok guys, I have been lurking on this site for quite awhile and wanted to get some opinions on my situation. This garage was built I would guess in the mid 70's ish by my grandfather, it was used frequently untill the mid 90's. It has basically just sat since then with little use other then storage for what you see in there. I am thinking I want to start using it again once I get it all cleaned up. I do have some issues with it that I would like to address.

1. It's as dusty as you can get, I am assuming this is just from years of no one using it, would there be other factors in this?

2. The floor is not ideal to say the least, it's cracked everywhere and really bad in some spots.

3. Garage door height and seal. I like to work on 4x4s a lot and most of them I doubt would even fit in the garage because of the doors. Also the seal at the bottom is non existent from the floor being cracked and age in general.

4. The 2 post in the middle are in the way, can these be removed? With the garage not being very wide this hurts on work space with wide vehicles for axle work, etc..

These are the main issues I have with the garage, there are other small ones like keeping critters out, insulation, etc..

My question is what would you guys do for a temporary solution to make this place a decent work area. I don't want to drop a lot of money in this, if I were to do that I might as well just build something new. Hopefully you guys can give me some good ideas. I tried to get some pictures of everything I could to give you a better idea of what I am working with. If you need pics of anything else let me know.

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/401185_776964980431_164000531_34945784_1671531912_n.jpg

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/398593_776965010371_164000531_34945785_1870217669_n.jpg

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/430016_776965070251_164000531_34945787_647807061_n.jpg

This is how the post in the middle connect to the top, the angle is **** I know. You have to turn your head to the right or your screen up and to the left.

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/429077_776964905581_164000531_34945783_1472760347_n.jpg

 

[DoyleDee]

If you want height, I'd say build an awning/ lean to over the front. It doesn't look like you will be able to remove the posts because of the 2nd floor above..you deffinitely don't want to come out and find it collapsed or get buried in it.
Maybe a lean to with 2 sides with just the front open--or enclose it?

 

[jdg15]

kinda what i was afraid of... any other ideas?

 

[RVDan]

I have posts in similar inconvenient places.

They can be moved/removed but you have to increase the size of the beam that theyre supporting and possibly increase the size of the supports at the end of the beam.

You'll have to check your local building codes to find out what's required

 

[Zeke]

That appears to be a really nice build except for the posts on concrete block, filled or not. Just my .02.

You can't remove the center beam w/o replacing with steel or engineered lumber and on proper support at each end with new footings.

I'd deal with what you have, it's pretty damn good.

I don't know what you mean by 4 x 's not being able to drive in. The doors can always be modified to be higher with some forethought. Wider? What the hell are you working on?

You can cut out and replace any concrete floor and attach it to existing footers with rebar. Cut, scrape and fill, then put the concrete down.

You mentioned budget. Nope, this ain't cheap.

 

[little d]

Ok, here's the good news, a good shop vac is your friend! Your doors are on the gable side so you can modify the opening as big as the bottom of the floor joist, but ya gotta take in account the extra room needed when the door is open. dont go wider, ya need the side wall on the out sides for strength, so your house doesent shift/lean.
Now the bad news.... you don't give the dimentions but it looks to be about 24' by32' or so with the beam running the 32' and the floor joist running the 24'. You can beef up the beam, ulv, glue lam, filch with plate steel or even i-beam but all of this is gona cost ya $. What I would do is take down all of your dimentions, area/beam size/ post locations/floor joist and pull a truck(4+4) in and see where a post could go where it wont be in the way, give yourself wiggle room say a few feet one way or the other, write this down also. then. go to a lumber yard, explane to them that your posts are in the way and you want to move them to where you wrote down the wiggle room. They have span tables and can tell you if you can or not. Ask for a copy and if not, go back and remeasure to where the new posts will work the best.
I'm with Zeke, I dont like the way the post sit on block and would redo that anyway if i worked on your place so, after ya figure out where the new posts sit, cut out about a 2' by 2', or so chunck of concrete, dig down a foot or so tie in your rebar and pour pads for the new posts to sit on. I like to have a peice of 3/4" rebar sticking out about 3" for the bottom of the post to sit over to keep it from sliding out if it gets hit.
Now on to the floors. 2 options, bust out and re pour or cap. 6 to one, 1/2 a dozen the other, only dif will be raising the floor heighth. I'm not a concrete guy but, ya gotta have a min 4" for the floor, some one will chip in here and give ya details on that. I'd work on one side at a time which ever way you decide to go, after ya make the modifacations to the door openings.
Good luck and keep us posted on your progress.

 

[jdg15]

thanks for the input guys, just what I was looking for. I am thinking osb for the walls and try and do a ceiling with it to enclose it from everything? Much simpler and easier, any thoughts?

Any idea on what the cost of the concrete would be just to fix and not re pour it all?

 

[R6 Racer]

I am no expert by any means but by the looks of it that building was not originally built in the 70's. I would guess sometime in the 40's or 50's maybe. What are the exact measurements of the upright studs in the walls? 3&1/2 x 1&1/2 (that would put in the 70's) or are they a full 2 x 4.(40's or 50's with those)

In any case there is not a lot of height to be gained with reworking the doors as they look to be quite close to the upstairs floor joists already. As far as the beam & the 2 post go, unless you are willing to put some $$ into it by reworking the beam. those posts will most likely have to stay where they are. I agree with others here who have commented on the post on the block... UGLY!
It does look like a fairly good building & the last thing I would suggest would be to start over. You have something there that is very workable, but its not going to be a labour only solution. It will need to have some cash thrown at it but that will be a ton cheaper than starting over.

Good luck with whatever way you decide to go, & post pics of your progress.

Steve

 

[jdg15]

I know it wasn't built in the 40's or 50's. The farm house was built in the 50's and it came after that for sure. I have seen pictures of it not there. It looks like I could go up about a foot or so on the doors, which would give me enough room I think.

I am hoping to get it all cleaned out sometime in the next couple of week and decide if I should spend the money to put in some insulation and decide on what walls to put up.

 

[jdg15]

what osb thickness are you all doing on inside walls with r15 insulation? this seems like it would be pretty easy to do with my setup right now

 

[Zeke]

Why a ceiling? You don't need the insulation for below. Maybe for the space above. I like open ceilings. Lots more you can do with hanging shelving, wiring, plumbing, all that jaxx.

 

[jdg15]

I don't care much for the open ceiling, plus I want everything down there sealed up as best I can from everything else.

 

[Zeke]

It's your dog.

 

[rsieracki]

umm whats in the safe... cant believe of all the nosey people on GJ im the first to ask

 

[jdg15]

I have no clue, it's never been opened by me. I am pretty sure nothing though. It came from my family's store when they sold the business, you can't tell from the picture but its MASSIVE. I am not sure how they got it in there 30 years ago.

After reading some more, and more I keep getting new thoughts in my head. What do you think about a racedeck floor or something similar instead of ripping it up? Going to start cleaning tomorrow after reading all the good responses, they really motivate and help.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Listen to Zeke (Milt). He's a very experienced contractor who knows his business. He's too humble to tell you all the stuff he knows.

 

[little d]

If that is living quarters above you need a fire proof ceiling at a min. I'd sugest steel siding on the ceiling and walls but at least 5/8 sheet rock, taped and mudded. Had a friend that had a shop burn down because his kids were working on a lawn mower, it burped out the carb and the whole place burnt down before they could get a garden hose to it!

 

[jdg15]

its not living above, used to be an office and woodworking shop but it's nothing now.

 

[jdg15]

Well I got out and worked some on cleaning the garage today and I am very happy I did. You would not believe the pile of dust/debris I had at the end of the day. I got it cleaned up some and it looks quite a bit better and I am more excited about the possibilities of this garage. I'll get some updated pics and of course more questions as well lol thanks for all the help so far

 

[64dragnwagon]

Pics or it didn't happen

 

[Kev442]

First thing to do is put some safety wire inside the garage door springs. When they snap, they can create a lot of damage.

 

[jdg15]

The garage doors will be coming out soon so I can get a higher height at the openings, should be 1 foot more but with how the garage doors hang down when they are open it will be a good 2 1/2 feet I gain from where they are now when open.

I am going to get some detailed pictures of a couple of spots I am questioning once I got some things moved out today. So glad I found this forum with all the knowledge it has.

 

[jdg15]

Here are some new pictures of cleaning up. I would say I am about 50% done cleaning, and I do have a half truck bed full of metal to scrap! I'll get the tractor out sometime next week and get the bathtub full of trash out and to the dump.

Before:

After:

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/408849_779120326101_164000531_34952316_400528145_n.jpg

Before:

After:

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/409481_779120535681_164000531_34952318_266234366_n.jpg

Before:

After:

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/424043_779120385981_164000531_34952317_1975236843_n.jpg

Here are a couple new questions I have. As you can see by the pics below the front corner foundation is messed up. What would your suggestion be with this? Can this just be addressed when I get the floor redone fairly simply? Pics.

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/432124_779119921911_164000531_34952311_1140086497_n.jpg

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/409445_779120021711_164000531_34952312_1073686148_n.jpg

The other question I have is with the back walls where the cabinets and safe are. As you can see there is no barrier between the other rooms besides the boards that are put up. Some spots are open and you can see a good deal through. Since the other portion of the garage is "open" and not sealed like the garage walls I have some concerns since I am trying my best to make the garage its own room the best I can. What would you all suggest for this? I was thinking of just putting some sort of thin sheet of wrapping paper over the wood that is there now and then just osb attached to that and the wall there now since the rest of the garage will be osb as well. There is also a swinging door on this wall that sits flush with the wall. Pics:

Cabinet to the right then wall behind and you can see openings:

The stuff is on top of the safe for you to reference:

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/426750_779120161431_1231550877_n.jpg

 

[jdg15]

no thoughts on the back wall?

 

[Falcon67]

If you plan to cover the wall with OSB, why worry about the gaps? Or, cut a panel of OSB that fits in that cavity between the studs and glue it in place.

 

[barks]

nice pipe vise.

 

[little d]

On the block, the easy fix would be "mortare patch", comes in a tube, like calk.

 

[jdg15]

I have gotten a lot done recently, I moved everything off the back wall in prep for the floor. I did however run into another problem i'm not sure how to fix.

Some of the cinder blocks on the inside of the garage the "open area" on the block is open and facing the inside. I can look through and see the ground so I want to seal it up VERY good. It's not the huge square openings but more of a skinner vertical one. Is there anything I can do with this easily? I can get pictures if needed.

 

[jdg15]

here is a pic showing what i am talking about

http://sphotos.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/419451_785860653431_164000531_34974007_878786534_n.jpg

 

[jdg15]

foam board possibly?

 

[Lippyp]

Expanding foam? They may have been done like that to provide ventilation I guess.

 

[little d]

Wow, not sure why they would have done that ether? My first thought is to tear them out and redo it right but, I dought you want to get into that. My second thought would be to get some morter and plug it with morter. being below ground level, when it rains its gona want to weep, they make foundation paint that may seal it but, ya might have to put a drain on the outside to direct the water away.

 

[isaac338]

jdg15,

Your building looks very similar to mine, and is probably how mine sat before the PO put in a new floor and insulation.

I had the same problem with the two posts, and I also have a second floor; I dealt with it by installing two C-channels on either side of the beam. Call a local beam or steel place, they'll have an engineer on staff who'll spec everything for you - the place I got it from did it for free. I think I spent about $3000 all told, including materials and tool rentals and all that ****.

Here's me thread about it: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88139