Plums Old Garage Project

[PlumGarage6]

Hi Everyone,

Ive been looking around the site for awhile now getting ideas and just checking stuff out. Figured I'd finally post something.

A little background. My wife and I bought our first house after we had a house fire in our previous apartment. We bought it for a decent price knowing that it had some solid bones but needed updating. I grew up with a father who is an engineer/architect and occassionally contractor as well. I always helped him around our house and with the various projects he would get into with his apartment buildings. I also worked summers with my uncle who was a contractor. I cant say I know alot but I do have some experience here and there.

One of the things I liked about our house was it had a small old garage I figured I would make into my workshop for the various projects I would be working on. Im also hoping to get more into woodworking and needed a place to work.

Here are some pictures from the inspection before we moved in.












Here is the very first project we worked on, putting in a couple of windows.











Next I worked on getting rid of the back wall window because that was where I wanted to put my bench. I also figured I'd replace the wall as it was old rotting Colonial siding













I'll post the next couple of projects below, Im guessing I should get back to work. Thanks!

 

[Bob P1]

Looks like it would be relatively easy to add a pressure treated sill and a sill seal while you are at it. Replace front and rear under lament siding with 1/2" plywood to prevent racking in the future.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Put up some supports for the rafters, and kept enough clearance in case I decide to add an overhead garage door down the road.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Last, I added some doors for the time being and this is basically how it sits today until the weather breaks. Then I have to figure out what I want to do about the existing floor and adding a small addition to the side.

 

[1/2 Cup]

PlumGarage6 you have done well, you garage just oozes character..

 

[ambenz]

That out building would make a great wood/metal shop!
As a garage for a car, not so much...but you work with what you have.
The floor looks like it isn't cracked but that could change in a heartbeat!
Better Make "Saving the Slab" PRIORITY #1 ASAP!!!!!
I would add a LOT OF EARTH to that back corner/yard side,where you can see a lot of the cement foundation slab on the outside.
You don't want the slab to be compromised any more than it is.
And get some gutters on the building with long runoff drains away from the building.
Storing firewood in there is only attracting termites...I would make a stand at the back of the building along the property line, away from the building.
Will be good to see your continued progress!
Looks like a fun project!

 

[PlumGarage6]

Years ago my dad jacked his barn up with two large steel I-Beams, columns, and bracing, and was able to pour a floor in there. His is a two story, two car garage, so I plan on doing the same with this and replacing the current slab.

We're adding a new driveway this summer and removing the driveway that currently goes to the garage which is raised a bit. Im guessing once this is done I will lower the building a little when doing the new slab, and will use the backhoe im borrowing for the driveway to do some grading around the garage. Heres a few pictures to show how bad it is

 

[PlumGarage6]

On a side note I scored some free tongue and groove, and 2x6's from a house renovation my dad is overseeing down on the lake. There were alot of nails and staples to take out but it was worth it. I'll probably use the 2x6's for the roof on the addition Im planning and the tongue and groove on the walls, unless I find a use for it in the house.

Im a huge fan of re-using and recycling material, especially for this garage.

Excuse the mess, the cold weather is killing my organization plans.

 

[Bob P1]

Looks good, what part of NY are you in with green grass & leaves on the trees? Been snowing here for two days...!

 

[captain14]

There are a current group of members here that have similar sized garages and have added bumpout and/or repaired sections and posted their work in progress.

Good luck and share your projects.

 

[PlumGarage6]

So I havent posted in awhile and figured I'd update a little on what ive been doing. These projects arent directly related to the garage but in my head all of my projects are related in one way or another.

We have 3 dogs, 2 beagles and a chocolate lab. So I decided to put up a fence because one of the dogsport collars crapped out. My father in law (who helps out way more than he has to, which I appreciate the hell out of) had about 100ft of old metal fencing he gave me. So I bought a bunch of pressure treated wood posts and put up all of the old stuff blocking two of their escape routes.







Next we took down the tree in order to move the driveway because right now its squeezed in between the house and a large tree stump and causes too many issues

Before:


After:

 

[PlumGarage6]

Here are some pictures during and in between. I also have some videos I'll try and post at some point.

 

[captain14]

Did you do the tree removal or hire it out?

I just Spent this morning repairing some nail pops on my single garage and ridge vent.

Your FIL wants you to take good care of his girl.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Captain14 - Some buddies and I did it. The one kid does it for a living so he climbed the tree and did all of the thinking. My other buddy and I were clean up and haul away crew. That was the first time I had seen it done with ropes only. It was very cool, hopefully I can get the videos posted.

 

[HSpencer]

Fantastic Work!

I really like the old garage. The house is exceptional as well. You are doing great on the garage and while it is a lot of work, it will be really nice!

Good Luck!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[PlumGarage6]

Thanks Herb!

 

[PlumGarage6]

So things have been going slow but sure lately. This isnt exactly all garage related, but here are some updates if anyone was interested.

We finally have the new driveway:

 

[PlumGarage6]

In the background of the driveway photos you might notice I have been doing some work on our front porch. It was an enclosed front porch that we didnt really like so we decided to turn it into a traditional front porch. Im still not finished but here are some pictures of where I'm at.

As always Im a scrounger and love to recycle materials. I love the fact that its free and in one way or another has a story behind it. I used the 2x6's that I de-nailed in a previous post to support the roof during the demo and then re-used them again when I added the new ceiling joists for support.

The support beams they had in there were 1x8 box beams that were starting to rot. The roof was basically sitting on just one of the 1x8's and the rest was for show. I replaced them with two 6x6's that we notch at the end to tie together.

For the ceiling I added new ceiling joists and used furring to put up cedar tongue and groove.

Ignore the junk in the before photos, it was stuff we had to take to the "next to new" shop. I also realized I **** at before photos.

 

[BlueBomber]

Nice work, plum! I hope the surprise you found in the rafters was unoccupied!

 

[1/2 Cup]

PlumGarage6 looking great..

 

[PlumGarage6]

I havent updated in awhile because it seems that ive been helping everyone else on their projects, which has lead to falling behind on my own.

Not exactly garage related but heres a few updates on what ive been able to accomplish in my limited spare time.

Poured a new slab for the steps and poured two piers underneath the porch at about the midpoint. On the piers I put two 4x4's with two 2x10's on each side up tight to the floor joists to get rid of the bouncing in the porch and to add more support to the entire structure. I didnt like that the porch & roof were only supported by two 4x4's on the outside so this will help a little.

Didnt realize i never took a picture of the support, but you can kind of see it here.

This is basically how the porch sits today

I also got the hickory back from being milled. Stickered it and put it in storage to dry out. Didnt get as much as what was expected due to a bolt and chain lodged in the tree but still enough to do something cool.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Got to some garage related projects recently.

Used some of the junkier barn beams/door from my father in law to make myself a second work bench. I squared up one of the old doors, which had started to rot and then notched a few beams for the legs. I attached everything together using timberlok black coated structural screws, pricy but worth it. It was cold out and some of the wood was wet so I dried it out the best I could while trying to keep myself warm.

There was a decent amount of chiseling involved





















I also started to rough-in the electric, insulate, and hang the salvaged tongue and groove I posted about prior. Due to the amount of **** I have stored in here I have to do one wall at a time.





Part of the **** I have stored is some 8" tongue and groove and 4" moulding I picked up cheap at an auction, which is sitting on top of a bunch of the barn beams.





Its all a mess right now but its nice to start making some more progress.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Accomplished a little more last night. Bulk of my time was spent moving things around in order to actually get to the wall to work on it.

Its turning out even better than I thought considering its 30 yr old tongue and groove subfloor. I actually like the look of the imperfections.

 

[driftpin]

A great job on the re-working of the house and the 1-car. You're saving a lot of $ by re-purposing the used materials.

I grew-up in the Rochester area, but left 50 years ago, and haven't been back often or for long. I went back for my longest visit this summer (6 days), and took a trip down to the Southern Tier to visit a friend. His wife and he run a restaurant in Himrod, the Himrod Eagle, which is probably ten miles from you. He's an old motorcycle racer and has a fantastic collection of old bikes. https://www.facebook.com/Himrod-Eagle-Kitchen-1026728650809414/

Have a couple of Gennies on me. I visited the Rochester NY restaurant and museum next-to the Genesee Brewery, located on the Genesee River (third pic). I brought home a sign for the garage shop. I saw your Genesee signs in the background.

 

[PlumGarage6]

driftpin - Thank you! I appreciate the compliment. I definitely know the Himrod, my father in law and mother in law go there all the time. We usually have family dinner there when we can all get together. I actually think they have a burger on their menu named after his last name, Dunkelberger.

Nice pictures! Genesee is pretty cool, Ive been up there too. I love the local aspect of it and the history. I actually got the signs from a restaurant I ran a few years ago that just had them in storage for junk and they were going to throw them out.. Its a very small world, next time we go to the Himrod i'll have to try and bring you up to them. Nice to meet you!

 

[wasfast]

Love the improvements to the old garage. One thing to consider with old barn wood being used indoors is insects/eggs in the wood. Don't want a trojan horse method to bring them in the house!

 

[PlumGarage6]

wasfast - Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to start paying better attention to that. I would definitely like to avoid any insect issues!

 

[sublime68charger]

I'm liking the looks of this!

What are the plans for the garage ceiling for insulation?

 

[sean Buick 76]

Very nice work so far on the garage and front balcony upgrades! Super cool re-purposing on that bench/table too!

 

[PlumGarage6]

sublime68charger - Thanks! I plan on redoing the roof so one of my options was adding a ridge vent and soffit vents, then putting in rafter vents/insulation baffles and using the same faced insulation as the walls. If I have enough tongue and groove left over I'll use that as a finish (or im hoping to get some more material from a barn teardown). I figured that would work better than gable vents and insulation, and I might as well if the roof needs to be re-done.

sean Buick 76 - Thank you! I like the stories behind something when you repurpose stuff like that, makes it unique. It also helps with the budget lol


My buddy is part owner of a hardware store/lumber yard and they are tearing down an old barn from a property they bought to expand the store. He told me I could go in and take whatever I wanted, so im hoping I can grab some more cool materials from there. I'll post some pics this weekend if I get anything.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Working at a snails pace.. The wood from the barn wasnt as old or in as great of shape as I had hoped, but its still free so its a win. My buddy and I only pulled some of the second story floor boards. I'll probably use them on the back wall.



We should have thought ahead more installing the windows, the stud we added to put them in was flush with the outside not the inside and the existing studs are a true 4" compared to 3.5". Coupled with not adding 1x's around the window it caused a little bit of a headache. But, with some shims and ripping 1.5" trim it worked. I'll add 4" moulding once the tongue and groove is completely done.





Im stopping to buy the breaker box tonight so I can finish this wall and get started on the back. Its nice how much storage space im slowly gaining by using up all of this tongue and groove I had stacked.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Decided to stick to kerosene and wood for heating, so im just going to go off the breaker box in the house. That'll give me lights and outlets for tools, which is enough for what I need.

Ran out of finish nails, but basically finished this wall. Hopefully starting on insulation and putting up the back wall tonight.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Made a woodstove last night with one of the barrel kits, to put in while doing the wall.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Got the garage emptied. Insulated the back wall and got some more tongue and groove hung. I used the stuff from my buddy which is a different color but it looks good. Depending on how it all turns out I might sand this down to match the lighter stuff.

The plywood is where the wood stove is going. Im hoping to try my hand at some masonry work and put stone up as my non-combustible surface.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Finished the back wall, insulated the remaining wall, and put up the other piece of plywood for the stone. Also acquired a table saw from the father in law, so now i'll be able to rip the top boards to completely finish the walls.

Im hoping the weather breaks a little and I can move the beams outside and cover them with a tarp so I have more room to work.

I had to sister some of the studs to use as nailers because this garage was obviously made with the scrap wood left over from when the house was built. Some of the studs didnt have a flat face to nail to from being milled from the outside of the tree. Some of them actually still had bark on them from 1900.

 

[PlumGarage6]

Got the walls finished and set some stuff up so its all usable for the time being, hopeing to finish organizing this weekend. Also, got a new tool box and a pipe making kit for my birthday/.















Its not finished but it was pretty fun to mess with so far.