Raised ranch/split entry attached in NY

[Cone Assassin]

Hello GJ members!

Just purchased my first home, but have been looking on here for many months for inspiration and have seen lots of different spaces and transformations. Now that my closing is over, I have taken a few shots of the important parts of the home

Most homes in this style have a 2 car garage and differ on having front or side facing garage doors. I will be looking to widen my garage by removing the interior wall, and maybe thinking about a slightly wider but still single garage door to for easier access with vehicles, although the Golf shown is the largest of my fleet

I titled this thread to make it an easy search for future users wishing to look up a project based on this style home, which is very popular here in the States. As I couldn't find any threads based on this layout, maybe someone here knows of a few and could link?

Without further delay:












My Golf is not a diesel, but please ignore the personal filling station which I will have to work around.


I plan to use the space for repairs and restoration of my Minis, as well as fabrication and metal work. So far the electrical service is 100amp, we will see about modifying that when we get there.

The house also came with a work bench, very wobbly. There is a Craftsman vise with decent jaws, but I think I will need a better workbench for which I have a wilton vise.

 

[HSpencer]

Welcome

You have both very nice shop space and garage space. It is always a big bonus when you have a room that can be a shop/tool room/materials storage. Both the garage and shop room can be turned into very nice space without a huge cost. I think you have a very nice place with lots of potential to make it what you want it to be.

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[Bib Overalls]

X2. I don't know how much of your basement you want to commit to your shop/garage and your significant other may want a say but you have the makings of a great work space.

Take down the walls that are in the way and reconfigure to accommodate your needs. Stake your claim before your significant other has time to dream up a den or guest bedroom in the space you need for changing oil and ripping sheets of plywood.

If you are into automotive stuff s set of 4 roll around "skates" and a hydraulic jack are really handy. Good luck.

 

[Bigdukaaa]

nice space

 

[Cone Assassin]

The wife has already allowed me to claim all the space I have photographed, although I will have to accept the presence of laundry machines (she is already shopping for ones that stack so I can pick up a few square feet). The only permanent-ish thing kind of throwing it off is the oil tank, but if the rules allow, I will try to work something around it (not sure if there's any code or rules about needing to access the tank, not being able to build around it, etc)

 

[Cone Assassin]

Some images of the inhabitants (aside from the Golf):

My 04 Cooper S dual purpose street/HPDE car (soon to lean further away from street car):



My trusty Clubman S (my father-in-law's wood shop behind it):


My most recent addition, an 81 RHD Mini 1000 (inside my parents' garage):


My oldest, a 73 RHD Mini 1000 thats been in state of restoration for a decade:


There is also an 83 VW GTI that I do not have photos of at the moment, which is also in a partial restoration state, closer to the 81 Mini (they both run, just not on the road).

 

[Cone Assassin]

So now that we have lived here for a few months, and most of the "house" portion of the work is where we want it, the focus is back on the garage. My father in law and his brother (uncle in law?) are going to purchase and install a beam so I can have the center load bearing wall removed, making my space from a single to a double!

I will still have one door because of the oil tank, but there will be a lot more space to move around inside. I also purchased a small shelving unit to organize some of my consumables (oils, fluids, filters), and spare parts. I will have to re-organize again once the expansion happens. I just got through getting one of my Minis on the road that was totaled in July, so I now have a bunch of parts that need to be either thrown away, scrapped, or sold - not to mention half a parts car in the driveway (the red one on the left).



Here is the wall that is going to come out, probably before the end of this month unless my FIL's schedule changes:

 

[Terrick down Under]

CA, I am waiting to see how you do this. You have got my curiosity going.

 

[Wreckster23]

Quite nice that you have the option of taking out that wall, that will make quite the work space, especially with how easy it is to move the mini's around. How much ceiling space do you have? Typical basement height in this area seems just a tad low for my likings, I keep whacking my head on the support beam im my single, wasn't meant for people over 6'.

 

[Cone Assassin]

So today I cleared out the sheetrock, paneling, and insulation from the supporting wall. Tomorrow will be the day those beams (like 2x plywood 2x12") take the weight of the house.

The floor joists which currently overlap on top of the load bearing wall will be cut enough for the beam to bisect them, then attach with steel hangars. While the joists are getting cut, two temporary walls (one on each side of the bearing wall) will be constructed to hold the weight. Terrick, I will have photos tomorrow and it will all make sense if I lost you. The ceiling height is 7'2" (84").

Below are the two beams that will be glued and screwed together:





Last shots of the wall before removing the paneling, sheetrock and insulation. Got it all down and bagged up.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Been there. Done that. I don't know of any way you can secure the joists and deal with electrical, HVAC, and plumbing interference without cutting the ceiling.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Been there. Done that. I don't know of any way you can secure the joists and deal with electrical, HVAC, and plumbing interference without cutting the ceiling.

No HVAC here, our house has an oil burner for heat/hot water, and one or two weeks a year we have a window a/c or a dehumidifier to take away the dampness. I am still considering a central unit for the house to get better coverage, but we will deal with that at a later time. I also ran a window unit in the garage last summer which worked out well. If I feel the need to heat the garage I may also install a small propane heater (we use propane for our laundry and our stove). Right now it is heated by the radiance of the oil burner. The garage is also not yet insulated, so I may not need to bother at all.

Also all of the plumbing is on one side of the house, so we only have a few electrical lines to deal with that run across the center to the panel.

 

[m coop]

Very nice progress! Where in orange are you? We just moved to Warwick and was curious where you do your HPDE days.

 

[jon_beer]

Hey another Orange County guy! I'm over in Newburgh! Where are you guys?

 

[Cone Assassin]

Very nice progress! Where in orange are you? We just moved to Warwick and was curious where you do your HPDE days.

M coop, where did you move from?

There are lots of tracks around. Watkins Glen, New Jersey Motorsports park, Lime Rock, and a few newer ones, Palmer motorsports park (which I havn't been to yet) and Thompson speedway.

I am in New Windsor close to the Cornwall train station.

The beam is up, I will upload some photos later tonight. Once I have all the joist hangars in place I can remove the supporting walls and get to see the full space

 

[Cone Assassin]

The joist hangars are up! The supporting walls will be coming down in tomorrow
Photos of todays progress:



How the joists overlapped above the supporting wall:











Shimmed



Two beams bolted together

 

[m coop]

We are still in Brooklyn during our build. I know of WG, LR, and NJMS - but not the others. Ill have to check them out.

Thanks and good luck with the renovation. Looking good!

M coop, where did you move from?

There are lots of tracks around. Watkins Glen, New Jersey Motorsports park, Lime Rock, and a few newer ones, Palmer motorsports park (which I havn't been to yet) and Thompson speedway.

I am in New Windsor close to the Cornwall train station.

The beam is up, I will upload some photos later tonight. Once I have all the joist hangars in place I can remove the supporting walls and get to see the full space

 

[m coop]

palmer sounds awesome. Hope to get up there this season.

 

[jon_beer]

@Cone Assasain & M coop - Cool to meet you guys on GJ. If you are ever in need of a woodshop look me up in Newburgh.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Today we finished the installation, swept up a bit and organized all my leftover wood. I will now have to transfer everything under the finished portion because that Sheetrock and insulation has to go. The Sheetrock is 3/8" and the insulation is not even 2" thick so that has to be corrected. Now I also need to figure out how I want to have my lights set up, and the style of lighting.

 

[C_F]

The beam install looks like it went well, it will be nice to have that extra elbow room. Do you notice any extra bounce in the floor upstairs? Just curious.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Not at all. I tried hopping around, if anything it's more solid than before.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Today while thinking about lighting, I am pondering on getting a few florescent tube fixtures, the 4' T8 style, and mounting them along my walls. The goal is to reduce shadowing as I would be doing most of my work on the ground, and really don't think my low ceiling height would be ideal for a good overhead lighting solution. At the same time I don't really want them shining in my face either. I will also consider an LED solution, although I don't know much about what is available.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I am poking around the electrical/lighting thread trying to get some ideas. I don't think I will be finishing the interior walls beyond a coat of paint to clean them up. I also plan to coat the floor with a light grey/white epoxy paint once most of the dirty work is complete.

 

[Deezler]

Today while thinking about lighting, I am pondering on getting a few florescent tube fixtures, the 4' T8 style, and mounting them along my walls. The goal is to reduce shadowing as I would be doing most of my work on the ground, and really don't think my low ceiling height would be ideal for a good overhead lighting solution. At the same time I don't really want them shining in my face either. I will also consider an LED solution, although I don't know much about what is available.

Does anyone have any recommendations for me? I am poking around the electrical/lighting thread trying to get some ideas. I don't think I will be finishing the interior walls beyond a coat of paint to clean them up. I also plan to coat the floor with a light grey/white epoxy paint once most of the dirty work is complete.

If you have a costco membership, they have (or at least recently had) 4' LED fixtures for the mind blowing price of just $20 apiece. 50,000 hour rated, 5' cord, with an outlet on the far end to make them link-able. Very bright, instant on, no ballasts to interfere with stuff.

 

[C_F]

^^^ I got a couple of those 4' LED fixtures last year for my unheated garage, and they work great! When it's down near freezing, the florescent lights take quite a while to warm up to the point where they aren't flickering...drives me nuts. But those LED's are simply instant-on at any temperature & super bright. I love 'em!

 

[Cone Assassin]

I will check those out, Sounds like a good solution but they will be wired into my panel as opposed to plugging into a socket.

 

[Cone Assassin]

If you have a costco membership, they have (or at least recently had) 4' LED fixtures for the mind blowing price of just $20 apiece. 50,000 hour rated, 5' cord, with an outlet on the far end to make them link-able. Very bright, instant on, no ballasts to interfere with stuff.

https://www.costco.com/4’-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain,-2-pack.product.100284402.html

These ones?

 

[Deezler]

https://www.costco.com/4’-Linkable-LED-Shop-Light-with-Pull-Chain,-2-pack.product.100284402.html

These ones?

Yeah those are the ones. Price was down to $20 per fixture in December, maybe it will come back down.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Took the rest of the ceiling down and found this cool old plate today! From what I am told it is from 1966-72. House was built in 63, but where this was located it looks like someone used it to make a repair.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Putting up a beam like that is an incredible amount of work with dire consequences if it is done wrong. Must complement you on your execution. Very nicely done.

 

[Cone Assassin]

I am still brainstorming the style of lighting I want to use, back and forth between flourescent and LED, how to best arrange them, and how many in total I will need. I have spent some time on the lighting thread trying to work it all out and I am close to making a decision.

On the topic of my floor plan, I have a good size space under my front door, measuring 6 feet x 4.5 feet and 38" of height. I think I can easily frame it out and have the wall studs out of my way, making it a nice size 48" opening. My TIG machine and my Mig, with some 2" shortening to the welding cart, would fit under here nicely, as well as my wheels and tires. Less stuff in the way is better, especially anything mobile. To comply with fire code it would all be insulated and sheetrocked underneath. My entry would also be much warmer!

 

[Wreckster23]

Coming along well? Hope you managed ok with all this snow.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Insulated, new sheetrock and permanently installed the lights. Much warmer and brighter.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Completed most of the electrical:









Added a 20 amp GFCI circuit outside:

 

[Cone Assassin]

Already built a roll cage and rebuilt the top end in one of the Minis since my last post!

Only updates to the garage are the workbench in the dead space between the oil tank and the garage door (which has helped a ton) and a new tool box . I have a bit more tidying up to do, my goal is to get some more shelves up and get rid of the fold up table.

 

[Cone Assassin]

Made a little more progress inside the garage today. While some things outside the garage have changed, Not much has been done inside the garage in some time. I plan on making a countertop atop the steel cabinets, with the left side being a small sink.