Renovating Garage this Summer

[Gberg888]

Hey guys, brand new to the forum.

I purchased my first property this past summer. One of my requirements was that the property had to come with a garage as I like to work on my cars. I finally found a place in the area I was looking that had a garage and the other property met my requirements and I bought the place. However, the garage is in real rough shape.

Here is a view of the garage from my deck:

Here it is with my baby in it (not the girl, thats my ex)


So, the details.

The two sides you cannot see, have rotting plywood for siding, so the whole place needs to be resided.

The bay without the car in it, has a stair case coming down, its a ghetto stair case and my plan is the move it to the outside and put a door and dormer into the 2nd floor. I have no issues blowing out the floor of the 2nd floor partially to put a lift in for clearance. My biggest concern is how narrow the garage is to fit a lift and a car parked next to it...

Dimensions: 18' deep, 20' wide... I think, either way its real small for 2 cars.

Needs:
New siding
Reinforcement/restructuring of the structure to accept single door/add strength
New floor (current floor is significantly broken on one side and dirt on the other

Desires:
1 lift (to work on cars)
2 parking spots
work bench
some storage
moving to a single big door to kill center pillar

Budget: 10kish

Ideally I will do it in phases so I can spread the cost out over 2 years but I could swing it all at once if need be.

I will get more pictures.

Here is what I am starting with:

 

[AnthonyJ124]

Very cool setup! Need more pics of the .:R!

Welcome from another MA resident and VW nerd!

 

[Gberg888]

Now, I need a lift so I can work on her myself.

 

[JACDes]

IDK but your budget seems way too low (and a bit unrealistic) even if you do all the labor yourself.

a 2 post lift will cost close 2 grand, leaving 8 grand for the rest of the project.

To remove and replace the slab will take about 4 grand and I hope you have friends who know how to place and finish concrete add another 800-1000 bucks for labor..

that leaves 3 grand which will not be enough to re-shingle the roof reside the walls or install new overhead doors.

and we have not even address the structural alterations

Best of luck and welcome to homeownership... it's not cheap !

 

[Kevkx125]

Gberg888 looks like a nice project. Start a thread in the garage gallery on your progress and remember post lots of pictures. Good luck.

 

[AnthonyJ124]

Looks like fun! I always liked the RCs over the Aristos on mkivs.

A lift is on my list of eventual wants... NEED to do a lot of maintenance around the house first though.

 

[Gberg888]

Hey Guys,

So to clarify, the 10k is just for this coming summer. I have no problem pouring more money in the following year, but I am limited this summer to 10k.

Also, the roof does not need to be redone, just the siding, I will be doing a majority of the work myself, only the floor and garage door install will be done by an outside party charging labor costs.

My budget breakdown this summer:

Floor 4k
Door 1.5k
Siding 1.5k

Reinforcement and stairs together shouldnt be more than a $x00s and will be done all by myself. By reinforcement I mean removing the center pillar putting in a microlamb or two and then raising and leveling the structure which is just hard work, not expensive since I will just be cutting PT lumber and slipping it under to level everything. I may also be sandwiching existing studs and joists to strength stuff but once again, cheap and easy.

The following summer:

Lift 2.5k

Questions:

Just how easy is it to unbolt and move around the MaxJax lifts? I was looking at those and they seem absolutely perfect for what I want to do, and I can place it in the center and just unbolt it for when I am not using it and move it off to the side... But, how easy are they to actually unbolt and move around? How effective and safe is it to unbolt and re-bolt down relatively often? Does anything sit in the threads while the lift isnt bolted in place to protect them from corrosion and ****?

 

[zkling]

It may be just the pics, but that floor looks horrendous. My order or priority would be to first seal out water and then get the floor fixed.

 

[xtremek]

I like the looks of your garage.

........Start a thread in the garage gallery on your progress and remember post lots of pictures. Good luck.

IDK but your budget seems too low .......

and we have not even address the structural alterations.......

I've been told and found to be true that you should start with the foundation and work your way up and out from there. I'll be looking for a thread on this. Good luck.

 

[Gberg888]

Oh yes, the floor isnt really even a floor... its just... idk earth???

Anyways, yes the pouring of the new floor and everything will include water sealing the structure.

 

[slidemx5]

Welcome and nice r32! I had a
Mk6 R and loved it. Ever go to the Wookiees in the woods event for the R cars? Looking forward to seeing your garage progress!

 

[MemphisR32]

Good to see another silver Mkiv R32 on here.

 

[robotrigger]

Where are you located? I'm in ma and know a very reliable and fair concrete contractor. Cheaper than 4k for that slab for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gberg888]

Hey thank you for all of the replies.

I am located in north of Boston.

I have found a ever-lift alternative that I will probably be going with. Its a DK-30s. Or a Decar 30s as its know. Its basically the exact same lift at the old price before import.

 

[Gberg888]

So,

My plans have finally come to a head.
Originally I was planning on adding a small 6 foot wide addition onto he side closest to the house and then moving the stairs to beyond that. The addition would provide a place for my tools, a work bench, and some additional storage. In researching this plan and talking with some people, I found out I would need a permit.

I went to get the permit to do it and it had to be a "special" permit. The special permit would be granted provided no one adjacent to me and any issues with my plans. Thus, I prepared a small presentation with drawings and floor plans and a visual of what it would look like all said and done and spoke with my neighbors. Well, guess what? One of my ****-tard neighbors had an issue with it, saying it would block sun to her yard. This is probably the dumbest excuse ever because there is a bush there that currently blocks even more sun than my addition would, but whatever. And then I found out that I couldn't even put the stair case on the outside without getting a similar permit.

Anyways, now I am back to a much more reduced and basic plan of attack for the garage. I have also ditched the idea of getting an in-ground scissor lift. I will just be getting the harbor freight scissor lift. That should save me about 2k and its much easier to install, use, and move with.

Now I am starting to put together a basic plan of attack so things can get moving. Hopefully I will "break" ground in the next month or so.

 

[Gberg888]

Updates:

I have thought of a new idea of how to get the staircase to the exterior without having it on the side of the garage.

My new plan is to build a deck along the length of the front of the garage (over the garage doors), use the door that is currently there (with the basketball hoop on it) going to the 2nd floor and putting a staircase that can be pulled down and pushed up for access in the deck itself.

Now I just need to find an exterior retractable staircase.

 

[Gberg888]

Well,

I finally started:

First step, chip out the old floor:



Doing work:






So the concrete floor that was in there was very cracked, super thin (maybe an inch or 2 in some places) and, the soil below/entire garage floor was never prepared properly for the concrete to be poured so it broke up easily. It only took me about 1.5 hours to chip that entire side up. I will be finishing it up sometime this week. I would have finished yesterday but my neighbors called the cops because of noise and I was told to stop. (Started at 11:30am on sunday ended around 1.) My neighbors ****!

Anyways,

Here are some picks of the 2nd floor. So much room for activities:

 

[cowboy73]

Working in residential areas until 1 AM is going to the police involved everytime! Around here 9PM is about the latest you can get by with it. Do you plan on ripping out that horizontal 4X4 and placing some steel columns in to support the 2nd story?

 

[Gberg888]

Due to my neighbors shooting down my addition idea and thus, the staircase not being allowed on the side of the building, I will be reframing the joists for the 2nd floor and extending them about 4-5' out over the garage doors. I will be relaying the floor running perpendicular to how it lays now. Then I will build a deck off the front of the garage and put a retractable staircase in the deck so I can get both spots accessible regardless of where cars are parked.

I am doing this because:
1) In the winter, the side where the steps is where whatever summer car (currently the R32) will live because then I do not have to worry about shoveling as much. Also, its a harder spot to pull into, so less use is better.

2) When I have both cars parked in the garage I would not be able to access the 2nd floor without pulling the car in the far bay out and then lowering the stairs if I got like a pull down stair case.

3) When I have the deck, the stairs will be able to be retracted up and out of the way so there are no issues with parking. When cars are in the garage I can just pull down the stairs from the deck and access the 2nd floor, and when I am working on cars I can still get to the 2nd floor.

4) I really want to theme my garage after a Pirate ship, so I will be putting a rope bridge between my house deck and garage deck, I will be making a mini lookout out of an old cask, some rope/wire and a large post, a flag (most likely a pirate flag or american flag, because then the neighbors cant complain! AMERICA **** YA). I also plan on making some of the rope ladders and attaching them to the cask for the full effect. My father also has procured some maritime lanterns (Green and Red) which will be hung on the appropriate sides (Port and Starboard) of the garage. (PS because no reason)

 

[Gberg888]

Working in residential areas until 1 AM is going to the police involved everytime! Around here 9PM is about the latest you can get by with it. Do you plan on ripping out that horizontal 4X4 and placing some steel columns in to support the 2nd story?

It was 11:30 am to 1:00 PM as in middle of the day... not night.

As for the structure, I will be tearing out that center beam along the floor, and putting micolambs across the back and front to span the width of the building. I will then be converting to a single large door. Between the mircolambs and the joists going the new direction, everything will be supports accordingly.

Hopefully this summer I will get the floor poured and then start tearing out the 2nd floor for re-framing and reinforcement. Next summer will be building the deck and residing the garage. The following summer I will finish the inside off.

There is a green space right now next to my garage which will also become a patio. When my friend comes to dig out the garage floor for preparations, he will also dig out that green patch and I will then go about laying stone for my new patio.

 

[cowboy73]

Oh! Sorry, not quite awake yet. 1 PM isn't late.....yeah your neighbors ****!

 

[Gberg888]

Oh! Sorry, not quite awake yet. 1 PM isn't late.....yeah your neighbors ****!

haha yup!

 

[Gberg888]

Friday the 12th my garage and patio will be dug up for the new floor to be poured.

I will also have a trench with piping for electric and water put in place as well.

 

[Trey T]

wow that's garage has a lot of potential

 

[Gberg888]

Progress has been so ******** slow, but it has been made.

The old garage floor is gone:



Weapon on Choice:




It has started to be dug out, but its still needs to more material removed before we can prep for a poured floor.

We dug out the grassy/muddy **** next to the garage and have been prepping it for a patio to go in.









Built a small wall where evergreens that were destroyed in the winter used to stand. I regained about 5 feet of width in my driveway too. Oh and that stupid compost box got removed as well. That thing was a real POS.









Then I dug a trench for the electric to go to the garage. I had to break through the basement foundation and then dig under the foundation of the garage to make it all work. I started back filling the tench without using sand around the conduit. I am going to sand fill the rest. Hopefully it wont be an issue.



Through the House:



Into the Garage:






This weekend the rest of the trench gets filled, the training wall will be drilled for rebar support, and hopefully everything will be leveled for laying the patio brick which is sitting in my drive way.

 

[Gberg888]

PS sorry, not sorry for the super ****** cell phone pics.

 

[woodrail]

Just curious, what reason were you given to require you to stop work for noise? Does you city have special "must be quite all the time" rules?

I do a lot of hobby woodworking. This involves tablesaws, compressors, and planners. I work weeknights from 5pm till 9pm. Weekend I start no earlier than 9am.

I try not to be a **** about it. If a neighbor is having a party or out gardening trying to find peace, I will quit. But, if your obviously doing hard labor on a home improvement, why should you have to stop?

 

[Gberg888]

1) Apparently my neighbors really don't like me for reasons I do not understand or know how they came to be. I imagine they are upset that a mid 20s individual owns property in their "generally" older neighbor hood all of a sudden. I also have 2 cars which are not quiet although I never get on it or try to be obnoxious with them.

2) Salem does have an ordinance about using heavy equipment on weekends apparently. They did call the cops for a noise complaint while I was using the hammer drill. I asked my roommates if they could hear me when they were inside the house while I was working and they said barely... no worse than someone noodling on their guitar, which my neighbor does every night. But, either way my neighbors are ASSHOLEs and called the cops. The cop came by and informed me of the ordinance. I then continued for 5 minutes to finish up what I had left and then packed up for the day. No big deal.

I already plan to enclose my air compressor for my own ears more than anyone else, and that will probably be the loudest of tools. I will also add some sound deadening inside the walls just so I do not have to deal with them and their complaints though. Cheap and easy when I have the walls open.

 

[Trey T]

Do you talk to your neighbors?

 

[Gberg888]

I have, most of them. I have been very nice to them. For example, this winter the fence on the far side of my house which shares a walkway with my neighbor's walkway and entrance to their house got very damaged. They called and asked me to repair or remove the fence. The fence itself had basically a forest behind it. Whoever owned the property before me never took care of that side of the house nor the fence. So I cut down all the massive weeds, removed the fence, and cleaned and mulched the whole area.

The next weekend, I went to ask that same neighbor to see if I could do my garage expansion and she said "If you go ahead with that I will be forced to use all my resources to stop it".

So, that is the kind of people I am dealing with. I do something nice for them, and I get **** in return.

 

[Gberg888]

Updates:

Well, the garage project got a little bigger and here is the reason why:



Those are all pictures of the back wall of the garage's "Foundation". The other 2 sides are perfectly fine and strong, but the back wall just basically doesnt have a foundation at all and I will have to fix that.

Patio progress:



Patio Brick:


Garage dug out though:

 

[Trey T]

are you doing the site prep and foundation work yourself?

 

[hoffman912]

as someone who has been young and a home owner (I am 34 now, and have been a home owner since i was 19, on my second home now), i really recommend taking a step back, taking a deep breath, lower your guard just a bit and talk to your '******* neighbors'. You got off to a bad start very quickly. That is the opposite of what you want to do. You are stuck with them. It is in your best interest to be on their good side, or they will make your life a living **** hole.

Do you have permits for what you are doing? boom - one thing they can nail you on. has your foundation and wall that you tore out in the middle been inspected and work approved by an engineer? boom another thing they can get you on. digging up that grass area next to the garage - how far is that from the property line? any issues with variances doing anything there? How deep is the trench for the conduit that you put down? doesnt look that deep to me? is it up to code?

Im no expert but i see some scary stuff in that foundation and question a few things i see in these pics. now, im not here to rag on your work - but what i am saying is there is a **** ton your neightbors could be ratting on you about here that could make your life even worse.

my suggestion, swallow some pride, clean up the house, offer to have them over for coctails, or a cook out, and bury the hatchet.

 

[hoffman912]

PS, with the foundation issue and the center wall gone and you mention tearing out the center pillar to go with a single door - you need to shore up a lot of foundation and support items to make sure that top floor doesnt come down on you. not sure what you need to do - but i know enough that its making me nervous.

 

[cdestuck]

Dig that floor a bit deeper in the garage and sink that idiot neighbor there before the cement get pours.

 

[Astro-t]

Great job! That foundation wall is common in old homes. Lot of old homes in Philadelphia have no footings! They some how stay standing. They may have been built on top rocky ground! What are you planing for power in garage?

 

[4AudiQ]

This looks interesting.
Subscribed.

 

[Gberg888]

Planning progress has been made.

The permits have been pulled or confirmed that they are not necessary. The trench you mentioned is more than 24" below grade, 18" is the minimum and dig-safe came and marked up the area so I am covered on that end. The foundation is being filled accordingly. It has been inspected and no issues found.

Basically what the thought is regarding its slant is that when built, it started to sink or something happened structurally, and then the "repaired" it. They did not correct the slant on the back wall. Furthermore, it looks a lot worse than it actually is after inspecting and taking measurements. Its a really bad optical illusion that makes it seem like its dramatically off. In reality is about 3 inches across a 20 ft span. Further proof of this is all of the studs are still plum vertical. Furthermore, the floor itself on the 2nd floor is also level. Finally, the 2 other walls are still 100% level front to back.

Now, progress:

1) I got a quote for doing the 6" floor. I wont post the price, but it is awesome knowing people is all I am going to say. (20x20, 6" floor, poured at cost)
2) It is going to be poured around Thanks Giving, so I need to finish the prep. Foundation filling is happening this weekend. Across the next two weeks I will be getting more fill and compacting the floor to prepare it for the pour.

I will be doing a grade as well. I will be sloping the garage slightly towards the garage doors. I think I am going with a 1/8 inch per foot grade. I was also planning on dropping in some drainage, but oil and coolant going into the ground is BAD. So I nixed that idea.

Anyone have any suggestions for me to consider before I pour the floor?

PS, As for power, I wanted to run a 220v out there, but IDK if that is going to happen. At least it will be the 120v and its own breaker box. I plan on putting 4 pack outlets every 6-8 feet or so at 4' height. I will be putting lighting on the walls and ceilings as well. I did some searching on here and found some good looking heavy duty garage lighting on here through Home Depot and they are only like $55 a piece, so 4-8 of those plus what I have collected/have laying around, and I should be good. After that I will end up getting some of those portable construction lights.

Lastly, my dad has secured me a kerosene heater for free (Not a little portable one, but a wall mounted permanent unit used to heat homes). So I will have heat! HELLO WINTER PROJECTS! I will have to put in some insulation and the heater will also force me to get a better insulated door than I was planning, but since the pour is costing me about 1/3rd what I budgeted, I will have some spare cash lying around for some "upgrades"

Lastly Lastly, I have started to do some research on cabinets for a garage. I wont have much space, especially since I am trying to keep both parking spots. So I will need to be organized and efficient with my usage of space. Suggestions on that end?

 

[Gberg888]

I started filling in the holes in the Foundation. Wow that sounds scary. Well, a foundation expert came by and told me I had nothing to worry about. Basically, the foundation is held up in three spots by 3 big foundation stones in the rear. Each corner has its own and the center. The holes I made and then subsequently filled were filler before.

So I built some forms, mixed some concrete and poured the base. Next, I will finish filling them with brick and motar.

 

[Gberg888]

Great progress was made today!

I finished patching the foundation wall:





This one was stupid weird shaped:




Now the floor can be filled, compacted and then poured! Hopefully all before TG!