Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Roboto's Garage

[Mr. Roboto]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Wow, too funny....my wife is due March 28th!! This will be our second, our first is 6 now...the time really does fly by!! It's a boy, my wife was adamant about finding out for both kids. So this will make 2 boys for us!

The Maxima has been a lot more work than I had hoped as well. I got it for $200

So far I have done:
Pass. side rear wheel bearing
Pass. side rear caliper
Master Cylinder
Driver side CV axle
Battery
Thorough Throttle body/IAC/MAF cleaning
Front set of coil packs (to eliminate a P1320 code)....and it didn't eliminate it. So now I have to disassemble the intake ducting to get to the rear set of coil packs done.

I really hope to have that done ASAP to move this thing along. I've learned a lot as far as what to look for when I'm picking up the next car!



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Wow, due dates are days apart! All the best for a happy and healthy delivery.

Good bit of work for yourself on the Maxima as well. This Tahoe kind of found me, but I don't think I'll flip another one of this vintage. As you know, up here, they're all due for brake lines and fuel lines. It was really labor intensive, but having the lift made all the difference in the world.

 

[Purist]

Since the beginning, my goal has always been to be able to keep the ability to fit all 3 cars in the garage, mainly for when it's going to snow. Usually my truck sits outside, but I hate cleaning snow off of cars and snow blowing around them. This meant keeping the rear wall of the right bay relatively clear so that I can pull one car all the way against the back wall and park the 2 smaller SUVs tandem. I do keep some things against the wall, but they are all mobile (my table saw, compressor, shop vac, and a few other smaller misc things.

Well, I finally got the chance to try it out on Sunday night, as we were expecting snow overnight, and much to my satisfaction, everything fit! Kind of a crappy picture., but it was tough to capture everything in one shot.

This is awesome! That fact that you can get all 3 vehicles inside the garage is clutch!

And that lighting...wow!!! Very jealous!!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

This is awesome! That fact that you can get all 3 vehicles inside the garage is clutch!

And that lighting...wow!!! Very jealous!!

Thanks! It sure beats cleaning snow off of cars

Finished up a quick project last night. Wife wanted a coat rack where we enter the house. We went out shopping for one last weekend, but couldn't really find what we wanted, and most were poor quality, so I decided to build one. Happy with the results, though the lighting on this picture is pretty poor. But, you get the idea. Some red oak 1 by stock, few feet of crown molding, 5 coat hooks, some stain, poly, and there you have it!

 

[Purist]

Thanks! It sure beats cleaning snow off of cars

Finished up a quick project last night. Wife wanted a coat rack where we enter the house. We went out shopping for one last weekend, but couldn't really find what we wanted, and most were poor quality, so I decided to build one. Happy with the results, though the lighting on this picture is pretty poor. But, you get the idea. Some red oak 1 by stock, few feet of crown molding, 5 coat hooks, some stain, poly, and there you have it!

Amen to that!! I park in the bottom level of a parking garage at work, so I basically never have to worry about cleaning snow off my car.

Rack came out great, good job! We have something very similar in the hallway as soon as you enter the house from the garage. Very convenient.

 

[Grumblebum]

What a great reading thread Mr. Roboto. Read through over the last day or so. Great attention to detail in your projects.

Congrats on the little one on the way, won't be long and you'll be devising storage for all their *stuff* that just accumulates as they grow

Jealous of the lift and the Tundra. There are a few Tundras over here that are imported and converted to right hand drive but they are damn expensive in the $130k region.

Thanks for sharing. GB

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Amen to that!! I park in the bottom level of a parking garage at work, so I basically never have to worry about cleaning snow off my car.

Rack came out great, good job! We have something very similar in the hallway as soon as you enter the house from the garage. Very convenient.

Yeah convenient for sure, my wife would always come in form work and just set her coat down wherever she felt like it, which sets off my OCD haha. Now, her coat has a home, so there's no excuse!

What a great reading thread Mr. Roboto. Read through over the last day or so. Great attention to detail in your projects.

Congrats on the little one on the way, won't be long and you'll be devising storage for all their *stuff* that just accumulates as they grow

Jealous of the lift and the Tundra. There are a few Tundras over here that are imported and converted to right hand drive but they are damn expensive in the $130k region.

Thanks for sharing. GB

Thank you for taking the time to read through it all, and I am glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the congratulations on our little girl as well, she'll be here before you know it. I hear you on the storage, I'm already planning on putting a floor down in the house attic so we can make use of that space, and building a pantry in our kitchen.

That's crazy on the tundra prices! In that case, I'll sell you mine for a steal, how's 50K sound

 

[Bob Heine]

That's crazy on the tundra prices! In that case, I'll sell you mine for a steal, how's 50K sound

Mr. Roboto, Australia has a few Catch-22s or it did when I lived there 25 years ago. The import duty is equal to the price of the vehicle so your $50K Tundra is $134K Australian ($67K current exchange rate plus the $67K duty). In addition, if you bring a vehicle into Australia that's less than 25 years old and it isn't a limited production vehicle, it has to be converted to Right Hand Drive. That can run $10K or more. So, your generous offer is really $144K for your used Tundra. Not positive but I think Australia also puts the crazy import duty based on their "valuation" of the vehicle. I think that means it doesn't matter what you do, cars in Australia are crazy expensive.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Mr. Roboto, Australia has a few Catch-22s or it did when I lived there 25 years ago. The import duty is equal to the price of the vehicle so your $50K Tundra is $134K Australian ($67K current exchange rate plus the $67K duty). In addition, if you bring a vehicle into Australia that's less than 25 years old and it isn't a limited production vehicle, it has to be converted to Right Hand Drive. That can run $10K or more. So, your generous offer is really $144K for your used Tundra. Not positive but I think Australia also puts the crazy import duty based on their "valuation" of the vehicle. I think that means it doesn't matter what you do, cars in Australia are crazy expensive.

That's really interesting, thanks for the explanation. Sounds like a real hassle for sure. Does Toyota not sell in Australia directly?

 

[Grumblebum]

Yes we have Toyota, so Camry, Landcruisers, RAV4, Hilux, etc. just no Tacoma's or Tundras.

Same for F-Trucks, GMC, Rams etc, we just don't have them unless they are imported and converted. We did get the (I think Brazilian made) F250's in RHD but that stopped in about 1996 I believe. Even a second hand F truck that came factory RHD would be 60+ k.

Cheers GB

 

[250]

Aren't the hilux essentially the same as a tacoma?

 

[metalhead140]

Missed this thread previously but spent the last few days reading through it. Nice work! Garage looks great, like the bench a lot, and the back deck came out really nice too. You've got a heck of a lot done since the start of your thread! Keep us updated...

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Missed this thread previously but spent the last few days reading through it. Nice work! Garage looks great, like the bench a lot, and the back deck came out really nice too. You've got a heck of a lot done since the start of your thread! Keep us updated...

Thank you, I appreciate it! I'll make sure to keep the updates coming too

 

[jp828108]

Made my way through you thread this evening. You have accomplished a TON of stuff. Love that you have the height for a lift in your garage. Accomplishing the drywall on your own was huge too. I have done a little bit of drywall, and have NO desire to do an entire garage. I'm considering metal for my building for easier finish. Hopefully you have some more updates coming soon. Does your heater help keep it comfortable in the garage? (I don't think I remember seeing you mention that anywhere before)

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Made my way through you thread this evening. You have accomplished a TON of stuff. Love that you have the height for a lift in your garage. Accomplishing the drywall on your own was huge too. I have done a little bit of drywall, and have NO desire to do an entire garage. I'm considering metal for my building for easier finish. Hopefully you have some more updates coming soon. Does your heater help keep it comfortable in the garage? (I don't think I remember seeing you mention that anywhere before)

Thanks for taking the time to read through it all. The drywall sucked, I really did lose quite a bit of time on this project to that, but I was at a point in my life then when I had the time to give. Now, with a baby due in a month, no way!

The heater is awesome, I love it. I have it set to 50F all the time out there, and it really does not run that often. I'm not spending nearly as much on propane as I anticipated, and what I do spend is worth every penny. When I'm out there working, I'll turn it up to 60 and it heats up very quick.

As I do tackle some more projects out there, I will be sure to keep the updates coming. I have a few garage related projects on the horizon, just need to find the time to get out there and make them happen.

 

[Trey T]

Just read through your thread for the first time and it's an awesome garage setup.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Just thought I'd post a quick update to let everyone know that our baby girl entered the world on Monday. Mom and baby are doing great! 7lbs 1oz 18.5". No garage updates for a while!

 

[amkluttz]

Congratulations! Now the fun begins.

 

[taumac]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Congrats!!!

 

[Bessy]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Congratulations on your new addition! Enjoy.

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[Duker]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Hey great news! Congratulations on the new addition to the family!


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[HCNDM]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Congrats!!!! Dont forget to Enjoy!


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[M-technik-3]

Congratulations, Give the misses some extra comforting. I remember very well what my ex wife went through giving birth to our kids.

 

[rharman]

Fantastic. I had just clicked on your thread to ask "where's that baby?".

 

[1/2 Cup]

Congratulations, enjoy the journey...

Regards

 

[ajohno]

Congratulations to you and your wife.

 

[BIG-BRO]

Congrats !

 

[krcoomer]

Congrats on the new addition. It is never too early to start thinking about getting her into the shop as your new apprentice helper.

 

[250]

Excellent news, congrats!

 

[920kip]

She will for ever be Irish.
Named Molly or Megan?

 

[NedNorton]

Congratulations!!!!!

 

[Bigdukaaa]

nice build and a belated congratulation

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Thank you everyone for the well wishes! My wife and i appreciate them all.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

So I'm in the very early planning stages of my next big project. I'm considering building a lean-to off the back of my garage for additional storage space. I am thinking approximately 10x20. I already have a shed, but it's pretty full with all your typical lawn and garden stuff. The main purpose of the lean-to will be to house all of our outdoors stuff. Camping gear, snowboards, skis, bikes, kayaks, fishing equipment and the largest thing to plan around, an ATV (which I don't own yet, but someday). Figure the ATV should weigh about 600lbs.Here is the back of my garage:

Picture something like this, on a larger scale:

I'm looking for advice on how to go about building it. One of my biggest concerns is building it as tight as possible to keep rodents from getting in. In my head I have 2 options. 1 would be to build the whole thing up on piers, much like how I built my deck. Attach a ledger to the side of the garage, frame a floor up with 2x10s, supported by 2 2x12 beams (one near the end, and one at the mid point.) lay a plywood floor and build everything up from there. The pros to this would be not having to grade the land, and I could do it all myself. Kind of like this below, but much more beefed up. The cons are that I did have a hell of a time digging the footings for my deck, 30' away due to all the rocks in my yard, so that won't be so fun going through that all over again.

The other option would be to have a slab poured off the back, and build up from there. I really like this idea, as I think it would be the strongest solution, but would also probably be significantly more expensive, as I'd have to hire it out. But, I really have no idea how much it would cost for the grading and a 10x20 slab, so maybe it's not as bad as I think.

Hopefully this makes sense. Like I said, still in the very early stages, but that's what I am thinking so far. I tried searching around for any threads, either on GJ or elsewhere, where someone has gone through this, but I didn't have any luck locating any. If anyone can point me to something, it would be great - I love learning from others who have already gone through it.

 

[krcoomer]

I have had freestanding sheds with both floor systems over the years and there are pros and cons to each as far as rodent control goes. I have a slab where we are now which was her when we bought the house. It had rodent issues where the prior owners stored their pet food in bags inside and the little bastards tunneled under for their shelter. I finally got rid of that issue. With the deck style, we had groundhogs, possums and raccoons try to set up residence.

I built my dad's deck style in 2005 and he has not had any problems because we made it inhospitable with a load of old bricks under the deck. Topped it with 3/4" treated plywood. The ply was not tongue and groove, so we rabbeted it to keep things tight. My only regret is not adding a vapor barrier below the deck to keep humidity out.

I am probably going to build another freestanding shed in the next year or so and plan to go with the deck style framework. My plan is to put in 2 layers of 6 mil poly under the deck with hardware cloth dug in about 6-8 inches below grade and stapled around the perimeter. Top off the poly with gravel, concrete scraps or old bricks which will be captured by the hardware cloth before the plywood goes down. I realize the hardware cloth will rust so some maintenance may be required. I also have thought of looking for some of the old style decorative concrete blocks like I have seen used in walls to bury around the perimeter to keep larger critters out. I see these on CL every so often in the freebies section as people try to forget the 70's.

I hope this helps. The only other advice I have is to remember you will need a garage for a Barbie Jeep before too long.

 

[shadyluke]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

I'm in the same boat but I know mine won't happen for a while. I plan to pour a floor as it will be used as a machine shop. I think building on pilings is a suitable idea for just a storage room. You will probably have to increase joint thickness depending on the span due to the increased weight of the structure and snow loads.

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[Mr. Roboto]

Thank you both for the input. If I do go the deck route, I'll probably do 2x10 joists 12" on center topped with a 3/4" T&G floor. Thankfully, nothing stored in there should be particularly heavy, aside from the ATV. Forgot to mention this before, but I'm planning to have a man door in between the garage and lean-to, as well as a set of double doors opening up to the outside. Where exactly, is yet to be determined. Since I'll have to fasten the ledger above the knee wall on the current garage, the lean-to floor will probably be a good 6" higher than the garage floor, but that's not the end of the world.

EDIT, on second though, I suppose I could also attach the ledger directly to the concrete knee wall as well. Something I've never done before, but certainly an option.

 

[cash68]

I'm in a similar boat, but I think I'm going to try concrete myself. Think of it this way; the framing of the concrete itself is basically what you are doing with building up the floor anyway, so hopefully it should be less work. Besides, learning new skills = win

 

[krcoomer]

If you are going to tie it in with a door, I believe I would just tie in to the concrete on your existing slab and pour away given the fallaway grade you have to work with. It would basically be an addition to your garage and I believe you would be happier in the long run. Also, going up that high will make you need either a really long ramp or too steep of a pitch to get a riding mower in easily. The height is why my dad's rider sits in the garage during the summer and gets stored in the shed for the winter.

I realize budget is a big factor, but if you can afford it a rollup door and building it as tight as your garage would give you no more rodent problems than you already have in the garage. Have you thought about building it with a gabled roof on the same pitch as your existing roof similar to how many attached carports and garages are built?

 

[rharman]

Hey. How's the new baby and mom doing?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Thanks for everyone who chimed in with advice. After reading it all and doing a bunch more research, my only options are really to pour a new foundation and slab to tie it in with the existing....or build it up on piers. With that being said, I may just end up building another detached shed for complexity and budget sake. It would have been sweet to be able to walk from the garage to the lean to without going outside though. My wife also isn't crazy about having 2 sheds on our property... so there's still some discussion.

Regardless, another project has taken priority. The rim joist behind the precast front steps on my house is completely rotten. I think we're going to rip them out, repair the house, and build a covered portico in it's place. It's something we've been wanting to do for a while now to improve the look of the front of the house, so stay tuned!