Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT Roboto's Garage

[Bob Heine]

Mr. Roboto, enjoy this Christmas. It's probably the only one you'll be able to get your daughter the perfect present -- virtually anything. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

 

[NedNorton]

Hey Buddy,
I hope that you and the family are having a wonder holiday! Jen and I wish all the best to you and the Ladies for 2018!

Cheers,
Chris

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Mr. Roboto, enjoy this Christmas. It's probably the only one you'll be able to get your daughter the perfect present -- virtually anything. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

Hey Buddy,
I hope that you and the family are having a wonder holiday! Jen and I wish all the best to you and the Ladies for 2018!

Cheers,
Chris

My apologies for the delay in my response... I had post notifications turned on for but I never got one and I haven't checked my thread in quite a while. But... Merry belated Christmas to you both! Hope you had a nice time with your families as well.

 

[jduffle]

Good afternoon Mr. Roboto

I've spent the last couple of days reading your thread from start to finish. Awesome job.
I've been reading GJ for several years, June of 2016 I bought a house with two detached and one attached.

Now all of the reading (and drooling) is paying off. I've only just started working on one of the detached garages in the last couple of weeks. Not really sure if it's worthy of a thread after some of the stuff I've seen on here, yours especially.

Again, Awesome job!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Good afternoon Mr. Roboto

I've spent the last couple of days reading your thread from start to finish. Awesome job.
I've been reading GJ for several years, June of 2016 I bought a house with two detached and one attached.

Now all of the reading (and drooling) is paying off. I've only just started working on one of the detached garages in the last couple of weeks. Not really sure if it's worthy of a thread after some of the stuff I've seen on here, yours especially.

Again, Awesome job!

Thanks so much! Start a thread for sure. It's a great way to track your progress, and the motivation you get from everyone here really helps you along in the process.... I know it sure did for me.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Well... I haven't had anything to update this thread with in some time. You guys were all right...once the baby came along, free time was reduced to zero! That's OK, though, she is an absolute joy. She is 1 year old now.... how time flies.

I mentioned it a while back, but I am about to begin a house project that I'll probably try and document here as time permits. Can't put this one off for any longer. I have a set of those ugly precast steps on the front of my house. I've known there is an issue with the rim joist rotting out behind them, but I've just been putting it off because to repair it, I need to pull the steps away from the house. Well, I threw the set of stairs up on Craigslist for free, with the caveat that you're responsible for their removal. Sure enough, I had a bunch of people reach out, and chose what sounded like the most qualified person to remove them.

Here are the old steps:

And ****.... gone! I was so relieved the Craigslist guy worked out. Getting rid of those heavy suckers was a big hurdle.

Next up I started to remove the sheathing to see how bad the damage was. Here is what I was initially greeted with.

And here is the extent of the damage:

*****, seeing a hole like that in the side of your house, but it is what it is.

I'll be replacing that section of the rim joist, and building a covered porch on the font. Here is a very crude paint mark up of what it will hopefully look like.

 

[shadyluke]

Well... I haven't had anything to update this thread with in some time. You guys were all right...once the baby came along, free time was reduced to zero! That's OK, though, she is an absolute joy. She is 1 year old now.... how time flies.

I mentioned it a while back, but I am about to begin a house project that I'll probably try and document here as time permits. Can't put this one off for any longer. I have a set of those ugly precast steps on the front of my house. I've known there is an issue with the rim joist rotting out behind them, but I've just been putting it off because to repair it, I need to pull the steps away from the house. Well, I threw the set of stairs up on Craigslist for free, with the caveat that you're responsible for their removal. Sure enough, I had a bunch of people reach out, and chose what sounded like the most qualified person to remove them.

Here are the old steps:

And ****.... gone! I was so relieved the Craigslist guy worked out. Getting rid of those heavy suckers was a big hurdle.

Next up I started to remove the sheathing to see how bad the damage was. Here is what I was initially greeted with.

And here is the extent of the damage:

*****, seeing a hole like that in the side of your house, but it is what it is.

I'll be replacing that section of the rim joist, and building a covered porch on the font. Here is a very crude paint mark up of what it will hopefully look like.

***** to deal with home issues... I know I've had my share. Luckily we are talented enough to do these things on our own. I always wanted to add a larger porch to my house. Always ***** trying to get kids in the house standing under a 4x5 roof.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Mr. Roboto]

***** to deal with home issues... I know I've had my share. Luckily we are talented enough to do these things on our own. I always wanted to add a larger porch to my house. Always ***** trying to get kids in the house standing under a 4x5 roof.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

For sure... I'd be poor(er) if I had to pay people to fix all these issues around the house hahaha.

 

[BigNuge]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Hey, great to see an update!

My little guy turned 1 a couple weeks ago...time does fly by!

With what you’ve accomplished in/on your garage I’d say this project is well within your capabilities. That said, it’s going to be a big one for sure!

Good luck with it, I’m looking forward to seeing the progress!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Hey, great to see an update!

My little guy turned 1 a couple weeks ago...time does fly by!

With what you’ve accomplished in/on your garage I’d say this project is well within your capabilities. That said, it’s going to be a big one for sure!

Good luck with it, I’m looking forward to seeing the progress!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hey man good to hear from you - Congrats on your kid's 1 year birthday as well!

I'm hoping the project goes smoothly, and that it doesn't take too too long. I'd like to get it wrapped up in the spring so I can enjoy the summer. Also on the list to get done this year is to finish painting over the maroon trim left on my house (I'm embarrassed on how long I've been procrastinating with that) and install new shutters. Deciding between blue or black right now.

Also.... I had a contractor come in this weekend to give me a quote on attaching my garage to my house. It's bee on my list forever now and I just don't have the time to do it. He's going to quote it out for all the exterior work and leave the inside completely unfinished so that I can chip away at it myself to still save some money. I'm eagerly awaiting to see how much he comes back with. I've never really hired anything out before so I'm not sure what to expect. Being able to walk from the house to the garage without having to go out into the elements will be a game changer for sure. Plus, we'll have a nice large mudroom in the new space - something high up on the wife's list.

 

[shadyluke]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

Hey man good to hear from you - Congrats on your kid's 1 year birthday as well!

I'm hoping the project goes smoothly, and that it doesn't take too too long. I'd like to get it wrapped up in the spring so I can enjoy the summer. Also on the list to get done this year is to finish painting over the maroon trim left on my house (I'm embarrassed on how long I've been procrastinating with that) and install new shutters. Deciding between blue or black right now.

Also.... I had a contractor come in this weekend to give me a quote on attaching my garage to my house. It's bee on my list forever now and I just don't have the time to do it. He's going to quote it out for all the exterior work and leave the inside completely unfinished so that I can chip away at it myself to still save some money. I'm eagerly awaiting to see how much he comes back with. I've never really hired anything out before so I'm not sure what to expect. Being able to walk from the house to the garage without having to go out into the elements will be a game changer for sure. Plus, we'll have a nice large mudroom in the new space - something high up on the wife's list.

I wonder if I could convince my wife to do this too. It would be a 250' hallway across the property. The kids could rock) errands skate in it.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Re: Mr. Roboto's Garage Makeover

I wonder if I could convince my wife to do this too. It would be a 250' hallway across the property. The kids could rock) errands skate in it.

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk

Maybe you can just have the kids dig a nice tunnel!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

No more hole in my house finally! I was able to remove and replace the rotten section of the rim joist fairly easy. I did not have to jack up the house at all in that area as I thought I may have had to do.

Out with the old. It was an odd perspective being able to look straight down into my basement through a hole that large.

New PT patched in:

Flashed the entire area with Grace barrier and put the ledger up for the new decking:

And that's as far as I got. It was my Birthday after all, so I didn't want to work TOO hard haha. Next up is the worst part... digging the footings.

 

[krcoomer]

I am glad the Craigslist removal worked for you. I have a friend who bought a new washer and dryer and asked for help removing and installing the new ones. I suggested she do the same thing "so the buyer could make sure they worked" before I hauled them out. That way we just had to take the new ones up the steps.

I would suggest that you put some sort of temporary platform and steps up in case your wife and daughter need to make a quick exit. Okay you too. I look at it from a fire egress point of view whenever I do a deck replacement. In the dark and with a little adrenaline flowing people forget there is no step there.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I am glad the Craigslist removal worked for you. I have a friend who bought a new washer and dryer and asked for help removing and installing the new ones. I suggested she do the same thing "so the buyer could make sure they worked" before I hauled them out. That way we just had to take the new ones up the steps.

I would suggest that you put some sort of temporary platform and steps up in case your wife and daughter need to make a quick exit. Okay you too. I look at it from a fire egress point of view whenever I do a deck replacement. In the dark and with a little adrenaline flowing people forget there is no step there.

I thought about building something temporary, but I can count on one hand the times we've ever actually used the front door. We have a side door, and a rear door out to the deck that get used much more often.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Got started on the footings this weekend. As I started excavating, it appears they put some large boulders under my old front steps 6" down or so in what I can only assume was in an effort to create a solid footing for them. Lucky me. Here is one of them with my size 13 boot for reference. Not the end of the world, but lifting them out of the ground by myself was definitely not easy.

We have to go 48" deep here to get below the frost line. Here they are:

And here is my effort to keep my holes dry until the inspector can come out. We're expecting some rain.

My back and shoulders are pretty tired today. Today, I get to sit back and watch other people work at my house, as I'm getting my irrigation system installed.

 

[Purist]

Got started on the footings this weekend. As I started excavating, it appears they put some large boulders under my old front steps 6" down or so in what I can only assume was in an effort to create a solid footing for them. Lucky me. Here is one of them with my size 13 boot for reference. Not the end of the world, but lifting them out of the ground by myself was definitely not easy.

We have to go 48" deep here to get below the frost line. Here they are:

And here is my effort to keep my holes dry until the inspector can come out. We're expecting some rain.

My back and shoulders are pretty tired today. Today, I get to sit back and watch other people work at my house, as I'm getting my irrigation system installed.

Lots going on at the Roboto household! You, my friend, deserve a few ice cold beers! Great work! Keep it up...can't wait to see the finished porch.

And curious to hear what the contractor quotes you on the garage work.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Lots going on at the Roboto household! You, my friend, deserve a few ice cold beers! Great work! Keep it up...can't wait to see the finished porch.

And curious to hear what the contractor quotes you on the garage work.

Things have gone from 0 to 100 really quick around here that's for sure. I haven't really done any major projects for the last 18ish months but now we seem to be doing it all at once.

The quote I got back for attaching the garage was 20K and some change. That is for a 100% completed exterior, front and rear doors with stairs, fire door into the garage, front and rear windows, gutters... the whole 9 yards. I want to finish the interior myself to save some money. Most places I call really don't want to do a "partial job" by leaving the interior unfinished. But, this one company has been very willing to do as little or as much of the work I'd like. I just need to find another company like that to bounce the number off of. As you can see, I really do all the work at my house myself, and I was fully planning to tackle this one as well.... but I just don't have the time anymore once the kiddo came along. And I'd rather spend the summer with my family than slaving away building an addition. So, now we just have to decide when to pull the trigger.

There are a few intermediate steps that need to happen before we can do it anyway. My central air needs to get moved (and replaced in the process, it's 25 years old and its a miracle that it's still running) I need to eliminate the power vent for my heat that dumps out there, and I need to move the dryer vent (which is the easiest task). Then we'll see how much money is left after all that hahaha.

Oh, and we're also going to finally replace all the shutters for a different color/newer design. Ok... I'm tired now thinking about all this work.

 

[krcoomer]

I will remember 48" to get below the frost line the next time I have to dig 24 for the same effect. I know the second 24 is much harder than the first.

As for moving/replacing the AC unit, the only real additional expense will be moving the electrical unless you have to go through finished area. The newer refrigerants use a different sized lineset so you will have to replace that at the same time anyway. With a 25 year old unit I would go ahead and figure where you want it to land. Think about outside entertaining as your kids get older because sitting outside listening to the unit run is no fun.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I will remember 48" to get below the frost line the next time I have to dig 24 for the same effect. I know the second 24 is much harder than the first.



As for moving/replacing the AC unit, the only real additional expense will be moving the electrical unless you have to go through finished area. The newer refrigerants use a different sized lineset so you will have to replace that at the same time anyway. With a 25 year old unit I would go ahead and figure where you want it to land. Think about outside entertaining as your kids get older because sitting outside listening to the unit run is no fun.

Yes, 24" would be a dream! And I've got an appointment next Friday to get the AC moved/replaced. The side yard is my only other option unfortunately. At least it wont be under my bedroom window anymore! I'm moving the electrical service over myself to save a little money, as well as prepping the pad.


The building inspector came out to inspect my prepped footings today. He gave me the O.K. to pour, so that should be happening this Saturday. 2 More inspections after that, one for rough framing, and one at the end. I'll just be glad to get these footings poured and backfilled so that I can start the (relatively) more enjoyable portion of framing it all out.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Another small update. I was able to pour and backfill the footings this weekend. Hoping to start framing it out next weekend. As you can see by the shade line, I was juuuuust able to finish pouring the concrete before I lost my shade in the front of the house when the sun came around.

 

[up a creek]

Wow! It took me over 6 hrs over a 2 day period to read the entire thread and over all of the pictures. I have to say what a wonderful job you have done with your garage space. I know that it took a long time to complete, but it is very refreshing to see one do it own their own. I only have a 2 car garage, and I do make the best of it, but in the future, you have made it possible for me to see what a bigger garage could become. I thank you for your thread!
I also wish you the very best happy times with your new addition to the family!
Thank you again for sharing your build. It gives others like myself hope

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Wow! It took me over 6 hrs over a 2 day period to read the entire thread and over all of the pictures. I have to say what a wonderful job you have done with your garage space. I know that it took a long time to complete, but it is very refreshing to see one do it own their own. I only have a 2 car garage, and I do make the best of it, but in the future, you have made it possible for me to see what a bigger garage could become. I thank you for your thread!
I also wish you the very best happy times with your new addition to the family!
Thank you again for sharing your build. It gives others like myself hope

Thanks for taking the time to read through it all! Sorry It got off track a bit with decks and porches etc., but tracking things here seems to keep me more motivated, and it's nice to look back at now and then.

Best of luck with your garage projects/ambitions. If I can do it, anyone can! Doing it myself was the only way I would have been able to afford it all, and it's nice to pick up some skills along the way.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Couple weekend updates....

Framed out the lower decking portion of the portico. I think it would hold up if an elephant ever decided to come ring my front doorbell. Yes, I tend to overbuild...

I forget if I mentioned this or not, but I'm moving all of the obstructions in between my house and my garage so that I can make way for the addition. This includes moving my central, a dryer vent, and relocating the power vent for my boiler. I decided I'd have the central air done first. I made the decision to replace my 25 year old unit while I was at it, because I just had a feeling if I spent the money to relocate it, it would just die again shortly thereafter and I'd be throwing good money at bad. Good thing, this is what the air handler in my attic looked like when they removed it. I think I was on borrowed time....

Here is the old spot where the old unit sat. Freed up some valuable real-estate there.

And finally, the new location, on the other side of my house. You can also see the backflow preventer to they left that was put in when I had the irrigation system done last week.

Also, my lawn is definitely coming in this year now that I'm putting some effort into it. I have some work to do in the fall filling in some patchy areas, but I'm satisfied so far.

 

[BIG-BRO]

I love the "over-built" frame for portico decking ! I can identify !
I am building a 4' x 6' landing for a set of stairs for rear walk-out door on my new garage. Landing will never have more than one person on it (just big enough for the stairs and to have one chair on it so I can sit and look out at the woods when I need a fresh air break from the garage). but I'm framing out the structure as if it were a "real" deck ! Last thing I have to finish to get final inspection on building permit.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I love the "over-built" frame for portico decking ! I can identify !
I am building a 4' x 6' landing for a set of stairs for rear walk-out door on my new garage. Landing will never have more than one person on it (just big enough for the stairs and to have one chair on it so I can sit and look out at the woods when I need a fresh air break from the garage). but I'm framing out the structure as if it were a "real" deck ! Last thing I have to finish to get final inspection on building permit.

Sounds like it will be a nice spot! The kicker for my steps is that they hardly ever get used. We actually almost never use the front door

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Nothing too exciting this weekend to update about, but progress is progress nonetheless. Saturday rained all day, so I spent it cutting the stringers inside the garage. I had to make 10 of them, so thankfully they were pretty short. When the manufacturer of the composite decking specifies 8" stringer spacing, and you're building a really wide staircase, they add up quick. Oh well...

Got a bit of a break in the weather Sunday so I built the form for the pad at the bottom of the steps. I had to cut away a good chunk of the asphalt walkway because the pad/stairs will stick out further than the old set of steps. Come to find out, the asphalt there was barely an inch thick in some spots. That explains why the front walk is in such poor shape in some areas. Oh well, someday I'd like to install a nice paver front walk.

Just need one more bag of stone to fill that low spot in the middle there. I think I'm going to get a few pieces of rebar as well, since the pad is so long and narrow.

Oh, and I put up a 2x12 on the front face so that I'd have enough height to easily mount the stringers.

And that's that. We have a busy long memorial day weekend coming up, but I am hoping to get the pad poured towards the beginning of it, and install the stringers towards the end.

 

[jabin]

May I suggest putting some peel & stick flashing or joist flashing before the decking. No doubt it's already on your list as part of the flashing phase.

BTW, love the overbuilt deck/porch simple and sturdy

 

[Mr. Roboto]

May I suggest putting some peel & stick flashing or joist flashing before the decking. No doubt it's already on your list as part of the flashing phase.

BTW, love the overbuilt deck/porch simple and sturdy

Thanks!

I used joist tape on every joist on my 16x20 rear deck... but I think I'm going to skit it this time around since this porch will have a roof over it, so it should stay out of the elements. I may apply it to the stringers, though. We'll see.

 

[M-technik-3]

Nice goes with the back deck. Plan to put an overhead so it keeps rain off folks when they come to the door?

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Nice goes with the back deck. Plan to put an overhead so it keeps rain off folks when they come to the door?

Yes that the plan, it will have a roof overhead as well. Still haven't fully figured out how I'll be framing that up yet, but I will eventually haha.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I was able to stick to my plan for the weekend. I got the pad poured and the stringers installed. Before you say "Holy **** that is a lot of stringers" it technically isn't enough. The decking manufacture specs out a 7"OC stringer spacing for the material I'm using. 10 stringers puts me at 9" OC which I thought was ridiculous enough...

P.S. the wood in the middle is obviously just temporary

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Made some exciting progress this weekend. I had my future brother in-law come over yesterday to give me a hand. Hoisting the 6X6 posts and roof truss I had built ahead of time up by myself wasn't something I thought I could do alone. I'm happy with how it's looking, though. With the top plates on and the first roof truss in place, I can really finally get a sense of the scale of it all. I think it looks great. I was going back and forth over how much to pitch the roof. Ended up with a 12-9 pitch, which was perfect.

Me goofing around. The picture doesn't do it justice but we were working in the beating sun all day.

End result of the day. Didn't get many other photos due to that beating sun haha.

 

[Bob Heine]

Wow! That transforms the front of the house.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Wow! That transforms the front of the house.

Thanks! That was the plan!

 

[b-dog]

Thank you for this. By installing this plugin, I was able to save the images on a post by post basis. I then re-uploaded all of them using the forums "attachment" feature. It took me 2 damn hours, but every picture is back up attached to all the posts. All 168 of them!!!

Hey friend, thanks for taking the time to do this. I just killed a few hours skimming 30 pages... Everything looks awesome!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Hey friend, thanks for taking the time to do this. I just killed a few hours skimming 30 pages... Everything looks awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to read through it all, glad you enjoyed it!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

I was able to get the rest of the roof framed up this weekend, and install the rear posts for the railings on the sides of the platform. Now it's (finally) time for the town to come and do the framing inspection, and then I can get to finishing this thing!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Just a minor update. I passed my framing inspection yesterday. It's looking like it's going to rain here this weekend, but hopefully I can get a window of time in to at least get the roof on there and step flashed.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Free time has been at a premium, but I managed to chip away at some more on the porch over the last 2 weeks. We've also been in a heat-wave of 95+ days with a heat index into the 100s with extreme humidity in the Northeast, so it's been difficult.

Got the PVC decking installed:

Wrapped the front posts in PVC trim, rear posts in PVC post sleeves, and the railings installed.

And finally, the roof sheathing installed and Ice & Water Shield applied

Need to finish the roof (Drip edges, shingles, trim etc...) trim on the lower decking, and install the ceiling and that should wrap it up. Easier said than done.