Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Seedy city 2 car garage

[jb3]

Taking over a garage i hope to set up to work on my stuff cheaply.

This is a cinderblock 2 car garage built about 100 years ago in 1920s. Has a hip roof with about 5 year old shingles, a horrible condition cracked concrete floor, an outlet!, and a lightbulb!

There is a vegetation problem and a substantial rot problem on the front, where it was bumped out to install a roll up door, but otherwise its pretty solid.

My short term plan is just to move my stuff in and come up with something functional and secure that i can actually use

From above its about 2 feet from its neighbors


There is a boarded up opening for a window which would be nice to turn back into natural light




Floor is there, but What you would expect for 100 year old thin concrete. They solved some problems by paving right into the garage



Rot issue to fix-




This image shows the vine problem, evidently its nuts in summer, coming from the back of the garage and the same plant is attacking the garage behind mine as well




And finally, no new garage can be complete without being 70% full of random stuff that must be removed




I look forward to updating this as i slowly move in and attempt to get it set up

 

[Xti04]

Nature will reclaim what we take from it! Chop that thing down! Congrats on the space!

 

[Indexmill]

Yea, lots to comment on... but, damn man, you have a freakin garage!!

 

[southalabama]

Good basic structure.
Limited only by square footage and budget.

Check out Jack Olsens 12 gauge garage.

 

[burger]

Looks like you have a project there with the vines and rotted wood!

I like the decorative block. Very neat Arts and Crafts era detail.

 

[jb3]

Thanks for the replies! Yes the rot issue may be larger than i assumed

Looking head on at the structure there is a lot of sag in the roof above the door



From inside it looks like the header is also rotten and has been sistered a long time ago with a single 2x8




I think the entire door extension to the garage is going to need to be eliminated. I cant figure out why it was done originally, there is a 6 inch deep flat roof over this extension which seems to be the cause of all these problems

 

[Bruce 993 SEA]

Garages that worked 100 years ago were often too short for the land yachts of the 60s. I bet that is what the extension was for.

Cheers!

 

[xtremek]

I'll hop on for the ride along to see where you take this. Should be fun to see how you fix it up.

 

[burger]

Is the house a project as well?

 

[ZRX61]

At least the block walls ain't gonna rot...
Diamond blade will turn the window into a mandoor... that gives ya access while you sort the roll up door & the roof sag above it...
Bust out the floor, pour new slab

 

[jb3]

Garages that worked 100 years ago were often too short for the land yachts of the 60s. I bet that is what the extension was for.

Cheers!

This is a very good point, has to be most likely reason

At least the block walls ain't gonna rot...
Diamond blade will turn the window into a mandoor... that gives ya access while you sort the roll up door & the roof sag above it...
Bust out the floor, pour new slab

Im thinking of reducing width of the garage door and putting a man door on the right front, giving me more wall volume for storage.

Im looking for ways to minimize displaying the entirety of the eventual contents of the garage any time i enter it, and im never going to park more than one car inside anyway.

The garage is located in a very high foot traffic location visible from the street, but also so close to the house on the premises that the only way to park on the right side is with very careful reversing in from the street and down a narrow drive.

Is the house a project as well?

Im currently doing a few labor intensive interior paint renovations, the house is multiple apartments (access to this garage is a shared driveway for 1 unit and eventually me). I live about ten minutes away and am taking over the space for a workshop and tool storage. My OP was pretty unclear i realize.

To clarify i own the building as income property and the garage is generally just a wasted non utilized structure that i am now stealing for personal use. I am between tenants in the unit that gets this driveway. New tenants wont miss what they never had, and will still get 3 car off street parking for their apartment.

While having to get other people to move cars is certainly annoying, shared driveways are incredibly common and just a fact of life for city buildings. Something i will be fine with going forward, since giving me access to this shop will be a lease requirement for a new tenant and most people are really good about moving cars as needed.

The deal will work out for them as most of the time i will just walk in and work on my project car, requiring way less car shuffling than if i actually lived there.

This building is actually quite unique for the area in that i managed to shoehorn a second driveway in on the opposite side of the house to reduce driveway congestion.

Part of my design considerations is preserving the tenants right to privacy in the back yard when im there tinkering, so that should be a unique challenge going forward

 

[jb3]

Decided before I put anything in the garage to look into the rot. Problem is from the bad center seam on the flashing. Silver lining is this was very poorly constructed to begin with so it will be good to fix this



Flashing roof over the extension-



Rot under the flashing-





Also started pulling this stuff off. Wow this vine has a death grip on the concrete block. Comes up in 8 to 10 inch chunks

 

[f121]

Is that a smoker in there? You're keeping that, right?

 

[xtremek]

My shoulders ache just looking at those vines.

 

[captain14]

What is the size of the block garage not including the extension?

I agree the extension was built just so a newer and longer model vehicle could be stored inside. There are several in my area with the similar door bump out.

Glass blocks would fit right into this style of garage. Just one window?

What’s the other two sides look like? Can you even fit between the areas to do any type of repair?

The big thing is to get it structurally sound first. How secure will it be if you don’t live in the property?

 

[CombatNinja]

If you cut that vine where it comes out of the ground and dig up the roots, the rest will dry out and come off very easily after a few weeks.

 

[dmittz]

That is a cool structure being mostly block!

Oviously there will be budgetry constraints.if you don't mind my 2 cents.

First off get rid of that vine pull it out by the roots and round-up and new sprouts that return until its dead.

Is the garage door salvageable? doors aren't cheap and take quite a while to obtain, so if it isn't slavageable don't scrap it until you know when a one one can be obtained!

If you can swing it i'd deal with that rot sooner than later, i don't know how its all tied in but you don't want to have it collapse and lose the roof.

I agree with your idea to remove that little extension as a wise move.

Best of luck and thanks for sharing i'll be following along.

 

[jb3]

Is that a smoker in there? You're keeping that, right?

That is property of a tenant. He is a chef so though the temptation to appropriate it is there, i have to admit it would be wasted in my hands vs his.

Like stealing Michelangelo's paint brush and using it to paint a fence

 

[jb3]

If you cut that vine where it comes out of the ground and dig up the roots, the rest will dry out and come off very easily after a few weeks.

Great idea thank you

 

[xtremek]

That is property of a tenant. He is a chef so though the temptation to appropriate it is there, i have to admit it would be wasted in my hands vs his.

Like stealing Michelangelo's paint brush and using it to paint a fence

Sounds like a win-win situation if you can get him to smoke you some stuff.

 

[jb3]

What is the size of the block garage not including the extension?

I agree the extension was built just so a newer and longer model vehicle could be stored inside. There are several in my area with the similar door bump out.

Glass blocks would fit right into this style of garage. Just one window?

What’s the other two sides look like? Can you even fit between the areas to do any type of repair?

The big thing is to get it structurally sound first. How secure will it be if you don’t live in the property?

The garage is 18 x 18, and the extension only adds about a foot to the length

I like the idea of glass blocks, I will look into that for the window opening.

I have just under 2 feet on the left side and just over 2 feet to the rear. Left side of garage exterior repairs will have to come with a diet.






Security is my biggest concern, but I think it can be done.

 

[jb3]

My shoulders ache just looking at those vines.

I got a look at the back. Its thick enough it looks like fur. I thought the vine was on the other garage as well, but clearly there is a preference for block over metal siding here in the invasive vegetation mind.

Getting rid of all this on the back will involve fence repair and cooperation from a neighbor for access

 

[Wreckster23]

Lordy look at that jungle. Take it out along the base before better weather hits, then get to getting it off the wall. I like the garage, cool little thing especially with that block.

The rot and structure in general looks a lot like like my sisters 100+yo garage she was fixing to tear down last summer. I convinced her to stabilize it at the very least for storage. We had to completely rebuild the two front corners, couple footers down the sides. Nothing pretty but at least she still has a garage.

 

[jb3]

I just had to rip the whole extension off today, and in process feel a lot better. All the rot, and all the poor compromises on the extension have been exposed and removed.

After I got it all off a fun thing happened, the roof sag sprang up a bit with the weight off!

The roll up door was limited to 7 feet tall but the original opening is closer to 9 feet tall.

Before and after-



Extension removed on sides leaving original timber

 

[jb3]

Once i had everything off i can see the primary source of the sag issues, apart from rot. When they converted this garage to a single 16ft wide roll up door they converted from twin carriage doors in the style of the late 20s.

They knocked out a center post to do so, sistering in a single 2x8 to the original header to carry the load, and it wasnt enough, especially with the weight of all the extension and roll up door as well.

The original header is only a 5x3 that really needed that post to support the roof. I am going to put a post back in.

The header is damaged from rot but not totally ruined.





All the rotted removed wood from the extension-

 

[jb3]

Unfortunately I managed to damage the top panel of the perfectly good aluminum 16 foot roll up door by the foolish practice of trying to disassemble the door on a very windy day with gusts blowing straight up the driveway



Also the sooner i get more support under this sagging header the better. It is less than 2 inches from slipping off the block

 

[xtremek]

I think I'd keep the big door, and see if you can knock the dent out well enough for it to work.Replace the header with something much stronger? But this isn't my show, my money, or my time.

 

[captain14]

Mike Haduck has posted several videos about installing glass blocks for replacement windows on his Yiutube “Training Channel” as I call it. He has posted a series on this topic.

How about the widest single garage door you can find that fits, install a supporting post and then a man door on the front?

For you vine removal issues after you decide how to get at it. I know HD in its Husky line in the painting department has a chisel scaled that can be screwed into the painting extension poles. Could you use this idea for the vine removal?

Here’s a picture of my garage and the fence line. I poured 20 bags of concrete in that space 35+ years ago. All the leaves and junk have allowed stuff to start growing back. I try to get in there somehow to keep it clean during the growing season.

 

[jb3]

I think I'd keep the big door, and see if you can knock the dent out well enough for it to work.Replace the header with something much stronger? But this isn't my show, my money, or my time.

Im definitely going to reinforce the header or replace it, but to give you an idea why im considering just keeping one door is limited vehicle access and more interior storage.

There is approx 18 to 20 feet between left side of garage and house, which blocks off the whole side. This overhead shot sort of shows the proximity. One side has to be a storage and work shop side and i figure it might as well be the side that its difficult to park



Inside i have a lot of usable vertical space with the hip roof, but the roll up door frame eats tons of it.

I may even go with carriage doors to get that vertical room on both sides

 

[jb3]

Mike Haduck has posted several videos about installing glass blocks for replacement windows on his Yiutube “Training Channel” as I call it. He has posted a series on this topic.

How about the widest single garage door you can find that fits, install a supporting post and then a man door on the front?

For you vine removal issues after you decide how to get at it. I know HD in its Husky line in the painting department has a chisel scaled that can be screwed into the painting extension poles. Could you use this idea for the vine removal?

Here’s a picture of my garage and the fence line. I poured 20 bags of concrete in that space 35+ years ago. All the leaves and junk have allowed stuff to start growing back. I try to get in there somehow to keep it clean during the growing season.

Thanks for the link, very interesting video! I need to try it

Big single door idea with man door next to it is kind of the direction im leaning. There is a little bit of a time and money crunch, so i need to figure it out soon and do it cheaply

 

[southalabama]

If I were keeping the big door I’d put a steel header in.

But

Personally I’d eliminate the wide garage opening in and frame a double door in.

 

[captain14]

jb3,

There have been several members here that have posted their build for carriage doors. Depends on how fancy you want to get (that means expensive too). Thruxton did a good detail description but I think the photo bucket fiasco lost his pictures. Maybe do a search here for some ideas.

I think Fergie built some carriage doors in his derelict garage thread. He has a couple of different threads for his garage builds.

 

[ipgenie]

If you put in another sectional roll up door, get one with frosted windows in the top panel. It let's in a surprising amount of light even on the shaded side of a building.

 

[jb3]

Good ideas everyone thanks!

Today i did manage to take most of the sag out of the header, it does still have a bit of a stubborn curve i will either have to live with or need to replace the whole thing.

I was jacking the whole front of the roof off the block before it would come out completely, so brought it down and will put in a new header below it for my single door.




I have made a decision on my door, i realized i was over thinking it a bit. I am going to go with a pair of carriage doors. But instead of 2 same size carriage doors and a man door, i could get more wall and storage space going with 2 unequal sized carriage doors and making the smaller side double duty as the man door. That gains me an uninterrupted 7-8 or so feet on the front side further wall space. The eventual door opening will be approximately 9 feet wide by 8 feet tall.

Also ive made an additional decision on windows. The roof is perfect for skylights, and i could put in as many as 4 and get tons of natural light without losing any wall space. That will be the plan for later, for now it will be a dark cavern.

 

[jb3]

A very minor improvement, i repurposed this gutter downspout off the former extension on the front of the garage to fix this annoying missing downspout on the house. Its the little things that bring the most joy. (Pitch does need to be adjusted up a little)

 

[xtremek]

If you put in skylight, will that stop you from insulating the roof?

 

[jb3]

If you put in skylight, will that stop you from insulating the roof?

Im not sure im ever going to bother insulating, but if i do i can always work around a skylight if i get my hands on one.

It would have to be frosted or opaque or have a shade. There are 3 buildings that would be able to look down into the garage apart from mine.

 

[wasfast]

The standard 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' bubble skylights with aluminum frame at Home Depot. Far lower cost, frame a curb, flash and seal around it install.

 

[jb3]

The standard 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' bubble skylights with aluminum frame at Home Depot. Far lower cost, frame a curb, flash and seal around it install.

Great idea thanks!

 

[jb3]

I was using the old bashed aluminum garage overhead panel as a crude work table and noticed the back side has a sort of not bad looking bead board detail-



2 and a half panels fitted vertical and inside out will make my 60/40 carriage doors, and they are insulated, so now im retracting the wasnt planning to insulate comment. We will see later on.



I did manage to get things framed. What I've done here in the interests of making sure i have a solid bottom locking surface for the larger door in my time constraint is put down a pressure treated 2x4 levelled out with plastic spacers and using about 30 tapcons, settling for driving over it to get inside for now.

This side steps the awful concrete and pavement mix until later, where I could do something more permanent, ideally a secure locking point into solid concrete. For now, this bodge ensures the door will not pull open from the bottom and be snug against the 2x4 when closed