Texaco Station Renovation - Moving In

[Bad67300]

Thought I'd start another thread as I've had to change focus to another project from the Journal Building.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=315193

I'm selling my old place that has a 42x88 shop. The plan was to build a new house and bigger shop. I wasn't looking forward to having a mortgage hanging over my head for another 30 years or the hassles of building a new house.

A couple months ago one of our long term tenants indicated he was retiring and closing up his business. The building is an old Texaco station that already has a small living quarters in a portion of the building. My dad moved the station to its current location nearly 30 years ago when a fast food joint bought it for the lot.

So, rather than build a new house the plan is to renovate this building and add on to the back to make nice living quarters.

The living area (kitchen/eating; bathroom; laundry; master suite) will be 17x54. The 3-bay garage area will be for hanging out and entertaining. It will include a drive-on hoist, pool table, bar, etc. Currently, 2 of the 3 overhead doors are closed in. I'm leaning towards putting period correct, but better insulated glass doors back in.

 

[Bad67300]

There are 3 other buildings on the property. The first is a relative new 36x58 shop with heat, AC, and bathroom. Excuse the mess - I've started moving some stuff from the old place in and haven't spent much time organizing.

I'm going to try to use this shop mainly for clean finishing work and assembly of projects.

The second shop is 40x58. It already has a two post hoist and I'll be using this for the dirtier, mechanical work. It's also heated and has AC. With 16 foot sidewalls and 14 foot doors, it's tall enough to put my motorhome in, so half of it will be dedicated to it. Damn motorhome eats up lots of space!

The third building is ancient and needs some TLC. It's 30x80 and includes a paint room. Heated, but no AC. The back half is dirt floor and is filled with junk that was left over from an old welding shop that was here at one time.

 

[marklc]

Nice score!

 

[piker28]

Wow I thought the one building was cool enough but 3? Not even sure what I would do with them all.

 

[chruler]

Nice roomy shop! Do a little work. Drink a Coke!

 

[HOTFR8]

This is going to be great to watch.

 

[Bad67300]

Here is what the apartment looked like. I'm not a fan of drop ceilings - no character in them. The tub/shower was a mess and there's signs of mice, so the entire inside is going to be gutted. The plan is for a larger kitchen/eating area and a bathroom remodel in the existing space.

The bedroom was added on to the original gas station building. I'm leaning towards tearing that down and starting fresh. It is 17x13 and I'd like to expand it to 17x26, so there's room for a master bath, walk-in closets and washer/dryer.

The windows are all single pane and don't open, so those will be replaced with smoked, dual pane sliders. Once all the sheet rock is off and old insulation is out it's going to be spray foamed for insulation and to seal it up good - hopefully keep the rodents out!

 

[wasfast]

Seems amazing that zoning will allow you to have that as a residence. I'm sure there are plenty here that are jealous beyond words about all the separate large shops you have!

 

[Bad67300]

I had concerns about the zoning as well. Before deciding to move any farther on the project I looked in it. Turns out the property is zoned as Residential Estates and not commercial. The former public works director is a friend of mine and I discussed what I wanted to do. He saw no zoning issues. All work would just have to be up to code and inspected like any other remodel or new construction.

 

[oldironfarmer]

Really nice space! Paint booth ready to go double wow

How big is the paint booth?

 

[BUGTHUG]

Great place! Are all those cars yours? Could you take a picture of the water and air station that's hanging on the ceiling? thanks.

 

[Bad67300]

Great place! Are all those cars yours? Could you take a picture of the water and air station that's hanging on the ceiling? thanks.

Yes, the cars/projects are mine. I just sold the 86 Regal. It was a great running race car but I needed the room! I'm slowly moving stuff from a couple other locations - trying to do a load a day. Here are a couple pics of the oiling station - it had oil, grease, and air from what I can tell. I plan to clean it up and keep it hanging there.

Really nice space! Paint booth ready to go double wow

How big is the paint booth?

The paint booth is 14x28. I've had access to use it over the years. The blower in it is almost overkill and I've had it actually **** dirt into the booth. It's pretty old school compared to the new booths, but for the hobby work I do it will be perfect.

 

[yaidunno]

That hose reel is seriously cool! Nice place, and great collection of cars.

 

[Bears Fan]

I agree with yaidunno, the hose reel is cool

 

[LXCam]

WOW!, what a great set up. The first thing that popped into my head was if this was/is a commercial property, but obviously not. It sure looks like the ultimate set up for what you do, so best of luck getting it all organized.

 

[Brad54]

um... wow. I'm usually not the jealous sort, but I'm making an exception this time!

 

[doctordirt]

I am in awww. Congratulation, your work looks great

 

[Bad67300]

Thanks for the great comments! Took delivery of a new blasting cabinet today. My dad has had one of these Skat Blast cabinets for at least 15 years and it's never skipped a beat. I needed one I could get longer parts in so bought the 6 footer. Well built and reasonably priced. Can't wait to get it up and running!

 

[Bad67300]

Well, it's been a long time since I posted any update on the project. Hasn't been a ton of progress, though we do have a draftsman/engineer helping us come up with a plan to add on to the existing station living quarters.

Amazed at how much stuff a person can collect after living in the same place for 15 years....and the amount of time it takes to move it all! Never moving again.

I've now started sorting/organizing, which can be fun because I forgot some of the stuff I had. It's like Christmas! Other time has been spent gutting the station so we can see it's "bones" and build upon them. Anyway, a few more recent pictures. Will be taking more as the progress continues.

 

[Bad67300]

[/IMG]

 

[Bad67300]

 

[Remythepug]

Very cool, always liked those late model impala's

 

[4*4]

Awesome place!!
The last pics aren't working though.

 

[joseph.a.owens.9]

Following!!!

Sent from my SM-G530R4 using Tapatalk

 

[BUGTHUG]

what does the sign say that's next to the primer roadster?

 

[Bib Overalls]

I really like what you are doing. There are some old but salvageable buildings around here. I'd go for it but there is no way my wife would live in an old service station, warehouse, or fire station. Guess I will simply follow your project and do a little fantasizing.

 

[1953mercury]

Lots of space, potential, and a whole lot of work ahead, but very cool. Should be fun to follow along, and now I don't feel quite so overwhelmed with my own projects. Mike

 

[ambenz]

Nice diggs!!! I can just imagine that finding all the memorabilia and old stuff from the original station would be cool to find. I also spyed the pony on the rack...Subscribed!

 

[Bad67300]

what does the sign say that's next to the primer roadster?

It's a neon sign from a liquor store in Denver. Says "Paradise". It's a little rough but planning on cleaning it up and getting new neon for it.

 

[Bad67300]

I really like what you are doing. There are some old but salvageable buildings around here. I'd go for it but there is no way my wife would live in an old service station, warehouse, or fire station. Guess I will simply follow your project and do a little fantasizing.

Thanks! We had thought about building a new house and shop, but really liked the idea of re-purposing something and making a unique living space. The main selling points for the wife were no mortgage and my shop would be close to home so she can keep tabs on me!

 

[Bad67300]

Lots of space, potential, and a whole lot of work ahead, but very cool. Should be fun to follow along, and now I don't feel quite so overwhelmed with my own projects. Mike

Thanks Mike! I do feel overwhelmed at times for sure. An overabundance of projects seems to run in my family, so I just take it as hereditary!

 

[Bad67300]

Nice diggs!!! I can just imagine that finding all the memorabilia and old stuff from the original station would be cool to find. I also spyed the pony on the rack...Subscribed!

Have been finding some cool stuff in one of the outbuildings, though I also had a long running battle with a skunk that I've finally won! lol. The Mustang is an 89 5.0 LX, 5-speed. My parents gave it to me as a college graduation present so some cars will come/go, but this one will stay forever. I ran it hard and put it away wet many times. Haven't licensed it for years, so doing some maintenance, tuning and adding some more bolt-ons.

 

[Bad67300]

It's been a long time since I posted any updates, too long. Definitely need to do better in that regard. So, over the last 10 months there has been some progress, though not as much as hoped. Slow progress is in some part due to dealing with some storm damage, other priorities, and plenty of goofing off. But, I'm going to be able to concentrate more on the project over the winter.

Had a straight wind storm take the roof off of one building and send it into another, damaging our motorhome in the process. The damaged building has been pretty well repaired.

 

[Bad67300]

Continuing with the addition to the existing Texaco station, here are the plans for renovation. I used SweetHome 3D. Not perfect, or exceptionally precise, but good enough to get the building permit and for the contractor to start work.

Basement

Main Floor

Second Floor

 

[Bad67300]

So it hadn't rained all summer, but as soon as you dig a basement hole, it rains....a lot. So, that has put the pouring behind schedule. The soil is not so good where the station is located - lots of shale, so there's going to need to be a significant amount of engineered fill used.

Additionally, with the existing building's footings and slab, it was decided to pour the basement walls away from them and then fill the void with concrete since there was no way to pack fill in between the two. Also decided to use ICF forms. They are pretty slick. Like the R factor and the ease of attaching sheetrock.

 

[apollo11]

SWEET !!!
I take it you are single?
Not too many women would fly with that.

 

[Bad67300]

SWEET !!!
I take it you are single?
Not too many women would fly with that.

lol! No, I've been married for almost 5 years. She's pretty understanding and loves unique spaces. She gets her kitchen done how she wants it, which was a pretty good trade for me, and we get to live in an old gas station. She also loves riding motorcycles and drag races a low 10 second '62 Chevy II, so I did get lucky!

 

[HOTFR8]

Nice to see some updates. Will be following again.

 

[Aaron P.]

nice project building n nice cars to go with it

 

[Bears Fan]

Damn that is one impressive sandblaster...6 footer!!! I could have some fun with that!!! Love the Deuce