The Jones Garage Addition

[jonesmechanical]

Looks good. Quality - I'd expect nothing less from you Greg!

Thankyou! I have a few friends and and old ex girl friend from portland (if you are her, this is where i say "how you like them apples!") . Do we know eachother? If not, i appreciate the words of faith! Just trying to break down the project into bite size portions and do the best i can. I love the community here. Very nice people with no agenda except to help. Cant say that about the turbo sub (where i spend alot of time) forum of bimmerforums. Too much drama. I dont get it.

 

[PhantomEB]

Love the idea of the drop ceiling to hide the garage door! Would be one I would like to steal but I am goin 2 9x8s so even when one is open its not takin up too much space.

 

[jonesmechanical]

Yes, the garage door drop ceiling worked out perfect. Its so entertaining to see the door just drop out of a slot in the ceiling. Having a full 5' of storage over that garage bay will be so nice for storage. No more going into the hot attic with Christmas trees that are too large for a 20"x30" access.

Here is the latest photo update:

Brick Arrived:

Window installed on Gable:

Stucco has started:

(note the elusive 5 year old Carson who is rarely caught in the wild

A few inside shots of the sheetrock progress:

 

[MQ Unlimited Media]

I definately cant keep up with the Jones! Looking good.

 

[jonesmechanical]

I definately cant keep up with the Jones! Looking good.

Lol. We have been blessed. Having the last name hasn't held me back any at least.

Wow, this has been one crazy week. Friday, I was wanting to be home early because there was so much that was finishing. Paint, garage doors, soffit, facia, brick, stucco, doors. Even the 20 yard dumpster that has been a permanent fixture in the street left on friday.

Well, I came home to the largest mess I have ever seen. Imagine all of the trash of the stucco, paint, sheetrock, doors, brick, and everything. NO ONE CLEANED UP. I should have taken pictures before.

The first thing when I came home that was a frustration is that the garage doors were installed WRONG. Well done albeit, but wrong. Lets take a look:

From day one, when taking garage doors bids, we talked about "high lift". This design is critical to making things look clean, matching how things were in the other two garage doors, and more importantly, staying clear of the ceiling hoist access.

The garage door installer (nice guy, pretty OCD) said "well, you will just have to lower the garage door down a bit to access the hoist hole if you have a big item to fit through the hole." I about lost it. I just looked at him sternly and said, "I don't care if I have to do it my self, these garage doors will be high lift". He understood. They are coming back next week to correct the issue. I offered to pay for it, they said, "no, we will take care of it". It just ***** that they worked all day hanging two doors, and now it all has to be redone.

Now, on to the good. I cleaned up the inside, got all of the trash outside so I could clean away inside. I have gone through 4 tanks of gas on my pressure washer, 4 cleanings on my shop vac, and I would consider it "not heavily dusty" now. As a sub contractor myself, I need to pay attention better to cleaning up after ourselves as I personally experienced the angst of dealing with the mess.

Here are some pics as of this evening:

Note that the front soffit is not done, waiting on some timbers before that is completed.

Saturday, the sheetrock/stucco/brick contractor came over and hauled off all of the trash. Without their help, I would be cleaning into next week myself. So nice to have a nice clean shell done, and now I can focus on all the DIY details I have been wanting to do for a long time.

 

[-Brent-]

Looking really good. They got the drywall finished fast. What's the plan with the side of the stairs?

 

[jonesmechanical]

Looking really good. They got the drywall finished fast. What's the plan with the side of the stairs?

Yes, great progress this week. Side of the stairs will be wrapped in galvanized or aluminum with natural/rusty angle iron corners. Then I will be fabricating a handrail out of 3 1/2" x 1 1/2" square tubing (or something close) and horizontally run stainless cable.

All of the trim will be reclaimed wood. I am going for a nicely finished look but with rough/raw/natural wood/steel look with the finish work and railings. Upstairs floor will be 4'x8' sheets of hot rolled 14 gauge steel, the stair treads diamond plate aluminum (bead blasted treads, polished risers) The garage floor will then be all epoxy, solid color in the front half of the shop (a medium grey color) and then will be checker board black and grey epoxy starting 3-4' in front of the bathroom.

I think epoxy will start this week.

 

[Zeke]

Just getting on this thread. That is pretty awesome. I haven't seen anything like that for years and that was down in Orange County, CA where you can find Garage Mahals about. Your home would fit in the wealthiest of communities.

 

[jonesmechanical]

Just getting on this thread. That is pretty awesome. I haven't seen anything like that for years and that was down in Orange County, CA where you can find Garage Mahals about. Your home would fit in the wealthiest of communities.

Thank You!! at the end of the day, at a 5400 sq ft of house (2200 sq ft main, 2200 basement, 1000 upstairs), and 3500 sq ft of garage/shop, 1/2 acre in a nice rural area that is close to Salt Lake City and Provo and very close to everything else, I would be lucky to sell the house for between $500,000 and $600,000. At the peak of the market, Maybe 50-60% more than that. I purchased the home on as the market was already well on its way down. Taxes are very inexpensive, only about $1800 a year. Its nice to be in a conservative state.

I explain to my neighbors that this is a very conservative thing I'm doing, and some get it. Eliminating my shop lease will allow me to effectively earn a 12% return on my money. Now, the other side of it, having a garage that exceeds any expectation that I have ever had, and having all of my things under one roof, accessible to my young boys, thats priceless.

Here is a photo update:

Yesterday I tackled the upstairs flooring. All 14 gauge (1/16" thick) hot rolled 4'x8' sheet steel. Actual dimensions measured almost 49" wide, 8' long. A bit of a bonus, except when you shop up to the steel yard and your utility truck has a bed that is 48" wide .

Each sheet weighs 100 lbs. Sheet cost was $59 per sheet, about $1.80 per sq ft. I wanted something that I didn't have to worry about, was different, smooth and gives a industrial/modern look. I am very happy with the results. I cut all of the pieces with my Miller portable plasma cutter. Its an amazing piece of machinery that we have used endlessly on demolition and fabrication. Finally using it on something for my self that I will enjoy every day. I screwed the sheets down in a few spots to hold them in place during installation. I will be tack welding them together. I imagine I will be sealing the surface with something (wax maybe), and possibly will be dying/staining the steel with something. As is, I love the look. The nicest surface I have ever swept. The transition where the steel drops off over the stair well and short overlook will be capped off with a piece of angle iron.

Pics out in the shop area upstairs.

I went up the walls 49" to protect them in the fabrication area.

Pics of the office area:

I also worked on the finish electrical and HVAC this week.

I scored these Hy Lite Vapor proof lights on ebay for a set of 6 for $100. Normally $100 each!!. I just had to convert them to a sconce setup with a few galvanized elbow's and ******'s. I got some old looking edison bulbs. They look amazing at night. These ligts will be activated by a switch that is also tell them to turn on as the garage door activated lights.

I hung and painted the Round ceiling diffuser and return air grill. I just painted them with chrome paint, which really always nets the look of bare galvanized. Note a HVAC trick here. Paint the ductwork behind the grill with flat black, and you won't see anything behind the grill. Also note that I installed the large ceiling lights. I will mention that the quality of fixture that you pay 10% more for at a electrical wholesale place is 2x's the quality of what you would get at Lowe's/Home Depot. The lens cover, gauge of metal, balast quality etc is not even comparable.

The garage door installer, after the second try, nailed the high lift concept. Perfectly designed if I do say so myself!

I built two more trial stair treads, this time in full width.

These are them installed, along with the galvanized skirt board wrap mocked up temporarily.

 

[andyztoy]

looks very good keep the pictures coming

 

[ambenz]

Subscribed! Love the addition and the little details your starting on, very cool!

 

[STClurker]

nice place, I'm just curious about a couple of things

won't the diamond plate stairs be slippery if wet?

and you mentioned a single post hoist earlier, yet your ceiling doesn't look high enough to lift anything very much.

btw, did I mention nice place?

 

[jonesmechanical]

looks very good keep the pictures coming

As progress happens, I sure well. Thanks!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Subscribed! Love the addition and the little details your starting on, very cool!

Thanks, for me, these details are what its all about. When I see a single car garage with small details, its much more inspiring than a large garage with nothing but studs.

 

[jonesmechanical]

nice place, I'm just curious about a couple of things

won't the diamond plate stairs be slippery if wet?

No, not at all. As with all tread/diamond plates, that is the purpose, to not be slippery. I have been atop my aluminum flip top boxes that I fabricated in all kinds of temperatures and weathers (including snow), and its not slipper at all. Same with many trailers that are steel treat plate (not as aggressive as the aluminum diamond plate). I have pushed cars onto trailers in the rain, and traction isn't any more of an issue than any other non slippery surface. My last house had hardwood stairs. Try that with socks on, not good. Diamond/tread plate was invented to provide traction in all conditions.

...and you mentioned a single post hoist earlier, yet your ceiling doesn't look high enough to lift anything very much.

btw, did I mention nice place?

Thankyou!! I know pictures can be confusing. Let me clarify. The hoist is located a total of 26-27' off the ground. The first level (concrete, where the cars are parked) is a 12' ceiling (designed around my rotary symetrical lift and my bend pack single post parking lift). Then the structure is 17" thick, then the upstairs at the top of the ridge is 13' tall where the hoist is located. The main point of the hoist is to be able to lift things off the ground on the first level, but also lift things through the modular aluminum floor up to the second level for storage (like a quad/4wheeler, snow plow, lawn mower, snow mobile, or mostly in my case, furnaces, A/C units, other HVAC materials, with the occasional automotive motor or other car piece).

Hopefully that makes sense. So its a hoist for the first and second levels, but also a elevator. The upstairs floor comes out in 6" x 5' lengths in seconds, yet holds a 400 lb per sq ft load with minimal deflection.

 

[-Brent-]

Those lights RULE!

 

[STClurker]

I suppose you have a good point about the diamond plate.

I was referring to your parking hoist though (height wise).

 

[-Brent-]

Who did you have do your drawings? I'm at the point where I'm ready to get that underway. Mine is simple though, just need a cross or reverse gable addition to double the size of my existing shop.

 

[Red Leader]

Haven't seen this place before. Wow, I like it a lot! The steel plating is very unique! Are you planning to clear coat it or just let it age as is? (I'm unsure how steel ages in an environment like that). I like the design, very open and friendly, but different also.

Did I mention? I like it

 

[jackylcrackyl]

Nice garage addition! I really love the 14ga flooring and wall treatment. I'm very interested to see how you decide to finish it off. The current look is real cool, but it needs something to seal it soon.

You are so right about the return you'll get my consolidating the shop under one roof. Definitely priceless to have the boys be able to be close and part of that, too.

 

[SiGmA_X]

Thankyou! I have a few friends and and old ex girl friend from portland (if you are her, this is where i say "how you like them apples!") . Do we know eachother? If not, i appreciate the words of faith! Just trying to break down the project into bite size portions and do the best i can. I love the community here. Very nice people with no agenda except to help. Cant say that about the turbo sub (where i spend alot of time) forum of bimmerforums. Too much drama. I dont get it.

We don't know each other offline, but with the quality of your Coupe, I expect nothing less with the house. And I have to say, its pretty nice!

 

[jonesmechanical]

I suppose you have a good point about the diamond plate.

I was referring to your parking hoist though (height wise).

Oh, my bad. You threw me off when you said Hoist. Yes, the single post lift. Bend Pak makes it. Its the extended lift so you can get (model pl-6000x) over 7' of lift in the clear. My BMW M coupe and Datsun 510 are only 45-50" tall including the lift thickness. So in total, there will be a foot or less to spare on the 12' ceilings. Actually a bit more, because I dropped the lift 4" to allow for a recessed design so you don't have to drive over the foot that normally resides on top of the concrete. Here is a picture of a coupe I built for a friend of mine (578 wheel hp) You can see the lift barely in the back ground with the Datsun on it. And, you can tell, these cars aren't all that tall.

Thanks for reminding me what this garage is all about, its about its residents. I have been so focused on the upstairs, and getting it ready to move my business into, that I have actually forgotten about the main level area, and how its going to layout.

Lets introduce the permanent main level residents to the garage:

This is my car, we are converting in right now over to E85 flex fuel using the AEM EMS and a GM Flex Fuel sensor sensor. It has a Garrett GT4088R turbo on it, it has dyno'd 575 wheel up here on pump gas, with e85, we should add another 100 whp or safely.

Here is a pic of Steve's car (best friend from College) and mine together:

Here is an older pic of the lift in the existing 2 car garage (that garage has 15' ceilings). I have actually parked our landcruiser on it with room to spare in that garage.

a pic of the foot of the lift, that will sit down in the concrete recess, and then get covered with 1/4" plate steel.

A few pics of the datsun:
VG30,Nissan motor, not rebuilding it to a vg34 high compression motor.

Here are a few pics of cars I have worked on, fitted wheels and tires to, suspension, and minor other tuning:
Audi S8 (I designed and fitted the wheels, 283 30 21 on 10.5" wide wheels) Not the finish I would have gone for on the wheels, but its works.

996 Turbo, highly modified. Motos, Fikse wheels, Techart body, very nice car. I love it, all it needs in my book is a rear wheel drive conversion.

And then my favorite exotic. Other than fitting the wheels to the car, I can't say I have done anything to it. Car has a Heffner twin turbo it.

I don't have a car business, but have some friends that have done really well for them selves, and we work on the cars. More and more, we try and buy them already "done" and then we dial them in from there. Its just such a bad investment to build a car from scratch when you can buy them with all the expensive upgrades on them for almost no premium.

 

[jonesmechanical]

We don't know each other offline, but with the quality of your Coupe, I expect nothing less with the house. And I have to say, its pretty nice!

SWEET!!!! Thankyou!

 

[Weld-It Fab]

What transmission did you use on the 510 with the VG30? Also, did you have to massage the firewall to get everything to fit correctly?

Thanks,

Nick

 

[MQ Unlimited Media]

Are you kidding me! Nice stable residents! Love the R8 and 510!

 

[nsimps]

That is one awesome garage you have there! I have to say thought the best part is that R8. Very nice wheel choice

 

[RHD 4 LIFE]

So it's actually a Thoroughbred stable and not a workshop!? lol

 

[jonesmechanical]

What transmission did you use on the 510 with the VG30? Also, did you have to massage the firewall to get everything to fit correctly?

Thanks,

Nick

The drivetrain in the 510 is from a late 80's nissan 200sx V6. That model has some advantages of the vg30 specific drivetrain. It fits like it was meant to be. There are kits that make the sway very easy. No modification of the tunnel except for the shifter location.

The car was originally built in the late 90's by the famous 510 enthusiast Kelvin Dietz. It was his own car. I have never seen or have know of another 510 that was done with the attention to detail that he gave it to make a modern 510. The nick name that this car is "the smurf".

 

[jonesmechanical]

Are you kidding me! Nice stable residents! Love the R8 and 510!

I certainly can't claim most of those nice cars. I am more than satisfied with mine. For what the coupe and 510 cost me, some of my friends are loosing that much money on their new exotics in a matter of a few years through depreciation. Who wants something like everyone else. I enjoy something personalized and different. If it can out run the factory exotic, even better.

 

[jonesmechanical]

So it's actually a Thoroughbred stable and not a workshop!? lol

Yes, kind of like a "SFLB" short in the front, long in the back. Business up front, party in the back.

In this case, Party on the main level, business up top. But honestly, I have a great time with my HVAC business also.

 

[GTIfan]

Holy ****, looks good buddy! I need to swing by and see the new addition in person!
(this is your lanky friend with the 20th Anniversary GTI BTW).

 

[jonesmechanical]

Holy ****, looks good buddy! I need to swing by and see the new addition in person!
(this is your lanky friend with the 20th Anniversary GTI BTW).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Here are a few updates. For anyone who has any doubts about how these stairs perform, they are AMAZING. Wet, muddy, dry, they are as good as anything I have stepped foot on. The fit was exact, and it took patience to get all of them the right shape. I used a tube of liquid nails on each tread, and they feel rock solid. The aluminum is about 1/16th inch, and was pretty easy to work with. I am so happy with the results. I honestly don't know what else I would have used. Rubber stair treads with risers that are 48" wide would have costed 3x's more. I love the look, function, and performance of it.

Here are some pics:

Now, of course, my favorite non car part of the garage.....the HVAC.

Office zone:

Shop Zone and exposed trunk line over to Existing garage:

Existing garage Eyeball aluminum grill:

After about 10 hours of reverse engineering existing switches, relays, capacitors, and mapping the existing circuit logic, a good friend and I got the hoist and trolley rewired.

The existing control for the trolley was a simple 3 wire one, but it did have the capacitor integrated into the control handle. The hoist runs about 5x's the amps running at full load. The hoist control handle (the one we re used) had 4 wire control, but all the capacitors were up within the hoist.

So we figured out a way to run the hoist on only 3 wires. This was very important because buying a 4 wire retractable electrical reel is at least $1000.00. A 12-3 wire reel can be had for less than a 10th of the cost.

We figured everything out, installed a 20 amp three pole double throw toggle switch (so you can either control the trolley through the control or the hoist). It would have been nice to have that switch in the control, but that would have required more than 3 wires.

First time we hit it right. It works flawlessly.

Here are a few pics:
40' retractable reel we cut both ends off of, installed the hoist control on one end, and then wired the other into the switch junction box.

Then a shot of the electrical cables that are long enough to travel with the hoist/trolley. There is constant power 110V, Control wiring for the Trolley, and Control wiring for the hoist. Total of 9 wires leads through 3 cables. All cables are rated for the amperage draw, as are the switches, and the retractable reel.

 

[JimVonBaden]

Wow, great work on those steps!

Jim

 

[UN4GTBL]

Thats awesome!

 

[jonesmechanical]

Last night I started cleaning the pendant lights. This is one of the first projects I have been able to do in the new garage, as I was able to bring over my bench grinders and everything else.

I was going back and forth on what to do with them, I ended up polishing one.

I may go back and brush them out, but for now, I think I like the polish.

 

[ugly kustom]

Going to Temple square my hole life and even working in Utah. You surely fit the profile of a Mom and Pap shop, That has it all. Nice GARAGE.

 

[flybefree]

Wow, it's all better homes and gardens and rock walls then BAM!!! Out comes the diamond plate, steel floors, and hot cars! Well done Sir, well done.

Shaun

 

[Thedoc14]

They are certainly the bling factor on the stairs, very industrial and COOL..

I like the exposed duct work in the office...

 

[jonesmechanical]

They are certainly the bling factor on the stairs, very industrial and COOL..

I like the exposed duct work in the office...

Thankyou. In total, it took about 5 hours in cutting/bending the stairs tread/riser combo's, 4 sheets of aluminum tread plate @ $200 each (I have almost a sheet left over, and it produced 20 tread/riser combos.

At 48" wide, I dont think you can do cheap vinyl tread/risers for that. And it wouldn't have the look or the durability. Rubber, that would have been over $100 a stair or more.

The last few days I have been working on the pendant lights. I polished up the cans, made a swing link out of 1" black pipe *******, and found that a 1" galvanized pipe flange has the same bolt pattern as the electrical can lights. Now, the whole assembly has the same look. The lights already had a nice cast threaded hoop topping of their black pipe.

Shot coming up the aluminum stairs:

Upclose of the exposed old school edison bulbs.

The pickle wood is ordered and should be here in the next week or so. It 3/8" thick, 7" wide planks. The ceiling will get covered in that, along with all the base and door trim in the garage.

I can't wait to move into this office.

 

[Thedoc14]

The office is really getting that old warehouse feel to it, are you using the 7" planks on the floor up there or just garage roof?

Your desk going in the widow, so the neighbour's can see up ya trouser leg.

Great work again with the lights..............