xtremek
Well-known member
The reel mower will give you a good work out. At the rate these guys are going, they'll be done next week?
Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT The Mary Kay Garage
- Thread starter pickles
- Start date
Workspaces sized between 265 and 485 squarefeet.
Xtremek, I wish. My GC said two months initially but I didn’t believe him. He has been at it three weeks now. I think we have a little more than one week of masonry work left. Beyond that there really aren’t to many other trades. Some carpentry and the roof. Some electrical. Iron stairs to the deck and a garage door. Maybe he can do it in another five or six weeks. Also even without the stairs and deck I could probably start parking in it again. That would be very welcome.
captain14
Well-known member
Do you plan on installing a deadbolt lock on the door?
Is the other side about the same width?
The GC seems to be rolling right along.
What’s the plan for the backyard after the construction is finished?
Is the other side about the same width?
The GC seems to be rolling right along.
What’s the plan for the backyard after the construction is finished?
920kip
Well-known member
That looks like a pretty steep climb on your neighbors staircase. Will yours be the same?
love the brick work.
love the brick work.
I had not really thought about a deadbolt but probably will install one. I’m not sure it’s really necessary as the bump out area is going to have a big window. If somebody wants in that will be the path of least resistance not the door. I do want go get a lock that I can open with a code or a phone however.
Our stairs will be the same rise and run as next door. I’ve walked up those stairs before and they seem comfortable. Maybe the picture makes them seem steeper than they really are.
After the garage is done we will tackle the backyard. A few years ago I put in a paver patio. You can see remnants of it in some of my earlier photos. To be honest it was kind of a fail. I never really liked how it came out.
Whatever we do in back there will not be much space. I think I’ll try to put in a bluestone or similar patio and have a small table and chairs. I have a big green egg back there now. I might add a gas grill and maybe a prep area too. I might even consider a small wooden hot tub. Very small.
The main hang out area will be the roof deck. We plan on having a dinning table for at least six, some sort of seating area and some planters for tomatoes and decorative plants.
Our stairs will be the same rise and run as next door. I’ve walked up those stairs before and they seem comfortable. Maybe the picture makes them seem steeper than they really are.
After the garage is done we will tackle the backyard. A few years ago I put in a paver patio. You can see remnants of it in some of my earlier photos. To be honest it was kind of a fail. I never really liked how it came out.
Whatever we do in back there will not be much space. I think I’ll try to put in a bluestone or similar patio and have a small table and chairs. I have a big green egg back there now. I might add a gas grill and maybe a prep area too. I might even consider a small wooden hot tub. Very small.
The main hang out area will be the roof deck. We plan on having a dinning table for at least six, some sort of seating area and some planters for tomatoes and decorative plants.
My crew did not work yesterday on account of a number of thunderstorms going through the area but they were back at it again today. The north wall is now about 11.5 feet tall. That’s not full height but I believe it’s the height where they will set the joists. they will finish the parapet wall around the roof deck later. They also moved the scaffold to the south wall. Here are some pics both from the alley and also the back yard 
Geoff289
Well-known member
Greetings from Australia. I haven't posted on your thread before but have been following your build with interest. I got one of those human powered mowers when I had a pretty small lawn a couple of houses ago. Apart from being hard work I found it didn't really do a very good job. You can't push them fast enough to rotate the blades at enough rpm to cut very well, they tended to just bend the grass over without cutting it. The small electric one I replaced it with was the best mower I've ever had because it spun even faster than a gas powered one.
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captain14
Well-known member
Great progress. Will you trash cans live in the garage or can they stay in the alley requiring the door to be opened every time you place something inside the cans?
I don’t know if this is an option for a small electric mower, but can they be hung from the wall to save some space?
I don’t know if this is an option for a small electric mower, but can they be hung from the wall to save some space?
runwhatyabrung
Well-known member
Love your ongoing build, regarding battery mowers, I switched to a DeWalt battery one this spring, What I had before was the cheapest/smallest Yardworks corded unit that they sold 12 years ago. Not a fair comparison but the battery unit is hands down superior. Cut job is nice, it never slowed down and being wider by 7 inches than the old one means getting done faster. I am on a typical suburban Canadian lot of 45 x 110 and I also do the neighbors front yard ( so about 15-20 minutes of work). Both batteries supplied with the mower still showed 3 bars when done on the fuel gage so I am guessing that I could probably do the yard 3 times on one charge. What punts it over the wall is not having an extension cord to dance with while mowing the lawn and not having to get gas for small engine appliance. Also helps that all me other cordless tools use the same battery pack types. I have only used the supplied 10aH once to cut the grass, since then I have only used the 5aH that I already had with my cordless impact, probably could do the yard twice on 1 charge on the smaller batteries.
Attachments
Sifan
Well-known member
' I was also concerned that there is no way to bag the cuttings with a reel style mower.'
google "reel mower with grass catcher"
Several under $100 and a California model for $1000 LOL
google "reel mower with grass catcher"
Several under $100 and a California model for $1000 LOL
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
The extra $900 is for the cancer warning sticker.
$1,000 is definitely to rich for my blood. I won't worry about it for awhile but my guess is I end up with one of the smallest reasonably priced batter powered mowers out there. I have maybe 400 square feet of grass to in the front of my house so my mower requirements are minimal. It probably took my just as long to get the old mower out and to plug it in as it did to actually mow. Anything out there is going to have way more battery life than I need.
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Captain, trash cans are definitely just left out in the alley. I don't know anybody in my area who does anything different. Some people have put little cubby holes or other places to the side or back of their garage for the trash cans but they are still kept out side. I don't even know what days my garbage (or recycling as that is a different day) gets picked up. I was definitely not going to do anything to accommodate the trash cans in any way that negatively effected the space in the garage.
xtremek
Well-known member
Reel mowers don't tolerate long grass. They cut just fine if you stay on top of it. They also don't like a bumpy yard. But a 20'x20' yard it should do ok. And they do need to be sharp.
PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I tried a reel mower but I ended up replacing it with a real mower.
xtremek
Well-known member
Used to mow our 80'x160' lot with a reel mower. Not fun, but it did a good job. On the flip side, the 72" Exmark Turf tracer was AWESOME. That's what you really need. 
Ford52PU
Well-known member
I grew up in a row house in a ghetto with a postage stamp front yard. Always had a reel mower worked fine. After getting married and moving away bought Mom a Black and Decker electric (1980) every other time she used it she ran over the orange extension cord, tripped the breaker and then I got the call. Drive an hour reset breaker, splice cord, rinse and repeat. By the time she passed the cord was more black electrical tape than orange cord showing! 
I'd give anything to get that phone call again to come fix it.
I'd give anything to get that phone call again to come fix it.
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I came home a little early today as I had to get my wife’s car serviced. I was able to meet the four masons working on my garage. Four really nice Polish guys. Three of them, I presume, older than me. It was 90 degrees today. Seems like an awfully hard job to do in that heat. The south wall is now the same height as the north one and they told me they will install the steel beam over the garage door tomorrow. They will definitely not be done this week but that’s not a surprise as they lost almost half the week due to thunderstorms. Here is the south wall.
billconner
Well-known member
very good!
WheelsNT. That’s exactly what it would be like.
rjn2649
Well-known member
Wow so cool to watch the progress, those guys are doing great. The weather here has sucked at the moment, for sure.
Masonry work continued today on both the alley facing and house facing walls of the garage. They also delivered and installed the main steel beam that spans the opening for the garage door. Pics below
Thanks for visiting. Pic
Thanks for visiting. Pic
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billconner
Well-known member
Very nice!
Chrisb62
Well-known member
Masons seem to be able to pick the pace up with actual space to work. Bet they are happier.
Geoff289
Well-known member
Wow, they sure are cracking on with it.
xtremek
Well-known member
I'll be happy if we can go 1/2 your pace. It seems to me your guys are flying.
billconner
Well-known member
I'm curious to learn about roof deck - structure as well as water management. Habitable decks over finished space are never simple.
HPRifleman
Member Emeritus
Definitely. He needs to send some of his guys out to the suburbs to work on my build.
billconner
Well-known member
I wonder on a per sq ft be basis if it's really that fast. It isn't a garage mahal like many posted here.
rjn2649
Well-known member
Gonna be a nice today, looks like. I bet pic's this evening show ALL the walls up... Can't wait to see it.
wreckdiver1321
Well-known member
This thread is great. I love the challenges you've been able to overcome and it's cool seeing it all come together. It's going to be a really nice looking building too, I love the brick. Can't wait to see it closer to finished.
Being a Montana resident, the space requirements you're facing are outside of my experience, but I can absolutely get behind your choice to live where you are and handle the limitations of that space. If it's where you want to be and you're willing to make the concessions to make that happen, more power to you. My wife and I have tossed around the idea of living in an old building if we get the chance. That may happen in the future.
Being a Montana resident, the space requirements you're facing are outside of my experience, but I can absolutely get behind your choice to live where you are and handle the limitations of that space. If it's where you want to be and you're willing to make the concessions to make that happen, more power to you. My wife and I have tossed around the idea of living in an old building if we get the chance. That may happen in the future.
Thanks for all the nice comments folks. I’m glad people are enjoying the ride along. The masons were at it again today. and the weather today was beautiful. Mostly they worked on the wall facing the house. Please see below. 
The large open space is the bump out which will be finished in wood and hardiboard.
I’m thinking that we might not see too much additional progress in the next few days. Unfortunately. The masons still have to finish the three parapet walls around the roof deck (the side of the deck facing the back of the house will be wrought iron) but they won’t do those walls until the roof joists are installed. My GC says he won’t get that done for another week or so. I will post updates this week if there is any more progress to show.
The large open space is the bump out which will be finished in wood and hardiboard.
I’m thinking that we might not see too much additional progress in the next few days. Unfortunately. The masons still have to finish the three parapet walls around the roof deck (the side of the deck facing the back of the house will be wrought iron) but they won’t do those walls until the roof joists are installed. My GC says he won’t get that done for another week or so. I will post updates this week if there is any more progress to show.
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Hey guys. I haven’t updated this thread for a couple of weeks because, unfortunately, I haven’t seen any progress to the garage in a couple of weeks. They were back at it again today however, and the garage now has a roof. I know the masons were waiting for the roof to finish the parapet walls so they didn’t have to work from scaffolds. I’m not sure when they will come back back I’m hoping it’s soon. Here is a photo from alley.
And here is another from our second floor bedroom.
I’ll post another update as soon as they make more progress.
And here is another from our second floor bedroom.
I’ll post another update as soon as they make more progress.
xtremek
Well-known member
Looks like it's getting close.
wreckdiver1321
Well-known member
Hey man, slow progress is still progress. Still looks like a beautiful building in the works.
Thanks guys. No real work on the garage today but I did come home today to see that someone had installed this. 
I would have thought they would look to a solution with more horsepower but this would seem to be their plan as far as getting the brick, mortar and concrete block to the roof.
I would have thought they would look to a solution with more horsepower but this would seem to be their plan as far as getting the brick, mortar and concrete block to the roof.PugetDude
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Wow, that is really old school; almost medieval! Simple solution to a simple problem.
captain14
Well-known member
The crew uses that to build character into the young guys and apprentices when they’re not mixing mortar or moving brick and block.
Are they mixing mortar in pans or have a portable Mixer on site?
Sorta like those old reel mowers we were
Talking about earlier in the thread.
Can you take a wide angle Lens shot to include your neighbors garages from the alley? Trying to imagine what all three look like from that area.
Are they mixing mortar in pans or have a portable Mixer on site?
Sorta like those old reel mowers we were
Talking about earlier in the thread.
Can you take a wide angle Lens shot to include your neighbors garages from the alley? Trying to imagine what all three look like from that area.