Speedbeaver
Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2012
- Messages
- 7
The split level Garage
Greetings everyone!
I've been lurking on this forum for a few years, dreaming of the day when I would also have my own garage to organize and work in.
First things first, please note that I'm French Canadian and tha English is not my first language, so please bare with the occasional clumsy sentences.
I won't pretend being a good writer like some of you guys, heck I barely manage to come up with something to write in a birthday card, but I'll do my best to make things clear while documenting how I organize my garage.
So, after 8 years living in a condo, getting married and having a kid, my wife and I decided to get a house together (already had the condo before meeting her).
We managed to find a brand new twin house. The exterior was already done and we needed to figure out the interior options.
The house came with a small garage (10'6"x20'), which had stairs to get to the door (40" wide), limiting the options as to how the space could be organized. And I needed to clear enough space to fit my bike and my Wife's car during winter.
I managed to put up shelves and a small workbench I already had, as a temporary solution, but it was clear that this setup wouldn't cut it for winter since the car wouldn't fit in.
At that point I knew that my only solution to get more space would need to make use of the only noteworthy characteristic of my gage: the 12' ceiling. I then designed the plans of what the storage space would look like. Being 5'9", all I needed was to be able to walk without hitting my head with boots on, so I choose to set the minimum height to 5"11", leaving 5'1" of headroom above the new floor.
The design itself wasn't that complicated, although getting the garage organized to clear up enough workable space was more of a challenge. Fortunately, the weather was still warm (no snow yet) and I was able to get the Ducati and some other stuff in the back yard.
The ramp came off and a new support posts came up. Since I didn't want any problems in the future, instead of using a 6x6 for support (once they crack their capacy to hold weight is mostly gone), I decided to use three 2x6 screwed together. That way, if one cracks, the other two will still be able to hold up. (that's my dad on the picture. Best handyman I know. I've been working with him on projects since I was a kid and he's always part of the bigger builds I do. Because behind any good handyman is always a better one!).
Since putting a post in the middle of the support beam is impossible (I have to be able to get the car in the garage after all), we put together a 5-layer "superbeam". Three 2x8 with plywood glued in between. Everything was bolted up together with 5" screws. The plywood will prevend the beam to bend in the middle since it introduces some mayers of wood grain that won't be in the same direction as the 2x8. Those babies will be able to hold up all the weight I will put over it without a problem. We then let the glue dry overnight.
Next morning we got back at it, putting the two "superbeams" up and setting up the rest of the crossbeams.
After that things went smoothly as we only needed to lay the plywood on top of the new frame. Since I'm gonna park a car under it, my dad suggested to add a kickplate to prevent objects falling on the roof and/or windshield. The result isn't pretty but it does the job. I also cut a small hole in the board to access the garage door motor manual controls.
Surprinsingly (to me at least), the stairs were the thing that took the most thinking and adjusting to get it right.
Next came the guardrail:
And Voilà! You get a cozy Split Level Garage.
The final touch was adding an extra light under the new floor:
Greetings everyone!
I've been lurking on this forum for a few years, dreaming of the day when I would also have my own garage to organize and work in.
First things first, please note that I'm French Canadian and tha English is not my first language, so please bare with the occasional clumsy sentences.
I won't pretend being a good writer like some of you guys, heck I barely manage to come up with something to write in a birthday card, but I'll do my best to make things clear while documenting how I organize my garage.
So, after 8 years living in a condo, getting married and having a kid, my wife and I decided to get a house together (already had the condo before meeting her).
We managed to find a brand new twin house. The exterior was already done and we needed to figure out the interior options.
The house came with a small garage (10'6"x20'), which had stairs to get to the door (40" wide), limiting the options as to how the space could be organized. And I needed to clear enough space to fit my bike and my Wife's car during winter.
I managed to put up shelves and a small workbench I already had, as a temporary solution, but it was clear that this setup wouldn't cut it for winter since the car wouldn't fit in.
At that point I knew that my only solution to get more space would need to make use of the only noteworthy characteristic of my gage: the 12' ceiling. I then designed the plans of what the storage space would look like. Being 5'9", all I needed was to be able to walk without hitting my head with boots on, so I choose to set the minimum height to 5"11", leaving 5'1" of headroom above the new floor.
The design itself wasn't that complicated, although getting the garage organized to clear up enough workable space was more of a challenge. Fortunately, the weather was still warm (no snow yet) and I was able to get the Ducati and some other stuff in the back yard.
The ramp came off and a new support posts came up. Since I didn't want any problems in the future, instead of using a 6x6 for support (once they crack their capacy to hold weight is mostly gone), I decided to use three 2x6 screwed together. That way, if one cracks, the other two will still be able to hold up. (that's my dad on the picture. Best handyman I know. I've been working with him on projects since I was a kid and he's always part of the bigger builds I do. Because behind any good handyman is always a better one!).
Since putting a post in the middle of the support beam is impossible (I have to be able to get the car in the garage after all), we put together a 5-layer "superbeam". Three 2x8 with plywood glued in between. Everything was bolted up together with 5" screws. The plywood will prevend the beam to bend in the middle since it introduces some mayers of wood grain that won't be in the same direction as the 2x8. Those babies will be able to hold up all the weight I will put over it without a problem. We then let the glue dry overnight.
Next morning we got back at it, putting the two "superbeams" up and setting up the rest of the crossbeams.
After that things went smoothly as we only needed to lay the plywood on top of the new frame. Since I'm gonna park a car under it, my dad suggested to add a kickplate to prevent objects falling on the roof and/or windshield. The result isn't pretty but it does the job. I also cut a small hole in the board to access the garage door motor manual controls.
Surprinsingly (to me at least), the stairs were the thing that took the most thinking and adjusting to get it right.
Next came the guardrail:
And Voilà! You get a cozy Split Level Garage.
The final touch was adding an extra light under the new floor: