Above 1200 Sq/FT White Mountains Garage 28x54

[TTA89]

I had a quote of $5000 to drywall, tape, and mud the garage which didn't include insulation or paint. I don't have the budget to do it all at once so when the time comes I'll pull the lights down and have the drywall installed.

For now, I want to get the lights and other electrical done so I can start working on my 67 Mustang without drop lights and extension cords.

 

[sean Buick 76]

HI there, great great shop! If it were me i would put up OSB boards painted white for the roof and then you do not have to come back to remove the lights later to drywall... Just an idea, thought I would toss it out there. I am SUPER envious of the setup, i like it! tell us about the engine on the stand, what is it and what is it going into?

 

[TTA89]

HI there, great great shop! If it were me i would put up OSB boards painted white for the roof and then you do not have to come back to remove the lights later to drywall... Just an idea, thought I would toss it out there. I am SUPER envious of the setup, i like it! tell us about the engine on the stand, what is it and what is it going into?

Thanks for the idea but I want to wait until I can drywall it. I'd like it to look really nice when its all done... whenever that is. My goal right now is to get lights and heat working so I can work on my 67 Mustang. It's a 390FE on the stand... Eventually it will be a 445 stroker but look stock. Long way to go but now I can start on it again!

 

[TTA89]

2000 trips up and down the ladders this weekend and the lights are DONE! Feels great to do it yourself. I have never done anything like this before and had my wife standing with a broom ready to knock me over as I was wiring the circuits into the panel for the first time.

14x 8 Foot T5HO fixtures and 1x 4 foot fixture.



A few shots at night, the lights are awesome! Its like day light inside!

 

[51cub]

This is the first I saw this. That garage, in that part of NH, just earned you a new best friend in me. Beautiful place!

 

[SuitorsGarage]

Just now noticed your thread. We are practically neighbors. I live about 10 minutes north of you.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Loving the updates, thanks for sharing. I actually think of your shop every time I drive through the twin mtn area...consider me jealous!

 

[TTA89]

I had borrowed a friends welder in the past but decided it was time to invest in my own. After about 100 hours of reading, I pulled the trigger on the Millermatic 211 and the Lincoln Viking 3350 helmet. Of course, I also needed welding gloves and a jacket plus a 3M respirator and an extension cord for the welder. It all showed up the same day.



I opened the Miller box on Saturday but I didn't get a chance to put it together yet. It sure is pretty though!



I mentioned to my Dad that I was on the lookout for a big old vise and he told me to come get his. I never really looked that close but it's an Athol vise, made in Mass. Sweeet! I'll have to clean it up and get it mounted.



I installed 2x of the 3x 50Amp outlets in the garage. Working with 6/2 is no joke! That stuff is hard to twist around in the box and panel!



The extension cord was under $70 bucks and it's really nice, it's just an extension cord but its really nice. It even has a light in the plug.



And then more and more and more electrical work....

In the future, I'll buy a big 220 compressor and after reading some of the threads on GJ I decided to run a switch to an outlet under the stairs and put my "little" compressor there for now. When I get a big one that runs on 220 I can use the switch to trigger a contactor and turn the 220 compressor on. For now, I have it wired into an outlet for the current compressor. I bought a switch with a light that comes on when the switch is "On." Seems to work great, I mounted it near my light switches at the door so when I shut the lights off, it's obvious that the compressor is either on or off....



Last night I was reading on GJ (This site is evil ) about an "interlock" for the panel that will allow me to plug my portable generator and then lock out the main breaker from the street. Awesome!

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Square-D-Homeline-Outdoor-Generator-Inter-Lock-Kit-HOMRBGK2C/203030954

So of course first thing this morning I shut off all the power and moved things around so I could free up the slots for the 30amp breaker. Now I just need to order the interlock....



It was an overcast day but there was still a nice view of the mountains and everything looks so green right now. I love it!



I also wired in 10 or 12 more outlets in between.... It's getting there, I'm almost done with electrical.

 

[TTA89]

Another year goes by... Lots of little project not worth mentioning... I thought I was almost done with electrical and then I just think of new things to put in. I'm becoming quite the home electrician. ha ha

I now have two working ceiling fans, the HD 60" ones that have been in a box forever. It seems like one is faster than the other but it might just be an optical illusion. I bought longer down rods but they seem to work pretty well even mounted right off the 15' ceiling.

The previous owner installed two roof mounted lights that are pointed at the cupola on diagonal corners of the roof. I finally tracked these down to an old time clock and then some kind of electric switch timeclock. I couldn't get any of it to work so I ripped it all out and put them on a switch. It's pretty cool at night. Not the best picture but you get the idea....

My wife wanted to throw a party and invite our friends and family to bring their RVs or rent RVs and come party for the weekend. I was able to convince some of them they could run A/C by providing 30amp RV outlets if they bring extension cords.

Once I started looking at running the wiring I realized that I didn't have enough space in the current panel and started looking at how to install a sub panel. I think I did a pretty good job.

I then ran 4x 10/2 RV outlets out near the roll up doors.

Everything worked great for the party! We had 7 RVs, 18 adults and 14 kids. We bought a smoke machine and laser light show which blew the kids minds.

Once it got dark the real funny stuff started inside the garage.

Up next is a heater install.... Stay tuned.

 

[Hilltopmasonry]

Thanks for the update, after a year how do you like the welder? I am close to pulling the trigger on a mm211 myself


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[C_F]

Wow, you ran extra wiring & outlets just for visitors? You are quite the party host.

Looks good in there, and I also like the lights on the cupola.

 

[TTA89]

Some more updates....

I talked to the guys at Beacon Morris and ended up ordering a 120K BTU propane heater. The garage has uninsulated roll up doors, lots of windows, etc so I need a lot of heat. I only plan to run heat while I'm out there so I'm not concerned about trying to keep the temp warm all winter.

I wasn't planning to insulate and sheath the walls right away but once I started looking at hanging the heater I realized that it would be stupid to not at least put some of the ceiling in. I don't want to have to try to cut around it later to install the sheathing.

I then realized I will need to add part of the wall which turned into just deciding to go for it and do the whole thing.....

Here is the heater in all it's glory.

IMG_20170921_181738 by MikeTTA89

We ended up "borrowing" the winch out of the workshop area and temporarily mounting it in the storage attic. It worked great to lift the heater for templates and test fittings.

IMG_20170922_201657 by MikeTTA89

I decided to use plywood for the ceiling and walls. I found some decent 15/32 (1/2) plywood at Lowes with a sanded side that looks pretty good. I had to pull down the lights and two of us man handled the plywood on our backs up to the 15 foot ceilings on two 12 foot step ladders.... That sucked. But the heater went up pretty easy...

heater2 by MikeTTA89

I signed up for a Lowes CC and ordered 30 sheets plus 15 pieces of insulation for 30% off plus 5% off for using the Lowes CC and had it delivered. I think it was almost ~$1700 delivered. I also ordered a drywall lift off Amazon for $140 bucks that goes up to 16 feet.

IMG_20171014_082757 by MikeTTA89

 

[TTA89]

I found out that in NH there is a law that the gas company needs to hook up all gas appliances. So I pulled a permit and made an appointment for them to come out.

In the mean time, we decided to finish the two rows on the ceiling so I took down all the lights and we measured and precut all the holes for wiring, boxes, and recessed lights on the ceiling.

Pro Tip - Install ceiling insulation before strapping. What a **** fest installing the ceiling insulation after the strapping is up. It fits like **** after the fact... Oh well, live and learn.

IMG_20171015_084416 by MikeTTA89

I bought some white can light trim pieces off amazon and I think they look pretty good. I ended up buying R19 rolls of insulation for the walls and R30 batts for the ceiling. Cutting the rolls to length for the walls is working out great.

First bank of lights back up and the heater wall almost insulated. I bought an Arrow staple gun, it broke the first 15 minutes in... I drove 30 min back to HD to replace it and got another one, it jammed every 5th staple. I drove back 30 min to HD to return it and bought a Dewalt stapler and it worked flawlessly the rest of the weekend.

IMG_20171016_213836 by MikeTTA89


Gas company came out and I decided to have them stub the propane so I could get the wall up before hooking it up. I'm going to vent horizontally and need the wall up to mount the concentric vent box anyway.


Propane by MikeTTA89

Once that was done, we started on the wall. The gas company is coming back out next Wednesday to finish the gas hook up and I'm going to have them install the vent while they are there.

pwall by MikeTTA89

 

[TTA89]

We put up a few boards on the "control" side of the garage. A lot of measuring and cutting for this one. Nest thermostat is in and I also wired up the heater... The thermostat turns on so I'll take that as a good sign.

IMG_20171018_133026 by MikeTTA89

Hopefully heat soon!

 

[TTA89]

Heater works! Just need to clean up the electrical cable and it's done. Woo Hoo!


h1 by MikeTTA89

h2 by MikeTTA89

Now to get the rest of the inside insulated and get the plywood up! Almost done!

 

[C_F]

Looks good in there! I'm sure that will be nice to have heat this winter.

 

[DieselNut88]

You are going to love that welder. I have an older version and it is great. I have welded some thick steel with it too. Garage looks great. I wish I had that much room.

 

[Motown 454]

I just found this thread Wow what a Sweet garage an a beautiful piece of property. You doing a nice job finishing it out.

 

[TTA89]

No updates in a bit... Heater worked great last winter! I finished off the rest of the plywood that I had and it came out great.

IMG_20171128_123722 by MikeTTA89, on Flickr

I went back about a month ago to buy more and it doesn't seem they carry this brand anymore. In addition, the prices have gone crazy and I can't get anything that even looks near as nice as this stuff. So I'm kind of on hold with finishing the walls/ceiling.

Over the winter I sort of became the snowmobile HQ. Everyone just left sleds as it was easier to just come up and ride out of the garage. It's so fun, I can't wait for winter!

Not much progress this year, lots of other things going on but soon.

IMG_20180128_125730 by MikeTTA89, on Flickr

IMG_20180128_131830 by MikeTTA89, on Flickr

 

[Riverfarm]

What a host you are!

I have never snowmobiled - I am sure it it a hoot.

The place looks great!

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Really awesome man, keep up the good work. If I had to do it all over again in my garage, I'd go the plywood route for sure. Are you planning on paining it? If so, getting a slightly different finish on the plywood for the remainder may not be too big of a deal in the end.

 

[TTA89]

I think at this point I'm going to leave the plywood unfinished. It looks pretty good in person... The amount of time we have taken to line the panels up for good seems is ridiculous. If I do paint... It would be after a lift, racedeck flooring, Car is running... lol.

I'll keep an eye out and see if the AraucoPly brand ever shows up at Lowes again. It was rated ACX and anything that I've found is BCX which ***** in comparison. It would all need to be sanded before it goes up.

 

[zmotorsports]

Shop has turned out great Mike.

I installed a buddy plug for friends with RV's traveling but I didn't install 4 of them like you did. I also ran it just inside the RV bay door with the mindset that I didn't want penetrations on the exterior of my shop and when friends stop by I merely throw a short 15' 50-amp extension cord under the door that way they can unplug and leave at their convenience.

As for the snowmobiles, I "used" to like winter, now I can't stand that white stuff. We snowmobiled quite heavily between 1989 and 2009 when we sold all of the sleds. My shop also used to be where our riding buddies left their sleds but it wasn't due to convenience, it was because they were usually having me work on them before the next weekend's ride and then would pick them up on Friday night for a Saturday ride. Although I really enjoyed sledding and was very deep in it, I don't miss it as much as I thought I would when we sold everything snowmobile related.

Keep the pics coming of your shop, I love it.

 

[PugetDude]

Mike, how is the Miller 211 treating you? I finally bought one a year ago, can't believe the difference between it and my old Lincoln Flux Core...discovered I'm a lot better welder than I thought I was.. LOL.

 

[revamped]

Great job so far! Have you finished the walls with anything yet?

 

[TTA89]

Time for some updates! Where does the time go?

I ran out of plywood and went to order more and Lowes stopped carrying this brand/type of plywood. I searched around for months and couldn't find anything comparable and sort of just gave up and moved on for awhile.

It took me a 1 1/2 years to find the same plywood and it was the last lot so I bought all of it. I have most of the walls up to 12' done but I need some help to do the upper walls and ceiling. I've called in some favors and hope to finish it before this winter!

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[TTA89]

I finally finished up all the electrical and the last thing I did was install a transfer switch on the main panel for a generator. I have a small portable generator and I wanted to make it easy to connect during a power outage to run the fridge and some lights. Man... I don't know what I'd do without youtube.

So far, I haven't needed it but I have an extension cord and I put a plug on the wall next to the door so it's easy to setup if I ever do need it.

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[TTA89]

I really got involved in snowmobiling over the past couple years and a lot of my free time has been working on sleds and related things. I live an hour and 45 min away from the garage so my time to work on the garage has been taken a backseat to playing with toys.

We did a big snowmobile trip to Maine last winter and I told my brother n law I wasn't going if he didn't update his 15 year old trailer. That meant he ordered parts and I replaced the hubs and tires. lol

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I ordered a new sled that arrived in September 2019, a 2020 Skidoo MXZ XRS 850. It's awesome, I'm in the love with it. It's the yellow one, the black one is my brother n laws.

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Then of course, I had to update my Wife's sled. I added a pre-studed track, replaced all the bearings in the skid, replaced all the shocks, rebuilt the clutches, etc, etc.

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[Pluribus]

Gorgeous shop building and a beautiful area to visit! Actually skied at Cannon once...in blue jeans. Yeah, it was a while ago.

 

[TTA89]

My sister and other brother n law came up with my 4 year old nephew for a weekend. I took them snowmobiling, now my nephew keeps saying he is asking Santa for a sled. lol

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My Wife and I went to the Snowmobile Grass Drags last year in October which has water racing, grass drag racing, etc with lots of vendors, etc. She saw a sled wrap she liked so we ordered one in the colors she liked.

My nephew helping to remove all the stock stickers off.

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I think it came out pretty awesome!

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[TTA89]

Trying to keep things organized, I had two of these shelves so hung them on the wall and finally got the receiver off the table. I'll eventually do something better but I hate when stuff is on the floor.

I put a switch on the wall so it turns on the receiver, the bluetooth adapter and turns on the Mustang Neon light I picked up at SEMA in Vegas in 2018. All my buddies have been assigned shelves for their snowmobile stuff. lol

Also added another air hose reel.

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[TTA89]

We are still doing our summer party with campers. Last year we had an array of cars for the kids to drive around.

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When everything is done, I just hose it all out. The floor drain is surprisingly a lot more useful than I thought. Even in the winter, when the snow and ice melts off the sleds I just brush it into the drain.

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[TTA89]

The house and garage are heated by a 500 gallon propane tank. I have a remote monitor on the tank that connects to an app on my phone and monitors the usage and levels of the tank so I know when to call for a refill. I try and time it to fill in the summer when prices are low.

Anyway, I noticed on the app that the propane usage was going down rather quickly. I didn't think much of it, I went up a few days later and as I walked onto the deck to go into the house I smelled propane.

I looked around the corner and the vent on the propane tank was leaking and bubbling...

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I called the Fire department and then came over and basically just sprayed the tank down for 45 minutes until the propane company could come and fix it. They ended up tightening the fitting and it stopped leaking but they took the tank away and brought me a new one a few days later.

I was able to show them proof from my tank app what the level was and clearly where it started leaking. They reimbursed me up to the point that is was obvious that it wasn't leaking. That was a nice surprise!

See the two guys spraying it down? lol

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[TTA89]

I finally started playing the Millermatic 211! It is awesome! Unfortunately, the tank regulator was bad out of the box and it had been sitting for a couple years. I called Miller, they did some troubleshooting with me and then just shipped me a new one. Worked great after that!

I started with a welding cart.... I also bought a Hypertherm 30XP plasma cutter which I haven't tried yet but made room on the cart for.

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I had some blue spray paint sitting around. I think it turned out pretty well for my first project.

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[TTA89]

I got tired of knocking the speakers over so I welded up some brackets and hung those things on the wall. They actually sound better up high or I'm going deaf. lol

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It's been really nice out and I've been working with all the doors open.

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[TTA89]

I've been practicing my welding skills, I picked up a bunch of steel in anticipation of building a "Steevo" workbench. We have a pontoon boat and instead of buying an anchor I built a small box anchor out of scrap.

My welds are getting better, been watching a lot of youtube videos.

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[thetastelingers]

Whoa! Good update. I came in after you posted the first one with the non-working photo, then went away until now and came back in.
You're making me want to buy a welder.
That wrap did turn out great! Nice job.

 

[TTA89]

Whoa! Good update. I came in after you posted the first one with the non-working photo, then went away until now and came back in.
You're making me want to buy a welder.
That wrap did turn out great! Nice job.

I'm kind of kicking myself for not playing around with it earlier. I can see how useful it is to basically build whatever you want. I thought the welding would be the hard part but it's the measuring/cutting/fitting/grinding/prep stuff that takes FOREVER.

 

[M-technik-3]

Nice job on the welds, for some it takes forever and others they are just born with it. Glad the propane tank issue was resolved easily.

 

[TTA89]

I need to preface this post by saying I've been watching you guys post crazy deals for years and I never find anything. Today, I scored big time! About 2 hours ago I was scanning facebook marketplace to waste some time. I scrolled past this ad:

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I noticed the Snapon box and was pretty sure that Craftsman wrench was USA made. They were located about 10 minutes from me and said FREE so I messaged and said I can come pick up right now. They messaged back and gave me an address and said the tools would be on the porch.

When I got there, there were actually 3 boxes. I couldn't load them up fast enough! Apparently they were the guys wife's ex-husbands. I don't know if he passed away or what...

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I spent another 45 min just pulling everything out of the boxes.

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95% of the wrenches and sockets are SK and USA Craftsman. There are some Proto, Snapon and some other USA brands I've never heard of.

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SK Wrenches

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SK Sockets

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USA Craftsman

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I can't wait to get these up to my garage and clean them up! Score!!!