I have a garage project! (edit: now workshop project!)

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#7557433 - 02/16/14 04:38 PM I have a garage project! (edit: now workshop project!)
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Part 1: Intro and Destruction My wife and I bought a house in the fall of 2012. The car port did its job well of keeping the weather off of our cars. Unfortunately it had a darker side. The car port was located at the bottom of a drive way. Not just any driveway, but a driveway with a 28 degree slope. Our first winter in the house was challenging. After the first unexpected snow fall I tried to shovel the driveway and kept falling down. I wasn't the only one falling down either, one of the trees fell down too. The slope meant that my Mustang couldn't make it under cover and so it's spent much of its last year and a half on the street where its 20 year old weather stripping started to accelerate in its wear. Last spring we decided to build a garage and started talking to a contractor. After some discussion about design, the toys started showing up at the end of September. One day we came home from work and found that we had no more driveway. And the next we found that we had no slope. It was around this time that we found out that the car port was itself a reno, the house was originally built having a slab at lane height for cars to park on, and then sometime between when it was built and when we took ownership, someone decided that they didn't like walking down stairs with their groceries. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557434 - 02/16/14 04:38 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Part 2: We Can Rebuild It, We Have The Technology Once it was all gone the formwork and rebar pieces started appearing. And the the forms for the footings were assembled Unfortunately I do not have any pictures of the footings after they were poured, but next was the formwork for the retaining walls. Days were short and most of the work happened while we were at work so some of these are quite dark. Formwork from above: In the first week of November we celebrated the progress made so far by adopting two kitties! _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557435 - 02/16/14 04:39 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Part 3: Back To Foundations Hey, walls! Progress! We designed the garage to have a ~~zombie bunker~~convenient storage area underneath. It measures about 240sq ft. The roof of the storage area will be a suspended slab that the cars will park on. The plans called for two levels of retining walls to be built in front of the garage. The highest level of retaining wall was requierd in order to bring the grade up to a point where the structure fit into the city's building height requirements. The lower level was just to provide ara for planters, similar to what we have in the above pictures, and make it less apparant that we have a gigantic concrete wall in our back yard. The area behind the storage area, as well as the floor for the storage area, was filled to prep for the main garage floor pour. A view into the storage area with its slab-on-grade poured. A massive footing was cast to support the retaining walls. Somewhere around here is a lot of misery when the city came in and said that we would need to upgrade the entire yard's drainage. Because of the lot's slope and access there was no way to get an excavator in so the trenches and holes for the sumps had to be hand dug. Then the sumps had to be craned in. Sigh. ANYWAYS! The slab pour was scheduled for one of the of the coldest days we had that year. The concrete truck got stuck coming into our lane, the contractors rushed to the nearest gas station to buy them out of salt and sand to get the truck unstuck. It succeeded, the truck dropped off its hot steaming load, and the contractors built a tent over the slap to keep the weather off. The slab was covered on top by a layer of insulated tarps. And underneath we had this monster afterburner keeping it warm from the inside. We didn't sleep well that knight knowing there was a giant propane burner sitting amidst a bunch of wooden formwork. Or for the next two nights that the burner was running. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557437 - 02/16/14 04:39 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Part 4: Four Walls and a Roof The framing went up so fast that we weren't able to get any pictures. It was framed one day and the roofing trusses were on the next. And then the kittens had their first christmas As for the old car port, part of this renovation included pushing out a wall so that we could make our master bedroom bigger, so we lost some space. The rest of it I plan to frame in and turn into a workshop some time in the next year. The garage itself is mostly finished. The siding is on, the roof is shingled, power and water are now flowing to it. We nixed the second level of retaining wall because it didn't leave enough room between the current car port to really walk by comfortably. The rebar supports that were cast into the footing are now gone, much to the delight of my insurance underwriter who was able to take the tetanus rider off my policy. The yard works portion of the project is starting now. Form work is being put up for some extra retaining walls. The grade needs to be brought up to cover the retaining wall footings. The bunker now has power! And it's being used to store actual things! The garage filling up with crap happened much sooner than I thought. Mostly it's being used to store the wood that will be used for forming the stairs and remaining retaining walls and curbs. There's still a bit of a lip coming into the garage but it's not insurmountable now. The Mustang should be able to get in and out of the low side with no problem. We're going to see how much we can make the lane's asphalt bend and twist to our whim to make this a bit easier. Heh. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557438 - 02/16/14 04:39 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	And that takes us to today. The next step is, well, steps. And filling the retaining wall. And a whole lot of yard work because our back yard has been destroyed. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557441 - 02/16/14 04:43 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
ScottStaypuff ScottStaypuff Post Master Supreme Registered: 03/05/00 Posts: 25530 Loc: Ohio	Wow, thats badass. _________________________
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#7557456 - 02/16/14 04:56 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: ScottStaypuff]
Bew Bew Post Master Supreme Registered: 01/02/01 Posts: 25171 Loc: Tennessee	Nice Maxie! _________________________ 2013 Silverado Z71 CCSB -Raised 2" and leveled on 18's 1997 C1500 5.7 Vortec -4/6 drop on 20's
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#7557684 - 02/16/14 07:50 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: Bew]
scootergeek scootergeek Post Master Supreme Registered: 07/24/00 Posts: 46248 Loc: East of St. Louis	I'm a little confused. Your house faces one street and your driveway another? _________________________ Still pissy after all these years...
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#7557751 - 02/16/14 08:47 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: scootergeek]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Yup. The driveway goes, well, went to the lane behind the house, and that's where the garage is being built. It's pretty common here for the places that have lane access, even if they don't have a monster slope in front. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7557937 - 02/17/14 12:43 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
hustler hustler Post Master Sr Registered: 01/09/00 Posts: 6095 Loc: Seattle, WA	That is a hell of a garage project. I told myself when I was looking at homes that I would not buy a house without a flat driveway, threw that out the window not long after. Looks like you had to as well $\:\)$ Glad to see the mustang is getting a home indoors soon. Keep it up with the pictures, fun to follow. Are you going to frame in the carport as an extension to the home?
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#7557960 - 02/17/14 01:29 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: hustler]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	All the houses were missing something we wanted. One of them had a great shop in the back that was fed by 3 phase power and had lifts already installed, but the foundation was made out of cinder blocks and the main floor joists were held up by jacks. This one was missing a garage but everything else was solid, and it's in a good location. We've pushed the wall of our master bedroom out 7 feet into the carport already, this picture shows the vinyl siding we have on the extension. I didn't post about the inside works because, well, this is a car forum and not Pinterest $\:\)$ Once this project is done I'll frame in the carport but it'll become a workshop. More living space would require need more excavation and a new foundation / crawlspace, or at least an insulated slab. The shop won't though. As part of the reno we put new 100 amp panel that feeds to this part of the house which will nicely supply the shop. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7558365 - 02/17/14 10:11 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
Quad4_driver Quad4_driver Post Master Supreme Registered: 09/28/02 Posts: 11119 Loc: B.C. Canada	Thats looks awesome, and expensive.
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#7558369 - 02/17/14 10:13 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
scootergeek scootergeek Post Master Supreme Registered: 07/24/00 Posts: 46248 Loc: East of St. Louis	_________________________ Still pissy after all these years...
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#7564054 - 02/20/14 12:26 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Apologies for the terrible pictures but I didn't get home from work until late. Work so far this week involved setting up forms for a concrete curb on the side of the old carport. To meet the engineer's requirements the footing will need 18" of cover (measured, thankfully, from the bottom of the footing) so the grade will have to be raised. This curb will keep the clear crush rock from slumping into the car port. The big concrete doughnut is a riser ring that has to go on to one of our new drainage sumps to account for the raise in grade. The retaining wall, on the right hand side of the first picture, received a half fill of clear crush rock today. I don't have any pictures of the half full retaining wall because the lighting is even worse. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7564396 - 02/20/14 09:41 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
LNXGUY LNXGUY Post Master Supreme Registered: 08/06/00 Posts: 106942 Loc: Barrie, Ont,	That's fucking kickass!!!! I can't imagine having a 28 degree driveway down to a car port.. Who thought of that brilliant idea? _________________________ -Bill The GN would OWN you, your children and your children's children. '09 E90 335d
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#7564539 - 02/20/14 10:43 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: LNXGUY]
Impulsive Impulsive Post Master Supreme Registered: 11/28/99 Posts: 79944 Loc: Edmonton	Nice work Max. I'm looking forward to the final product. _________________________ 2016 Stingray Z51 3LT - Stock 2021 Model 3P - I/H/E
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#7569155 - 02/22/14 06:50 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: Impulsive]
auxilary auxilary Post Master Supreme Registered: 03/17/00 Posts: 33419 Loc: Zimbabwe	That's pretty awesome!
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#7572624 - 02/25/14 12:33 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	We got snow! The big honking pile of dirt has been removed and the basic excavation for the stairs is now done. Not shown is the gravel fill on the retaining wall footing which is now down as well. It's starting to come together now! The retaining wall now has even more fill in it. The rest will wait until the stairs have been poured. The fill guys seemed to get it in with bank shots off the garage because the siding is now all dirty and scratched up. $\:\($ You can kind of see the brown/grey smear on the siding on the corner in the first picture of this post. The stairs will be going all the way up to the lane, so the excavation is going all the way up as well. It will be mostly flat here with a couple stairs up _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7573785 - 02/25/14 03:25 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
stickaz_old stickaz_old Post Master Supreme Registered: 02/04/01 Posts: 56459 Loc: Nor Cal, Hella hurr durr	so now your carport faces one street and your [newly built] garage faces another? _________________________ Swim->Bike->Cry "I can see that nurses head bobbing around going "I AINT CANCELIN MUH PLANS, FUCK A CDC. WHO DEY ANYWAY NAH MEEN? IMA GO SEE MUH BOO" -johnso
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#7574720 - 02/26/14 07:16 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: stickaz_old]
kyden kyden Post Master Supreme Registered: 12/20/99 Posts: 15406 Loc: Providence, RI	Wow, quite the undertaking. _________________________ <x> i had a weird dream <x> where i lived in an apartment complex <x> walked down the street, and kyden and a couple other dudes were living in an apartment and ran outside looking for the maintenance people <x> and something about taking a shit in a sealed toilet
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#7609918 - 03/20/14 01:59 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Yay! More progress! We had our stairs poured last week They're quite well done. They have a slight slope towards the non-retaining wall side to prevent pooling. Railings will be going on in a month+ as it will take a while to fabricate them. Trench drain was laid down along with a bunch of gravel and sand in preparation for paving, probably tomorrow. Hoping to have cars in the garage at the end of the week. The small sump in the foreground was installed for the trench drain. For this project we've had to install three (!) sumps, one in the immediate foreground, one roughly mid image, and one near the far corner of the house. I tried to get the third in the picture, you can see a sliver poking past what looks like a mound of dirt near the chimney. The sump mid-image is about 3 feet across by 4 feet deep, with an extra 12" extension ring tossed on so that it would poke up above the fill. The barely visible one is 3 feet across by 6 feet deep. Because of the property's slope the drainage guys weren't able to get their equipment to where it was needed so these sumps had to be hand dug and then craned in. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7611992 - 03/21/14 10:49 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
scootergeek scootergeek Post Master Supreme Registered: 07/24/00 Posts: 46248 Loc: East of St. Louis	That's a lot of freaking work. _________________________ Still pissy after all these years...
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#7634761 - 04/05/14 11:15 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: scootergeek]
Serendipitous Serendipitous Post Master Supreme Registered: 04/30/01 Posts: 15299 Loc: Northern California	I like your neighborhood. _________________________ 2023 Model 3 / 2005 S2000 / 2012 A3
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#7641218 - 04/10/14 12:52 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: Serendipitous]
Strng1dah Strng1dah Post Master Sr Registered: 04/30/00 Posts: 5055 Loc: Folsom	Totally jealous of that garage. _________________________ 2002 WRX
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#7749750 - 06/25/14 06:44 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: Strng1dah]
hustler hustler Post Master Sr Registered: 01/09/00 Posts: 6095 Loc: Seattle, WA	So what does it look like now, made anymore progress? Yard back in shape?
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#7761892 - 07/05/14 02:02 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: hustler]
Anastasia Beaverhausen Anastasia Beaverhausen Post Master Supreme Registered: 05/29/03 Posts: 24879 Loc: I-4 corridor	Are you going to do a covered walkway connecting the home and garage? _________________________ Questionable Taste Car Club, Founding Member
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#7762317 - 07/06/14 02:01 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: Anastasia Beaverhausen]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Sorry for the lack of updates, it's been a bit quiet. Since I last posted, the garage approach was paved, but the angle of the approach and the fat lip the pavers put in means I can only get a car in on one side . But the city has signed off on it and the paver should be coming back to fix it. I hope. The lawn has completely recovered and I've built some raised beds for the summer's vegetables. We have railings in now, too, and they look pretty awesome. I don't think we're going to put in a covered walkway. Perhaps some paving stones to keep shoes out of the mud though. I'll see if I can remember to get some pics tomorrow $\:\)$ _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7762489 - 07/06/14 01:15 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Pics as promised! Grass has surprisingly almost recovered. I thought I was going to have to dig it up for sure. The old railing is still kicking around, I'm going to put it on Craigslist OneOfTheseDays(tm), or cut it up and take it to the dump. You can hardly tell it's July! Paved driveway approach that needs to be redone. It's hard to get a sense of the scale because it's all black, heh, but the side closest to the stairs can't really be entered with a car, and the side closest to the camera here still is too steep for the Mustang to get in. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7775093 - 07/14/14 11:39 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
dazdconfsd dazdconfsd Post Master Supreme Registered: 03/19/06 Posts: 16877	I'm not sure I'd have had the patience that you've displayed with this project. Looks like a really nice result though.
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#7791381 - 07/25/14 05:28 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: dazdconfsd]
MIGHTYWhiteDSM520 MIGHTYWhiteDSM520 Post Master Supreme Registered: 12/02/01 Posts: 14680	Damn that's a ton of work though it turned out completely awesome, the current approach notwithstanding My last house also had carport and after I got some quotes to add a 3 car garage I listed my house for sale instead _________________________ MKVI Golf R
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#7792479 - 07/26/14 07:51 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: MIGHTYWhiteDSM520]
ScottStaypuff ScottStaypuff Post Master Supreme Registered: 03/05/00 Posts: 25530 Loc: Ohio	Looking good _________________________
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#7807837 - 08/06/14 03:34 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: ScottStaypuff]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	Repaving is done and while it's still a bit of a challenge, I can now get both cars in! _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7807840 - 08/06/14 03:38 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
ReplicaR ReplicaR Post Master Sr Registered: 05/26/06 Posts: 7093 Loc: E.E.B.	I'm so used to Facebook, I was looking for Like button for about 15 seconds. _________________________ '94 Mustang GT Acceleration.... $\:$$ -------+-- $\:$$ Handling......... $\:$$ -------+-- $\:$$ Speed............ $\:$$ ------+--- $\:$$
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#7899534 - 10/06/14 10:26 PM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: ReplicaR]
max max Poster Registered: 05/18/09 Posts: 229	So since I last updated, I knocked up the wife, replaced the 3 with a CX-5, and started construction on the workshop. The old car port wasn't torn down when the garage was put up because, really, it's awesome. Because I'm fed up with dealing with contractors I'm doing this one myself. First thing I did was I poured a footing. This area is a bit of a low zone so if I had a door right at the sidewalky bit where the dryer vents are the shop would flood when it rains. And because I'll probably be building at least part of a wall here I cast in some anchors. I think one of the previous owners wanted to do something similar as there were anchor-sized holes on two of the concrete side sills already drilled, but had filled up with 20 years of dirt. Nothing a nail, shop vac, wire brush, and a can of compressed air can't clean out though. For the long side of the shop there were no anchors pre-cast and no holes drilled. So I got my hammer drill and a masonry bit. And ruined the masonry bit. And its replacement. And the hammer drill too. It now drills oval holes. I hacked up some threaded rod, and bonded them into the holes with epoxy. Rad, now my walls won't fall down! Then I called up the local lumber yard and ordered a bunch of stuff. Of course they delivered it on the wettest day of the year. Dicks. I humped it all down the stairs and stacked it so that it could dry out. One problem I had was that across the mouth of the old car port was pretty long, I was concerned with the long term stability of stick framing. I started by building a beam which will tie into the rafters to give some measure of lateral stability. That brings us to today where I spent most of the day hammering studs. Repeat ad nauseam. The big gap on the left side is where I'll be putting a window. The big gap on the right side is where my blistered hands decided to call it a day for me. Hopefully I'll get it sheathed and wrapped before winter. Proper siding and trim would be awesome but that may be a touch optimistic. _________________________ 2015 Gear Hauler
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#7899956 - 10/07/14 09:44 AM Re: I have a garage project! [Re: max]
scootergeek scootergeek Post Master Supreme Registered: 07/24/00 Posts: 46248 Loc: East of St. Louis	_________________________ Still pissy after all these years...
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