New garage!

[Bungie]

Awesome.

Very nearly identical to my garage in layout and dimension. Well except mine has a gantry

Seriously though, VVG!

 

[Shane]

Awesome.
Very nearly identical to my garage in layout and dimension. Well except mine has a gantry

Seriously though, VVG!

Wow, that's got to be useful!

Nothing so heavy-duty here, but I do plan to install some 2x6 headers over three trusses in two different locations--fasten them to the trusses on top, then run threaded rod with eye bolt ends up through the ceiling, where they will be bolted onto the top of the 2x6's.

That should leave me with at least 4 tie-up points that will handle a modest amount of weight, for whatever.

At some point, I also plan to beef up my bike-lifting arsenal, with both a lift table, and a stand-alone wheel chock. I've got several ways to lift bikes already, but these items would make life a bit easier doing things by myself.

All the best,

Shane

 

[Shane]

Guess who was here...?

Moving stuff in now...

Shane

 

[lonerider]

Awesome.
Very nearly identical to my garage in layout and dimension. Well except mine has a gantry

Seriously though, VVG!

Wow, that's got to be useful!

Nothing so heavy-duty here, but I do plan to install some 2x6 headers over three trusses in two different locations--fasten them to the trusses on top, then run threaded rod with eye bolt ends up through the ceiling, where they will be bolted onto the top of the 2x6's.

That should leave me with at least 4 tie-up points that will handle a modest amount of weight, for whatever.

At some point, I also plan to beef up my bike-lifting arsenal, with both a lift table, and a stand-alone wheel chock. I've got several ways to lift bikes already, but these items would make life a bit easier doing things by myself.

All the best,

Shane

No room for a gantry in mine, but I wanted lifting capability. I used a 10 ft. length of 4" I beam and three 50" lengths of 4" channel steel. I had already laid plywood in the space over the ceiling for parts storage, so the channel was laid on top of the plywood, spanning three trusses. The I beam was suspended from the channels by 1/2" all thread rod (preferably grade 5), in line with the roof trusses. Pieces of 2X4s were put between the I beam and the drywall ceiling and the all threads tightened so all was snug against the ceiling. I welded some pieces of angle at the ends of the I beam for stops and hung a beam trolley

This gives me lifting capability anywhere under the 10 ft. length of I beam and doesn't take up any room. If I want to lock the beam trolley in one spot, I just clamp vise grips or c clamps to the lower lip of the I beam.

Congratulations on a relatively trouble free build; I wish I had room here to do the same.

 

[Bungie]

We bought the house from a heavy equipment mechanic who worked on the side repairing cars.

We spent pretty close to $20,000 in repairs on the garage this summer. Back in the day around here it was common to have framing rest on top of timbers with a dirt floor. Then at some point, everybody decided that cement floors were the way to go, so they were poured INSIDE the framing.

Flash forward 50 years and the timbers are rotting away and the garage is heaving badly in the winter. So you have to spend the bucks to get a proper pad and foundation put underneath it. That's the situation we were in this past summer.

Wow, that's got to be useful!

 

[Shane]

Two inspectors came by today, just two little issues to resolve.

Started bringing the babies home...

Shane

 

[ionbeam]

I'm starting to see the need for a chair rail tire rail around the wall to keep wheels off the drywall.

So, is that your wife you are getting ready to park in the garage?

 

[Shane]

I'm starting to see the need for a chair rail tire rail around the wall to keep wheels off the drywall.
So, is that your wife you are getting ready to park in the garage?

Wheels, taillights, handlebars...yes, all of these things have never been an issue until today. Good problem to have!

Yes, that's my wife, Ginny, contemplating the out-of-frame landscaping dirt we brought home today. 800 lbs of topsoil and 200 lbs of paver sand got hauled home in two loads in the cars. We just tossed the bags along the garage edge tonight, and plan to get started on re-seeding the perimeter tomorrow morning.

She's the best! Full support on this project. She also helped deploy a 12-pack of Locktite brand concrete crack sealer down the older part of the driveway. The concrete guys recommended that we do that to keep water out, since the older work has cracked through many of the saw cuts by now.

The best part--the little Honda is hers.

Shane

 

[Shane]

So now we're moving stuff back in--slowly. Tearing down the old garage was a deliberate process, so there's a lot of things to re-think as we re-assemble.

All the bikes are now home, and with both cars, there is still a very roomy feeling inside the garage. We picked up one window air conditioner today--it fits! Just barely, but it fits.

I'll post some photos as we go, but probably not at the rate I have been, largely because the most interesting work is all done now.

Thanks for the commentary along the way, this has really been fun.

Here's a few pics from today...

Everyone inside...

50-amp plug and one of the ground-faults

30-amp plug, a little out of focus

Air conditioner, just to take off the edge

All the best,

Shane

 

[wnyfjr]

Looks great! Are you going to mud and tape the drywall?

 

[Bugnatr]

Just read this whole thread, awesome job Shane-looks great.

Did you mess much with your wife's beautiful flower garden? It was the first thing I noticed in the beginning thread pictures and was hoping you didn't have to destroy them for the garage -not that there is anything wrong with that for a new garage

 

[gixxerjasen]

I wish an A/C unit that small would do ANYTHING to a Texas garage...but yea, that'd just be a waste of time and money.

Thanks, it's been fun for us as well.

 

[Shane]

Looks great! Are you going to mud and tape the drywall?

Probably not right away. I'll need easy access to the studs for a while yet.

Shane

 

[Shane]

Just read this whole thread, awesome job Shane-looks great.
Did you mess much with your wife's beautiful flower garden? It was the first thing I noticed in the beginning thread pictures and was hoping you didn't have to destroy them for the garage -not that there is anything wrong with that for a new garage

Thanks!

The flower garden and the giant burning bush were guaranteed hands-off for this project. Looking at the finished product now, it looks as though we planted the burning bush after the garage was built--it's that close.

Ginny is a gardener, and this is the biggest flower garden she's ever had. I was happy to agree to her terms...

Shane

 

[Shane]

I wish an A/C unit that small would do ANYTHING to a Texas garage...but yea, that'd just be a waste of time and money.
Thanks, it's been fun for us as well.

That little champ pulled about 5 degrees out over two hours. Doesn't sound like much, but it was over 90 today, with plenty of humidity, and we had just pulled one hot car and one hot motorcycle in before installing the A/C , during the hottest part of the day.

Pretty sure at some point I'll have two going in there, but not today.

Thanks for all the input along the way!

Shane

 

[LKLD]

Shane, well done! I've been following along, but not commenting. It has been a pleasure to watch this project come together, and insightful into the process too. Thank you for sharing this with us!

 

[Shane]

Started moving back in, little by little.

The electrical guy has to come back later this week to resolve one little inside issue, and move the house service mast up higher outside. The new garage is higher than the old one enough that the main electrical service from the pole to the house has to go up a couple of feet.

I'm waiting for some rolling shelving to arrive, so moving back in is pretty deliberate. I don't want to get ahead of myself with stuff everywhere before the proper sorting items are all here. That said, I've got enough in now to be able to operate at a basic level, and should be fully functioning by mid-September, after a floor sealer application.

Here are a couple of recent pics...

FJR shop poster up!

Motorcycle gear shelves (helmets, jackets, gloves, raingear, etc...)

Workbench and air compressor (note the level--yes, the bench is perfectly level!)

That's it for now,

Shane

 

[gixxerjasen]

Wish I could have moved into mine that deliberately. But, when you have to move an entire house on a deadline it doesn't always work out. Getting things done slowly but surely, but it's frustrating me that I don't know where certain things are at the moment. Looking good on yours though.

 

[Bearly Flying]

You need a bigger bench.

Nice work so far tho...

 

[Shane]

You need a bigger bench.

Nice work so far tho...

There's a story to that bench...

My friend (Bronco) Billy was restoring an old schoolhouse in a small Minnesota town many years ago. He was refurbishing the whole inside to convert it from a one-room schoolhouse into a family home--there was a town-sponsored grant that he was making use of, such that as long as the work was completed on time, his outlay of money was to be minimal. Historical importance and whatnot...

Billy was good with his hands, as a mechanic, carpenter, painter, whatever--he could do it. I met him while working in a mutual friend's motorcycle shop, and we became good friends. He was at least 15 (probably 20) years older than me, and I was still in my 20's, so I had a lot of respect for him and what he could do.

Part of the schoolhouse restoration process left him without any storage space for some time, and since I didn't have a proper workbench, he suggested that I might want to use his for a while. A win-win. At the time, he joked that if he ever needed it back he would ask, and that if he died before he asked for it back, it would be willed to me.

I didn't know Billy during his many earlier drinking years, and he was clean and sober for the few years I knew him, at least.

He started wintering in Arizona to get away from the snow in Minnesota, so it wasn't any big deal to not see him for several months during the winter.

Then one day, I got word that he was found dead in his Arizona residence. Apparently, he had taken up tequila again, and the evidence suggested that he drank himself to death. His girlfriend found him.

I have another spiffy workbench in the basement shop in the house, but this one is my favorite.

Haven't told this story for a long, long time. RIP Billy.

Shane