I Need More Wiggle Room... And An Updated Home

[neohic]

So... I miss my old shop I had before I picked up and moved half way across the state. It was awesome and it had it all. Behold:

 

 

That's old news. It's been over ten months now since I left it. Don't get me wrong... I love where I live now! I just absolutely HATE WITH A PASSION anytime I ever have to do any work out in the two stall garage that replaced my old two stall and my 24'x32' shop. I know... I know... some people don't have a garage at all to work in. The problem comes in when you get used to something and then it's gone. New plan! What I wanted to do was put up a new shop. Bigger... better! At least 40'x40' was in the cards. Then a small stone dropped on a snowy hillside and then quickly turned into a giant snowball! When we moved in, I knew the house was going to need a roof, windows, and eaves at some point within the first couple years of living there. Not so much. After taking a closer look in the eaves I found rot in every roof truss on the back side of the house. That turned into finding rot in the siding on the backside of the house coming from a broken pipe from a lift pump in the basement. Then there was the this and that and the other thing... long story short I now have to do doors, windows, siding, eaves, and a roof before this next winter. The decision was made that if I'm going that far and I can't do a big shop for myself then I'm add on to the existing garage so I can at least park the vehicles inside this winter and have some room to have a single stall worth of work space. Not done there either... upon inspection of the foundation, or lack there of, along with the poor quality of construction of the second garage stall on the house the best decision was to tear it down and start over. Here's where I got today to start this new journey starting with a stock photo of the house:

 

 

One thing nice that the previous owners did was to leave a wall between the two stalls when they added on. I'll leave it there, add a door, and insulate the stall closest to the house. The stall coming down could have just been knocked over and torched. Most of the building materials are in good shape so I'm hoping that I can reuse most of the studs. By no means is it a 40'x40' shop but it just may pacify me for now.

[Comanche County]

and here I am having just moved from TX to GA, and now I have a two car garage when I was just working outside before and I hate it. I hate garages, too damn hot without a breeze. :fs1: Give me the shade tree or give me death.

 

 

You'd have been better off planting a bunch of pecan trees IMHO.... :D :wrench:

[Zenobian_84]

and here I am having just moved from TX to GA, and now I have a two car garage when I was just working outside before and I hate it. I hate garages, too damn hot without a breeze. :fs1: Give me the shade tree or give me death.

 

 

You'd have been better off planting a bunch of pecan trees IMHO.... :D :wrench:

Welcome to the South, my friend. At least you have a decent garage though :brows: I got no trees, and no garage. Just a pile of dirt and some stumpy grass to lay and wrench on. :wrench: Better than concrete though.

[Dadinator]

Neohic,

Looks like you need another room for your welding helmets. :dunno:

 

I'm in pretty good shape now.

I've got a 2 car garage.

 

I also have a barn that I've been slowly moving my tools into.

It's also where I park the truck.

 

Dirt floor, but that's OK. Creeper moves OK on it.

[jimoshel]

I don't believe either of those 2 photos. I can actually see the garage floor and there's some empty space on the benches.

[camjeep3]

I kinda know how you feel. I have so many projects I want to do, but having no room at the house(with parents, I'm 21 in school still) I'm limited to what I can do. I do have access to my grandfathers full shop with lift and air tools etc. but I can't do anything long term, a weekend and I feel like ive overstayed my welcome. Goodluck with the garage build!

[neohic]

I don't believe either of those 2 photos. I can actually see the garage floor and there's some empty space on the benches.

 

Thus the want for a bigger garage. I need order to my work environments. Those pictures were actually taken when I considered it dirty!

 

As for today:

 

Material recycled:

 

As it sits now:

 

All ready to go for the excavation to start this coming weekend when the hired guy comes by. As for right now...

[Pete M]

and here I am having just moved from TX to GA, and now I have a two car garage when I was just working outside before and I hate it. I hate garages, too damn hot without a breeze. :fs1: Give me the shade tree or give me death.

Welcome to the South, my friend. At least you have a decent garage though :brows: I got no trees, and no garage. Just a pile of dirt and some stumpy grass to lay and wrench on. :wrench: Better than concrete though.

 

 

Here in GA I've made peace with the droning noise of a box fan. :yes: instant breeze!

[neohic]

Neohic,

Looks like you need another room for your welding helmets. :dunno:

 

I like helmets! Over the years I've used, broken, and collected several Jackson HSL100 shells. They've got a ton of real estate on them for custom paint. A couple odd balls mixed in when I dabbled with Miller and SpeedGlas but for the most part I've always used Jackson helmets. Sometimes a shell will get painted in a solid color just because I saw the paint and liked the color. Most of them have some real time invested in them. I've got another nine shells waiting to be blinged up but I'm waiting until I've got a place to hang them again.

 

 

Started on the eaves this morning by taking off the first row of siding. Didn't get too far with that as I don't want to get too far ahead of myself... might rain over the next few days. Measured everything up and I'll have all my building materials on order tomorrow morning.

:wrench: ... just picture this little guy with a hammer instead of a wrench.

[xjrev10]

Looks good bud.

 

I'm also hoping to find the time and cash to do 13 windows in my house before winter......

[neohic]

Thanks dude! More to come this weekend. Hoping to do all the eaves on the house and make sure the excavation goes well. I also have the concrete guy stopping by on Saturday to look everything over to make sure he doesn't have any surprises.

 

On another note, my loan got approved today! :banana: So I got the building materials, trusses, new siding, windows, steel for the roof, and all the little fiddly bits that connect the dots on its way.

[neohic]

Another big weekend and the ball is just going to roll faster through this week. Got the eaves done on the existing structure:

 

 

Yay! My attic is properly vented! Then the party really started:

 

 

Right now the house is completely tore up from the floor up.

 

This week all of the concrete work should be done. I feel as though I need to do a plug for this guy too:

 

... dude's name is Punky. Very professional and extremely easy to work with. Thanks dude! As for all the trucks, they're still around. They're all trapped right now, but they seem to be waiting patiently and playing nice together over in the corner.

 

[Automan2164]

And only because I was waiting for someone else to do it, but have yet to see it.

 

dp0Slmo2lnc

 

Rob

[neohic]

And only because I was waiting for someone else to do it, but have yet to see it.

 

dp0Slmo2lnc

 

Rob

 

Hell yeah!!! Swingin' this thing all over this b*@$£!... my hammer, that is...

[neohic]

Monday:

 

What's that?... up in the sky?...

 

 

Footings!

 

 

Tuesday:

 

Foundation walls!

 

 

... and another plug:

 

 

Kluver's guys will be back in the morning to remove the forms. After that it's more waiting but at least it's only for a couple days to let the walls setup a bit. Then I get to do the backfill and tamping. Once that's done, then it's on to framing later this weekend and into early next week. The timing is a bit tighter than I'd like due to next. I've been working with an Amish group to help me out with the tackling the roof. They're scheduled to start early next week. Roof... then siding, windows, and doors... sneak in having the garage floor poured at some point... aprons... sidewalks... then enjoy! Just as easy as that... right?

[MJRemi]

A buddy of mine had a garage floor poured a few years back and he included a "work pit" beneath the vehicle area. He made it to a depth he could perform work under the vehicles while standing and comfortably reach most components. If it's something you'd consider, I don't think it would add too much more planning and labor. He loves having his.

[neohic]

I thought about doing that, but the goal isn't to make a work space. I need storage! The stall that's on the house now will get insulated and will hopefully pacify me until I can build a proper shop space again.

[neohic]

 

... and now I wait until Friday to backfill.

[neohic]

 

Had some hiccups over the past week so the framing was all today.

[neohic]

It's been a big week.

 

 

Honestly If I were to do it again, I'd move the new garage stalls back a couple feet and lower the roof line just to break it up a bit. Just about need a wide angle lens to fit the whole house into a picture! Diggin' all the new space though. Everybody needs more garage space than house anyhow, right?

[ComancheKid45]

Cool! I do have my own garage but I'm starting to really dream about having my own home and garage. something of your setup would be great! :thumbsup:

[neohic]

Cool! I do have my own garage but I'm starting to really dream about having my own home and garage. something of your setup would be great! :thumbsup:

 

Thanks dude! It's just about right for just the wife and I. The house is actually smaller than our old place but my old shop was detached from the house. I liked that because it was my own oasis in the back yard. I still want a big shop again... bigger... better than the last! It's a few years away now though.

[jimoshel]

The nicest thing I like about a garage and cement floor is that when I crawl under a car or truck I know I'm not going to meet a rattlesnake wanting to share the same space. :shake:

[neohic]

The nicest thing I like about a garage and cement floor is that when I crawl under a car or truck I know I'm not going to meet a rattlesnake wanting to share the same space. :shake:

 

Mice, squirrels, rabbits, and deer $#!& in my case. :roll:

[neohic]

Yeah... this is still going on. Hopefully getting some fancy new concrete this week. This weekend was spent swapping out windows along the backside of the house. The three windows in the bedrooms were extended down lower to meet egress. Not a huge deal. I went with the same rough opening width and just cut the frame lower. The bathroom was another matter. Why is it that carpenters in the '60s loved to do stupid stuff like put a window in a shower? Yup... IN the shower. To keep it dry, the previous owners had a short shower curtain to cover the wood frame and trim. This was nothing less than an annoyance everyday. Air warms up... gets behind the curtain... starts to rise up and out... sticks to your arm... ALL THE FREAKIN" TIME!!! Ugh... anyhow, my solution was to get a little creative with some pvc 1x6, some glass blocks, and some pvc trim.