Brian

Brian's Garage Project

When Joe and I started buying Trans Am parts cars four years ago, I didn't think I'd run out of room in my basement... but as you can see, the parts are piling up!! The Red Baron Trans Am project and the 1966 Ford truck project are also taking up most of my indoor floor space now so parting Trans Ams out is now done outside...
Which wasn't too bad until the Lord decided to bless us with a very wet spring and summer. So now, I'm lying in the MUD parting out Trans Ams which isn't much fun... kinda like being in the junkyard...
But when it's doing this outside, it's really not a good place to part out a Trans Am!!
This is also not the kind of weather you want when trying to part out a Trans Am outside....
Here's a nice spot in the backyard just begging to have a nice detached garage constructed on it!!
They've started excavation for the garage foundation and the new driveway, but it's raining so much that they can't get much work done!!
So all I've got right now is a pile of dirt...
Update#1!! Even though you can't tell it by these pictures... it dried out long enough for the footers to be dug out, concrete poured, and the block delivered!! Then it started raining again!!
Update #2!! Well the rains have stopped and we're having some nice weather... so you can see the block work is well underway!! There's still three more courses of block to be laid on these walls plus construction of the front wall... then the blocks will be pumped full of concrete and rebar. Then it will be backfilled and compacted until only two feet of block wall is above the finished concrete floor. You can see the footer for the new retaining wall too.
Update #3!! The blocks have been pumped with concrete and rebar. The last three courses of block are on except for the corners. We're ready to backfill and compact!! You know, it really doesn't look that big...
But this kinda puts it in perspective!! I know, I know, you're thinking why don't I put a basement in this thing... can you spell "limited budget"? Plus you should see my house... oh I didn't tell you that we've also completely ripped the house apart and doing a complete remodeling job!!
Update #4!! Backfilling is now underway. Do you notice a problem with this picture... don't worry, I didn't when I took it... but you'll soon see...
Backfill complete. Masonry complete. New retaining wall is almost complete. All I need now is some gravel and some concrete for the floor. Life is good... right?
WRONG!! Setback #1: Now you can see what was wrong in the picture above. Dumping all of that backfill right up against the back wall caused this HUGE crack to appear on BOTH rear corners where the back wall and the side walls some together. Can you believe the masons actually came in and laid the corner blocks on top of these cracks?? SHEESH!! I was initially willing to live with the screwed up mixture of smooth and cut-face block, but now I don't have to. The width of this crack was 1/2". What am I gonna do? Excavate the backfill along the back wall and corners, cut the corners completely out, and have new cut-face block laid with more rebar and concrete.
While waiting on the excavators to haul in their equipment to repair the corners... it began to rain and the back wall began to move...now my 1/2" crack is a 2" crack... this is getting BAD...
But if you thought the picture above was BAD... this is REAL BAD!! Well, the excavators won't have to be careful while digging out the back wall because it is already lying on the ground!! The revised plan now is to clean up this mess and start over with a new back wall and tie it into the existing side walls. The timeframe from finding the 1/2" crack to this was exactly one week...
Update #5: Enough of seeing the back wall lying on the ground!! We've cleaned up the mess and almost complete rebuilding the back wall better than before... At least the kids had fun playing on those big dirt piles until they completed the backfill... again.
Can you see all of that rebar sticking up in the air? It will be bent over and poured into the concrete slab... hopefully in the near future!!
Update #6: Here it is with the backfill complete and the walls are all intact!! Kinda appropriate to have those rays of sunlight shining down on it... don't ya think??
Update#7: OK, now things are actually moving FORWARD now... we have 4" of gravel, a layer of black plastic, and a covering of 6"X6"X1/8" wire mesh AND some No. 3 rebar!!
Oh yeah!! The concrete trucks have arrived!! It took five of these babies to pour a 6" thick slab of 4000 psi concrete.
Putting the finishing touches on the brand spanking new concrete floor. I can't wait until the concrete has fully set up!! Next step is getting the building constructed!! As you can tell, the leaves have turned and are falling... so it has been SEVERAL months to get to this stage...
Update #8: Yes, those are walls going up!! This project is starting to pick up speed now!! No, these are not the typical Posteel walls, these are stud walls like you have in your house.
Here's the last of the trusses being set into place. Now the front wall needs to be framed up and start putting the roof and siding on it!! The trusses are typical Posteel design and sit on 10' centers with framing members between each truss.
It is really starting to look like a garage now!! If we only had some siding on it....
MUCH BETTER!! Well the front wall is all framed now and the roof and siding is being installed!
You can see here that the front and back wall both need to have the insulation and siding installed. The front wall will also be bricked. The gutters and downspouts will need to be installed. The doors also need to be installed. Then all that will be left will be the front porch and the concrete apron... to finish the shell of the building that is!!
We're really getting close now!! I need to get the fun stuff ordered now... the 2-post lift!!
It won't be long until we can finally work on getting the inside work (power, lights, etc.) so I can actually start using it!!
Yep, that is SNOW all right. I told you this project was taking a LONG time!! The plywood has been put up on the front wall. The masons built a tent on the front so they could go ahead and work on bricking the front wall in any weather.
The brick on the front is complete and the doors have been installed. It is looking better!!
We're almost ready to put the 15'X15' porch on the front and pour some more concrete!
Update #9: Yep, we've got the concrete truck back pouring the apron on the front of the garage. As you can tell, we're still getting plenty of rain to generate plenty of mud!!
As you can see the 15'X40' apron has grown since our original design. We decided to pour concrete all the way up to the rear of the house. You can also see in this picture that we have power wiring installed!! Hopefully the porch will be completed in just a few days... we've got to let the concrete set up for a few days first.
It's MOVING day... time to move ALL of the stuff that you remember seeing in my basement down to the new garage. I've got to finish the basement of the house. Unfortunately, I've got the empty the basement so it can be framed and finished, then move this stuff around AGAIN to get my garage finished and organized.
Yep, my big honkin' garage is pretty full. Thankfully a lot of the stuff out here will go back into the house when it is finished.

Remember this picture? This is what my basement USED to look like...	This is what the basement looks liked like for a few days. It hasn't looked like this in 14 years!! It has since been completely finished into four rooms and a one-car garage.
Here you can see the 15X15 porch under construction!!
Here's the porch almost completed!! The front support posts need to be finished and covered and some other small details.
The exterior of the new garage is very close to completion. Just finish up some small details and stain the cut face block and we'll be done!
Here's the almost completed porch and retaining wall. The retaining wall will also be stained when the cut face block on the garage is stained. Some lights, lawnchairs, and some cool Trans Ams parked on the apron and we'll be able to sit outside this Spring and enjoy the great outdoors!! Notice the "drainage ditch" in front of the garage door. My contractor designed this and said it has worked on other projects he's built. This 30-foot long dip in the concrete led to a 4 inch drain...
...then came the SPRING RAINS... the little 4 inch drain would get a couple of leaves on top of the drain grating... or get some dirt on the drain grating... or get ANYTHING on the drain grating and you have instant FLOODED GARAGE. This happened FOUR times!! I had water as far as 20 feet back inside and turned my beautiful concrete floor into what looked like a dirt floor!! The 4 inch drain feeds into a 6 inch drain and why they didn't stub up a 6 inch drain I'll never know...
The solution... cut my new concrete apron, dig a trench, stub up a 6 inch drain, and build a concrete form for a new 9 inch wide concrete trench that will feed the new 6 inch drain. I'll cover the trench with aluminum grating.
Sounded like a good solution... until the REALLY hard Summer thunderstorms and rains hit!! Check out the "river" running down my concrete apron into this 30" wide X 18" deep X 30 foot long trench!! I walked behind the garage to check the outlet of the 6 inch drain, and it was flowing all the water it possibly could...
Yep, FLOOD number 5 for the new garage. I sure am glad I've not done any finish work on the inside yet.
So we installed TWO 6 inch drain lines from the concrete trench to handle the water. We have had opportunity to test this current configuration during a hard rain and it works!! The 4 inch drain is for the gutters. Now if we can only get the concrete poured to finish the trench and get the aluminum grating cut to cover it... we'll be in business!!
Here's the building design!! A 40' X 60' detached garage will be GREAT!! It will be a Posteel building. It will have a 15' X 40' concrete apron and a 15' X 15' porch on the front.
Here's the preliminary floor plan.

Stay tuned!!