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Garagezilla

Project by NotNxprt posted 03-09-2010 06:44 AM 5880 views 0 times favorited 9 comments Add to Favorites Watch

When we bought our house the garage was a “2 1/2” car with a cracked and heaved floor, and a 7’ door. It was poorly insulated and the existing drywall was mudded with bare hands and never sanded. I needed something a bit bigger for hobbies and do-it-yourself projects so I raised the existing garage structure and tore out the concrete. I found that the garage was built over black dirt and the concrete was about 3” thick on one side and 20” on the other…no wonder it was heaved. I dug the “pit” for the pad down 3’ and never did find anything other than black dirt. I ended up pouring 32 4’x12” pylons packed with rebar, then brought in 80 tons of gravel to repack the hole. The pad ended up being 6” thick in the center and 15” around the perimeter. After the concrete was poured we lowered the garage back on the pad and set to work building the 850 sq foot garage with 12 1/2’ ceilings and 9’ garage doors. The finished garage is more than adequately insulated with fiberglass insulation, Tyvek wrap and ½” polystyrene foam around the outside under ¾” wood siding. I wired in 24 recessed can lights on zone switches, surround sound stereo, satellite television, and plumbed the air lines into the walls. Rather than dry walling I covered the walls in ¾” plywood around the top 2/3 of the walls and used the leftover wood (grooved 4×8 sheet) siding for the lower 1/3, this way I could screw anything to the wall where ever I wanted. Looking back on it I would have done several things different; this was my first construction project which took 10 months of weekends and cost about $25k in supplies.

In looking for pictures I realized I have none of the finished interior.

-- Figure It Out!



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NotNxprt

5 posts in 4956 days

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9 comments so far

View SonnyGarcia's profile

SonnyGarcia

14 posts in 4957 days

posted 03-09-2010 07:01 AM

Great job, you improved the place dramatically! How much vertical height did you gain?

-- See my work at www.historiccraftsmen.com

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NotNxprt

5 posts in 4956 days

posted 03-09-2010 07:34 AM

The existing ceiling was about 7.5’ and is now 12.5’ in the center (cathedral or pan type ceiling) the outside walls are 10’. I set it up so I could get a car hoist in there but that hasn’t happened yet. I raised the outside existing walls up 32” and framed under them (sistered to the existing 2×4s).

-- Figure It Out!

View Todd Thomas's profile

Todd Thomas

735 posts in 5401 days

posted 03-09-2010 12:59 PM

nice the project….I hate it when some that should be easy ends up being allot more work than you thought…...it looks great, real well done….

-- Todd- Oak Ridge, TN

View dfletcher's profile

dfletcher

128 posts in 5015 days

posted 03-09-2010 02:01 PM

Well done, great work.

View jim1953's profile

jim1953

26 posts in 5038 days

posted 03-10-2010 06:23 AM

Great Lookin Job

View BillyJ's profile

BillyJ

253 posts in 5158 days

posted 03-19-2010 02:47 PM

WOW! Heck, that would be a great place to live in if you had to! Surround sound! Great choice on the ply rather than sheet rock – you’ll never regret it. I have OSB in my shop – I never have to worry whether a stud is where I need it of not. It’s a great job you are doing there. Have fun enjoying your labor.

-- No matter how many times I measure, I always forget the dimensions before I cut.

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RexMcKinnon

26 posts in 4959 days

posted 04-07-2010 10:17 PM

Looks great. Exactly what I need.

-- If all you have is a hammer; Everything looks like a nail!

View FFURNITURE's profile

FFURNITURE

1 post in 4926 days

posted 04-08-2010 04:58 PM

Much respect to you! Your list of improvements/specs is everything I would of done. You definitely have a usable space, and a great place to escape the dreaded “House!”

View Beginningwoodworker's profile

Beginningwoodworker

204 posts in 5169 days

posted 11-01-2011 12:01 AM

Nice work!

-- CJIII

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