Building my garage / workshop (56k death)
 

Not sure if this is the right forum for this, but I figured I would bring it on over. :twfix:

So I thought I would share what I've been spending around 1 day a week average working on since the summer: Building my own garage/workshop. I'll be adding to this thread as I make more progress.

My folks' office building has some parts of the basement that are separate due to the building having had a couple additions over its lifetime. One portion is about 15x18, and consists of a dirt floor, and very old plaster covering the walls and ceiling (the type of plaster with a mesh screen nailed up and the plaster attached to the screen). It's been full of a bunch of useless crap we have to shove in there about 7-8 years ago in a hurry (long story) and haven't done anything with since. Also, through a small wall there is another small portion separated from the main basement that is about 5x15 which also has a dirt floor and had crap in it as well.

Upon starting the project I decided it would be well worth it to break down the wall and connect the two sections into one workshop... the smaller room will end up with lots of shelving mounted to the walls. Due to the age of it all, I decided to frame new walls inside the room in most places, in order to be able to insulate easily, hang drywall, and mount light fixtures, outlets, etc. There are some walls in the smaller room up which I will just mount insulation and sheetrock directly, though.

Just getting all the stuff out and making all the dump runs, as well as ripping out all of the old plaster and insulation took me the first few months (only one day a week, roughly).





So, here is what I started with:

Main room full of crap:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...1505Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...1506Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...1507Medium.jpg

Here is part of the smaller room:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2034Medium.jpg

After I knocked down the wall between the two and cleared out the main room, here is a view looking from the main room into the smaller room:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2037Medium.jpg





So, essentially, here is a schematic of the space I will be working with:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f.../schematic.jpg

Here is the whole place stripped out,dirt floor, ready for concrete:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2040Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2036Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2035Medium.jpg

In this one you can see the main garage door as well as the smaller door in the small room.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2039Medium.jpg

The concrete needed not only to be laid inside the building in the two rooms, but there are severe drainage issues right outside the building, so there is now also a concrete 'apron' that runs around the whole back of the building and up the side a little bit. This makes sure all the rain goes away from the building. I don't have pics of the outside right now, I'll add some later. Also, all of the walls that border the outside world, I sprayed using a paint sprayer with a heavy duty sealing primer called 'Kilz'... seals in moisture, etc. Also, I caulked any cracks or holes both on the inside and outside.
Here's some shots with the floor in, walls sealed,(I've also insulated the walls in the small room that I won't be building another wall inside of) ready to start getting some real work done:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2065Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2064Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2063Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2062Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2061Medium.jpg





I framed walls on most of the remaining walls. There are a couple where I will use the existing frame. To attach the bottom 2x4 to the floors, I used one of those powder-actuated nailers that use little bullets and you hit them with a hammer. I've used them before, they work great, made by Remington. After that it's just standard pain in the ass wall framing.

Then, I ran all of my wires. Due to anticipated high amperage, I used 4 gauge wire (for this particular wire I used aluminum because copper is so damn expensive right now) and ran a line from the takeoff lugs on the building's main panel back to my garage, and mounted a subpanel. I also used an existing wire to connect a fan-forced heater and mounted it in the framing... nice and toasty in there now. I ran all the wires for three big fluorescent light fixtures with a 3 way switch in two places, 4 small spotlights (for above where I plan to build a workbench and where I plan to have my big roller tool chests) controlled by a switch near where the workbench will be, 9 normal outlets, and 1 line for a 220V wire for when I get a compressor, hopefully not too far in the future. This is all managed by a 15 amp breaker for all the lights, three 20 amp breakers for all the outlets, and a 40 amp breaker for the 220V line.

Here is some pictures with most of the walls done being framed and most of the wiring done.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2085Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2084Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2082Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2090Medium.jpg







Today I got some bulbs and turned on the breaker for the fluorescent lights so I can stop working with those damn spot/work lights. I finished a couple other little wiring things and insulated the two walls that are up that border the outside. Here's some pics with the lights on.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2091Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2089Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2088Medium.jpg

I plan to run a couple speaker wire outlets and the accompanying wires on the back wall because I plan to bring in my stereo and speakers on shelves there. After a couple more little wiring and insulation things, it will be time to start the drywall for all the walls and the ceiling. Really starting to come together.

A little update.

The bike is in there now on a tender, because of the snow. Fits in nicely, I will have PLENTY of space to work on it. Only problem is I noticed there was some oil on the ground underneath the bike, and it didn't look like it was coming from the breather tubes. I didn't have time to look into it, so now it's bugging me quite a bit, I'm worried.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2148Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2143Medium.jpg

All of the insulation is done. I've JUST started drywalling. Lots of work left to do there.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2147Medium.jpg

Because the little spot lights I am putting above my workbench and tool chest are a little too long to fit in the rafters, I had to box them in. I built little boxes and hung two of them, I still have to hang the other two.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2146Medium.jpg

Here's a random shot of the little side room.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2145Medium.jpg



Left to do:
- Hang boxes and run wires for speakers (have parts already)
- Hang other two small light boxes
- Modify the subpanel (add a 60amp main breaker and ground bus bar... have the parts)
- Build and hang doors
- Finish putting up plastic sheeting
- Drywall hanging, mudding, sanding
- Paint
- Install all outlets, switches, and faceplates (after paint, obviously)
- Put down epoxy floor coating (medium gray with black, red, and white paint chips)
- Crack a beer and admire the work

Did a couple little things the other day.

I mounted up boxes and ran wires for all of the speaker outlets.

Also, I modified the subpanel a bit to follow convention... the neutral and ground wires needed to be on separate bus bars, and the hot lines coming in needed to run through a main breaker before going to the individual breakers.

Gettin shit done, son.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2168Medium.jpg

Updated... new ground bus bar, new main breaker.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2167Medium.jpg

After xmas I'm planning to make a ton of progress, mainly on the drywall and the construction of the doors.

So in the past few days I've made some pretty decent drywall progress. The ceiling in both rooms is completely done, including boxing in the little spotlights. I started the walls, I've done the whole back wall in the main room, and half of the wall that interfaces the two rooms. Did a couple wiring things, added a dedicated outlet under the workbench for the minifridge,other odds and ends. There are a couple portions of wall that cannot be drywalled until later, because I have to design and build the garage doors, and design and build a door to replace the small door in the small room that goes to the outside.

Here's some shots of the progress:

Back wall, ceiling (notice that my 'work table' looks like I had a huge coke party :lol: ... gotta love drywall):
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02179.jpg

Side wall, ceiling with boxed in spotlights:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02180.jpg

Ceiling:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02181.jpg

Side wall, ceiling with boxed in spotlights:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02182.jpg

Looking from the main room into the small room:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02183.jpg

Looking from the small room into the main room:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...t/DSC02184.jpg


Comin' along decently now that I've been able to put in a couple consecutive full days :)

Did a couple more things today....

Finished almost all of the drywall that can be done before the main doors and the small side door are all sorted out. There is a small portion in the smaller room that can still be done, probably about an hour of work.

It's all a mental thing, but once you get those sheet up on the ceiling and wall, you really feel like you've actually done something.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2185Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2186Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2187Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2189Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2190Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2192Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2194Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2196Medium.jpg

So, after some pretty hectic times at work, I was finally able to get some more work done on the garage in the weekend right after my birthday.

The main thing hanging over my head at this point is building the garage doors, as well as the door in the small room needing to be ripped out and a new one built. Like I said before, some companies will charge anywhere between 5 and 20 grand for a set of 'carriage house' doors.... which is ludicrous. I'll just build them myself.

So, all of the drywall being done save for three small strips around the small door and large doors, I decided to tackle the big project. It took almost an entire day just to measure, come up with a plan, verify structural integrity, buy the materials, and be ready to get started. Swinging doors are much more difficult than traditional garage doors due to their tendency to sag over time if not built properly.

The key here is to keep weight down while still making them nice and strong, make them able to be very well insulated, resistant to weather, decent looking, etc.
Here is the general shape I came up with. This is the left door, the right would be a mirror image of this.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f.../doorshape.jpg

The main beam for the hinging is a 4x4, the rest of the boards are 2x4's. I'll use 5/16" lag bolts for all of the fasteners (four on the top and bottom of the 4x4, 2 on all the 2x4 joints. Also, the cross beam going from near top to far bottom should alleviate some load from the door wanting to sag. When I find a decent set of hinges, I will use lag bolts to attach each side of the hinge into the 4x4's (the static post the doors hang on is also a 4x4). The outside of the doors will be clad with Texture 1-11 with the more narrow grooves... looks decent, treated for weather, paints well, lightweight. The doors inside will be filled with some foam insulation. The inside of the doors will be clad with some very thin wood sheeting and painted. The bottom of the doors will have rubber 'wiper'-type weatherstrips, the center seal will be similar. The top and sides will have rubber stripping tacked into the door fram so that as the doors are closed they will seal up. The center will use on of those vertical rod locks that will go down into a hole drilled in the concrete.

It took all of another day to frame the doors in and get everything all squared and solid. It was worth it. You could hang a flucking car on these support posts. They are pressure treated 4x4's that are secured to the structure of the building with 1/2" lag bolts that are 10" long. They are perfectly square and level. Also, the last piece of wall had not yet been built because I hadn't decided how the door framing was going to do, so I built that... powder-actuated nail cannon to put the base PT 2x4 into the ground, framed the rest, insulated it, mounted the lightswitch. Here is a view from outside, followed by a few closeups:
(note, this first pic was taken with my new phone, then I emailed it via text message to myself... pretty decent)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02296.jpg

Left side (if looking in from outside)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02298.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02299.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02300.jpg

Right side (if looking from outside):
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02301.jpg

Last bit of wall framed:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02297.jpg

One thing you can't see in any of the pictures but that I did do, and was fairly time consuming, was that I installed all of the outlets into the outlet boxes. There are 10 of them... but now I turned all the breakers on so I don't have to run extension cords anymore. Wired up the switch for the spotlights too.

Lastly, I wired up the little spotlights for over the workbench and over the tool chests. These things were a little bitch... cramming all the wires and wire nuts into the junction boxes and then getting them up and into the holes I cut in the drywall and up into the little boxes I framed in. Big pain. It's not readily apparent in these photos, but these little lights are going to provide some great worklight in those two areas.

Workbench lights:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02303.jpg

Toolbox lights:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02305.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02306.jpg

Turned the main lights off, workbench lights:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...l/DSC02307.jpg



Now work sucks again, which is why I haven't been on here recently, but hopefully I'll be able to get out there and get some more work done soon.

Finally, after a really chitty week at work, spending until 11pm there thursday, friday, and saturday... I was able to take the day off on sunday and get some work done on the garage.

I built the structure/frame for both of the swinging doors. They are REALLY sturdy. So far, I'm definitely happy with my decision to build these myself. The 4x4's on each door will be closest to the hinges, the 2x4's in the center.

The 2x4's on the top and bottom are connected to the vertical boards via 5/16"x3" lag bolts with washers, countersunk. There are 4 going into the top and bottom of the 4x4, 2 going into the top and bottom of the 2x4, and then 2 going into the top and bottom of the 2x4 cross-support board.

Built the first one:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2343Medium.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2344Medium.jpg

Built the other one:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2345Medium.jpg

Looking pretty good:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2346Medium.jpg

I have a plan for the cladding front and back, adhesive, insulation, hinges, weather stripping, ground wipers and center flap, as well as the locking/closing mechanism, and an idea for center casters for support to prevent sag. I think this will all take one more full day of work. Then, I will just need to paint them and hang them up!

Really coming together now :D

Did some more work on the doors this past weekend, unfortunately only one day's worth, and was able to completely finish their construction. They are pretty heavy, but as long as I use proper hinges, the added strength, durability, insulating quality, and weather resistance should be worth it.

A lot of the machine supply places I've been looking at for hinges are ridiculously overpriced. Luckily, I have a buddy who does tons of custom metalwork and makes his own ornate railings and gates, and he has even fashioned a pair of hinges for 40 foot tall solid wood doors. I am gonna take a trip to his shop and we'll make some nice hinges for not too much money.



So the doors are built around the frames I described in my last post. For the front cladding, I used texture 1-11 with roughly 4" wide grooves. It's attached via lots of construction adhesive (liquid nails, good stuff) and some 1.25" exterior screws. The construction adhesive I used all around will actually add a ton of strength to the doors, as well as sealing them from water and weather. Then, I used some 2" thick foam insulation (R12 insulating factor... nice, and a little pricey) to fill the door. I used construction adhesive to attach it to the back of the front T-1-11, so behind it will be a roughly 1.5" air gap, which will help even more for insulating. Then, the inside cladding is just 1/4" finished luon, attached via construction adhesive and 1.25" finish nails.

Here is the doors as built this weekend.

Mid-Build:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081747.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081757.jpg

All done:
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081817.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081938.jpg

You can see the T-1-11 Pretty well on the underside of this door from the side. I guess I forgot to take photos of the outsides of the doors.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081939.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0216081943.jpg


I have all the rest of planned out exactly, except for the hinges.

One door will lock to the other upon closing via a gate latch, like this:
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom...103285c1_4.jpg

Then, the doors will lock in place via a cane bolt / plunge latch down into the concrete. I have the bit, and a hammer drill. Easy. It is sort of like this:
http://www.hardwaresource.com/uploads/926016,018-lg.jpg

There will be wipers along the bottom of each door to seal against the ground, and a wider one mounted in the center to cover the gap between the doors.

Rubber weatherstripping will be tacked all around the door frame on the building in such a way that as the door is pulled shut the last couple inches, all the weatherstripping will be lightly compressed, and seal the garage.

I plan to find rigid casters with a slight offset from their mounting plate that will be attached such that as the door is pulled shut the last couple inches, a lot of the load will be taken off the hinges and supported by the casters.



Now, just have to paint them (using black exterior paint on the front and sides... the inside will be white interior paint) and hang them. I'm going out there tomorrow to paint the doors at the very least.

So last Saturday I was able to paint the doors. I used a Behr exterior paint with primer built in and it went down very nicely, just took a little effort.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2369Medium.jpg

Before painted, I lightly sanded down the front face of the texture 1 - 11 to get it nice and smooth with a belt sander. It's pretty rough when you buy it. This would look better, and make the paint go on easier...

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2348Medium.jpg

I used some putty on all of the screw holes and little imperfections. Here they are, all prepped for paint:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2351Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2352Medium.jpg

Laid on the first coat:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2356Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2358Medium.jpg

Laid on the second coat nice and thick... came out pretty well:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2359Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2362Medium.jpg



This weekend I'm planning to head out there and paint the inside face of both doors. I have some hinges coming next week so the doors are on hold until then. I am going to try to start figuring out the small door in the other room and if I think of a good idea that is doable same day I will get started on it. Otherwise I will get going on the drywall mudding.... ugh...

Work sucks, otherwise this shit would have been done months and months ago.

Finished painting the other sides of the doors.

Did a couple errands and figured out a thorough plan for the small door. Just have to enact it now.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...302081747a.jpg

Ambly I know you're going to say this one is blurry.... so ... cameraphone. Deal with it.
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0302081747.jpg


This coming weekend I should be able to hang the big doors, as well as construct, paint, and hang the small door. That would be HUGE.... and I think it's doable.

Comin along nicely. What all is left? Just the floor, finishing the walls and hanging the doors?

I'm pretty sure he still has around 300 pics to post up also.

I was wondering when you were going to bring this thread over. Glad to see it back up. I thought you were going to paint the insides of the doors white. Did you change your mind?

Looks great!!

Great job, CEO! I'm a hobbiest wood worker myself so I appreaciate good work. The constuction of the doors looks very solid.

Congrats CEO!! Looking Good!

awesome, I liked this thread, glad it's here

Now we just gotta get GasMan to continue his Phoenix thread. How bout it? I know I'd like to see what becomes of the chop!

eventually... when i get the time and money... i will build myself a bigger shop.

Looks good CEO

Yeah... man.. that is alot of pics... :panic:

you can do it!

Shoot, most of us have seen the progression of it up till the TWFix migration. Just continue it from there!!!

You can link us to your BD forum if we wanna back track and look at previous pics. :dthumb:

So why is there a huge dent in your Bike??

































J/k :twfix:

DAYUM!!!! That almost got me. I started going back to look through the pics again! :lmao:

Looking good.

Looking Good! Now quit messing around and put the finishing touches on it!!

Get any work done on that beeyotch this weekend?

coming along nicely.

See below :lol:
Don't like it, don't look at the thread.
Thanks man. Yeah, I thought more about it and decided it would look funny, especially when I opened the doors. I think they look good this way.
Thanks a lot man... yeah, they are very solid... and heavy!
plus1 to that.... even if he just has to start where he is now and not have all the previous info... I've enjoyed following that one.
Haha you almost got me you bastard.
I'm trying, eh? Cut me some slack!
Yes sir, quite a bit :D






Got a lot accomplished yesterday and today. Also, I'll be able to work on it tomorrow (monday), friday, and next weekend. Hell yeah.


I got all the materials necessary for the small door: solid wood slab exterior door, exterior door jambs, lock set, hinges, and a kit with jigs to help you cut all your doorknob holes. I painted the door and jambs and let them to sit:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2420Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2422Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2424Medium.jpg

I ripped out the old shitty door, and installed the new jambs.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2439Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2440Medium.jpg

Later sunday night I got the hinges on the small door, mounted it, and got the knob and lock all working great. It was dark so I didn't take more pics. The door still needs another coat of paint and I need to insulate around the frame with caulking and some other odds and ends. I'll get pics tomorrow.


Also, I found some hinges that would work for the large doors at a killer price. They are commercial grade 4.5" hinges with non-removable pins, ball bearing movement, nice thick metal for the plates, very beefy pin, and they were pre-primed for painting. Best of all, only 6 bucks a piece. It was a no-brainer. I got 6... maybe I only need four, but figured at that price I might as well overkill.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2436Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2435Medium.jpg

I attached the hinges via 5/16" lag screws for 6 of the 8 holes, and then 1 on each side is a through bolt to the other side. This was if someone wants to break it they can't just take out the bolts on the hinges. I mounted up the doors... shimmed them up into place and got two hinges attached with half the bolts on each... just to test the movement. Movement was smooth and felt great.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2437Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2442Medium.jpg



My plan tomorrow is to tidy up all my loose ends. Hopefully this can all be done in a day, but I'm not sure.

- Quick trip to the Depot for more paint and some bolts

- Finish all the small door odds and ends
---- Painting
---- Caulking/insulating
---- Weatherstrip on the bottom
---- Etc.

- Finish the big doors
---- Mount the other two hinges
---- Attach all lags/bolts
---- Attach the gate latch to connect the two doors
---- Rig up the cane bolt for the floor
---- Weatherstrip the entire opening
---- Attach weatherstrips/wipers for the bottom of the doors
---- Rubber strips over the gaps on the hinge sides
---- Paint hinges, frame, general trim around the doors

- Final drywall work
---- Small pieces by all the doors (big doors, small door, door to main basement)

- Clean the shit out of the place
---- Get rid of all random wood
---- Sweep floor
---- Organize all tools
---- Can now get rid of table, etc.

It's already starting to look less cluttered in there just from my moving the table out of the way:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2444Medium.jpg

At that point, I will be ready to tackle starting the mudding, sanding, and painting next friday, saturday, and sunday.

Oh yeah, and I'm going for a god damn ride. The bike needs it, and I need it. It's suppose to be around 38. Good enough.

looks good slut... come to CO next year... you can build me a garage and I'll show you some sweet ass roads (I'll be finding them while your building said garage)

I've got that same Black and Decker door lock installer. Works really nice.

I feel like this is not the best deal.
Yeah, considering it's just a plastic jig, I was pleased with how well it worked.







So I didn't get quite as much done today as I originally planned/wanted, but that's alright. I woke up late (needed the rest), had to ship some things, wanted to ride, and needed to organize the place quite a bit.

I finished drilling all the holes and installing all the bolts for the big doors. They open smoothly, and work great. They are all ready to be sealed up and all latches and such installed, all of which I have a plan for and have all the parts. I'll do that next time.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2447Medium.jpg

Also, I realized I never posted pics of the outside concrete work. To fix all of the potential drainage problems due to the asphalt sloping toward the building, everything was re-done with concrete. This is also the reason for the low ceiling height, the floor in the garage needed to be at the asphalt level plus a little bit. You can see here all of the concrete built up against the building to encourage runoff. So far from what I've seen it all works great.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2450Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2452Medium.jpg

Then, I decided no matter what, I needed to ride. Went out for about two hours, hit some twisties, got the feel back, etc. It felt fucking great. About to head out:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2449Medium.jpg

When I returned, instead of worrying about little trim work, painting and insulating the door frames, etc (all which would require a Depot trip), I decided to clean up and get organized. Also, this is due to the trash guy coming tomorrow... needed to get rid of some scrap. There was a TON of old and scrap wood. I cut it all into pieces to fit into barrels (the only way they'll take it). It filled up six trash barrels!

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2453Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2455Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2461Medium.jpg

Also, cleaned up garage. Some of the clutter were the makeshift 'tables' I had been using for work, which ended up in the pics above. Also, organized all the tools and swept up. That's a shitload of sawdust!

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2457Medium.jpg

Lots of space in there now that a lot of the shit is out. It's going to be so sweet when I'm done. Bike looks great in there, too ;) The tire tracks are from me test-fitting our jeep in there... if we needed it to fit, it does, barely. Wouldn't be worth it for everyday storage though.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2466Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2465Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2462Medium.jpg

Gotta love the 'reverse chicken strips' due to the shitty weather... most of the tire all smoothed out from normal use, the edges ripped up from track use (tire temperature as well as harder accel at lean causes the shredding...)
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2467Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2468Medium.jpg

Basically, everything is ready to go. Next time I go out, I will finish all the door insulation, weatherstripping, caulking, and painting. Then, I'll hang the last few small bits of drywall by the doors, and pull the bike and everything except for drywall stuff out of the garage. That should all take one day. Then, the next day the mudding and sanding will start. After that, it will just be painting, building shelves, and building a workbench. I've also got a few little finishing touches/surprises up my sleeve ;)

looks nice but WTF!? did you have Michael J Fox driving the jeep!? those tire tracks are wavy as fuck

The low ceiling height shouldn't be a problem for your midget ass..

Will you be done by Sat? I should be riding mine Sat... unless the weather doesn't co-operate then I'll just be starting it.

:lol: that's some funny shit.

But yeah, the fit was wayyy snug... had to keep making minor direction adjustments. Had to pull in the mirrors too. It was just a test because I was curious. I doubt if it will ever be used for that probably.
Exactly. Anyone over 5'11" would have to duck for most parts.
That's awesome man! No, I won't... :(

FINISH IT!!! :lol:

Its looking good, and you've got a nice amount of room (other than cieling)!

well when you build mine... we'll need at least 10 ft side to side... and 8.5 ft clearance for the doors... so I can fit my truck in once it gets it's lift and 37" tires :drool:

Looking good. Make sure you weather strip between the two doors as well, but I probably don't have to tell you that. :lol: Just didn't see, "between doors" on your list of things to do.

Yeah, it will help keep tall-ass motherfuckers out of there and leeching on my nice new place :lol:
You doing that to the toyota? That will be sick.
Thanks man.

And yeah, c'mon, I got that shit under control! :lol:

Good eye though.

As I always say looking good that can be your bike shop/bar and hangout spot when are u installing the stripper pole???

That will be one of the finishing touches :lol:

But hmm... gotta find some strippers now... :whistle:

Yeah... I'll be doing a 6" lift... Sold axle swap... and a trail bed... look something similar to this... only with out the POS tires (and an extracab)

http://www.allprooffroad.com/images/...kside01_lg.jpg

keep up the good work ceo.

ebbs how good is she on gas with the changes she def will be drinking some ish up then

I'll be swapin in 5.29 gears so she'll be back to the stock over all ratio... my friends with the same size truck only a 4Runner get mid to high teens(15-19)... a little less than I'm getting now... (17-21)

not bad for that type of truck kewl

well it'll be going to Propaine once I get to CO... so that'll kick it up to 22-25mpg... but gotta get a big enough tank... 12-15gal

Damnit... I should buy my neighbors Oytota...

and move out of FL...


but dude I'm tell'n ya... yota's fuck'n rock...

come up to CO... we'll go wheel'n... well...as long as you don't roll the bitch (more than once)

Did I ever tell you about my uncle's rig? He took an old 1 ton 4x4 p/u and made it into a rail buggy... I'm pretty sure he still has it... He lives just outside of Denver... Last I knew, he used it for ice racing and weird shit like that...

no you didn't... but come up here... we'll drive up to denver... and we'll take it and use it for what it's good for... wheel'n in the mountains!

I may not get the lift and all that shit done till mid summer 09.. as then I'll have the bike as transportation... and can have my bike down for weeks at a time with no issue

Ebbs you're a thread-jacking piece of shit. You're still cool though. And the truck be sick if you do all that. Especially if you keep rusted quarter panels. +25 badass points.

I got a good chunk done today on the garage... will be getting an early start tomorrow and hopefully a shitload of progress... will update on that later in the weekend :dthumb:

well if I do the trail bed they'll be gone... but otherwise they'll stay... they'll have a million more dents though... nice thing about rust... you don't care about body damage anymore :lol:

so did you already wire you garage for sound? I remember you saying you were gonna do that... but didn't see where you were gonna mount the speakers and shit

:lol: Yeah he's good at jacking, but you're still working to much to finish the garage so better here than a real active thread!

:lol: I really want one of those trucks... I'd try to nab the hilux turbo'd version, with stickshift. Awesome.

Yeah, I prewired some boxes with speaker hookups. The back wall, opposite the big doors, is going to have the sound system. The speaker outlets are in the upper corners, I'm going to put shelves there for the speakers, sort of nestling them up in the corners of the room. Then, on the left side there will be an extra shelf under the speaker shelf to hold tuner, cd player, equalizer, etc. I have a power outlet there too. In the middle of the wall, I may have some sort of pimp decoration planned :whistle:

cool... be sure to write down all the problems you run into... so when you come and help build mine... it'll go much smoother :dthumb:

CEO, you're a friggin work horse. GREAT JOB. :dthumb:

Douche. You're not even pretending like you would lift a finger :lol:
Thanks sweetheart :wink:

:lol: I would... I'd be take'n pictures!

actually I'm imagining I'll be re-doing or newly constructing a garage in CO... my budget there isn't the biggest so most of the houses I'm looking at have tiny garages... either way I'll want to insulate it and dry wall it. I'll be using your pics as reference... I've drywalled an attic... but that was back when I was 15 or so... the part I fuck'n hated was the mud/tape'n...

I'm not the best, but I can do a decent job on most general construction, drywall, electrical, etc etc. I can help you out if you need it. Once you make a space your own you'll love spending time in it. Once you get a place and want to figure out a plan for it I can talk to you on the phone and stuff.

The thing I'm the worst at is probably drywalling, and the mudding and taping and sanding of it. Partially just because I don't really like doing it. The other stuff I truly enjoy, it's fun to me. But yeah, I'm not looking forward to that. Should be starting it tomorrow. Today I had to hang some more end beads, metal corner strips, some more small pieces of drywall, etc... and I was working on the big doors and small door... painting trim, etc.

edit: and as far as the budget, it's really not too bad. Materials aren't necessarily cheap, but they're reasonable. The hard part is the time and effort. At the end, if you look at what you spent on materials, compared to what some :asshat: would have charged you to do it for you, you'll have saved a fortune. I've got like under 2 grand into this place, not counting the concrete.... some contractor would probably charge like 20k to do this shit up all nice.

I'm actually looking forward to the project... I just know it's going to be interesting considering it's been so long since I've done any wood working or drywalling.

shit if you came out to CO I'm sure we'd be out explore'n the back roads too much to get anything done on my garage...

besides I've got my little brother who I can have come live with me for the summer... give him a place to stay for a little weekend help with my garage... plus... I'll make him get a weekday job at Home Depot... so I can get a discount :rockwoot: :lol:

You'll end up enjoying it for sure. Especially the part when you're done and it's like "shit, I built that?".

If I ever had the time and could go out there, I'd help your lame ass :cheers:

And looking back, I should have made nice with a hot cashier chick at HD or something... me and my dad could have saved a fortune over the years :lol:

I dated a chick at HD once... I met her when I had to pick up some MDF for some sub boxes I was building... we dated for like 6 months or so... never once did I need anything during that time... we had a bad breakup and literally 2 days later... I needed some shit from HD... I drove an hour out of my way to go to another HD... :lol:

yo your too nice with these women u need to bang a couple whores and treat em like shit and get your swag back. I would have went in there and still tried to hit and get a discount so what if yall were over

CEO...you're inspiring me a little bit with that talk. I gotta put a fence around the yard. My wife wants me to do it and I would rather just pay someone.

I hate fences...

but i want a dog, and there are not a lot of choices when in town.

I don't know if strictly an underground fence will cut it.

Fence building is hard work, but not very easy to screw up... digging the post holes and everything can be tough depending on the ground at your house. But it would be a good project. Give it a shot... it will end up about as good as you would have someone do for you, and cost about 1/4 of the money.

Then have the wife help you paint it. Afterwards, you'll be like "wow I built that... awesome." Then cut a deal with the lady... the money you saved, put half of it into your joint savings account, and the other half to spend on something fun/relaxing/etc.











As usual, didn't make quite as much progress this weekend as I would have liked, but maybe I just set lofty goals. I got a decent amount done, though. The weather (rain and snow) prevented me from doing some of the things I intended.

My camera was acting up so these are all phone pics, sorry.

There was bits of drywall to finish around the small door, big doors, and the door into the main basement. The frames also needed to be stuffed with insulation beforehand. I did that. Also, needed to prep a lot of the corners for mudding with j-strips and metal corner beads. At this point I was piecing a lot of the parts together with leftover drywall bits. It will add some mudding time but I didn't feel like making a Depot trip just for a sheet of drywall.

Here is the part by the big doors:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081122.jpg

Hung some corner beads:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081123.jpg

From the main basement looking at the small door after I stuffed insulation in the frame:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081124.jpg

I also ripped down the door into the main basement becasue it was in rough shape and needed new hinges. There was a big steel sheet bolted to the front of it (previous building owner kept ~$100k stock of high-end fishing supplies in here, used to be a flyfishing shop) that weighed probably 80 pounds, I took that off. That is why the hinges had gone to shit. I cleaned it off and puttied all of the holes in it:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...315081124a.jpg

Hung the drywall around the small door, j-stripped the edges:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081326.jpg

Used some of the 1/4" luon that I used to face the inside of the big doors to clean up the threshold:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...315081903b.jpg

Then, I used thick weatherstripping to insulate the whole frame of the big doors. The last inch or so that the doors are closed compress this stuff and make a weathertight seal. I could already feel the place getting warmer:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081904.jpg

Then, used a gate latch to click the doors together, a short barricade (will paint black and rubberize the ends so as not to scratch the doors next time) for strength, and a cane bolt down into the concrete to secure them shut:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081902.jpg

Started the mudding, did most of the main room 1 coat:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...315081903a.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081903.jpg

And painted one side of the door going into the main basement:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0315081935.jpg

Next time, need to finish up all the door issues... couldn't this time because of the weather. I have all the stuff already:
- Door sweeps on the bottom of the small door and both big doors
- Extra wide door sweep/flap between the big doors in the center
- Rubber sheeting over the hinge-side gaps for redundancy
- Small trim painting bits outside
- Paint the other side of the door going into the main basement, rehang it on fresh hinges

There is one or two small trim things to neaten up in the garage as well, just little tit jobs though.

Then, it's all mudding... 3 coats, sanding in between. Yay fun. Not.

Keep up the good work!

My problem is this: I come from a family, both sides, of carpenters and construction workers. And my wife knows this. I know how to do the work...I just dont want to.

But yeah...my ground sucks. All kinds of rocks. I'm gonna just rent a post hole digger. The fence will be white vinyl...so no painting. I think I'm gonna tackle this in the next couple weeks.

I hate these fucking things:
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom...8317996c_4.jpg

I think he's talking about this
http://www.fencingonline.com.au/memb...-digger-01.jpg

Yeah I'm sure, but when your old man needs a hole dug and you're around it's, http://images.jupiterimages.com/comm...9/22844969.jpg FMFL.

Nice work CEO, looks good so far.

And sorry to disappoint all of you, but Home Depot employees dont get discounts for working there. Unless other states are different but I highly doubt it.

If you've got shitty ground, it will be well worth your trouble to rent the hole digger. I assume you mean the kind people often use to drill holes for ice-fishing, i.e. an auger with a gas-powered engine.
Yes, like that.
Thanks dude!

And that is surprising to me, but I believe you. Weird. They suck. If it weren't so convenient and encompassing, I wouldn't go there. When I can, I go to a smaller supply joint, like when I got a lot of my electrical stuff.

VERY TRUE! and every time I go home I'm doing something for him... thats why in September I plan on riding EVER FUCKING WHERE! cause if I go back to my parents house... my dad will have me build a fuck'n ark or some shit

That is not an option. It would take me a year to dig the goddamn holes.


You're speaking my language, kid.

Grab your bike and come on over, we can wrench on whatever needs to be done at my place.

Gather 2 of every bike and put them on that goddamn ark.

:lol: that's my kind a fuck'n ark! it'd have to be big enough to hold a track... I'm think'n a mix between Barbur and Laguna...

sounds good... but I think I'll be ok... I talked to my dad last night and he was saying how he's got no plans for any new projects this summer... and he'd be hurt if I didn't at least spend some time with him and my mom during my mid tour.

but your more than welcome to come over and help :lol:

oh when you gonna get those headlights?






ceo... you done with this yet?

I'm tryin' dude, I'm tryin'. I got a lot of shit done today. Tomorrow morning I'm going to work on it from 8-11, then take my bike back into the city (:rockwoot:), shower, and go to Easter/family shit.


I recently realized I really need to get this shit done so I can do some major work on the bike before I go to the track, which is about 5 weeks from now... Not like I haven't already been trying to get it done.

Get to work, slacker.

Actually... kinda forgot about them :lol:
Not sure, depends on how much night riding nik will be doing, since I won't be on the SV, I really don't care.

Give me a buzz, I'll be over helpin ya.

well let me know... what bulbs does the Buel take? and when is it gonna be in your garage? :tt:

H8's I think... or maybe H11's :idk: it has seperate bulbs for hi and lo.
so there are 4 lights on for dim (2 running lights) and 6 on for bright!
Already read about some people putting HID's in 'em too.

As for when... soon, very soon.

well order a set of HID's! I'll be ordering some and throwing them in in Sept... so you can install them on your bike... and if you fuck up... you can show my what not to do :lol:

We'll see how the stockers are first.
I may just go with some PIAA plasma's too... who knows.
No one has quite gotten the HID's to work perfect yet either.

Somehow I missed your response, but unfortunately it is true. I work there part time since Im still in school and I get asked all the time if people can use my discount, but like I said, we dont get one. Cheap bastards in Georgia making decisions...

I will hurt you.
Cheap ass HD fuckers.









This past weekend (Easter weekend) I was able to get out there for all day Saturday and the morning of Sunday to get some work done. I finished everything involving all three doorways, did a couple bits of trim work, and did a little more mudding.

I gave another coat of paint to the door that goes into the main basement and painted the whole frame that it hangs on. I chiseled out bigger hinge cutouts on the frame and the door and hung it up. Looks 1000x better now:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2503Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2509Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2510Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2547Medium.jpg

I repainted some of the trim on the small door, and attached a doorsweep to the bottom. Cashmoney:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2505Medium.jpg

I boxed in the corner near the door because it was still exposed and drywalled it:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2511Medium.jpg

For the main doors I used some rubber weatherstripping to cover the gap near the hinges. I nailed some on the inside (forgot to take pics) wrapped around the corner so that as the door is closed, the strip gets compressed between the door and the frame. Then, for redundancy, I tacked a sheet over the gap on the outside as well. I think I'll probably dab all the nailheads with black paint just to improve the appearance next time I'm out there.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2506Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2542Medium.jpg

I put door sweeps on the bottom of both doors. They didn't come long enough so I had to buy three and chop one up:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2507Medium.jpg

Now comes the only real mistake I've made in this whole build (besides a couple small electrical brainfarts which I fixed). When building the doors, as I was putting on the sheeting on both sides, I used tons of construction adhesive as well as nails/screws for the back/front. After this, I stacked the doors on top of eachother and left them on my work table. But, I forgot to put some weight on top of the top door, so as the adhesive dried and hardened, the sheet moved/warped. This manifested itself when I hung the doors as the doors appearing to not be square, which is not the case.

In order to seal the gap in the middle of the doors, I decided to get extra large door sweeps which had a wider piece of rubber sheet than most, and just mount them vertically. But, due to the screwup I just mentioned, the doors don't line up perfectly and the flap wouldn't seal all the way. So I traced the error onto a board and used a belt sander to create my own 'shim'. Worked great:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2537Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2538Medium.jpg

Then I painted those trim bits and you don't notice them at all:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2539Medium.jpg

I decided to paint the sweeps in the middle because I thought they looked funny. The paint didn't go on too well so they will need a couple more coats, this was on sunday right before I had to leave to do Easter stuff so I didn't do a great job. I'll fix it next time:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2543Medium.jpg

I painted the crossbar and tacked some rubber to it so it doesn't scratch the door when putting it in:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2513Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2540Medium.jpg

I did a little more mudding in the corner and on the ceiling:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2541Medium.jpg

From the outside, the place looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. Especially considering the doors I built cost about 3% of what I was quoted to have a set built.

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2544Medium.jpg

Inside looked alright sat night:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...2514Medium.jpg

Unfortunately I've got a shitty couple of weeks with work, this one and next week, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get much/anything done for a bit :(

But I'm going to put Katherine to work when she comes to visit :D

Left:
- One small bit of trim work
- Mudding, sanding
- Clean the whole joint out, throw away scraps, etc to get ready for paint. Lay down plastic sheeting over the whole floor
- Priming, painting
- I want to use a baseboard that I can seal to the floor to make it waterproof. Since the place isn't that big I think I might splurge on these because they'll look fuckin' badass. Then I'll use clear caulking to seal the joint at the floor. Will make mopping the place really easy.
http://www.diamondlifegear.com/+Prod.../BaseMold5.jpg
- Design and build workbench. Put a beer fridge under it.
- Build all shelving. The small room will be all shelves, and there will be shelves for the stereo.
- Set up tool chests, fill, organize, etc. In general organize the whole joint.
- Down the road, I want to do the epoxy flooring. We'll see when I get the money and time to do it.

I'm also going to tackle a job in the main basement as well, but that is a story for another day ;)

F'in bad ass man... LOOKS GREAT!!!

I love the corner molding! Do that and those rubber floor squares.

We just had that done in our service drive and express lube at work.
Looks sweet as hell, and is nice to walk/work on... but it was BIG $$$ too.

Thanks dude!!!

Yeah, I don't want to do the rubber piece-together floor for a lot of reasons, as I said before.... but I am leaning towards the baseboards. I think I can swing em.













I was able to get one good day of work done in the garage this past weekend. I had Katherine up, and she wanted to see it and help a bit. She rocks :D Next weekend will be dedicated to garage work and starting my bike prep for the track in 3 weeks and for the season in general.

Basically applied the rest of the 1st mud coat after doing a bunch of moving and organizing of things, and then sanded half of that first coat. Three coats and three sands should do it, so it's coming along...

Here's a few camera phone pics, and a couple Kat took, being a paparazzi smartaleck:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...1624Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...623aMedium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...1623Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0717Medium.jpg

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...0719Medium.jpg

At this point, I'll have sort of a double focus for the next few weeks until my track days: the garage, and doing some bike prep for the track is in order since I am a little anxious about all of that getting done (new tires, 4kmile service, new SS brake lines and HH pads, tank sliders, etc.)

ok... but where's the pics of Kat?! :lol:

I'm in one of those pictures. You just can't tell because CEO was in a mudding mood and mudded me.

no comment :lol:

Along with a shed for the cats and a dog house......


Your the one who wants the cats outside.....:whistle:

You deserved it.
I dare ya.
Uh oh sounds like someone's got a honey-do list!!! Sucker :lol: