New Garage

Bulldog0156

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Messages
1,029
Location
Helena, MT
Bought my place almost 4 years ago. It came with a "garage" that had a mean lean and looked more like a murder shed. My house is 100 years old, and I don't think the garage was built much later than the house. When I bought the place I figured I could rehab the garage and make it workable, but after really looking it over I came to the conclusion that I would never be happy with it, so I decided that I would have to start saving for a new garage. There was no way I could afford to pay someone to build a garage, so I talked to some friends that do construction about taking a trip to Montana to help me when I was ready to go. I have never taken on a project like this and figured there would be a steep learning curve and as far as the construction portion, I was going to be counting on my friends to ensure things went together correctly.

Originally, I had hoped to do the garage last summer, but I didn't get to planning until too late and I knew I wasn't going to have the cash to pull it off. Starting in January of 2019, I started my planning. I tend to be OCD about being thorough and understanding what I am doing and why, so it was slow going. My plan was to do everything myself except for the concrete work, and I started making calls to concrete contractors in February to line someone up. As soon as the snow started melting, I began with the site prep of cleaning out and tearing out the old garage. I had my building permit secured by early April, with a plan to build the structure the last week of June. To complicate things further, I was committed to coaching a soccer team in the spring and a really good deal on a boat came along that I was unable to pass up.

In order to get proper dry time on the concrete, I wanted to have it poured by the end of May. Trusses were ordered and paid for early May. Garage door was paid for early May. Materials were ordered a couple weeks before we were scheduled to build and scheduled to be delivered a couple days before starting. We were starting on a Monday, and trusses were scheduled to be delivered on Tuesday. I was going to be running a really tight schedule but I only had a week with help and had to get to a point where I could manage the rest of the project by myself.

I feel kinda long winded at this point, and need to go do some finishing work, but everything came together (almost) perfectly. Site prep and removal was completed in time for the concrete guys to have a clean work area. Excavators around here are super busy, but the concrete contractor I worked with was awesome and was able to get me fit in the first week of June. Materials were delivered on time. Trusses came late on Tuesday after lots of phone calls; the delivery guy/crane operator missed me on the schedule. At this point, I need to finish caulking the trim on the siding, paint, and run electrical. It has definitely been a great learning experience! I have many many hours into this project, but I'm glad I did it and have enjoyed it. City inspectors have been great to work with and are great about helping answer questions that I have.

K, gotta go caulk. Enjoy!
 

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Lots of hard work but for the extra man cave space, it's worth it! Looking good!
 
Nicely done. Looking forward to the rest of the photos. Do you have any special plans for the inside? Workbench, Meat Locker, ect.?
 
Looks good so far. I am in the same position with a shed on my property. I've spent 9 years dealing with it not being a very good shed. Hopefully by next year I will be pulling it down and putting up something worth having.
 
I am planning on building my garage soon if all falls in place as planned. Need me more man cave space.
 
Nicely done. Looking forward to the rest of the photos. Do you have any special plans for the inside? Workbench, Meat Locker, ect.?
I'm going to keep it pretty simple. It needs to hold my boat and pickup in the winter, and the garage is only 24x24, so it's going to be a tight fit. I think I'll put a mobile work bench in there and lots of lights and plugs. I have an electric winch to set in the rafters for hanging deer if I get 'em out whole.
 
I really couldn't have done any of this without my friends; they have the contracting/building experience and know-how to get things done quick, and I didn't have the cash to pay someone to do it for me. Looking forward to closing out the building permit before the snow flies hopefully. Once the painting and electrical is done, I need to get the driveway paved per city regs.
 
I totally get the challenges of having several hobbies that are equipment intensive and have a smaller sized garage. I think the mobile work bench is a great idea, and you can never have enough electrical outlets and good lighting. Enjoy your new addition.
 
Good job, planning on starting one when I tag out. We don't have the weather challenges for concrete you have there.
 
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