Building new garage - Need advice

[big-n-italian]

question - lets say the garage is built and the interior work is about to begin. the interior walls are 14' high, heavily insulated, 5/8" plywood on 2x6 studs, and need finished. what are your opinions on the best way to finish the interior walls? i'm pretty sure i want to paint the walls, so what kind of paint should i use after they have been primered?

PS - also needing lift recommendations.

thanks in advance.

 

[v10enomous]

I would say to just do regular fire code drywall and finish in a nice white washable satin. You could do a semi-gloss for easier cleaning but you'll see the tape seams and screw or nail head fills.

I like my Dannnmar lift... Big and cheap and works great but there are plenty of good choices out there depending on if you want a storage lift or a service lift...

Here's the thread on my lift... I would buy another without hesitation.

http://forums.viperclub.org/general-viper-discussion/633587-dannmar-d7-x-4-post-lift-experience.html

question - lets say the garage is built and the interior work is about to begin. the interior walls are 14' high, heavily insulated, 5/8" plywood on 2x6 studs, and need finished. what are your opinions on the best way to finish the interior walls? i'm pretty sure i want to paint the walls, so what kind of paint should i use after they have been primered?

PS - also needing lift recommendations.

thanks in advance.

 

[GTSnake]

Here's my design for a drive through garage. I have bays for 2 post lift and washing.

 

[big-n-italian]

definately looking for a service lift.

 

[past ohio]

I have heard pros and cons about indoor washing...I have a hose bib in my garage with BOTH , hot and cold water (plus this faucet come after the softener for better quality) BUT I have the car out in the driveway to be washed...some people I have talked to, said washing inside the garage adds a lot of moisture to the humidity in the building, then wood walls and drywall absorbs this moisture and holds it for some time, plus the mess of water spraying around, you drop the hose and invariably it hits the hosegun, and a big squirt of water on cars that you don't want to get wet....drains add a whole different item, most local/state regulations do not allow drains in a garage without a very expensive catch basin and clean out area so that oil, and chemicals doesn't get in the sewage syystems !! Good luck, do your planning, I have a semi-gloss white enamel on my walls, several times I have had a slight rub and it washes right out, easier to wipe down any insects and keep clean PLUS adds more natural lights with quite a few windows to help ! If you have a house alarm system, add a motion detector in the garage walls and tie it in to the house system, makes for better piece of mind !! Also discuss the new garage with your current insurance person, some policies give a reduction for a secured garage and security system...

 

[Wayne Finch]

Use duraboard on walls in place of drywall or plywood if you want to wash cars inside.

 

[thehouseofpower]

ViperJon,

I just finished building my detached garage last fall in CT. 11,000LB lift 3 bays, heat, racechecker stripes along wall. project ran me about 130K. I don't know how far you live from central CT. I would be more than happy to show you how it came out. seeing it means so much more. dimensions are 28 x 36 feet.
I went thru the same thought process that you are going thru...

I seen red heat's garage and it'ss bad ass, esp. the checkered wall. Got me inspired to start a project as well...

 

[Black Moon]

I wash mine inside all the time but have a/c and heat in the winter. If you have ventilation and floor drainage I wouldn't worry about it.

question? why did they put plywood on the inside of the framing? Just curious. I have drywall painted with a good primer and paint. I've actually gotten the walls a few times and no problems.

 

[big-n-italian]

I wash mine inside all the time but have a/c and heat in the winter. If you have ventilation and floor drainage I wouldn't worry about it.

question? why did they put plywood on the inside of the framing? Just curious. I have drywall painted with a good primer and paint. I've actually gotten the walls a few times and no problems.

i finally struck a deal with a contractor who built a 40x80 building on 3 acres of ground. the interior was finished in plywood because he built it as a working workshop for himself and his construction business. i started painting the interior and it is looking pretty good actually even though the walls are 5/8" plywood. its actually barely noticeable. maybe after i get more painting done and after the mezzanine gets built this week, i will post some pics.

 

[Black Moon]

i finally struck a deal with a contractor who built a 40x80 building on 3 acres of ground. the interior was finished in plywood because he built it as a working workshop for himself and his construction business. i started painting the interior and it is looking pretty good actually even though the walls are 5/8" plywood. its actually barely noticeable. maybe after i get more painting done and after the mezzanine gets built this week, i will post some pics.

Please do. That is HUGE. You'll enjoy the extra space.

 

[viperdrummer]

Very timely thread for me. I have a 2 car attached garage with a
lift so I can get 3 cars it it.

If I can get past some restrictive covenants, I want to build a simple 2 car detached garage. My contracter says 22 X 22 will do and with one wide door. It would not
be working
garage.

My question to the experts is if all I am doing is looking to store 2 cars will this suffice or am I kidding myself? Thanks

 

[F8L SNK]

chiefchad - GREAT info! Thanks for adding this info.

 

[Mopar488]

I just built my garage. It is 40W x 36D x 12H, (3) 10x10 insulated garage doors with windows on the top rung. I used 6" thick concrete in the middle bay for a lift. I wired (10) 115v receptacles with 20 amp service and receptacles. I wired a 220V 50 amp receptacle for a 200 amp mig welder. I wired a 220v 30 amp receptacle for a lift. I put (9) 8' dual hi output lo temp florescent lights in the ceiling. I insulated the walls and ceiling. I put a hydrant for car washing and roughed in plumbing for a utility sink. I put in 1 window and 1 utility door. I just painted the floor with grey 2 part epoxy. I have 3 garage door openers and each one will open all 3 doors. I also got a remote fob for my bike for all 3 doors. I tied my house alarm to the garage and have the door and window with contact alarms and motion for the entire garage. I put lantern lights outside the garage doors and flood lights on the back and side and a motion beside the utility. One change I would have made, make the ceiling 16' because you lose space with standard garage door openers, about 2'. It is basically a metal shell pole barn, but I like it. Hope you can use some ideas from mine.

 

[v10enomous]

22x22 wil suffice but just going to 24x24 makes a big difference.

Very timely thread for me. I have a 2 car attached garage with a
lift so I can get 3 cars it it.

If I can get past some restrictive covenants, I want to build a simple 2 car detached garage. My contracter says 22 X 22 will do and with one wide door. It would not
be working
garage.

My question to the experts is if all I am doing is looking to store 2 cars will this suffice or am I kidding myself? Thanks

 

[PDCjonny]

Well the plans are now at the architect for the "stamp" of approval required in New York (no buying building plans online here lol...) and as we await them I have been giving some serious thought to the flooring. Since the floor will be brand new concrete I can do a lot of things but I keep coming back to using a RaceDeck type floor. After reading the detailed preparation and work that goes into a properly done epoxy floor I must say I am leaning towards the easy way out (except for the cost) of a racedeck or similiar brand floor.

I like the custom color choices and layout options of course, and since tracking snow etc into the garage is a non issue the only possible downside that I keep reading about is the weird "noise" when walking on the floor. Is this something to be concerned about? I have read people put down tarpaper or some other barrier material first but not sure I want that under the tiles, isn't that supposed to be open to drain in theory? So Racedeck owners, what about the sound when walking, moving or working on it?

I know the plus reasons to use a Racedeck type floor, so what are the minuses?

 

[Black Moon]

My buddy has Race Deck and it sounds like you're walking on peanuts or egg shells but louder. He likes it but I couldn't stand the noise. Plus how do you wash it out when it gets dirty?

I'd stick to epoxy. The prep/etching process takes an hour unless you pressure wash it first. Maintenance is easy. Mop it or pressure wash it if it gets really dirty.

Good luck.

 

[rudedawg]

Forget all that stuff, when they pour the garage floor have them color the cement for you. Most places can and will color the cement with dye for a small fee, when the truck comes with your cement it's allready colored. Never fades and no peeling concerns !!!!

 

[lagalaxy13]

Finally got a pick...not a great one...but shows my (new to me ) 96RT. (The GTS is in the house garage.) It's on the 4 post, and you can see there's as much room in front as the back.

The garage is 26' deep.

The Excursion usually parks on that lift and that's a whole other story! It's hard to see in the picture but that lift bay allows the lift to go to full height. The other two bay's ceilings are 9' which allows full use of a midrise.

So what's your height above lift?

 

[lagalaxy13]

Someone brought up floor drains...when mine was still in planning stage, (in Ohio) the local area said NO to floor drains without a catch basin of some type to catch oil and chemical runoffs instead of going directly into the sewer system, very expensive and hasd to be cleaned out regularly !!

You put the drains in how you want them and put in a French drain etc to catch runoff. Concrete over everything. After final inspection cut concrete off your drain. Problem solved.

 

[lagalaxy13]

My question to the experts is if all I am doing is looking to store 2 cars will this suffice or am I kidding myself? Thanks

I have a 24X24 and it's a good storage garage, but a real pain to do work in with two cars. I have to always pull one out to do anything. I do have a work bench and stuff stored on all sides. I have a 16'-0" and it's tight if you have stuff on the sides. Part of the reason I'm in the process of building a new one.

 

[v10enomous]

A buddy of mine in Whitehouse Station NJ built a 50' x 100' x 16'h man cave on his 7 acre equestrian property which already had 4 or 5 buildings including the turn of the century house. They give him all of the permits and he constructs a gorgeous barn style building that fits the character of the property and everything... Radiant heat, single post lift, the whole enchilada... 3/4 of the way to completion they halt construction and tell him to take it down because he was creating too high of a percentage of impervious ground condition. It took him almost a year to get the stop order reversed and he wound up not being able to pave the drive and approaches to the doors...

I really dread the thought of dealing with these kangaroo court municipal people.

I'll see if I can get some pictures of the garage. It's muscle cars and old British motorcycles with a great collection of automotive and bike signage.

I finally got over to my friend's hous on the way to the Somerville Viper night and got some pics of his man cave. I started taking the pics and he wanted to go for a ride in my GTS so I never got any pictures of the outside but it looks like the style of the building you can see through the open door so it conforms to the rest of the Equestrian estate. He's an old Brit...recently retired. He has some great stories like seeing the Rolling Stones as a teen in England when they were still a bar band...

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[TrackAire]

Forget all that stuff, when they pour the garage floor have them color the cement for you. Most places can and will color the cement with dye for a small fee, when the truck comes with your cement it's allready colored. Never fades and no peeling concerns !!!!

Actually, thats a fantastic idea. My first home had a newly poured garage and I just sealed it with concrete sealer (I choose high gloss, but there are other levels of shine) and it looked fantastic and I'd re-coat it every 3 or 4 years. It worked great at keeping oil from soaking in, easy to sweep and mop, etc.

If I had colored concrete, the sealer would have really made the color pop and look custom.

Cheers,
George

 

[DeLViper]

Color Concrete is fine, but it doesn't protect the concrete. I would use a combo of Epoxy/polyurethane. Also, as someone mention above about concrete, I would stick between 4 to 6 inches thickness. If you can, see if you can test the slump of the concrete/air entrainment and the size of the aggregates being used in the mix. Do you know what type of soil you will be laying your concrete on and how thick will your sub-base be? I can go on and on...I'll stop there

 

[eagles]

I have three garages and none of them have a floor drain. That being said I also live in a snow free area [Cali] and if I drive a car which has been driven in the rain into the garage it doesn't present a problm. I do have a sink in my garages for washing hands. Most garage floors have 1/'4 inch per foot slope to the front per local code and that works for me. I do not wash cars in the garage.
One of my floors is bare concete, one is epoxy coated and one has concrete paint. If you decide to paint or cover the concrete with something remember to allow it to fully cure first.

eagles

 

[Matt M PA]

lagalaxy13..sorry for the delay. The height to the ceiling fan is just over 13'.

When I used to raise the lift to max height with my frmer 03 Cobra, I had to make sure the car was far enough forward or the antenna with just touch the fan.

Due to the ceiling sloping to match the roof, I have to back the Excursion on to change oil, for example. I can just get the oil change drain under the ramps.

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

Obviously you want as much space as poss., no annoying center support posts, all that. When it comes to actually stocking the perimeter with stuff, in my opinion, never just start throwing up shelves, cabinets or whatever. Try to organize and view all your stuff, separate into "departments", electrical, plumbing, auto, and so on. Keep hand tools in one section, power in another. The key is organization and making the shelving units or cabinetry accomodate your item, not the other way around. Also, do yourself a favor and as you actually start stocking shelves or whatever, create an inventory list and label by section. I did a North - South - East - West type of list.
Take an honest look at what you use more frequently vs. rarely and keep the more frequently used items more easily accessible. Keep as much off the floor as posible, and consider a perimeter water jet system to wash down the floor if needed, if you actually wil be doing that much work.
Good luck, with I was in your shoes again !

 

[PDCjonny]

Well things have been moving along at a snails pace between waiting for the architects plans (he said a week, took a month) filing for town permits and lining up contractors. But we should be starting by end of the month. Been quite amazing getting bids on the diferent aspects of the build and the variations. As an example, the demo of the old garage. The old garage is 20 x 20 with a 4" concrete floor built in 1937. It is ready to fall over by itself. Called about 4 demo guys for prices. Couldn't be more straightforward, knock down existing structure. Bust up existing concrete floor. Haul all debris away.

Prices we got ranged from $6800.00 to $2900.00 for the SAME thing. All licensed guys (they have to be for town demo permit). Amazing 4K difference. Was really surprised at that large a variation I figured they would all be pretty competitive. When it comes to this non skilled aspect I'm just taking the lowest guy period. They have to be insured and licensed.

Right now the biggest decision I see coming is the concrete floor and how I want to finish it. We had a very knowledgable and highly recommended concrete guy come in and the options for finishing concrete are amazing! Colored concrete, stained concrete, polished you name it the can make concrete look like anything now. A couple hundred bucks more to have it colored. The can put virtually any type of stone, glass any material in the mix and have it polished so it looks like granite, marble you name it. This is really going to be a hard decision I want the floor to POP whatever I do. IMO it's the most important aspect of the interior. For the cost of RaceDeck (approx $2300.00) I can do a lot of things with the concrete itself so I'm leaning that way right now. Thats all for now.

 

[musclenutz]

If you want enough room to feel comfortable and not fear scratching or damaging the cars,i would recommend 32x24..32 being width. Most lumber comes in increments of four feet in length,so sometimes when you go a couple feet smaller,it doesn't really save you that much money. I just finished mine and it is 24x24.That's good enough for me but i don't do a lot of repairs etc..on my own.I have room for tools,fridge,ac and we sit and play our musical instruments comfortably.Just be sure to build it how you want it.I built houses for over thirty years and the thing i dreaded was customer's who wished they had spent some extra bucks and built something a little bigger. Good luck!

 

[PDCjonny]

As mentioned previously I am limited by code to max of 750 sq feet, so it will be 28w x 27d approx, thats a done deal.

 

[PDCjonny]

I can't believe I started this thread in June, and it's finally starting to happen.
This has been one of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced. The planing, hireing of contractors etc was easy. The town regulations, permits and approvals was a nightmare. Took over six weeks just to get the plans approved. The people that work in the building department here are the most jaded, arrogant and disagreeable people you would ever want to NOT know. They know you are anxious to get moving on your project and seem to take delight in slowing up the process. Just as an example. The permit was finally approved, so we went down to pick it up. Oh no....can't be picked up it has to be mailed to you. It's right there on the desk but you can't have it. Took three more days to arrive...just a small example of how they work.

Anyway, old garage has been demo'd.

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Footings poured for new garage.

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So the footings have been set a few days and today they are coming to set the forms for the foundation walls...then after about a week and more inspections we hope to start framing... The weather has been great this week and we should be able to get the floor down before Dec.

I have decided to go with a polished concrete floor rather than Racedeck or some other overlay. RaceDeck is nice but I can not get past the plasticky feel. Polished concrete is beautiful and durable if done right. I'm going to have two 10 x 8' doors with side mounted Liftmaster closers.

Will update as progress moves forward. I should end up with a nice home for my cars, especially the new one.