excavation begins!

[LanceB]

Just out of curiosity, how much is it costing you guys to build a garage? 10-15K in the ballpark for a 2 car? My brother wants to build one.

 

[Heavy Duty]

I didn't even see the red X before... Now all three pics are there.

Are you planning to pour your floor above grade? ie: a layer of gravel inside the foundation between the earth and the concrete slab

-Mac

I think what happened to the pics is that I deleted the link to them before i posted the reply:confused. I was able to see them I guess because they where on my computer in my files .

Yes the floor is above grade and we did put down about 3" of crush. In my necl of the woods it is best to go above grade. Hurricanes have a nasty habit of pushing water a long ways inland. The concrete was poured this afternoon.

I think the foreman wants to put his hand print...i mean hoof print in the floor:L .

H.D.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Just out of curiosity, how much is it costing you guys to build a garage? 10-15K in the ballpark for a 2 car? My brother wants to build one.

I lucked out on this building. The guy who bought it initially paid ~$7,000 for it (40' x 30' steel span). When he found out what it was going to cost him to put it up he kinda got discouraged and sold it to me for $3500 bucks. It was still banded on the shipping pallet. The concrete cost $2500 (24.5 Cubic yards), the labor to do the concrete work and to put the building up with endwalls is $7100. I have to pay for the materials for the endwalls. So far the total cost should end up being around $16000. So far I am under my estimate for doing the job. Which is good cause that leaves more $$$ to purchase a lift and other items. I did purchase base connectors for the building because they did save me about $2000 in concrete and labor.

People get sucked into these buildings not knowing the full cost of what it will take to put them up:eek . They see the adds for a these buildings and figure that they are good deals. To some extent they are if you know how to work with concrete and if you can assemble and put these buildings up with out any problems. I could have saved my self about $3500 in labor by putting the building up myself. But the contractor I have doing it for me has way more experiance than i do. If he screws one of the panels up it is on him.

I found this building in my local news paper.

H.D.

 

[Mac]

My wife almost bought a steel garage for me. She'd started the process based upon the cheap ad (like you said) but when I started pricing out all of the other costs involved, I cancelled the order she'd made. Right now, I have room for parking three in my attached garage. Although it would be nice to have the extra space, I don't think I would get return on that investment when we sell this place. Our intention is to retire somewhere else. I'll build the Garage Mahal after I retire.

-Mac

 

[Heavy Duty]

My wife almost bought a steel garage for me. She'd started the process based upon the cheap ad (like you said) but when I started pricing out all of the other costs involved, I cancelled the order she'd made. Right now, I have room for parking three in my attached garage. Although it would be nice to have the extra space, I don't think I would get return on that investment when we sell this place. Our intention is to retire somewhere else. I'll build the Garage Mahal after I retire.

-Mac

It is a rude awakening and you did the right thing by investigating before you got stuck with something you cannot eat. But, no matter what you build it is going to cost. Since i have nothing at all to park my vehicles in, I was in the market to build a garage/workshop. Riding through the county I noticed that these steelspans weathered very well here. We do live near the ocean and with the constant exposure to the salt air these builds seemed to do the best whereas the painted steel buildings tended to start rusting after 6 -7 years. I know of several who have had these builds for over 20 years and they still look good.

H.D.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Man....these guys are moving on this building project. Below are some pics of the building i took yesterday after they got it put up. They are not through yet. Today they will start framing the end-walls. I will becovering it with T-111 siding. The owner of the construction company said that they should be through wit their part by Wed or Thursday. Then it will be my turn. I'll be putting the windows in, doors, roll-up door, and Elec. Here are the pics:

What do you guys think?

H.D.

 

[ruby76]

Man, I need a digital camera. The crew showed up on my doorstep on Monday morning, 06:30 AM. By 09:30 Am they were gone. and the garage was completely up. They pre-built the 2x4 construction garage walls, gables etc off site. Brought them on a truck. Erected them, squared it up on the concrete slab, attached it to the concrete with expansion bolts. Two guys installed the ridge pole, rafters etc and roofed it while the other two installed the man door and the overhead door. Gone in 3 hours!!!!!!!

The 2x4 construction of my 16x22 (car and a half) garage including permits/concrete, vinyl siding to match the house etc was just under $9000.
It will be close to $9500 after I install my wiring and benches etc.

We are taking the roll of film to get developed tonight, and I'll get them scanned in as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay - Im just afraid of technology and haven't stepped up tothe digital camera yet

 

[Heavy Duty]

Man, I need a digital camera. The crew showed up on my doorstep on Monday morning, 06:30 AM. By 09:30 Am they were gone. and the garage was completely up. They pre-built the 2x4 construction garage walls, gables etc off site. Brought them on a truck. Erected them, squared it up on the concrete slab, attached it to the concrete with expansion bolts. Two guys installed the ridge pole, rafters etc and roofed it while the other two installed the man door and the overhead door. Gone in 3 hours!!!!!!!

The 2x4 construction of my 16x22 (car and a half) garage including permits/concrete, vinyl siding to match the house etc was just under $9000.
It will be close to $9500 after I install my wiring and benches etc.

We are taking the roll of film to get developed tonight, and I'll get them scanned in as soon as possible. Sorry for the delay - Im just afraid of technology and haven't stepped up tothe digital camera yet

I know what you mean about the new technology. I held off buying a dig camera until this past spring. The prices came down to what I thought were good prices.

3 hours to build a complete garage? That has got to be a record. Mine didn't go up that fast. But i am sure glad I went with a contractor. I had thought about letting the contractor do just the concrete and then me and some friends putting the building togather and erecting it. Now I sure am glad i let them do that as well. We would have still be futzing around with it. After watching these guys erect the building I am without a doubt that there would have been complete pandemonium taking place at the Murray residence:L. To day is suppose to be in the high 90s, so this evening i'll make sure i have some cold beer hanging around.

Cheers

H.D.

 

[ruby76]

Luckily I have the ability to work from home whenever I need to,so I was able to just work at home on Monday. It was like watching a perfectly choreographed dance. These guys only build these garages. While one was doing something, another one of the 4 guy crew was getting the next step prepped. Simply amazing.

Good luck on yours. How big was it? I know it is bigger than my new garage. Any bigger than 16x22 and it just would have stuck out like a sore thumb in my neighborhood. Everyone has .3 acre lots (not large at all). We inherited a half lot next to ours that was left over from the builder to make ours total .49 - we'll call it a half acre. So nobody else in the neighborhood even has detached garages cause there is no space!

I may just borrow the neighbors dig camera and take "after shots" for now. I'll start a new post with all the pics from start to finish when we get them back and scanned.

I bet we both have big grins on our faces with our new walls etc!

 

[Heavy Duty]

Ruby76, it is a 40' x 30'. Yes I do have a big grin. I've waited almost two years to put the building up. I bought it during the summer of '03. I just felt so guilty about leaving all of my toys out side. The vettes had this homeless look about them.


I do wish now that I would have made it bigger so I could park my horsetrailer in it. At times, we do get salt in the air when there is a Northeaster and during hurricanes. Over time it does take its toll on equipment. I have 20 acres so I could expand it within the next year or two.

Good luck on yours too.

H.D.

 

[JohnZ]

Take the leap forward to digital, and you'll never look back! I've carried bags of Nikons, Rolleis, Leicas, etc. all my life with lenses, strobes, accessories, film, and everything else you can imagine all my life, plus I had all manner of darkroom equipment, until six years ago. Donated all that stuff to the photography department at my alma mater and bought two Sony digitals (one for me, one for my wife) and card readers for our computers, and won't even THINK about "equipment" or "film" ever again.

 

[Heavy Duty]

Well guys. The new vette home is nearly finished. Got to hang the doors, install windows, paint the floor, and do the elec work. These will be the last pics until it is completely done.

Only had one catastrophe. The wheelborrow had a blowout. Lucky the drive didn't loose control:L .

Need to paint the floor so it doesn't look so bland.

Includes a back door for quick escapes:L .

They forgot to pour the apron. I'll just use gravel at the front.

It meets the job foreman and the supers' approvals.


H.D.

 

[JohnZ]

Looks great! Do you plan on insulating and heating it?

 

[Heavy Duty]

Looks great! Do you plan on insulating and heating it?

I had planned on insulating what I can sometime in the future. Maybe even dry wall the interiors of the endwalls. I don't know about heating/cooling it just yet. It doesn't get that cold here. But the heat/humidity can be stifling at times. That is the reason I had vents put in at the tops of the endwalls. If I heat it i had thought of using our old wood stove.

H.D.

 

[ruby76]

A couple more "finalized" pics. lanscaping has started - not completed, and driveway in place - taken with my NEW digital camera!!!!

 

[ruby76]

Last weekend I finally ran the wire from my breaker box to a plug for my inherited AC arc welder. Ran a couple of practice beads on some scrap metal. FUN FUN FUN!!!!! Hadn't welded since Jr High about 15 years ago. The bead along the seam is my first attempt - settings were too hot. The one below it is my last attempt. I'll be practicing some more!

I never would have been able to set up the welder like this in my attached garage. So glad I did the detached...

 

[Heavy Duty]

Ruby,
are you using one of the wire welders? Seems like those are the deal for doing light welding. That is what I want. I've seen them at Sears for a couple hunder bucks for the set up. They do work well for sheet metal and frames.

Just got the front roll up door on mine building. Next is to do the elec. work. Between the parties and visitors I did manage to get a lot done when I was home over Labor day.



H.D.

 

[ruby76]

Nope, this is a stick welder. It can be dialed down for light jobs, or dialed way up for heavy duty welding. Not that I would ever do anything like that. But it was inherited so the price was right

I've noticed you said when home over labor day. What is it you do for a living?

 

[Heavy Duty]

Nope, this is a stick welder. It can be dialed down for light jobs, or dialed way up for heavy duty welding. Not that I would ever do anything like that. But it was inherited so the price was right

I've noticed you said when home over labor day. What is it you do for a living?

Cannot beat a free welder of any sort if it works. I have a free oxy/acet set that was given to me several years ago. It sure has come in hand a couple of times. I'm now trying to learn how to braze with it. So far so good. I haven't burned anything down just yet. Just have to remember to keep it away from gas tanks:W.

I'm in the military stationed near Boston. The wife is down at the house keeping things in order. She has quite a few years in teaching with the state of N.C. school system. So I didn't see it was fair to ask her to give up her job to move with me up here. So, I head home once every few months. Got less than 3 years and i can hang it up. I got the keys to all of the vettes so the toys are safe at the house:L.

H.D.

 

[Scott Winebarger]

A couple more "finalized" pics. lanscaping has started - not completed, and driveway in place - taken with my NEW digital camera!!!!

You forgot a pic from the back....so i thought i would help you out ...Dude you live right behind me ! I can walk to your house in a couple minutes, should I cut the grass?