Guest santa fe Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 My wife and I have just sold our two houses in New Mexico and our moving to the hill country above San Antonio. (I know I know its' hot down there but at least my skin wont be dry.) Sad thing is I'm leaving four thousand sq. feet of garages plus a lift.Has any body had experience or dealings with anybody in building garages in this area?Would like to create something like the carraige house look to hold possibly five to six cars plus the lift.Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthbob Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 (edited) You need to check out this place:The Garage Journal Board - Powered by vBulletinI would never have believed that there was a forum just for Garages...let alone an extremely good one that was very active!Check out the gallery, some real deals there....better than my house.My favorite thread...a restoration but Garage style, just like what we do to our carshttp://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51567 Edited August 20, 2011 by stealthbob (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kingoftheroad Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I love it !!I had plans to put up a second garage to store my cars or to continue my projects while storing in my present garage. Timing just hasn't been on my side so far.. Love the B & W tile floors but I have to be able to work in the garage regardless of how its fixed up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 You will love the Hill country. We have an active Buick Club Chapter in that area that will welcome you too. Alamo Buick club meets once a month for lunch or whatever.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 I've been to a couple of your reginal meets in Fredericksburg and Granbury, I'll contact you'al as soon as we get settled. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 The garage site is really cool!Thanks, Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 Glad to have you in the SA - Austin area. You should have no problem finding someone to build your garage. First, you are building on rock so it will have a good foundation. At the Alamo club meeting today, Mike Middleton was there and he has a pretty big shop and might have some input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 (edited) Jack,Welcome to the Forum and welcome to Central Texas. I remember seeing your car in Fredericksburg.Here is a thread showing my garage in Austin.http://forums.aaca.org/f196/my-garage-234342.htmlC'mon by for a cold one and I'll give you a tour. Edited August 20, 2011 by buick5563 Added link, duh (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Barney, Somebody told me that you have to keep the limestone foundations moist our they might have a tendacy to crack or break, true or not?Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 There is definitely more foundation shifting (at least in Austin) due to either getting droughts or floods, but a properly poured and engineered foundation will not crack. Fissures yes, but that's different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Austin sits on a fault (inactive) Depending on where you live, you need a different type of foundation.Roughly East of the interstate is what they consider "farm" land and the soil is "Black Houstin Clay" when it is wet it act like clay and will build up on your feet if you walk in it. To the West is the Texas hill country and in most areas, you are setting on rock with a little dirt on top (and between the rock) it sounds like you are North-West of S.A. and you should have a good foundation for anything you want to build.For those viewing in the North, we do not worry about a freeze line. Foundations are only as deep as needed to support the structure. I recently poured about 10 yds of concrete and in preperation, there were places we removed rock to get the floor level, on that end, I have about 5 inches of concrete sitting directly on the rock, the rest of the floor is roughly 3 1/2 inches (the thickness of a 2 x 4) with reinforcing wire.The bigger problem is finding a spot flat enough to put a large garage. That sometimes forces you to have a 12 - 18 inch footer (mostly above ground) just to get the slab flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 Thanks for all the input guys. We've got a offer in on a place that's east of 281 and north of the loop, and the lot is actually fairly flat. about an acre and a half.If we get it and get settled in I'll take you up on that cold one Mike.Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Here is a picture of half of Jerry Courson's garage. That may be Mike looking in the pick-up window. Jerry (BCA Board member) lives off 290 on your way to Houston, almost to Bastrop. I am guessing the garage is 50 x 60 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I like the hub cap treatment. Looks like he keeps it cool with that large industrial fan.I had something similar that I did with New Mexico licence plates around the perimeter of the show garage in Santa Fe. Guess I'll have to start collecting Texas plates now.Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 A member in our local BCA Chapter, Pat Gaglione, has the most incredible garage I've ever seen. It would just about be my dream garage if I could afford it and all the tools he's got in there.Here's the lay out of his garage: http://www.patgaglione.com/Garage/Full-GarageDrawing.pdfthis picture doesn't even show the loft that goes over the 2-car garage storage space. Great for storing parts.Then there's about 16 pages of pictures of this garage. Garage PhotosIt's a beautiful piece of work. Pat did an amazing job deigning and building his garage. Every time I see it, I'm jealous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob McDonald Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Now here's a Fantasy Island thread. I know my limitations, though. Give me more space and I'll just collect more junk. The ultimate and inevitable result is - http://forums.aaca.org/f115/old-parts-auction-coming-up-310487.html. Wifey would never forgive me for leaving that marvellous mess behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 OK guys and girls, Lets keep this site alive. I'm going to have to build a new garage at some point when we move to Texas, so I would really like to see some more photos or plans ( ideas of your dream garage). We are leaving about 4,000 feet of garages with a lift, and maybe going down to approx. 1,000 - 1,200 max. ( TIME TO DOWN SIZE).JackPS remember I have to keep the wife happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Caribou Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Maybe I'm hijacking the thread here, but my resto process has been slowed down while I get the garage ready for winter. It's 1200 square feet and I'm about to start wiring and insulating. Any must haves I should include while I've still got the walls off and work is easy?I'm thinking of a gas heater, and enough juice to support a welder and all of my lights and sockets, but there's nothing creative there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICK YOUNG Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 (edited) As I have always said."The key to a successful marriage is a heated garage". Or in this case a air/conditioned one. Edited August 29, 2011 by RICK YOUNG (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob McDonald Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I got an awesome hint when I was building my "doghouse": install lots of 120V receptacles, of course, but mount them at about 4'-6" above the floor. They're easy to reach there and, if a sheet of plywood or drywall is standing against the wall (as there always seems to be), you can still get to the plugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Rick,This is my soulution for a good marriage... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Well, aside from all the other good ideas, when I built the oversize double garage here, I had them fashion an anchor embedded into the concrete. This allows a come-along to be connected if there is a car to pull in. The garage is on the alley, so there is an incline to get it into the garage, so having some mechanical advantage is handy.If cost is an issue, there are some things that can be done in stages, such as insulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest santa fe Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 Derek,That's a great idea! Would you have any photos of it? How deep did they install it? through the foundation? etc.Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 I'll have to fire up another computer to find photos. To help visualize, you could think of it as a porcupine or hedgehog, although not nearly as dense. One heavy piece of rebar went all the way through the box so that acts as an anchor point and the "spikes" of rebar are buried in the concrete to hold it in place.It was the concrete contractor who actually put it together - I gave the basic idea of what I wanted. The box is big enough to wrap a fairly heavy chain around the anchor. Another idea would be to embed something a little more naval in the concrete.I'll try to get photos in the next day or two...it is presently kind of covered up by the '29 and I know I have photos here somewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thriller Posted September 6, 2011 Share Posted September 6, 2011 There's no photo of it in use, but the photos in this thread depict the first use of the anchor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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