Garage Build Spring/Summer 2022-update Oct2023

[Avanti Bill]

I have enjoyed the trip!

[coachJC]

Thanks for the kind comments everyone.

[coachJC]

Just a short update...Tuesday morning I had my final Electrical Inspection and I passed without any issues. The guy that came for the final was not the same guy I had for my rough-in so I was a little worried when I saw him. This guy was much more thorough as he opened my house panel, asked for pictures of my trench, opened up my garage panel and checked every plug with a receptacle tester, he was about 20 min to go thru everything. I should be getting a cert. in the mail in about a week to show that it has passed inspection. It felt nice to get this part completed.

Edited February 8, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[coachJC]

Thought I would add a couple of updates to my garage build as I have not added anything since the the beginning of the year. There were a few thing from last year I left incomplete as these were jobs that I could finish at a later date as I had time. There were a few pieces of trim that needed to be added and lots of landscaping and stone work in the driveway along with getting my infloor heat up and running before the upcoming winter. Over the next few days I will adding some pics and details of what I did this summer and fall.

 

The trim work was just some detail stuff that if I did not get at it, it is easy stuff that could just get left and ignored forever so I made sure I put it at the top of my list to get that done first because if I didn't it might never get done.

 

First was the porch...I wanted it to look the same as the rest of my garage so I trimed it out the same way with facia and soffit all the way around.

 

 You will note the underneath is not finished and I had not planned on doing anything there but the birds in there have been crazy this fall, with bird crap everywhere, so next yr that will get a covering of some sort.

 

Next was to just finish the trim around the 2 doors, it just gives it a more finished look.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[coachJC]

One of the bigger project was getting my yard back into shape and it back in grass. I was not as good at taking pics with this stuff as I was while building my garage but I do have a few to post.

 

I still had 2 piles of dirt left over after the original back fill. I wanted to let the dirt settle around the garage over the winter and retop it up, and the back of my yard I wanted to finish raising the level of my back yard to put in a better swale where water runs along the back of my property from a neighbour's field to a ditch. I have been having problems with the water widening out on my property and not flowing to the ditch as well as it should.

 

 

Here is a pic after a huge rainfall after about 20 min, the raised dirt level seemed to be doing it job. The water used to 15 ft further up the grass and encroaching on my septic bed.

 

[coachJC]

The job of getting my yard back to where it looks presentable again and  back to grass took way more time the expected. The weather here was so unpredictable this year and while all the rain hindered getting the ground ready to plant grass it did make it easy to grow grass in the summer months of July and Aug when usually my yard is yellow due to lack of rain. The price of grass seed is another thing that has gone thru the roof, I spent over $400 on grass seed, just ridicules.

 

Most of the yard prep this year was done with a small size kubota tractor with a rototiller on the back, which worked great until you smash into all the small block and rock that were littered thru all the dirt. The rest was just a lot of hand raking a shoveling to get the level where I wanted it. I will say I have been happy with the result and what a relief I felt when my yard was back to normal after 1.5years. I weird thing was having to learn new efficient lawn mowing pattern as the old one just did not work..lol

Edited October 26, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[dship]

My choice for the underside of your porch would be shiplap painted light blue.

[coachJC]

1 hour ago, dship said:

My choice for the underside of your porch would be shiplap painted light blue.

That's a good idea....I did not think about that product...it would look nice and neat under the porch when done.

[coachJC]

So along with getting all the dirt moved and grass planted I brought in 20 tons of gran A stone. Using my lawn mower and small dump wagon I hand bombed all that stone around, I put a spot beside my garage where I will park my car trailer, I made a spot in front of the porch so my boys have a place to park and everyone can get in and out of the driveway uninterrupted and leveled out the rest of my driveway as needed, And it sure does not take long for weeds to poke up thru the stone...will need to weed spray inthe spring.

 

[coachJC]

Back in March my wife purchased a used hot tube..I set it up in the garage and we used it in there but when I wanted to get started on my infloor heating it needed to go outside so that was another project.... thanks to my lovely wife😁

 

 

[coachJC]

There was one last thing I had to do before I could start on getting the infloor heat up and running and that was having a place to mount everything. My thought was to put 3/4 plywood finished one side up, this way i could mount anything I wanted down the road as I would have a strong place to screw things into. I got fairly lucky as my brother who works in the movie industry around home, he moves sets and other odd jobs, has been bringing home 3/4in good both sides plywood that when the movie people are done with they have just been throwing them into a dumpster. So he has been bringing me full unused sheets for me to use. The unfortunate thing going on right now is the actor strike, so we have only got so far until he goes back to work when the strike is over.

As mentioned earlier the hot tub has been moved outside and the grey painted area is where my boiler set up is going.

Edited October 27, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[coachJC]

My plan was to build my infloor heating system myself.....this involved a lot of research over the summer months to figure out how to do it, what were all the components I needed ,what were the best products for a reasonable price and what is the best method to purchase. I did have one ace in the hole, my farmer neighbour who I have spoke about previously had in-floor heating installed in his new shop last fall so that really helped with having a guide to follow along. One of the issue I did run into is that not everyone wants to help a guy who is doing this on their own as they prefer to deal with contractors and not a guy off the street, but when you find the right places they do help the average guy. 

Below was my list of components and I will also add the brand I did used where possible.

 

1- Viessmann Boiler B1HE-120 (120 000 BTU) with DHW (domestic hot water) which I am not using know but have it for down the road if needed.

2-7 loop Pex manifold...this came with all gauges and 1/2in pex adaptors

3-Taco 0015e3 circulator pump

4- 1in flanges and seals for pump

5-Taco air separator

6-Amtrol EX-30 boiler expansion tank

7-taco 1 zone switching relay

8-Webstone 3/4in IPS Isolator Tankless Service valve kit

9-Axiom DMF150 digital mini feeder...this is because I don't have a water supply to the system.

10-4 1in shut off valves

11- 1in copper pipe

12- tekmar thermostat....reads air and pad temperature

13- 2 pales of glycol

14-CPVC grey pipe for the exhaust

15- pvc white for intake

16- small filler pump to add glycol to the system with garden hose style fittings

 

The boiler was purchased through a Viessmann dealer near my work the rest were thru Amazon, HVAC supply store, and a Hydronics company.

 

[coachJC]

Below are 3 pictures I used as my guides...2 are from my neighbour and the 3rd is from another guy from down the road.

 

The first 2 have 2 zones that is why there are 2 pumps and also have DHW

 

 

The 3rd is a 1 zone but with a different style boiler

[coachJC]

First thing to install was the manifold...what was nice about this unit was that it came complete and I did not have to order any of the add-on to be able to complete the assembly. Hot lines are the lower lines and the returns are up top.

[coachJC]

After the manifold was done I did a layout on the wall in pencil where I wanted to run all the lines and where I thought all the components would go. Doing this gave me the location and height of where to put the boiler on the wall. The boiler comes with a bracket that you mount to the wall and is lagged into the studs and the boiler mounts to the bracket and secured in place. My youngest son and I hand wrestled the boiler into place....if it was any heavier we would of need to find another way to get it up there.

[coachJC]

Next was to cut all the 1in copper pipe and do a rough in for the complete assemble.

 

 

Pump install location

 

 

Air separator and pressure tank

 

 

Pipe install complete...it was pressure tested at this point to check for any leaks...which I am happy to say I did not have any.

 

[coachJC]

With the plumbing complete next was to fill the system with glycol. It gets mixed down to between 30 and 35 percent. There are attachments on the end of the manifold where you add hoses, the hot side was the intake then the cold side is the return. With the manifolds you shut off all the valves for each individual line then you fill one and a time, then once they are all full you open them all up together and let it run until there is no air bubbles in the system. I used one full bucket to fill the floor. The rest of the system was still empty.

 

I used a cheap plastic storage bin and filled it with the glycol and dropped a small pump with regular hose attachments to fill the system.

[coachJC]

From there it was a 2 step process to fill the rest of the system. I open all the shut of valves and let the system fill and let it run for about 30min, but after that i used to service valves that were added right under the boiler to make to pump the glycol thru the boiler system only and I was surprised how much air I got out from that operation. After that I filled my mini feeder with glycol which will pressurize my system as I don't have a water supply setup for my infloor heating.

[coachJC]

I forgot to add I put a temporary plug on my pump to let the system run to make sure I had all the air out of the system.

Edited October 31, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[coachJC]

Next was to get the system all wired up...I have to admit I cheated a little bit and went over to my neighbours and took pictures of all his wiring and copied everything from his when I did mine. I did still referred to all my instructions that are supplied to make sure everything matched up. The second line coming out of the thermostat is the floor temperature sensor. It is something I did not think about when we were plumbing the floor so I added it into one of the cuts in the concrete which are about 1.5in deep, then I just added some self leveling sealant made for concrete floors over top of it to protect it.

 

 

After that there was just a small amount of plumbing left...The pressure relief valve from the top of the boiler and the condensate drain.

[coachJC]

The last thing to do was to install the exhaust venting and the intake. I was surprised the venting has it own 40 pg manual...nothing like trying to confuse a guy. The exhaust is a CPVC and grey in colour and has a 90' C temperature rating, and it is expensive. For the intake you can use regular PVC. The CPVC cost me almost $400 and the PVC was under $100.

[coachJC]

For anyone who is paying attention to the pictures, you will notice I had PVC furnace pipe for both the intake and exhaust, but i did realize my mistake and changed it to the proper CPVC pipe a couple days later.☹️

[coachJC]

The next thing to do was to fire up the Boiler. I have a friend since elementary school run my gas lines, as that is what he does for a living and he was there for the boiler commissioning as he wanted to confirm the gas pressure. I am running propane to my garage as that is what I use for my household heat, on the the new Viessmann Boiler to switch from NG to Propane it is just a touch of a button, you no longer have to change springs and orifices as is done on other types of boilers and appliances, it is all controlled electronically now.  The set up was nice and easy, there are a few setting you have to do with the commissioning, then I turned on the thermostat and everything fired up as it should. The air temp was 57'F and the pad temp was 56'F at initial start up, I had set the room temp to 64'F and we let the boiler do its thing. it took about 4hr for the room to come up to temp, When the boiler finally shut off i was amazed at how much condensate was produced, I currently am just collecting in a bucket so its easy to see the it fill up.

 

 

Thermostat current settings

[coachJC]

I am currently trying to figure out what temp I would like the shop to be at, I worked over the weekend with it at 64'F and thought it was just a bit to warm, I am going to drop the temp every week until I figure out what feels good to work at and be able to wear a lite long-sleeved shirt. I started with that temp because my neighbours shop is set to 65'F all last winter and he liked that temp for working in, he did adjust his around a bit but ended up back at 65'F as he liked how that felt for him. His shop is twice the size of of mine with 16ft ceiling so I don't know if that makes a difference but mine feels warmer than his. 

[coachJC]

I did get my first text from my wife asking why the garage feels warmer than the house yesterday morning when she went to get her car out of the garage🙃.... I told her  it's not and gave her the number but that did not matter...I thought she would be happy to get in a warm car and not have to scrap the frost off her windshield......no such luck...lol

Edited November 1, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Not too many people know that as long as the inside temperature is 3 degrees above the outside temperature no moisture will enter the building. Thus it's possible to only heat the garage to say.......36 degrees all year and no rust or moisture will forum on the cars or parts. Many museums use this trick with an inside and outside sensor.......also I would use a humidity sensor to turn the system on when moisture gets above 50 percent.........saves thousands on heating bills. Just turn it up a day before you're going to work in the shop for extended periods.   Nice garage..........well done.

[coachJC]

Thanks for the info Ed, I will do some reading up on your suggestions  My boiler did come with an outside sensor but i did not install it as it is optional, you are now the second person who suggested I install it as it has benefits that will keep the boiler from running unnecessarily at times.

[Jim Bollman]

I had under floor heat in a previous house and it felt warmer than our current forced air heated house at the same temperature. Radiant heat is the best, I considered retrofitting but hard to beat heat pump efficiency if you're in the right climate. 

[coachJC]

Yesterday around 6pm I went out and walked around the garage with a laser temperature reader just to see what the variation of temperature is. The thermostat is set to 63'F, the floor varied between 59.7 at the garage doors to 64.4 at its highest about 10ft from where all the tubing goes into the floor, the majority of the floor read about 63.5'F. The walls were between 62.2-64.2'F, to me that seemed reasonable with no adjustments made to the manifold at this point. I went into the house (before my wife came home😁) and did the same thing, my 3 yr old forced air furnace is set to 68'F and just going around the main floor of my house and into the main floor bedrooms the temperature of the outside walls were between 63.5-64.2 and the interior walls were between 64.0-65.5'F. The highest temp is in an interior bedroom of my oldest son with just one exterior wall and he always complains his room is too hot. 

 

I just thought it would be an interesting comparison.

[coachJC]

This will probably be my last update on this build unless something crazy happens. I still have a list of things to do but the garage is finally functional for all 4 seasons which was one of the major goals with this project. Here is a bit of a list of things that I still need to complete but none of this prevents me from doing anything functional in my garage;

1-Eavestrough - in spring

2-WIFI in garage- this fall/winter

3-finish walls and ceiling - as money permits

4- add 4 post lift - as money permits

5- shelving and cabinets - ceilings and walls need to be done first

6- paint the interior and exterior man doors - spring

 

I am sure there are a few things I have forgotten at the moment but that list is alot smaller than it was this time last year. Thanks again for following along everyone

 

Jeff

Edited November 3, 2023 by coachJC (see edit history)

[dship]

It's been a pleasure to follow along with your garage project.  I just wish I had the room to put up something similar on my quarter acre property.  I have a one car garage to house my '00 Eldorado and a 10'X16' vinyl igloo for my '91 Reatta.  The daily driver stays outside through all weather conditions.  Good luck with it....it came out fantastic. 

[3macboys]

On 10/27/2023 at 11:23 AM, coachJC said:

And it sure does not take long for weeds to poke up thru the stone...will need to weed spray inthe spring.

For what it's worth I've taken to using Agricultural Vinegar (I get mine from a local farm supply store, Peavey might carry it)- just spray it when it's going to be dry for a couple of days and you can watch the weeds turn brown and wither.  The only side effect that I've found so far is the craving for french fries once applied....