My New House & Workshop

[MikeG]

That, and "private mortgage insurance."

Both can be aggravating to deal with, for different reasons......

 

[19Walt93]

I should have been able to figure that out. By the way, a term life policy is a better deal than mortgage insurance. The payout from the mortgage insurance goes down over time but the premiums do not, a term policy will cover the mortgage and leave something for your survivors. Hopefully you'll never use either one.

 

[Jim Oaks]

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I'm finally closing on my house on Wednesday.

I don't think the ceiling in the 'storage' building is 8-feet. I'm hoping by summer I can find someone to raise the ceiling / roof and open up a wall and put in a garage door. It's a conder block building. I'm guessing they'll have to extend the wall height so I can get the ceiling height.

 

[Jim Oaks]

The discussion of this house starts on page 11.

 

[racsan]

Theres a interesting place near my parents, Ive only drove by, never been inside but from the looks of things its a huge machine shed with a 2nd story. , Id guess 60x90. It looks like the bottom half is all machine shed/shop while the 2nd story is living space. Neat concept but Id wonder about diesel fumes creeping into the living area when a tractor is being ran.

 

[Curious Hound]

Tractors are outdoor toys.

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[franklin2]

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I'm finally closing on my house on Wednesday.

I don't think the ceiling in the 'storage' building is 8-feet. I'm hoping by summer I can find someone to raise the ceiling / roof and open up a wall and put in a garage door. It's a conder block building. I'm guessing they'll have to extend the wall height so I can get the ceiling height.

Don't know what your building looks like. Does it have trusses? I was in the same situation, and wanted to put a lift in a building that only had a 9 ft ceiling. Against everyone's recommendations, I took the plywood off the ceiling, and then bought 2x8's, cut them at the correct angles, and with a ladder lifted them up and screwed them to the side of the trusses. Also cut another 2x8 and used it to make the 2x8 structure look like a "A" on each truss. Once all that was done I cut the bottom of the original trusses out, which gave me a cathedral ceiling with plenty of height. I am able to raise a vehicle on the lift as high as it will go, which is better than I had in the other place I owned.

This building already had a garage door, but it interfered with the operation of the lift, and when I raised the ceiling I really had no where to hang the rails for it. So I took it down, bolted the panels to a wooden frame, and then bought a barn door rail and made it slide on the outside of the building. I never had this setup before, but I really like it. Since I do not have a personnel door, this works great. If I just want to enter the garage myself I just slide the door back a little bit and go in. And it's very easy to move.

 

[HenryMac]

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I'm finally closing on my house on Wednesday.

I don't think the ceiling in the 'storage' building is 8-feet. I'm hoping by summer I can find someone to raise the ceiling / roof and open up a wall and put in a garage door. It's a conder block building. I'm guessing they'll have to extend the wall height so I can get the ceiling height.

Jim,

Congrat's on the new to you home!

First things first. Before proceeding with any modifications check out the foundation and the condition of the cinder block walls. You may be throwing good money after bad. As big as that tree is, and it's close proximity to the building, there may be issues.

Assuming everything checks out structurally, have you considered just raising the side wall / roof on just half the storage building?

I'd do that, discard the existing roof and trusses in that end and then install attic trusses in that area. That would give you a bunch of storage space. and the building would look oh so much nicer with a steeper pitched roof on the end also.

I'm also, curious if the building has trusses or rafters?

 

[Jim Oaks]

I noticed a spot where some of the block look like they're push out may an 1/8 inch. With the exception if some cracks in the mortar there, I'm guessing it can be fixed.

The ceiling is drywall so I have no idea what's up there. I had wondered if I could use a different rafter for more ceiling height or if it would be cheaper to frame in a short wall on top of the block wall and put the rafters on that. I've also considered adding a few courses of block on top of the old block, but not sure what would be the cheaper option.

I figured I'd get estimates in the spring. I just want to get an idea of what my options are.

 

[franklin2]

I had people suggesting I lift the roof up and extend the walls. I could have easily lifted the whole roof with some 55 gallon drums, some wood, and the lift itself. I would have pre-made some short walls out of wood to sit on top of the cinder blocks and then sit the roof back down on it.

I weighed the pros and cons. I thought I could get by without cutting the ceiling out doing the lift method, but I would have still had to cut the ceiling out all around the outside for access. Someone had glued the plywood to the bottom of the trusses so I had to cut it all out. I also was doing this myself. I wasn't sure I could handle lifting the roof by myself and lifting the pre-built walls in place in a hurry. I didn't know if a strong wind would come along and blow the roof off the lift.

And looks was a big thing. The building proportions would not have looked good with very tall walls. I was contemplating putting some sort of material on the boost walls that would let light in all around the top. That would have been a nice feature. But there were too many negatives for extending the height of the walls for me.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Congrats! I think lifting the roof or at least the first part enough to get a lift in shouldn't that hard

 

[97RangerXLT]

congrats on the new Chez Oaks. let us know when we can all come down and drink your beer (or coke) in your new garage

We promise not to drink any of your coffee though

AJ

 

[Jim Oaks]

I don't plan to install a lift. I just need enough room to be able to put my truck up on jack stands.

When the building is done I'll let you all know. Hell, it has a bathroom. Y'all can sleep in it.

AJ, I've never had a cup of coffee in my life.

 

[sgtsandman]

No coffee?!!?!? Ever?!?! What kind of police officer were you!?!?! Sacrilege!

Congrats on the house!

 

[Jim Oaks]

I made up for it in donuts.