Building a new garage to house the Ponies

Instead of cluttering up the other thread with my bs, I'll start a new one here.

I'm in the process of building a 36' wide x 27' deep 3 car garage for my Mustangs and other projects. It's going to be 2x6 construction with 9' 6" walls and attic trusses. I'll have about 430 sq ft. of storage space above the garage. It's going to have three 9' x 7' garage doors across the front, a 5' x 7 foot "golfcart" garage door on one side and a 36" man door on the back. Planning on doing a set of swing down stairs to get into the attic. Not a standard pulldown, but a full size set of stairs set on a pivot and lifted with an electric motor. It will be sided to look like my house.

Here are the pix:

11-17-2011

12-1-2011

12-16-2011

Got my slab done..only took several days to dry...The slab is fiberglass reinforced concrete.

12-18-2011

Foundation is just about done. They're coming back later in the week to pour the walls full with concrete and put the j-bolts in.

12-23-2011

Block walls are now filled with concrete and the j-bolts are in. Next up is framing

1-27-2011

New garage has arrived in kit form (minus the trusses).

1-28-2011

Cut 84 2 x 6's into wall studs. Had to quit before rain rolled in. Here's a shot with the Explorer on the pad to give an idea of the size of the garage.

 

[JDraper]

Started building my pulley assembly for the stairs.

Mocking up the assembly before welding:

Some of the brackets welded and ground:

Cage built, painted and assembled:

My reinforcing brackets for the safety system in case a cable breaks:

Next up is the safety system assembly and install. I'm still waiting on delivery on my winch so I can't complete the cage yet. Hopefully it will show up on Tuesday (so says FedEx ).

 

[JDraper]

Installed my pulley bracket. The winch will go back in the eaves directly in front of the two center pulleys:

Installed my safety system in case a cable breaks.

In the closed position:

In the open position:

 

[Rick]

I hope you're going to post video when it's all done

 

[vroomzoomboom]

just make sure ben doesnt sucker you to going up there, then locking you in, and screams away with the mach.

 

[JDraper]

Got my power stairs working!!!

Winch installed in the peak of the roof:

Cable routing down to the eaves and back to the stairs:

Now you see 'em...

Now you don't...

I'm uploading a video of the stairs working. It's just taking forever since I have a squirrel powered internet connection...

 

[wood1]

Nice design, I like it. What is the original design purpose for the 120v winch?

 

[JDraper]

Nice design, I like it. What is the original design purpose for the 120v winch?

It's just a Harbor Freight 440lb hoist. Nothing special. I just extended the length of the control cable and mounted the control button in the wall. I built the framing that it's hanging from.

 

[wood1]

I'm likely going to build a garage in the next year. Can't find a house where we are moving with a proper garage. I am thinking of building it tall enough that I can store the bikes in the attic, you have given me a couple ideas on how to get them up there safely. Seems like an excellent excuse to buy a descent welder...

 

[JDraper]

Video of the stairs working.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=564872166868377&set=vb.100000367978838&type=2&theater

 

[Rick]

That really turned out great!

 

[BrooklynBay]

That's a great job! Is there a manual override to lower the staircase or another way to get into the crawl space?

 

[toypaseo]

So, if the winch fails for some reason, like a surge, internal failure or whatever, is there a way to lower the stairs if they are up, and the winch is locked?

 

[JDraper]

So, if the winch fails for some reason, like a surge, internal failure or whatever, is there a way to lower the stairs if they are up, and the winch is locked?

That's a great job! Is there a manual override to lower the staircase or another way to get into the crawl space?

It's not a crawl space, it's a full attic. 6' 6" ceilings, 12' wide, 35' long.


I can pull off the OSB backer on the stairs and manually release the cables if necessary. I used locking D-rings on the ends of the cables where they hook to the stairs.

 

[BrooklynBay]

A few posts back, you mentioned that you used a Harbor Freight 440 LB capacity power winch motor. I thought that they were designed to be used with 12 Volt DC systems. Did you use a hight current transformer & rectifier? Did you consider using a standard garage door opener like the one you have on the main door before you chose the winch motor?

 

[JDraper]

A few posts back, you mentioned that you used a Harbor Freight 440 LB capacity power winch motor. I thought that they were designed to be used with 12 Volt DC systems. Did you use a hight current transformer & rectifier? Did you consider using a standard garage door opener like the one you have on the main door before you chose the winch motor?

It's an 110VAC powered hoist from the factory.
http://www.harborfreight.com/440-lb-electric-hoist-with-remote-control-60346.html

I thought about a garage door opener, but the cost outweighed the benefits. With a coupon, the harbor freight winch only cost me about $80 and the only mods were extending the length of the control cable.

 

[JDraper]

Finished!!

Garage is basically done!!! Just put in the attic insulation and flooring.

Only things left are shutters (someday) and a furnace (eventually). I've got a propane heater that will heat it nicely for now since it's insulated.

 

[JDraper]

Garage got some use last weekend. Had a couple of friends up with their Mach's

Unfortunately Tim's car didn't make it in with the other Mustangs. It had to sleep in our "old" garage and we forgot to take a pix of it.

Here's a combo of old and new with Tim's car as well

 

[Rick]

Nice lineup

 

[Bruces expo]

Turned out Sweet Man . Like the powered steps !! .

 

[kert0307]

Garage turned out great. If I were you, I'd move the switch that controls the winch though. Because if you are lifting or lowering the stairs and the cable breaks it looks like the stairs will pivot down right into the operator's face... other then that, Awesome idea!