The Making of a Garage

 This past month we spend a lot of every weekend out working on our garage.  This garage will eventually be the place we keep our bikes, canoes, a boat that we hope to get in the future and where I will have my honey extracting room but meanwhile it is going to be our temporary home. With a closing date at the end of this month we are feeling the pressure to get it done!

  Today I thought it would be fun to share some of my "expert" advice on how to make a garage. Actually I would guess any builder would find this either hilarious or painful to read as I don't know the right terms and and really quite a newby at most of this building stuff but I thought that it might make others realize that if we can do this than you could too.

Here is how we are making our garage......

First we cleared all the trees and brush from the area. Then we did hire an excavator to dig into the hillside and level out the building area. Next we also hired a man who was able to put in the cement pad. Ken designed the garage and it is 24 by 32 feet. When they poured the cement they put bolts sticking out of the cement and gave us nuts and washers to go on them.

 The next step is to put base boards around for the framing to go on. We made holes in them so they could slip over the bolts.

What the bolts look like sticking out of the cement.

 Then we put cocking on the bottom of the boards, put the holes over the bolts and put the boards in place using the nuts and bolts to hold them down tight. The base boards did not go in the places where we have doors.

A closer picture of the base boards.

 The next step was to frame up the walls.

 Because our garage is in the side of a hill we are using a lot of treated lumber and we also made the framing sturdier than we would have otherwise.We used 2 X 6's for the framing and they were 12 inches on center (that means that from the center of one board to the center of the next is one foot).

We framed up sections of the wall laying down on the floor. First we made the foot apart measurements on both a top and bottom board and then we place the 2 X 6 in between and screw (or you can nail) it in place. We generally put in 3 screws.

 Then there is a window you have to do things a little differently to make sure the it bears of the weight of the roof all right. You make a short framing underneath the window and then above we run some boards in vertical directions to help bear the weight.

 This is what one of the simple sections looks like before we lifted it up.

When we had several people to life them up (which we did when my brother was there and the kids were around) it went pretty easily but while the kids were gone to camp, Ken and I attempted some sections on our own and found it challenging. One evening that week my sister and her husband did come over to help lift some up which was very helpful!

 When you lift up a framed section you need to then of course fasten it into place after making sure that it is level. We screwed it into the bottom board and also attached it to any other sections that it was next to. We also braced it up with extra boards until all the framing and trusses were put together.

 There is a a couple of really big boards across the doorway for the garage door and getting up the area with that in it was quite a job for Ken and I but we did manage! :-)

   It was so fun to get all the framing done!

Then we put plywood on the walls. On the bottom row of sheathing we had it hang down over the bottom boards and even over the cement slap an inch of so just to help tie everything together. We got most of the sheathing on the walls before the next step.

Next came putting up the trusses. My brother Peter came over to help us that day which was super nice! The end trusses are a little smaller than the others so that they can have overhang framing on them.

 After lifting the first truss up we tried to anchor it on good with screws slanted in however we could manage.

 The guys also screwed in a few other boards to brace it until we could get more things up to connect it to.

 When putting a truss up we would carry it in and then slip it up so it was hanging upside down dangling from the top of the two walls. Then two people would climb up on the framed wall on either side and the third person would take a board with another little board screwed to it to make a Y shape and would then push the truss up with that and then the people on the edges would grab it, pull it into place and screw it in place. After we got the hang of it it could go pretty swiftly.

 At first it was a little scary to be working up on the rafters but we got used to it pretty quickly.

 The kids are super excited because we have a fair amount of space in the rafters so we are going to put boards up to make a loft area. Your will notice that we have boards running across the top and also on the bottom of the rafters. We screwed those in place to brace the rafters while we worked. As we put the sheeting up on top we took them down.

 After getting the trusses up we needed to put up an overhang. For this we made a ladder like structure which we then just had to slide up on the end truss, hanging it over the edge. That of course had to be carefully secured in place. There were two of these sections on each end - meeting together at the peak.

Now it was time for the plywood to go on the roof. We were so blessed to have much of my family come over to help with that. It made it go so fast!

 All the plywood was carefully nailed in place. There wasn't a whole lot of cutting required.

 While the guys did that we had a ladies group working to finish up putting the sheathing on the walls. Ladder holders were necessary as the ground was quite uneven.

 Some of the the guys working on the sheathing. This picture shows a little more how the overhang (which was on the front and back) worked.

After the plywood was on the roof we put a stapled on a layer of tar paper.

 Next we needed to put a metal edging all around the roof.

 I had the all important job of helping to hold it in place.

 Now the shingling could begin. We put the started shingles along the bottom and then started going up with the regular shingles following the instructions on the package.

The kids think nailing is pretty fun. We found out just how hot it can be (though I am sure it can get much hotter than our 80 + degrees!) up shingling a roof.

We still have to get the shingling finished but have made good progress.

 We did also put fascia around the garage door entrance and an electrician came and wire it with outlets and lights. Today the garage door company was supposed to go and put the overhead door in.

 We still need to put up the soffets (Which I don't know how I am supposed to spell), put in the entry door and the windows (we are having one window in the main part of the garage, one in the honey room and a couple of small ones in the attic area) and frame in the honey room. We are nearly there! We also need to wrap it with housewrap some places and black plastic in the areas where we are going to backfill. We will also be putting up some flooring in the attic area and either a ladder or a stairs. The siding and outdoor lights also need to be put on.

   There are a lot of steps for building a garage, but it is doable - even if you are a novice. Just study it carefully, ask for advice and do your best.

  Have your built things before? I would love to hear your stories!

I will be linking this to some parties.