Building a 50' x 25' garage with 2nd floor

[Builder]

Just started another construction project. I thought I'd share it with you. It's a 3-car garage, but it's got extra space for tractor storage and stairs up to a large open 2nd story. It will also have a 100 amp electric service for shop tools and an exterior water hydrant.

Below-Here's the footings dug rebar installed & the start of 18 yards of concrete getting poured.



Below-Had to get my truck & porta potty in at least one picture.




Below-here's one of my helpers guiding the chute.



Below only 2 days later we had the block, dura-wall, parging & anchor bolts in.



Below-Here's the 3 garage door openings. To the left is a covered walkway foundation that goes to my customers house. You'll see the opening for the man door going into the front of the garage.




Below-Another shot of the covered walkway foundation.




More progress pictures next week. Should have the framing done soon.

 

[GT2]

It must just be the picture, but 50x25 sure looks small!?
Looks good, making fast progress.

How do you make sure all the footings are level?

 

[timswi]

It must just be the picture, but 50x25 sure looks small!?
Looks good, making fast progress.

How do you make sure all the footings are level?

It's an optical illusion...Need at least 30F for a 3 car garage...So the work space on the right makes up the diffference. The 25 ft depth might be a little shallow depending on what is parked in there, but I love it.

Mine's 30x48 and I'm still out of room!!!

 

[EddieWalker]

Builder,

Looks interesting. I've never done any building with block. When you pour the floor, does it tie into the block? or does it even touch the block because of expansion?

The covered walkway adds a twist to it. Kind of makes me think of a courtyard type of parking area. They look nice, but parking can be a pain because you can only get in and out one way. Lots of backing to get out without being able to turn around.

What is dura wall? What is parging?

Thanks for the pics, I'm looking forward to your updates and following your progress.

Eddie

 

[dodge man]

Builder I don't want to hurt your feelings but I noticed a major problem based on your pictures. Your not building it at MY house. Whats up with that! Looks good, keep the photo's coming. I had a 30x28 built about 10 years ago, so I have a soft spot in my heart for garages. I wish I had gone about 36' wide instead of 30'.

 

[Builder]

Builder,

Looks interesting. I've never done any building with block. When you pour the floor, does it tie into the block? or does it even touch the block because of expansion?

Thanks, Eddie. What you do is nail foam expansion joint to the inside perimeter top course of block, then drill 5/8" holes every 2' along the inside perimeter through the foam and into the block. Then you install a 2'x2' rebar grid lengthwise & widthwise on the stone bed on the garage floor. Then you pour your concrete. That way you have re-bar reinforced concrete that is "hung" on the walls. Works great, even for heavy trucks & equipment. Of course, all the ground inside the garage is compacted, so the concrete rests on the stone as well. The concrete never really touches the block, but the rebar is drilled into the top course. The rebar that penetrates the top course "hangs" the slab on the inside of the block walls.

The covered walkway adds a twist to it. Kind of makes me think of a courtyard type of parking area. They look nice, but parking can be a pain because you can only get in and out one way. Lots of backing to get out without being able to turn around.

That is the situation, but that's what my "suburban" customers must tolerate.

What is dura wall? What is parging?

Durawall is a brand name for a welded wire product used in reinforcing concrete block. It's laid in the wet mortar bed between block courses to add lateral strength to the wall.

Parging is a layer of waterproof mortar applied to the exterior block to seal the mortar joints and add a base for applying a bituminous waterproofing product to to. ​

Thanks for the pics, I'm looking forward to your updates and following your progress.

Eddie

I'll be adding more next week as we get it framed-up.

 

[germ-X]

looking quite good. good luck with your new garage. keep us updated on the progress. looks like that shouldnt be long, progress looks fast so far.

 

[Charlton John]

Builder, Great looking project so far, looking foward to seeing more. I am envious of the space you will have. I thought it snowed in PA, weres all the snow???

 

[Builder]

Builder, Great looking project so far, looking foward to seeing more. I am envious of the space you will have. I thought it snowed in PA, weres all the snow???

Thanks, but it's not for me. It's for a customer.

The snow kinda melted, then we got more. Now it's like a 3" frozen crust all over everything.

 

[Builder]

Moving on to the framing stage.

Below: Tuesday we got the 1st floor garage wall partitons up.





Below: Tuesday afternoon-lifting 30' long x 16" tall I-joists up to the 2nd floor. Heavy.



Below: Wednesday we got more sheathing on and the 2nd floor floor joists up:



Below: Wednesday installing 3/4" T&G flooring on I-joists. Now you can see we're setting up temporary scaffolding to set our ridgepole: