Garage rebuilding resources?

[tbasc]

NCMA web site gives access to Tek Notes. Excellent Resource.

[tbasc]

NCMA web site gives access to Tek Notes. Excellent Resource.

[FreddyQ]

Post some pictures of your project. We would love to see the before, during and after. I'd start with the suggestion that you always remember that the load bearing walls have to be protected or the project will come crashing down on your head. But you've already stated that so let the current structure tell you what can be saved and what has to go and that wil be your plan. We can't do that.

[Frank H]

Hi all & greetings from Toronto. My old wood-and-tin garage is the eyesore of the neighbourhood, and I dream of rebuilding it, myself, in concrete or brick. One wall at a time, slowly is fine, I'm in no big hurry - would prefer to save money learning how to do it myself.

Silly? Too big a job? Need architects, engineers, teams of big strong guys? Or can I find books or sites that teach you how to rebuild a garage myself without having it fall down on top of me? I'm a handy guy and have renovated most of my own house, but I'm new to structural work (i.e., how to hold up a roof while I remove and replace the wall underneath).

Thanks in advance for any advice, resources, personal experiences.

- Frank

[David Starr]

If you're going to replace the roof, build the new wall just outside the old one. If the roof is ok, build the new walls just inside the old then tear down the old. You won't lose much space, and you'll gain a few inches of overhang.

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[DanG]

Am I the only one who wonders whether this project is even possible? I assume OP intends to lay either cement block and/or brick to replace existing walls.

Changing a wood and tin, probably home made, wall system out to CMU demands some knowledge of weights, footing design, footing requirements, and analysis of existing footing or lack thereof.

As a professional, I would not contemplate laying block walls one wall at a time or trying to lay up and slush fill the top block under an existing roof.

It sounds to me as if the OP needs to spend a bit more time working out the details of what he wants to accomplish working from the existing conditions. Reworking wood stud walls and installing a new exterior sounds more feasible. With adequate footing, the new exterior could be brick.

(top posted for your convenience) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Keep the whole world singing . . . . DanG (remove the sevens) [e-mail]

[Frank H]

Thanks everyone - your answers are giving me a better feel for what I'm up against and what I'd need to do next. My wife keeps telling me the best solution for that old garage is for us to move, and she's probably right, but twice a day I walk my dog past all kinds of nice solid brick garages and I just wonder if there's any economical way for me to improve ours. I could sure use the winter workshop space if I could get the walls solid enough to insulate. At the moment small animals can get through it in several places!

Anyway many thanks, I'll investigate each of your ideas over the next few weeks. Might take a while before I'm ready to post any photos though :-)

- Frank

[I R Baboon]

build temporary walls just out of the work space. then you can remove/install at your leisure. make sure you put lateral bracing on it (ie: to keep wall from becomming dominoes). a 2x4 nailed diagonally along the wall works well.

[Goedjn]

Virtually anything is POSSIBLE. But unless there's some regulatory reason not to, I'd say tear down the entire garage, and build it from scratch.