The Garage Renovations in Ogden are done!

[turquoisedude]

OR 'Turquoisedude's Not-So-Secret On-Site Storage Facility is now open'....  LOL

 

To put things into perspective, I have to admit that I have been collecting appliances since I was a brat.  When I was maybe 8 or 9 I had an old set of kitchen cupboards in the basement where I kept my small-appliance treasures.   When Hubby and I had our houses in Mountain Lakes, I finally had the space to create my first 'museum' of mostly mixers.  Here's what the collection looked like in the early 2000s: 

 

[turquoisedude]

In 2007, we moved down to Ogden - and believe me, packing all those appliances was a challenge.  I filled the basement with them - no word of a lie...  

 

I had plans for the new house that meant the basement was going to have to be emptied at some point.  What to do with all those smalls?  Easy!  Build a garage... 

 

Hubby had agreed that the upstairs loft would be mine.  It was a blank canvas, but wowee... it didn't take me long to fill it up!

 

[turquoisedude]

In the years since we've been in Ogden, the collection continued to grow... and grow... 

 

I acquired lots of goodies, then got busy with restoration projects but still kept acquiring stuff.  It got to the point where the garage was just one big mess up in the loft and downstairs in the main garage area.  Every fall, it was a struggle to shift things around to be able to get the cars in there.  Hubby had been shopping around for scrap-metal dealers, so I knew it was time to act... 

 

[turquoisedude]

My vision of how I wanted this to turn out involved insulating and drywalling the garage so that we could heat it to at least a minimum level.  Hindsight being 20/20, I realize I should have done this when we built the garage back in 2008.  The contractor we were working with had suggested we do this but I said no 'cause I wanted to start playing with my then newly-acquired GE Wonder Kitchen....  I paid for that mistake now, I guess... LOL

 

So, we had already done the drywalling of the downstairs but I wanted to increase storage space down there also.  Step 1 was to add shelving the 'wall of unrestored machines' and create space for dishwashers and parts.  

 

[turquoisedude]

Now came the challenge - emptying the loft upstairs...  Geez, I have a lot of mixers... LOL 

 

[turquoisedude]

The carpenter I was working with suggested we do one side of the loft, then the other.   Once the south wall was clear, we got it finished surprisingly quickly!

 

[turquoisedude]

We built custom shelves around the perimeter of the room after the drywall had been jointed and primed.  I chose not to paint - I was anxious to get the project finished as quickly as possible.  

 

[turquoisedude]

Now I had a new challenge... clearing the north wall.   That was actually not so bad - I just loaded appliances onto the new shelves.  They gobbled up the goodies pretty quickly. 

 

We completed the insulation and drywalling then built matching shelves on the north wall.  

 

[turquoisedude]

And since you can never have enough storage, we built a center-aisle shelf for more appliances, but also for parts. 

 

Amazingly, everything just fit!

 

[turquoisedude]

I'm still making a couple of refinements, but I am thrilled that I can now walk around up in my loft/workshop area.  I also found a number of things I forgot I had.  Like the vintage vacuums.... LOL 

 

I still have to build one more storage unit and add some shelving above my 'workbench' (actually an old Youngstown sink cabinet), but it's coming along!!

 

[pulltostart]

Paul

Great story and great pictures!  You've been busy, busy, busy - with good results.  Isn't it nice to get your stuff organized?

 

Two questions for you:

 

First - we saw the insulation in the wall (appeared to be unfaced batts), what about the ceiling?  Did I miss that in some of the photographs?

 

Second - back when the garage was built, the loading that you now have was anticipated by the engineer/architect?  The roof is trussed, what is the floor construction?

 

Again, your picture-stories are always great.  Thanks for sharing!

 

lawrence

 

[turquoisedude]

Thanks, Lawrence!!

 

We did insulate the ceiling - I took LOTS of photos but only posted a selection...  The ceiling was a bit of a challenge getting the batts in place before we tacked up the vapour barrier but we did it!

 

The loft had been designed to hold a fairly heavy weight load (and Hubby often reminded me that the dozen or so dishwashers up there were testing it...LOL);  the roof trusses were one piece units that formed the roof frame and the floor frame.  The floorboards and wall boards actually stabilized the roof as we installed it.  Here's a pictures of the trusses as they were going in - they were built to spec then lifted on to the roof.  Moving them along the lower structure was not exactly easy, but we did it!    I wish I had more photos of this but alas, they were on Hubby's laptop that got stolen in Brazil this spring.  

 

[panthera]

Cool!

I am so very, very impressed.

 

[toploader55]

No wonder you've been so quiet lately.

Mon Dieu !!! I never realized you had such a Enormous Collection.

When are you coming to Boston for more stuff ??? LOL

 

[vacerator]

I am as well!

Some barn raising!

 

[kevin313]

What a wonderful space to enjoy your collection!! Excellent job building and filling!! Enjoy!

 

[ken]

Excellent job Paul. Yes, you do have a lot of mixers! But what happens when you run out of room again?

 

[stricklybojack]

.
Lime green Hoover Dial, nice! You're hard work is paying off...

 

[toploader55]

Ken...

Good Call. You know that WILL happen