Build-Threads Garage: Exterior sheeting & doors
I probably should have broken this up into two parts so as not to make it so long between posts, but now you get to see the garage go from a skeleton to complete in one go! In the last post, we had finalised the main framework, and it was now time to attach the wall and roof sheets. For this post I’m going to note how long the gaps were between construction, because it’s easy to think we knocked this up fairly quickly and easily. In reality we only had one day a week to work on it (Saturdays), and even then we could only work when my friends and I were available, so progress was quite slow as going weeks without working was quite common.
We started off with the back wall, as it was a good chance for us to practice our technique. Any mistakes we make wouldn’t be visible.
Once the back wall was complete, we worked our way from back to front on the side walls. Because of the pitch of the roof, we had to cut every sheet to match the roof profile.
Looking down the driveway, having to use my imagination to picture the finished product.
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3 weeks later…
The next day of progress saw us complete the two side walls, and make a start on the front wall. We stopped at this point because the next task was to cut into the main framing so we could box in the personal-access-door frame-work.
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2 weeks later…
After a lot of head-scratching and plan checking, we broke out the angle grinder and cut into the frame work. Now we had a nice void to fill with door framing.
I also made a start on these (ugly) fly-braces that go on some of the batons and columns. From the instructions: “Fly Braces are used to restrain main frame columns and rafters and end wall columns from rotating under
bending loads.”
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One month later…
After a long and frustrating pause in construction, we hit the tools again. This time we continued cladding the front wall, and attached the X-bracing to the inside.
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One week later…
The next week we hung the personal-access-door. Above is the view from the inside…
…and from the outside.
I attached a hook to the frame which holds the door in place when it’s open.
That same week we also put a strip of sheeting on the right hand side of the front wall, and attached the corner flashing piece to that side…
…and the same on the other side. Don’t mind that white mark half way up the flashing, that’s just the protective film coming off.
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2 weeks later…
The next day we had available was a huge one, because we were able to get the roof on. What a massive accomplishment that was, I was now able to stand inside the garage and get a proper feel for the space. You can see I also opted to insulate the roof, and the style of insulation I chose calls for a slight sag in the material, which is were the heat gets trapped.
That same day I was able to have someone come out and fit the roller door, which wasn’t something I was prepared to do myself. I thought it best left to the professionals, especially after hearing some horror stories.
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One week later…
The next week we buttoned up a few loose ends, finishing the front wall cladding and attaching the flashing that sits at the top of the roller door opening to catch rain run-off.
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One week later…
Again, more minor detail work, this time the roof flashing was completed, capping off the gaps between the exterior of the roof and walls. All that was left was to attach the vertical flashing to seal off the openings of the roller door mullions.
That same weekend I gave the floor an acid etch, to get it ready for sealant. Even though the garage hasn’t been ‘used’ yet, the concrete had been subjected to all kinds of weather for many months, so it needed to be thoroughly cleaned before sealing.
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One week later…
This weekend just passed, I attacked the floor with epoxy sealer. The first coat (above) was done on Friday after work, using a special applicator broom to work in the solution.
The next morning I applied the second (and supposedly final) coat, but was not happy with the finish.
While that dried, my dad and I attached the final pieces of the kit – the roller door mullion flashings. No more stray pieces of metal lying around!
By that stage the floor had dried enough for me to apply a thin third coat, but this time I used a paint roller.
Luckily I had just the right amount of sealant left over!
So now we have a “complete” garage! There are still plenty of minor things to finish off, such as weather-sealing the gap between the bottom of the sheets and the concrete slab, and the small issues of adding electricity and a driveway! But for the most part, it’s now a lock-up shed, and that’s huge to me. Next weekend will be a massive milestone, as the floor will have cured enough to allow me to park a car in there, which means after a long hiatus Project 510 is finally coming home. Hopefully it won’t take me too much longer to get the garage into a ‘working’ environment, because there’s plenty of work I want to get done on the little Datsun.
I hope you enjoyed this little distraction from the usual content, and hopefully you now have a good insight into what it’s like to build one of these things. We aren’t professional builders – hell, I work in an office from Mon-Fri – but I have an amazing group of friends and family that are always willing to lend a hand, so for that I am eternally grateful. What I’m getting at is that if you have basic knowledge of power tools, know how to read plans, and can wrangle up a few friends, you can do this too! It wasn’t all smooth sailing, we made mistakes and there were plenty of times where I felt like giving up and just paying someone to finish it off, but I’m glad I persevered and waited out the slow weeks where nothing got done, because the end result was worth it x1000. This is a huge accomplishment for me, not only for the fact that we were physically able to build a whole damn garage, but because I now have a dream workshop of my very own, something I’ve dreamed of for a long, long time. Let’s just hope that I can do it justice and put it to good use 
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Original: Build Threads