Great project Bill! I wish I had some fantastic advice on the door situation but I dont Goodluck and can't wait to see the finished garage!
Great feedback guys! We discussed all of your suggestions. Personally, I liked the doors going into the ground the best (thanks Zack!) because that keeps them out of the way when they are opened so we don't drive into them! But that would be a lot of work to implement when weighed against the visual benefits. And water and dirt would be a problem. After stripping the current mahogany doors, we decided to keep them for their look and quality. They were built almost 30 years ago and after we stripped a few panels, they still look new! Unbelievable wood quality considering they were exposed to the sun for almost 30 years. No panels warped, split or cracked (see below). Pins were used in every panel! We can't hide two doors in the ceiling, so we'll probably keep all three exposed. We'll stain both sides of the doors so they look good and paint the tracks and hardware to match the lift colors. So we'll have an old-fashioned finished "exposed" look, like you see in the Claim Jumper or Elephant Bar restaurant ceiling fans, without any wood or drywall "boxes" that are obviously there to hide something. The tracks will be closer to the ceiling then what you see in the mockup photo (and shorter), and the motors will be hidden between the ceiling joists so you don't see the big motor box. You'll still see the large spring and rod, but those will be against the wall right above the doors so they should look OK. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
If you could lover the main beams to the level of the top of the door openings, would this create the space required to hide the doors? In reality it would create almost a foot of cavity... Regards Mike
Yes, that could be done. But we would lose almost a foot of ceiling height, which would make the room look noticeably smaller. So the tradeoff was a lower ceiling vs. seeing painted tracks when the doors are closed (with a nice tall ceiling) and nice stained doors when you look up when they are opened. At least we will not see the hidden motors (between the ceiling joists) or any other large tracks or hangers.
I don't know what your garage door hardware looks like, but several years ago I was visiting someone with a old house/garage. The hardware was cast iron (door hinges/rollers, etc) and was very nice to look at. It made any new hardware I have seen look like junk. I have always thought about it since...
In the second pic of the garage doors sliding to the left/right, you could also create a system that breaks the door in to 3 or 4 sections putting one section behind the other. Creating a smaller area that is needed for storing them when open. I'm really like all these ideas.
Bill is there any work to be done on the cars in this new garage or just for display? Did you consider an old fashioned pit to give you easy access to the underside of the car? Depending if it had a false cover like an old roll-top desk it would provide some additional small storage area. The cover would also provide a measure of safety for those who don't always step carefully. The polished concrete would seem to be a durable choice but how slippery would it be if wet? CH
Good idea. We do plan to do maintenance on the cars in this garage, so that's why we selected a lift. We thought about the pit, but we couldn't make it large enough to store a car. So the lift made the most sense to store, display and maintain the car. I don't have that many tools - just enough to remove parts - but not to re-build an engine or transmission. So extra storage was not needed. But we have storage in the loft area. That's why we didn't raise the ceiling in the 3rd bay. We wanted storage plus a high view area (loft) for the cars. We do expect the floor to be slippery when wet. That's something we'll need to be careful about. We don't have a good solution for that now. Luckily it doesn't rain much here, so standing water should not be a big problem. We may place mats along side the everyday car during wet days.
You seem to have things well thought out in advance. The lift sounds like a better solution; especially for old knees! A very enjoyable project to follow along with here illustrated by all your pictures. CH
Bill , your garage is going to be fantastic ! Been following this thread , and you've thought everything out . The finished product will compliment your car collection . Best wishes , and i can't wait till you post pix of the finished environment .
Thanks John and CH! We just went over the lighting today. There will be three dimmable Lutron systems: 1. Cars. 2. Artwork on walls and floor pedestals. 3. Wall sconces. The upper cars will be lit with 2 lights/car front and 2 light/car rear from the ceiling. The "everyday" car in bay 3 will be lit with two lights from the ceiling (front of car) and two lights from the garage door columns to clear the tracks (for the rear of the car). The cars on the lower part of the lifts will be lit with four 12' LED diffuse lens strings with color temperature to match the other halogen lights. The LED strings will run along the lower edge of the lift runways on both sides of each car.
Many things are starting to come together, so I'll have some significant posts in a few weeks. The city inspector approved our footings today so we can move to the electrical work and drywall. We needed to wait so we didn't cover the foundation bolts he needed to see. We're getting bids from electricians now. The first bid was a bit higher than we expected. We decided to use a different garage door opener because it's smaller and easier to hide in the ceiling. It also comes with a chain extension to help us hide it in the lower ceiling. http://www.liftmaster.com/consumerweb/pages/productmodeldetail.aspx?modelId=1443 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Looks like it's coming along nicely and you are making good progress. Hope it continues to go well. It's interesting to see so many ideas.
The Enzo was invited to a pre-wedding party at the house, so he came out of storage for the day. The workers took the day off. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Andrew, I'm very impressed with your attention to detail! The CGT was invited as well. BTW, I wish I could see the world through your eyes, but maybe for just a few hours.
LOL Such a nerd this guy Andrew is! Bill it looks like it's going to be a stunning garage! Can't wait to see it!
Well, things are moving along. We found a really good electrician who works with his son. His dad was in the business. I think the photos show the quality workmanship. We may scrap the polished cement and use specially hardened handmade terra cotta tiles from Santa Barbara for a more elegant living area look. The hardness meets or exceeds ASTM C-501 requirement for porcelain type paver tile. We're testing the slab for any special treatment prior to the final surface. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
