Garage Before And After

[utopia13]

Oh to have a garage that large!!! I can "just" fit my car in mine. 2 people can't both open the car doors & get out when I pull in. There's just not enough room

That looks NICE!!!!!

[Eden]

I love everything about it, from feasible to taduh! Is it as old as the house and what year was your home built?

I have an old 12' x 28' slab of cement that needs a shed - I love your color and ornate door ways. Really handsome. I want something that will go with my house, not a modern one. So I'm keeping a copy of this.

Thanks for sharing.

[LisaW]

Beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

[KathyJB]

hmmm, maybe the po's leased out garage space?

[Texas_Ranger]

Somehow reminds me of our so-called garden house... a 2x4m (roughly 6 1/2' by 14 1/2') wooden structure, kinda like a detached 3 season porch *g*. We know from pictures that the PO built it converting an ancient open shed in 1990. When we bought the place, the roof was partially collapsed and we had it replaced. Unfortunately upon further investigation we found the place more or less impossible to save.

First we saw that our roof replacement wasn't exactly a top notch job... the guy who did it put his new lumber on top of the old tenons instead of mortising the new lumber or cutting off the tenons! (he used smaller lumber). The back wall isn't integral to the structure (there was none when it was built except for 1/3 of the length, a crappy plank wall), it's a crude brick wall that separates our yard from the alley. The PO covered the exposed brick with styrofoam and papered over it (ever seen wall paper with a wood panel print?!?) but left the plank wall in place. The 4" gap between wood and brick was stuffed with styrofoam too and covered with wood paneling on the inside. This was directly below the major leak, so we decided to remove the panels. Behind we found thousands of ants that had turned the wood and styrofoam(!) into something like a bath sponge.

The old main lumber structure is still standing, but very weathered. The PO covered it with pine paneling on both sides with 2" of foam sandwiched in between, pretty wobbly.

The floor sits directly on the ground (and is thus rotted) and there are no foundations - the main beams just go down into the wet ground.

See why we plan to take it down eventually?

[melissakd]

Take it down eventually? It sounds like you'll have to hurry if you want to get your hand in before the thing falls down of its own accord!

I don't know who generally has more to answer for: POs or paneling.

MKD

[melissakd]

Is it as old as the house and what year was your home built?

Oh dear no, Eden, nooooooo. The house was built in 1865; the garage had not yet reached its present form on the fire insurance map of 1918.

I really am flattered that you like it, but before you copy its period style, please know that it isn't period style at all; it was done by the PO about eight years ago. He added the cheap little windows; he added the pediments over the people doors, which were salvaged from some other house and aren't quite the right size; he built the window boxes himself. The color scheme is his as well. The house and garage previously were approximately shutter green, I think with the same yellow trim, although the garage didn't have contrasting trim.

[melissakd]

hmmm, maybe the po's leased out garage space?

They probably did in the 1980s, when investors owned it. Last weekend we met a nearby homeowner who also owns at least one rental in the neighborhood (which abuts our back yard); he had two things to say about our house, which he kept repeating: 1) He hates our giant maple tree and wishes it were gone; 2) He wishes he had a garage like that to rent out. He's a pig; a fat guy in a dirty T-shirt waving a cigarette, with little dollar signs in the pupils of his eyes. : P

We will have a space to rent along with our rear apartment, but wouldn't want to rent out others for security reasons.

MKD

[Texas_Ranger]

My dad estimated the structure to last until we're done with the worst stuff in the house, then we can take it down. The paneling was/is actually real knotty pine, but that doesn't make it that much better (only less dark).

Gonna post a picture in my own thread, don't want to take this one too far. (See the pre-1900 forums).

[Eden]

"pediments over the people doors"

I'm visual about things, I like those pediments and the color scheme too, but I'm probably having the Amish build me a 3 door stable on my 12' x 28' concrete slab because it will look OK with my house and I can pretend I own horses.