Our "Carriage House" Garage

We've been told that there was once a barn and other out buildings as part of the farm our home was once the centerpiece of but they've all been long gone and we're surrounded by quarter acre lots filled with 1970's homes.  So we had no garage or carriage house like most of the other Victorian homes in our community.  In fact I think with one exception we are the only larger home from that era that doesn't still have a carriage house on the property and that one exception has several barns instead.  The local carriage houses are all large buildings between 2-4000 square feet.

So when we were deciding on a garage it was important to us to build a structure in keeping with our house and the carriage houses in the community.  We spent a lot of time online looking at architectural plans offered by various companies and finally found one suitable for our purposes.  We purchased several sets of architectural drawings for $300 which we were then able to present to the city for approval which the city engineer did and we began the push to get our garage built.  The garage is 30 feet long, 24 feet wide and has a second floor that is 12 by 30 feet.  The first floor is 10 feet high and the second 8 feet.

The first step in the process was to remove a large maple tree located right in the center of where the garage door would be.  Our tree guy showed up as promised a few weeks after we moved in and removed the tree in one day except for the stump which we left in order to lever the whole root system out.

Maple tree - it's larger than it looks

Taking out branches he ran into a rotten limb filled
with a hornets nest - the first time that's happened
to him in 20 years of tree work

Homemade  protection

Just the trunk left - going down 2 feet
at a time.

What you get for a 1981 Yamaha 125

A very strong root system

Success at last

I quit counting rings at 75

As I shared briefly in an earlier post getting the garage built was one of the more frustrating experiences.  At the time we moved in the house had only one closet in an upstairs bedroom so a lot of our stuff was in the backyard under plastic sheeting.  We were told the garage would be up within 5 or 6 weeks after we moved in which would have been mid-September.  But once the tree was down I couldn't get my friend with the back hoe to return my calls.  I had traded him an '81 Yamaha 125 cycle for the backhoe work but it took more than three weeks to get him to come and remove the stump and the final cleanup didn't occur until the first week of September.  From there it took another month to get the foundation dug and the footings were poured on October 6.  Now we're into it 8 weeks and it's one of the rainiest falls on record and we're constantly recovering all the stuff in the back yard when the wind blows the covers off.

Excavator with his young helper

Finally it looks like something might happen

The size of the garage required heavy duty footings

Here we are in mid-October

The materials arrived on November 4

Prefab, engineered trusses - the box is 12' wide, 6'8"
on the sides and 8' in the center.

On November 8 the framers showed up and

 made great progress until it started raining.

They finally finished on the 17th.

A crane was required to lift the trusses
into position.

We live in earthquake country so even if
our house ends up a pile of rubble we'll be
able to live in the garage because of
 its construction

The back 11 feet of the garage is my shop

A spacious second floor storage area

The roofer was on time, fast and efficient

Finally buttoned up after 3 or 4 snowstorms

Once the framing was done the cement contractor moved quickly to get our floor poured before really cold weather set in.  He did a great job and we were very pleased with his meticulous approach. Even then we had to wait several weeks for it to cure so it was early December before we actually parked a car in the garage - all this after being told the garage would be done by mid to late September.  

But the trials didn't end there.  The day after the floor was poured the framers came back to finish the stairs and gouged up the fresh cement before I caught and stopped them.  They had been told to wait until they heard from us but their boss came storming over to yell at my wife about their schedule and I ended up firing him when I heard about it.  He did offer a weak apology and wanted to finish the job but I had had it with him.

It would have been nice to do an all brick exterior but the cost was prohibitive especially given we were spending more on the garage that we had originally planned.  The compromise was to do the front in brick and the the other three walls with Hardiboard.  The brick layers started in mid-March and worked through several snow storms while completing the project.  Again they were workmen who did a very nice job matching the patterns of the house and staying on the job until it was completed.

Fortunately after firing the framing crew we discovered that we had a man who was currently attending our church who had his own remodeling business in the midwest.  His wife was on sabbatical for a year and he followed her to Utah expecting he would find something to keep busy and what he found was us.  He installed the garage stairs and finished all the exterior work on the garage but not without some glitches.  Just as he was ready to begin the exterior the city inspector came by and tagged us for violating code.  Even though we had a permit the city engineer had overlooked the fact that our garage had a second floor and was slightly over 20 feet tall - both violations for out buildings.  Everyone at the city offices was very understanding and nice but nevertheless we had to jump through several hoops, request variances, meet with the planning commission and then wait about a month for the final decision which was granted in our favor.

Our "life saver" Jim who spent several
months doing some of the big jobs we
weren't capable of and he was - being 6'8"
and from the big woods

Putting up shutters

Getting there

Finished except for trim on the window

Once the basic structure was completed we added a wall at the back to separate the cars from my shop area and I wired the garage.  We put a 100 amp breaker in the house box we had installed earlier and ran an underground line to the old breaker box I reinstalled in the garage.  That way I run a number of circuits and have 220v if I need it for the shop.

Ta Dah! The Finished Kitchen

So here we go with the remodel following all the demolition.  All the walls needed to be sheetrocked and the ceiling needed to be patched after we installed new water and electrical lines.  We also put down a new subfloor and and additional sheets to make it level with the rest of the house.

New window and reframed east wall

The corners weren't bad but still not perfectly square.  We
built out the window casing and added to the chopped
off window sill.

Mudding and sanding

Not one of my favorite jobs!

Priming - just so you know we did most
of the work

We only painted the exposed areas using three different
colors - wall, backsplash area and ceiling

Putting the original casing and
and rosettes back up

Cutting the vent hole

Soot because we cut through the original chimney
for the wood stove

We talked to a number of companies about cabinets and ended up using one that our friends had used, Lone Tree Cabinet in Salt Lake City.  They ended up being one of the good guys that we worked with - helpful, knowledgeable, respectful, delivered as promised and went the extra mile in a couple of cases to make sure we were happy.  The installers were friendly, hardworking and meticulous in making sure everything was just right.

Victorian kitchens didn't have built-ins but used a variety of stand-alone furniture pieces.  We didn't want to be that authentic but still wanted some of that look so they suggested adding touches that would make a few cabinets look more like stand alone pieces.  That was done by adding legs, different hardware and finishes.

Cabinet installation begins 22 months after moving in

We chose painted cabinets with
an antique finish

We would have liked inset doors but the cost
was prohibitive

A 3rd set of lighted cabinets was installed on top for
display since the height made it impractical to use.
I had to hustle one evening to get the lights installed
before they were mounted and enclosed the next day.

Opening for refrigerator and microwave

Ready for vent hood

Beginning to look like a kitchen

Adding the crown molding to enclose cabinets

Originally Chris wanted marble countertops but everyone she talked to said it would be a huge mistake because marble is totally unforgiving - it stains easily, wears poorly and requires constant care.  So she spent a long time looking and finally found a piece of granite that has a marble look to it.  As it turned out the company we chose, Legacy Granite in Centerville, is only a mile from the house and they did a perfect job.  This will be especially evident when we get to the pantry countertops.  But again there was a little glitch - their boots and belt buckles damaged several areas of our new cabinets.  However our cabinet company made all the repairs and didn't charge us or the other company anything for their work.

Getting ready for the countertops

Installing the granite sill

We only had one seam in two rooms with countertops

Installing dishwasher lines

Time for the garbage disposal

Next comes the water purifier

Daughter Katie doing trim painting

Old but not antique reproduction light fixture

Antique cabinet we found
on ebay located close to us.
It was cheaper than having
a cabinet built and is the
first thing you see entering
the kitchen

The floor got laid 18 months later

The rest of the photos are of the finished kitchen.  Unfortunately it's hard to get a full view of areas so you'll have to be satisfied with partial ones.

This was the wall that was the utility
closet in a former life

View from dining room

The light above the sink was found on
ebay and is a converted gas fixture

Our "marble" granite countertops

The stove vent designed to look like a
separate piece of furniture

The sink cabinet with its unique design features

This was where the bathroom door was.  We left the
area above the refrigerator open for
aesthetic purposes

This is an antique child's rocking horse from a great-aunt

Look at the demolition post to see what
this area once looked like

Lots of lighted display space.  We lighted these cabinets,
under the cabinets, added a fixture above the sink,
a central fixture and recessed lighted in the ceiling

This is the side view of the refrigerator
cabinet with a slide out unit behind

Many of our purchases were made on ebay.  The faucet was last year's model but brand new and half the cost of the big box stores.  We also purchased the stainless steel sink, both light fixtures and all the cabinet hardware on ebay as well.  We bought our first home in 1973 in an older part of Denver, a small bungalow and I won't tell you how much we paid but I will tell you that even with all our own labor, frugal purchases and cost-cutting efforts this kitchen cost more than our first home.  But then most remodelers already know that is often the case.  But we are delighted with the finished product and hope you enjoy the tour.