Nonsense Thread

[Northern]

Sounds eerily similar to our market here in the valley (Phoenix and surrounding areas) but unfortunately we top the lists in every regard that is not good (inflation, home prices, people moving here, etc) It's actually kinda depressing.

I think it's basically like this all around.
Here, prices here have doubled/tripled over the course of COVID, what was $280k 10 years ago is now $700+, and if it's had serious work put into it, it could be over $1m. Housing supply here is really lacking.
Tons of large apartments/condos going up, basically one or two per block, but we're still a few tens of thousands of homes short (~2-8% of my city's population) in the meantime.

[MrBurgundy]

If I had to guess; they can't..

Reminds me of a time one of my clients came in, who is a dentist and was explaining to me how his wife wanted a nice house. They got something at the very top of his budget and now he's living "paycheck to paycheck" with a 6k mortgage.. still driving expensive European cars....

Crazy how so many people live like that... and by that I mean, having enough money to live comfortably, or well within your means, yet they choose financial hell.

[varg]

I literally don't know how people afford to live out here, who have bought in the last 2 years.

If I had to guess; they can't. They're over-extended and will be in big trouble eventually, they're in a similar position to people like me but are more willing to bet on the future and are absolutely buried in debt - "house poor". This crap looks exactly like the mid 2000s to me, but it's worse because we didn't have as much of the investment property stuff going on back then. I still remember sitting in my macroeconomics class in 2007/8 listening to the old bearded prof tell us exactly what was going on and exactly how bad it was going to get and 2 years later I was a broke college kid struggling to find work and there were foreclosures everywhere and I couldn't help but remember his lectures.

[MrBurgundy]

I want one so badly, I'm not even old yet and I already am starting to hate being on the ground under the car for any long period of time. Unfortunately the FL housing market has gone completely insane. My wife and I, who could have afforded what we wanted pre-covid if we wanted to blow almost all of our savings on a down payment, now have enough saved to not do that (if houses still cost what they did in 2020) but can no longer afford what we want. As a matter of fact, we would barely be able to afford the bare minimum, which for reference is not much; a 3/2 with 2 car garage and no HOA and a lot too small for building a tall garage, as opposed to a 4/3 with 2+ car garage, no HOA and land that I can build a garage tall enough for a lift and some machines on. We have some time to wait and see if the bottom falls out of this unreasonable market, but I'm not overly hopeful considering the rate at which people are flooding into our state. On that note, no HOA is a non-negotiable for me. I border on hate for these power-tripping busybody jackoffs, and I am not paying $250+/mo to be bossed around and get mediocre lawn maintenance and a community pool I'll almost never use at our next place. No, they haven't bothered me about my cars, but they have been making enemies with selective rule enforcement lately.

Very grateful to have hoists... Sometimes if I'm busy, I'll have to do a job on the floor-- fuck that.. Props to all of you guys doing clutches and shit at home.

Southern California is absolutely insane right now. I literally don't know how people afford to live out here, who have bought in the last 2 years.

[DEV0 E30]

garage stuffs

There are so many options with everything, and it is a bottomless pit, looking forward to more build updates on your garage. I wish you luck and well priced additions to it haha.

I want one so badly, I'm not even old yet and I already am starting to hate being on the ground under the car for any long period of time. Unfortunately the FL housing market has gone completely insane. My wife and I, who could have afforded what we wanted pre-covid if we wanted to blow almost all of our savings on a down payment, now have enough saved to not do that (if houses still cost what they did in 2020) but can no longer afford what we want. As a matter of fact, we would barely be able to afford the bare minimum, which for reference is not much; a 3/2 with 2 car garage and no HOA and a lot too small for building a tall garage, as opposed to a 4/3 with 2+ car garage, no HOA and land that I can build a garage tall enough for a lift and some machines on. We have some time to wait and see if the bottom falls out of this unreasonable market, but I'm not overly hopeful considering the rate at which people are flooding into our state. On that note, no HOA is a non-negotiable for me. I border on hate for these power-tripping busybody jackoffs, and I am not paying $250+/mo to be bossed around and get mediocre lawn maintenance and a community pool I'll almost never use at our next place. No, they haven't bothered me about my cars, but they have been making enemies with selective rule enforcement lately.

Sounds eerily similar to our market here in the valley (Phoenix and surrounding areas) but unfortunately we top the lists in every regard that is not good (inflation, home prices, people moving here, etc) It's actually kinda depressing.

Because of schools etc, next house will probably be in an HOA area, which I'm not happy about, but that's when/if the market lets up for us to financially consider it. I hate HOAs, and like that we aren't in one now, but long term I don't want to be in our neighborhood.

[varg]

If you're gonna have one lift, a two post is the move.

I want one so badly, I'm not even old yet and I already am starting to hate being on the ground under the car for any long period of time. Unfortunately the FL housing market has gone completely insane. My wife and I, who could have afforded what we wanted pre-covid if we wanted to blow almost all of our savings on a down payment, now have enough saved to not do that (if houses still cost what they did in 2020) but can no longer afford what we want. As a matter of fact, we would barely be able to afford the bare minimum, which for reference is not much; a 3/2 with 2 car garage and no HOA and a lot too small for building a tall garage, as opposed to a 4/3 with 2+ car garage, no HOA and land that I can build a garage tall enough for a lift and some machines on. We have some time to wait and see if the bottom falls out of this unreasonable market, but I'm not overly hopeful considering the rate at which people are flooding into our state. On that note, no HOA is a non-negotiable for me. I border on hate for these power-tripping busybody jackoffs, and I am not paying $250+/mo to be bossed around and get mediocre lawn maintenance and a community pool I'll almost never use at our next place. No, they haven't bothered me about my cars, but they have been making enemies with selective rule enforcement lately.

[Northern]

Yeah, although it is all in the prep, and my stuff worked for well enough for most part, it was clear it was a subpar product. I'd step it up to the better products. Professional install is pricey, I just like the warranty's that come with them.

When you don't use the flakes in that HD kit, I think that is what can cause the yellowing, because the undercoat is not UV rated, and the clear topcoat might not be either.

On reddit, I forgot which subreddit (garage and / or mancave) or even the facebook group "Average Middle Class Garage Goals" I know there were some posts showing the better grade stuff that are in kits you can order from a website.

I read about the Poly coatings after your first post about the epoxy coatings, I'll be looking at the links you sent in the other post as well. Sounds like the way to go if I can find a source.

UV also might not be a huge problem for me - Windows on the East side but likely shaded, Man+Garage doors on the North.

The other option could be the plastic tiles, but while I like those in theory, they are pricey and in garages where a lot of work happens I'm not sure about them.

I do kind of like the thin grey ones (with the raised circles? I think from costco as well), I just don't know if they collect dirt in the cracks and how hard they'd be to roll casters over...

You're going to love the new space when the shell is done! I'm sure you already have sketched and thought about placement for everything.

I have a floorplan sketch in solidworks with the various car templates and some benches but I'm kind of playing it by ear.
Speaking of casters, the 4-door E30 on car dollies and sticking it sideways in the back right corner.

If you wanted a 2 post but not all the time, I know people love their Max Jaxx's, even though their prices are higher now that I think Bendpak bought them out?

That would probably be better than the quickjack, might compare.

That's my biggest reason for not having a car lift. I do quite a bit of work for just having a 1.5 car garage, and I'd lose a lot of flexibility with the lift posts in the way.

What I would recommend is a motorcycle lift to free up some space. During the winter I can put it against the wall with a bike on top, then lift it up and store things underneath.

Or scooch the E30 closer to the wall and get to both sides of the bike lift, with room for more bikes between the car and lift.

"Lucky" for me, I'm going to sell my bike because of the knee thing, otherwise I would take this advice.

I cant imagine building a garage and not having a lift inside it... how much more space would you really need to squeeze a lift in? Remember that it also x2 your vehicle parking space

I already have 5, I don't think I can financially or mentally sustain any more haha.

[MrBurgundy]

If you're gonna have one lift, a two post is the move.

[DEV0 E30]

^^^ Right. If you really want to double parking space, the 4 posts I feel are better suited for that, but then it limits what you can do with that lift, unless you get the center channel lifts that add supports that go out from the center - but that complicates and adds considerable cost.

To really be able to use a 2 post (if you want to garage multiple vehicles) it is best to have it away from the -storage/parking- area IMO. Which means the garage needs to be bigger, which many can't do. I see it a lot in groups or on garage journal - anyone with a decent sized shop, they wish they had gone bigger or could have gone bigger. When you place a lift, it is going to make the immediate area not usable at times if you want to leave a vehicle on the lift or things under it. Then there is the issue if it is placed too close to other objects/walls, etc.


Or be like the 3 separate people in my current neighborhood, they have 2 posts exposed to the elements on slabs 20-40 feet behind their RV gate. Honestly, if this was forever house, with a shade cover I'd consider that, but it isn't so that won't be happening.

[roguetoaster]

I cant imagine building a garage and not having a lift inside it... how much more space would you really need to squeeze a lift in? Remember that it also x2 your vehicle parking space

Eh, a lift isn't exactly a convenient item for many garages. For instance, my garage has ~13' ceilings, around 6" of who knows what concrete, and absolutely no sensible way to add a lift. If I add one I can either not open a car door easily, park one vehicle backwards every time, lose convenient access to a person door, block stairs, or install the lift at 90 degrees to the parking bays and lose motorcycle parking in the process. None of those options are good, and coupled with having to reconfigure my garage door means I'm never installing one even though my garage is "perfect" for one. As such I am perfectly happy to borrow a lift when I need one in exchange for cleaning their shop or buying beer.

As to doubling parking space, maybe if the vehicle on top is completely devoid of leaks, and since it's the less frequently used one I'm going to guess that it normally leaks something.

[2mAn]

I cant imagine building a garage and not having a lift inside it... how much more space would you really need to squeeze a lift in? Remember that it also x2 your vehicle parking space

[DEV0 E30]

Decent opinion post found on Epoxy/Poly:

There are many products available to choose from but if you only want to do it once, I suggest something other than those in the big box stores. Why? 1. You will usually end up buying twice as much material as they say is needed, they are counting on you spreading that stuff pretty thin to make it an "affordable alternative". 2. Most kits do not come with a clear top coat to seal everything in and definitely not enough chips for much coverage. My material of choice is Polyurea over Epoxy, 100% chip coverage, and top coat with a gloss Polyaspartic clear to lock everything in and add UV protection. Many local equipment rental stores also carry material and chips, search for a resinous coating retailer. You are looking for material that is 80-100% solids to give you the thickness and buildup for years of wear and tear.
PREP - While acid etching sounds like the easy way to prep, unless you thoroughly clean and neutralize the acid it can continue to eat away at the concrete underneath your coating. How do you tell if its al been neutralized? I have no idea, thats the point. Do yourself a favor and rent a surface grinder and HEPA vacuum combo, again most equipment rental locations have these. Garage concrete is finished differently than the rest of your slab, they will spend extra time, usually, to float out the surface and give you a nice sealed surface, its awesome, but doesn't really allow coatings to stick to it. Thats why you will need to grind just the surface off to expose those little pores, giving the material something to soak into and grip.
The steps for a good coating install go something like this:

1. Grind prep (stem walls can normally be cleaned with wire brush)
2. Vacuum up all remaining dust, opening the pores up so the coating can get in and grip
3. Mix and apply base coat Polyurea, mix in smaller batches, it can kick off and set up in the bucket if you mix too much
4. Toss chips, your color of choice, to 100% coverage while the base is wet, you don't have much time, the clock is ticking. Chips help with creating texture to aid in traction. They are available in 1/2", 1/4", 1/8", and 1/16" sizes 1/4" being the standard used.
5. Allow base to cure, usually a couple hours or wait till the next day.
6. Scrap the chips. What? I just through all these things down and now you want me to scrap them off? Yes, you need to level out the surface to knock down any that are sticking up on their edges, those things can be sharp on bare feet! Scrape in two directions, if its completely cured you can scrape in 18 directions without fear of removing too much, they are embedded in the base coat, don't worry.
7. Vacuum again. Pull up all those loose chips you want the floor free from any loose debris and chips before the next step.
8. Mix and apply your clear top coat. Polyaspartic, 80% solids or higher to build up that thickness layer. Again mix in smaller batches and to a section at a time, overlapping sections.
9. Allow to cure 24 hours and enjoy

Of course this is the simplified list of steps and mostly applies to Poly coatings but basically the same steps if you decide to go epoxy. Epoxy is less expensive but it will continue to cure over time and become brittle, this is why you have seen small chips out of epoxy floors, it cracks and lets go in small sections. Poly coatings on the other hand will remain flexible which is good because your floor actually shrinks and swells with seasonal temp swings. Poly will move with it. Poly also forms a crosslinked membrane kinda like a woven carpet. It will peel up in large sheets if its not prepped correctly but won't chip in small sections.
Its not rocket science but does take some planning ahead and really at least two people once you start mixing material.
Hopefully this gives you enough info to think about the DIY project or maybe you now know it would be best to hire an installer, either way enjoy your garage spaces and keep posting!

More:

https://www.garagefloorcoating.com/polyurea-polyaspartic/

https://www.armorthane.com/what-are-the-advantages-of-polyaspartic-coatings/

https://www.garageliving.com/blog/polyaspartic-vs-epoxy-comparison

https://www.southwestexteriors.com/blog/problems-with-polyurea-and-polyaspartic-concrete-floor-coatings-articlevideo

Sadly I can't find the specific wholesaler I'm thinking of. If it comes up, I'll share.

[Panici]

Creating restrictions on where I can place cars/bikes (The 20x28 is a shitty shape, I think I can barely fit 2-wide plus workbench now, but with a lift I lose ~1ft on each side and one post would need to be against the wall)

That's my biggest reason for not having a car lift. I do quite a bit of work for just having a 1.5 car garage, and I'd lose a lot of flexibility with the lift posts in the way.

What I would recommend is a motorcycle lift to free up some space. During the winter I can put it against the wall with a bike on top, then lift it up and store things underneath.

Or scooch the E30 closer to the wall and get to both sides of the bike lift, with room for more bikes between the car and lift.

[DEV0 E30]

.... I'll keep looking at alternatives....

For the heat pump, I'm looking at the Danby 18000 BTU unit they have at Costco here for $1400 CAD. I have a buddy who installs heat pumps so I'll bug him to make sure I don't fuck anything up.
It's rated for 1000sqft which should mean it will do the 540+not-a-loft area.

I've also been hanging onto a 240V space heater forever - I may stick that in the corner/ceiling at the back as a backup, but it's extremely rare for it to get cold enough for the heat pump to not function.

Yeah, although it is all in the prep, and my stuff worked for well enough for most part, it was clear it was a subpar product. I'd step it up to the better products. Professional install is pricey, I just like the warranty's that come with them.

When you don't use the flakes in that HD kit, I think that is what can cause the yellowing, because the undercoat is not UV rated, and the clear topcoat might not be either.



On reddit, I forgot which subreddit (garage and / or mancave) or even the facebook group "Average Middle Class Garage Goals" I know there were some posts showing the better grade stuff that are in kits you can order from a website.

I sadly just don't recall what that website was for ya.

The other option could be the plastic tiles, but while I like those in theory, they are pricey and in garages where a lot of work happens I'm not sure about them.



Nice, that should cool and heat nicely. I miss my lowly window shaker unit at my old house, it worked well and was cheap. Some day, mini split for sure.

Yeah between the minsplit and space heater, I'm sure you'll be fine. This is coming from someone who lives in Phoenix though.

You're going to love the new space when the shell is done! I'm sure you already have sketched and thought about placement for everything.


If you wanted a 2 post but not all the time, I know people love their Max Jaxx's, even though their prices are higher now that I think Bendpak bought them out?

[Northern]

It's not really unless you locate it like toaster says, and then I think it would still stick up in the not-a-loft. I thought about a lift but it came down to:
Extra money for the required slab reinforcement
Loss of upstairs storage(I'd like to finish my basement where all my e30 junk lives now)
Creating restrictions on where I can place cars/bikes (The 20x28 is a shitty shape, I think I can barely fit 2-wide plus workbench now, but with a lift I lose ~1ft on each side and one post would need to be against the wall)

I'll eventually buy a QuickJack and a nice creeper. Better than jackstands at least?

Someday I'd love a bigger garage somewhere else with a real lift