garage renovation - part 1

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"...Mama cut out pictures of houses for years

from 'Better Homes and Garden' magazine.

Plans were drawn and concrete poured,

and nail by nail and board by board,

Daddy gave life to Mama's dream..."

(Miranda Lambert, "The House That Built Me")

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Our garage addition all started with a dream several years ago, back before we even got married.

my initial little sketch on a piece of scrap paper

After completing the interior of our house last fall, we decided it was time to move on to the back shed and the exterior of the house. We wanted to take this:

and turn it into this:

After meeting with five different contractors, (some of whom were less impressive than others), we went with Mr. Gryce's gut, (and my uncle's recommendation), and hired Schaly Design/Build, Inc. on the spot.  After our share of contractor troubles in the past, this turned out to be a great choice that we did not regret!

Instead hiring a designer to draw up official blueprints for us to even get an estimate, Walt drew them up for us himself, saving us roughly $1200 from the get-go. 

upstairs loft

downstairs garage

Once we approved the plans, we were all set to go. We applied for our building permit and put Dan to work stripping off the old siding from the wood shed:

Because all our electricity came via an overhead wire running across the ceiling of the wood shed, our next step was to get Walt to start digging a trench for the new hydro line.

On Walt's recommendation, we hired GRT Electric to come switch us over to the new underground wire.

With the new line in place, we were ready for demolition day!

And just like that, our old woodshed was gone!

The next step was to dig the footings and pour the concrete.

After passing inspection, we could start building the block foundation....

...flatten out the dirt for the garage floor....

...and get some grading done around our garden at the same time! (why not??)

Next came a load of gravel....

...and the concrete.

Finally, it was time to start framing. 

Our garage took shape within just a few days.

Now that the frame is up and the roof is on, stay tuned for the rest of the story, coming soon in part 2 of this post.

(Part 2)