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Finally - After much planning and a delay of a full year because of covid and another building project, the Car Cave is about to commence construction. Many of you have contributed to this design and critical elements of its construction in a previous thread. Thank you for your thoughtful sharing of ideas and experience.
Since pictures tell a story best, this is what the finished product is supposed to look like:
I feel fortunate to move forward with this project and to have an incredibly supportive wife and friends. Many are stepping up with diverse skills and using great products to turn this set of ideas and rough drawings into a cohesive whole. Our goal is to have this building completed by September 28th and move in by October 15th. The site is prepared, soils tested, engineering completed, permits secured, materials ordered & contracts are in place. It's Go Time!
Assembled a small team of friends to get after the install... Sometimes the results are worth the effort. Not sure why the photos look so yellow, its really quite white in real life. Either way, it fits the scale of this project.
And how the heck did it get up there? Funny you should ask?
Austin and the gang...
Another angle
Artsy shot...
OK, It may not have been part of the original plan. This wall was reserved for neon and porcelain signs, but this was worth the effort IMO...
Now to figure out where to place the Mobil and Sinclair signs.
Thanks guys! The dimensions have turned out pretty good at just under 8,000 sq ft (72 x 110) with 1,600 ft of reception, bar, kitchen, 2 bathrooms and an office. Above that is an 1,800 sq ft mezzanine that overlooks the display area. The walls are 20 ft tall, so there is lots of headroom... Here is what the prepared lot looks like on a dreary spring day.
The site is only 150 ft x 400 ft, so there is not a huge playground to work with. On the good side is the fact that the adjoining 12,000 ft building used to be ours and the guy we sold it to is a great guy and a British car nut. He is turning our old building into a museum and another friend is preparing to build 31 car buildings on the north and east sides of me. The seeds are planted to create a bit of a classic car Mecca! We do need a race track and better pavement on our roads!
As regards "Sharks Up North"? Who knows what madness will take form from within this venue! I do intend to have some serious fun!
Rob, Eric and Bertrand... of course you are most welcome to visit!
Nice work Rob! Collecting old signs and memorabilia is something many of us do and it will be fun to get it all on display in one place. Several of my friends have left their walls clean and it also looks good. Mine promises to be a Kaleidoscope of petrolania, skiing images and porcelain.
The wall on the north side of the building is 20 x 110 ft span of uninterrupted, drywall, so I have more room than stuff to fill it with... A 20 ft tall Texaco lollypop sign and Big *** Fan are going in and Im thinking of hanging some of the porcelain from the ceiling in long pendants on a cable system. Also thinking of hanging a fully rigged iceboat!
About 1/2 of the ICF forms arrived on site yesterday: Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) is a super solid building method that became cost effective as lumber prices skyrocketed due to tariff's on lumber from Canada, covid production stoppages and the building boom.
They stack like giant Legos and you fill them with re-bar and concrete. Each side is 2" of styrofoam that sandwich 6" of concrete tied together with a web of plastic connectors at 6" intervals. The building Will be so tight that it can have in floor heating and sit at 70 degrees year round without high heating or cooling bills. The styrofoam insulation goes under the entire floor and foundation. The outside gets skinned with .30 gauge metal and the inside 5/8" drywall.
A new venue/event...Sharks up North! Can't wait to see it. Might have to stop by this summer and check on the progress. Congrats, Dave!
Eric,
"Sharks Up North" sounds like a possibility, but as you know this place is not access friendly! I do recall that you have the GPS co-ordinates in your navigation system on the boat so you can show up in front of the cottage and we'll head over!
Originally Posted by Bertrand Daoust
All in! Can't wait too...
Dave, keep the pics coming.
We love pics...
Bertrand, I'll do it! Hopefully the border will open soon so you can come and play!
Originally Posted by 928cs
Impressive project, Dave.
Enjoy the building
Thanks Samuel! I'm stoked to finally get this thing under way! Perhaps it will be a good investment as well.
Amazing!
With such a tight insulating foundation/walls, your zone/codes probably will require some heavy duty ERV systems. My house required it when they ran some air "leak" test that found "too tight" of seal, but we had ERV planned anyway.
Amazing!
With such a tight insulating foundation/walls, your zone/codes probably will require some heavy duty ERV systems. My house required it when they ran some air "leak" test that found "too tight" of seal, but we had ERV planned anyway.
ERV is in the plan, the boiler has its own air supply (and supplies the hot water) as does the back up Modine gas heater. Very little else in the building consumes internal air as the AC is accomplished with mini-splits.
If I learn there is more to my system I'll share but I'm really attempting to reduce perforation in the envelope. It's friggin cold here!