Carport to Garage

Project is finally done!

Over 25 years ago, we moved here to Texas onto some acreage, smaller home .... but a ways out of town and no 'close' neighbors. But.. when first bought ... that was it. Small home on property. No garage. No driveway. No fence. Just ... the home. Worked for me! As time would go on we'd add on twice, erect a few other buildings, dig a hole for a pool, pour a lot of concrete, add a lot of fence. Our first major project was the carport.

Dave Costello was a buddy of mine in the USAF; we'd served together at a couple of locations. I was on a tight budget and he offered to build me a carport for a fair price. When the smoke cleared we had a 24x36 Carport next to the house and finally somewhere to park vehicles out of the rain. Easily fits 4 vehicles! I liked the idea of a carport vs a garage for multiple reasons. First was the cost. Second, allowed air flow during the hot summer months. Winters here are mild so I didn't have any concerns there. So up it went for about $6k. That seems crazy cheap now, but then... was a lil' painful. Still, it had an enclosed attic. We put up lattice on the sides. I was good to go! Well.. not quite so fast.

Right afterwards, we brought in some 'rock' and had it spread in there and where you pulled up to the carport. Now, we weren't walking in 'mud' on rainy days. That worked out for a few years... then ... time to upgrade. Bring in the concrete trucks! I don't recall how many yards, but ... 1,000 sq ft of concrete under roof and another 750 sq ft or so in front of it... came to about $4k. Ouch! But, finally felt like we'd come out of the primitive setup to something usable and modern. It'd be another ten years before we had it wired up for electricity. But hey .. it's just a carport. Then ... about ten years ago, we had a slab on the side of it poured to park a large RV. I thought that project was complete and would stand 'as-is' long after I was gone.

Well, over the years... mice have tried to make it their home as well. Nothing some traps can't fix but ... they did make their presence known a few times with a wire loom here chewed up, a wire harness there. And during the Spring, pollen is in the air and covers outside vehicles with a light coat of green/yellow. No biggee... wash it off, move on .. .still .. sort of all pissed me off, deep down. Well, a few months ago ... I decided F' it. I'm enclosing it.

I'm thinking, this is simple and won't cost much. Well, first of all ... I don't want to do it myself. I've got several buddies that would help frame it, side it, paint it. Then sub out the doors and openers .... done. But, not the way I operate nowadays. Friend of mine is a builder and has done other projects for us over the years so he's my "go to" on this one. Still, when I got the bid I was expecting a number 1/2 of what I saw. Some quick research pointed out I was in a fantasy land and his quote was spot on. So, for about 3.5 x what I'd paid to have that carport up, we're going to close it in. Of course, in the bid was a complete rewire with new outlets, new LED lights, high end insulated garage doors, top end siding, and finishing off the inside (with more, top end 'siding'). As we moved forward I was asked .. 'do you want to insulate the walls?' .. hmmm.. well.. the doors are insulated and I'm thinking .. 'do it right' .. so .. yes. We decide to go with the spray insulation. Then ... 'do you want to do anything with the concrete floor?' Crap ... my brain is swimming in ideas.... screw it... Epoxy floor it is! Then .. 'do you want any cooling/heating?' .. STOP! No! ... hmmm.. wait.... okay .. wire it up... frame it in .. in case I change my mind in the future. The following day I text him.. screw it.. lets do it! So now, this twenty year old carport is on it's way from being 'closed in' to .. a full blown awesome.... 4 car garage!

Well, doesn't take me long to realize why that bid was higher than I'd expected and that's not taking in all the changes we did adding more! First off all, thanks to the Wuhan crap, building supplies are through the roof cost wise (pun intended). Then, it took them days and days to get all the framing in since they had to work within the confines of the original frame of 4x6s and ... sometimes.. .uneven concrete on the edges. Then, the siding took longer than normal again... due to the original construction. Wiring only took two days, then .. the insulation was completed in literally .. two hours with three guys knocking it out quickly. Few texts to my builder and getting some modern wifi Garage Openers. I picked out the lock for the side door, so updating with combo options; hell bought a few for the house as well in the same model.

Following week, inside was 'sided' with some quality material. Then a week later, everything caulked, cleaned up and .. painted. Getting closer ....

A/C / Heating unit installed. Door locks, installed. Getting Closer

5 FEB 21 : Completed!!! Why didn't I do this sooner!?!?!