Garage attic reno - creating space in the workshop

[MaxPete]

Howdy and good afternoon - I hope you are all having a fun day!

Nainie (gramma in Welsh) and I had a ball with two of the daughters in Kitchener and Guelph, Ontario and the hospitality was superb plus it was great to see our granddaughter again!

As some may be aware, my wife and I sold our home in the city of Windsor and have moved out to four acres in Essex County near the village of Harrow. My plan to build. a 1000 sq.ft. pole barn for my hobbies and toys has slowed as we wait for approvals from the environuts who hold sway over the local area. My contractor is still confident but it may take a while. In the meantime, I investigated the attic of the garage and it is actually about 300 sq.ft.of prime storage. The ceiling is very high however and the access is through one of those hideaway ladders built into the ceiling (you may recall the scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation movie where Chevy Chase gets clocked by one of these things).

Anyhow, the other day I went up there and cleaned it all up and in the process, I worked out a cool scheme for an electric winch mounted over the floor “hatchway” - and by golly, I’ve got it nearly done (see photos below) despite crunching my back again during the initial clean-up, I have continued to make progress on the garage reno project:
- I got all of the necessary tools and supplies up into the attic to complete the wiring and electric hoist installation;
- I got the threaded black pipe safety railing installed so that the hole in the floor isn’t quite so dangerous (having shamelessly ripped-off the concept from Daughter #3 and her guy who used pipe for the railings in their new home).





Today’s progress:
- got into the wiring and have partially installed a duplex receptacle and a second light fixture up there;
- got the hoist installed on the roof joist;
- made the chain and snap hook rig harness that will attach to the big Rubbermaid totes to the hook on the hoist cable.

The little winch is rated at 220lbs and they supply a second hook with a pulley so that it can lift 440lbs - but I wouldn’t trust it with a person. My needs won’t likely be loads greater than 100 lbs and it should do that with no difficulty. This will make getting stuff up and down from the attic a piece of cake - and that will clear much of the floor space in the garage below and allow me to get on with my hobbies. Attached is a video of a test run lifting just a lightweight stool - and it all worked just fine!

Pete

 

[Obo]

And here I was expecting a Rubbermaid mining cart being winched up a set of small gauge railway tracks on the ladder

Looks good though. Have to love Princess Auto for cheap winches.

 

[Duff]

Looks like it will work well. Very nice

 

[catcher]

Good utilization of existing space. But I must ask; are you one of those who seldom discards anything? "Might need it someday"
Your system reminds me of what a cousin of mine built in his shop; he used an old forklift mast to function as a freight elevator.

 

[SMSW]

Pete,
Are you sure 1000 sq ft will be big enough for all of your toys? It's a truism that man will expand to fill all of the available space. Great idea with that hoist. Unless you put in the tracks and mining car, you will never get your ST up there. Let's see...... what slope do you need to pull a 750 lb bike up with only a 100lb winch?

 

[Larry Fine]

Let's see...... what slope do you need to pull a 750 lb bike up with only a 100lb winch?

1:7.5?

 

[Chris09]

Trying to decide what you have for insulation up there, it looks the same as mine, was it vermicile, vermicell? I think it's harmless, but I took some out and lit it up and it went up. When I was a younger man I think I imagined replacing it with fibre glass, but, life... Looks like you've got a steeper pitch than mine - 6 on 12, I couldn't help but chime in since I finally went into my own attic last week after some years; a few years ago I laid out some 3/4" 2' x 4' plywood pieces, set out a string of lights, bagged a pile of insulation and kind of forgot where I was going with the whole idea. It's a hip roof and at the back it connects with a flat roof where I finally only this April torched down over a fibreglass that I fiddle ______ around with all manors of mop on goop for the last eighteen years.
I think it's a great idea but not only for storage; if you could get a permit to build out a couple gables with windows you could have a proper room up there, one of the things is egress; in case of fire you can at least get out on the roof [is the rationale I guess].
My wife wants to build it into a room; I like your access set up. I was happy to just clean out the roof vent screens after not being in there for so long. I'd be inclined to follow your lead and lay down a floor, was wondering with the plywood base did you notice any difference in sound; I think my trusses are only 6" high and was thinking of trying to sandwich 8 or 10 inches of the existing insulation - hasn't caught fire or killed us yet - underneath.
Having learned how flammable my insulation is I went on a search and destroy mission [fifteen years ago?] examining all the wiring in my ceiling; I think it was a '88 upgrade to the wiring in my old shack - built in '30s '40s - so no knob and tube at least.

 

[sirbike]

Good job.
Thanks for posting, that motivated me out to my shop for an hour.

 

[MaxPete]

Hi Chris:

I don’t know what the insulation is but it isn’t flammable (I tried it) and although the house was built in 2005-6, we have only lived here since Sept. 2021 so I have no idea what the acoustic effects of the plywood flooring has been.

The entire garage ceiling is finished with (believe it or not) stained cedar tongue-and-groove and the hideaway ladder-stair unit blends in so well that I hadn’t even noticed it when we inspected the house prior to buying it.

In fact, I really didn’t even know that the attic was semi-finished until we moved in and I found the long key-handle thingy used to release the stairs. I didn’t know what it was, so I called the former owner and asked him. Once I figured out how to actuate the latch, I went up there back in Sept. and was stunned to find it has stand-up height under the trusses and a very nice and solid floor that is at least 10’ wide and runs right from the front of the garage to the back wall (at least 25-28 feet). There is a whole bunch of ceramic tiles from the bathroom as well as some leftover hardwood flooring up there as well as a shelf unit with a bunch of screws and other stuff.

Anyhow - pretty useful space I’d say.

 

[Chris09]

well that's _____ cool, yeah I couldn't help but notice that it's a steeper pitch than I have, you'd have a great room up there, blast out a couple of sky lights,

 

[Chris09]

I'd like to walk out onto my flat roof
my place is not very big, but it is what it is

 

[Chris09]

oh sorry, that's an old cop that used to chase me around... lets see...

 

[Chris09]

can't remember where I was going with that...

 

[Chris09]

Ah we'll get it tomorrow I'm sure

 

[SMSW]

Vermiculite is expanded mica - I believe they hit mica with high pressure, very hot steam. It does not burn but vermiculite can have asbestos mixed in with it. Best not to mess with the stuff.

edit: After shooting my mouth off, I looked up Vermiculite and discovered that it is not mica, but made from weathered micas in which potassium ions between the sheets have been replaced by iron and magnesium ions. It is a clay - and is fireproof. Just wanted to set the record straight.

 

[Jethro]

Looks like ordinary blown in insulation.Be sure the soffits are clear to ventilate.

 

[Capt_Gruuvy]

I like this but it makes me nervous.

I have a 2100 sq ft shop + a carriage house + a decent sized basement with a 7' ceiling. Here is a picture:


I refuse to put anything in the basement that doesn't fit on the five shelf units. I make movies and the basement is creepy so I need it empty for filming. The shop holds our travel trailer (Trailmanor so it fits under that door) and my tools for what few projects I will take on myself.

The guy we bought this house from made 31 trips from this shop to his new home in Missouri. 31 trips.

I'm not going to do that. I have all the space and the determination to purge.

What a funny situation. You'd love this shop and I'm over here refusing to use it. Weird. Oh, by the way, my wife has a 2400 sq ft house that came with the shop ....

 

[Andrew Shadow]

Well done Pete. Looks like you are going to have a really nice area to work in- good for you.

I had the same idea about the hoist years ago. I installed an electric hoist in my garage to hoist stuff up in to the loft. I have the same electric hoist judging by the picture (Princess Auto?) except a heavier rated version. The snatch-block not only doubles the lifting capacity, it also slows it down to a more manageable speed. I find that when using it without the snatch-block it lifts to quickly for a lot of things that I do with it.

If you are interested, I turned my hoist in to a trolley crane very cheaply. It makes moving items from the lifting point over to where you want to set them down on to the floor so much easier than having to man-handle them. I used some 10' garage door tracks that I got for free- I have a suggestion on how you might get them free as well. I mounted the tracks to the ceiling of my garage. I bought some garage door rollers- they are really cheap at any hardware store. I mounted the rollers to a piece of steel turning it in to a trolley that I mounted the hoist to. It rolls extremely easily in the garage door tracks making it really easy to move a load around. Being garage door tracks, the rollers ride in deep grooves so that there is no risk of them accidentally popping out and dropping the load. Extremely cheap and easy to do and works very well. I can take a couple of pictures if you are interested.

Enjoy the new workspace.

 

[ReSTored]

As some may be aware, my wife and I sold our home in the city of Windsor and have moved out to four acres in Essex County near the village of Harrow. My plan to build. a 1000 sq.ft. pole barn for my hobbies and toys has slowed as we wait for approvals from the environuts who hold sway over the local area. My contractor is still confident but it may take a while.

You should tell them it's a greenhouse, you'd get your permit in a few days...........

This sounds like a great project and hope you can get started early in the spring. Keep us updated on progress with lots of pictures please

 

[paulcb]

And here I was thinking you were going to lift your bike up there!