What's Next for the Garage?

So, the One Room Challenge is over, and the exterior of the garage is looking great!  A French drain is in place to help mitigate the flooding, an awning is in so we can get inside easily in the rain, and the roof and window have been repaired... not to mention a mural on the garage door.  Now What?

We still have a lot that we plan to do with this garage.  When there are ferns growing inside and no real foundation... there must be some other problems.  And honestly, until last year, our plan was to hope a neighboring tree would fall on it, but now?  I want to use the space we have for the next decade or so!  With the insurance company contribution to re-shingle the roof, and the couple hundred we put in during the One Room Challenge (final financial break down is in here!), we are investing in what we have now.  Temporary or not, I want to really be able to use what we have for more than a cross between a glorified dumpster and a storage unit. 

​The Plan

So... there are a few things we just have to watch.  The big one is how water infiltrates the garage this coming spring.  Normally, we end up with about 3" of water over the whole floor during the big melting season, but I'm hoping the new drain helps to mitigate that.  Keeping water out of the garage should also help to prevent plants from growing along the would-be sill plate, and stop further deterioration.  Though with how old it is, it's holding up remarkably well. 

Once I know how bad the flooding is next spring -since it could be caused by a high water table- I'll be able to plan for a few things: 

1) Replacing the concrete pad.  It's poured essentially over the middle of the garage with no footings or structural support, so it's collapsed in the middle.  I plan to frame a new one inside the garage and pour it in a grid of rebar for support.  If the water table is the big issue, the depth of the pad may have to change. 

2) Storage.  Ho, man, is there a storage issue.  I have a decent number of shelves, but the arrangement of them isn't serving my needs, and it's really just a hinderance to getting things organized at this point.  The garage has a little addition across the back that is about 5 inches taller than the rest (still no real footings though), so I want to use that area in a better way.

3) Re-installing electrical.  This one almost gets into the weeds of future-proofing this garage.  This year, I hit the electrical line with a shovel, as it was not installed or buried correctly to run power.  At. All.  So, I have some big plans for what to do to get the necessary power to the garage for the long-haul.

Electrical Planning

One of the considerations we've had in future-planning for our bungalow is how to make this small house really last another century is maximizing what is available on premises.  So, we've bounced around the idea of building a different garage with an attached ADU.  It'd be a big job, and it'd require a separate electrical service that can handle both modern garage power needs (think electrical car chargers and power tools), and the needs of a studio apartment. 

Conventionally, a detached garage has an electrical line that attaches to the main house, typically these are buried in solid conduit or deep enough that they wouldn't be severed while planting black-eyed susans.  Otherwise, these are powered through an overhead line that runs mast-to-mast.  Since ours was not connected correctly, we have to replace it anyway.  

Our house is already fully electrified, with all our systems running on 200 amps.  With all the power we need here, it doesn't make sense to run a conventional garage circuit if we really want to future-proof the garage.  For typical hook ups, the garage would likely need at least 20 amps -if anything because that's what a lot of tools like.  But I would be unable to run things like a 240V fast charger for a car, or a dust collection system and a table saw simultaneously. I could run a sub-panel, but that would still count against the 200-amp total power in my house...

So, I want to add an additional 200 amp service to our garage.  It's an excessive amount of power for right now, but it could really help us in the future to have the separate service ready to go.  

I'd easily be able to add hook ups for electric vehicles. Likely, I could do even more than one.  And it'd give my mom a nice place to set up and prep her camper for summer trips: no one needs surprises on vacation.  I would have plenty of power to run a small wood shop outside, instead of messing up the kitchen.  And while I'm working, I could plug in my portable AC unit or infrared heater.  

Future Proofing

This plan also helps us future-proof our house.  If my ADU idea ever does take off, I'll have the electrical infrastructure already in place and separated from the main house: a requirement in a lot of municipalities.  If not: there will be plenty of power available for whatever needs come up for a long time.  

The house and the garage somehow ran on 60amps just six years ago.  I'm honestly shocked we didn't find more evidence of electrical fires (there were some scorch marks in a few places).  I'm really committed to making sure this house continues to work for us, and maybe provide a bit of a road map so others can join us in preserving what we can, and upgrading what we should.