I built a garage about 40 years ago, so the details of that adventure might be a little sketchy. When Efiwym and I purchased our first house, the house did not have a garage. Besides some minor home improvement projects, like painting and installing a wood paneling feature wall, the garage was something I wanted to tackle. In a series of blogs, I will breakdown the events from planning to construction.
Keep in mind, 40 years ago the only way to learn about DIY, was to read about it in magazines and books or just watch “This Old House,” with host Bob Vila. I had observed the building of my parents’ house when I was younger, and I was always intrigued with home building. I thought a garage would be a good start to expanding my DIY abilities.
With help from my brother, Rehtorbym, we were determined to build this garage. Rehtorbym was going to school and I was working the night shift. Efiwym held down the fort. After I had some sleep, Rehtobym would come over and we would work on the garage. I cannot remember how long it took to complete the garage, but with painting it would take the whole summer.
A lumber company would provide me with all the materials and plans to build the garage. They would deliver the material when I was ready. But first, I needed to build a concrete slab.
The backyard of this house consisted of about 10 feet of flat land and the rest was a hill to the back lot line. Not the right place to put a flat piece of concrete. This problem required the meeting of the minds. I recruited the help of my Dad to come up with a solution. My Dad had little experience with construction, but he was mechanically inclined, and I watched and helped him complete some small DIY projects.
There were two routes to take: build up the land with a retaining wall or build a concrete foundation to put the concrete slab on. We decided to build the foundation wall. We did not know at that time; we were heading in the land of the unknown.