Pimp my NSX garage - Episode 1: Return of the Sloth

matteni · 29 April 2005

<h1>My Ultimate (2 Car) Garage Project</h1>Warning: Viewing these pictures may cost you your family, your sanity, your money, and your soul. Viewer discretion is advised. Also - there is a lot of story line here so suggested reading time is 5-10 mins. No refunds on the time you waste reading my drivel and I will not be held liable if you end up rotting away in debtor's prison with a big ugly cell mate / "soul mate" because you tried to copy me and got over your head. Remember - there are no congical visits too! <table border="2" cellpadding="0" width="100%" id="table1"><tr><td align="left" width="100%">Chapter 1: Background - How not to buy a homeAfter 10 1/2 years of living in our old home, 5+ years of talking about buying a house, and all the plans we had to shop for months to find the perfect home when the time was right - we bought the first house I looked at. It was a fantastic late fall day and several of us NSXers decided to go for a long and fun run. We have some fantastic roads here in Missouri and it was a stirring and exciting way to enjoy the car and friends tooling around the countryside. This was the start of the perfect day! I had some customers coming in from Germany and the Rams were playing the Pats. All was well in Nick's world.I got home and plopped myself on the couch to watch the Rams play the Patriots who were undefeated. My wife, let's just call her Sandra (because that is her name) had watched the kids all morning while I played fast and furious and said she needed to get out for a few minutes. I said no-problemo! and proceeded to watch TV and ignore the kids. Again - all is well!Well a hour or so passed and my wife came in almost white. I know that look. Something startled or scared her. Did she check our accounts and realize all the money I spent on "go fast" parts? What ever it was - it wasn't good and it wasn't going to be cheap for me. "Sandra" said she just walked through the perfect home. I knew she must be kidding but she insisted on getting me the and our 3 kids into the car and driving over to this house long after the open house had ended. I knew not to fight that "look" and decided if I hurried I could be back and not miss much of the second 1/2.We drove around looking for it and I couldn't believe she had found this place. It was well off any main road. I was greeted by 2 kids playing in the yard on a nice closed cult sac and a very nice couple inside. As I walked through the house - I couldn't believe it. Damn it! It was very nice. They had much of the same colors and tastes in design! Everything was exactly as we would have built it and I couldn't find one single aspect of the house I didn't love. Crap! I started getting mad at the owner of the house telling him the house was "perfect". I didn't want a perfect house. I was paying $900/month for my house and had hid behind the "not moving unless it is perfect" charade for years. Sandra had made me define perfect and this was it. Trapped I was - trapped with no way out!The owners hinted they had several interested parties and expected an offer - but I wasn't in any position to work on buying a home and even had 2 very important clients who work for the Army in Germany coming in for a week of all day meetings so I concluded - it wasn't meant to be.As the week progressed I checked rates at night and sent a few emails but wasn't in any hurry as I figured someone else would get the home before I would have time to work on getting all the financing in order. Sure enough - on Tuesday we received a call the owners were expecting an offer that night. I was working on the loan at night but knew there was nothing I could do with my schedule this week so I asked that the owners call me when the had an offer - in case I wanted to counter offer. As luck would have it the other potential buyers waited an extra day to get their offer in and gave another day to accept or decline and that was just the window I needed...On Wednesday - sure enough - they had a good offer from a buyer with no contingencies on financing, selling a home, or anything else. It seemed it wasn't meant to be. They had until 5pm today to accept the offer and the owner called me this morning and asked if we were still interested. I hadn't really even started on the loan, had customer meetings all day, and didn't see any way to make this happen. I knew we loved the home and so I decided to go out on a limb. I paged the seller (a sports medicine doctor) and he called me back. I told him we would up the offer a little - but only if they would accept it and not pit us against one another. I explained that I was extremely busy and didn't want to work on this if there was going to be a bidding war. They said they would accept our offer - but would not accept a contingency on financing or selling our home. Gulp!It was 11:30 AM so stayed back from lunch and worked for 2 straight hours on the phone getting all of the paperwork, documentation, and information back and forth to the loan company. One lucky break - because I recently refinanced our existing home - I had the mountain of paperwork needed already scanned into the computer and ready to email. After what seemed like a month on the phone the loan officer typed everything into the computer - and sure enough - we were approved and had everything in place. The loan officer admitted it was one of the fastest approvals with full locking to close he had ever done. Now that we were approved - I started to fill in all the contract stuff while Sandra drove over so we could get the offer in by the 4:15 deadline. If we missed the deadline the seller said that they would have to drive over and accept the other offer. As bad luck would have it - there was a huge accident involving a School Bus and another car (no one was seriously injured - thank God). Sandra rushed over to sign the documents, drove out to the house (1/2 hour late), and the people were within seconds of accepting the other offer. We had a lawyer review the document and invited the whole family over so the kids could play while we talked and finalized the paperwork. We all agreed it must have been meant to be as I would have never guessed I would be moving in the middle of the holidays after shopping for a house all of about 30 minutes! <img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN0049_JPG.jpg"> <img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN0024_JPG.jpg" width="372" height="279"><img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN0143_JPG.jpg" width="372" height="279"> <img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN0630_JPG.jpg" width="280" height="372"><img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN9990_JPG.jpg" width="372" height="279"> <img border="0" src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_DSCN9995_JPG.jpg" width="372" height="279"></td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%"> Chapter 2: The first inspirationWell - in chapter 1 we learned there was nothing about the house I would change - and that was true. Now the garage - that was another story! Well I had been surfing on NSXPrime and saw a couple of posts that captured my imagination. The first one is from <a href="http://www.ultimategarage.com">www.ultimategarage.com</a> and includes a garage that must easily be a half million dollar addition/project. It has unbelievable stonework, landscaping, a built in car wash, tools galore, solar tiles, lifts, and a dynopack! Yeah baby that is what I am talking about!<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a01ultimategarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="258"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a02ultimategarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a03ultimategarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="273"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a05ultimategarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="255"></td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%"> Chapter 3: Time for a new "inspiration"Well - with the new home came a house payment 3 times larger. On top of that we had the whole downstairs covered with ceramic tile, the rest of the house carpeted, did 8 custom closets, setup a wall mounted Plasma entertainment center, and bought new furniture in many of the rooms. The time for a $50,000 garage renovation project was not now. As a matter of fact - I figured I had better keep the costs south of $10,000 if I was going to escape debtor's prison. Well Mike on NSXPrime posted pictures on a very tasteful and infinitely more reasonable garage update. He did most of the work himself and the results looked awesome. This was the inspiration I needed to get moving over the dead of winter.<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a06mikesgarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_a07mikesgarage_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"></td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%"> Chapter 4: On the first day...Well - we had a long way to go on this project. The garage had become the resting place for all the junk from the move. The previous owners considered nails the only organization tool that they needed. There was little drywall, only 1 outlet, little lighting, and no real attic we could use. What kind of people wouldn't do anything in their garage? Where is the love? Doesn't everyone know you should start in the garage - not finish there? BTW - we have an unfinished basement and it will stay that way for a while my garage consumes all my time, money, and attention - the way God intended it to be!BTW - We moved the week of Christmas and for 2 months my pour NSX couldn't even fit in the garage and was delegated to the driveway and street during rain, snow, sleet, etc. It broke my heart and I promised to make it up to her!I started making one of my 500 trips to the hardware stores to buy cabinets, shelves, and various other things I thought I would need for this project. I started calling friends that new what the heck they were doing with remodeling as I could barely fill a nail hole and had never attempted to do any kind of remodeling, wiring, dry walling of any kind! This was going to be my hardest, most expensive, and most dangerous project of all time and I was already wiped out from the various moves. I really didn't know if I had it in me and was honestly scared!<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0074_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0076_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0075_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="280" height="370"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0080_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"></td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%"> Chapter 5: And so it begins...I started reading books on how to drywall. Man does it look hard! You have to transport the drywall home (no small task) and then measure, cut, nail, screw, and then finish. Well an employee's husband does this kind of work and I got him and a friend to come over with all the drywall material and "do as much as you can for 1 day" type thing. They got done in 1 day what would have taken me 3 months and even got some of the mudding done, as well as putting in a new outlet on the other side of the garage. Definitely well worth the $500 investment. I even got a few lessons in mudding which - as you will see - didn't stick.So after they leave I decide to try my hand with a 6" blade and a 10" blade and a bunch of joint compound. At first I tried to replicate what my drywall guy made look so easy. It was impossible and I was impatient. I kept dragging the stuff all over, couldn't make it smooth, and was getting discouraged. Then I had an idea! Instead of worrying about applying the perfect amount so I wouldn't have to sand - I reasoned I would put a TON of compound on there and would sand off what I didn't need. Surely it was easier to sand down then to build up 3 layers. So instead of doing 3 layers over 3 days I ended up with one huge layer. What I didn't realize is that layer would need almost a week to dry and then require hours and hours of sanding which is so fine it gets in your eyes, ears, nose, house, and everything else that doesn't have HEPA filtration. Bad move!<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0130_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0131_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0132_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> </td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%">Chapter 6: Painting and Trim Work...Who new that the painting would become such a job! First I had to get all the dust out so out came the leaf blower! It was literally a nuclear winter when I fired this thing up and you couldn't see 5 feet in front of you. I look like I had been "antiqued" (for all you Jackass fans). The dust covered my lawn and every car on the street within a block. I have never seen anything like it and hope to never see anything like it again. Kids were running into their houses and it looked like some kind of reenactment of 911!Then more sanding, priming, and finally painting all 4 walls, the concrete base, and the ceiling. Meanwhile it was in the dead of winter so I had to run space heaters and leave the door open to keep the paint from freezing. You can see how happy this made my wife! Meanwhile if my kids want to see me they have to come out to the garage this winter! I built my own "scaffolding" with a 2x8 for the top and the ceiling which worked out really well. What didn't work out well was the cool looking "power" painter I was using. This thing hooks up to the paint can (supposedly) and pumps paint and primer to a roller. Well the problem is the tube going into the paint doesn't want to say in and you have 20 feet of pipe to drag around. Also - I didn't notice that the roller was "special" with holes that allow the paint to come out. Well I put on a "generic" roller with no holes and guess what happens when you pump paint into a roller that has no holes to let the pressure out? Yep - she blows up and paint goes everywhere!What probably sucked the most is how many times I had to move the contents of the garage inside, right, left, outside, etc during this project! Each time you "move" you loose track of all your tools again!<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0133_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="280" height="370"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0228_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="280" height="370"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0225_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0241_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0233_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0232_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> </td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="100%">Chapter 7: The Stripe...Now I have done enough home improvement to know that when you think you are done - you are about 10% done! Well nothing could be more true with this stupid stripe! It is impossible to get this thing perfect like the pros do! I used that cool blue painter's tape, a laser level, and was reasonably patient and it still looks like a rookie did it when compared to the razor sharp edges a pro can get. Anyway - my motto on this project became "good enough for the garage" and from 10 feet away it looks awesome.I color matched the stripe to the Formula Red (or at least the 15 year old Formula Red my car has become) and was really careful removing the paint (which still will remove some paint you don't want it to). Also - you have to be VERY careful not to spill drops of red onto white. The cleanup is darn near impossible and you get big spots of "pink".<IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0246_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0248_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="284"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0249_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"> <IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0258_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"><IMG src="http://www.ourfamilyinteractive.com/PhotoAlbums/2005/2005_03_05_Garage_Project/tn_dscn0262_jpg.jpg" border="0" width="372" height="279"></td></tr><tr><td align="left" width="99%"> Chapter 8: Going to Def-Con 4...My neighbors are starting to wonder about the state of our marriage and if I actually live inside the house or in the garage as they see my stuff and hear me at all hours of the day and night! They do come out and check out my handiwork and all the men in the neighborhood now hate me as their wives would like them to finish off their garages as well. Little do they know what lurks in my evil mind for my garage. Here is me getting ready to take my garage (and my game) to the next level. Can you guess what is next??? The biggest clue is the last 2 pictures.

NSXROX · 29 April 2005

matteni is gonna RAISE THE ROOF!!!

Yawwn · 29 April 2005

Thanks for your entertaining story. I can't wait to hear more about what it is you have in mind.

Take Care,
J.

matteni · 29 April 2005

NSXROX said:
matteni is gonna RAISE THE ROOF!!!

Good guess! My wife asked if I was going to use it to dig my own grave!!!

:biggrin:

RPM217 · 29 April 2005

When does the lift go in, before or after the surf board goes out??

Nice job, I guess that the project could be deemed a success, you're still married!! :biggrin:

SamBel · 29 April 2005

matteni said:
They do come out and check out my handiwork and all the men in the neighborhood now hate me as their wives would like them to finish off their garages as well.

Great story and VERY amusing as well. I, too, have the hatred of most the guys on the cul-de-sac as their wives found out what I was doing, and had to come check it out. Fornunate for me my house is only 1.5 years old (we had it built), and the garage is attached to the house. It was finished on the inside, so all I had to do was clear out stuff, tape, paint, and lay the flooring. Added a couple of florescent lights, too. My job only took 13 hours, but as pointed out, it was more of an update, not an all-out rebuild such as you are doing. Great job!

MJK · 29 April 2005

Great project and story, thanks for sharing! It is great to see someone with the same afflictions as me who has a writer's gift. I followed in your footsteps with the header DIY, and hope to with this one eventually too!

Now... <sniff>

Am I smelling a lift?

matteni · 29 April 2005

RPM217 said:
When does the lift go in, before or after the surf board goes out??

Nice job, I guess that the project could be deemed a success, you're still married!! :biggrin:

Ding ding ding - we have a winner! The Bob-Cat was actually fitted with forks for removing the OVER 2500 lbs Bend Pak single post / clear floor lift that I purchased from John / "Anytime" Racing! Wait till you hear how I tried to set this thing up myself with an unsuspecting (now ex-) buddy.

:wink:

caz-nsx · 29 April 2005

Great story so far. For some reason I think it gets better. I wish I documented my project a little more like this. We had some comical moments.

ChopsJazz · 29 April 2005

matteni said:
Good guess! My wife asked if I was going to use it to dig my own grave!!!

:biggrin:

From the look on your wife's face, I'd say you've already done that! :wink:

I'm looking forward to the lift story.

Paul · 29 April 2005

Great story Nick! I can’t wait to read more! Thanks for sharing.

matteni said:
Good guess! My wife asked if I was going to use it to dig my own grave!!!

ROTFLMAO :biggrin: :biggrin:

NSX01 · 29 April 2005

Nick,

When is the party? I'm second in line on the lift right? :biggrin:

matteni · 29 April 2005

Thanks everyone! Also - one thing that was confusing to a lot of people - actually my garage has been done for a month. It just takes time and hypnosis to go back to the pain I went through getting everything all setup!

Anyway - I will try to get Espisode II out this weekend.

SLIPPINnSLIDING · 29 April 2005

Wow, that was really informative! I really should start getting my garage done. I have 3 cars, but only a 2 car garage :frown: I might want to make a underground garage. It would be much cooler, and i would probably have plenty of work space. The only problem is the earthquakes in California. I wouldn't want to be having my cars trapped undergound!

pt91 · 30 April 2005

God I love a good garage story....can't wait for the ending!

matteni · 30 April 2005

pt91 said:
God I love a good garage story....can't wait for the ending!

LMAO - my wife loved your garage story quote - as did I!

ANYTIME · 30 April 2005

matteni said:
Ding ding ding - we have a winner! The Bob-Cat was actually fitted with forks for removing the OVER 2500 lbs Bend Pak single post / clear floor lift that I purchased from John / "Anytime" Racing! Wait till you hear how I tried to set this thing up myself with an unsuspecting (now ex-) buddy.

:wink:

Please be kind :biggrin: I hope that you can mend things up, will all you have been thru!! Need more pics when you get a chance.
Take care,
John :smile:

DutchBlackNsx · 30 April 2005

Great story, love it

Can't wait for second half.

Reminds me of my own garage rebuild soon

Can you shed a light on how you made the post look like that?

matteni · 30 April 2005

DutchBlackNsx said:
Can you shed a light on how you made the post look like that?

Actually - it is a German software product for the Mac (originally) and now for Windows too called Thumbs Plus. Do a search on www.hotfiles.com and you will find it. It organizes all your pictures, thubnails, you can build web pages, macros, slide shows, etc etc etc. It is an incredible piece of software IMO. If you have ever used "Nikon View" that comes with Nikon cameras - you have used a much watered down version.

Take care.

DutchBlackNsx · 30 April 2005

matteni said:
Actually - it is a German software product for the Mac (originally) and now for Windows too called Thumbs Plus. Do a search on www.hotfiles.com and you will find it. It organizes all your pictures, thubnails, you can build web pages, macros, slide shows, etc etc etc. It is an incredible piece of software IMO. If you have ever used "Nikon View" that comes with Nikon cameras - you have used a much watered down version.

Take care.

Thankx m8

mmmikemo · 2 May 2005

Nice job Nick...great story...and I love the stripe :biggrin:

Mike

matteni · 3 May 2005

Episode II is finally up! There are more challenges, more screw ups, but less sex (at least for me during those long months!)

http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?p=444121#post444121

I have also posted a video and some bigger pics of the finished product.

Airwolf NSX · 2 November 2008

hate to bring up such an old post but "WOW!!!

What a project.

I thought it would be a worthy read for new NSX members.

Pimp my NSX garage - Episode 1: Return of the Sloth

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