Unveiling my brewery & garage build

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do not use any expoxy you can get at HomeDepot or Lowes. that stuff is pretty low-rent. use a commercial 100% solids (nothing evaporates away). i used www.epoxy-coat.com in my garage build last year and have zero regrets. you really should do it before you move anything in there to garantee good coverage and time to cure. once you put a single thing in that building you will never want to drag it all out to do the floors.

the other thing to keep in mind is temperature. the vendor i used had temp ranges where curing was ok. make sure you're still in that range.

beautiful build you have here, i'd hate to see it blemished with second rate flooring ;)
 
slakwhere said:
do not use any expoxy you can get at HomeDepot or Lowes. that stuff is pretty low-rent. use a commercial 100% solids (nothing evaporates away). i used www.epoxy-coat.com in my garage build last year and have zero regrets. you really should do it before you move anything in there to garantee good coverage and time to cure. once you put a single thing in that building you will never want to drag it all out to do the floors.

the other thing to keep in mind is temperature. the vendor i used had temp ranges where curing was ok. make sure you're still in that range.

beautiful build you have here, i'd hate to see it blemished with second rate flooring ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the recommendation here. I talked to a local pro about a few products. He was happy to discuss them once we realized his services were out of my price range. He advised against the rustoleom stuff (no offense intended to those that recommended it, just passing the info along), and endorsed the Epoxy-Coat stuff if I wanted to DIY.
 
fall-line said:
There you guys go, costing me more money again.. ;)

I'm looking into it.
Click to expand...

I personally was going to say u should prob just do stainless or diamond plate for ur floor. Looks awesome and mops pretty easy!! Hey. U got the money. Right??Only live once!!!

Its just a lot easier to suggest things when its not ur money being spent!
 
fall-line said:
There you guys go, costing me more money again.. ;)

I'm looking into it.
Click to expand...

I used the epoxy coating in my shop over ten years ago and it still looks good today. We have over 500 cars a month drive back and forth on it and it is just starting to show a little wear by the main door. I know it feels as if your hard earned money is flying out your a** faster than you can make more but like some have said this is the time to do it. :ban:

This is how it looks today
importautofloor.jpg
 
I used the rust oleum stuff in my last house and it lasted pretty well. If I did it again though, I would either clear it or go with another product. Floors are definetly something that youi don't want to have to do again in a few years.
 
the rustoleum stuff works ok in small traffic areas... the issue is that they are almost 50% water, which evaporates when the epoxy catalyzes. a good 100% solids epoxy will literally cover twice as much area (good) or cover twice as thick (better).
 
Yeah i think I'm set on the epoxy-coat stuff if I do anything. The real question I'm still grappling with is why? I've read the benefits of epoxy, and it seems to really come down to this: it's easier to wipe up spills, and it looks pretty.

This floor is going to get abused once I'm done with slag from a welder, sunlight from the two skylights and 3 large windows, dropping heavy things, etc.

I'm already over budget and behind schedule on my garage, and I kind of like the untreated floor. Is it really worth the time, money and energy?

I respect the opinions of everyone on here, and I'td be awesome to have a pretty shiny floor, I'm just not sure that it's worth it.
 
Im_Lars said:
I used the epoxy coating in my shop over ten years ago and it still looks good today. We have over 500 cars a month drive back and forth on it and it is just starting to show a little wear by the main door. I know it feels as if your hard earned money is flying out your a** faster than you can make more but like some have said this is the time to do it. :ban:

This is how it looks today
importautofloor.jpg
Click to expand...

Then again, that does look awesome. Do you have a larger version I can take a look at?
 
epoxy is all about pretty and easy to clean. it's true i don't weld in the garage now that the floor's done to keep it pretty, and there are a couple dings in it from dropping heavy things... but overall it's much easier to brew on and looks killer. you can also pick colors and add traction material to keep it from being so slick.

if you aren't going to epoxy i would suggest at least polishing. the downside to polished is it will still stain and discolor, and you have zero traction when wet. and not sure how you polish if you have insulation in it.

not saying any of this is required... but if you have any interest in doing it, now is for sure the time.
 
Not a lot of progress to report in photos anyway, but work continues in the brewhouse. I found a short in the wiring to the hot water heater that resulted in no hot water, and a bit of a dangerous situation. I've half a mind to yell at my electrician..but I can't be too hard on myself. ;)

The stainless is back on the wall, over the top of the cement backer board behind the stand. In the photo it looks pretty much identical to how it did before, so not too exciting. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that extra layer of heat shield is back there though.

8026985699_e8b0c0221a_z.jpg
8033361303_a035c1cf0f_z.jpg


Mudding and taping is just about done. One more coat is required on the brewery side, so I'll have to move some stuff around to get to it. Looks like I'm on track to paint next week though. I can't wait for this to be done and to be able to move in.
 
any plans to cover the exhaust tubing? a simple frame and a some drywall scraps could add some style. either just over the tubing or perhaps the same size as the hood? or possibly even shelves or a cabinet to store some things?

the cement backer board certainly is great insurance! looking good!
 
^^ true! Though I asked for it. If I didn't want any opinions or suggestions, I'd keep my build to myself, after all.

I think I'm going to carve out some time this weekend to just set the real work aside and brew. Then again, I said that last weekend too...
 
slakwhere said:
any plans to cover the exhaust tubing? a simple frame and a some drywall scraps could add some style. either just over the tubing or perhaps the same size as the hood? or possibly even shelves or a cabinet to store some things?

the cement backer board certainly is great insurance! looking good!
Click to expand...

Yep! I plan on doing a simple sheetrock box around it all the way up. Truth is I had just forgotten about it. I've got some trim work do do around the top and sides of the hood itself too, as it was a built in unit from someone's kitchen. I'll address that at the same time. It may be a while before I get to it though.
 
Big day for me, and the life of the new brewery! This weekend I brewed the first batch on the full setup! I had a lot of fun getting to know my new brew rig, and the brew day was certainly not without some drama. I didn't make it any easier on myself by choosing to brew a pumpkin ale. We have ripe sugar pumpkins in the garden, and my wife is excited about some pumpkin ale as fall is really getting underway. Stuck mash, pump priming issues, some spills, and some temperature issues were reflections of the steep learning curve I've built for myself here. Despite the frustrations, I had a blast and can't wait for the next brew day to iron out the kinks.

Heating the strike water:
8043982845_010a829807_c.jpg


The mash. Three lessons learned here, Mash thin for pumpkin, use more rice hulls, and lower the thermometer location if you want to brew 5 gallon batches.
8043986209_bdcdc4944b_c.jpg


The grain bed after sparging
8043985873_67ee8bb184_c.jpg


Transferring to the boil kettle. Used the wrong pump, rookie mistake! :)
8043986579_1375f68a43_c.jpg


Obviously there is still a lot of work to be done both on the building (more on that shortly), and the brew rig. After months of work though, it was really rewarding to be able to use the system, pretty much as it was designed and complete a brew day. Here's to many, many more to come.

:mug:
 
fall-line said:
Yeah i think I'm set on the epoxy-coat stuff if I do anything. The real question I'm still grappling with is why? I've read the benefits of epoxy, and it seems to really come down to this: it's easier to wipe up spills, and it looks pretty.

This floor is going to get abused once I'm done with slag from a welder, sunlight from the two skylights and 3 large windows, dropping heavy things, etc.

I'm already over budget and behind schedule on my garage, and I kind of like the untreated floor. Is it really worth the time, money and energy?

I respect the opinions of everyone on here, and I'td be awesome to have a pretty shiny floor, I'm just not sure that it's worth it.
Click to expand...

I almost agree with you, the more painted floors I see, the more I see it peeling and coming up. There is something to be said about keeping the concrete as it is.

What about throwing down some clear coat to stop absorption as much as regular concrete?
 
Oh yes, closing the loop on the floor conversation. For better or for worse, I've decided to leave the floor untreated for the time being. If I decide in the future to finish it, I'll grind and polish it.

A clear coat in the brew area might be a good short term fix, but I'm not too worried about it right now.

I appreciate all of your input on this conversation. Many of you have garage floors that are nicer than mine, and I'm ok with that.. at least for now. ;)
 
A couple of more updates on the non brewing side of things. I scored this beautiful little wood stove, which I'll install in the corner for an extra heat source in the winter time. Free family hand-me-down. I'm looking forward to getting it installed and firing it up.

8043996132_6d500eab0c_c.jpg


After the fun of brewing on Saturday I felt like I had to get some work don on Sunday, so I started the gutter project. I went with 5" aluminum gutters from the box store. I had a few unsolicited bids from local contractors (I imagine they watch for building permits and do drive bys to try and drum up business) that were very reasonable, but I wanted to do it myself. Assembling gutters is pretty easy, and surprisingly fun. I enjoyed riveting the sections together, and it was rewarding to see how quickly they went up.

Gutters, some assembly required.
8044005122_c78521dd2d_z.jpg


First side is done. Hopefully I can get the other side done this evening.
8043985405_3ef70054dc_c.jpg
 
there should be a "like this thread" button, liking each of the OP's individual posts just won't cut it ;)
 
tom_gamer said:
How about collecting the rain water in a big drum? You could some cool things with free water.
Click to expand...

Absolutely, it's in the plans. Good thought. I've got a 650 gallon cistern spec'd out for the space between the garage and the fence. There is room to add a second one as well in the future if we decide to. The thing is it's been so dry here in Seattle this summer (don't laugh, we've hardly had a drop of measurable rain since the middle of July), the gutters and cistern project haven't been on the front of my mind.

I'm looking forward to having a tank full of water to use in the garden next summer.

Here is the drawing showing the tank placement I had planned.

cistern.jpg
 
fall-line said:
The thing is it's been so dry here in Seattle this summer (don't laugh, we've hardly had a drop of measurable rain since the middle of July)
Click to expand...

We've had .03" of rain recorded at Sea-Tac airport since July 23rd. Usually my grass is pretty brown about now but even the weeds are dead.
 
The rainy city isn't getting any rain? That's weird. I'm in Houston and we have had plenty this year, its so nice chance of pace from last year for us.

I about to get into it as well, thinking about using it for a hop garden.

Keep up with the updates.
 
Well you may be surprised. We definitely get our share of rain in Seattle, but there are a lot of places in the country (including Houston) that get more rain than us every year.
http://average-rainfall-cities.findthedata.org/compare/249-267/Houston-vs-Seattle-C-o

Between July and September, Seattle is one of the driest major cities in the country.

Our reputation comes from endless days of gray overcast that seems to settle in around the end of October, and stay through May. :)
 
fall-line said:
Oh yes, closing the loop on the floor conversation. For better or for worse, I've decided to leave the floor untreated for the time being. If I decide in the future to finish it, I'll grind and polish it.

A clear coat in the brew area might be a good short term fix, but I'm not too worried about it right now.

I appreciate all of your input on this conversation. Many of you have garage floors that are nicer than mine, and I'm ok with that.. at least for now. ;)
Click to expand...
Just a heads-up, acids will etch into concrete pretty quickly, and they're everywhere in the brewery. Even your end-product is acidic, not to mention star-san, cleaners, etc.

The only thing worse than having to patch some worn epoxy is having to move everything out so you can repour your floor.
 

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