Rugby Row Garage Rescue

This was an interesting project. The original 1920s garage was another of those proofs of the sometimes destructive idiosyncrasies of construction in the “old days.” This garage was sided with stucco!!! and was somewhat built into a bank on the right side. The mud rotted the trim and framing members along that entire side as well as compromising the stucco. Because of changes in zoning, it would not have been allowed to tear down and start again because of a lot line constraints. So rebuild it we did.

We strengthened the rafters significantly to allow jacking up of that entire side of the garage. We jacked it to be able to restore the wooden bottom plate on the wall as well as straightening the roof line which had been quite wavy. We installed a double 2 x 6 treated bottom plate and augmented the bottom of the rotted joists. We also added wall joists since we were going to sheathe the structure with plywood. There is not a lot of structure in any garage, but definitely not the front (door) wall of this garage. So I came up with a way to stiffen that front door wall and hold it plumb.

With a come-along, I pulled the structure plumb. I had three pieces of half inch by five iron flat stock welded together to form a square arch. Badger diversified metals in Madison provided the iron stock and welded it beautifully. I finessed it into the inside of the garage and bolted it to the front wall joists. When I removed the come-along, the front of the garage stayed plumb and solid. Precision Garage Door Service of Madison supplied the door and installed it beautifully.

I sealed the exterior plywood and applied a decorative grid which provided visual interest, and covered all the plywood seams. I tore off the existing roof, installed plywood, sheathing, shingle the roof, and installed the gutters and downspouts. In the 20s in the US there was a craze for Japanese design. I feel that the trim I fabricated and installed on the front of the garage respectfully echo that style. I painted everything.