GARAGE STORY

Our garage story doesn’t actually start with a garage - it begins with a tree. Some 50 years ago, the original owner would have planted a cedar sapling a few feet away from their detached two-car garage. Two sets of homeowners later, my wife and I moved into our first home in a great neighbourhood, but without an exact idea of the condition, the house or garage was in. As it happens, that little sapling is now 40 feet high, and its stump is wedged against the garage foundation. Inside, the floor is cracked into four pieces - beginning where the trunk meets the wall - and the roofline has sagged, which is held up by temporary bracing inside the garage. There is no future for the building. To my wife, a garage is a place where cars and junk goes. To me, it’s the quiet, clean sanctuary where you get to dive way too deep into projects - more often than not on the cars - and leave life at the door. Very much related to my hobby, I had recently started documenting my auto enthusiast projects on YouTube through the Figure It Audi name. Meaning, in addition to space, warmth and tools, now lighting, sound, and all types of functionality were becoming obstacles to progressing my work. We realized a full rebuild was becoming a necessity but also a huge opportunity. Early planning did include having a new building designed by an architect, but once it came to sourcing a contractor to build what was drawn, we could not find a balance between the cost and the service and expertise we were receiving—the form outweighed function. Enter Jason. Although Ronnex doesn’t offer custom design buildings like what we previously had in mind, it became irrelevant as of the first conversation with Jason. I said, “I want a three-car garage. Space for two cars and an area for a project car with a lift. Lots of light and very functional. And it’s all got to look good.” As we walked the lot, Jason mentioned what would change the course of the build and fundamentally improve the back half of the lot. “Move the garage to the other side of the lot and back into the alley instead of onto the street.” A few months later, a 32x24 garage sat where three overgrown trees had once wasted half the backyard, plus we had a brand new driveway, new sidewalk and patio poured - and this shift in location had spurred a from-scratch landscape redesign that started with a new grade, lots of fence, in-ground irrigation and electrical and all the trappings of modern landscaping. The garage had become the center point of both space and utility to support security, lighting, internet, irrigation and music. Looking back, I can’t imagine what we would have done if Jason did not suggest relocating the building. Our entire garage story spans the first crunch through the roof of the old garage during demolition all the way to the final walkaround and commentary about what I would still do differently “next time” (just kidding, we’re going to be in this house forever now) is captured in a nine-part Garage Rebuild series. You’ll see the different crews Ronnex uses for various trades, the process and materials of construction and a close look at the build quality. I hope this story gives you insights and ideas to push Jason even further with your build. No matter the scale you take on, you are in good hands with Ronnex.