Who has worked this hard for a hardtop?

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family affair

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My boat has come full circle in the past 3 years. When I bought the boat 3 years ago, it had the hardtop. My garage only had a 10' door, so it had to come off. I hated to do it and was chastised for the move, but it had to be done.
Thanks to a generous forum member, I was gifted a full Bimini top from a 270. The stars had aligned - until FedEx freight completely destroyed the container the top was shipped in and most of what was in it. Dealing with FedEx was a nightmare and IMO criminal. Restitution was about $400 including freight refund. A new top with enclosure was $3500.
The thought of putting $3500 into a top, when I had a hardtop in the garage was more than I could stomach. I was determined to put the top back on, but I needed to raise my garage 40". I talked to at least 6 contractors and couldn't get a single one to take the job despite telling them to name their price. @#$& - it. I'll do it myself!
Then life happened. I broke my collar bone twice, had 3 surgeries, started an extremely demanding job, had some other serious health issues, and sadly 3 close family members on my Mom's side died last year.
I needed some redemption:
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Mission accomplished!
 
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Once you dug your teeth into that project, I'll bet you were enjoying the challenge. Just goes to show that the old axiom was right. "If you want something done right..............."
 
glacierbaze said:
Great job, need more pictures! Did all four corners go up full height together, or did you have to work in steps?
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I wished it was that easy. It was moved in ⅜" increments to 40". I'll let you do the math on the number of steps!:)
 
Halfhitch said:
Once you dug your teeth into that project, I'll bet you were enjoying the challenge. Just goes to show that the old axiom was right. "If you want something done right..............."
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I would have enjoyed the challenge if I had more time and manpower. It was a grueling week and I probably have another 30 hours worth of work. Thankfully most of it is much easier than the 1st 80 hours.
 
family affair said:
I would have enjoyed the challenge if I had more time and manpower. It was a grueling week and I probably have another 30 hours worth of work. Thankfully most of it is much easier than the 1st 80 hours.
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How many of you were there? Also wondering if you checked the wind forecast before you cut her loose?
 
Halfhitch said:
How many of you were there? Also wondering if you checked the wind forecast before you cut her loose?
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On the day of the lift I had 10. On the framing days it was me and up to 2 others. Usually high school kids.
My brother was going to be with me for the better part of the week, but shredded his shoulder 2 weeks before.
Yes. Weather was a factor planning. Thankfully ma nature cut me a break.
 
Great job, it’s interesting to see different framing techniques, it looks like your original walls were 4x4 on 4ft or 5ft centers. Up here on the west coast of Canada north of Seattle, I recently built a shop for my boat and toys and tools and I went with 2x6 on 16 inch centres, 14 ft walls, much different building codes I would assume.
 

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My guess is you used a stud framed wall with a footer/foundation below grade. Mine is a post framed building with posts going below the frost line sitting on concrete pads.
Different ways to skin a cat. Your method potentially will hold up better in the long run. When I'm 90-100, I might need to replace some posts!
 
Excellent!

I'd wager a beer that once you got it raised, you liked the amount of light that was shining in and, at least for a long moment, contemplated windows all the way around ;)
 
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