making an old dark garage brighter

[hoffman912]

Hi gang,

So we are finally in contract on our turn of the century dream home. Its in great shape except for a few things to be corrected here and there after the inspection.

the garage has a bit to be desired.. 2 car with a lean to next to it, really old, bad lighting, no walls -just open cavities, and the lean to has termite damage. The price was right and about 35K below our initial budget, so the garage was where i compromised. the good news is (and i have already checked with the city) we are not in the historic district, and we have enough space to go 24x30. bad news is the roof has abspestos shingles but the first estimates to have them removed arent horrible (all things considered).

so.. i need to make this garage work for a few years. its really dark, and needs lighting, and it needs walls and paint to make it much brighter. i guess here is my question:

what can i put in as very cheap and temporary walls to brighten up the space? since its only going to be for 2 years max i really dont want to break the bank or go overkill. peg board looks to be about as much as dry wall, and paneling is even more expensive.

i figure for lighting i can do florescent lights, but i need bright walls to help reflect the light.

i would also like to do something for teh ceiling but again, i dont want to break the bank and i dont think it can hold the weight of dry wall either..

thanks in advance!

 

[Warrenator]

You can buy a big roll of reflective insulation, think of like bubble wrap but with reflective foil instead of plastic. I got enough to do my 22 x 20 garage for around $ 250, it is super light and you can just staple it to the underside of your rafters. Makes a ceiling and insulates a little as well.

The stuff I used is called "Prodex" they shipped a big roll to my house for $264 with shipping, I got the 48" wide stuff. Here's a before and after pic of the underside of the rafters.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Are you sure it's 2 year max ? Do you plan to work out there this winter ?

Insulate the wall and cover the walls, drywall, OSB, plywood or something. Paint it white. The ceiling, you could put up some foil faced rigid foam insulation, I believe 3/4" will give you a R-5 plus the reflectivity of it for the light.

 

[gorilla]

If all you want is reflected light how about renting an airless and painting the walls and ceiling white.

 

[Nowater]

#1 for painting the ceiling (roof) and walls white and some fluorescent lights. The white pegboard is cheap and reflective and can be reused. It will get you started. Have you priced replacement costs yet, versus adding on or making do and fixing up? Maybe that old garage can last longer. It does not look bad in the photo.

 

[gearhead9056]

I agree with the paint the walls white and i think foil faced foam or bubble wrap would do
great for reflecting light off the ceiling, my dad and i did a similar set up on one of our farm buildings a couple winters back and it worked out pretty well for a cheap temporary solution. Also some t8 florescent lights with reflectors help quite a bit, these are the ones i have in my shop and they work quite well even at 10 degrees.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_159578-337-ICF232RC_4294856999__?productId=3335362&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

 

[Jeff Ivers]

If you put up white barn tin in the interior, you should be able to remove it and re-use when you build a new building.

 

[dcdak16]

If all you want is reflected light how about renting an airless and painting the walls and ceiling white.

I was planning to do this on my garage before moving in, but somehow all my junk ended up in the garage before i could paint it. So my advise would be to white wash everything before moving in.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

I was planning to do this on my garage before moving in, but somehow all my junk ended up in the garage before i could paint it. So my advise would be to white wash everything before moving in.

Good advice. And get rid of the termites.

Any pictures of the inside ?

 

[hoffman912]

Termites are long gone was treated with termador a few years back. No pics of the inside yet . We do t close until August

 

[5lima30]

Besides the obvious lighting you could insulate the attic and use corrugated metal roofing for interior ceiling. I did that in my garage and it made a HUGE difference in brightening up the interior. As a side benefit a metal ceiling is not combustible in a fire.

 

[hoffman912]

Here are some additional pics my fiance took when we were getting the home inspection, unfortunately she did not get the inside of the garage

(1st job is to put a proper knob/lock on the door, 2nd is to clean the sh*t off the roof, 3rd is to paint and add lighting)

 

[hoffman912]

Besides the obvious lighting you could insulate the attic and use corrugated metal roofing for interior ceiling. I did that in my garage and it made a HUGE difference in brightening up the interior. As a side benefit a metal ceiling is not combustible in a fire.

actually i love this idea. only concern i have is i am not sure if the roof is rated to hold weight, especially that much.

 

[onewaydave]

ditto, ditto, ditto on spraying the interior white. If you insist on putting up some kind of interior skin, use screws and don't paint or fill them.

Dave.

 

[NUTTSGT]

If you don't close to August and can afford spending a few extra bucks every week (payday) try this. Every pay, go to HD, Lowes or Menard's (where ever you prefer to shop) and buy a $20-25 gift card and put it back. Doing so, you have created a small garage fund.

Now that you are buying a home (guessing it's your first) it's a great time to have family members stop buying you the "dumb" gifts. Just tell them to get you a gift card for a big box store, it allows you to buy what you want for the garage.

 

[CNGsaves]

Congrats on the purchase . . . nothing better than having garage to make your own!

Before closing up that interior ceiling, I'd sure make sure that roof doesn't leak, as it looks questionable. With all that debris on roof, you may have rot problems and potential leaks.

Also, it's strange that prior owner has gutter on that little overhang on front, but no gutter on the low side on left?? My first effort would be painting and ensuring no rot on soffet on that low side on left. After that, get gutter installed on left side and route water out back if possible as front pavers look to be settling from all that water.

Garage door seems bowed some as well, leaving gaps at both ends so you might need new rubber boot at bottom.

Gutter on right side also likely needed and route water away from garage.

Plan out your future uses of garage and get rough wiring going first, before ever thinking of ceiling or walls. There is great GJ thread on lighting by Veno who has used CFL bulbs for low cost lighting using normal porcelin fixtures. Good luck!

 

[hoffman912]

Congrats on the purchase . . . nothing better than having garage to make your own!

Before closing up that interior ceiling, I'd sure make sure that roof doesn't leak, as it looks questionable. With all that debris on roof, you may have rot problems and potential leaks.

Also, it's strange that prior owner has gutter on that little overhang on front, but no gutter on the low side on left?? My first effort would be painting and ensuring no rot on soffet on that low side on left. After that, get gutter installed on left side and route water out back if possible as front pavers look to be settling from all that water.

Garage door seems bowed some as well, leaving gaps at both ends so you might need new rubber boot at bottom.

Gutter on right side also likely needed and route water away from garage.

Plan out your future uses of garage and get rough wiring going first, before ever thinking of ceiling or walls. There is great GJ thread on lighting by Veno who has used CFL bulbs for low cost lighting using normal porcelin fixtures. Good luck!

good call, i was also thinking about that yesterday (the gutter). that side where the gutter is missing on the far left is the wall that has the termite damage. I need to start putting a game plan together for that as well.

 

[Ray Kelly]

Drywall is the cheapest way to go. 12 footers are pretty reasonable. I'd insulate it first. And then just paint it bright white. I don't know why someone wouldn't want to putty in the screws. I would repair the termite damage before I covered it with drywall though. It sounds like all you need is a few studs for that repair. But I think you have a great start for a really great garage there.

 

[cburnscrx]

I'll vote to buy a paint sprayer, and have at it. Cheap white paint will go a long way. Besides that, you'll have enough to do without dealing with the garage first. I bought a brand new home and it took me a while to get things on the house the way I wanted them, yet alone the garage.

Congrats on the house!

 

[hoffman912]

Drywall is the cheapest way to go. 12 footers are pretty reasonable. I'd insulate it first. And then just paint it bright white. I don't know why someone wouldn't want to putty in the screws. I would repair the termite damage before I covered it with drywall though. It sounds like all you need is a few studs for that repair. But I think you have a great start for a really great garage there.

yeah, when i dry wall it i want to do it right.. but dont want to spend all that money if the whole thing is going to come down.

the termite damage is only in that lean to ad on, and not in the actual garage itself. the framing of the wall is pretty bad with some vertical 2x4s on the wall being pretty eaten up. some of the 2x4s on the ceiling are bad too and need replaced, and at the top corner where the wall meets the ceiling, 3 or so 2x4s are joined together and are really bad.

basically that lean to needs rebuilt. i the garage itself checked out ok, except for signs that the roof leaked at one point.


I called a contractor today to schedule time with the realtor to come over and look at it to do an estimate on knocking down the leanto, and left wall of the garage, extending the garages length out to the end of the pad where the leanto is, taking out the roof and extending the roof to 10-12 foot (what ever the city would allow).

if its the same cost as a steel building or less i might lean towards keeping the building. if its not cost prohibitive, i will look at making necessary repairs to keep it stable and usable for the next few years, then just tear down and restart.