One car garage build-up/clean up.

[chrisml]

My wife and I purchased our first home this summer and got married this September. Now that the wedding is over I've started taking apart and re-building my garage. We have a semi-detached home, with a 10x20 single car garage with a 9' ceiling.

I've been lacking with the photographs and I'm horrible for taking "Before" shots. Hopefully I can inspire someone else with a tiny car hold.

The second day we owned the house we were still sleeping on an air mattress, but I had a garage door opener installed!

The 4 CFLs you see were another earlier project that I added ASAP. Before there were 2 13w warm cfls on 2 seperate switches (one bulb/switch at the front, one bulb/switch at the back). I re-wired them to a 3 way switch so you can turn them all on from either side of the garage.

Here's what I have for before shots of the interior.


These photos were taken about 15 minutes into starting.. Shoot I forgot before photos!


Here's what I uncovered when I got to the man door:

Hinged off a stud, who knows what the heck is going on with the framing, right side of the frame is screwed through drywall. Wire runs around the header but through the studs at the bottom.. Not sure what the PO was thinking.

Here's the outside:

The flashing made it look pretty good from the outside, but upon closer inspection it was sketchy. The "sill" for lack of better term was actually below the porch. The brick was loose above and only barely supported. The door was the original door from the house that was moved over when the new man door to the garage was cut in. That explains why it was hinged backwards.

A family friend helped me install a new pre-hung steel door.

 

[chrisml]

After the door was installed I finished ripping out the panelingn and anything else in my way.

You may notice I'm not the neatest or most organized when it comes to this stuff.. I'm one of those "10 minutes doing work, 15 minutes looking for that screwdriver that was JUST IN MY HAND 30 FREAKIN' SECONDS AGO" people.

I borrowed a military surplus trailer to take the waste to the landfill.

I didn't actually tow it with the Jeep, the photo was just for fun. The pintle actually sits about 12" above my receiver. We towed the trailer with my brother in law's truck.

I trimmed, painted, and caulked the door before halloween so the neighbors wouldn't be able to critique my hole in the wall as bad.


Inside I spray foamed most of the air movement locations. The insulation was dirty, but not mouldy. I probably should have replaced it but that wasn't a priority. I added 2 layers of 1/2" foam insulation as a vapor/exhaust barrier, and to hopefully keep the kitchen a bit warmer.



Then framed out a wall to make the back of the garage even and give me a place to mount my subpanel.

The 3 feet on the left was intentionally not framed as I wanted all the possible depth behind the door for shelves or a pegboard.

 

[chrisml]

We decided to remove the light on the side of the garage and had an extra one installed on the front of the garage. I don't know why the builder only put one but the lack of symmetry was driving me nuts.



The light on the side of the garage where the path to the front door is was not original. The wiring inside where the light was added in bothered me.

They spliced in a new box, so the old wire was too short and they put in 2 junction boxes within 24".. one octagon and one rectangular! The wire also went around the top plate and under the old paneling.. would it have been that hard to drill a hole?

The new wiring is a bit better, but needs some tidying up.

The light on the side of the garage (and it's wiring) has been removed and unless my wife tells me she really wants one there before I insulate, it's going to stay gone.

Not pictured is the wiring for the outdoor outlet I added to the back of the garage. It's wired into the lights and GFCI protected so I can run our Christmas lights off the same in-wall timer as the porch light.


After doing the light, and thinking about the foam board I decided to add some fire-resistance to the board. I removed the new wall, filled in the 1/2" space behind it with 1/2" drywall, and then put the wall back.



We also built out the wall in the corner so that the finished wall will be straight. There's some more to do but there is enough done that I can start running my new electrical to be tied into the non-existant subpanel. The more wire I run the less work for the electrician and more $$ in my pocket.

I also put up some "new to me" cabinets. They'll at least keep some **** off the floor until insulating/drywall time.


Looking at some of these photos reminds me of how bad I need to get a box of cable staples and go to town.

 

[BBChevro]

Looks like you are off to a great start there Chrisml, it's relatively easy to fit out a large garage, but it takes a lot of skill and planning to make a small one function well - you look to be headed in the right direction.

Nice looking house (I can remember sleeping on an air mattress when I bought my 1st house too ) - an open (walk-through) carport out front could be an option in the future, which would free up garage space.

 

[madmanmerc]

god luck. looks like you are heading in the right direction.

 

[0150carmac]

looks like its starting to take shape keep up the good work

 

[xtremek]

Looks like a good start. Nice looking place.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Well done, looking forward to following your progress.

Regards

 

[dubber]

Congrats on the recent wedding and home. Looks like you have quite the job on that single but its well under way. Looking forward to seeing it complete. Are you a fellow Canadian or .......

 

[stealthmagic27]

Nice single! Im pretty much working with the same space also

 

[Scott V]

It's funny and a little scary to see what hacks some people are. Buying a used home has it's share of challenges for sure. Nice work so far.

 

[chrisml]

Congrats on the recent wedding and home. Looks like you have quite the job on that single but its well under way. Looking forward to seeing it complete. Are you a fellow Canadian or .......

Yep, a suburb of Toronto. Did the Tuck Tape give me away?

Nice looking house (I can remember sleeping on an air mattress when I bought my 1st house too ) - an open (walk-through) carport out front could be an option in the future, which would free up garage space.

I don't think a carport would fly with my neighbors or the city. They're not very common around here. My driveway is already twice as big as it should be so I'm not going to push my luck. I'm hoping the wife will let me put up a 3x6 shed next spring to get the lawnmower and garden **** out of the garage. (They're in the basement for now, but that's not going to work long term.) I wish more than anything that I had an extra foot or 2 in either direction inside.. but that's not going to happen any time soon. I think the "just one more foot" thing is the case with just about everyone, in every situation. I'm very glad that I have a full 10 foot width. Some of the houses we looked at (mostly newer) had a 7' garage garage door with a 7'6" inside width.

Getting the bicycles out of the way would be a great start in terms of making the space feel bigger. My plan is to insulate the bottom chord of the trusses and then drywall, but I was thinking about vaulting the space between 2 trusses and hanging the bikes way up there. I'd like to insulate straight against the roof sheathing but my understanding is that doing so will cause the shingles to cook in the summer shortening their lifespan.

 

[HSpencer]

Hi and looks like you have a great project going on there. That new door looks great and I am glad you fixed the electrical wire issues. I would want an additional stud on the left side of the door, but that is just me talking. I like to double stud each side of a door opening, but I don't know if it is code or not.
Your coming along quite well and I will be anxious to see what you do with your space!!

Best Regards
Herb Spencer

 

[chrisml]

Yesterday I went out and bought a bunch of electrical boxes. Then I decided to do some plumbing.

The original hose bib came out behind what is now the door. When we moved in the outside (inside the garage) faucet leaked, so I cut it off, installed a sharkbite, and ran 30' of pex to the front of the garage and put a new sharkbite drop ear and a boiler valve on the wall at the front of the garage. For the summer it was just routed around the wall on the floor.

It turns out the inside valve also leaks. So I cut off the copper going out to the garage and put a sharkbite cap on it. I then took the pex off and ran it through the wall. I also re-ran the wire that connects the water meter to the outside communication terminal. someone in the past had just drilled through and then stapled it to the wall right at waist level. I decided I want it inside the wall.

Before photo of the protrusions in the wall:



I forgot to take a before photo of the other end. Imagine the roughed in pipe wasn't there and the painted in line was the pex beforehand.


After photo:


I had to notch the corner studs to get the pex around the bend. (A joint inside the wall was not an option to me. I'm glad the wall was so far out of square and I had this extra 2x2 bringing the finished wall out, I was able to re-support the notched studs with the 2x2.

 

[chrisml]

It's finally warming up! I've been able to go back outside and work in the Garage.

I've been a little delinquent with the camera.

First I improvised some mobile tool storage. Free file cabinet from my father's office, and I borrowed his furniture dolly.



The garage door had an incident where it got bent after I didn't pull the Jeep far enough into the garage and the door got stuck on the bumper. It reverse, pulled, and the door bent pretty bad. It's only a flimsy aluminum door. I re-inforced it with some slotted steel angle, and adjusted the pressure of the door opener. I should have done that the first day I installed it.


Then the subpanel was installed, and I blocked the wall for some stability, and started organizing the wires.



I received a heater for the garage for christmas from my wife's grandparents.The heater is working just in time to not need it. The thermostat next to the panel has an off position which is good, since I'll only be running the heater while I'm in the garage. Right now, the insulation is non existant in the ceiling, but the heater still does a good job of taking the edge off and making it warm enough that I feel my fingers.

 

[hobbs4002]

Nice work! What kind of heater is that? That may work well in my garage....

 

[1/2 Cup]

Great progress.

Top idea with the filling cabinet, there is nothing like a mobile solution.

Regards

 

[chrisml]

Nice work! What kind of heater is that? That may work well in my garage....

It's a 2000w 240v Noma heater from Canadian Tire. I think Garrison and Noma are the same company, the noma is the old branding for this item.

Great progress.

Top idea with the filling cabinet, there is nothing like a mobile solution.

Regards

I'm a little concerned about it falling over. I've got all the heavy stuff in the bottom trying to avoid that.

 

[1/2 Cup]

It's a 2000w 240v Noma heater from Canadian Tire. I think Garrison and Noma are the same company, the noma is the old branding for this item.



I'm a little concerned about it falling over. I've got all the heavy stuff in the bottom trying to avoid that.

Good idea.

 

[chrisml]

I've been trying to figure out how to add more storage to the end of the garage closest to the house. The end closest to the road has the opener and the door in the way.

I plan to have a 1' deep shelf go all the way around the garage when I'm done, but I'd like to have a small "loft" to throw bigger junk up on, like a shop vac or the 12" mitre saw when it's not in use.

I'm contemplating a few different ideas. One is to build an approximately 32" deep by 7' shelf, secure it to the side wall opposite the door, the back wall, and then hang the final corner from the roof trusses. I'm not sure I trust putting who knows how much stuff hanging from the trusses.

My next big idea would be to run a 2x6 beam all the way across the garage, creating about a 48" deep shelf all the way across the garage, and then leaving it open above where the door would be. To experiment with this, I screwed a 2x4 to the wall at 6' 6" off the floor. I figure any higher than that and I shouldn't bother because nothing will fit up there, and any lower than that and it will be claustrophobic underneath. I'm 5'10" tall and I feel like I'd be wanting to duck every time I walked near it, even though I wouldn't have to. I plan to have a tool chest/workbench under the breaker panel.



I've determined that at this positioning, and at this height, there's no way I would hit it when exiting the garage. When entering, you'd have to have a pretty mighty spring to your step to hit it. I would end up with 22" above the platform assuming 78" below, and a 2x6 ledger.

I'd love to modify the first two trusses into scissor trusses the way kwyjibo did in his garage. However I don't think it's worth it. Everything I can find says "don't mess with your trusses" and I don't really want to get a structural engineer involved. If I did do that, I could move the loft up to the height of the man door header, and make the garage feel less claustrophobic.

 

[Bookworm]

Love watching the singles, I have one myself and am constantly re-arranging in a (so far) futile attempt to put the proverbial 10 pounds into a 5 pound sack.

Only comment I have - if I put up a 4 foot deep shelf that was over 6.5' off the ground, whatever I put in the back of that shelf would never be seen again.

You certain you want a 4-foot deep shelf ? Sure would be awkward to get to the rear of it. It's only going to be 14" tall in there....how to reach that **** in back ?

 

[chrisml]

Luckily it would be about 22" at that point. I'm also still in my 20s so sqeezing back there wouldn't be the end of the world. I'd treat it as a "loft" more than anything and use a ladder to get stuff down. That's also why I worry about hanging it off the ceiling. If I do have my 200+ pounds up there along with my Junk I don't want it falling down. The goal is to fit the winter tires, oil change ramps, and all the other **** I have around out of the way so I can do a tire rotation inside the garage. The more space I have to get stuff off the floor, the better.

I totally understand where the 10 pounds comment is coming from!