The wife's garage... What to do?

[Jrossmiller174]

Sorry, this is going to long. I'm trying to be as in depth as possible.
Any tips or tricks on this garage idea...This actually isn't my work shop, it will be the wife's garage, and also the laundry room. Gotta get the laundry out of the main bathroom and this seems to be the best spot. The dimensions are 12' wide x 25' deep.
So here are the ideas I've got so far
Upper and lower cabinets on the back wall which I will be refurbishing from an old kitchen, new doors, hardware, etc. probably doing bead board fronts. Not sure on the details.
Next to those cabinets, front loading washer and dryer. Getting a plumber for supply/return and hvac guy for dryer vent. Not sure how to get the vent through the back block wall.
Countertop on top of that. I don't know what kind to go with. I will be processing wild game on it and she will be folding laundry on it. So I need help with that. I was thinking soapstone... The countertop will extend over the washer and dryer and also a stand up heat radiator so I have to figure out how to aesthetically support that 6' overhang of countertop. Or build up the washer/dryer to support it.
Not sure on backsplash.
All new electrical is done.
Still need to do drywall and paint
Exterior wall is cinder block
Back 6' (laundry/mud room area) will be tile, not sure what kind to use. Wood base and trim there.
Front 19' will be epoxy floor. Trying to match the color with tile. Probably tan. Also a rubber base will be used here.
Need advice on soundproof insulation as it is next to my living room and under my bedroom.
Anyone have any ideas? Or things I'm not thinking of. I am a carpenter by trade so I have some ideas on remodeling but new ideas are always welcome. I'll get pics soon



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[gregtwojeeps]

I just asked my wife this question and she told me the ONLY way she would allow her washer/dryer to be in a garage would be... the laundry space would have to be heated and she would not have to walk through garage dust to get to the the laundry. The laundry room would have to be totally sealed ...to keep the garage dust out of it.

She said if I could not meet those requirements for her garage located laundry room, then I would be doing the laundry while changing the oil in my car.

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Haha she was pretty opposed to it. But not as opposed as I was to having the washer 2 feet from where I take "break". Plus we won't be using this garage for storage or a work shop. I have my own detached garage and will be building a 12x16 shed next summer. Plus it's heated. I feel like the tile/ epoxy will give it a feeling of separation.


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[padroo]

I built an outdoor kitchen this summer and soapstone was not a good choice if I remember right. Granite was the best but it is expensive the second best was porcelain tile. It is tough but the grout joints would be a problem especially with blood stains. Maybe use granite tile with minimal grout joints.

 

[Ponchoguy]

I just asked my wife this question and she told me the ONLY way she would allow her washer/dryer to be in a garage would be... the laundry space would have to be heated and she would not have to walk through garage dust to get to the the laundry. The laundry room would have to be totally sealed ...to keep the garage dust out of it.

She said if I could not meet those requirements for her garage located laundry room, then I would be doing the laundry while changing the oil in my car.

My neighbor and I have similar houses (same Italian builder in NYC in the 1960s) and their laundry room is in the garage, ours is a separate room inside the house. My other neighbor around the corner (same builder) has his laundry room in the front coat closet. Go figure.

 

[Shiftless]

Under these circumstances, you'll have to choose a countertop material that is non absorbent. Think maybe Formica, quartz, or even stainless steel.
Some of that thick plastic cutting board material will come in handy to protect the edges of your knives.
If your wife is OK with folding her clothes on the same surface where you spread out animal guts, you have a wonderful woman indeed!

 

[gregtwojeeps]

Poncho, my wife said laundry that is done in a nasty *** man's garage...would never seem clean to her and she meant it too.

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Yeah so far the countertop is my biggest dilemma. It has to be non porous and easy to clean and very scratch resistant since I'll be doing a lot of cutting. Padroo what were the downfalls of the soapstone?


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[Ponchoguy]

Poncho, my wife said laundry that is done in a nasty *** man's garage...would never seem clean to her and she meant it too.

I do have a rule about car parts in the house....only NOS or clean parts go in the spare room. Everything else is in the garage....

 

[Bluedodge]

I see you are in Illinois.

It gets freezing cold there for extended periods.

You need to find a way to make either the bathroom work or the basement work.

 

[ozyborn]

Convert the garage into a finished room for her. She can park her car outside or under the carport. Use the big detached garage for your stuff and keep her out of it.

 

[fringeofinsanity]

There's absolutely no way in the world I would be allowed to clean my game after a hunt on the same counter she does the laundry. What about a fold down table on a different wall?

 

[Shiftless]

There's absolutely no way in the world I would be allowed to clean my game after a hunt on the same counter she does the laundry. What about a fold down table on a different wall?

IMHO, this is the best idea yet.
A simple frame covered with plywood and a layer of HDPE (high density polyethylene) would make a great work table for butchering activities. It is washable, stain resistant, and easy on your knife edges too. A couple of hinges attach it to the wall and some simple wooden legs hinged to flop down when the table comes up.

 

[MikeF2316]

Yeah so far the countertop is my biggest dilemma. It has to be non porous and easy to clean and very scratch resistant since I'll be doing a lot of cutting. Padroo what were the downfalls of the soapstone?


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Soapstone is really soft, so cutting will mark it quickly if you're not using a cutting board. Plus it's really porous, so it will stain. Even granite won't be great. You really need to have a synthetic surface, like Corian or one of those epoxy with glass or quartz mixes.

 

[Clemson13]

Soapstone is really soft, so cutting will mark it quickly if you're not using a cutting board. Plus it's really porous, so it will stain. Even granite won't be great. You really need to have a synthetic surface, like Corian or one of those epoxy with glass or quartz mixes.

Or, like said before, just do a SS countertop. Easy to clean. Non porous. Not that expensive.

Sent from my imagination using sharks with friggin lazer beams

 

[kgordon]

If the garage is unheated and you have an electric dryer you can leave the vent inside the garage. They make a small plastic cylinder that mounts to the wall and you put a bit of water in the bottom to catch the lint but you are adding heat to the space when you run it.
If its gas, I would score the block with a grinds and knock it out with a hammer and then once your rigid pipe is in, use mortar around the pipe.

Counters, i can't believe you would want to work on game on the same counter. i would seperate them especially if you have a space that large for just laundry. If you can use the counters by the machines just for laundry go with a laminate, its cheap and will be fine for this.

Run the counter over the machines and put a support angle in between the units and one on the end with a metal angle along the side and back of the units. Make sure its a 24x24 wall bracket and you hit studs.

Insulation: put in whatever will fit. Batt insulation will be fine and again just get it for the depth of the studs/rafters.

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Bluedodge, The garage is heated so I'm not worried about that. It's actually one of the warmer rooms in the house. Big radiator, small space. Plus she would flip if I told her to park outside haha.

Mikef2316, I thought I read soapstone is incredibly scratch resistant and 100% non porous. I could be wrong though. But I thought that's why they use it in like high school science labs.

Fringofinsanit and shiftless, I really like that idea. My original plan was stainless steel but that's not aesthetically pleasing. Maybe a fold up or pull out ss counter and then something else for her.

The idea for this area is to keep it spotless. I'm very meticulous about cleaning my game which is mostly birds. A deer would have to go in my garage to hang it.
Thanks everyone. Any other ideas for this garage? I'll have to take some pics tonight.

 

[hawkeye2]

You should put in a utility sink also, you and th wife will both appreciate it.

 

[maxpower_hd]

We have a lot of those "soapstone" lab tops where I work. They aren't really soapstone from what I can tell. They may be a composite containing soapstone but they are pretty hard. More like slate.

My soapstone wood stove for example is much softer and would likely scratch with knives running across it. And if you have anything hard it will damage the knives, ie stainless, granite, etc. I would probably use something non-porous like fomica or corian composite material and plan on using something to cut on on top of it like plastic that maybe can be folded or leaned up when not in use.

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Hawkeye2 we are getting a sink in there, I made sure to save the sink cabinets from a kitchen remodel.

Now I'm liking the idea of a fold up or slide out stainless top and then whatever top she wants for laundry. I'll have to do some thinking tonight in the garage.

Thanks again guys. Like always, new ideas are always a great thing. Even when you think you have it nailed, someone always has a better idea.

 

[softailgarage]

Wait a minute, the wifes garage? What happened to your garage? Are we going to have to revoke your man card?

 

[mikeyr]

I just asked my wife this question and she told me the ONLY way she would allow her washer/dryer to be in a garage would be... the laundry space would have to be heated and she would not have to walk through garage dust to get to the the laundry. The laundry room would have to be totally sealed ...to keep the garage dust out of it. i

Nothing wrong with heating the garage, you will like it on cold winter days/nights in the garage, so go ahead and heat it.

The dust, well isn't that her job to clean and dust the her areas of the house, once the washer/dryer goes in the garage is part of her area and dusting is her job.

 

[My Old Tools]

Build a wall between the laundry room side and the garage side, a solid insulated wall.

 

[RAYJAY]

stainless steel prep tables work great look at Sam's club for them, and i don't get wild game and laundry thing at all, i don't think hes going to be cutting deer and folding there clothes at the same time...... what is the problem there??? you don't cut right on the counter you use a nylon cutting board,

pictures of the area would help for layout

 

[RAYJAY]

and for the sink don't even play around with a old kitchen sink not deep enuf for washing or doing game meat, Craigslist is your Friend look for a used commercial sink, nice and deep and easy to clean, we put one in our kitchen, and bought a used one for my shop /garage area wife loves them, so much easier to clean pots and pans in them

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Wait a minute, the wifes garage? What happened to your garage? Are we going to have to revoke your man card?

Haha no this is the attached garage to the house so she gets to park here I have my own detached garage. Man card stays intact. This is gonna be primarily a laundry/ mud room where I can take off my work boots and hang up my work and hunting hear. Then occasionally clean a couple geese and then vacuum and clean up. I'd rather her deal with the laundry/game problem than me deal with the oil grease and grime/ game problem lol.

Ps pics are coming I promise!


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[Jrossmiller174]

Finally some pics...

You can see where the cabinets will go on the back wall. The cabinets on the side wall I'm getting rid of. Also the tile will go from the back wall to the "garbage can" side of the door. Then epoxy floor the rest.


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[myredracer]

Noise reduction:

I just finished the interior of the workshop/garage in our house. Has a suite above it. I installed a dropped suspended ceiling 1' below the structural floor using 2x4s. I insulated the floor of the suite with two layers of Roxul mineral wool batts on in the suspended ceiling I used 4" Roxul. The ceiling was drywalled with fire-rated 5/8" which is a bit denser than regular board. I expected it to be pretty darn good but am somewhat disappointed by the results. The suite has laminate flooring and I can hear footsteps (thump, thump, thump) and is annoying. I can't hear voices or other noises though. If your bedroom above has carpeting, you should be good. I suspended the 2x4 dropped ceiling with metal strap ties to help isolate noise.

If you install a suspended ceiling, you could back load it with drywall which will help. Good way to get rid of scrap drywall.

For the wall, I would go with a double row of 2x4 studs with a separation of 1/2" between to decouple them. This will make the overall wall thickness 7 1/2" and you can use ordinary door jamb for 8" walls. Insulate each wall with sound proofing mineral wool insulation. I built our house with this system on the wall facing the street and part way down each side of the house. We are on a moderately busy road and we can't hear traffic except for Harleys and the occasional truck.

This will be about as good as it can get without having to resort to the very expensive sound rated drywall and other tricks. There is a ton of info. on the internet on reducing noise transmission.

You could use resilient channel which reduces the structure transferred noise to small contact points (16" x16"). There is a sheet product call dB-bloc which gets attached to the framing before the drywalling is done. If you can't lower the ceiling, I would use resilient channel. Same thing for the walls.

 

[Jrossmiller174]

Noise reduction:

I just finished the interior of the workshop/garage in our house. Has a suite above it. I installed a dropped suspended ceiling 1' below the structural floor using 2x4s. I insulated the floor of the suite with two layers of Roxul mineral wool batts on in the suspended ceiling I used 4" Roxul. The ceiling was drywalled with fire-rated 5/8" which is a bit denser than regular board. I expected it to be pretty darn good but am somewhat disappointed by the results. The suite has laminate flooring and I can hear footsteps (thump, thump, thump) and is annoying. I can't hear voices or other noises though. If your bedroom above has carpeting, you should be good. I suspended the 2x4 dropped ceiling with metal strap ties to help isolate noise.

If you install a suspended ceiling, you could back load it with drywall which will help. Good way to get rid of scrap drywall.

For the wall, I would go with a double row of 2x4 studs with a separation of 1/2" between to decouple them. This will make the overall wall thickness 7 1/2" and you can use ordinary door jamb for 8" walls. Insulate each wall with sound proofing mineral wool insulation. I built our house with this system on the wall facing the street and part way down each side of the house. We are on a moderately busy road and we can't hear traffic except for Harleys and the occasional truck.

This will be about as good as it can get without having to resort to the very expensive sound rated drywall and other tricks. There is a ton of info. on the internet on reducing noise transmission.

You could use resilient channel which reduces the structure transferred noise to small contact points (16" x16"). There is a sheet product call dB-bloc which gets attached to the framing before the drywalling is done. If you can't lower the ceiling, I would use resilient channel. Same thing for the walls.

So just buying regular "sound deadening" insulating for the 2x10 ceiling and 2x4 wall isn't going to make a huge difference versus regular batt insulation? I can't double up the wall because my radiator is already tight to it. And unfortunately I don't have the headroom for a drop ceiling. And no carpet above because we're refinishing the original hardwood. After all your info I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle lol. But I will be researching the resilient channel and other sound deadening methods. Thank you!


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