Attached 2-car Renovation - Just Getting By

[yobrigidey]

I've been lurking these forums for years without a single post. In fact, I had to look at my join date, it's been almost 9 years! Needless to say I've learned a lot without doing my part to give back to the community. So here goes...

Our family moved into a 1991 home about 5 months ago. The home has remained relatively untouched, other than paint and some marginal maintenance. I've spent the first 5 months laying new floors, renovating the hall bath, and installing a lot of custom trim work on the main level. I finally 'put enough deposits in the relationship bank' to afford me the time to get the garage in proper order.

The house has an oversized 2-car side-load garage, measuring 21' deep by 26' wide. We come from an attached 3-car garage, so this will be a tough adjustment for us. However, the location is perfect and the lot and house layout were perfect for us. This should be a house we can spend the next 40 or 50 years in.

I call this 'Just Getting By' because the master plan will be to build a semi-attached 2-car garage at the end of our driveway. Our lot is setup perfectly for this:

The garage is currently in a state of disaster. A combination of just-moved-in storage, semi-setup woodshed to build new door and window casings and custom baseboards, and 1991 builder-grade construction. I'm starting this thread to document the renovation process to bring this space up to my standards. This build will not be like most other spaces on this forum - I identify with and am inspired by a lot of what Matt Moreman of Obsessed Garage has created. (His build here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4438508) My build will be inspired by a lot of what he has vetted, with my own custom building twist.

To start, this is the only 'before' photo I have of the disaster I'm starting from:

More to come soon...

 

[yobrigidey]

Reserving Post for Project Index

 

[Deezler]

no pics. Good luck!

 

[yobrigidey]

no pics. Good luck!

Well, i think I've fixed the picture links. Thanks for letting me know!

 

[yobrigidey]

The first order of business was to upgrade the lighting. Since I was using the garage as a temporary wood shop, I needed to be able to see. The three PAR lamps weren't cutting it.

Since I work as a consulting Electrical Engineer, I called up one of the vendors I work closely with to order some commercial grade fixtures. I chose the '75R' LED strips from H.E. Williams (https://www.hew.com/specifications/70430.pdf). I ordered four of the 8' long, 13,000lm, 5000K fixtures. I installed them in two rows by screwing them into the bottom of the roof trusses. I have calculated that these produce about 65 footcandle on my work surface, though i have never brought home a light meter to verify. Overall, i'm very happy with these fixtures. The round lenses diffuse the LED image and do a great job of distributing light. I'm looking forward to detailing our vehicles under these!

 

[Terranova]

Those lights are legit!

 

[yobrigidey]

The next order of business, or so i thought, was to install some additional receptacles. The garage currently has three outlets - one used for the sprinkler system, one for the garage door opener, and one used for the radon mitigation system. Later i found out that the sprinkler outlet was scabbed onto the washing machine circuit, but more on that later...

The plan was simple (and i thought kind of genius)- cut an 8" wide section of drywall out all the way around the garage. I could run the new electrical circuits and mount the outlet boxes in this path. The load center is in the garage but is out of circuit space, so i already knew i'd be setting a sub panel. I would have to remove more drywall on the wall with the door into the home so that i could route the circuits below it.

I measured, snapped chalk lines, pulled the roto zip out and cut a perfect section of drywall out across my first long wall. When i stepped back to admire my work i noticed:

None of the exterior walls are insulated. My simple wiring project just turned into a massive demolition project....

 

[yobrigidey]

So, after a Friday afternoon off work and two truckloads to the dump, I had ripped off the drywall from all of the exterior walls (which is about 3/4 of the garage:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B...plSAu2zGlXOde9mal4Vb7JrnQtxV6_Kgex6QUTw=w2400

Despite the looming drywall work I knew I had coming, opening up the walls made routing electrical much easier. In fact, I ended up running for more electrical than I had planned. I kept finding my self saying "I might as well while I have the walls opened up..."

I didn't get many pictures of the electrical rough-ins however I ended up running seven new circuits:
-240V 40A stubbed into the attic for a future electric heater
-240V 30A for a future air compressor
-120V circuits for each of the three walls around the garage (Convenience outlets, Refrigerator, TV, Air King Fans, workbench countertop, in each future cabinet, etc.)
-120/240V 20A circuits to each side of the garage door to support future electric vehicle chargers, jack-lift garage door opener, wall-mounted garage vac, or maybe even Matt's custom pressure washer solution (

)

After all of the wiring was run and strapped to the studs, i insulated everything with R13 batts:

 

[Riley]

Great start! Though it's tons of extra work, fixing things when you can will save huge aggravation down the road from having to re-do it.

Might toss your location into your profile. You may have GJ neighbors!

Says the guys without a location in his profile......

 

[yobrigidey]

Great start! Though it's tons of extra work, fixing things when you can will save huge aggravation down the road from having to re-do it.

Might toss your location into your profile. You may have GJ neighbors!

Says the guys without a location in his profile......

Thanks! That's what i'm hoping. I've already been able to tell a big difference with just the wall insulation.

 

[OzarkMan]

Do you have a basement at your place to need the Radon mitigation?
Just curious.

Nice work and beautiful layout of the house/lot. I can see where you have space to add another garage or even if it were just a workshop.

 

[yobrigidey]

Do you have a basement at your place to need the Radon mitigation?
Just curious.

Nice work and beautiful layout of the house/lot. I can see where you have space to add another garage or even if it were just a workshop.

Yes, we do. However, when we bought the house we had the radon levels tested and the agency commented how low the levels were even for a home with the mitigation system that was in place.

 

[yobrigidey]

As part of the electrical upgrades, I needed to set a new sub-panel. I installed a 100A breaker in our main panel and subfed 100A to a 125 amp main lug only panel. All of the new garage circuits are terminated in this panelboard. This is also setup to assist us in the future basement remodel, in case we need to pull more circuits:

Drywall Progress:

Durring demo, I found a 'bump-out' that was framed to make a chase for the fire place flue from the basement. The flue only consumes a portion of this, as seen here:

I reframed it to gain some floor space back -

And the beginnings of drywall:

Fastforward 2 miserable weekends:

Primed (still wet)

(I'm still working on drywall work on the angled piece in the corner - struggling to get this right, but getting closer...)

Now that the miserable part of the job is finished, the fun can begin!!

 

[BoilermakerFan]

It's looking really good. Have you thought about changing the garage door setup to a high lift track and using a LiftMaster jack shaft opener to open up more height and the GD opener interference in the middle?

 

[protegeV]

Lookin good. and I'll echo what BF said about the garage door tracks.

 

[yobrigidey]

It's looking really good. Have you thought about changing the garage door setup to a high lift track and using a LiftMaster jack shaft opener to open up more height and the GD opener interference in the middle?

Funny you guys should mention that...

We are replacing the whole garage door - it's pretty beat up. We selected the faux wood tone on the right with a fully insulated door. While they are replacing it, i'm having them install a high-lift track and a Liftmaster 8500W. I've already pre-wired the electrical. I'm hoping for a call this week to say that the door is in and to schedule an install date.

 

[TX4runner]

Nice. I saw the junction box up top in the last picture and thought that would work for LM8500. Great transformation even though you weren't planning on all the sheetrock work.

 

[Mr. Roboto]

Be careful with re-framing around that pipe. It looks like single wall, and has a given clearance to combustibles you need to maintain. It may need a 12-18" clearance. Otherwise, looking good so far!

 

[Richie Rich]

Looks fantastic.

Where can I find those lights? A quick search of the internets doesn't show any dealers.

 

[yobrigidey]

Looks fantastic.

Where can I find those lights? A quick search of the internets doesn't show any dealers.

You'll probably need to call your local electrical supply house. H.E. Williams, from my understanding, is sold throughout the country.

 

[Richie Rich]

You'll probably need to call your local electrical supply house. H.E. Williams, from my understanding, is sold throughout the country.

Thanks for replying.

They are a somewhat uncommon brand outside the commercial/industrial world. Not something the average homeowner can run to the store and get. I found a local distributor that has them though.
HE has some pretty interesting lighting options including POE lighting. I for sure have to learn more about that.

 

[yobrigidey]

Finally ready for paint...

We chose Sherwin Williams Passive Grey (SW 7064) as a light cool grey to match the floors we had selected. We spent part of the weekend putting up the first coat. Priority here was to cover the bottoms of the walls to prepare for flooring install as well as paint the walls where we will be hanging cabinets. You'll notice there are areas that aren't yet painted, or will need second coats - we'll come back to those later (as well as the ceiling)

The critical path here is to get the floor laid and to get cabinets built. As you can tell from the photos, I've been working around a giant pile of unorganized chaos that's been causing a good amount of anxiety. Once the cabinets are up and the garage is organized, I'll come back and finish all of the paint and will finally be able to take some quality pictures, not just iPhone pictures. We're getting there...

My help:

 

[yobrigidey]

After much time, and many, many trips carrying things down to the basement, we were finally ready to start working on floors!

I'm sure some of you can relate - this is one of the best feelings - to have (nearly) everything cleared out of the garage

More help. He usually earns a wage of a few dollars, but for this job he requested an Obsessed Garage shirt, I was so proud I couldn't turn it down...

Finally time to start laying the floor - As an avid follower of Matt of Obsessed Garage, I had to try out Swisstrax. We've actually been using the floor for about 2 weeks so far and I love it. We had epoxy in our old garage and it was just too slick when wet. We have two kids that love to run in the sprinklers in the summer, and they would slip and fall every time they ran into the garage.

I did install a row of the Rubber Ribtrax in front of where the cabinets and work bench will be built. I am somewhat disappointing in the rubber product, only because it is so stiff that i can't feel much of a difference when standing on it. I think my expectations were probably too high.

I was so excited when we were laying the floor that I neglected to take progress photos. This is taken after about 4 hours worth of work. We still have about 4 pieces left to cut and install, but we are 99% finished.

Here's a first. Not only are both vehicles in the garage for the first time, but this is the first time the truck has been in the garage. It clears the top by about 2" after the floor is installed.

It's tight, but my baby fits:

Now that floors are in, the next project will be the cabinets and work surface. Stay tuned...

 

[yobrigidey]

The next item to work on was wiring up the receptacles and energizing the new sub-panel. I finished most of this on a late Friday night in preparation for starting cabinets that weekend.

My help tonight was a little different...

Nothing too exciting to share here. I chose black devices with stainless steel cover plates. I used the designer type receptacles to match the shape of the various GFI devices in the garage.

Lowes only had one double duplex cover plate so I still need to pick up another. The four duplex devices will be in cabinets, the two double duplex's will be above the workbench.

I didn't take pictures of the other wall, but the sub panel energized without a fire and I turned on three circuits. It's nice to have sufficient power in the garage now as I turn my focus to the custom cabinets.

 

[Corradon]

First of all> subscribed... but do you have any plans for audio, some speaker setup?

 

[yobrigidey]

First of all> subscribed... but do you have any plans for audio, some speaker setup?

I hate to admit that i haven't thought that far ahead yet. I had sort of planned some bookshelf speakers either on the work bench or above the cabinets and an amp/receiver in one of the cabinets.

 

[yobrigidey]

Next I began working on the cabinets. I'm building a cabinet array across the entire side of the garage, about 21'. There will be two 30" cabinets on either side of an 11' workbench. The workbench will have four cabinets built with drawers and a knee space in the middle, where i can post up on a chair.

The cabinets will be built from 3/4" melamine panels for the sides with painted euro-style doors. I'm building the frame with 1x2 pieces joined with pocket screws. I pulled out the Kreg jig and got to work.

I also picked up a new Freud blade (#LU96R010) to cut the melamine. I was very happy with the quality of the cut - no tear out.

I'm building the cabinets with pin holes for adjustable shelves. They will have a fixed shelf in the middle for strength.

First cabinet constructed:

This clamp was worth every penny. Made assembly much quicker and more precise:

First cabinet mounted - I bolted a cleat to the bottom plate of the wall for the cabinets to bear on. All of the brace pieces will also be lag-bolted to the studs.

 

[pbon]

Very nice DIY work!

 

[driftpin]

Looking good for the floor & shelving going-in. I like Kreg pocket screws.

Better remove the tow hitch fixture from the receiver before backing-in the Ford.

 

[yobrigidey]

Looking good for the floor & shelving going-in. I like Kreg pocket screws.

Better remove the tow hitch fixture from the receiver before backing-in the Ford.

Our last garage was the same depth, so I've gotten used to keeping the hitch under the back seat.

 

[yobrigidey]

More cabinet progress, I got busy working and forgot to take many progress photos. Right now I'm planning to build the work surface out of 3/4" melamine with a 3/4" particle board underlayment. My thought process is that I could replace the melamine occasionally when it gets beat up.

The cabinets are 16" deep and the work surface / drawer cabinets are 22" deep.

 

[yobrigidey]

Garage Door Replacement -

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, our garage door was in desperate need of replacement. It had hail damage as well as several years of abuse. The rails were so weak that they would flex when the door lowered and throw off the laser eye system, causing the door to raise back up. After about a week of manually operating the door, I took the laser eyes off and taped them together for the last 2 weeks of the door's life.

The existing door:

The installer laughed when he got there and made the comment "Well this should be an easy one to take down..."

Pics of the new door being installed - we opted for the high-lift rails and Liftmaster 8500W:

I'm blown away by how open and tall the garage feels when the door is open!

Stay tuned for more...

 

[15til3]

great garage. Looks like youre making the most of a 2 car garage

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Fantastic! The new door looks great. Now you just have a little touch up painting to do.

 

[yobrigidey]

More cabinet work this week -

Finished up the cabinet frames:

Cut the doors from 3/4" MDF

Primed/Sealed:

Painted the insides and installed the euro hinges:

Doors Mounted:

Painted:

And handles installed:

 

[Tony_G]

Great transformation so far, the cabinets look really nice!

 

[yobrigidey]

Great transformation so far, the cabinets look really nice!

Thanks! I’m hoping to start on the drawers this weekend. They’ll carry the same style finish and hardware.

 

[Prowagen]

Looking great, can’t wait to see the rest of the progress.
How are you liking the swisstrax flooring so far?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[yobrigidey]

Looking great, can’t wait to see the rest of the progress.
How are you liking the swisstrax flooring so far?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

Swisstrax has been fantastic so far. The biggest unadvertised plus that we’ve noticed is the dramatic decrease in dust and dirt tracked into the house. We installed some moderately dark wood floors and they show every spec of dust, the Swisstrax have made a world of difference!

 

[Prowagen]

Swisstrax has been fantastic so far. The biggest unadvertised plus that we’ve noticed is the dramatic decrease in dust and dirt tracked into the house. We installed some moderately dark wood floors and they show every spec of dust, the Swisstrax have made a world of difference!

That’s good to know. How is the dirt and debris situation where it falls through the swisstrax to the concrete underneath? Can you just shop vac it up easy?


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app