Why I’d love to have an epoxy floor…
I bought my first house back in Sept of last year and it’s been a nonstop overhaul ever since. Being forced to work 6 days a week to swing the mortgage every month, I have only late nights and short weekends to accomplish all my projects. I have finally made my way to the garage after convincing my fiance to let me stray from the house and get my garage going as it’s all I ever wanted… a nice place to work and store the car in. I have a 2 ½ car detached garage which is about 525 sq ft.
It all started with my neighbor’s bamboo invading my yard so I removed all of it. Well, I think I did! This stuff is indestructible! I then moved onto the structure of the garage and I had found that a squirrel or some mice found their way in there and chewed up the place (wiring insulation etc.) So I gutted the inside of sheetrock and insulation and what was left of the old wiring. After that, I moved onto upgrading the electric to 100 amp service, with the help of some friends and co workers. All was going well at this point. However, during this time I realized the place was spider heaven. So, I had an exterminator come and spray 3 times…yet I didn’t have much luck getting rid of them.
Soon, I noticed the 5 yr old roof leaking. Uh Oh!! Just two weeks ago I thought I was going to have a nice Saturday working on my garage. It has lead me into having to replace all the rotted and weathered Fasure boards (insert the ole saying “open up a can of worms” right here). So now, one thing leads to another, and it turns out the structure is infested with ants. Just after removing the first fasure board, with poorly done flashing that held water, ants come literally pouring out. Ants in my pants, hair, and inside my shirt is an understatement at this point. I had to tear the 2 layers of roof off and replace the damaged boards all while killing about a thousand ants in the process!
Next, on went the new roof. I took a sigh of relief after thinking I had it all under control…WRONG! I had moved a piece of the exposed tar paper since there were some asbestos shingles missing and guess what I found?? ANTS! ANTS! ANTS! To say I had enough ants to probably fill a 2 gallon container is an understatement. So, the following Sunday morning at 6AM I put on my respirator and started stripping the old asbestos shingles and peeled the tar paper as I sprayed every square inch of the paper and sheathing with bug spray. I felt like a window tinter (if you’ve ever seen that being done I had to do the same process!) I found big ants, small ants, and winged ants…it was amazing. I am still itchy just thinking about it.
I now go to finish the outside and find that the bottom plates and the sheathing are rotted out. The bottom plates were now only the dust remains from the ants fiesta on my garage and water leaking walls. Keep in mind I initially told my fiance I should be able to get the garage going for about a $1000. (Boy was I way off just ask Mr. Visa Card) With our wedding coming up in July, this was all just an added expense that we did not need. However, I had no choice but to take care of the problem as it was only going to get worse. I am still trying to put vinyl siding on the outside to get it weather proof but I am sure I am far from out of the woods. I still have to insulate and sheet rock the interior! The Epoxy floor would be a killer touch to complete my garage and something I probably won’t get to have unless I can win this contest!
Who knows what is next. LOL
Even if I do not win this contest atleast people will see they are not the only ones who opens up a can of worms with every project.