Fresh slate to work with. What should I do? Pics

Moved here a couple years ago with dreams of having an awesome garage.Its a 2 car under the house. Well..spending money like crazy on a fixer-upper has delayed everything quite a bit.

But, with my tools and everything being so disorganized...I really cant wait any longer. I gotta have a decent workshop.

So far Ive finished removing the old sheetrock on the one wall (it was really rough). Put in some fresh R13, and put up mold resistant sheetrock (leftover from basement project). Just need to replace a couple rotted sill plates with PT wood, and then can really start moving.










I know the sheetrock work isnt perfect..But, after all. This is just a garage..It doesnt need to be living room perfect.

As you can tell the 2 car garage is separated by a load bearing wall. I know..terrible design. I should put up a beam with a few lally columns and get rid of it..but I think Ill just live with it. Makes the house more solid with a full 2X4 wall anyways. No bounce in the floors whatsoever.
right now Im just focusing on one side of the garage.

My plan is to do a large work bench from the subpanel, extending to the other wall (last pic). Probaly just made of 2X4s and 3/4 plywood on top. Id like to top it off with sheet metal. So if I get grease on the work bench.. Just wipe it up and thats it.

I also have 500 sq ft of black and white VCT tiles. at 50 cents each, and 20% off that..I couldnt pass it up.
The problem is that the floor is pretty pitted, and poor patching needs to be removed. Basically it needs a new skim coat. What type of cement product should I use to skim coat?

I wont be regularly parking cars on the VCT tiles either. this will be primarily a workshop.

Ive also seen some moisture in the concrete before in one spot...It just looked damp. Havent seen it in a long time, but I wondered if it came from the ground.. so, I figured to play it safe I'll go ahead and seal the floor before putting down VCT tiles. What type of sealer should I use??


I'm also thinking of building cabinets to go above the workbench. Would look a little cleaner than just using one of those peg boards. Was thinking of just building most of it out of plywood. Could use a router on the doors to make it look decent. Task lighting under the cabinets.


Id like to just build a bench and save the rest of the work for another time..but, if I want a floor, now is the only time to do it. So practically need to do it all at once.



Thanks for looking and I appreciate any opinons!

If you have moisture coming up through the concrete, the tile will pop. You could put down a moisture barrier first, then a thin wooden sub-floor and finally the tile.

Lots of other fixes, but this is the only one I can think of right now.

While you have the wall open, how about running some speaker wire so you can have some tunes?

Ray

Just need to replace a couple rotted sill plates with PT wood, and then can really start moving.

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Where is the moisture coming from that it rotted the sill plate? From the foundation in, or moisture on the floor from water coming in the garagefrom another source? The reason I ask is that you put insulation on the walls, then sheetrocked over it. If it is coming through the wall, then you may end up with a mold problem. You will want to address any mold problem (if it exist) before covering the walls.

Kevin54 said:

Where is the moisture coming from that it rotted the sill plate? From the foundation in, or moisture on the floor from water coming in the garagefrom another source? The reason I ask is that you put insulation on the walls, then sheetrocked over it. If it is coming through the wall, then you may end up with a mold problem. You will want to address any mold problem (if it exist) before covering the walls.

Click to expand...

Dont worry..I got it all taken care of. The house is a split level ranch. The front lower level is underground, the back is at ground level. Literally ground level, and the frame sits at ground level.
Instead of on a row of blocks..

There was a grade issue, and no gutters. Taken care of that..Now I get no water.

I've already replaced half of the sill on the back of the house. (The worst spot). It was rotted terribly.. Built a temporary support - Put in PT wood, sistered all the studs with PT wood. Everything is solid as a rock, and no more water.

The garage is actually mostly protected because there is an attached sunporch. So most of the sill is actually fine. I hit the wall with some light bleach, just for fun before covering it.

You can see the 2 spots I didnt cover yet with wall board..Those are spots where the sills are rough. Theyre actaully not that bad..But Im going to fix it now..Then I can forget about it forever.

The other wall is actually where I thought I saw moisture before in the concrete.. Im going to replace the sheetrock on part of that wall..While Im at it, I'll check the sill. I'll probaly add some anchors to it, even if its fine.

Thats another problem..They didnt anchor any of the sills. So the wall was actually really crooked when I moved in. Unforunately my inept inspector missed it..and I got stuck with it. Some jacking and a sledge hammer got it much more level. Its not 100%, but no one will notice it..and its not going anywhere now that I have 1/2in anchors everywhere.

As mentioned... make sure the moisture problems and any residual damage is handled first. Then I'd look at at least creating some sort of large doorway or two between the two "bays". Having a two car that was seperated like that would be very frustrating in my book. Almost like having a one car.

The plus side is it would be easy to create a "dirty" and "clean" side. So if you do alot of work on your car you can do that on one side and keep any dirty type projects there. Then if you do a bit of woodworking, etc... set the other side up as more of a "workshop" space for that sort of thing. Whats the Dimensions on both sides and is there any sort of doorway between the two now?

The rooms are about equal size. One is just a few feet deeper (because the other houses the staircase between the basement and upstairs). The deeper side is the one Im working with.

I want to leave enogh space so I can fit a car inside both bays if needed..But will probaly never use either, unless I have a project car.

Yep..I like the idea of a clean side, and then a "dirty" side where it just has a normal concrete floor.
I do alot of engine work. so I could disasemble on one side, rebuild on the other..

Theres a doorway now. Just a normal, about 30" opening. I was standing in it when I took the picture, if that gives you an idea.

Its not much help.. I could add a large opening in the center if needed. Then just throw up a header.

I was really shocked when I saw the house. I couldnt believe it had a full frame wall right down the center of the lower level. This was in '73. I think it was a few years later that they started using steel beams more.
But like I said, atleast its solid. Hard to beat 16 oc 2X4 construction.

If a mod would like..I guess this could be moved to the "members gallery" section. Then I'll just update pics of the progress as I go.
Hoping to get some time for it tomorrow, or atleast Monday.

If you have moisture coming through the floor, there is a sealing process available that will also fill in minor pits and scaling. They shot blast the floor then put down the sealer. It is available from commercial floor companies and the last time I had it done it was between $2 and $3 per square foot. It is pricy but it works.