Calling the interior done

[Mainiac Mat]

It has been a long slog to finish the interior of my 26'x30' COVID garage since I decided to insulate and sheet rock myself.
But I think it came out pretty nice

Years ago we insulated and heated a warehouse at work and the contractor was delayed getting R-21 wall insulation delivered, so the impatient people at work bough (significantly more expensive) Owen's pink from HD, only to have the contractor deliver the day after HD order arrived. I inquired about what happened to all the extra material and found out it had been stuffed into a storage trailer and forgotten about. So I was able to purchase what I needed for ~1/3 the price.

wall insulation R-21



Bottom cords of the room-in-roof trusses are 2x8, but 8" kraft faced fiberglass batt wasn't in stock anywhere and was expensive to special order. So I doubled down on the deal from work and went R21 in the ceiling. (If I finish the attic room, I'll have a second layer of insulation above that, and I only intend to heat the garage when I'm working out there.... so called it good enough.



Strapped the ceiling using #3 1x Pine I had left over from my long ago pole barn build that I ripped down to size. I know a lot of folks don't strap, but I didn't want the 5/8 rock spanning 24" and didn't want but joints on the 2x bottom chords, so strapping it was.



Rented a lift to put the rock up on the ceiling. Day 1:



And day 2:



Walls went much faster...

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Mudding and taping was a solo project, and took forever....

Used all purpose to set the tape and light weight for coats 2 & 3.



Bought a Banjo for the project....mixed reviews. It worked well for the walls, but had problems on the ceiling. Controlling the thickness of the mud on the tape was tricky.





Yours truly... first time using a Hawk. It is much, much better than the tub.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Paint and trim....

We tried samples of 4 colors from HD before we found the one we really liked.







LED lights and ceiling fan installed...

 

[Zeke]

Really nice.

 

[rayra]

Lot of work. Pretty results. But the flap on the bats can also be stapled to the face-edge of the studs, so you aren't compressing the insulation at its edges, trying to attach it to the interior faces of the studs / joists.

Also applause on the light paint color and lots of lights. Makes all the difference.

 

[Crowbarman55]

Looks like you got as much on you as you did on the walls...so that perfect.

Looks awesome
Todd

 

[jack stand]

Congratulations! You can be very proud of your project, covid or not.

 

[nadogail]

Are you going to hang out your shingle as a Professional Work Shop Builder?
From the appearance of your project, you are qualified.

 

[paredown]

Excellent job!

Learning by doing--that's what it's about. I still remember a friend starting in on his first reno--when we were all leery of drywall finishing--it seemed like a magic art. He started in the back bedroom closet--and by the time he was finishing the living room he was going pretty good!

(Side note: is anyone else as annoyed as I am that spec builders will put up drywall and one pass tape and fill and leave garages unpainted, even in pretty expensive houses???)

 

[dfiler2]

Great job! I hope you enjoy that space for many years.

 

[Brly]

Job well done. I just got done with the last coat of joint compound in my shop Sunday. Did it all myself also and took forever. Can't wait until it's painted...

 

[Max]

Nice job! I feel your pain on the drywall. I’ve quit using the all purpose and just use the light weight for coats 1-3. It flows better off the knife and doesn’t leave as many little bubbles…

 

[captain14]

OP

Post #2 shows a partial pic of a scaffold plank. What kind do you have and how long is it. ? Any uncomfortable flex when walking on it?

I’ll go back and read the thread later this morning.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Nice work and it looks good.

 

[njk4o5]

great job.

for my house i just built once i got quotes for drywall vs what the actual materials cost i did it all myself. I actually kindof like doing drywall/tape/mud now lol

 

[AldeanFan]

Wow that looks great!

My garage is block wall with a drywall ceiling, it has been 15 years since I hung the drywall on the ceiling and I haven’t gotten up the nerve to try mudding and taping it.
I drywalled a bathroom and that was enough for me!
Congratulations on your ambition and a job well done.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Post #2 shows a partial pic of a scaffold plank. What kind do you have and how long is it. ? Any uncomfortable flex when walking on it?

I borrowed a telescoping aluminum staging deck from a co-worker and made very good use of it for almost a year, before I returned it. Very similar to this one at Home Depot, but I think the one I had opened up to ~12'. When fully extended it was pretty springy.... but borrowers can't be choosers

 

[Mainiac Mat]

But the flap on the bats can also be stapled to the face-edge of the studs, so you aren't compressing the insulation at its edges, trying to attach it to the interior faces of the studs / joists.

I've done it both ways, read that both ways are acceptable, and I've seen "professional" contractors due it both wasy. I wasn't originally going to strap the ceiling and thought I was going to glue and screw the rock up for 24" o.c. installation, so I thought I needed the wood exposed. But later, when I decided to strap 16" o.c., I bailed on the glue idea.

If memory serves me, this is the 4th time I've insulated with fiberglass batt. The think I didn't like about installing it stapled to the stud faces was that it made siting the studs iffy later on when I screwed the rock up. 6 of 1, 1/2 dozen of the other in my book.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Thanks for all the encouraging replies... This garage build has been quite the odyssey. Started clearing trees for the site in April of 2020, and there's a pretty short list of what I didn't do myself...

• excavation (ledge hole... mostly the red shale ledge that the excavator could bust up)
• footings (below frost, or pinned to ledge where it was to hard to dig) and stepped 8" poured foundation.
• hired a framing contractor friends crew to set trusses and sheath roof (all completed in one day)
• I originally intended to shingle the roof myself (with a paid friend) but hired a roofing contractor after my wife read me the riot act. She thought 56 was too old to dance on roof staging .
• hired a gas tech. to leak check system, set regulator and hook up to the LPG bottles supplying the house. (I did all the gas plumbing and installed the 60K BTU Modine HotDawg.)
• Over head doors were purchased installed.

That's pretty much it...

I did all wall framing, siding, electrical (including 100 A subpanel with feeder run underground to the house), insulation, sheet rock, staining and painting and trim work. Though I did hire a friend's son and a guy I play hockey with as helpers here and there, when I needed extra hands (three daughters, zero sons )

Next project is to build a timber frame screen porch to connect the garage to the house. Timbers were all milled by friend with Woodmizer from logs cleared on site and laid up this summer. Their sticked and drying under a tarp tent.

 

[crepr12]

Looks dam good...Did i miss the exterior pics?

 

[captain14]

Looks dam good...Did i miss the exterior pics?

I was looking for those too! Of course since you mention the timber frame screened porch, show that project in progress too.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Looks dam good...Did i miss the exterior pics?

Sorry.... I had a different thread with exterior pics.... note some are duplicates.

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Here's some of the best exterior pics...

 

[Maxcustody]

Well done, looks great!

 

[HogDude]

Start to finish, I like your style.

 

[AlNH]

Very nice work. I’m especially impressed by the Sheetrock around the garage door opener brackets, I’m looking at those in my garage and dreading the job

 

[Mainiac Mat]

Very nice work. I’m especially impressed by the Sheetrock around the garage door opener brackets

Fortunately, the 4' increments fell close to the door opener brackets, so I could notch the rock and fill in later with hot mud. I won't zoom in a close up shot of these spots, as it's not as neat as it appears from afar. They were a PITA to fill and a couple of them are pretty lumpy.