Garage Makeover!

[retfr8flyr]

When I built my current house I had the garage semi finished. I had them install sheet rock but not finish the trim and paint the walls. That was 12 years ago and I have been going to finish it every since. Well this year I am really going to do it.

I have been deciding on what to put on the floor for weeks now. I am 67 and didn't want to try and put down epoxy myself and couldn't afford to have it done. I decided I wanted to put down tiles and after doing lots of research, including joining this forum and reading everything I could find, I decided on the flexible style tiles. I requested and received several samples for the vendors on here. After examining the samples and knowing the things I do in my garage, working on my Mustang mostly. I felt the tiles would be marked up in no time from dragging floor jacks and such around.

So I was back to an epoxy floor and after talking with several vendors and the reading I have done here, I am going to do it myself. I just ordered my Wolverine materials from Fred at Alpha Garage. I just felt that the Wolverine system was the best product for me and Fred was great to work with, he also gave me a good deal on my order.

I will be starting the makeover in about 3 weeks and will be trimming out the walls, as well as painting them. I will post updates as I progress. I just wanted to acknowledge all the help I have received from all the vendors on the forum.


Earl

 

[James-W]

I hope it all goes well for you. When it comes to drywall, I am not very good at doing it. I can do a reasonably good job of putting it up, but I am not real fast at doing it. When it comes to taping and mudding and sanding, I don't do so well. That's why when I do a project I hire the drywall done. The guy I get has a helper and they do the job so fast it amazes me.

I have never done an epoxy floor, but from reading about it here on this forum I gather it is not a real easy job. It seems the preparation work that needs to be done is more demanding than the actual applying of the epoxy. I envy you wanting to tackle the job yourself, I am a little younger than you, just turned 64 this month, and I wouldn't want to do the job.

How big is the floor? I wish you all the best and will be looking forward to the pictures.

 

[retfr8flyr]

My garage is 42x22 so about 940sqft. I wouldn't try to drywall either that's why I had them install it. The drywall has been sitting there for 12 years so it's not going to be fun to paint it. I will be grinding the floors with the rental machine from HD.

I am getting a pair of Smartbox storage boxes dropped off and taking everything out of the garage, so that I will have an empty area to work with. I will have 30 days on the storage boxes so that will give me time to do some work and then recover. lol

The Wolverine flooring I ordered will be primer, base, chips to rejection and 2 coats of clear top coat. The color is Silver Gray for the base and the chips are their Moody Granite blend. Hopefully it will turn out looking like this sample.

Earl

 

[James-W]

The picture of the sample floor certainly looks nice and if it turns out that way it will make a really wonderful looking floor when you are done. What does the floor look like now? Is it fairly clean, or is there a lot of oil stains or discoloring on the floor? You had mentioned it has been 12 years since it was built so I am wondering how much cleaning and grinding it will require to get the floor prepped for the epoxy. Anyway, good luck and be sure to post the pictures as you proceed with the work.

 

[retfr8flyr]

The floor is in good shape overall. There is some oil contamination in the bay where I do my work but I will clean that out before I grind the floor. The rest of the garage is just normal wear and tire spots so it should grind out just fine. I will take some before pics when I get everything cleared out.


Earl

 

[Shea]

That's a nice looking color choice. I think you will get great light reflectivity out of it and some depth, especially with the two coats of clear. Good luck with your install!

 

[dubber]

That will look good, keep up the work and make it a full build thread.

 

[Qponolic]

Wow, I wish I had your enthusiasm... I'm afraid to tackle almost any major project anymore. Looking forward to the pics when it's done. (take before and after?)

Q

 

[retfr8flyr]

It's not really enthusiasm, I have just been going to do this for so long now I want to get it over with and see the results. I'll make sure to take before pics and will post updates as I move along.


Earl

 

[retfr8flyr]

I have a question on my makeover. Which do you guys recommend doing first, painting the walls, or doing the floor? I am planning on doing the walls first and then the floor but just wanted to see what others thought.


Earl

 

[jasonvt]

I am doing my walls first FWIW

 

[dubber]

I would say Walls/ceiling first, then floors, that's what i recently did as well.

 

[EMC2]

I did the floor first because I had to strip it completely. If you are doing pressure washing, it is bound to get water and paint stripper etc. splashed onto the walls unless you thoroughly cover them with plastic.

If you are grinding, I would also suggest doing that before painting the walls to avoid getting a lot of dust on the freshly painted walls.

 

[retfr8flyr]

I am grinding the floor and I did consider the dust on the new walls but I think it will be easier to wipe the dust off of the painted walls then to try and get all the dust off the bare drywall before I could paint.


Earl

 

[trevor_s]

Some cheap plastic covering from one of the big box stores, some painters tape and a little time you could cover your walls before grinding and save yourself the headache of having to wipe down newly painted walls. Just a thought.

 

[retfr8flyr]

AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!I finally have everything here to start my makeover and the SmartBoxes will be dropped off tomorrow, so I can move everything out of the garage. So what do I do this evening? I slip coming down a ladder and hurt my right knee. I can finally get started and now I can barely hobble around.


Earl

 

[Fredartic]

Earl, I'm sorry for you... Be patient, you'll finally have your dream done!

 

[retfr8flyr]

Thanks, just very frustrated right now.


Earl

 

[retfr8flyr]

Well I thought I would update this post. My knee finally got well enough so that I could get around some and get a little done. I finally got the garage cleared out and ready for the real work to start. Here are some shots of what I am starting with.













Now I have to do all the sanding and repair some of the mud work. You can see where I painted the door frame to see if I was happy with my color selection.

I'll post some more shots when I get some of the painting done. Eventually I'll get to the floor. lol

 

[dubber]

Well i have to say i have garage envy, even though its empty, its HUGE!

 

[retfr8flyr]

Thanks, when I built the house I had and extra 8 feet added to the end of the 3 bays, so that I would have a small work area. This area is where my bench and tool boxes go.

 

[ARCTIC_RAGTOP]

Very nice! Wish I had that much room!

 

[Fredartic]

Earl, your dream is coming!

 

[Kevin54]

Seeing that you are doing the walls first.....if you have an automotive paint store around close, or go to http://www.tcpglobal.com/autobodyde...tent=auto+body+depot&utm_term=auto body depot and get a box roll of Sharkskin. It is a thin plastic that is used in automotive painting to cover large areas. A roll of 10' x 400' is only something like $30.

EDIT....I looked it up and a 14' x 400' roll is $44 and some change.

http://www.tcpglobal.com/kustomshop/ks3m400-6.aspx The link for Sharkskin

 

[retfr8flyr]

Thanks for the tip.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Update!
Making some progress. Got the first coat of primer done. Few spots to fix and then second coat.

 

[Kevin54]

retfr8flyr....When you go to paint your stripe(s) ask a few guys on here how they sealed the tape to get a crisp line. Right at the moment the heads not thinking clearly. But they took either the top or bottom color, and brushed up or down on the tape to seal the edge before painting the stripe itself. Some even bought rolls of vinyl tape to do their stripes.

And if you don't have a laser level to mark out your stripe, measure from the ceiling down and not the floor up. Some floors have a slight slope for water to drain out, but your ceiling should be level, hence working from there down.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Yes I have a laser level to help with the line. I have done lines before and yes there is a little trick that helps. Tape off the area and then paint the edge of the tape with the color under the tape. Then paint the new color over that. This way if you have any bleed through on the edge, you can't tell because it's the same color as the base.

 

[tncatadjuster]

Yes I have a laser level to help with the line. I have done lines before and yes there is a little trick that helps. Tape off the area and then paint the edge of the tape with the color under the tape. Then paint the new color over that. This way if you have any bleed through on the edge, you can't tell because it's the same color as the base.

Frog Tape is worth the money, Costco has it.

 

[Rockuf8]

A 3 car garage, you sir ****. Coming along great, albeit grey on the walls! lol

 

[Isissound]

just a quick question why is some of your sheet rock grey and some brown i hope its just the lighting in the photo????

 

[BRIANBB]

The lighter area I assume is where the dryway mud is.

 

[retfr8flyr]

just a quick question why is some of your sheet rock grey and some brown i hope its just the lighting in the photo????

If you're talking about the original pics the dry wall had turned yellowish from being on the walls for 12 years. The white areas are where the mud work was done.

The second set is where I have done the first coat of primer. The top half is white and the bottom half is gray primer because I will be painting the top half white and the bottom half blue.

The pics pixelate badly, I'll try and not compress the next ones so much.

 

[thomaskept]

When I built my current house I had the garage semi finished. I had them install sheet rock but not finish the trim and paint the walls. That was 12 years ago and I have been going to finish it every since. Well this year I am really going to do it.

I have been deciding on what to put on the floor for weeks now. I am 67 and didn't want to try and put down epoxy myself and couldn't afford to have it done. I decided I wanted to put down tiles and after doing lots of research, including joining this forum and reading everything I could find, I decided on the flexible style tiles. I requested and received several samples for the vendors on here. After examining the samples and knowing the things I do in my garage, working on my Mustang mostly. I felt the tiles would be marked up in no time from dragging floor jacks and such around.

So I was back to an epoxy floor and after talking with several vendors and the reading I have done here, I am going to do it myself. I just ordered my Wolverine materials from Fred at Alpha Garage. I just felt that the Wolverine system was the best product for me and Fred was great to work with, he also gave me a good deal on my order.

I will be starting the makeover in about 3 weeks and will be trimming out the walls, as well as painting them. I will post updates as I progress. I just wanted to acknowledge all the help I have received from all the vendors on the forum.


Earl

I really hope the garage makeover goes very well for retfr8flyr. And you are choosing good products for garage flooring. I hear about this product is best for garage flooring. Epoxy flooring is a reactive polymers and polymers.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Update!!
Well I finally got the dry wall finish trimmed and painted. Now I need to do the cinder block portions with some dry lock, then paint it blue and I will finally be ready to start on the floor. Here are a few crappy pics, just not very good with a camera, of my patriotic colors.

 

[justsam]

Wow! That really turned out great!
'
Us old farts may be slow, (I'll be 69 this year), but we can still 'git 'er done!

Was the transfer switch done after initial construction? I have threatened to put in generator but power has been solid here for two years. (PG&E)

 

[retfr8flyr]

Unfortunately, here in New Kent County VA, I have to use the backup generator quite often. When I built the house I had a smaller generator installed, that only had the heating blowers and essential lighting powered. It finally gave up the ghost and 2 years ago I had a bigger unit installed that would handle most of the house, including a/c for the upstairs.

 

[Fredartic]

Wow!!!! Great Job!!! I like the colors. Enjoy your new decor!

 

[Rockuf8]

Why would you do that.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Why would you do that.

???