Garage Overhaul

[Big Boi]

So Im finally getting around to "Overhaulin" my garage. After recieving my kit from Epoxy-Coat, I cant wait to get started! I will be diamon grinding the floor, applying the epoxy, painting walls, and organizing.

When we moved in back in June '09, the garage was empty. The first pic is when we moved in. All the previous owners **** still in the garage, which soon met the trash heap.

I will be grinding the floor by hand since its only 220 Sqft. I have a Ryobi 4 inch grinder, and was wondering if I could use it. Maybe even putting a 7 inch wheel on it. BUT, I dont have a way to attach the shop vac to it. Would I be better to just rent one w/ a vac?

And should I do the floors first, or paint the walls?

Day we closed...

Current State

 

[Big Boi]

Open to any and all suggestions!

 

[Greg-nwo]

I would clean up first

 

[noslo04]

Floor first. Dustmuzzle (exact fit, not the universal one) will attach grinder to vac. Nice clock.

 

[gabeancounter]

First, hide the pink handtrucks. lol
Decide how you want the layout for storage etc, because you may want some built in type storage. Paint the walls. Floor last.

 

[Ruddy]

First, hide the pink handtrucks. lol
.

That was probably the smartest thing the previous owner did. Those neighbors who borrowed his hand truck always gave it back!

 

[Big Boi]

That was probably the smartest thing the previous owner did. Those neighbors who borrowed his hand truck always gave it back!

Enough with the pink handtruck

I actually threw everything in the trash from the first pic. Nothing was worth saving... Even the pink hand truck, lol!

 

[PassnThru]

When we moved in back in June '09, the garage was empty. The first pic is when we moved in. All the previous owners **** still in the garage, which soon met the trash heap.

Wait - I'm confused.
When you first moved in the garage was empty but you had to throw away a lot of **** from the previous owner? How does that count as empty? I think maybe I misunderstood that part.

 

[Big Boi]

Your right... It wasn't empty when I moved in. The house was a foreclosure, and the previous owners left A LOT of stuff. I.E. furniture, various things in the garage, and even a small air compressor. They came back for the compressor, but we ended up throwing the rest away. Nothing was worth salvaging.

Sorry for the confusion...

 

[gabeancounter]

Came back for the compressor but left the pink hand trucks? I would have told him its a package deal. lol

 

[Munich77]

I would paint the walls first. Any paint that will inevitably spill on the floor will just come off when you prep for the epoxy.

 

[AlphaGarage]

I'd probably coat the floor first. Any spills made when you paint the walls are going to be a lot easy to clean off of a coated floor rather than a bare concrete floor.

 

[thegarageguy]

My suggestion would be to order and install quality slatwall or garage grids so you can store and use your wall space efficiently. Also, see if you can store your seasonal items up with some ceiling storage, if the space allows it. Once you have everything up and off the ground, then do your floor. Why wreck a new floor with paint splatter? It's how we do it when we do a total garage makeover. Storage first then floor.

 

[Ruddy]

I'd probably coat the floor first. Any spills made when you paint the walls are going to be a lot easy to clean off of a coated floor rather than a bare concrete floor.

Yep and you have more time to be fussy with your wall paint than you will with applying the epoxy to your floor!

 

[Big Boi]

Well, Im about 1/3 complete. I cleaned it all up, finished my hitch mounted grinder, and made my storage shelf into another workbench (on wheels).

Sorry for the blurry pics...

In the next couple of weeks I will be doing the floor and walls. My neighbor is a professional painter, and has a big job coming up that will have some left over paint I can get for free.

Ive searched around the board regarding MDF slat wall paneling..... Not much info. Do you guys recommend it, or have any better ideas? I know the rubbermaid, gladiator, craftsman slats are good. But with the amount I THINK I will need, it'll cost too much...

 

[supazuk]

I'm gonna have to steal eeeer borrow that grinder mount idea

 

[Wingnut65]

Its lookin good. I will definately have to consider that hitch mount for the grinder. Mine wanders with the bar clamps to the workbench.

But, where did you get that diamondplate power strip? That is great. I can see that at the front of my workbench.

jeff

 

[Big Boi]

Thanks!

I got the strip from HD, here's a link

 

[Big Boi]

More work to come this weekend. Since I dont have back to back days off anymore. Im going to grind and prep the floor this weekend. Also, if I have the time start painting the walls.

My local HD tool rental manager said that I can use my craftsman shop vac with the grinder. Its a 5.0 HP/ 12gal w/ a fine dust filter.

Do you guys think it'll work?

Also, whats the best way to prep the walls after grinding the floor. Even with the vac, there should be some dust on the walls?

 

[iceman536]

What grinder are you renting from HD?

 

[Big Boi]

A Blastrac 7 inch sorta like this one...

$35 a day for the grinder, $45 for the vac, and between $49 & $69 for the diamond head...

 

[mdbeck1]

I was doing a bathroom remodel and found a high spot on the concrete (all the way across). I went to a tool rental company and rented a "concrete shaver". It's about the size of a tall lawnmower but will knock down the high spots REAL quick. It seems like it rented for about $200/day but it made short work of the project. I still ended up using a diamond head on my grinder (for the tight spots) but not NEAR as much as I would have had to without the concrete shaver.

For the rental prices that you have listed I could very quickly justify a purchases. I think I paid $20 for the HF diamond head grinder. You can buy a shop vac for less than $100. A new grinder would only set you back about $100. Then you could use them for other projects.
Be forewarned if you go this route. The machine is HEAVY and is definitely a two man lift to the back of my truck.

 

[Big Boi]

I was doing a bathroom remodel and found a high spot on the concrete (all the way across). I went to a tool rental company and rented a "concrete shaver". It's about the size of a tall lawnmower but will knock down the high spots REAL quick. It seems like it rented for about $200/day but it made short work of the project. I still ended up using a diamond head on my grinder (for the tight spots) but not NEAR as much as I would have had to without the concrete shaver.

For the rental prices that you have listed I could very quickly justify a purchases. I think I paid $20 for the HF diamond head grinder. You can buy a shop vac for less than $100. A new grinder would only set you back about $100. Then you could use them for other projects.
Be forewarned if you go this route. The machine is HEAVY and is definitely a two man lift to the back of my truck.

At first I was going to use an Edco grinder with diamond inserts. But since I only have a once car garage, I think I can get away with the hand held. I DO have a grinder AND a shop vac. But the grinder is only has a 4 inch head and doesnt have the vac attachment.

 

[DEnd]

First things first. Your first step should be to scrap that texture off your ceiling. Secondly do any drywall repairs that need to be done. Then prime and paint the ceiling with a good semi-gloss ceiling paint (or the highest gloss latex paint you can find). While Semi-gloss does not difuse light as well as a flater paint, it provides greater resistance to mold and mildew. Then prime, and paint base layer on the walls. Then do your floors, then do any more drywall repairs (should be minor, and mostly involve the paint layer where the tape was) and final coat of wall paint.

 

[Will S.]

First things first. Your first step should be to scrap that texture off your ceiling. Secondly do any drywall repairs that need to be done. Then prime and paint the ceiling with a good semi-gloss ceiling paint (or the highest gloss latex paint you can find). While Semi-gloss does not difuse light as well as a flater paint, it provides greater resistance to mold and mildew. Then prime, and paint base layer on the walls. Then do your floors, then do any more drywall repairs (should be minor, and mostly involve the paint layer where the tape was) and final coat of wall paint.

Agree with your suggestions with the exception of the high-gloss paint. That will show every flaw in the sheetrock and spackling, and being a garage, it may not have the finish quality or the home's interior.

Why not use a flatter finish paint, like satin, and use an anti-fungal additive. They sell the stuff in just about any paint store, and even H.D.

 

[Ruddy]

My local HD tool rental manager said that I can use my craftsman shop vac with the grinder. Its a 5.0 HP/ 12gal w/ a fine dust filter.

Do you guys think it'll work?

Also, whats the best way to prep the walls after grinding the floor. Even with the vac, there should be some dust on the walls?

Isn't there some additional external filter attachment you are supposed to get for a big job like that?

Oh and now I finally get the grinder/vise on the hitch thing...you just flip it around.

 

[iceman536]

Agree with your suggestions with the exception of the high-gloss paint. That will show every flaw in the sheetrock and spackling, and being a garage, it may not have the finish quality or the home's interior.

Why not use a flatter finish paint, like satin, and use an anti-fungal additive. They sell the stuff in just about any paint store, and even H.D.

I would go a step further and use flat paint - I am doing that right now in my garage (taking a short break). The paint store convinced me a semi gloss would be bad, and even with the flat paint my garage shows many sins. The ceiling in particular is bad, partly because of my poor mudding skills but mainly due to the lousy hang job / tape job the builder did. Funny how the one outside wall looks the best - hung, taped, mudded, finished, painted by a guy who never hung drywall in his life (me). What the builder left me rough everywhere else was pure garbage. So unless you're an ace mudder(!) go with a good quality flat paint!

 

[iceman536]

Oh and I would do the walls first, let the floor get wasted without worry. Grind the floor and all the wall paint and gunk will be gone. Sure beats cleaning a brand new floor every time you slop some paint.

 

[DEnd]

Agree with your suggestions with the exception of the high-gloss paint. That will show every flaw in the sheetrock and spackling, and being a garage, it may not have the finish quality or the home's interior.

Why not use a flatter finish paint, like satin, and use an anti-fungal additive. They sell the stuff in just about any paint store, and even H.D.

Not High-Gloss, but rather Semi, or an Eggshell. Satin or flat would work too with a good anti-microbial/anti-fungal in it, but honestly I don't know enough about them to be able to reccomend them. Garages tend to hold vapors, as they don't get air exchanges form the heating and A/C like the rest of the house, and I would be concerned with the anti-microbials off gassing VOCs. I'm sure it is a minimal risk, especially if you go with a low VOC version.

Funny how the one outside wall looks the best - hung, taped, mudded, finished, painted by a guy who never hung drywall in his life (me). What the builder left me rough everywhere else was pure garbage. So unless you're an ace mudder(!) go with a good quality flat paint!

Don't get me started on how bad drywallers leave the walls. It's freaking horrible. The Carpenters make mistakes and say oh the drywaller will fix it, the hangers say oh the mudders will fix it, and the mudders say eh the painters will fix that. I'm not a drywaller (though I can do repairs) but that was my main job when first arriving on a site, I normally spent around an hour in each room (2-4 in living rooms and family rooms) fixing stuff the mudders or hangers should have fixed before I got there. Stuff they could do in a half day or less (due to their superior skills). If I knew a good plasterer(erer?) I would have hired him/her to skim coat the houses, now those can be some flat almost flaw free walls.

Finish paint should be the last thing you do Always. Mistakes happen, and to really make any repairs not noticable you need to roll the entire wall (after priming and painting the mistake to match the rest of the wall (color and texture wise).

Trust me I stayed in a holiday inn express last night. OK not really but I did paint for a living, doing everything from spray and prays on hud apartments, to multimillion dollar homes.

 

[Big Boi]

Just rented the grinder, and were about to move everything out!

Wish us luck!

 

[Big Boi]

1/2 way done... My wife wants to do some grinding so I let her......... Now I gotta go back and fix the gouges

Shop Vac didnt work by the way. I bought a fine dust filter, and it got clogged after 5 minutes. Went back and got the vac that comes with the grinder for free, I love my HD!

 

[Big Boi]

Updated pics of the grinding... Floor came out perfect and is ready for the epoxy. I sprayed everything with primer, and fix most of the imperfections in the wall. Now were getting ready to paint, hopefully we can get the epoxy down by next weekend!

 

[dmeadow]

That grinder thing is the bomb! How does it work? Can't figure it out from the picture.

 

[dgarage]

Hindsights 20/20 but you should consider kneepads...ouch!

 

[Big Boi]

That grinder thing is the bomb! How does it work? Can't figure it out from the picture.

It grinds the sealer/concrete off the surface

Hindsights 20/20 but you should consider kneepads...ouch!

Yup! I couldnt find mine at the time so I worked through it.

More progress pics

 

[Wingnut65]

Thanks for posting the progress pix. These may be just what it takes to keep pushing me forward on my makeover. Your progress is great from the first photos ot these. Keep 'em coming...