Low-budget 2 Car Garage Remodel

[RacerTim]

I have lurked here for a long time and finally have something worth posting! I'll start off with a brief overview.

My fiance and I bought our first house last September. Thanks to the housing credit, we were able to get lot of work done on the house while still saving for our wedding coming up at the end of May. I got most of the essential stuff done around the house back in the fall and now that it has warmed up, I'm starting to tackle the garage.

I say low-budget because we are still saving for the wedding and I still have a kitchen to remodel in the near future. While the garage is high on my list of priorities, it isn't on hers.

Here is the garage on Day 0. Lots of junk to sort through that was left by the previous owner. No big deal since I need some of the stuff anyways.

Fast forward 6 months to this weekend. My stuff has been moved in. I have two, four-bulb T8 light fixtures installed with two more on the way. The walls have been insulated and I started the drywall.

Over the next couple of weeks, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Move electrical lines
• Finish hanging drywall
• Paint

I'll post more updates as I have them. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. Thanks!

 

[RacerTim]

Oh, I know people usually like to know what the garage is for. No, it's not for a John Deere GT242 or a Acura TSX, it's for a 94 Camaro.

 

[RacerTim]

Took longer than two weeks, but I made some good progress this weekend. Block is painted, wall are primed.

Does anyone have a suggestion for the ceiling? I'm going to insulate it, but the beams are already sagging about 1 inch in the center so I don't want to put heavy drywall up.

 

[28HopUp]

Looks good! Regarding the ceiling, you should first make sure the sagging isn't an issue that could bite you down the road. You should be able to add a structural beam in the middle to keep things sound.

In terms of surface materials, you could use the plastic corrugated roofing that is available at Lowes. It comes in different colors, cuts with scissors or a utility knife, and is physically light with regards to your sagging ceiling. I used it on the lower part of my garage walls, and I like the results -

 

[ChristopherLutz]

Looking great so far!

I know you said budget was important....but, personally, I wouldn't want to sacrifice all that potential storage above the ceiling joists.

I would look for a way to reinforce and correct the sag. An inch isn't a terrible amount of sag and is probably largely due to the way your joists are sistered together.

if this were my garage, I would look at trying to add an engineered beam down the middle (at a minimum) - maybe 3 of them, dividing the ceiling in 1/3's.

Alternatively - you could look at sistering (glue AND screw) several ceiling joists together to create a beam in the middle that would help achor the rest of the joists.

What is the span? You can probably order some 2x8's in 20' lengths from a local store.

The other option - but more work would be to cut all your ceiling joists down the middle and drop in a beam running perpenicular to them. Then you can use joist hangers to attach the joists to the center beam.

Squaring it up early on will pay dividends on projects you might want to do later.

Good Luck

 

[51rider]

Insulate the rafters using rigid PU board, leaving an airgap beween the board & sheathing.

You can then put drywall on that if you like to neaten it up. A bit fiddly but it will not put any direct load on your sagging joists.

 

[rlwhitetr3b]

I would agree with those who suggested having an expert look at the celing. You want to know what you have and not have it bite you later.