Wintermute's Carport Conversion

[wintermute]

Since I've arrived here at GJ after I converted my carport, I figure I can still share the project

What I started with: 1952 Rancher with attached carport. The siding is split cedar planks. Please ignore the miserable yard condition. (assessor's photo)

Tearing stuff out:
Even the outside faces of the carport shed/cabinet were cedar plank!

The walls were empty this is all that insulates my house–"Simpson Insulating Sheathing" there's a small bit of the original vapor barrier attached as well.

Yes, the interior walls of my house are plywood, except for a couple new ones the PO added.

After a couple hours of framing work, the main walls are up and in place.

 

[luvit]

hey, i think you're gonna pull-it-off!
sweet.

 

[wintermute]

I had rented a compressor and nailgun for the initial framing. Here I borrowed a compressor from a friend –*@#$I think I rented the nailgun again at this point.

Finished off the framing work and started sheathing with 7/16 OSB.
Because the entire house wall to the carport is a bedroom, a door through was never considered, thus the exterior man-door to the space.

Because I'm siding the garage with Hardie Plank, the old siding on the rest of the house needs to come off. – this has been a one-wall-at-a-time project since, but it was best to do the entire wall leading to the front door…

More empty walls, plus this one was off half an inch from the garage, so I used some styrofoam insulation board before I added my vapor barrier to bump it out (pics of that later).

 

[wintermute]

hey, i think you're gonna pull-it-off!
sweet.

Thanks! This is more of a "retrospective" my avatar is my garage as it sits now

 

[wintermute]

Running outlets

I put 13 outlets inside, 1 outside and a 220v outlet; two of the outlets are in the ceiling for the door opener and its remote light, and another is high on the wall with its own switch for a bench light.

Wraped and ready for siding

Bar Clamps make for decent scaffolding

sided with new lights

 

[luvit]

that looks good and fits the original styling..

 

[Krokodil]

Great job!

 

[mypov]

looks wicked! You'll have a nice warm place to work in the winter time, and stylish too.

 

[wintermute]

Insulating the house wall … lots of cuts in the insulation with a layer of 5/8" sheetrock. The junction box is where I spliced into the existing exterior lights and also ran new circuits in from the breaker panel. The bundle above the door handles the exterior lights, two interior light switches and the outlets for the side wall.

My lighting "soffit" frame is visible here. The ceiling is the underside of the tongue and groove 2x6 roof. I didn't want to nail directly to it, so I used fence rail hangers to place 2x4s in channels against the ceiling and hung the troffers between them.

Insulating the next wall

In the process of insulating the garage, I found that the humidity contained was beginning to create a mold problem so after treating and cleaning the problem areas I opted for mold resistant 1/2" sheetrock for the remainder of the garage.

Some detail shots of the light fixtures with their OSB cover plates

 

[sscustom]

That looks great .realy nice.

 

[bobemmerich]

That is a really good job. How did the mold appear? Just curious? Was there a LOT of moisture?

 

[Kevin54]

Nice job, and what a major transformation. Do you have any concerns with the bedroom on the other side of the back wall?

 

[wintermute]

That is a really good job. How did the mold appear? Just curious? Was there a LOT of moisture?

Thank you! That was a combination of high moisture (water/snow runoff from my car) cold temperatures and a lack of insulation on some of the walls (mold only appeared on the uninsulated areas and a bit of the ceiling adjacent)

Nice job, and what a major transformation. Do you have any concerns with the bedroom on the other side of the back wall?

Thanks! My neighbor across the street who's been here a fair bit longer than I said it was like a new house just showed up.

I don't really have any concerns about the bedroom. If anything the room is quieter, and will only get quieter as I continue with the rest of the house.

I did fill in the crawl space vent that was in the wall though

I thought I had a close-up with the form off and bolts trimmed… it's the patch of slightly different concrete (the hole is visible in the first post)

 

[T.Low]

Your neighbor owns this web forum and he needs a carport conversion like yours. (he needs a dry warm place to work on his Land Rovers all the time )

http://northwestoverlandsociety.org/

 

[Bib Overalls]

Very nice result. In my opinion the house looks much better with the car port closed in and the HardiBoard siding.

Your house was built when wood was cheap and plaster was expensive. Dry wall drove out lath and plaster and today it is cheaper than wood.

 

[HSpencer]

very well thought out and very well done.

 

[64dragnwagon]

Nice project. I love old 50's ranch homes, flat roofs, cantilevers and I am a big fan of the Frank Loyd Wright usonion homes. Do you have any pics to show your house from other angles?

 

[Ole_Red]

Glad I came across this thread. We have been looking for a house for a while and my only stipulation is that it comes with a garage. I have been thinking more and more about finding a place with a carport that I can close in or with room to build a steel building or a prefab garage.

 

[tinbender 66]

Nice transformation! Starting off with a roof and a floor is definately a bonus. It does make the house look better too.

I'm just down the road from you in Arlington. I was up in Mt. Vernon yesterday at the Habitat store (found nothing).

 

[wintermute]

Very nice result. In my opinion the house looks much better with the car port closed in and the HardiBoard siding.

Your house was built when wood was cheap and plaster was expensive. Dry wall drove out lath and plaster and today it is cheaper than wood.

You're not kidding! All of the walls in the house (except for the "new" construction) are plywood (painted or with wallpaper), or are mahogany paneling.

I've since finished off the interior of the garage sheetrock and painted everything white. It is a pretty nice place to work, even with our recent cold snap, it doesn't seem to go below 40 as long as I keep the main door closed.

Here are a couple of shots from just after completing the paint work:

 

[wintermute]

very well thought out and very well done.

If I had it to do again, I would have used another couple of circuits for all of my 110v outlets (4-5 instead of the 3 I installed)

Glad I came across this thread. We have been looking for a house for a while and my only stipulation is that it comes with a garage. I have been thinking more and more about finding a place with a carport that I can close in or with room to build a steel building or a prefab garage.

I wanted a garage when I was looking at houses as well. the moment I walked inside I had to have this house. With the little bit of construction experience I already had, I knew a conversion wasn't going to be too difficult. I had the building codes checked before I made my offer too.

Nice project. I love old 50's ranch homes, flat roofs, cantilevers and I am a big fan of the Frank Loyd Wright usonion homes. Do you have any pics to show your house from other angles?

I might have a couple of others kicking around somewhere. I'll take a look.

Nice transformation! Starting off with a roof and a floor is definately a bonus. It does make the house look better too.

I'm just down the road from you in Arlington. I was up in Mt. Vernon yesterday at the Habitat store (found nothing).

Thanks. I don't know why people make carports instead of garages. All of the hard work is done already! Have you checked Skagit Building Salvage? They're out west of town next to Smiley's Machine Shop–about half a mile farther west than their old spot next to the furniture shops.

 

[low63]

came out real nice.