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Garage Rebuild - It's not a barn, but it'll do.

wrnch

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Hey all,
So I've been reading this forum for a few months now, as I toiled away at remodeling my garage. It isn't much. It's not a barn. It's just a single car garage about 10' x 21'.

Anyway, my garage has clearly not been touched since it was first built in the early 80's. Paint was peeling, drywall was damaged from plumbing issues in the apartment above, and a work bench was nowhere in sight. Growing up my friends and I would always hang out in the garage rebuilding our bikes, karts, or whatever. I wanted a good mancave....so in October I began the process, came up with a plan and have been slowly but surely working away at it.

I also wanted a place that I could use as a live lab, to learn how to put up drywall, work with wood, electrical, etc. What better place to use for this purpose than the garage. I can mess it up as much as I want and not be too concerned....after-all it's the garage.

It is now nearly complete and I thought I'd do my part and share my accomplishments and ideas. Here it goes.

The Beginning
Here's what I started out with.
Warning: If you are squeamish you may not want to look at the following photos.
IMG_1665.jpg

IMG_1672.jpg


Step 1 - Clean it out
After many trips to goodwill, a few posts on craigslist, nearly a dumpster full of trash, and all the rest moved to storage the garage was finally cleared out.
IMG_1695.jpg


Step 2 - Figure out what you got, what you want, and come up with a plan
So once I got cleared out I took measurements, and started to figure out what I wanted. I knew I needed

  1. A lot more light, (Currently, only 1 60w bulb)
  2. More power, (Currently, only two accessible outlets on the wall and two inaccessible outlets on the ceiling)
  3. A work bench, (Doesn't exist)
  4. More room to work on projects, (that area where the bike was parked in the first photo was my work area.)
  5. More storage than I had before. (Clearly this is needed)

That's quite a tall order and took some time to figure out, but after working, and reworking a model of the garage in Google Sketchup I think I found a good solution. Check it out....

garage_rebuild_03.jpg

garage_rebuild_07.jpg

garage_rebuild_02.jpg


  1. Storage: In the back right, I put 4'x4' shelves from floor to ceiling. This equals the same amount of storage as the old storage cabinet that ran across the back wall.
  2. Workbench: In the back left I designed a 5.5' workbench, that'll be 40" off the ground, and 36" deep. The storage and the bench are divided by a new wall that comes 4' off of the back wall.
  3. Lighting: Two - 4' Fluorescent light fixtures will be installed in the ceiling. (Not pictured)
  4. Storage: Running both sides of the garage will be new drop shelves that are 16" deep and 14" below the ceiling. (This equals a lot more storage that is up and out of my way.)
  5. Power: Down the left wall I designed two additional electrical boxes. 1 box will be contain four additional outlets and the box at the bench will have two outlets and one light switch. Dropping from the ceiling will be a retractable extension cord. (Lot more power!)
  6. Lighting: A new light will be mounted above the bench on the drop shelf.
  7. Storage: Above the garage door will be two bars running across to hold my surfboards, ladder, and lumber. (This equals more storage that is up and out of my way.)

Step 3 - Epoxy the floor
If you're following along at home you may want to do this later in the rebuild process. You live, and you learn I guess.

IMG_1697.jpg

IMG_1698.jpg


More to come....hold tight.
 
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sams

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wow looking good, the only thing I suggest to add is floor to cealing draws on roller slides, you gain a huge amount of space for a very small footprint
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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wow looking good, the only thing I suggest to add is floor to cealing draws on roller slides, you gain a huge amount of space for a very small footprint

I know what roller slides are but what do you mean by floor to ceiling draws on roller slides? I'm not following.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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I'm back with an update of how the garage is progressing. In todays' installment demolition and electrical.

Step 5 - Demolition
Not a ton of demolition to do, just the old storage cabinet needs to be removed.

photo2.jpg



Step 6 - Electrical
As I detailed in my first post, the garage has one 60W build, two outlets in the ceiling, and two outlets on the wall. There is also one switch. This just won't do... so I added a bit more power.

Here's what I picked up at Home Depot.

IMG_1787.jpg


  1. 2 - Four Foot flourescent light fixtures (That hold two 4' bulbs)
  2. 50' of Wire
  3. Two Remodel Double Gang Boxes.
  4. Various other bits

I cut out the drywall, drilled holes through all the studs, and ran wire to the back of the garage.
IMG_1792.jpg


From there my friend and I installed the gang boxes. One in the middle of the garage and the second near the back wall where the work bench will go.

here's my buddy Nick, wiring the box in the middle of the garage up
IMG_1812.jpg


and here's a shot of the box in the back of the garage where the bench will go. I fished a wire up the wall to power a light above the bench.

IMG_1820.jpg


Next I installed a new box in the ceiling for a second light fixture and I picked up a Craftsman retractable extension cable system and secured it to the ceiling.
IMG_1825.jpg

Luckily that hole in the ceiling was already there from when one of the pipes for the above apartment busted. Also, if you don't have a retractable extension cable system, I swear it's the best invention since sliced bread or the iPad 2. Okay, maybe not the iPad 2.

I patched up the holes in the wall.
IMG_1824.jpg


and installed the new light fixtures.
IMG_0232.jpg


LET THERE BE POWER AND LIGHT!!!!

With those phases done we had to take a moment for a very important bit.....Gangster Garage Remodel Shots.

Here's me:
IMG_1799.jpg


and my buddy, Nick:
IMG_1801.jpg


Stay tuned much more to come.........
 

Bull

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Is Nick throwing a modified Shocker in the last pic? :lol_hitti

You've got me hooked, and I will be following along. I've never heard of Google Sketchup, but if it is free, it looks like something I need to check out.

As for the floor to ceiling roller draws that someone mentioned, I think I know what they are talking about, but maybe they can confirm. Basically, you can buy tall, narrow vertical "drawers" that, when you pull them out, reveal storage on both sides. Kind of like a huge piece of pegboard that opens and closes. I've never seen any floor to ceiling, but I have seen some pretty tall ones as part of cabinet units.
 

LoRollinLS

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nice to see someone else on here toughing it out in a 1 car ! nice work!
 

sams

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I know what roller slides are but what do you mean by floor to ceiling draws on roller slides? I'm not following.

I mean make your own draws that start at the floor and finish just off the ceiling, basically as many as you can fit in one space. For the type have a look what I did:

eqp-bench-02.jpg


these do take a lot of time to make though, these stop at waist height but I will make some 1.2M (4') wide draws in a storage area that I have that will be up to about 2.4 (8') of height.
 

John in OH

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wrnch .... looks as if you've given this a lot of thought. This should make a very nice work area. Maybe it's too late to say this .... but, you can never have too much light or too many electrical outlets! If you still have an opportunity, don't hesitate to add more of both .... or at least make provisions for adding more in the future.

Your progress looks good .... but I don't see the girl yet!!!
 

Bull

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Wow. I was way off about what sams meant!

My bad. The type of storage that I described is out there, though, and works well in certain spaces.
 

JMartel

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Nice build you got going so far.

ot me hooked, and I will be following along. I've never heard of Google Sketchup, but if it is free, it looks like something I need to check out.

Free 3d cad tool. It's pretty useful.
 

sams

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sorry for the long delay guys, been pre-occupied.

John in OH: I agree with what you say on outlets, I have them about 1.5M (5') apart so about 25 double outlets in my garage!

I don't at this stage have a thread but I should take some more pictures and make one. I don't want to post any other pictures in here as it's not my place and I dont want to take away any credit from the excellent work wrnch is doing here. They are fairly involved in their construction but well worth it in the end, the amount of storage vs the floor space they take is unbeatable.

wrnch: thanks, I when I make my next set can show a build thread on them. I might as well make a basic thread for the few pictures I have on my workshop as it is. Anyhow looking at how proffesional your 3d layouts are I want to learn how to use sketchup myself. I am sure there are lots of tutorial videos out there.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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And now for the weekend report. Having electrical and lighting installed, the garage rebuild it moving right along. This is the point where it gets very very dusty.

Since the garage hasn't been touched since the early 80's, and there have been plumbing leaks and what not in the ceiling above, the walls are in complete disrepair. So that leads me to.....

Step 7: Drywall
I went through many options for how to clean up the walls, from stripping the paint, patching and repainting, to completely stripping out all of the drywall and starting over....I ended up going with a happy medium.

I chose to install 1/2" Drywall on top of the already installed 5/8" drywall. It seems like the best way of going about it, as I'm sure my HOA wouldn't have liked me ripping out the walls without talking to them first.

My friend Nick came in and helped me install the top half and a good portion of the lower half of the walls. It took us a couple of days to do but we got it done.

IMG_1844.jpg


Once the drywall was up, I ran to Home Depot picked up some joint compound and the necessary tools.

IMG_1846.jpg


Over the next few days I mudded all of the joints, sanded them all and repeated a few times....

IMG_1847.jpg


I ran into a bit of a problem when I went to put the faceplates back on all of the outlets and switches. The switch and outlet that were installed during original construction are now recessed in the wall when screwed firmly into place.

IMG_0247.jpg

IMG_0250.jpg


So again, I wondered happily down to my local Home Depot, trying to figure out something to resolve this issue with. Luckily the team at Home Depot knew exactly how to resolve the issue, gang box extenders.

They look just like normal remodel gang boxes, except there is no backing to the box and it tapers slightly to slip right inside of the old box at the back.

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of these guys, I put them in straight away and threw the faceplates on. Looks good......

IMG_1849.jpg


Up next is primer and to build a new wall that extends four feet off the back wall. It will be used to divide the work bench on the left side with the storage area on the right side.
 

clutch93

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Wow, you work quick! And you do it in true "gangster" style! Seriously though, real good ideas to make the most out of the limited space you have, this is going to be a great workspace. keep us posted!
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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It's been tiring that's for sure, but a blast at the same time. With the drywall up, it really changes the look of the garage for sure. It's now a blank canvas and I can picture it already.

Can't wait to get it done so I can start on a motorcycle rebuild. I bought a motorcycle for $500 in complete disrepair. I really want to get going on it.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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Thanks all! Much appreciated. My buddy and I don't know what we're doing, but after reading a bunch of posts on this site, a ton of research online, a lot of time on youtube, and quite a few visits to home depot, we're making our way through it.

nice work, but man does drywall work suck.....

@Jake, you are not kidding. Man is it dusty. The joint compound process is just mind numbing, but I have found that it turns my head off from the stress of the day.

Well..my break is over, had my dinner and now it's time to get back out into the garage.
 

lomonte

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Duuuuude, get thyself back to the big box store and get a drywall sanding dust collector kit! It's a hollow handle with a grid pad for your sanding mesh. Hose comes out of the handle and plugs into the shopvac. Et Voila! Sand like hell with minimal dust! Best $15 EVER spent. Makes Drywalling easy. (I THINK I got it at HD.)
 

THEFIX

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1st, great job with SketchUp, it really helps prevent the ready-FIRE-aim syndrome in garage renovations. Being a fellow small workspace guy I appreciate the struggles you have.

2nd, 1+ on drywall dust, that has to be my all time least favorite task.

I'm very interested to see the finished product. I didn't see it in the photos, but I would suggest if you don't have, it is a GFCI protected plug. At minimum the one closest to the outside. Make the chance of getting electrocuted much less if you are ever in a situation using power and having a lot of moisture around. If all the plugs are on the same circuit, you can wire one in at the start and protect all if you want.

Keep the photos coming
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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So this week I got a bit excited and worked every day after work on my garage.

I also ran into a bit of a problem this week; I worked so fast and was so focussed on the task at hand, that I forgot to take detailed pictures for a few bits of it.

On the plus side, I got a bit more done than primer and a new wall, so here it goes......

Step 8 - Primer & Paint
With the drywall done. I threw up two coats of Killz Primer. I finished at about midnight and went straight to sleep. The next day I left work and went straight to Home Depot, with some leftover flakes from the floor epoxy kit.

IMG_1698.jpg


If you noticed in the image of the epoxy'd floor, there are 4 colors - Grey, Black, White, and Blue. So naturally those are the colors I picked for the walls and ceiling. Here's what I came back with.

IMG_1891.jpg

Porpoise Grey for the top half of the walls.

IMG_1892.jpg

Bleached Denim for the bottom half of the walls.

IMG_1893.jpg

And....Black Forever for the trim and 2x4's.

For the black paint, I used a "Paint & Primer" based paint as the 2x4's won't be primed first. I little more pricy yes, but is well worth the cost (so far at least).

I came home and found perfectly dry walls. So without thinking (of snapping some photos), I started measuring where the break in the wall would be for where the blue would stop and the grey would begin. From there I immediately started to throw paint up. I started with the grey top half and then the blue bottom half. (I only did one wall, as I still needed to build the wall that divides bench from the storage.)

IMG_1852.jpg


As I was finishing up applying the grey my buddy Nick showed up.

Step 9 - Build Dividing Wall
So while that wall was drying we began work on the dividing wall. It went together amazingly fast....well that and it was fun and before we knew it, it was midnight again.

By the time midnight had come along, my friend Nick and I had completed:
  • The framing was up.
  • Three 5" holes drilled into the foundation with appropriate screws set (and glue curing).
  • The drywall up on the left side (work bench side) with a first layer of joint compound applied in the the corners and seems.

I seriously don't know how we got all that done in one night, but.....I passed out the second my head hit the pillow.

The next morning I got up and before heading off to work, I quickly applied another layer of joint compound to the corners and seems on the new wall, and took some measurements.

(Man I wish I remember to take some photos here.)

Step 10 - A bit more paint
I didn't do much that night (Wednesday night), I applied another layer of joint compound to finish off the left half. (Took about 20 minutes to do)

I needed a break...

but Thursday night I came home and applied paint to the back left wall and the new wall.

(Again, I wish I remembered to take photos)

Step 11 - Work Bench!!!!
So on the way home tonight (friday), I swung by Home Depot and bought the following:
  • Three 10' 2x4's
  • 4'x8' Sheet of Oak, 3/4" thick.
  • Box of Screws

I had somebody at Home Depot cut the sheet of Oak down to 65-1/8" by 36", this will be the top for my workbench.

Once home, in less than an hour, I quickly created a frame for the Oak to sit on out of the 2x4's. I attached the oak to the frame. In order to quickly and easily put the bench in place I cut 3 extra pieces of the back and side frames, leveled them on the walls, and screwed those directly to the walls.

I picked up my new Oak workbench and frame and dropped it right on top of those 2x4's. Worked like a charm.

I took another 45 minutes and painted all the 2x4's black.......

So with that said, I now have a workbench!!!!

IMG_1851.jpg

IMG_1854.jpg


Here's how I built it.
IMG_1863.jpg

  • Again, The bottom 2x4's I individually leveled and bolted directly to the wall. For each stud, I used two 4" Screws to secure them to the wall.
  • The 3/4" Oak and 2x4's on the top were built on the floor and dropped it straight on top of the bottom 2x4's. I again used two 4" Screws to secure the workbench to the wall at each wall stud.

Step 12 - Baseboard
To finish off the night, I installed industrial vinyl baseboard board down the left side. This took hardly any time at all. I just laid out a strip, cut to length, applied adhesive to it's back, and pressed it to the walls.

Probably the easiest thing I've done in this whole project up to this point.

IMG_1855.jpg

IMG_1851.jpg


It helps divide the grey epoxy floor from the bleach denim blue walls.

This weekend I'm planning on finishing out the right side of the dividing wall, priming/painting, and hopefully I'll get the shelving up on the right side by end of day Sunday. Ambitious yes, but I'm on a roll.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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Yeah, I'm a bit focussed and excited about this project. It's a few things really.....

1. I have a motorcycle I want to rebuild and I really want to start that project in a nice garage.
2. This project is fun, so I'm kinda overdosing on it at the moment. Though I am a bit exhausted when my head hits the pillow.
3. There's something rewarding about having complete control from concept through execution (and hopefully through to completion), that I don't have at work.
4. Having a picture of the finished garage, in my head and on paper (IE: Google Sketchup), makes it really easy to keep going. Anything that doesn't look like the picture, I fix so it does. As I keep going the garage looks more and more like the picture which makes me want to keep going.

Plus keep in mind that this is only a one car garage and the building is already there. I just have to fix things, I'm not building from the ground up like a few have done (and are doing on this site). I don't think I could even begin to grasp or complete a project of those sizes (not yet anyway).

Well, I'm going to go grab some lunch and then to the.....garage. :)
 

NUTTSGT

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The work looks good but. . . . .

. . . . since nobody else brought this up. I noticed you bought 14 ga wire. I hope all the breakers for this garage are only 15 amp. If they are 20 amp breakers, you are over powering that new wire you just put in.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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The work looks good but. . . . .

. . . . since nobody else brought this up. I noticed you bought 14 ga wire. I hope all the breakers for this garage are only 15 amp. If they are 20 amp breakers, you are over powering that new wire you just put in.

Whoa....good catch. I need to double-check the breakers. Then I get to learn how to fish the appropriate gauge wire if that circuit is on a 20 amp breaker!!!! Sweet! :shocking: :)
 
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onewaydave

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wrnch, I kinda think you were sandbagging us on the lab issue. Your work looks just fine and the speed is as good as it gets.

On your storage space to the right of the workbench, consider

showimage.cfm


not sure that image posted. If not link is here
http://wwhardware.com/showimage.cfm?type=spec&productid=RS5243%2E09N%20CR

You can buy the slides at most big box stores and fab up something real simple with 2x4 and ply, like you said its a garage. They would really boost your storage space.

Dave.
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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Sorry @onewaydave, I swear I'm not sandbagging the work. My friend Nick and I honestly have never done anything like this before and we're learning how to do it as we go. I did though spend a ton of time researching how to do every stage and task.

For instance, I watched as many youtube videos on how to install and finish drywall as I could find. From hanging to applying joint compound, working with corner bead.

Now for the weekend progress report. So thanks to @NUTTSGT my project list for the weekend quickly changed, though I did make some progress on the original list. Anyway,.......

Step 13 - Rewire the Electrical
So big thanks out to @NUTTSGT for catching a potentially serious problem of over powering the new wire. I checked the breaker and sure enough, it was running on a 20 AMP circuit... This was no bueno. So I ran down to good 'ole Home Depot and picked up properly rated 12 ga. wire for a 20 amp circuit.

IMG_0347.jpg


So the bad news is that I had already drywalled in all the new wire. The good news is that I know exactly were the new wire is located, and how it was wired. So after turning off the circuit, my first step was to remove the outlets and "remodel" electrical boxes that I had installed.

P3260367.jpg

P3260369.jpg


Knowing that I had to fish the new wire through, I first tried to use the old 14 ga wire as the method to pull the new 12 ga wire. This didn't work.

P3260379.jpg

P3260380.jpg


So instead I looped some string around the end and pulled the 14 ga wire out, and thus pulled the string through.

P3260386.jpg


I then looped the new 12 ga wire to the string, covered the end with some electrical tape (so it couldn't slip off) and proceeded to pull the new wire through.

P3260382.jpg

P3260381.jpg


All I have to say is, pulling that wire through was a MAJOR pain in the ass. Huge!

Moral of the story.....always check the Amperage of the circuit that you are installing new wire onto and use the appropriate gauge wire for that circuit.

Step 14 - Make a few other electrical modifications
So based on recommendations from @THEFIX and @John_in_OH, I decided a few other additions were necessary since I was already reworking the electrical.
  1. More Power!
  2. A GFCI Outlet

While I was at Home Depot I picked up the necessary goodies (GFCI outlet for a 20Amp circuit, remodel gang box, etc.)

I decided I definitely needed another outlet below the workbench, for some items that I'll keep as a secret for the time being but are definitely necessary. So I picked a spot, cut the hole, ran some 12 ga wire, and wired up a new outlet.

P3260387.jpg

P3260388.jpg

P3260389.jpg

P3260391.jpg

P3260392.jpg


Then at the first outlet in the circuit (and closest to the garage door), I installed the GFCI Outlet. This was just a quick swap.

P3270394.jpg

P3270393.jpg


Step 15 - A Bit of Trim
So while I was upgrading the electrical, I prepped some of trim to install along the left side (electrical/workbench side) of the garage as well.

IMG_1927.jpg

IMG_1928.jpg


As I'm sure you notice in a few of the previous photos (in the electrical upgrade sections) I also installed it.

P3270394.jpg


It really tightens up the look, that's for sure. It's a great separation of the blue from the gray. Oh and it's lines straight up with the black 2x4's of the workbench (but I'll save photos of that for later....cause I forgot to take 'em).

Up Next
I am finally all finished with the drywall (IE: Right side of the dividing wall) and painted up the right side as well. Looks good, I'll post those pictures next time.

I'm going to be doing the shelving next. Can you figure out what I'm going to be doing with these?

IMG_1918.jpg
 
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wrnch

wrnch

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Why 12/3 wire instead of 12/2, unless you are doing different circuits on the same wire or are doing 240V instead of 120V.

Different circuits, one for the lights and one for the rest. Learned about that type of wire after I had already installed the 14/2 wire.
 
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