Just over a year ago we moved from our "new construction" home of 7 years w/ no yard and/or trees to a 37 year old house w/ a big yard and tons of trees. I hated to leave the old place after putting so much time into it, including the garage...

http://www.jklmn.net/gallery/albun52

...but it was time to move on. The new place needed a lot of work. When we moved in my wife and I had different opinions on what projects would take priority. Of course you can guess what was on top of my list...


The Beginning:

The "new" garage was a collection of 4 owners and 37 years of quick fixes and half-assed planning...if any planning at all. It was more a home to spider crickets, chipmunks and old yard tools than it was to cars...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/The-Beginning/S5300482.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/The-Beginning/S5300486.sized.jpg


Preparation:

The first order of business was to build a shed. The garage is no place for yard tools, kids toys and lawn furniture. Slab, framing, roof, etc. etc...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun42/07_02_07_025.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun42/S5300523.sized.jpg


Phase 1 - Demolition:

There were a few things about the garage that I liked. #1 was the vaulted ceiling. The real wood slat roof decking was in amazing condition and needed to be highlighted somehow. However, the saltbox style architecture gave me rafters angled down to the back of the garage and just above forehead level. After consulting w/ a civil engineer I cut and raised all of the roof rafters to a height of 10' parallel to the floor. What a difference that made.

The second was the garages ample 22' depth. I knew the extra depth was going to allow me to keep some storage in the garage a still be able to park and work on any of our cars/truck. So out came the sledge hammer and sawzall!

Bye, bye pegboard! And to my surprise, there was insulation behind it. Cool.

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun54/S5300480.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun54/S5300488.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun54/S5300481.sized.jpg


Phase 2 - Framing:

Framing was minimal and confined to the back wall of the garage. As mentioned before, this is where I had space for storage. I framed in three shallow closets, a cubby for a fridge...the wife won that battle (far left) and a small desk (far right). The three closets were made to fit my existing metal shelving units and the desk would be use for laptop, FSM studying, etc.

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun59/S5300487.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun59/S5300486.sized.jpg

As you can see, I had round-the-clock supervision...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun59/S5300480.sized.jpg


Phase 3 - Electrical

I forgot to take photos during the electrical phase but there was lots of it. I placed power and lighting everywhere. Three new circuits were brought into the garage from the main box. One for lighting and the garage door openers, one for the outlets and air compressor and one 220v for the wall mounted AC unit :-)

Outlets are spaced every 6' at workbench level. The closets have their own outlets and a light switch for three 48" fluorescent fixtures. The air compressor has a dedicated switch as does the light fixture over the desk. The main lighting is four 96" double bulb fluorescent fixtures w/ daylight bulbs. To accent the natural wood ceiling are four spot light fixtures angled upward and are switched separately.


Phase 4 - Drywall

I hate this phase...well...I love hanging drywall but I hate mudding and sanding. It's probably why this phase took so long to complete :-) Who's damn idea was it to frame in all those damn corners! ;-)

The 16' peaks on the side walls were a B I T C H...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun62/DSCF1337.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun62/DSCF1336.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun62/DSCF1340.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun62/DSCF1333.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun62/DSCF1335.sized.jpg


Phase 5 - Paint

Here's another phase I hate. The wall color was chosen to accent the ceiling and work w/ the epoxy floor (yet to come).

Notice the wall mounted AC unit is framed in and installed. Bring on the hot summer days...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun72/S5300527.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun72/S5300530.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun72/S5300525.sized.jpg


Phase 6 - Trim, Doors & Storage:

I trimmed out all the baseboards, ceiling line, doors, windows, etc. with 1x4 lumber. Not to fancy...just enough to finish it and still be a garage.

The closet doors are cheap luan bi-folds which match the ceiling wood grain perfectly. A few coats of darkening stain and they'll be a perfect match.

Closets are outfitted w/ my old chrome metal shelves. Spray paint, cleaners and other liquid products are housed in the Rubbermaid closet furthest from the rest of the house and closest to the garage door in case of a fire.

The stereo system was tucked away above the fridge using an extra metal shelf :-)

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300480.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300490.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300495.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300493.sized.jpg


Phase 7 - Lighting & Garage Door Openers:

Main lighting and door openers...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300486.sized.jpg

Accent up-lighting...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300503.sized.jpg

Ceiling fan...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun88/S5300484.sized.jpg


Phase 8 - Workbench & Desk

2x4 framing and Home Depot countertops...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun89/IMG_0111.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun89/IMG_0112.sized.jpg

Cars still fit with the workbench installed...

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/albun89/IMG_0114.sized.jpg


Phase 9 - Epoxy Floor:

After a lot of research I went with http://epoxy-coat.com. Their product is a 100% solids based epoxy. Application was fairly easy. unfortunately for me, preparation was tough. The garage had 3 layers of old paint with the bottom (original) layer being some water based green crap that provided a terrible base for all the other layers above.

I rented a vibrating floor sander w/ 20 grit pads. I spent about 2 hours sanding the floor followed by a pressure wash, followed by an acid wash followed by another pressure wash followed by more sanding and finished w/ a power blower and damp rag wipe down. All in all prep took me about 8 hours and coating took me less than 60 minutes.

The epoxy has a fantastic high-gloss finish and with the addition of the flakes, does a fantastic job of hiding dirt. However, beware of the occasional dropped nut. They disappear in the flakes :-)

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1378.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1380.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1381.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1388.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1390.sized.jpg

http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1386.sized.jpg


There are only a few odds and ends that need to be done but that's about it. I welcome any suggestions and would be more than happy to answer any questions or provide information that would help anyone make their garage a place to enjoy working.

Thanks to my wife for her patience, my kids for their help and my friends for their input and material suggestions.

You can browse through all of my garage photos here...

http://www.jklmn.net/gallery/albun53

Great job MarK!

Looks puhrteee. Now get a wrenchng together so we can see it in person.

Awesome, Mark.

The best is seeing your kids in the pictures! I like the supervision pic the best :)

James

Simply amazing. I thought your other garage looked great, but you found a way to improve on that one. I really need to coat the floor in my garage. Nothing is worse than spilling oil or something on new concrete. :(

Thanks everyone for the cool kind words!

I will host a wrenching for you local guys some time this summer.

Nice work!

Wow Mark, I thought I was jealous of your first garage, but this one is even better. Excellent job!

When I decide to redo mine, I'll definately have to seek out your advice.

looks amazing. Awesome work done bro.

Wow! That is an awesome garage. Very nice work! I see the wifey makes you keep your shoes in there... :poke:

So, how long did that take you? I'm putting an offer on a couple of places that have the same vaulted ceilings. Only problem is it has a lot more support structure underneath (earthquakes?), so my choices will be a little more limited.

Your work is SO NEAT..........I love it. I admire how well everything is organized. A+ from me bro :biggthump

So, how long did that take you? I'm putting an offer on a couple of places that have the same vaulted ceilings. Only problem is it has a lot more support structure underneath (earthquakes?), so my choices will be a little more limited.
It took me a year but I have 3 young kids and a lot of other projects (track car) as well. In my younger, less distracted, days I could have knocked it out in a month :)

Earthquakes? What are those? ;-)

Your work is SO NEAT..........I love it. I admire how well everything is organized. A+ from me bro :biggthumpThanks!!:)

It took me a year but I have 3 young kids and a lot of other projects (track car) as well. In my younger, less distracted, days I could have knocked it out in a month :)

Earthquakes? What are those? ;-)

Word. I'll probably start it just in time for our first to pop out and never finish it...

Since it's a boy, I have a feeling I'll have my hands full. I was a wandering handful when I was a kid...

Word. I'll probably start it just in time for our first to pop out and never finish it...

Since it's a boy, I have a feeling I'll have my hands full. I was a wandering handful when I was a kid...

Boys are trouble when they are young but girls are a lot more trouble as they get older. Of course if you provide a loving hand as you slap it up side their head, they'll turn out right ;-)

WOW ur garage is HOTTTT i wish i had the space and room for something to build like that

Boys are trouble when they are young but girls are a lot more trouble as they get older. Of course if you provide a loving hand as you slap it up side their head, they'll turn out right ;-)

Yep. I should amend that to "I won't finish it for about 6-7 years." By then, he'll be old enough for me to crack the whip and have him do it all, while I sip lemonade... :D

Nice work man makes my garage look sloppy...lol

How did you go about not soaking the walls and baseboard with the pressure washer?

Mark, you never cease to amaze me with your abilities. The neatness is uncanny, but the proof is in the details and planning. Very good job. I am impressed as usual. That is the work of a paid pro and more than half of them these days don't do close that good of a job at their best.


This pic right here. 'nuff said :biggthump
http://www.jklmn.net/albums/album107/IMG_1390.sized.jpg

-L