[gone_fishing]

I took on the project of gutting my garage to turn into a home office with a small garage/work shop. The garage was a mess with old paneling at 2 of the walls, sheet metal over cinder block on the 3rd, and a loud garage door. The wiring was run on the outside of the walls and screwed to the air ducts. The air returns where too far away and not air tight so the heater was failing. I started the Monday after Christmas and just go my CO.

Things I did:
* Gutted everything down to studs/joists
* Removed wiring from electrical service box and reran inside walls
* Added 2 20amp lines and 2 15 amp lines.
* Networked, added phone lines, and added cable
* Insulated
* framed wall to cover cinderblock
* Added window
* Drywalled, spackle, paint, etc
* Layed Laminant flooring
* Doors, windows, etc.
* Custom built transition where there once was a 3" curb step
* Built rolling work station, heavy duty shelving
* Built cabinet to enclose pipes and act as a counter
* Tiles counter and side step
* Hung cabinets

Outsourced work:
* Garage door
* HVAC

Pictures in next post:

 

[gone_fishing]

Before:

Notice dryer in garage...I fixed this with my last project (laundry room/half bath overhaul)

Also notice 40 year old cabinets and green metal walls

 

[gone_fishing]

In progress:

Before:

Window framing:

 

[gone_fishing]

Completed Project:

Tiled side curb and flooring:

New HVAC soffit, custom (me) base cabinet for pipes with tiling, cabinets for storage. Wall space and outlet for future flat screen.

New entrances to family room and garage

Rear wall cabinets

Rolling work bench and heavy duty storage shelving

Garage door entrance:

 

[gone_fishing]

Penn State "locker" cabinet to cover electrical service and networking gear.

Counter tiling:

Better look at my rolling work bench...the awesome Mitre Saw is my Father-in-laws so it will go back.

 

[gma2rjc]

It looks great. Nice work!

 

[diy mike]

That's amazing! It doesn't even look like the same space. And nice job with the rolling work bench. That should really come in handy.

 

[Gary in WA]

Looking good!! You may want to check with your local Building Department on the minimum safety codes. When you cut that diagonal 1x4 wood let-in brace for the new window, you lost the shear flow in the corner. Not that big of a deal, maybe.

The window is required to be 3' from the gas meter for safety. (fire code)

The electrical panel cannot be hidden from view. (in case of fire, the firemen couldn't find it quickly)

Install the window under the foam board with flashing over the head. Use sticky window tape- installed around/on sill, jambs, head, then window- then over bottom window flange, jambs lapping down over, finally head lapping side jambs, then metal head flashing.

You could still fix the window as I would hate to see it wreck any of your hard work done so far. When the Inspector OK's the conversion, it will go on your house's personal record with the County, and be listed as living space when you sell. It would be nice to re-coup some of the money spent!

Be safe, G

 

[gone_fishing]

Gbar...I passed all inspections with no corrections. I did install the window as you said but it's tough to see because of the picture. Since I did this project when my son was 3 to 10 months old most of our pictures are of him...we took very few of the in process project.