Construction guys, help with "finishing" a garage.

[Gerdass]

The situation is, my family and I live in a smaller sized house. Me, wife and two kids. It's really not big enough for us right now, but we don't have the scratch to go buy a new house or do a major addition or anything right now. Wife in school, only working part time.

So, I'm thinking about finishing out the attached single car garage space into some semi-livable if not fully livable space. Mainly a "family room". A TV, a place for the kids to play, watch TV, etc. That kind of thing.

Right now, we don't use the garage to park our vehicles in. I smoke and have a TV and a recliner out there for me since I won't smoke in the house. In the summer, the kids will play out there as all of their "outside" toys are stored in there. My wife also has an exercise bike in there. The walls are already insulated and covered with peg board. But the ceiling is not insulated. There is already electrical run into several areas, so that's not a big deal. And the home is already on electric baseboard heat, so I would just continue that into this area.

So basically I'm thinking all I would need to do is insulate the roof, hang sheet rock and do something with the floor.


My first question is, should I leave the garage door (which is an insulated door right now) there as is, or should I take it down and finish out the opening? This will only be a somewhat temporary fix. Some time down the road, we will either be selling this house or doing major renovations to it to bring it up to what the wifey and I will want to have for the next 40 years of our life. And if we decide to sell down the road, I don't want to do anything that would jeopardize the re-sell value of the home. It will look funny with a drive-way leading into a wall, but the "family room" would look funny with a garage door on one of the walls.

After this is answered, I'll come back with some more......


Gerdass

[Aust1227]

Sounds like a fun project..

If it were me I would do the following with the garage door..

Does your garage door have windows? If it does, buy a can of black spray paint, some 2X4s, and some sheetrock.. Paint the windows black.. Build a wall right up against in the inside. This is a non load bearing wall, so a base plate, studs 24" OC, and a top plate should do the trick.. Then drywall and paint it.. Total cost less than $100.. From the outside it would look just like a garage door.. From the inside it looks like a finished wall. If you go to sell it is very easy to rip that wall down. If you don't have windows just forgo the spraypaint!

As far as the flooring goes, I would go with something that can be either a garage floor or a family room floor. That pretty much limits you to Acrylic type texture, concrete stain, or some very basic tiles.. It is a double edged sword. You don't want to drop money into this that will HURT resale.. So it has to be utilitarian. Guma did a great job with his stained concrete, I would copy that.

Good luck Gerd! Take some pictures for us.

[Gerdass]

This isn't something I'm going to do right away. I doubt I would be able to get it done before this winter. Probably a job for next spring.

I like the idea of the temporary wall.

As far as flooring, the concrete has a few holes in it here and there. I would have to patch those in... I don't know how that would affect the stain. Since it's not really a permanent job, I was thinking of using those cheap self stick tiles. They wouldn't have to last long, and it would be easy to remove if someone wanted to convert back to a garage.

[Quads]

If you are doing it budget style, then no, leave the door just as. Throw some indoor / outdoor carpet in there and you're good to go after hanging some sheet rock and insulating the roof.

If you want to take the time to frame in the garage door (probably about an hour) and then rock over it and finish it, (another couple hours) I would, personally. It will also give you an opportunity to put a door / window in there, and if later down the road you want it a garage door again, you know where / what to pull out to get you back to a functioning garage door. That's why I'd only frame inside the existing hole in the wall for the garage door.

The other option would be to frame in a wall which will allow the garage door to open / close, and give you a small amount of storage right where the garage door opens, but leaving you the rest of the space to convert into living space.

[Gerdass]

The other option would be to frame in a wall which will allow the garage door to open / close, and give you a small amount of storage right where the garage door opens, but leaving you the rest of the space to convert into living space.

I like this idea.



It's only a one car garage, so it's not overly large. I want to say the main area is 22' x 13' with an extra 5' x 8' area in the back corner. I'll have to get the measuring tape out when I get home. I don't think it would be too difficult to do. The only other thing I would likely do is cut out one window on the side, maybe two or more, but it is on a budget, so I don't want to get too involved with it.

Another question. The door is an automatic opener. It sits below the current rafters that come across the ceiling. What can I do with the motor, chains, and brackets that allow the door to open and close?

[Quads]

Convert it to a side / spool opener. The unit sits up on the corner where the header is and the spool of the door is. (top right or left side at the header)

[Oz]

You will probably have to remove all the garage door hardware - or it will be seen in the room, which will work for what you want to do.

Another option is to frame in a temp wall closing in the room from the garage door - but make a man door through the wall as well. That way, when you open the garage door - you have an access to that room in case you want to have another outside access point.

Me - I would remove the garage door and enclose it all together with a nice window up front. My first house had a drive way that went up to the house - without a garage and it was no biggee.

Good luck and make sure you take pics of whatever you do.

[Gerdass]

Here is kind of the basic layout of the garage.

I live in a split level home, with the garage and a small foyer being on "ground" level". Then from the foyer you can either go up or down to the two levels of the house. Which is part of the reason for the lack of any "extra" space.


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d49/gerdass/Garage.jpg



Like I said, I "believe" that the main part of the garage is 22' x 13', but I could be off slightly on this. And then in the back corner, there is some extra space which is currently used for storage. I think if I finished this space, it could make a decent family room area, with some extra space for the kids to run around and play while not getting crap all around the Living room area.

As far as the garage door opener, I don't really want to completely remove it. I live the idea of having a little storage at the front of the room for a few random things. Basic tools, snow shovels, garbage bins, things like that. I have a shed in the back yard to store the mower and any large storage items. But the issue is the motor sits about right at the level with the entry door from the main house.

[mattyrayb]

my father-in-law finished his garage into a room and left the front section where the garage door was as storage. Kept freezer, yard equipment, etc. in there.

I don't remember it being deep enough to put up a garage door but we did somehow.

How about something like this to allow the door to open fully on the tracks. Just take off the motor and open by hand.
You could attach a rubber flap or something to bottom of the opening to help keep out any draft.
The white space is just an opening left at the top of the wall when its made.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb277/waldorf_toby/garage.jpg

[Quads]

PM Moddy to get him to post pictures of his garage conversion. His was pretty effin sweet.

[Gerdass]

Would it be possible (or would it look bad) if I used a suspended ceiling and hand the garage door above he ceiling.

I'm not sure if it would work, but I might look into it. The door would be fine, but I'm not sure about the motor.



Also, when I insulate, should I put the insulation up on the peaks of the trusses, or the rafters that run across the bottom of the trusses, and what other things should I consider if this is an option either way (like ventilation or something like that)

[Quads]

Insulate above the drywall, not up top just under the roofing.

[Rewind]

I just started looking at garage openers thanks to this thread and now I want to do this to my garage.

Check out this opener:
http://www.liftmaster.com/consumerweb/pages/productmodeldetail.aspx?modelId=834

They are called JackShaft openers (the ones that sit on the side). I like this idea and now need to save my pennies for this conversion (need a new garage opener anyway).

[Quads]

When I read "jackshaft" I'm thinking something else.

[timsta007]

Hey Gerd, a little off topic but do you want to do a stop smoking prop bet? Ask Quads I'll give you good odds.

[Trann]

Because the doors impede upon the garage space proper, you have to keep a walkway clear and that's a pain.

If I had my druthers,

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y4/PokerTrann/PMC/Garage.png

[Gerdass]

Well, were you put the door is where the breaker box is currently. don't really want to be messing with that.

I thought about it because inside the home, there is a closet there.

[Gerdass]

Hey Gerd, a little off topic but do you want to do a stop smoking prop bet? Ask Quads I'll give you good odds.

What kind of odds?

And how would you know if I actually went through with it?

[Trann]

Well, were you put the door is where the breaker box is currently. don't really want to be messing with that.

I thought about it because inside the home, there is a closet there.

Breaker panel is a pain to move so that's no-go but the closet adjustment might be worth it, especially if it's already framed for a doorway. You'd gain the whole side-wall instead of needing the 3' of walkway and door clearance from outside door to interior door.

Before deciding on what to put where, I'd look into maximizing the space first. If you can't, no loss.

[Gerdass]

Here is a little better layout of what is going on.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d49/gerdass/Garage2.jpg

I through in the breaker box, plus added the approximately where the Garage Door Motor and tracks run.

[IgotDANUTZ]

Can we get Moddy to post his up???? I know at some point im gonna be run outta my room and the next place is the garage, it may be 10 years off but ive already started thinking it out

[sunsetpizza]

Gerdass, what software do you use to draw those pictures? I'd love to have something like that.

[Gerdass]

Gerdass, what software do you use to draw those pictures? I'd love to have something like that.


An amazing program called Microsoft Excel...

[sunsetpizza]

Time to open the help menu i guess. I kind of suck at excel, obviously. :rolleyes:

[Gerdass]

Just shrink the cells down to squares and then use the "Draw Borders" and "Insert Objects".


I have the 2007 Excel, and once you figure it out, it's pretty easy to do.

[sunsetpizza]

Thanks - I played around with "inserting objects". :)

Looks easy enough.

/threadjack