My 2013 Garage Interior Project.

[GG Allin]

So with Spring upon us, I'm trying to get ahead on a project that I've been putting off for several years. Schit maybe it's been a dozen years. The plan is to completely redo the electric, insulate & drywall all of the walls, acid wash & epoxy coat the floor and install some type of window on the side that faces my fenced yard. I mention fenced yard because when the garage was being built the builder said "why do you want windows? All they do is give thieves a way to see what you have". So I went with no windows. But now that the yard is fenced, I wouldn't mind one on that side. The current electric is all hung outside the studs, that all needs to be buried within to make room for the drywall. Here are some pictures I took tonight, they'll serve as before pics. Any suggestions or ideas, please chime in. I want the end result to be clean and organized. It's amazing the amount of crap you accumulate over the course of a few years.






I have a question regarding drilling holes through the studs and rafters. Does this weaken the structure? In my mind it seems like it would.

I need to drill a small hole through all of these to power the lighting.

[javadog]

Yes, holes will weaken them slightly. To minimize that, drill the holes in the center of the joist. It's close enough to the optimum point for such a hole. You might use a 3/8th's MC cable, to minimize the hole size.

JR

[mossguy]

Yes, it will weaken it. Depending on the hole size, location in the length of the board and location in the depth of the board, the weakening will be negligible,

[mossguy]

Vertically, holes should always be inside the middle 1/3 of the joist, and hole diameter should never exceed 1/3 of the actual (not lumber dimensional) height of the joist.

Horizontally, holes may be anywhere along the joist except within 2" of the supported ends. Notching is not allowed in the middle third of the span, but holes are.

Read more: Running wire through floor joists. - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

[redstrosekNic]

I love these threads! They always give me ideas.

[s_morrison57]

I just did the same thing to my garage, mine was cleaning, purging some junk and a paint job. The toughest part was moving stuff out so I had room to work. My garage has always been my spot to hang so I wanted to make it nice, I ended up with 2 red cars, funny how that works cause I don't really like red, so I did a red accent and it looks great.
some things to consider;
- more outlets
- lots of lighting but put it on multiple switches so you can have low light or bright light, I have a 26' x 30' drive through and have 15, 4' double bulb flourecent's, its like an operating room in there when there all on but my eye's aren't that good.
- plan ahead for the future so when you do your wiring you'll be covered, lower plug for the fridge, 220 for the welder, even if its not in the budget now for an alarm, fridge, full lighting etc at least the wiring is in place.
- put some ply wood in the attic if you plan on storing stuff up there, I put in 2 access spots, I should have put three
- Bathroom or a sink and running water
- heat and/or AC
- Take lots of pic's
- check out Jack Olson's "12 Gauge Garage", lots of good ideas
- Garage Journal is a cool site for idea's
- put horizontal bracing by the man door, makes it harder for thieves to get in
- Alarm
I remember when we built my shop. it was so exciting to finally have my own spot. It took me 12 years to do my first major cleaning IMO your timing is perfect.
Finn

[herr_oberst]

Can't you just run romex on top of the joists? Or are you going to use the attic space for storage?

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by s_morrison57

I just did the same thing to my garage, mine was cleaning, purging some junk and a paint job. The toughest part was moving stuff out so I had room to work. My garage has always been my spot to hang so I wanted to make it nice, I ended up with 2 red cars, funny how that works cause I don't really like red, so I did a red accent and it looks great.
some things to consider;
- more outlets
- lots of lighting but put it on multiple switches so you can have low light or bright light, I have a 26' x 30' drive through and have 15, 4' double bulb flourecent's, its like an operating room in there when there all on but my eye's aren't that good.
- plan ahead for the future so when you do your wiring you'll be covered, lower plug for the fridge, 220 for the welder, even if its not in the budget now for an alarm, fridge, full lighting etc at least the wiring is in place.
- put some ply wood in the attic if you plan on storing stuff up there, I put in 2 access spots, I should have put three
- Bathroom or a sink and running water
- heat and/or AC
- Take lots of pic's
- check out Jack Olson's "12 Gauge Garage", lots of good ideas
- Garage Journal is a cool site for idea's
- put horizontal bracing by the man door, makes it harder for thieves to get in
- Alarm
I remember when we built my shop. it was so exciting to finally have my own spot. It took me 12 years to do my first major cleaning IMO your timing is perfect.
Finn

Yeah, all that crap is causing a problem. I actually plan on doing it one half at a time. Once all the shelving and racks are put in place on the first half, my belongings will be much more organized, manageable and/or out of the way.

- Planning on 6 outlets per wall.

- 8 4' double bulb fluorescent fixtures, four per side, two switches. If that's not enough I'll add a few more on a third switch.

- Lower plug for fridge is there.

- No 220V to the garage.

- No heat, A/C or bathroom either

- The garage is 24' x 24' with an upstairs that provides plenty of storage space. That will be lit too.

Old pics of the exterior.

[URY914]

"No Girls Allowed" sign on the door.

[GG Allin]

Made some progress. 1/2 of the electric is done. Union Electricians might shake their heads but I'm confident nothing's gonna' burn down.

[URY914]

Nice door.

[will944]

Great work. I am doing the same to my barn.....when I have time.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I just went through a similar effort, a few notes on mine:

For my 20x20 space I went with four 8' double bulb fluorescent lights. I may add two more, you can never have too much light.

Natural light is awesome. I replaced my garage doors with insulated doors that have a row of windows across the top, the difference is simply amazing.

I used pre finished shelves from the local big box store, they already were Formica faced and the edges finished. Lots of widths and lengths, hung with L brackets.

I was going to DIY the epoxy floor but am now reconsidering. Apparently the track record of the DIY kits is not good. I may end up going with those garage floor tiles instead.

I bought the Sears version of the track wall stuff for hanging things, it was about 1/2 what the Garage Works products sell for.

[stealthn]

Don't forget air lines for air tools. You may not have them now, but you will

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by URY914

Nice door.

I had seven of those at one point. I hung two and tossed two. I need to hang that one, it's a ***** to move around.

[PabloX]

This isn't really applicable to GG Allin's garage project, but if you need better lighting and all you have are ceramic sockets, these work great.

Amazon.com: Square Perfect Professional Quality 85 Watt Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum Photo Bulb Photography: Camera & Photo

Yes, tubes are even better but these big CFLs are cheap and next to zero effort.

[Nostril Cheese]

Dude, I just cant help thinking of GG Allin's greatest hits every time I see your screen name.

[Zeke]

Fenced yard or not, put obscure glass in the window or use blinds. While eyes may be the windows of your soul, no one needs to see into your garage. Even from the other side of the fence.

Any reason for the sideways outlets?

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Fenced yard or not, put obscure glass in the window or use blinds. While eyes may be the windows of your soul, no one needs to see into your garage. Even from the other side of the fence.

Any reason for the sideways outlets?

I've scapped the window idea for several reasons. Not sure why I put the outlets sideways, just thought that was normal.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Getting natural light in there is the best thing you can do. If there's any way that you can it will be worth your trouble.