ManSpace....20 sheets of sheetrock, 55 bats of R13 fiberglas...(!! Now with PICS !!)

[Greg72]

.....15 Double 4' 40W Florescent lights!!!

I'm getting SOOOOO close to a finished workspace I can almost taste it!

Just as I was getting excited to start working out there, the temps started dropping and reminded me that in fact, it DOES get cold in the winter here in the NorthEast! So it's time to put off a manly truck project for a little while longer while I get some insulation installed in the walls and roof joists....then a few quick sheets of sheetrock to brighten things up a bit.

Certainly with 15 overhead florescents things should be a lot brighter than they are now. Add a small LP Gas wall heater, and I will be happy as can be watching the snow falling outside whilst comfortably spinning wrenches inside.

That is all.

Time to head out to the man space.....this insulation isn't going to install itself!!!

 

[gmc4cw]

 

[readymix]

I remember having to heat my garage in Illinois. What a PITA it was.
I went out and bought a 55,000 - 80,000 BTU propane salamander. It would get the garage from -10 up to about 60 in 25-30 minutes. Worked great, but was a little loud.

Now I have it in my garage here so everyone can ask why I have a heater in MS.

 

[thatK30guy]

Are you installing 1/2" or 5/8" thick board? I hope 5/8" because with humidity, the gypsum board can warp later.

Are you using screws instead of nails to hold them up? Need me to come up and tape/finish the joints? I can texture the ceiling if you want also.

 

[CDA 455]

I remember having to heat my garage in Illinois. What a PITA it was.
I went out and bought a 55,000 - 80,000 BTU propane salamander. It would get the garage from -10 up to about 60 in 25-30 minutes. Worked great, but was a little loud.

Now I have it in my garage here so everyone can ask why I have a heater in MS.

It gets old having to answer that question; doesn't it ?!!

 

[readymix]

Yeah, but I did try to sell it at least before I left IL. It was even better when I had it in SoCal. Everyone thought I was crazy.

 

[Greg72]

I'll see about posting some "Before" and "After" pics later on today.....

It won't be DONE by then, but I will hopefully be able to show progress.

It was 31 degrees this morning. I'm glad that I moved the paint indoors last night or I'd be trying to work with paintsicles this morning!!


Getting an insulated garage isn't coming a moment too soon....these morning temps lately have been BRISK!!!

 

[Oilbrnr]

I've got the opposite problem here. I need to install an evap system before next summer. This is what happens in July around here, if you leave the doors open. I about pooped my diaper when she started rattling. Need less to say, the skin is now mounted in my office.

 

[rdn2blazer]

I live in SoCal Calif. and ofcourse we dont really have the cold issue, but if I did live where its cold I would build my home and or garage with a concrete slab with Radient Heat built into it. my best friend I grew up with moved to Vermont over a decade ago has been working for a company that builds Radent Heat Systems for new construction.

its really a simple idea. I didn't know something like that existed til I went to visit him years ago. its just copper pipe ran back and forth in the slab to basically a water heater system. you know how cold concrete can get. when you warm it though it radiates heat very well. it can be used to cool in the summer too. you just run cold water thru it during the summer, and warm in the winter. easily keeps a home or garage in the 60/70's or what ever you want during winter.

 

[roadnotca]

I've got the opposite problem here. I need to install an evap system before next summer. This is what happens in July around here, if you leave the doors open. I about pooped my diaper when she started rattling. Need less to say, the skin is now mounted in my office.

Bitchin critters in AZ.

 

[Greg72]

2007.11.05 - UPDATES:

Hey.....big surprise! Everything takes longer than expected.

As you can see from the first photos, my workspace is a total mess. This makes for a really hostile environment to try to do productive work. Step 1 was backing the truck out and moving as much material into the driveway as feasible to create to elbow room.

The first pic is a shot of the left-side parking spot. It has an opening above it where I am currently storing my hardtop.

This is a shot of the right-side parking bay. The staircase was built recently to give me more convenient access to the storage above this parking spot. It has already proved to be a Godsend....my workshop would be a LOT more cluttered if not for this area. All it needs now is some decent lighting up there to make things a bit easier to find. Sorry about the fuzzy pics....my camera blows.

Materials for the job. 15 flourescent lights and a hugely-compressed package of insulation. Just cutting the woven outer bag caused it to explode to about twice the size pictured here. Cutting the individual bags causes them to explode to about 4X their original size. As you can see, I'm also buying bulbs by the case for this project! 6500K color temp....who knows? Maybe that will be nicer than the warm bulbs I've traditionally used. (~3500- 4500K)

The problem with this process (other than the huge mess to trip over) is that I need to accomplish a number of things simultaneously. I need to insulate the walls before adding the sheetrock, and I need to run wiring for outlets before I add the insulation. That means drilling holes and snaking Romex all over the place too. This is all I was able to accomplish in a single day of work. Insulation, wiring and drywall 8 feet in both directions from the corner. Not bad considering what needed to be done....but if it keeps going this slowly, I'm going to be at this for a couple weeks.

BTW -> The wiring is inside those walls and the outlet locations are marked for "retrofit boxes". I had to make a trip to HomeDepot to get more, so now all I need to do is cut the holes and pull the wires through the openings and wire them up.

Finally, because all the wood is so dark (ceiling) it really soaks up the light...I've already experienced this with the current lighting. I've got 5 4-foot flourescents and it barely lights up the place. I decided to paint the ceiling beams with Kilz but due to the low temps (around 50 degrees) it took forever to dry, and the color kept bleeding through... I'm probably going to have to go back once I have heat in the garage and re-paint everything to make it truly "white". It does make things look a lot cleaner though...

 

[ARAMP1]

Nice! What heater are you going with? I told myself last winter that I'd have heat in the garage for this winter. It isn't coming along so well yet. I was thinking of going with an electric heater just for simplicity's sake, but a gas or propane one would be awesome.

 

[Greg72]

Nice! What heater are you going with? I told myself last winter that I'd have heat in the garage for this winter. It isn't coming along so well yet. I was thinking of going with an electric heater just for simplicity's sake, but a gas or propane one would be awesome.

It's just a wall mounted, direct-vent unit. Maybe 36" wide by 24" tall. Runs on LP gas, and the tanks for my kitchen stove and clothes dryer are already located behind the garage, so the hookup should be easy. Plus, it was free.

I'm concerned about heat sources with a pilot light in a garage (explosions, etc) but I'll just have to remember to keep my use of spray paints and solvents to a minimum until I come up with a better solution.

 

[mrdrinksalil]

Nice "man space". I will just keep dreaming on someday having a larger man space of my own! The two car garage is all mine, but its not enough!

 

[GM4wheeling]

x2 very nice looking. I also have a 2 car garage, but it's not even big enough to get my blazer in with out talking the tires off, slapping a set of bare rims on and winching it in. And even then I can't put anything in front of it like a toolbox or bench or i can't walk around it... And the Avalanche.... just barely clears the garage door and has about 4" to spare length wise. I too dream of building my own someday....

 

[55Willy]

6500 is a cool almost true blue light. whats the CRI on those lamps? you go two bright and things start to look funny. my roommate thought he needed the bighter coolest light in the kitchen and now the water looks yellow in the white sink.

 

[Big Blzn]

Just a thought. If you have not drywalled the entire garage yet why don't you look at using some 1/2" or so nice ply wood to sheet some of the walls so you have a better attachment point for shelves or tools. Plus it will add better shear values to your manspace.

 

[Greg72]

Just a thought. If you have not drywalled the entire garage yet why don't you look at using some 1/2" or so nice ply wood to sheet some of the walls so you have a better attachment point for shelves or tools. Plus it will add better shear values to your manspace.

Not many earthquakes here.... though when I checked your location it made sense why you suggested shear walls!!

The house is built on granite ledge all around, there's not much point in using plywood as a shear panel....plus it's harder to work with and is more expensive than gypsum board.

I have a shelving design that (unfortunately) I've now perfected, since I have built it 3 times in three seperate homes that I've owned (and sold ) As long as I can find the studs (which shouldn't be too hard with all those visible screws) I'll have enough to do what I need.

I'm trying to get away from hanging lots of parts on the walls. Even without earthquakes, it always seems like they end up falling onto the vehicles parked nearby....

 

[RGV72BLAZER]

man you have a lot of crap laying around. you should throw some of it away......or send it to me

 

[cuervo]

I didn't read every post in there so someone or yourself my have already thought about this.

The aircompressor, don't put it inside where you're going to be working. Even though it is belt driven it will still be louder then you like.