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By Gareth, February 26, 2008 12:34

The garage conversion is taking shape now.

Phase 3 of the project was to add some colour to the walls and ceiling. This was going to take a few coats of paint as we would be initially painting on to the bare brick.

Things didn’t start off too well with my Dad as he started painting the ceiling. With almost his first roller full of paint he dropped a large blob all over his head and face. Seeing him climbing down the step ladder with half of his face covered in white paint was a bit of a comedy moment. Luckily it was only emulsion so it was pretty easy to get off. I just wish I’d got the camera ready to get it on film.

Once cleaned up my Dad and I got going with the first coat of paint. We decided to split the tasks between us. I would go around the room with a paintbrush and do all of the intricate areas, while my Dad got on using the roller.

Getting the paint on the wall was a fairly easy job, the only major drawback being the uneven surface. The surface meant that we would have to get the brush out rather than the roller to get into the nooks and crannies. Another minor obstacle were the central heating pipes and electrical cables, but by using the brushes to get in between and behind them, this was one obstacle that was overcome quickly.

The first coat of white paint went on quite quickly, and in a couple of hours we had managed to cover all the walls and the ceiling. At this point the bricks were still showing through the paint and they looked like they would need one more coat, if not two. We stopped for some lunch while the paint dried.

Once lunch was finished applying the second coat was much the same thing, this time without my Dad’s little accident. Another couple of hours and the second coat was on the walls. At this stage we let the walls and ceiling dry properly overnight so that the next morning we could determine whether we would need another coat of white paint before applying a colour. Here’s what it looked like at that stage:

Next morning after the paint had dried fully the walls still looked patchy, with the colour of the bricks still showing through in places. We decided that another coat would be worth it. It was again another couple of hours of painting to get the final white coat applied, and we again left it to dry over lunch.

Coming back after lunch we found that the paint was still a little damp in places. To fill in the time while it finished drying, we began filling in a few of the little holes in the wall that had been emphasised by the white paint. There weren’t that many but just to give the wall a slightly better finish we filled them in with some polyfilla.

Once that little job was done we pressed on with applying the colour to the walls. Gemma and I were a little undecided about colour, but the decision was easily solved as in the garage was an unopened tub of “Warm Magnolia” emulsion. This had been left over from decorating our bedroom when we bought the house. Better than spending money on something different.

Our plan was to put a couple of coats of the coloured paint on the walls, but when we started it became apparent that we might get away with one. We’d not noticed that the paint was “One-coat”, so it was better at covering the walls.

Sadly, my Dad and I didn’t manage to get all of the walls painted, as we ran out of paint to finish the job. Initially, we did think that we might be able to stretch it but the tub of paint only managed to cover 2 1/2 walls. Dad has kindly agreed to come up in the week with a new tub to finish off the walls for us.

Even though the painting is not completely finished the room is looking really good.

The next tasks will be to put the carpet down and bring in some of the furniture. I also want to put in some electrical trunking to try and make the wiring look a little tidier, and also bring a network cable through from the lounge to hook up the computers.

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By Gareth, February 13, 2008 12:45

This weekend saw Phase 2 of the garage conversion. The target for this weekend was to finish the partition wall, and also install the electrical sockets.

Day 1

Good progress was made on Saturday, putting up one skin of the plasterboard before lunch-time. It was a little tricky in places, having to cut out small areas to get around obstacles. But all in all, it went on without too much bother. There were a couple of expletives shouted as hammers collided with fingers, but no lasting damage.

Once lunch had been consumed, we set about putting the final skin on the partition wall. Initially we measured up all the boards, cut them to size and checked that they all fitted together, before fixing them to the stud work. This was to allow us to fill in the cavities in the stud work with fibre-glass insulation that we had left over from when we fitted out our loft (details can be found in Part1 and Part2). With all of the insulation filling the cavities, the remaining plasterboard was nailed to the wall creating a completed partition wall.

With the wall now completed we decided to fit the door frame to the wall. The trickiest part of this was making sure that all of the pieces were square to each other and that they were also straight. Once completed we decided to call it a day.

Day 2

With the partition wall completed the previous day, our next target was to install some extra electrical sockets.

This would involve running a wire from the the current electrical supply around the newly created room stopping off along the way to wire in the sockets. In all we needed to install four sockets, three inside the room, and one outside.

Initially the wall sockets were fixed to the wall with the notches cut out to feed the wires through, then the cable was run between the sockets. My Dad then wired in all the sockets. I probably could have done this, but I was not confident that it would be done correctly, so it was left in my Dad’s capable hands.

Whilst Dad wired up the sockets, I set about making the cabling tidy by clipping the cable to the wall. This was not the easiest thing to do, trying to hammer the nails in the clips into the wall, whilst avoiding your fingers. Some of the clips would behave themselves and go in first time, but others would not be so forgiving. Some would fall out because of the texture of the mortar, some would not even go into the mortar so would have to be repositioned. I think I only actually clouted myself on 2 or 3 occasions, which led to a few choice words escaping my lips!

Once all the sockets had been wired in it was time for the critical part. We needed to actually connect them to the main power supply. We turned off the power to the fuse box and connected the new sockets via a junction box, and a fused switch, making sure that all the wires were located in the correct places. After double checking the wiring, the sockets were secured into their housings.

Next came the moment when we would know for sure if all the sockets were wired up correctly.

My Dad flicked the switch on the fuse box. Thankfully there was no loud bang that you’d get if something shorted out. Everything seemed OK. So just to make sure I checked every socket with mains checker.

Everything was OK.

With all the sockets fitted and working we had a quick tidy-up and called it a day. A job well done.

Thanks for all your help Dad.

Next phase will be painting the room to make it a little more liveable, that will be in a couple of weeks. Next week my Dad’s taking Mum away for her birthday.

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By Gareth, February 6, 2008 06:58

This weekend was phase 1 in converting our garage as I’ve previously mentioned. Thankfully, my Dad has agreed to help me with this project, as its definitely not a one-man job.

DAY 1

Our first task was to clear out the garage so that we could set about putting a frame down to lay the floor. We began by running a frame around the perimeter of the garage. This was followed by setting out the cross members of the frame to lay the floorboards on. We had decided to insulate the floor from the concrete base, and we opted for polystyrene foam boards that would fit between the cross members.

We then set about laying all the cross members and in filling with the polystyrene boards until we had reached the required point. Even at this stage the garage was really taking shape.

Following this it was time to lay the floorboards over the top of the cross members and polystyrene boards. These went down fairly easily and in no time we had covered the entire area. There were only a couple of tricky spots, around the gas pipe and also the brick supporting column, but these were easily dealt with a few saw cuts.

The boards were all then screwed down and secured, this creating a very stable platform. At this stage it was an appropriate point to stop for the day, so my Dad and I tidied everything away ready for to start on the partition wall the next day.

DAY 2

The next day, my parents arrived fairly early, so that we could get started.

Today’s task was to get on with constructing the partition wall. The process began by constructing an frame around the walls of the garage. This took some time to ensure that all of the pieces of the frame were square and level in all directions. Nothing worse than a wonky wall.

Once the external frame was in place, uprights were then placed inside the frame at intervals that would be able to support the plasterboard that will be added at a later stage. We also needed to set out where the door frame would need to be. This was not too difficult once we’d sorted out how much room to leave from the non-existent instructions.

After sorting out the position of the door frame, we then put the small bracing pieces between the uprights, to give them more stability. Did you know that these bracing pieces are called “noggins”? No, me neither. It a word that is often heard but I’ve never given any thought about it. You learn something new every day.

Once the noggins were in place it was again time to call it a day, so we tidied up the garage and put everything back.

I must admit that the garage is looking good even at this stage. Next weekend my Dad will be back to start on phase 2. We’re planning to put some more power points in, and also put up the plasterboard and insulation on the partition wall.

Shouldn’t be too many weekends until its all finished.

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By Gareth, February 1, 2008 17:19

With the impending arrival of another baby we need to make some space in our third bedroom, and move our “office” somewhere else.

We’ve always said that we would convert our garage into another room, but as you can imagine this can cost a bit of money. So, in the interim we are going to divide up the garage with a partition wall. This room will then house our little “office”.

The partition wall will be accompanied by a simple floor, which will help insulate the newly created room from the cold concrete of the garage floor. It will be finished off with some carpet.

Building starts tomorrow with the help of my Dad. My Dad kindly came up the other day to get all of the materials so that we can start in earnest when my parents arrive on Saturday morning. The project will definitely not be finished in one weekend. It will probably take a few weekends work. All will be worth it in the end.

Hopefully the weather will improve tomorrow, and it will be a bit warmer than it is today. It is pretty cold here today, and with the wind it is even colder. Brrrrrrrrrrr!

I’ll post some updates as the work progresses.

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By Gareth, December 5, 2007 15:08

Over the weekend my Dad and I finished off the little project that we started two weeks ago. Two weeks ago we had managed to get about half of the area insulated and covered with floorboards.

Having practised two weeks ago, the process of laying the insulation and floorboards was a whole lot quicker. By the end of the Saturday we had completed the outer part of the loft. Even after having to negotiate over our water pipes.

On Sunday, we began the day by moving the light switch to the rafter just above the hatch. This was a pretty simple job. The trickiest part of the job was getting the wires back into their respective places in the switch and the junction box.

Once the lights were back on we pressed on with laying the insulation and putting down more floorboards. We had saved the trickiest part till last, boarding around the loft hatch. The problem that we had was how to board over the water pipes that had been routed near to the hatch.

After some thought my Dad and I decided that stepping the floor up in this area would be the best thing, as we needed to make it strong enough to mount the loft ladder. We measured hatch and then my Dad cut the floorboards to size while I fixed the batons around the water pipes to create the step. Once the batons were in place we fitted the floorboards to them, and it all fitted together, which was a relief.

After installing the floorboards we fitted the loft ladder which would give us easier access to the loft. This was a fairly straightforward job, the only problem was that there were not enough screws in the pack. That’s always the way though isn’t it? After a couple of minutes trying to find suitable replacements the ladder was installed.

The loft is now finished, with the exception of modifying the loft hatch, which we’ll try to do before Christmas. We need to attach some hinges so that we can open it from the landing, instead of having to use the step-ladder.

Thanks again to my Dad for all his help. I’m sure it would have taken me ten times as long without it.

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By Gareth, November 20, 2007 14:57

This weekend my Dad and I began the big job of putting insulation into our loft.

My Mum and Dad arrived fairly early in the morning to enable us to spend the whole day at it. My Dad and I set about getting ready, while my Mum was looking after Ellie while Gemma was at work.

The first job that we had to do was to install two fluorescent lights to provide more light rather than the one solitary light bulb that we had originally. This was a fairly easy job as there was already an electrical supply, so all we had to do was to run some extra cable and install a junction box.

Once the lights were installed, we began the task of moving most of the things that Gemma and I had accumulated over time to one side of the loft so that we could make a start with the insulation and also begin laying the floor boards.

Starting from one side of the loft, both me and my Dad were perched on boards laid across the rafters, so that we didn’t fall through the floor to the bedrooms below, we started laying the insulation between the rafters. Fibreglass insulation is not the best stuff to work with, it gets very itchy. Long sleeved tops and gloves highly recommended!

The most awkward part of the whole process was getting the insulation right into the point of the rafters, as there is not a lot of head room there, so you are having to work on your stomach. After successfully installing the insulation in between the rafters, we moved onto putting some of the floorboards down so that we would have a more solid base to work from.

We added some batons across the rafters to add some extra support to the floorboards, and to raise them slightly so that they were not squashing the insulation down too much. Once the first lot of batons were secured to the rafters we set about fixing the floorboards to the batons. This was by far the quickest part of the job so far. Once we had screwed all of the boards down across one width of the house, we decided that would be enough for one day, and conveniently, that’s what the rechargeable drills thought too!

The next day, my Mum and Dad arrived early again to carry on from where we had left off the previous evening.

We began by shifting most of the things around in the loft onto the new floorboards so that we could concentrate on putting the insulation and floorboards down in the central part of the loft. As can be seen in the photo, progress in this part was pretty good as there was more room to work in, and the boards went down reasonably easily. But then progress slowed down a little as we had to cut all the boards down so that they would fit between the rafters, but by mid afternoon we had completed most of the central part.

Then we got to the hatch area. This proved to be a little trickier. We found that we’d need to move the light switch and also build up a step to go over the water pipes that were located on one side of the hatch. As it was getting late we decided that we’d call it a day.

It was looking really good by the time we had finished for the day. Two thirds of the loft area is now boarded out so that we have more storage space, and hopefully, the house will be warmer too.

Phase 2 of the project will begin in a couple of weeks after Mum and Dad get back from a long weekend away for my Dad’s birthday.

Many thanks to my Dad for the hard work put in, and also to my Mum for keeping Ellie entertained over the weekend.

See you in 2 weeks.