Garage
This is the first of about ten projects that will completely renovate the interior and exterior of my house.
Back in early December, I started pulling down some of the flimsy walls in the garage, in preparation for opening it up to my Jeep. The garage will also serve as a handy staging area for the other work that will be done over the next couple of years.
Other than preliminary demolition, there isn't a whole lot to do until that door is re-opened. Once the opening has been made, an actual garage door and opener will be installed. I'll also have a new window put in, and the old A/C unit removed and the hole blocked off. Then the carpeting will have to be pulled up and some fluorescent lights must be installed. I'm going to have to get rid of the unused exercise equipment that's cluttering up the space, too.
Once the garage is done, the next project is getting the entire west wall of the house stuccoed. Right now it's covered with cheap fiberboard siding. Gila woodpeckers have been drilling holes in it for years, and it desperately needs to be repaired and covered. That's another project, and another page.
Before Pics
The initial quote from Halter Construction came in at over $4,000.00. Ridiculous! I contacted another company, Ninja Builders, and they came back with a quote of $1,980.00. I thought that was still too much, considering I'd already cut the replacement of the window from the job. Rather than contracting, I decided to do most of the work myself. Since it was just mostly just demolition, that wasn't a big deal.
I demo'd the closets piece by piece, stacking the lumber up against the door opening. I also pulled out the doors, and stacked them in the corner. I didn't quite know how to get rid of all that debris yet, but I'd think of something. I kept pulling down the bogus walls, and thought about calling the city to haul away the stuff. That would only cost me about $60.00. I thought again, however, that I could just cut the stuff up and throw it in my trash barrel.
I bought a battery-powered circular saw and drill set for about $100.00, continued the demo, and eventually cut all of the 2x4s into 4-foot lengths and dumped them in my trash bin over a couple of weeks and had the city haul it away. I also bought two pairs of of sawhorse brackets, and built two 40"-tall sawhorses. They helped with the cutting. Then I looked at the stack of closet doors and came up with a great idea. I took down the relatively flimsy (and grody) shelves above the washer and dryer and used two of the doors as replacements. I then cut one down by about four inches, width-wise, and put that one up as the lowest shelf. I'll be using at least five more of the doors as additional shelves along the side of the garage nearest the door, and on the end of the garage. Very nice! Very smart!
I also had Joe Gasman, Ninja Builders' contracted electrician, come out to pull the ceiling fan and wire in the three new fluorescent lights in the ceiling. His work cost me $300.00, which I've added to the light installation price above. Now I can see out there! Perfect!
Then I purchased my garage door from Lowe's when it was on sale, and bought a Genie garage door opener as well. Always Open and Shut Garage Door Service delivered the door and will be doing the install. I had to make a couple of minor modifications to the door opening, making sure there was a spring pad available for attaching the heavy door spring. That's done, and I'm just waiting to get them scheduled. The install will cost me $165.00. They'll be installing the opener, too, for the nominal fee of $95.00. I've added those costs above, as well.
I was still a bit worried about knocking out the structure in the door opening, so contacted Jim Zimmer for help. While waiting for his return call, I happened to see the guy across the street out in his garage building some kitchen cabinets. I walked across the street and introduced myself to Aaron, and chatted for a minute. I steered the chat around to my garage door, then got him to walk over to see what had to be done. He offered to help me do that final demo. I know it will be easy, but I really would prefer having some help from someone who has a clue. Once I get Always Open and Shut scheduled, Aaron will come over to help me remove the structure. That shouldn't take more than about 30 minutes. The door will be installed, and the last thing for me to do will be to put up the garage door trim, which I purchased from Lowe's. The trim happens to be exactly the same color as the door. Great!
I scheduled the garage door install for February 19th, which meant I had to "work from home" that day. I went out about 8:00 AM and got started on the last work I needed to do. The structure in the doorway came out in about seven minutes. Literally! There were perhaps a dozen nails holding it in. I asked Aaron to come over from across the street just for a few moments. He brought a couple of small pry bars along, and they were just the tools we needed to remove the last 2x4s. I pulled out the nails, stripped the old caulking, and was ready for install.
Always Open and Shut arrived about 10:00 AM. It took the guy about four hours to get the door and opener installed. While the guy was doing that, I ran out to Lowe's to pick up some additional trim that he suggested. The door itself was only about a ¼-inch wider than the doorway. I picked up some PVC trim in white, along with some screws. I got back home, cut the pieces, and put them up while the door was being installed. Perfect. The trim narrowed the doorway by just over an inch, so the door will have no opportunity to get jammed in the doorway.
Once everything was done and Always Open and Shut had departed, I installed the old bi-fold closet doors as shelves around the garage. Three in front to form a sort of workbench, and a total of six along the east wall to replace the old particle board shelves and add some new ones. Very nice! I still have a few doors left, but I'll trash those when I'm able.
Done and done!
After Pics
Materials
| Item/Work | Item | From | Qty | Each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pella Traditional Series 96-in x 84-in Insulated Sandstone Garage Door | #131985 | Lowe's | 1 | 369.41 | 369.41 |
| Genie 0.75-HP StealthDrive Belt Drive Garage Door Opener | #737052 | Lowe's | 1 | 249.00 | 249.00 |
| Utilitech Wrap 4-ft Shop Light | #749980 | Lowe's | 3 | 22.98 | 68.94 |
| Garage Subtotal | 687.35 |
