DrPizza's project: turn garage into ... apartment

[TheTony]

I live just minutes outside of Houston, but in a different county, which doesn't require me to have a permit or have anything checked other than my septic system periodically. I think there are more places that don't require permitting than most people believe.

Agreed. Also, plenty of muncipalities that have permitting processes are perfectly reasonable about most renovations. It tends to be large cities with lots of older housing stock that are much more strict with their process.

I'm probably as much in favor of keeping things simple as anyone. However, some of those who complain about it most are the most likely to have egregious code violations.

 

[DrPizza]

Finally got a chance to finish up a bunch of little things yesterday; a little bit of sanding, etc. (Swim season; sometimes I don't get to leave the high school until almost 9pm. Gotta love 14 hour days.) Primed the drywall, painted the kitchen area last night, painted it again today. I purchased the cabinets on Craigslist a while back. They were a bit grungy, and the former owner had sponge painted the border of all the cabinet doors. So, high gloss white enamel & a spray gun. A few hours later, and the cabinets look like I just purchased them brand new. Reassembling all the door hinges, etc., is such a pain in the ass. Got a few cabinets hung this evening; will upload more pics when I get in from the barn. (Thought I'd leave the pink picture up though, to make people temporarily cringe - I had the primer tinted, and that's as dark as they (Home Depot, Behr paint) could get it. The actual color now is roasted pepper.

 

[Newbian]

Remember... when a man describes pink it's called salmon.

 

[sjwaste]

Those cabinets look excellent. Can you tell me a little more about how you refinished them? We just put an offer in on a house and my wife has said the only thing she'd change cosmetically is to go to white cabinets in the kitchen, from the natural finish maple they are right now (I know, I know).

 

[Fenixgoon]

looking good, dr pizza! :thumbsup:

 

[DrPizza]

Those cabinets look excellent. Can you tell me a little more about how you refinished them? We just put an offer in on a house and my wife has said the only thing she'd change cosmetically is to go to white cabinets in the kitchen, from the natural finish maple they are right now (I know, I know).

Easy: $35 a gallon high gloss white enamel. 15 gallon air tank (kept between 130 and 150 psi), with the regulator for the hose leading to the paint sprayer set at 40 psi. It's just a "cheap" Husky paint sprayer, but does a really nice job. 10 times better than those Wagner power sprayers - it's a lot easier to adjust, plus I can pressurize the paint can to keep the flow good without any sputtering. It has a couple other adjustments to control the rate of paint, and how wide or narrow it sprays. To do deeper into the cabinets, I set it to a narrower spray so that I can aim from 16" away. The part that sucks is all the paint in the air. It was pretty hazy in there. Shelves, one side at a time.

I'm crossing my fingers that as it cures, it'll stick pretty well. The blue crap that they had painted over the original finish stuck incredibly well, and there's no sign that they had lightly sanded the surface or anything. I thought about sanding the surface first. Wait... that's like 3 days of sanding. Screw that. I'd buy new cabinets first.

 

[sjwaste]

Easy: $35 a gallon high gloss white enamel. 15 gallon air tank (kept between 130 and 150 psi), with the regulator for the hose leading to the paint sprayer set at 40 psi. It's just a "cheap" Husky paint sprayer, but does a really nice job. 10 times better than those Wagner power sprayers - it's a lot easier to adjust, plus I can pressurize the paint can to keep the flow good without any sputtering. It has a couple other adjustments to control the rate of paint, and how wide or narrow it sprays. To do deeper into the cabinets, I set it to a narrower spray so that I can aim from 16" away. The part that sucks is all the paint in the air. It was pretty hazy in there. Shelves, one side at a time.

I'm crossing my fingers that as it cures, it'll stick pretty well. The blue crap that they had painted over the original finish stuck incredibly well, and there's no sign that they had lightly sanded the surface or anything. I thought about sanding the surface first. Wait... that's like 3 days of sanding. Screw that. I'd buy new cabinets first.

Were your pics from when the paint was still wet? It looked like you went white with a glaze. Still, it looks really professional, I'd be happy to have cabinets that look like that in my kitchen.

Since you had the compressor, you might have been able to sand blast. Please note that I am absolutely not serious, it still would have taken forever, and I don't think there's a such thing as a cheap Husky sand blaster.

I'm sure they'll cure properly with the weather we're having. Are you keeping the place heated? Might not be a bad idea to let them sit in dry, 70F air for a few days. I just don't know if there are enough volatiles left in the paint to pose a fire hazard, so don't listen to me if kerosene heater + paint = BOOM.

 

[DrPizza]

 

[DrPizza]

I've been keeping the garage around 70 degrees. It's hard to do - it's been hard to keep it that "cool" - I'm only heating the one side (for the most part) with a pellet stove, it's on the lowest possible setting. Things dry pretty quickly in there, including my hands. As hazy as it was last night, I think if I were using an oil base paint, I'd have blown up the garage.

And, it looks like I have to clean the lens on my camera.
Must have gotten some dust on it.

As far as progress, I'm momentarily stopped - I need a spacer to make the cabinet above the stove line up. And, some shims for the lower cabinets. But, it's going to be nice! Finally, I can have some live outlets in there to work from. (I don't put the outlets on until I'm done painting - it makes it sooooo much easier to paint walls without having to paint around them. Ditto the ceiling - paint up to it, then I'll put the ceiling in place (tongue and groove) afterward.) All I have to do with a brush is the corners. Oh, and when I make a run to the store, I need some GFI outlets; I have about 30 outlets in a box (I stock up when they're on sale), but don't have any GFI outlets left.

 

[marvdmartian]

DrPizza, you know that if you put a GFI outlet first in the circuit, it will protect the "downstream" outlets too, right?

Might save you a bit of money that way.

 

[DrPizza]

DrPizza, you know that if you put a GFI outlet first in the circuit, it will protect the "downstream" outlets too, right?

Might save you a bit of money that way.

Yep. But, a counter top in a kitchen is required to have two dedicated circuits - that's two GFCIs. Bathroom; another one. Though, since it's a "garage" that's temporarily an "apartment" - I'm having a tough time occasionally determining which part of code to follow - should I make them all GFCI protected circuits? Trying to figure out "why not" though there are some things that GFCI outlets don't like. Generally, I've been aiming for whichever provides the most protection as far as which code to follow. There isn't exactly a section on "what if you plan on temporarily sticking some kitchen cabinets and a sink in your garage?" Though, there have been a few "technical difficulties." e.g. in a garage, you're not supposed to drill through ceiling joists for wiring - instead, if wiring runs perpendicular to the joists, you're supposed to run it on a board attached to the joists. Problem: there's an attic storage area in half of the garage. Drill baby drill. (A total of 5 holes, 3 of which previously existed for the garage door opener.)

But thanks - had I not known that, it would have added up! I like outlets. If you're doing it yourself, adding another outlet to a wall is about another...
new construction box: 20 cents (5 for a dollar on sale)
additional 2 feet of wire (generous) 54 cents
wire nuts: 25 cents
outlet itself: 79 cents
outlet cover: 49 cents.
2 more wire staples: a few cents
If it's being installed by an electrician, that extra outlet is about $125

 

[Gillbot]

IIRC, you have to follow the code for the dwelling it is to be. So since it's an "apartment", you need to follow those guidelines.

 

[Doppel]

If you are doing this under permit you'll likely need arc fault breakers for any new circuits, and possibly all the outlets will need to be tamper proof (adds a buck or something to the cost I think).

 

[DrPizza]

I intend arc fault circuit interrupters for all non-kitchen and non-bathroom circuits.

 

[alkemyst]

I intend arc fault circuit interrupters for all non-kitchen and non-bathroom circuits.

You are giving your kid an arc reactor?

awesome!

 

[7window]

Wow just wow. Very nice!!!

Now kick the boy out and rent it out for some cash flow. j/k

 

[Red Squirrel]

Wow looks good so far! Nice of you to set up a place for him.

I see nothing wrong with those who stay at home after college, as long as they are doing it to pickup money with intention of moving. A typical person out of college does not immediately have 20k for a house downpayment. Some people don't quite understand that.

I stayed at my parent's house for about 2 years after I graduated from college. Had about 30k in the bank after and bought a house. I don't regret it one bit. I could not wait to get out and have my own Independence, but I just did not have the money yet.

DIY work is always rewarding. I'm looking forward to getting into some of my planned projects such as finishing my server room and garage.

 

[DrPizza]

After a long hiatus from the project - son wasn't going to live with us - and the garage returning to use as a garage, I've decided to move forward with the project again. It seems my mother is going to move in "with" us - next door to us would be more accurate though.

Just put up the ceiling over the past few days; somewhat of a pain in the neck - 16foot 1x6 tongue and groove. After letting it sit and acclimatize for a few days, some of the pieces were a bit bowed. Some pieces - 3 minutes to put up. Other pieces - 25 minutes to get fastened in place. I bought a set of 4 HDX pneumatic nailers from HD for about $70 or $80. I figured they'd be junk, but I'm quite impressed with the finishing nailer so far. And, having done this by hand in the past, this was soooo much easier than putting in finishing nails by hand and having to use a nail set on each nail.

Counter is a bit cluttered with tools. And my wife hates the stove. I saw it at a sale, already set up for propane, and spotless inside and out; for $50 or something like that, so I grabbed it. Might be replacing it with something my wife likes better though.

 

[edro]

Looks good, nice job!

The trick about pneumatic nailers is that the cheap ones are great for a few projects... then they wear out and throw double nails or jam like crazy.

 

[DrPizza]

Looks good, nice job!

The trick about pneumatic nailers is that the cheap ones are great for a few projects... then they wear out and throw double nails or jam like crazy.

I assumed as much. I never ever get an extended warranty. For $15, I got a warranty that covered the 4 nailers for a year. I figure 2 of them will get worn out within that time. If they don't, I got my money's worth. If they do, I get 2 new ones, and will have gotten my money's worth. When I replaced half of my roof this past fall, I used a Bostitch; I loved that thing.