drywall

[Superfluous_Nut]

okay, so the baby's on it's way. which means i'm moving my office to make a baby's room. which means i need to relocate my office. i have decided to convert my free standing garage (which has never actually been used a full-fledged garage).

the inside is exposed framing, electrical already run. i just need to put in some insulation and then drywall it. i hear drywalling isn't very easy. mainly, the mudding is a pain. i think i have a solution, tho. the way the walls are, there's only one wall that's got a larger than 8' span (okay, one other might go a bit over 8'). i think i'll cheat and put a bit of molding at the 4' break point and then not sweat a perfect seam. there'd only be the short seams around doors and windows to worry about and the one large one. i suppose the screws might need some mud, tho.

so as a complete neophyte, should i hire somebody to do this? i got quotes for $3k (including materials) to completely finish - drywall, paint, ceiling... the ceiling would be drywall if i hire somebody, but if i do it myself, i'll probably do a drop ceiling.

it seems pretty easy, but then if it was easy, people couldn't make money doing it.

[Village Idiot]

you'll probably need to sand a little more than a pro would but thats about it. the paint will exagerate any lumps or dips. just dont get too happy with the mud. its really kinda neat if you've got the time to get into it.

[Puttingood]

3k sounds about right and maybe a little cheap. I wouldn't put no chair rail up at 4 feet though just to cover a seam . There are lots more options, drop your ceiling and put the rail down where its suppose to be. Buy some of that tounge and groove prefinished 4x8 sheets or paint some natural wood. Lots of thing you can hang for an office. If you decide to hang the rock then get you some fiberglass tape and a good braoad knife, keep the mud clean and put three coats on it. Don't try to cover it all at one time--build it up. You gonna have corners to deal with and the casing should be outside the rock not butted up against.

[Superfluous_Nut]

3k sounds about right and maybe a little cheap. I wouldn't put no chair rail up at 4 feet though just to cover a seam . There are lots more options, drop your ceiling and put the rail down where its suppose to be. Buy some of that tounge and groove prefinished 4x8 sheets or paint some natural wood. Lots of thing you can hang for an office. If you decide to hang the rock then get you some fiberglass tape and a good braoad knife, keep the mud clean and put three coats on it. Don't try to cover it all at one time--build it up. You gonna have corners to deal with and the casing should be outside the rock not butted up against.
my father-in-law says he can mud like a pro. dunno how much he's done, tho, to warrant that kind of claim. yeah, that 4' rail is also on top of a few inches of concrete (3" on one end, 6" on the other). it is high, but i'm looking for cheap options. maybe i just put the stuff up and see how well he can mud. everybody i talked to says that the sanding is a pain in the ass.

i'm gonna have to live with that 3" slope (over about 18'). that's like, what, 1" every 6'. so about 1/4" every 18" oh well, it's not supposed to be like it's totally comfy in there...

i'm just hoping to get more money out of it than i put in it (when we sell).

[VA49er]

okay, so the baby's on it's way. which means i'm moving my office to make a baby's room. which means i need to relocate my office. i have decided to convert my free standing garage (which has never actually been used a full-fledged garage).


I'm in the process of doing the same thing for the same reason. Except I don't have to put up new drywall. I do have drywall tape that is beginning to come loose in the baby's room though. Does anyone know if I can just puddy over this, sand, and repaint or is there more to it than that?. Keep in mind this is a house I am going to sell in the near future so I don't want to spend too much money on this.

[McFly41]

3K to drywall one room? Or the whole garage?

Either way it seems a little steep to me, but then again my best friend is a drywaller so I gets my drywall done on the cheap anyway.

Have you thought about doing it in pine or oak? They have that tongue and groove stuff that is pretty easy to work with. That's what I plan to use in my basement. There will be a little drywall, but mostly pine.
Just seal it before you cut it than touch-up when it's up.

[reb]

Just put battens on all seams and corners, mud the screw holes and sand, drop the ceiling. Piece of cake.

PS: batten and drop ceiling after you paint.

[QueenCityHillbilly]

What does drop the ceiling mean? I want to learn all of these things so I do all of this stuff myself when I buy a house. Chics dig it.

[Ace13]

What does drop the ceiling mean? I want to learn all of these things so I do all of this stuff myself when I buy a house. Chics dig it.
A drop ceiling is what you see in most office buildings, basements, etc... It's got the individual removable squares that you can remove to access the space above it (convenient for running wires, piping, and such.

[PantherPaul]

This is easy. Go to a new construction site (I heard there are a few in Charlotte ;) ) around 5 pm. Chances are you'll find a Mexican or two. These guys do amazing work doing drywall. That and they'll do it cheap. Doing walls is simple, ceilings are the real bitch. You'll need at least 2 extra people to hold it in place with T's and you will then screw driver it in place and mud. The finish work is where you really see the craftmanship. Joints and seems make the work.

[chipshot]

None of it is difficult in small amounts. I did my bathroom, its not perfect but I'm guessing my next attempt will be smoother.

[gridfaniker]

make sure you 45 the drywall at the corners of the room. Makes a nice tight seam.

[chipshot]

make sure you 45 the drywall at the corners of the room. Makes a nice tight seam.

I prefer coping it



Also the powdered compound works better, if you use pre-mix make sure to fluff it up with a drill and mixing thing

[DaveW]

shove the two side together in the corner and run a bead of caulk. done

[THE GUTTER]

Blow all of your money on smack and get yourself a cardboard box and set up shop on wilkinson blvd. Much easier home to maintain.

[VA49er]

I'm in the process of doing the same thing for the same reason. Except I don't have to put up new drywall. I do have drywall tape that is beginning to come loose in the baby's room though. Does anyone know if I can just puddy over this, sand, and repaint or is there more to it than that?. Keep in mind this is a house I am going to sell in the near future so I don't want to spend too much money on this.

:thinking:

[chipshot]

:thinking:

you probably need to re-tape and then re-mud

[Puttingood]

I do have drywall tape that is beginning to come loose in the baby's room though. Does anyone know if I can just puddy over this, sand, and repaint or is there more to it than that?.

Don't tear that tape ! Take an exacto knife or razor blade and cut it away cleanly, preferably square cut. If you got a bubble left then squirt some elmers under it with a syringe or something. Press it down and check back while it's drying. Then replace the tape and blend it in.

[VA49er]

I do have drywall tape that is beginning to come loose in the baby's room though. Does anyone know if I can just puddy over this, sand, and repaint or is there more to it than that?.

Don't tear that tape ! Take an exacto knife or razor blade and cut it away cleanly, preferably square cut. If you got a bubble left then squirt some elmers under it with a syringe or something. Press it down and check back while it's drying. Then replace the tape and blend it in.

Thanks Putt. This may be stupid, but the current tape is just peeling off a little. Can I just use some elmers on it and then repaint?

[Puttingood]

yeah--if you can get it to lay down. Without moisture in it sometimes it don't want to go back. You can actually staple it with long staples and then put some fingernail polish on the ends of the metal staples. Then just paint or fill it but if you use a tack or staple make sure you seal the metal or it will bleed back through. Spray oil based Kiltz will seal it.

[Superfluous_Nut]

i'm leaning towards just paying to have it done. and the two bids i got (which are nearly identical) were from mexican guys. it includes completely finishing the thing and insulating behind the drywall.

probably $700-800 or so in materials....

too much other stuff going on to really think i could do it, i suppose.

[Guest]

average joe pays $1-2 a square foot for drywall depending on the total square feet and $3 a square foot for paint.

If your garage is 20x20 then you would multiply $5 x 400 and that should give your cost. Insulation material can be purchased for around $30-50 a package for 8' batts, depending on the R value. You'll need more than a couple packages....read the square footage on the package.

Basically $3000 is the going rate....you could do it your self for around $1000, but it will take you a week. Drywall takes a couple days to finish properly and requires a high school education. You will need a truck to deliver the rock. Guess it depends on how much your time and energy is worth.....a week of my time is worth more than $2000.

[y2b]

i still can't believe i can't find anyone to paint a 2-story foyer for less than $600

[Superfluous_Nut]

average joe pays $1-2 a square foot for drywall depending on the total square feet and $3 a square foot for paint.

If your garage is 20x20 then you would multiply $5 x 400 and that should give your cost. Insulation material can be purchased for around $30-50 a package for 8' batts, depending on the R value. You'll need more than a couple packages....read the square footage on the package.

Basically $3000 is the going rate....you could do it your self for around $1000, but it will take you a week. Drywall takes a couple days to finish properly and requires a high school education. You will need a truck to deliver the rock. Guess it depends on how much your time and energy is worth.....a week of my time is worth more than $2000.
yeah, the garage is about 18x18 or so. i just need to figure out who i want to work on it, i think. a couple different bids at about the same price... probably the guy who speaks at least a little english.

[reb]

bullshit, $2,000.00 American dollars saved is worth my time.

[Guest]

bullshit, $2,000.00 American dollars saved is worth my time.

each his own.

[reb]

each his own.

you got that right, bubba.

[Guest]

I may have missed this part of the post, but I got a couple questions

are you going to put carpet down and you do realize the floor is sloped towards the garage door?

are you going to heat and cool the space?

are you going to change out the florescent lights?

does the garage door stay and is it insulated and what is it's R value?

[Superfluous_Nut]

I may have missed this part of the post, but I got a couple questions

are you going to put carpet down and you do realize the floor is sloped towards the garage door?

are you going to heat and cool the space?

are you going to change out the florescent lights?

does the garage door stay and is it insulated and what is it's R value?good questions. the floor... right now i'm thinking i'll just seal it and go for a semi-industrial look. i realize it slopes which is kind of a drag, but i don't want to do anything that permanently makes this not a garage (tho this is actually a second garage on the property... it's weird). not sure what to do about the slope aside from just live with it. dunno how much it'll bother me.

i thought about cheap industrial type carpet, but i dunno...

i'm going to get a split-unit ac/heater that i can mount on the wall. priced one out for like $500.

the lights will probably be just inset cans. right now there's a single bulb in the center of the ceiling, but there's plenty of power run around to tap into. if i was to do it, i'd do the drop ceiling and probably then go with fluorescent lights... i suspect i'll add a lamp or two for specific lighting, tho in truth, i like a darkish work environment for computer stuff...

the door is a standard wood flip up variety. the hardware is a bit unsightly, but in keeping with the theme of not doing anything that kills the garageness, i'm thinking of replacing it with a roll-up door. ideally, it'd actually roll up OVER the ceiling, but that might be asking a bit much, so i'd be fine with it just hugging it. i think that would provide a better seal against weather and critters than the current junky wood door. and it wouldn't interfere too much with the space if done right.


the floor is really the biggest issue that's unresolved.

i also want to hang some sliding doors to create a seperate section for pure storage purposes. maybe with some built in shelving...

the left heavy line is the garage door, the right heavy line is a standard door. the dashed line is where i'd want to hang some sliding closet-type doors. (quick hack of an image, not exact scale or anything, but it's the basic idea)

[Puttingood]

i still can't believe i can't find anyone to paint a 2-story foyer for less than $600

Thats what I do for a living and I'll do it for 575.

[LarryD]

great thread.

pics please, nut.

[Superfluous_Nut]

sure. i'll try to snap pics.

we really could use a "home improvement" forum. maybe roll it into the cooking forum.... maybe it could also include auto repairs and stuff... not sure what you'd call it, tho!

[Superfluous_Nut]

okay, so it's done.

here are the pics...

first off, this is what it looked like to start.

[Superfluous_Nut]

these are after a couple days. insulation in, a bit of framing for the storage area. replaced the flip-up door for a roll up door.

[Superfluous_Nut]

so by this point, the drywall is pretty much up and just needs to be mudded. the ceiling is next.

[Superfluous_Nut]

now it's really coming together. the bones are there and now it just needs a bit of paint and some detail work.

[Superfluous_Nut]

painted up, and the trim is in place. a garage no more.

[Superfluous_Nut]

so the floor was the last step. i decided to acid stain it and seal it. this part i did by myself (the other work was contracted out).

the final product:

[Trojan]

Nice looking job!.

[dollface]

Good Job!

[Superfluous_Nut]

thanks. just to reiterate, i paid somebody to do most of the work! the floor, tho -- that's all me. :) i like how it turned out. actually, the whole thing looks pretty sweet. i'm getting a new door (glass panes like the window) and i still need to order some sliding doors for the storage area. but i'm ready to move in.

if anybody wants pointers on acid staining a concrete floor, i've learned a thing or two from this exercise.

[Superfluous_Nut]

the project ended up being more than i thought to start...

for example, i framed up a bit of wall to make a nice enclosure for a storage area. i ran a bit of electrical and added some lights. the garage door itself was a good $1000 or so. oh yeah, ran a cable from the main house along with phone lines. all in all, i think i ended up paying something like $5000 with all the extras... but i'm happy.

[hasbeen99]

Better to spend $5k and have a nice looking job like that than to spend $3,800 and end up with something decidedly more amateurish (and be out a few dozen man hours), IMO. Turned out great! :xyzthumbs

[Superfluous_Nut]

Better to spend $5k and have a nice looking job like that than to spend $3,800 and end up with something decidedly more amateurish (and be out a few dozen man hours), IMO. Turned out great! :xyzthumbs
yeah, that was my thought, too. i never seem to complain after the fact about spending too much money, but i do complain a lot about not getting what i wanted.

had a little snafu on the floor this weekend, tho. painter's tape pulled up some of the sealer along with the very, very top layer of stained concrete (like .001 inches worth). i was worried that it was all a goner, but what i'm being told is that tape can do that so keep the fucking tape off the floor. seems odd to me, but oh well...

[Guest]

all looks great...

how much?

nevermind...just saw......5k is not much for a new room