Making garage habitable

[Paul the 6th]

No me and the missus haven't fallen out, I'm thinking that the big garage full of junk and spiders would be put to better use if I had some of my printing/cutting/pressing equipment in there.. Thinking a work bench running down each side and round the back wall, would give enough space for the heatpress, the new smaller 700mm cutter, space to weed out/prep graphics and transfers and under the bench still have room for stock & some of the crap which is in there at the mo (cube beer fridge... oh yeahhh)...

Currently it's a single walled jobby with corrugated asbestos type roofing and three quarters of the worlds population of spiders living in there:


I'm thinking of getting the roof replaced with proper boards and felt to guarantee against any leaks in winter, and if we're gonna keep the spiders out we'll need to do a proper insulation/boarding off job against the walls - if we're gonna do that we might as well insulate it to keep the damp & cold out a bit better than if there was nowt in the gaps..

Anyone got any advice on this? Costs for sorting the roof, could it be done DIY stylee? How about boxing the walls? What would this entail? All advice/ideas/experience/opinions really appreciated on this one

[Viney]

Fill it with Bikes, a bike lift, a 20K snap on tool kit, beer fridge, comfa sofa, job done and feed the spiders carbon so they can produce carbon fibre weave.

[dizzyblonde]

It can be done DIY stylee, when my bro started out with the graphic design he converted the garage into an office. Had a great pic pro printer for doing canvas and A1+ size photos etc, computers and desks and lighting and all that goes with a business of that sort. He converted a very leaky garage at minimal cost too.

[Paul the 6th]

Cheers dizz, I know it's easily achievable, it's just the roofing & how to make it feel more like an office space/room as opposed to a rough assed brick wall garage - I've already painted the Walls cream for better light but if there's garments, prints & vinyl in there it really has to be dust & rubble free tbh..

Anyone reckon screwing timber batons to the bricks & then plasterboard to the batons would work out alright? Not sure what the standard for his kind of stuff is

[Paul the 6th]

Cheers dizz, I know it's easily achievable, it's just the roofing & how to make it feel more like an office space/room as opposed to a rough assed brick wall garage - I've already painted the Walls cream for better light but if there's garments, prints & vinyl in there it really has to be dust & rubble free tbh..

Anyone reckon screwing timber batons to the bricks & then plasterboard to the batons would work out alright? Not sure what the standard for his kind of stuff is

[dizzyblonde]

He lagged it out with plasterboards, nice classy paint job to make it look 'graphic designer' officelike. Can't be having muck and dust around when you are printing out peoples wedding portraits and prized cars to put in frames etc!

[yorkie_chris]

For the roof you can get some bargainous plywood on ebay for a couple of quid a sheet, add some good quality felt and adhesive, job's a good un. I reckon it's DIY-able.

[Paul the 6th]

When can u start yc? How do I take the asbestos stuff away? Is that Only dangerous when it turns to dust? Guessing that'll be a contracted job?

Am I somewhere near with plasterboard fixed to batons? I know we won't be able to keep every last spider out but will roofing/boarding/generally sealing the place up reduce the number which are wandering about in there right now?

Paul, i convert garages, amongst other things for a living, depends on your budget, do you wanna leave it as a converted room? do you wanna be able to sell it as a converted room? etc etc.

Dont DIY the roof mate it wont last and will be false economy, by all means frame and board it yourself, but get the felt torched on by a roofer as it will last.

Are you gonna brick up the door?
If not dont waste your money on insulating the walls cos it will be wasted.

What the building control want these days is foiled backed cellotex of at least 100mm then plasterboarded over the top of them, 150mm of celotex or similar in the roof.
The floor will need some insulation as well, which can be done by putting 60mm celotex on the floor tight, then lay 22mm flooring grade chipboard over it with glue joints so this creates a floating floor which will work well.

I can advise how to do pretty much everything you need, i can give you my moby if you get stuck as long as i dont get calls at 3am

[Wideboy]

don't forget to visit your local building seconds/recycling yard, often overlooked and you can find some good cheap materials that only need a bit of a tart up. I built a shed down the side of house for my dad that's got all his vinyl cutters and printers and the garage mapped out for the engraving and manual machines. Did what YC said for the roof with some inch birch ply, joining the boards with drainpipe sealant, then felted. Put a second hand velux in the roof for daytime light. been up nearly three years now and all is still pukka, no leaks and best of all it cost feck all as i salvaged the boards off of a job i ripped out

and utilise under bench space with compressors ect