Better Homes Garage Renovation Journey: Before and After

Broke EF

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Dec 8, 2017
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The sticks
Well I got some more work done out in the garage the last couple weekends. I forgot to update last weekend, probably because I got annoyed. After a lot of debate I decided to put my work bench back where I had it. Since the wall steps in there, I wanted to close it off so things dont fall back behind there. This was what we came up with.
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Put one of the cabinets up above
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Got it painted, and installed. Also put my welding stuff up on the wall in a WAY better area
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I moved the bench back, and was annoyed that it wasnt tight against the wall/the filler pieces I made.
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I will just have to shim the front legs to get it to sit right, but I was super annoyed so that was all for that weekend. I know we did some other stuff, like hanging the last cabinet, but I cant remember it all and dont have pics.

My buddy Chris came out yesterday to wrap up some of the electrical so we can finish the drywall and paint work. I even got an action shot
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Chris busted his ass and knocked out a bunch of smaller things. I was actually gone for a large chunk of it getting supplies and lunch. While I was gone he moved and rewired the stat.
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I had a blank plate that we drilled and tapped to mount the Ecobee base to it. We moved it to the stat to more in the middle of the garage and at a normal height. The temp is way better now, its a lot more even. and comfortable out there now.

He also got the boxes landed and pipe run for the openers.
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This is getting pretty busy, but it kind of just is what it is. We talked about what to do for a while and came up with this. It made the wiring for the openers a lot easier, and it matches the exposed electrical work look. The switch that is hanging out is for some lights, there was another one for the heater next to it which we got rid of. I am going to put a box on the single switch to bring it out so it matches the exposed work look. I didn't have the right cover for it, and I don't have a 3-way switch so that will come later.

So we also needed to get some piping stubbed up into the ceiling for future work. Well turns out that wasn't going to be as easy as we expected. Again after some discussion we decided to just pipe up to a box which gives us plenty of options down the road.

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Chris also got my last row of lights wired back in. It was hooked up and working, but the way he did it originally, the door hit it so we had to temp it in for a while. I took down the temp work when I painted the ceiling, but he got it all fixed up and it clears the door now.
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Last up for electrical work pics, a terrible shot of the heater. We got rid of the weird BX whip, put in a simplex outlet and made a cord for it. Also the new thermostat wiring which is all in the ceiling now. I may do a trim plate around that.
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Today I spent a lot of time trying to decide where to put stuff. I had ordered a bunch of things to start getting everything organized. Starting with some brackets for long material.
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I really like these, and should have ordered another set. I am going to add some more so I can put up longer pieces and shorter pieces. These 4 are currently on every other stud.

The toughest call was where to put the new wire racks. I wont bore you with the details, but I only have so much available wall space and I want to be able to get at a bunch of things (including these) so it wasn't easy.
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That's all for now. I wanted to get the wire in the rack because moving boxes of wire for years has been super annoying, but I also had to come an post here or Mook Mook would be mad. I still have a bunch of stuff I need to get mounted up so I can organize more. We can also finish the paint now as well since all of the wires are out of the way from the openers and the thermostat.
 

Broke EF

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Dec 8, 2017
Location
The sticks
Slow progress is still progress right? I completely forgot I needed more hardware for everything, so right as I was about to get started Saturday I had to run to Home Depot which is around a 1 hour task. That coupled with a later start, really put a damper on the day, but we still got some done. Once I finished getting the wire racks mounted I was eager to load them up with wire, so I did!

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I 100% thought I had more wire, but I guess not. I do have a lot of house wire, but that isnt going on these racks. I am thinking of adding a 3rd rack so I can use one for larger spools and for things like heat sleeve, tech flex etc. This works for now though, and I am happy to get rid of some boxes!

Next up was starting my Milwaukee wall.
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I got a 6 pack of these mounts, but after getting these installed I am going to get some of the larger ones for the higher rows. They have slotted rails so I can get on studs, these I was OK missing the studs since the bottom is into wood.

With that done for now, I moved onto the Milwaukee shelves. I had to cut down the vertical e-track pieces I got from harbor freight.
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Got one set done
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This was a pain in the ass, and I was basically on the edge of a stud. Not ideal but I was getting annoyed so fuck it. On to the other set.
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And to feel some form of accomplishment for the weekend, I loaded them up with stuff. Not sure all of this will stay here, or in what order but at least its off the floor.
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The wife also worked on cutting in the last few areas where the wire had been before. So there is more painting that can get done, and I can do some of the trim around the one door. Since Sunday was the super bowl, I didn't even bother going out there. I worked on a new video for the TA instead.
 

Boostie

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Jul 15, 2010
Whatcha need and where ya at? I dabble in some electrical work "off the books", my bread and butter business is HVAC.
Im looking to do similar to Sean and have a panel installed in my garage. The hard part will be running the conduit half way through the finished basement to the garage. I also would like to have a 220 outlet and multiple other 110 outlets added but getting the panel I think would be the worst of it.
 

Broke EF

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Joined
Dec 8, 2017
Location
The sticks
Im looking to do similar to Sean and have a panel installed in my garage. The hard part will be running the conduit half way through the finished basement to the garage. I also would like to have a 220 outlet and multiple other 110 outlets added but getting the panel I think would be the worst of it.
Getting the sub panel is the hardest part. In our old house we were lucky that the area where the main panel was didn't have a finished ceiling, so we went over and then up to the attic then across the house and down into the garage. Here our basement is unfinished so it was pretty easy overall. Once you have the sub panel, I personally like the look and the functionality of exposed work in the garage. Makes it easier to do initially and if you move anything or want to add on that is also a lot easier.
 
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