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This was the second step to retrofitting my garage to become a Libary.
Surprisingly removing the garage door and the fixed shelving was easy. Was just work backwards step by step for dismantling the slatted garage door.
Fitting stud walls to the insets between the brick pillars was interesting as I was caught out by the sloping floor and also that the pillars are not true vertical. Fitting the first framing was an interesting exercise to say the least.
I wanted to keep the crossbeams and floorboards and showcase the colouring of the underside of the floor above. I also wanted to maximise the area as much as I could plus future proof it for refitting to other purposes (workshop etc)
With the sloping floor I decided to leave it as is instead of putting in floorboards to make it level. I would have lost a reasonable amount of height at the windowed end if I had done so.The slope didn't seem to be too bad.
10-8 x 75mm galvanised countersunk screws
70 * 35mm *2.4m H2 Blue framing timber
Right angle metal corner for Gyprock
Spatula
Sandpaper block
Sketching out my ideas helped prove the concept especially when it came to beams in the way and doorways that needed to be accommodated. Figuring out where I wanted powerpoints/light switches and overhead lights was another consideration. The Cornice was planned at this point as I wanted to have light to shine up into the overhead beams and structure.
First rough out of measurements
As things progressed
Working out where I would place the studs. I really wanted this informationin case i needed it in the future to run extra cables / services in.
The door to under the house was a problem sorting out how to make it work and look like it fitted.
Anytime you get a quote for a reno and think the price is too high, I think of the quantities I needed to do one room... I was shocked.
Before the room started
I should have thought of water issues coming through this wall but figured "nah its a brick wall nothing comes through" Not so.... (see Gabion wall to stop water ingress into garage )
The doorway to under the house
Putting the first frame in. Thankfully I only did the outside first then stood it up to see if I had managed to do it right. I hadnt. The floor of the garage slopes, about 30mm every 1m. So my frame was square... and I had measured the height from the closest point near the doorway.
After I had "adjusted it" it fitted a dream.
Making it up on the floor. Note the noggins are vertical oriented to allow for cables being run down the walls in future.
The second issue I ran into was the vertical brick columns were not true vertical. So I had to make allowances for them being out of true as I went around the room making frames up.
I could really see the shape of the room come through as I worked my way around the walls. One thing to note was drilling the anchor holes for fixing the framework to the floors. Make sure you clear out the hole of dust or better yet drill a little deeper to allow for dust in the hole. I snapped my socket wrench by trying to screw into the hole that wasnt empty. I knew it was deep enough and couldnt figure out what I was doing wrong. The hole was still a third full of dust!
Once I had done one frame the rest were easier.
I was nervous about fitting out the timber studs to accomodate the doorway
Just slowly worked my way through it.
Surprisingly I snapped the head of the bit.
"Shrug" I am sure I was doing something wrong.
The back wall was longer and I hadnt really thought it through when I started one end.
I made it fit tho.
Resources were running out. Surprising how fast they went.
Ran into a problem, well a few problems really. Firstly I didnt have the right sized hammer drill bit. Secondly my Makita drill I have had for the past 30 years finally died with only a few holes left to drill. But most importantly make sure the holes are empty of dust when using the anchor bolts. Concrete dust doesn't compress too well.
The difference in height I found after I had drilled what I thought was the correct depth. The dust settles and the overall depth decreases.
It was a pain to figure out and yep I ended up at bunnings asking "Any ideas?" lol I am sure we all ask the embarrassing questions that make so much sense afterwards. The Bunnings person helped me out with some suggestions why and yeah their first suggestion was "Is the hole clear?"
I put a gas point in as I thought it might be an idea. Make note you specify where you want the point as the first placement was 1m off the ground (I do not know why the plumber put it there.
Finally getting down to the last segments. I did place the battens on their side (so there was a gap behind the timber to run cables etc)
Showing how hard it was to get the different heights consistent.
I had done some plaster patching before (In a kitchen reno years before, 1m by 800mm sheets) but never a whole wall, let alone a room. Things I knew I had to consider were...
Things I didnt realise....
The timber supports for the floor above were different either side of the room. One side the timber was over the brick work and the other it was lined up with the brickwork.
Nutting out the bookcase placement
Seeing what the room may look like and trying to maximise the bookcases.
Never having cut plaster before I did a few practice cuts to see how it was supposed to work. It turned out to be so easy.
If you look at the top beam it was inline with the plaster sheets on this side.
This was where I realised I had made a mistake in presumptions. If you look at the top timber beam on the brickwork it is overhanging. The other side of the room it is flush. When I put the plaster sheets up I ran into the issue of it not going over the beam as expected. I hid the overhang behind my cornice idea tho. (Next project)
It was suggested not to run the plaster all the way to the floor. This was the way id been told to give that gap. It worked a dream.
The far side of the sheet needed 4 pieces to make it level. so thats 40mm drop over 2.4m ish
Putting goup on to stick the sheet of plaster to the studs before screwing them in. I also put it on the brickwork to do the same.
To show the tolerances and why I did the stud walls the way I did. I really wanted to grab every cm of space I could with straight walls.
First piece in!
It went pretty much like I thought it would in my head.
This is why the plaster should NOT be to the floor! I had a water leak and thankfully it didnt touch the plaster.
You can see how water soaks upwards.
This is what I really wanted to showcase. I want the look to be semi industrial and calming.
Putting up the rest of the plasterboard sheets wasnt really a problem. It was like a big jigsaw set. What was a learning curve was the plastering of the joins... I did one join three times and eventually had my carpenter mate come over and he took all of 3 mins to show me what I was doing wrong. I was going to light on the plaster amount and the tape wasnt binding. I was trying to save myself from sanding but was making it harder beforehand.
Prepping for the cut sheets to be fitted
Seriously easy to scour the back side of the sheet with a knife and then "snap" for a clean cut. I used a horse as a second person to hold it up but really didnt need to.
So easy.
Had to work out where the pre installed gas outlet would be. It worked but would have been easier if I had the plaster join elsewhere and not so close to the point.
I was happy with how it worked out.
The wall felt so good to complete.
Trimming the plaster as needed. Scour and snap.
This is why I ended up having to trim the plaster. As the floor sloped it changed the height of the plaster. In reality I should really have just kept a straight line for the joins but live and learn is about all I can say.
The glue "goup" compound. Cant believe I went through it all.
Just so I wouldnt forget what screws I used.
I used a piece of timber to smooth out the glue behind the sheet of plaster before screwing the screws in.
First run of the tape and plaster. make sure you put enough mud underneath the tap to be able to push into it.
Second coat making sure I had enough to cover it all nicely without being heaped.
Angled corner piece to give shape and protect it from bumps. I stapled it to the plaster sheet to hold it into place as I filled it with a plaster coat.
Slowly all being done and smoothed out.
Above the door and main window. I should have trimmed the height down but left it high.
The design for the door to under the house.. (will put that in a side project maybe)
The issue of not using enough mud under the tape. It created a long bubble. I cut a V into it to fix it and relaid the tape.
Another "bubble"
After fixing it. The way I was told to and It actually worked
The painting was done after I had made up the cornice style I wanted and had installed the skirting boards. I will show this in "Garage lining for stud walls stage 2"
It was nice to get to the painting stage. The power still needs to be connected and lighting installed.
It was so nice not seeing any bumps in the paintwork after all that sanding.
It shone so bright during the daylight!
I was very happy with how it all came up. I couldnt take a photo of the whole room in one go as the bookcases were already sitting in the room. Looking back I'd say it was worth it for all the headaches I had during the retrofitting.
Hi @Dave-1
Thank you so much for sharing that framing and plasterboard mounting project. The walls look great and the tip on doing the joints will definitely come in handy. I'm sure our members will find this project useful and informative.
Eric
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