Garage Conversion #4: Walling Off

As of Sunday night, the separating wall is nearing completion. Since our little girl was born, I’ve framed the wall (with the exception of a four foot section where the door will go), run my electrical, and insulated most of the new wall.

The framing went without headache. I built a simple jig that allowed me to compress-fit a board onto the top sill while I screwed in the studs. Yes, I used screws exclusively for this project per the recommendation of retired, professional framer.

I’ve never done much home electrical work, but a little research goes a long ways. Actually, I rarely stop at a little research! I read through my books and made many a query to the Internet on specific topics. I feel as though I have a much better understanding of the general electrical work going on in homes. I ran a new 20amp circuit for the workshop, though I have not connected to the panel yet. I still have to fish that cable through the wall – bleh. I also extended an existing garage circuit (15amp) to add additional receptacles. I cut-off the workshop portion of the garage from this circuit with the exception of the garage door opener. I will have five receptacles in that room when I’m done. It’s not because I plan on overloading the circuit, I just need maximum positional diversity in the room rather than a bunch of extension cords and/or surge suppressors. At any rate, I’ve added two receptacles to the room, a light switch, and have one more receptacle to do on an existing drywall. So far, everything is working perfectly. The one thing I did learn after-the-fact was that I don’t much care for 12 gauge wire. It’s so much stiffer than 14 and hard to compress into the electrical boxes!

The last thing I’ve worked on is the insulation. That’s a simple enough job, though tough on the lungs and skin if not protected. I really need to wear a mask no matter how little the job. Having a dry cough from insulation fibers just doesn’t seem like a good idea. At any rate, that job will be finished up soon and I will be adding foil-backed foam insulation onto the exterior dividing wall. First, I have to get all the stuff I moved into that part of the garage out of the way!

This project has been a constant shuffle of things. As I finish up one area, I move clutter into it to free up the next area to work in. My poor workshop is completely unusable at this point and I don’t care to drag out the tools into the wintery weather we’re seeing. I can’t wait until this project is over so I can begin finishing the workshop too! It has been hard to keep my mind focused on the room at hand, rather than wandering off on all the things I want to do in the workshop.

-- It takes a viking to raze a village.