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I Need More Wiggle Room... And An Updated Home


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For me it's a no brainer for garage lighting. When I built my garage, I wired all the overhead 6' dual fluorescent for 220V single phase, then used the wall switches to break one phase to turn them off and on. I used 220V commercial fluorescent fixtures and ballasts, as used in service stations, warehouses, etc. These are dirt cheap at salvage houses everywhere since nearly all residential lighting uses 120V fixtures and nobody buys them, although it's easy to convert existing 120V lighting by simply replacling the single pole breakers in the service box with dual pole breakers and changing the wiring in the box. And since the ballasts are 220V, the amperage needed to fire the bulbs off is roughly 1/2 that required for 120V fixtures. This means they are less sensitive to cold temperatures since they fire up quicker. Thus they are cheaper to operate, and you get nearly twice the lumens output than an equal number of 120V fixtures for the same cost. No brainer........

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Man I wish my garage was insulated, the PO put up sheetrock on one side of the garage......with no insulation behind it.

 

Its drywalled and mudded(barely) with no insulation.

 

I guess I will just have to rip down that sheetrock to insulate it, and put up new sheetrock. Now the problem is there is 6 years worth of crap and a van in the way.

 

Sigh.....a man can dream right?

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Insulated mine after finishing the wiring and before the sheetrock. Even insulated the overhead and garage doors. Even on the coldest winter days I just fire up the propane wall heater and in 30 minutes it's nice and toasty in there. Well worth doing IMO because I hate working on stuff wearing heavy clothes and freezing my azz off.

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In 'bama!?

 

Rob

 

Of course it's not like up Nawth, but in N. Bama we get 3-4 weeks at a time below freezing, ice storms, and the occasional snow that paralyzes the whole state. I don't like it cold, and don't put up with it if I don't have to. Good insulation also keeps it cooler in the summer.

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I don't recommend hanging off the garage door supports just for a pic, but I'd bet you reinforced them. :yes:

 

Standing on the snow blower actually! :laughin:

 

Couple more pictures from the day... I'm trying to figure out ways of being more efficient with my storage since I've got way less space than the old shop. Made up a shelf for under my steel table, clever storage for grinding wheels and accessories, and a hanger for extension cords.

 

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Still have a little bit to go on the other half.

 

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... note the snow blower in the front corner by the garage door. :thumbsup:

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Looking great! As I was working in my shop last night and side stepping between the MJ and all the crap leaning up against the wall I started thinking of ways to expand to get some more wiggle room. Unfortunately, I can't expand outward like you did without knocking down a carport and another shed. Can only lengthen or go up.

 

I miss my old dairy barn with virtually unlimited floor space...

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Thanks guys! Lots of "floating" siding to get an old, crooked house looks fairly straight.

 

Spent the morning finishing up the garage. I put the seal up around the garage doors and it's not noticeably less drafty in there. I went over and priced out what it would be for insulation too. Really not all that much but I'll need to add some additional bracing to the roof trusses before I'll trust anymore weight than they already support.

 

Nice and clean!... let's see how long that'll last.

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The new stalls are a little less nice to look at, but it's all very functional.

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I looks tight, but there's tons of room around the green ZJ and the covered up Eliminator. As far as the two and a half in the back, there's still nice walking room around everything.

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Still have some stuff to finish up in the house yet but I'm happy that I can go out into the garage and find stuff. First time since we've lived here! :banana:

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  • 4 months later...

This has been a long time running now and I think I'm going to stick a fork in it for now. The inside of the house is as done as it's going to be until we decide it's a good time to start on the kitchen or bathroom... which ever comes first. Anyway...

 

Before:

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After:

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Every window and door in the house was replaced and it was with much celebration that the trim and new extension jams were finished! It was a great time to paint with all the trim off, so that was done in the living room/kitchen, hallway, and bedroom. Coming up for this spring and summer, I'd like to clean up the yard from ripping it all up, insulate and finish the single stall garage, and put a porch on the front of the house if there's time/funds. All in all, I'm super happy to be done with everything that really needs to get done.  :banana:

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  • 5 months later...

The saga continues. The attic above the house got some more insulation and I had some left over... figured I'd start on finishing the garage and put the rest up there. Had to give it somewhere to go so I started hanging some pole barn siding. Really made the sag in the ceiling joists stand out...

 

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I still have to trim out everything along with another third of the ceiling.

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... one bite at a time.

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