How Our Garage Expansion Project Started and Evolved
We live in Wisconsin which can be a challenging climate for builders and remodeling your home. I am in the process of adding a bump out on the side of my garage and have been studying the latest and greatest building techniques for this project. This is a relatively small remodel project and I have been cleaning out the garage for a week preparing for the start.
The clean-out is a wonderful thing. I can’t believe all the junk that gets accumulated and held onto. Years have gone by since we bought a Pontoon boat that came with a boat grill. We never used the grill yet there it is. Collecting dust and grim even though it’s never been used. I put the grill on the curb hoping it finds a home with someone else.
This project is small and is just creating a connected room along the side of the garage where we can add a second refrigerator/freezer and store car cleaning supplies and the trash bins. But, I’m going to take this room even further and knock out the wall and open the room up to make the garage even bigger. There will be no door to the extra space. Instead of opening my truck door and banging it on the garage wall, the truck door will open freely and completely unobstructed into the other room. This is where the challenge of staying current with the latest building trends come into play.
The Building Decisions Shaping This Garage Expansion
When removing a bearing wall, which happens to be the entire side of the garage, I’m going to need to put up a flush mount beam to support and carry the load of the roof. This beam is similar to the beam that supports the weight of where your garage door is mounted. This is not a big problem at all and I can envision the opening in my head on my drawing. The beauty of this as I can see everything I need to do before I do it as I’m going to remove the drywall ceiling exposing the rafters that need to be supported as I take out the wall. The drywall on the wall is also going to be removed and taken to the dump as it’s old and gross. As a matter of fact, all the drywall in the garage is going to be removed and new drywall, wood paneling and tongue-and-groove boards are going to be installed as well as new lighting, a flatscreen TV and sconces. New outlets along with a new epoxy coated floor. This is a major garage makeover and is going to be amazing.
The most difficult portion of this project is framing the cement floor and bringing in the concrete. I want the two floors to meet and
connect creating a seamless transition from one room to the next. The square foot area of the added room will extend from the garage 8 feet wide and be 16 feet long providing plenty of room for cabinets and storage. There will not be a ceiling in this room as I’m going to expose the beams for added height and hang beautiful lights from the ceiling. The walls will be tongue and groove boards using no drywall. This room will have a door facing the front of the street that will be used for taking the trash bins in and out without having to always open the garage door for this chore. For some reason that has always annoyed me and now I’m going to fix that problem. I’ve seen some of my neighbors leave their trash bins outside and along the side of their garage and that’s a terrible look. It drives me nuts.
The walls will be 2×6 walls with Rockwool insulation in between the studs as well as using Zip System sheathing for the exterior walls. The roof and pitch will be the same as the garage but I am going to apply a different exterior instead of using vinyl siding which is currently there.
Read More: Insulating your roof
I’m not sure what exterior siding I’m going to use but the exterior back wall of the garage is cedar shakes and this would be a great look but this will push my budget way over what I’m willing to spend.