Painting garage trusses and shingles: Definitely the way to go!

Light and bright. An original goal for the garage renovation project.  Instead of dry walling the ceiling or putting additional storage up there, we decided to leave the trusses open and paint. 

Answering what and how to paint was a bigger question.  The ceiling was a pitched roof with open trusses and roof shingles.  No plywood or anything else between the framing and our roof.  So, if we painted, then in a couple years when we replace our roof, all those painted shingles will come right off.  And you'll be spending money on painting shingles.  Shingles!

At first we considered just painting the trusses and leaving the roof alone.  Less paint, you wouldn't waste paint on shingles and it would still brighten everything up considerably.  Then Aaron attempted to actually paint these massive trusses.  It took him 3 hours to paint one.  3 hours!  And we had like 10 more to go! 

So, we evaluated and said that painting the whole thing with a paint gun was the only way that this would happen.  And then we also made the leap to spend money to hire a painter.  Which for us is a big deal.  We've lived in multiple houses and also did the painting ourselves.  Hiring someone for electrical was one thing.  But, painting?  That one was tougher.  Time, ultimately was the deciding factor.  This project was around the Christmas holidays and we wanted to be with family, not stuck in a garage endlessly painting.  So, we made the leap and hired someone.  Here's some "in progress" shots:

And here's the finished product!

Light and bright, here we come!

Drywalling a garage and arched window -- Overboard??

Once demo, garage door install and wall paneling were complete, we moved on to fulfill the "light and bright" priority for the garage.  Oh, actually before that, was electrical install.  But, since we had a professional do that, it's not quite a "DIY" type entry.  So, just pretend, we magically went from 1 outlet to 8 and 2 small light bulbs to rough install of 9 new fixtures.  More to come on that.

So, first, was drywall install.  One wall already had drywall since it's a shared wall with our neighbors and required extra fire protection.  (you can see my green & cream paint testing in the middle of this picture).  It wasn't in great shape, but we knew most of it would be covered by cabinets and a future pegboard.  And we kept repeating, "It's just a garage.  It's just a garage."  Tearing out usable drywall just wasn't in the budget for this wall.

The other side though had been filled with broken particle board.  We decided to drywall that.  Even though our future barn doors will cover most of the walls eventually.

This wall started like this.

Was stripped down to this.

And then drywall was added here:

Here are Aaron's learning lessons from Drywall:

1.  Make as few pieces as possible so that you don't have to mud and tape too many later
2. Hang the sheets lengthwise so that the majority of the mud and tape is at waist height.
3. When putting new electrical on an existing sheet rock wall, do your best to cut the sheet rock in one big long strip so that you can save it and put it back in like a puzzle piece.

That arched window was the trickiest.  How do you bend drywall?  I researched online and found the video below.  Aaron and I sat on the couch watching and nodding as the professional installs and cuts drywall about 20 times faster than we ever could.  Impressive, but nothing new.  And then comes to two minute mark in the video.  Where we suddenly learn forward and have an aha moment.  The following tip flashes across the screen:

You can wet the back of drywall to help it bend!


 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuGu6l6T3Iw


 Yes, it's a bit pitiful how exciting that little revelation was.  But, that was the moment when we decided, why yes, of course, you take the time to finish out the trim of an arched window in a garage.  Is that at all overboard?  No, of course not!  And I think the final result is pretty darn great.

Wood Paneling in a Garage: Loss of a man card??

Functional and cute.  That had been one of my priorities listed in an earlier post for the garage project.  Well, the paneled wall project, I must admit, has no function.  It's just there for the cute factor.  Right at the beginning when planning the project, I asked Aaron how he felt about an accent wall in the garage.  He told me he would officially "lose a man card" if I painted the back wall a different color or something.

And I can't be responsible for something so serious as him losing a man card.  But, that wall would just look so good if we could distinguish it in some way.

So, paneling the wall was the compromise.  An admittedly "useless" feature in a garage, but the end product was something we both really like.

Here's the process:

We considered a few different options and decided on wood paneling that already had a tongue and groove so that they would easily fit into place. Aaron's dad came to help. 

Measuring first was key.  Especially to fit around the light switch. 

A nail gun and a nine year old.  What could go wrong right?

This is our nephew Michael.  While video games did beckon every once in a while, he had a great time helping.

Michael was thrilled to be trying out the miter saw

Fits like a glove!

And here it is complete! 

So, a couple of things to note:

1. See that tiny garage door opener with the wire above it? --- That's something that you should think about before you panel your garage.  That little wire annoyed Aaron like crazy and he later had to painstakingly get it down behind the paneling.  Not fun to do afterwards.
2. I had no idea that the paneling would look this good unvarnished.  Which was a problem.  Because I had intended to paint it.  "Light and bright" was the goal and cream paint was in the plans.  

And that's when the biggest design dilemma moment of our garage project came for me.  Paint or don't paint?  You see, I knew a barn door was in our future.  To hide that rear alcove (aka tool corral).  And I wanted to showcase it.  Without, of course, making it an accent wall. :-)

Ultimately, after looking again at some of the original "inspiration pictures" below, we decided to paint the wall.  And yes, I realize that all these examples are of interiors.  But, why can't a garage have style too?

Now, when I came in to see a first coat of that paint, let's just say it didn't quite match the beautiful ones above.  I did wonder if I'd made a serious mistake.

I'd intentionally turned this:

Into that:

But, as a sneak peek of a little later down the road, here is the nearly final product complete with barn door.  What do you think?  Good decision to paint?

Aaron's dad, George after the barn door hanging project

Complete with lights, door and cabinets!

Barn door, butcher block counter, epoxy floor and painted wood paneling.  Pegboard project underway!

So, what do you think?  Can Aaron still maintain his full collection of "man cards" with a garage like this?

Demolition and Renovations: Not for the faint hearted

I've got big plans for our house.  It's the first one where I think I could actually stay.  Like forever.  Which, for those who know me, is a big deal.  And for those who know Aaron, is a really exciting hope that he can finally do a home project with the prospect of enjoying it for more than a few years.

But, we also live in the super expensive Bay Area.  So, while I've got our whole house renovation already laid out in my head, I've got to be patient.  My philosophy at the moment is that I'm not going to fill the house with temporary stuff.  I'd prefer for areas to just be empty for now until we save the money to make it right.

Well, that decision for empty space has definitely come in handy the last few months.  Because our closets and future "media room" have served as our pseudo garage.  Skis, Christmas decor, tools, paint, cabinets and more all needed to find a home in our house to prepare for demolition.  Garage renovations while working full-time is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Here's what our house looked like for about 3 or 4 months: 

I knew what I was getting into with going for an non-standard garage renovation project.  But, I had to learn to also control my excitement in planning.  You see, as I mentioned, I've got the whole house reno worked out in my head.  And the courtyard.  And the garden.

And my head relaxes by jumping around from plan to plan.  Thinking about what I'd like to do.  Figuring out the logistics.  And wanting to share all of these things with my fabulous roomie, Aaron. Well, his mind doesn't work that way.  His head relaxes by plowing through a single project.  Executing and marking things of a list in an organized, straight-forward approach.  And getting intense satisfaction from having a clear plan to proceed on.

So, while he was busy doing this:

I was busy thinking about thinking about whether this was the right stone for our courtyard:

And whether we could get a gas line out to our rear patio so that I could create an area with Adironack chairs to look at our water view and enjoy a fire wall like this:

And whether a live edge table like the one below would work ok outside as a dining table.  Whether our ocean air would cause problems or whether this was a better choice than metal (which rusted on our previous table).

And I am totally good with talking these things through with my husband while painting in the garage or organizing all of our re-situated cabinets or trying to figure out what to do with all this trash in the crazy Bay Area where garbage cans are the size of wastebaskets.

But, my marriage lesson for the day was that Aaron's head doesn't work that way.  Figuring out the logistics of how what the heck of "live edge" table is and then how one goes about making it, is not something he can think about while painting and installing a garage door, for example (as a totally hypothetical example, of course). 

Our friend Seth helped with the garage install.  He isn't such a fan of photos, but this one was too good to resist!

Short a person or two and needing to get a door moved.  No problem for Seth!

Aaron's dad and Seth were there to help on garage install day.

It was cool to see the door go up piece by piece.

Thanks to living in a gated community, we didn't have a choice on the garage door design.  HOA rules.  Which felt weird to spend money on a design you couldn't choose.  But, that's life.

Isn't he a cutie?

So, I've decided this is why Pinterest was created.  To keep a marriage like mine healthy.  I store all my photos and file them away in neat little areas.  Waiting for the day when my husband's brain has room to consider them.

And then BOOM.  Ideas unleashed.  Project plan created.  Materials researched.  And the next project has begun.  In between, Aaron can happily cross off his task list on the current creation and I can jump around from place to place.  And the results, I've decided, are pretty darn good.