Taking the garage off the shelf, so to speak...

Okay, looking back at the entries on the blog, I see we haven't done one since late 2015.  Yikes.  It wasn't like we have shelved the project permanently. We've been spending some time in Regina doing condo renos, and then going on holiday, etc.  But a few weekends ago Rob and our friend Shad took the big SUV to Costco to buy industrial shelving for the garage.  The shelves got unloaded (very heavy!) and sat there being very inspiring.


Well, this weekend, we put up the shelves.  Not too tricky to assemble--they just click in place. Just had to figure out how high each shelf would be. We had bought two units, which we assembled, to have three units.  But we looked at it and knew it wouldn't be enough to hold everything, so Rob and Shad went back to Costco to get one more unit--which grows into two more.  Now we have a wall of five shelves--looks awesome!


We moved a few tubs of Xmas decorations out there and some rakes out of the shed.  And as we move more stuff out there, I'm sure we will be juggling exactly what goes where.  Lots of labelling will help find things.  Very exciting to get the garage unshielded and shelved at the same time!

The garage is painted--can we call it done??!!!

Our hard working mudder/painter Darryl kept going all this week and each day was one step closer to being finished.   A bit more mud, tape, more mud, sanding, etc.  Then it was time for the first coat of primer on Thursday.  Good thing Rob was up in town, as Darryl was running out of primer and Rob had to do a Home Depot run to get more. Then Friday was the final coat of paint and then Rob and Darryl cleaned the floor--and I did a run to the Co-op to get a rubber squeegee so they could wash the water the out. And Saturday afternoon (as we were prepping for a big dinner party), Darryl comes back to install the rubber baseboards.  The place looks sharp.


And as we did three years ago when we got the garage enclosed, we had to christen the garage--back then, our dinner guests sabered bottles of champagne.  This year, totally spontaneous, our friend Herb sabered a big corked bottle of beer.  Spectacular!!!!!


Rob had to leave back for Regina so we couldn't start moving stuff back in.  The stuff is still under a tarp in the backyard and luckily we have had no snow, so nothing is buried yet.  Soon though.


Inventory of what's left on Monster Garage:  get shelving and racking; move stuff off the lawn; move stuff out of the shed on the deck; move stuff out of the workshop; put trim around the window and door... and finally... enjoy a job well done!

A little mud and a little tape

So now with the drywall all installed, we needed someone to mud, tape, prime, and paint.  I convinced Rob that we were the ones NOT to do that.  It would take us another 5 years.  Luckily, the same friend that gave us the contact name for the shingler, had a guy who does mudding and taping. We connected with Darryl and he came over a few weeks ago to look at the garage during the week--which meant Rob had to dial in to walk Darryl through the inspection!  I'll admit some of our drywall installation led to gaps and imperfections, but nothing a little tape and mud can't hide. Darryl looked it over, gave a quote and done!


Well not exactly done.  A few days after the site visit we went to California for a week (Rob had been invited to speak at Stanford on his P3 project and I ran a half marathon in LA), which meant the garage had to wait.


So we got back on October 31 and spent four hours on that Saturday emptying the garage of all the wood scraps, left over hardy plank, tools, tires, bikes, mowers, more wood scraps, and ladders.  Brilliantly, Rob had posted on Kijiji that morning that we had free scraps of drywall to give away, first come first serve and get them now.  Well within 10 minutes, he had four emails, and the scraps were gone within the hour--which meant, we didn't have to move them!


Then Darryl came on Sunday Nov 1 to meet Rob, go over details, and move some tools in.  He came back later for about 4 hours, and has been back every night this week.  He estimates he will have it muddled, taped, primed, and painted by the weekend!  Sweet!!!!!


p.s.  did I mention that we got the electrical deficiencies cleared?  So all approved now.  Yay!

Another Milestone!

I can't believe it!  Another milestone has snuck up on us.  We finished the drywall installation.  Go figure. 


So on Saturday, we did some errand running, and then started drywall on the east wall--the drywall on either side of the big garage door and above it.  That sure looks good.




Then on Sunday, after coffee and breakfast and reading the Globe, out we headed again.  Gee, this is so automatic, yet drudgery at the same time.  We tackled the west wall, so sheets around the window and around all the switches and alarms and openers.




So at 5:45 p.m., the final drywall screw went in.  And then we put all the stuff back.  Looks sharp!  Now we just need to find a mudder-taper-painter to finish it up.    Gee, what will we do next weekend!

What is this vision I see before me?

Could it be... could it... it is... it is the final building permit sign-off.  We have closed the building permit.  This marks the official end of Monster Garage. 


But... and that's a big but... we still have to close-off the electrical permit.  And then finish the drywall installation.  And then hire someone to tape, mud and paint it.  And then we have to move all the stuff into it.


But for now, I'm going to enjoy the moment.  The work we finished up on Saturday lead to this closure, but it feels so anticlimactic.  Like the end snuck up on us after so many endless weekend of work.  It will be nice to be like other couples and not have to do construction chores every weekend.  Oh, to lie on the couch and read a book. 


Now that's a vision!!!

The Last Spike!

This weekend was full of excitement! This was the weekend that we would finish the exterior siding... I could feel it.   But let me back up.








Last week, we had the electrical inspector (Joey) out to inspect our wiring.  I met him on site, and then we called Rob in Regina a few times to clarify things. Overall, Joey was satisfied with what we had done... but there were a few deficiencies we had to clear up, and then he would close off the permit.  The issues--need to install a bushing grommet in the wire coming into the breaker box, strip off the insulation on the wire in the box, cover the wires below the box, and put insulation putty in and outside the conduit.












So we set aside Saturday to work on the exterior--finishing one board on the east face and six rows on the west face, in order to get that done and then have the building inspector out to close off that permit.  So Saturday was a beautiful fall day, and Rob finally nailed the final spike... I mean nail on the east face!!!










Then we moved to the west face.  The six rows took about 3 hours.  Ta dah!  A garage finally with real siding instead of Tyvec siding!.














Then on Sunday, Rob addressed the deficiencies, and I did insulation on the final wall we had left.


Now we just have to find a drywaller to mud and tape and paint the inside.  Then... we move all the stuff in--hope it all fits!


(photos to come once Blogger gets working again)

The electrical is done! The electrical is done!

Are you sitting down?  Brace yourself... today we finished the electrical wiring of the garage!!!!  Yay team!  Rob finished up with the breaker box--look how shiny and nicely labelled it is (I did the labelling).

And the special welder and heater plugs:

 

One of the outside plugs:

 

 

 

Rob finishing up another plug:

 



 



And finally, the light switches, thermostat, garage door opener, and alarm panel:

So now we will call the electrical inspector, who will come out, and hopefully close the electrical permit on Monster Garage.  Which means...we only have to finish up the six remaining rows of siding, and then we can close off the building permit. (we still have about three sheets of drywall to put up inside, and then have someone else mud and tape it--and then... then.... Monster Garage is officially done!!). I can't believe it...