Flex Space Garage Remodel
In this project our clients had a 1960’s ranch style home with an attached original wood paneled garage with a visible water heater and furnace, a side by side washer and dryer and no cabinets for storage. The garage was dark, had limited utility, no insulation and no windows along with an unusable garage door. The family’s dream was to have a bright, multifunctional flex space that their young two year old could play in as well as a privacy gate that would allow them to use the space to the side of the house as a much more secure storage area and provide a security and visual barrier to the backyard area.
During the design and planning portion of the project, our clients, with the help of our spatial designer Robin Koch, owner of Array designs and interior designer Tasha Welch created a design that truly fit their needs and their aesthetic vision. We worked with our clients throughout the project to fine tune the work scope and product and design decisions to match desired budget.
We completed the following work below:
Foundation
We removed the garage door, poured a new foundation stem wall, tied it into the existing foundation wall and enclosed the area to match the existing cedar siding on the house.
Sheathing & Siding
Framed in a new exterior wall where the garage door previously was placed.
Installed plywood sheathing and an exterior and interior vapor barrier.
Framing & Drywall
We structurally reinforced unsafe ceiling joists.
Built a 2’ x 8” facade wall to cover the foundation stem wall on the storage side of the area in order to have a flush wall for the cabinet install and superior insulation R value resulting from the increased wall depth.
We built a facade wall covering the back of the chimney and installed a fireplace cleanup access panel.
We built an enclosure with two doors around the existing furnace, water heater and the new AC including, installing an access panel for the furnace.
Heating, Venting, Air Conditioning (HVAC)
We removed the old wire mesh screen for air intake, built and poured in a concrete form to fit a new, properly sized vent that will stop insects and rodents from entering, but still allow for proper air inflows.
We installed a new Furnace/AC air register to make sure the space had conditioned air and would be comfortable year round.
We added R-30 insulation (R-21 is minimum required by code) to the perimeter walls to make up for any additional heat loss that would come from the new windows, added enough blown in insulation for the attic space to reach R-69 insulation value (Minimum to code is R-39) and furred out and insulated the concrete stem wall to R-21 as per code.
Installed fire caulking around all penetrations to the attic and to the main house for superior fire protection.
Windows
We added a 6’ x 18” long ribbon window where the garage door used to be, above shoulder height to allow for light to come in, but still retain privacy from the street.
We also added two 3’ x 4’ windows and one 4’ x 5’ along the side of the house to allow for better lighting and a more open feel.
Electrical
Our clients were interested in installing AC as well as a future planned Master bedroom addition, we advised them to upgrade to a 200 amp in order to fulfill all the future electrical needs as the existing electrical service was only 100 amp. We upgraded the panel to 200 amps and brought the electrical intake up to code height .
Added a dedicated circuit for the Ac, an exterior quick connect plug for hardwiring the ac and an interior duplex outlet for the AC condensate pump.
Added a motion sensor security light on the back door for visibility and safety as per code, as well as an external GFCI outlet below it.
We added 4 can lights and a dimmer switch for the main room and 2 can lights and a dimmer switch for the smaller laundry and storage room.
Under mounted cabinet lighting for the work desk and the upper cabinet above the laundry folding cabinet.
Added a duplex outlet for the flat screen tv.
Plumbing
During the construction process, the 9 year old water heater failed and began to leak. We removed it and installed a new water heater with a gravity fed line that carries any leaking water outside of the house, preventing future flooding from happening, saving our clients a future cost of removing and replacing the entire floor when the water heater reaches the end of its lifecycle.
Storage and utility design features
Stackable washer and dryer increased the overall usable footprint of the space.
Laundry folding countertop and cabinet (Upper and lower).
Full size storage cabinet for a vacuum and other items.
Reading nook with bench storage underneath.
Entertainment area with a large flat screen tv for watching tv and gaming.
Custom made office desk with area for books and file storage, a custom made coat hanger, shelving and beveled inset window trim using grade #1 Maple with a natural finish.
We built a decorative cover for the sprinkler system controller and covered all the exposed electrical lines with rectangular wire covers for a cleaner aesthetic.
Our clients now have the upgraded electrical capacity and the comfort of knowing they are prepared to expand with the future planned master bedroom addition and peace of mind that the new water heater will never flood the space if it leaks. The walls and attic are now properly insulated increasing energy efficiency. and protected with an interior and exterior vapor barrier The ceiling joists are reinforced where necessary and the new attic access door provides safe attic access. The attic is now ready, with little bit of modification in the future, to provide even more storage. The new cabinets provide much needed storage space and clothes can now be folded in the laundry room before being taken into the house instead of the living room.
The new flex space can be used interchangeably, as a fun and large playroom for the family’s little one, an entertainment/TV area perfect for video games and right next to that, a secondary brightly lit home office that offers the privacy needed for a productive day!
