Bought a garage. It came with an old house.

Nice! Where did you get that mirror? Any tips on trimming the window? We want to do something similar in white.

In reply to Enyar:

I used real red oak hardwood boards for the trim ($$$), since I was staining to try to match the rest of the original 1920's trim and hardwoods throughout the house. For painting, it will be a lot cheaper since you can use any wood type to save money. Just measure carefully many times and use finishing/trim nails to put it all together. If I were you, I would assemble it then paint it.

The mirror is actually some cheap black plastic thing that came with the house. Eventually will replace it too.

I got around to finishing the bathroom. I found an extra original door in the garage so I turned it into a pocket door and built trim to match it. Now I just need to modify a pocket door hardware set to work with the original 1920's door knobs. At least my guests have some sort of privacy now.

Not much to report. The old R22 A/C system leaked out over winter, a nice surprise on the first hot week of the year, so we had a new 410a system installed. Between that and some unexpected vet bills, we have put off the kitchen and attic plans for a while.

Here's a little project from a few weeks ago. Built-in shelves in the bathroom next to the tub. No before pictures, but it was just empty space with no shelves before. SWMBO did it all herself. She's become quite the carpenter.

maschinenbau wrote: some unexpected vet bills

In reply to mck1117:

Oh hey there! Welcome to forum. Yes, Bill Murray (my fluffy orange cat for the unacquainted) got hit by a car a couple weeks ago. He now wears a cone of shame and needs kitty hip surgery.

Lesson learned: If you enjoy the benefits of having money, don't buy a project house right out of college.

I have been neglecting this thread but we've made a lot of progress since April. The garage now has 6 fluorescent fixtures each with 4x4ft bulbs. For 1200 sq ft it's not extremely bright, but way better than before. It has made the Rice Rod build a lot more enjoyable. I also wired a small 30 amp 240V heater, which is also not enough but helps.

Here's a better picture of the bathroom.

I also built a concrete stone path to the back door. They make a plastic mold you just place on the dirt and pour concrete into. Planning a garden along this path.

The big news is the art studio. SWMBO is a local ceramic artist and runs her business from home. At our old rental house, she and the El Camino shared our half of a 2-car garage, while our roommate had the other half. I don't know how she got anything done in here, but roomie's extra wheels were just the right height as a stool for SWMBO's pottery wheel.

At the new house, the guest bedroom became the temporary art studio, until I finally got around to building one inside the garage. It's 10x20, which only underscores the vastness of this garage. The insulation was free from a friend who ordered too much.

Why buy door hardware when your 100-year-old house has extras in the basement? Just needed some cleaning!

Got the baseboard heater and lights installed in the studio. While wiring the lights from above the ceiling, I noticed the "attic" is quite roomy up there. I kinda want to build a ladder or stairs and use it for storage and/or man-cave.

Ladder is worth it. There is always something light and bulky and seasonal that you don't want to keep in a regular closet.

Yup, first rule of home ownership- You can never have enough storage space.

Great thread, can't believe I missed this one!

YOU were the one who bought that house?? No kidding. It is a small world, for sure. And I don't know how I missed this thread, since I actually looked at that house, and went to the PO's garage sale when they were moving out. Go figure. Looks like you're really turning it around!

In reply to gearheadE30:

Come check it out sometime! I could always use a hand with the Rice Rod. I'll add you to my weekend garage party email list. Our little town indeed makes it feel like a small world.

I saved a Craigslist search for "televator" (this thing: https://www.amazon.com/Werner-AA10-250-Pound-Televator-Telescoping/dp/B000WU7RGS ) and ended up scoring one for $125. I put it in my house attic and love it. It's sturdy and wide and fits a variety of opening sizes. It comes with hardware to make a door that fits your access size whereas most attic ladders you have to resize the opening to fit the ladder.

I also bought a nice Fakro telescoping metal ladder for $125 - again off Craigslist - and then sold the step I had to remove to fit my ceiling height for $40. Turns out it was a $500+ ladder. That one went in the workshop.

Attic space is awesome.

This weekend's project was a product of carefully thought-out planning - something blissfully absent from the Rice Rod build. SWMBO's studio that I built into the garage needs windows. At the same time we have plans to renovate the kitchen later this year. The kitchen windows are too tall for putting cabinets and counters in front of them. We want the kitchen sink under the window for looking out over the garden. Instead of buying 2 sets of windows, I am moving the current kitchen windows to the studio, which can be any size, and bought shorter ones for the kitchen.

Fist step is remove current windows. I worked fast and into last night so I forgot pictures of the empty window hole.

Fit the new ones in.

Screwed some plywood to fill the gap. Built a new window sill and cut all the trim short. All the wood was reclaimed from the nearby construction site dumpsters. SWMBO is quite the diver!

Fill remaining holes with foam, caulk, and insulation.

Check out the original pulley weight system for the old windows. Found the weights and pulleys inside the walls.

There was a box of extra vinyl siding in the garage, which we cut and hung to fill in the gap. I will get more pictures next time. I put 1/4" foam under the vinyl to be consistent with the rest of the house.

Next step: cut a hole in the garage wall and install the old windows in the pottery studio. I've already framed it out.

Semi-annual house update. Forgot to finish posting about the pottery studio construction, but it went well! It has 200 square feet, windows, drywall, A/C, baseboard heater, insulation, and plenty of outlets, lighting, and shelves. Lady Maschinenbau is finally getting around to spackling and painting the drywall this week (wedding planning took a lot of her time), but it's been a very productive workspace for the past 6 months.

Here's the garage with the studio in the back. To the right of this shot is the Rice Rod and my workspace.

Also we put a garden in the corner between the sidewalks and patio. Here's Bill Murray trying to be lettuce.

We are planning on double bathroom renovation during the weekend of the 4th, so we'll be learning to lay tile down. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures this time.

For the long weekend, we're tiling the floor the half-bath/laundry room to finally call that room complete. The faux wood laminate never matched anything in the house. So far we got membrane down and Mrs has taken control over tile placement. I have been relegated to tile cutting / mortar mixing / cocktail mixing duties. Also, our laundry room never came with an outlet box for the hoses, so I'll add one of those once the tile is finished.

Laminate is up. Oh look, a hole for an air vent that was covered up with laminate by the PO. Explains why this room is so cold in winter. To be addressed later.

Here's our kitchen full of bathroom, temporarily.

Here's what I was talking about with the laundry plumbing. Before me, the only shut-off for the washer was in the basement, where the machines were at some point, which also shut off the kitchen sink. Huh. Never a dull project in a 100-year-old house.

Decided to use a decoupling membrane to prevent cracks in the tile and grout. The fun part is cutting the holes and corners of this thick plastic stuff.

Trap door to the crawl space is making everything more difficult.

But it's going well. Tomorrow will be grout, Tuesday will be laundry plumbing fixes and re-installation of everything.

More progress on the floor and laundry plumbing. The grout is dry and wiped up, so I tackled the plumbing. Let's do this.

One big hole made.

Hole made a little bigger. Solder time.

Much better! Leak check passed on first try, and I didn't even melt the plastic bases on the shut-off. Mrs is going to patch the drywall while I'm work then we'll re-install the machines, toilet, and sink. Happy 4th, ya'll.

Excellent work .....is the membrane available at the box stores or do you go to a dedicated flooring establishment?

Why use the membrane?

Supposedly it helps prevent cracks over time by "decoupling" the tile and mortar from the subfloor and joists, allowing relative movement between them. Supposedly.

You can get it at any big box store.

759NRNG wrote: Excellent work .....is the membrane available at the box stores or do you go to a dedicated flooring establishment?

There's a roll on type too like RedGard if you're doing it on concrete.

Honestly the guy that did my tile in California said that tar paper or felt works just as well. You're more likely to have a void beneath those however which will lead to a cracked tile if you drop something on it. Since I had a large dog and a toddler I opted for the RedGard. It survived my toddler hitting it with a 16oz framing hammer I left out while doing trim with just a chip.

All done! Just putting the machines back in place. Not sure how to cover the trap-door seam, or if we even need to. Probably a rug.

Came back to this after reading your reponse to '93EXCivic's  quandary with home electrical. This has been a font of knowledge.....excellent work and any updates?

I guess it's about time for my semi-annual update, but there's not much. We put cabinets above the laundry machines in the newly tiled bathroom, and finally finished the drywall and trim in the pottery studio in preparation for winter, but that's about it. I have been busy with the Rice Rod and the house has generally been behaving itself.

how much of a pita were the rubber patterns for your pathway?