It started in mid January with 3 truckloads (Ford F150) of junk (mostly other peoples...family members) going to the local landfill and another load of stuff going to Goodwill. Only to discover that my garage floor still has the old reference points used back in my race car days imprinted in the concrete...ah memories.
Next came the electrical rough in. The garage had 1 quad outlet on the far wall nailed to an exposed stud. This was connected to its own 15amp breaker. Plenty of power, just not enough capability. So I ran 4 brand new outlets; a quad outlet on the North, East, and West walls (south being the garage door). A dual outlet was placed in the overhead framing as a dedicated source for the garage door opener. No more extension cords draped through the garage rafters. The original outlets power cable now became the main feeder to gang all the others together.
Once rough-in was complete came drywall. With a bunch of stuff that we decided to keep I could only work 1 wall at a time; shifting shelves and boxes around as I worked. What fun.
The East wall. Drywall has been installed, mudded, primed, and
painted. A nice blue-grey. Lite enough to give good light reflection, but dark enough to tone down any glare. The unpainted kitchen cabinets were from a closeout sail at The Home Despot years ago. $25 each and a standard 8' Formica counter. Instant storage and workbench. The car door with the '553' number is a souvenir piece from my old Stock Car (a 77 Chevelle I used to race at the old Cajon Speedway and a few other Southern California tracks).
A closeup of the East wall. Just next to the car door you can see one of the new wall outlets. And all the construction junk on the bench. The space where the car door rests will eventually be occupied by a 15-16 cu-ft refrigerator (gotta keep the drinks handy) and they are low enough (about 5' 6" tall) to put a TV on top of.
After the East wall was done I decided to tackle the North wall. This one would be a problem because the ducting for the dryer runs the length of the wall. I ended up remounting the duct (it was originally strapped directly to the wall) with real mounts providing a standoff from the wall. This gave me a chance to replace any old/rusty duct work. I then built a 4' tall false wall wide enough to cover the duct work. A 9" shelf was then mounted on top. A series of storage base cabinets (34" tall) will run along this wall creating another 10' of workbench and storage. This exposed end will be closed off, leaving the end of the duct free for annual dis-assembly and cleaning (you would be amazed how big a fire hazard old dryer lint can be.
The North wall showing the electrical outlet (radio now plugged in). Its placed for easy access just above where the base cabinets will be. The wall above the shelf is where I hope to mount the race car door in a nice frame.
The north-east corner. The panel on the north wall is removable to allow access to the section of dryer duct that connects to the discharge tube. This had come undone previously (hidden by an old workbench that was cut up and junked) and had caused a vast amount of cobweb type lint to accumulate everywhere. Now I will always have access in case I need to get into this section for future repairs.
You can also see the West wall and it's wallboard that was mudded hours earlier.
A view of the West wall looking north. The outlet on this wall is about halfway. It's currently uncovered waiting for prime/paint before the cover plate is screwed on. This wall will have 2 tall cabinets (6 1/2 feet tall, 4 feet wide), a 4 foot desk with wall shelves (placed at the outlet), and the big red toolbox along it.
This shows the last untouched area of the garage. It is right above the house breaker panel (access from the outside). I plan to place another removable panel here to allow access to the wiring trunk in case I ever want/need to run new electrical lines. The curved metal piece is is part of the garage door track.
Finally the new overhead outlet for the garage door opener (plugged into the top receptacle). I'm thinking that changing out the oldschool lights for a pair of 4' fluorescent panels would be most excellent.
So that's where the new game room stands now. The West wall should be done this weekend (unless the SuperBowl goes WAY late!!!!) and cabinetry can start.
Now, do I build a 4x6 table or a 4x8?
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