Monday, October 24, 2011

My oh my


Well, it's officially begun.  Josh, my contractor arrived on Friday morning at 8am with two workers to take out the sub floor and the existing glass sliding door in the garage.  I decided to come home around 1pm to see if they had finished.  I knew it wouldn't take long.  They had the proper tools and the muscle to get the job done quickly.  When I arrived at 1pm no one was there and everything was out.  The disappointing thing was, it looked as though they removed old vinyl commercial floor tiles that were existing on the concrete floor.  Now that being said, I have no idea what condition they were in and from peering into the garbage bin they looked to be a beige color which I am not fond of anyway.  Then began my journey...okay...my obsession to find a inexpensive but beautiful solution for my garage floor.  I was thinking it would be bare concrete with a sealer but now because of the old vinyl tile glue, my garage floor is now black from the old adhesive.


So many options.  Epoxy, VCT flooring, ceramic tile.  I decided to hit the internet full speed.  Wallas, I found what I wanted via forum message boards.  It would be VCT flooring (Vinyl Commercial Tile).  It was relatively inexpensive, it looked great and I was pretty sure I could reapply over the glue on the existing floor....at least that's what I though initially.  This is where it got really complicated.  Message boards galore, I found many opinions.  No you have to remove the old adhesive, no you don't have to remove it as long as the mastic is really really thin.  I tried acetone, as a few suggested, to see if I could get it off.  It did work but would take a lot of work to do the whole 264 square feet.  I've decided it will be fine to go over the residual adhesive, as one person who was in the same predicament as me had called Armstrong flooring and they said it would be fine to go on top. I'm crossing my fingers!

So now that I had decided what I wanted to put on the floor I looked up the cost from Home Depot.  It seemed I would pay about $1.00 per tile.  I decided to go on Craigslist to see if anyone was selling VCT.  Low and behold I found someone selling 9 boxes (45 tiles per box) for $12.00 per box.  I would need just over 6 boxes so I would get 7.  I quickly wrote the CL poster.  Yup, still available.  They were in a nice grey neutral colour which would work perfectly.  This works out to .27 each tile with no tax!!!  That means it will cost me $84.00 for the whole floor (plus glue, the rental of a roller and a piece of metal trim for the transition into the garage from the garage entrance and possibly cove base (not sure of the edges yet).  I then wondered if I should do this myself or get my contractor to do it.  Well kiddies, I have decided to give it a go and do it myself.  Luckily I found a number of "youtube" sites showing how to lay it (very helpful).  I have added a picture of the tile I've found on CL.

 I thought I was done painting the ceiling in the garage....wrong!....upon further inspection it looks like in some spots the original oils from the wood have come through the primer and paint and left a yellowing.  I guess I'll have to prime some of those areas again and then paint with latex AGAIN!!!  Every time I  paint I get a headache from looking up constantly.  I guess I'll be taking on more headache! I also changed my mind on the lighting I had purchased.  I had bought a bunch of lighting from Rona because I had gift cards.  I do still like it but I have decided I want the garage to match the interior of my home.....so,  I picked up two cool pendant lights from Home Depot that look a lot like my expensive lights in my master bathroom ($29.99 each) and the rest of the lighting I got from IKEA.  See pictures.  It's going to look spectacular.  I'm going to get Josh to box in  the wires and fan pipe on the one inside wall and when I'm ready to get my cabinets (who knows when) I will butt them up to the ceiling so it will be flush and look professional.  My cabinets will also be off the floor which I think will look cool and will protect them from any water that may accumulate, doubtful but you never know.  It will also make it easier to clean under them without the leg attached.

I am getting a new steel beam put in above the garage door because the existing one was too short for the glass garage.  This will be installed on Tuesday.  I will also get final measuring done the same day for the glass garage door. Speaking of which, the door came in and they made the wrong door.  They didn't opague the glass so now it has to be custom etched.  No biggie but just thought I'd mention it.  I can't wait for that to be installed!

Well that's all for now...stay tuned

Sunday, October 16, 2011

The Garage reno is now underway!

Ok, so it's in the beginning stages of the garage reno and right now I'm taking a break.  I decided to dye my hair during my break so I'm now sitting here looking like a dork with a plastic bag over my head.  Gawd, I hope no one decides to pop in.  I've been painting the post and beam ceiling.  Oh what a fun task that has turned out to be.  Abet of buying latex primer when in fact I knew it wasn't going to work prolonged the process on the first day.  The oil in the wood was leaching through the primer. After taking the latex back, the paint store employee began to  argue with me that the latex should work as well as the oil and that in fact the results would be no different.  I said, okay...should I use all the two cans up of latex and then come back when that doesn't work and get my money back or should we switch it out now.  He switched it out.  It worked like a charm like I was sure it would.  I'm pretty positive one coat is going to cut it.  It took me two long days of neck cranking and cutting in each and every slot in the wood.  I am now finished the primer and in the next few days I'll be putting the paint on top. 

I'm doing all this before my contractor actually begins.  Why?  because I want this to go fast.  The electrician is going to have to get the lights up and I don't want any delays.  The walls obviously are not up...in fact I ripped down the existing paneling trying to save money of course prior to the actual demolishing.  I didn't find any treasure in the walls but I did find an old wasp nest and some dried up larva of who knows what...but other than that it was all good.  I still have some heavy pieces of shelving etc. to get out of there.  My friend will be over soon to help me move it. 

Okay, hold on I have to go rinse out the dye...be right back....

Shower, done!  where was I? Ah yes, moving the rest of the heavy stuff out.  Once that's done I'll be ready for the contractor.  The bin is coming on Wednesday and it shouldn't take more than a few hours to rip the floor and insulation and odds and ends out. 

I have decided to wait on the cabinets for the garage.  I'll wait.  Trying not to spend too much.  Speaking of spending.  I ordered my glass garage door.  It should be here near the end of the month.

I have actually discovered a new addiction.... www.pinterest.com
I'm not sure if its heaven sent or from hell.  I've gotten loads of ideas but I'm also on it 24/7.  If you're not familiar with it check it out.  It's people posting pictures on every subject possible and you save it to your own site in blocks.  Kind of like a filing system at your fingertips with all your interests, projects, wants etc.  It's got my brain working on ideas for the garage and other crafty things.

Well, it's time to move that heavy stuff I was just talking about.  Be back soon!