Behold, an ordinary garage:
Now, watch as it is transformed:
Obviously, there's a good deal of work yet to do, but it's really remarkable how much difference sheet rock makes-- between Day 8 and Day 9, it goes from looking like a construction site to looking like a room that just needs a little finishing. I have pictures from other corners, but this is the only complete set (it's taken from the door from the kitchen into the garage), as there were a few days when there was so much stuff piled in one of the corners that I couldn't get there to take a picture.
The background here is that with FutureBaby on the way, we need to transform our spare bedroom into a nursery, which means we need somewhere to put all the paperback books that are currently stored there. The house came with a built-in garage that was too narrow for me to be comfortable getting my car in and out, which we were just using as storage space, and I eventually convinced Kate that it made sense to turn that into a family room/office sort of thing, with built-in bookshelves and cabinets on the long walls. That will dramatically increase the storage space we have available, and allow us to move all the hardcovers out of the current office, converting it to a spare bedroom, and making room for FutureBaby.
They started work here about two weeks ago, and as you can see, the progress has been impressive. There's probably another week or two to go, and then we get the fun of moving all the furniture around...
You can see the full collection of construction pictures in this Flickr set, including shots of the new doorway cut from the garage into the living room.
Comments
You may have violated hundreds of regulatory statutes legislated to protect you. Did you emit visible plumes? Did you sewer chemical wastes? Formaldehyde from the chip board? Release of (respirable) air-borne particulates? Up to $10K/incident-day EPA for starters. Did you file building permits with the city? Are you inspected? Do you have a contractor's license? ARE YOU A TURTLE?
Did you run a Geiger counter over the wallboard? Gypsum "recycled" from superphosphate manufacture concentrates uranium, thorium, and decay daughters.
Uncle Al doesn't see high efficency compact fluorescent bulbs and a composting toilet. OTOH, said room may be used to house your family when the mandated Federal Enviro-whiner confessor is assigned to your home. Freedom is compliance.
Posted by: Unc eAl | May 17, 2008 11:52 AM
For a second there I thought you might have done it yourself, and would have been seriously impressed.
Posted by: Stuart Coleman | May 17, 2008 12:41 PM
Testing: what Veejane was going to say:
Posted by: Kate Nepveu | May 17, 2008 12:42 PM
> you never see a whole room laid out like that
My lab in grad school was next to the Building Materials Lab at Ohio State. We were seperated by double steel doors with little windows. They would build a whole room, with carpet and furniture, like a dollhouse room, then burn it. They'd measure the toxic vapors produced.
Now that's a weird experience, to watch the Brady Bunch's living room merrily burning at the end of the corridor. Although I suppose it's fairly common in Hollywood.
Posted by: Bob Hawkins | May 20, 2008 5:24 PM