FINISHED IN 2020! Sharward's Partial Garage Conversion

Keith, your seal product should work as well as anything; in fact, I bookmarked the link for when I convert my garage to living/family room, thanks :) As to your concern, everything here is fine; trying to get some things done for a change, should be back in biz in a few days here. Radial saws - ALL power tools are dangerous if used incorrectly; I've had my 12" radial saw since 1972, still works great (needs a new table ATM) - and I still have 7 fingers left (just kidding) - as long as you remember a few basic rules, it's no more dangerous than any other saw. I think part of the reason you can only get radial saws at serious stores these days is the portability factor; chop saws first came on the market for simple, portable framing tools; then, someone figured out that if they could do compound angles you could use them as a power miter box; then they figured out that if you added sliding capability you wouldn't need to carry a radial saw around. My saw cost $400 new in 1972; a new radial saw that size now is around $1500 - sorta makes the $650 for a 12" slide compound look reasonable :cry: Gotta go, tools are calling my name ("Hey, Dumb-Ass??!?") Steve

Excellent -- thanks for your vote of confidence on this approach, Steve! 8) By the way, you may want to update your bookmark to this: Shaw "Silent Step" 3-in-1 Underlayment -- that's the product I actually purchased at Home Depot. What sold me on it was its "anti-microbial mold and mildew inhibitor" feature. This upcoming weekend I hope to make my first framing cuts! :twisted: I'll measure, cut, and position all of the soleplates. This will be necessary for the permanent placement of the foam sheeting. I think I'll bolt down all of them, but then plan to unbolt the inner leaf ones when it comes time to actually frame those walls. (I will frame the outer leaf in place, toenailing the studs to the top and sole plates.) Tightening down the bolts on the sole plates with the foam sheeting underneath them will apply a good amount of pressure on the bead(s) of GE Silicone II caulk that will line the slab under the foam. --Keith :mrgreen:

sharward wrote:

OMG, Kansas kicked butt tonight! individually or as a slideshow (you'll know it's looped around when you see it go from darkness to sunshine!). --Keith :mrgreen:

I mainly lurk around here these days, but since I'm a HUGE Kansas fan (and live in Kansas) I couldn't resist chiming in. I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but Kerry Livgren has put together a group called Proto Kaw (which in some native-American dialect means "pre-Kansas"), which consists of several of the guys who were in the generation of the band Kansas BEFORE the group that made it big. I haven't picked up their second album yet, but the album "Before Became After" is like golden nectar for any prog fan. I got to see them in concert a couple of years ago during their first mini-tour, and it was simply awesome. Here is a link to their website for anyone interested. http://www.protokaw.com/index.php?pageid=13 And, on the serious side of this site, I am thoroughly enjoying watching all of you building your places. I had mine completed at home until a series of flooding episodes, but that's another story. Now I'm getting ready to renovate a room at my place of employment (which also happens to be my church) to function as a studio. Once I get a date established for taking possession of this room, I'll be back with plans for it. Cheers, Darryl.....

Thanks for the tip, Darryl! I had read a bit about Proto-Kaw in this Wikipedia article about Kansas, but it hadn't made an impression on me until now. I just downloaded four MP3 tracks from their Web site -- I'll check 'em out later! (Mrs. Sharward is sleeping, and I need to get to work!) Sorry to hear of your flooding situation, Darryl. :( Truthfully, I have reason to fear the same on a huge scale -- the authorities are now estimating that our street could be inundated by as much as 23 feet of water in the event of a catastrophic levee failure here -- that's enough to drown the house, roof and all. They're supposedly workiing on major levee repairs on an emergency basis, but that will only restore them to their previous insufficient state. By all realistic measures, we are the next New Orleans disaster. You've heard the line, "You never think it could happen to you"? Well, that's not the case with me -- I think about it a lot. And, yes, we're making strides towards better emergency preparedness around here. (That's one of the primary reasons for the pistol training, by the way.) --Keith :mrgreen:

Don't wanna get into this subject much here, but you may want to think about TWO guns; one that's "off the radar" and kept separate. Here's why - http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2005 ... -saga.html NRA is actively pushing legislation that will outlaw (and punish offenders severly) this from happening again, but don't hold your breath - the UN is VERY actively seeking just the opposite result in this country... Steve

I too heard about the New Orleans unconstitutional confiscations, and it was extremely troubling to Mrs. Sharward and me. However, one of the things we got in our pistol training class was a copy of this book: How to Own a Gun & Stay Out of Jail (California Edition, 2006). I don't intend to have anything "under the radar." --Keith :mrgreen:

DDev wrote:

... I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but Kerry Livgren has put together a group called Proto Kaw (which in some native-American dialect means "pre-Kansas"), which consists of several of the guys who were in the generation of the band Kansas BEFORE the group that made it big. I haven't picked up their second album yet, but the album "Before Became After" is like golden nectar for any prog fan. .....

King Crimson / Lark's Tongues in Aspic II !

Well, I made good progress today -- I cut most of the sole plates and I'm about 2/3 done with the perimeter sealing. It was really hot today -- 100°F/38°C -- and I think I may have overdone myself out there... :? Here are some pix. I killed my 3/8" 5 amp variable drill today about halfway through drilling the J-bolt holes in my sole plates. :evil: I did each of the corners first, then I did the edges (2 so far). There are two liberal beads of GE Silicone II caulk where the membrane meets the concrete under the sole plates, then two beads along the foundation of the outer leaf. The staples are intended to keep the membrane from sagging and pulling away from the silicone caulk over time. The caulk seems to have really good adherence to both the concrete and the membrane. Whether it will last 10, 20, 30 years though is anyone's guess... :? I'm a little uneasy about the corners. I'm thinking about doing another corner piece and then trying to seal it to the long pieces on either side. Or maybe I'll use some closed cell foam to seal up the corners... :roll: ...I used closed cell foam to seal up the termiticide piping in the northeast corner and it seems to be doing the job well... :roll: I ran out of steam, so I figure I'll finish it off tomorrow. --Keith :mrgreen:

Looking good, Kieth!! I remember when I got to the stage of actually cutting wood...seems like a year ago. Oh wait, it WAS a year ago (more or less). :-) BTW, your "measure, cut, place" of your sole plates is not a good plan. It should be "measure, measure again, cut, place. In my case (now in hindsight), "measure, measure again, ask the guy helping me, "Does this look right to you?", measure again (because I forgot the measurement when I asked the question), cut, place, pick up and move to the "use for blocking between studs pile", measure, ..." :-( len

:lol: That's classic, Len! :lol: I actually did make one mistake on one cut. It was 3 1/2" too long. So I, uh, cut it again. (Lucky me!) Other than that, I'm pleased with the job I did on the sole plates. This may seem silly, but I actually cut them with my hand saw, even though I have that beautiful miter saw sitting there... :roll: ...I did that for a couple of reasons. One, I didn't want to get sawdust on the membrane, so I used the sawhorses on the driveway. Two, I hadn't read the instructions on the miter saw yet. And before anyone tries to give me a hard time about actually reading instructions, when it comes to power tools that have the ability to remove appendages from my body, damn straight I'm gonna read the manual. :shock: I should be getting out there to finish up (it's 6:30 AM here), but I'm still aching. Yet the longer I wait, the hotter it's going to be... :evil: --Keith :mrgreen:

Awesome, finally to framing!!! now the fun begins.. cool license plate BTW PROG RCK

sharward wrote:

I actually did make one mistake on one cut.

Only one mistake??? Now you're just showing off.

sharward wrote:

It was 3 1/2" too long

Now your bragging!!!!! :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) len

Keith: Looks like good stuff you're doing!.... What is the green membrane, and where did you get it? What's the plastic that's used in it? How thick, 1/16 "? Expensive? Pardon my ignorance.... K

blue642 wrote:

cool license plate BTW PROG RCK

Thanks! 8) Here's a close-up...

Luftweg wrote:

What is the green membrane, and where did you get it? What's the plastic that's used in it? How thick, 1/16 "? Expensive? Pardon my ignorance....

Actually, all these questions are answered about two pages back. ;-) But I should mention now that I've tweaked with the moisture migration plan a bit. I was planning on stuffing the cavity with rockwool insulation. However, I think I'll leave it empty for a few reasons. First, if condensation does collect on it, I don't want the insulation to wick it up. Second, with my folding it under the soleplates (so that I have two layers and a nice fold along the edges), there's not enough slack to stuff it down into the cavity very far. I think I'm OK with this. Here's an updated illustration. I think I've also decided that I'm OK with the corners not sealing up perfectly. As long as the vast majority of the gap is covered, I think it should be OK... :roll: ...And it's not as though the gap isn't covered -- it is, and there is overlap. It's just that the wrinkles and folds and unevenness means that, in theory, some vapor could escape at those unsealed seams. I'm hoping that's not a big deal. I do plan on running a dehumidifier in the area between the doors -- so, in theory, I'll catch some/most of it with that device. (Right? :?) --Keith :mrgreen:

Here are the photos of today's progress. I believe that I'm done with the perimeter sealing and soleplate installation! I tightened down J-bolts so as to apply pressure to the GE Silicone II caulk beads running under the foam underlayment. I do plan to uninstall the soleplates on the inner leaf walls when it comes time to frame those walls. The outer leaf walls will most likely be framed in place, so those may stay put. Here I am crankin' down on the J-bolts. These things are SOLID. This is the way to go, even if you aren't in earthquake country! :D All done! 8) Here's a close-up of one of the corners. You can see a a spot where vapor might escape a bit. :roll: Here's a close-up of the side view of one of the soleplates. See the pretty little fold where the underlayment goes back underneath? :) Here you can see the extent of the depth in one of the deepest areas... My hand can't go any further down. Next weekend I hope to start making some progress with the outer leaf framing, including removing some of the existing ceiling so that the top plate can have direct and firm contact with the bottom chord of the joists where they intersect (north-south), and I'll be able to install perpendicular blocking where the joists run parallel (east-west). --Keith :mrgreen:

Keith: Wow, that's almost too pretty (in a utilitarian way) to cover up... my guess is that you are sort of a perfectionist... Of course, this can most usually be a good thing with studio construction (as Rod's book stresses in several places).... (I guess the only time it's bad is when it slows down production too much, while not showing a benefit for that slow down... I'VE got the slow down part down to a tee, myself :lol: , now just gotta work on the benefit part... ) As for the corner seems, I don't know if it would be much of a worry... From what I'm led to believe, there is mostly really no such thing as a perfect vapor barrier -- some amount of vapor/moisture always gets through (I wonder if this is the reason sometimes for some peoples' support of vapor retarders over barriers?) So, if some moisture will make it's way above the barrier, it will be in a more controlled way than simply if there were no barrier at all (it's not as if any pinhole will let through EVERYTHING that's behind it; there is no head of liquid water pressure that the barrier is attempting to hold back)... Actually, in a sense, I think it's good that the moisture could be allowed to slowly dissipate, no?... (I'd be more concerned with soil gases myself... ) In times where the vapor pressure below the shield is low, moisture coming through the gaps would be nil... In times where the vapor pressure below the shield is high, since the gaps are very tiny and can't let as much through as the rate of buildup, much of this vapor buildup should recondense BELOW the shield (or actually prevent further water from vaporizing at that given temperature; from physics, the maximum vapor pressure at any specific temperature forces the liquid to remain a liquid -- or rather, an equilibrium exists between the amount of liquid vaporizing and the amount of liquid condensing). So, I think it all comes down to how much vapor comes through the gaps at the highest vapor pressure that the system will see -- this will depend on the soil temps and moisture, and the temps and moisture above the vapor shield, AND to how much vapor is allowed to escape (or is removed from) the between leaf space... As long as at least the same amount of vapor is allowed to escape the dead air space, as the maximum amount that is put into it -- before recondensing on a cold surface -- the system should work well... Is this not correct thinking? Keep up the good work, K

I like the way you think, Luftweg, and I tend to agree with everything you just wrote. Including the "I must be a perfectionist" part. ;-) ...Like the way I usually clean up and put tools away before I take wide angle pictures! :lol: I reallly think everything's going to be fine. However, that being said, I welcome comments from others who may think differently. :) --Keith :mrgreen:

Woo Hoo!!! You just hit 75k views. Lookin' good Sharward. That green underlayment looks familiar. I used it under my Pergo flooring in the Control Room. Good stuff. :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Did you fry the brushes in the drill or something else. If it's the brushes, it's cheap enough to have repaired. Roughly $30-35. Had to have mine replaced a couple years ago.

Wow, 75K -- that snuck up on me too! 8) Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if at least 50% of that were e-mail address harvesting robots... :roll: ...I see them at work all the time. The plastic motor fan assembly fried and broke off the spindle (or whatever it's called). I thought about maybe trying to get it fixed, but I recall that I didn't spend that much for it in the first place, so I just tossed it in the trash. Oh well -- I wanted to get one with a clutch anyway... :roll: --Keith :mrgreen:

Good work, Keith. It must feel good to get on to this stage! I'd better hurry up and get mine done or you're going to catch up to me (and pass!!) len

Dude, you're painting already. Take your time -- I've got a long way to go! :lol: --Keith :mrgreen:

Nice work, Keith! Quick question: Are the two slabs at differing heights? I don't remember thinking that from looking at your other pictures but since you've put the green underlayment in, it looks like the outer slab is higher than the inner one. Is this true or just a "camera-effect"? Again, nice work!!

Thanks for the kind words! :) The slabs are different pitches, but the areas that have soleplates bolted down are level with each other. The original garage slab was sloped toward the big garage door, except for the back corner where it was level. You can see in this picture how there is a slight rise in the original slab, near the edge of the door mat. The outer leaf foundation that I poured is even with the original garage floor at the northern edge (closest to the garage door), then the original garage floor progressively gets higher towards the laundry room door. The outer leaf foundation is pretty much level, as is the new studio slab. That's one of the benefits I have by pouring a new slab -- it's mostly level, unlike the floor it replaces. Among other problems, I would have had an odd floor -- level in the back, and sloped in the front. :roll: --Keith :mrgreen:

I answered a question in cyeazel's own thread, so I thought I'd post both the question and the answer here as well.

cyeazel wrote:

. . . I was wondering why you plan on removing your new inner leaf soleplates . . .

I plan to build my inner walls flat and then tip them into place -- so the sole plates that are bolted down are only there temporarily, to apply pressure on the silicone caulk and to cut down on my tripping over the J-bolts. ;-) It also helps in keeping the green stuff protected, not kicked and torn. The outer leaf sole plates will most likely stay in position, as I'll be framing those walls in place. Tipping them into position won't be practical, since the wall frames will be slightly taller than the existing ceiling (the top plates must be affixed to the bottom chord of the trusses -- I'll be removing parts of the ceiling to expose the trusses for this). --Keith :mrgreen:

I just returned from Home Depot on my lunch hour, where I bought this Ryobi 14.4V 2 Speed Drill Kit with Flashlight on a close-out for only about $63. I wasn't really interested in a flashlight, but the fact that it comes with its own battery (that is interchangeable with the drill) is very cool. 8) Finally -- a drill with a clutch! :twisted: Maybe now I'll stop stripping screw heads... :roll: It comes with a nice case, too. :) --Keith :mrgreen: