# turning unfinished garage into workshop have questions



## woodrooster (Oct 19, 2009)

Well I've added outlets and drywalled the ceiling. Next up is insulating the walls and drywalling the walls.

How do I finish the wall that my garage door is on? Should I try to drywall all around the door mechanisms or should I take the door off and drywall under the hardware?



hope this is an appropriate topic for this forum wasn't sure where to go for help.


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## jimofsanston (Oct 15, 2009)

You should be able to dry wall aound the area.If there is clearance try to get some behind it down to the jam. Trying to remove the door and hardware may prove to be harder than expected. Trying to everything back together may not happen unless you replace it with a new door that is already insulated wich may be better to do if the funds are available.


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## GFYS (Nov 23, 2008)

deleted post


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## GFYS (Nov 23, 2008)

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq99/mics_54/stuff/garagedoorprep.jpg

I have no idea why the image won't post.


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## cbMerlin (Jan 13, 2009)

I'm in the process of doing the same thing in my garage. Going around the hardware would be my first choice. *If you have that big spring over the door, messing with it is way to dangerous unless you really know what you are doing*. I've read numerous stories about that spring slipping or breaking and causing serious damage or injury. I worked with a guy years ago that "supposedly knew" what he was doing. As he was trying to adjust the tension, the spring suddenly & violently expanded and pinched his hand between the wrench he was using and the truss just above it. Really tore up his hand! Nasty cuts and broken bones! 
Many people don't like peg board, I do, so I did all my walls in pegboard for flexibility in storage. I also re-inforced all my trusses with 2x's, glued & screwed and bridged at all union points. I'm also opting for 1/2" plywood for the ceiling; attaching anything to it later (lighting, ect) will be a lot easier plus it's a bit lighter than drywall. I'm also thinking that if I ever do need to access the attic, removing the screws and dropping a piece of plywood would be a lot easier than drywall. Plywood is costing me a little more than twice what drywall would be, $12/sheet vs $5, but think that long term will be better


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## pete79 (Oct 20, 2009)

Get the drywall as close as you can to the hardware and then either mask off the hadware with cardboard or some other way and use spray foam to fill the remaining gaps if you're concerned about heat loss or drafts. You can then use a small drywall hand saw to trim the foam flush with the drywall.


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## lumberjacques (Mar 27, 2009)

i am planning on doing the same. one idea i will implement is having a dual door system, not unlike store owners use in high crime areas. the garage door will still be a garage door. right behind it will be a full partition, up to the ceiling will will be equipped with sliding opening "patio" type doors with an insect screen. this way, i get the security of a garage door as well as the open space/breeze in summer advantage. i even saw one friend who had this arrangement at both ends of the garage, also allowing "through travel" to the back yard.

lumberjacques

www.woodwideweb.ca


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## gagewestern (Mar 24, 2009)

with the type of springs that are on the door i would go around the hardware


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## lumberdustjohn (Sep 24, 2009)

I have seen where the wood around the hardware is stained and finished and they butt the drywall up to the wood edge.


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## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

I would drywall up to the door track etc. What I did in my shop, which is a garage under my regular garage is to insulate, then I did 3/4 plywood on the walls, covered by 1/2 inch beaded pine paneling. This way I can attache racks, cabinets, etc anywhere on the wall without looking for studs or using anchors. And the paneling looks nice. I trimmed it out with 1 by 4 pine.


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

Hey woodrooster. I literally just finished adding some new outlets and circuits, insulation, and covering walls in my garage. I used 1/4" hardboard for the lower half of the walls and 1/4" pegboard for the upper half (it was cheaper this way since i doubt I'll be hanging stuff low on the walls). For the garage door wall I just went around the springs and that one wall is all hardboard. I then primed everything and painted the entire garage white. It looks great and is so much warmer and brighter than when I started.

I'm almost done setting up shop. All that is left now is putting together a few new tools  I just finished putting together my new Delta 50-750ct dust collector and next I need to put together the Grizzly G0555 that came last week and the Rigid 4330 Planer that arrived yesterday. So hopefully by the end of this weekend I can focus on the nightstands finally. I hope to still have those sketchups up soon but I've had other distractions recently. I also hope to put up pics of my workshop sometime early next week.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Just FWIW, my garage was finished (sheet rocked) and THEN the door hardware installed. The rock is now 25 years old and crumbling, making the mount the door is on weak. I am going to have to re-do it. I would say just rock around it. I know it's a pain, but it will be a bigger pain later if you do it by rocking under the hardware…


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

another vote for drywall Around it.


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## woodrooster (Oct 19, 2009)

thanks, I too think I will drywall around it all, seems like the best bet in the long run. I will end up using many pieces of drywall to do that. Will I have a hard time taping and mudding if all the edges arent tapered?

I considered using ply or osb on the walls which I may have perferred but this is a starter home for us and most likely any new owners in the future would appreciate regular old drywall.


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

Mine might be different, it has a recoil spring in the center and not on each end. I started putting up the ceiling at one end, working towards the center. Then at the the other end, working back to the center. I laid up drywall, then put insulation on top of each drywall as it went up. I left an access in the center of the garage.I drywalled around the framework. I would not bury the door mechanism, you could need to get to it someday.









Here's the other end.










I had to post 2 photo's, for some reason the end with the cable reel got lopped off in the posting.
And the final result.


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## hairy (Sep 23, 2008)

The only thing I did to the wall with the recoil spring is paint it white. The recoil spring is mounted centered over the door.If you put on a garage door opener, you will need to adjust those springs before installing the opener.


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## DaneJ (Aug 13, 2009)

Dry wall with door hardware inplace, otherwise you may to revisit the gaskets around the door if you took everything off, drywall and then remount the HW on top of the new drywall.

Pay special attention to the overhead door… that is the source of most of my heat loss. I spent a lot of time on gaskets and seals for the overhead door.


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## GFYS (Nov 23, 2008)

I assume you are in a cold climate area since you are insulating. All the quick patch fixes aside…to do this correctly the door, track and operator would be removed, the wall insulated, vapor barrier installed, dry wall installed, door mounting frame installed and the door reinstalled correctly.

That being said…if the rest of the shop wasn't insulated and vapor barrier installed…it really doesnt matter.


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