I have been quite busy the last month or so working with a friend of mine to make the workshop above my garage a usable, non-squirrel-infested, space. The guy who built it didn't have any comprehension of flashing or rodent-proofing a structure. Squirrels had basically been shredding everything inside the 2nd floor of my garage for many years before I bought it about a year and a half ago.
Before: super-thin vapor barrier was sagging all over the place, and failed in some. Insulation is filled with dust and smoke from being poorly sealed. Squirrel piss stains are visible on the ceiling vapor barrier and a few spots on the walls... very gross. The floor was so dirty it looked white/gray.
Also note: no overhead lights, or lights of any kind. A space with great potential, but terrible execution.
We suited up with those head-to-toe disposable suits, elbow-length rubber gloves, and respirators to rip everything out. And I mean everything. Squirrels are the devil's pets, they burrow everywhere, shit everywhere, and piss everywhere. They even die everywhere. I removed 5 squirrels in varying states of decomposition. Ripping down the ceiling vapor barrier sounded and looked like... someone taking a bucket of jimmy's and hurling it across the floor. I almost threw up in my respirator. We filled about 32 contractor bags with mostly insulation. Pissy, shitty, insulation.
They don't make water hot enough.
Everything ripped out and cleaned up. Also note the six overhead lights (there is also a pull-cord light in the attic you can't see). Hooray light!
Repaired soffet vents and the first insulation batt.
A lot of the insulation in.
The last of the vapor barrier going in. I used all 6mil vapor barrier on the leaning walls and the ceiling. Its remarkably strong. The end-walls got 3.5mil because they won't support any load.
Many, many late nights were worked. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but there were a lot of details to work through. I also had to re-do some wiring to the addition on the side of my garage. Apparently the guy who built it had no idea what a wire staple was, and he also thought it was okay to wire in a new circuit by putting a 110v plug on the end of a house wire and plugging it into an outlet. Genius!
Finally, with all the vapor barrier done and stuff being moved in.
Drywall to come in the future, not sure when. A lot of work to get to this point, but having dry, insulated, clean space to move the heavier machines into is phenomenal.
I did get a new toy, one that prompted me to take on this project. More on that later though...
Before: super-thin vapor barrier was sagging all over the place, and failed in some. Insulation is filled with dust and smoke from being poorly sealed. Squirrel piss stains are visible on the ceiling vapor barrier and a few spots on the walls... very gross. The floor was so dirty it looked white/gray.
Also note: no overhead lights, or lights of any kind. A space with great potential, but terrible execution.
We suited up with those head-to-toe disposable suits, elbow-length rubber gloves, and respirators to rip everything out. And I mean everything. Squirrels are the devil's pets, they burrow everywhere, shit everywhere, and piss everywhere. They even die everywhere. I removed 5 squirrels in varying states of decomposition. Ripping down the ceiling vapor barrier sounded and looked like... someone taking a bucket of jimmy's and hurling it across the floor. I almost threw up in my respirator. We filled about 32 contractor bags with mostly insulation. Pissy, shitty, insulation.
They don't make water hot enough.
Everything ripped out and cleaned up. Also note the six overhead lights (there is also a pull-cord light in the attic you can't see). Hooray light!
Repaired soffet vents and the first insulation batt.
A lot of the insulation in.
The last of the vapor barrier going in. I used all 6mil vapor barrier on the leaning walls and the ceiling. Its remarkably strong. The end-walls got 3.5mil because they won't support any load.
Many, many late nights were worked. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, but there were a lot of details to work through. I also had to re-do some wiring to the addition on the side of my garage. Apparently the guy who built it had no idea what a wire staple was, and he also thought it was okay to wire in a new circuit by putting a 110v plug on the end of a house wire and plugging it into an outlet. Genius!
Finally, with all the vapor barrier done and stuff being moved in.
Drywall to come in the future, not sure when. A lot of work to get to this point, but having dry, insulated, clean space to move the heavier machines into is phenomenal.
I did get a new toy, one that prompted me to take on this project. More on that later though...
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