My New House & Workshop

[Jim Oaks]

It shows the dirt easier, but also reflects the light so much it does brighten the space.

Just went from having dark color living to off white, it was very surprising how much brighter the whole room is. Can actually seen the tumble weeds of dog fur in the corners now.

Ya, I went with white to make it brighter in there. Thought about putting some 1x along the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling and painting it red or blue to neaten it up some more.

 

[Blmpkn]

The wildest garage paint I've ever seen is my uncles buddys... his buddy ended up with a bunch of the white paint the DOT uses for lines in the road (crazy reflective) and did the 4 walls and ceiling.. with all the lights on in his shop you'll damn near go blind.

 

[RobbieD]

Thought about putting some 1x along the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling and painting it red or blue to neaten it up some more.

A disco ball would really neaten it up.

 

[sgtsandman]

Ya, I went with white to make it brighter in there. Thought about putting some 1x along the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling and painting it red or blue to neaten it up some more.

If you decide to paint the floor, don’t paint it a light color. The officers in the Air Force keep insisting it’s a great idea, and it is.... at first. Now, the hangar floors look like crap no matter how many times it gets scrubbed.

The non-skid they put in the paint is great though. The wet hangar floor during aircraft washes is no longer a skating rink.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

The wildest garage paint I've ever seen is my uncles buddys... his buddy ended up with a bunch of the white paint the DOT uses for lines in the road (crazy reflective) and did the 4 walls and ceiling.. with all the lights on in his shop you'll damn near go blind.

I used the same paint in an old place I rented. It did really brighten it up. BUT... Brakleen eats that paint.

 

[Rick W]

WTH?

I would have sworn I updated this.

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I built these doors out of 2x4's, 2x6's, plywood and some 1x's. I couldn't find any used windows so I made my own out of plexiglass.

I didn't put handles on the outside because I only wanted to be able to open it from the inside.

The original front door was a smooth solid wood door, but part of it was rotted. When I replaced it with a new door I kept the old door, cut off the rotted end, and made a work bench out of it.

The work bench is mostly made of the old door and the 2x4's I used to support the toof when I raised the rafters.but

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I used an old plastic storage cabinet and pained it black, and built the workbench tall enough to go over it. I also made some small shelves on the end to store lubricats and other spray cans to keep them handy.

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The vice and soll came from Harbor Freight. I hung a 4x8 sheep of pegboard up over the workbench to keep some tools handy.

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Above you can see where I mounted the TRS Banners Across America on the wall.

Below I found someone giving away a lateral file cabinet on Facebook marketplace, pained it black, and use it for tool storage.

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Below I hung up some BFGoodrich and Ford Ranger posters I had.

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I filled in all of the gaps and cracks in the mortar and painted the walls white. I still need to hang new dryway on the raised part of the ceiling and finish the electrical.

Check out this video:

The Ranger Station on Instagram: "Making progress in turning this old cinderblock building into a workshop / garage. #garage #garagelife #workshop #workbench"

17 likes, 0 comments - therangerstationofficial on April 8, 2023: "Making progress in turning this old cinderblock building into a workshop / garage. #garage #garagelife #workshop #workbench".

www.instagram.com

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All I can say is

 

[Jim Oaks]

Here's a few more pics. Each of those posters have Rangers in them. I'd like to have some Manny Esquerra posters.

 

[ericbphoto]

I like it.

 

[Rick W]

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Here's a few more pics. Each of those posters have Rangers in them. I'd like to have some Manny Esquerra posters.

I love it, but it’s way too clean to do anything in there. Mess it up or put a few recliners in there!

 

[rumblecloud]

I love it, but it’s way too clean to do anything in there. Mess it up or put a few recliners in there!

Funny. I hadda smile the other day when the wife told me my shop was a mess.

 

[Jim Oaks]

In January I went back to work on the middle part of my building. I think I last posted pics of it on page 63:

(350) My New House & Workshop | Page 63 | The Ranger Station

The back part of the building was an add on. When they added on, they cut open the wall and framed it in with 2x. They didn't do a very good job making it plumb. There's a propane furnace on the left side of the opening. The gas line was cut off outside of the building, and I don't know if it worked. It's old and I really didn't want it. Plus I wanted to close it up and put in a door.

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Here you can see where I started framing it in and added an old storm door. I just wanted to separate this section from the shop to help keep it clean. Plus, I wanted to help isolate the areas when I added air conditioners.

You can also see where I'm starting to build some cabinets along that side wall for storage.

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I framed in a closet where that heater was. That small fridge will go to the left of it, and the counter top will extend over the top of it.

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The cinder block wall is now covered in furring strips and a brick panel. I purposely left the cinder block wall uncovered behind the floor cabinets. I'm going to paint that wall and all of the wood paneling the same color. Probably a dark gray. I didn't want all of the walls covered in brick.

I picked up the new white vanity for $50 from a business that was having a clearance sale.

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I didn't like that the dark wood panel in the background just ended there. It's an old panel. There's no matching it, so I covered this wall in the brick. I still need to put something over where they meet. The wood panel in that room will get painted as well.

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I'm building these cabinets to handle (7) large storage containers with a shelf above them.

This wall will have (2) 16-foot wood shelves over the cabinet for me to mount my old Highway Patrol lightbars on. That metal shelf you see on the left will get painted black and my smaller emergency lights that I've collected will sit there.

Also, this wall has paneling on the other side, but it was never finished on this side. I added outlets and a wall switch before covering it in the brick.

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Here's that other cinder block wall that will get painted the same color as the paneling. I also have to replace that small breaker box with a new one. I plan to put a shelf along the wall, but no wall cabinets.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Then there's the bathroom....

When I bought my house, I didn't realize there was bathroom in this building.

I really don't know why someone mounted the sink on the right side of the wall where you have to stand between it and the toilet. My plan is to move the sink to the left.

You'll also see where I've had to use some mortar repair in the block.

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There was drywall behind the paneling. You can see the mold and water damage.

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I had to open up this wall to re-do the plumbing. Please excuse all of the 2x4's along the end stud. After adding the furring strips and brick panel, I had to attach 2x4's to give the new drywall something to screw to and there's a 2x6 in the way where the sink was.

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The old plumbing needed replaced. this valve won't even open. I have no idea when the last time was that the water was on in this building, but I bet it's been a long time.

Whoever nailed the panel up drove a nail into the drainpipe right buy the bottom. I pulled out the nail and have to see what I can find to seal it back up.

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I removed some of the old water line, turned it in to the wall, and added a water shutoff that takes a PEX.

The vanity I showed before will have a sink in it as well. Plus, I plan to add a tankless water heater. So, I need to split this line off to the toilet, the water heater, and then the (2) sinks.

Plus panel the walls and replace that old toilet. I was going to rebuild the toilet with new internals in the tank to save money, but it's got an unusually small awkward bowl. I think the toilet in my camper was bigger than this thing.

I haven't decided what I want to do with the floor. Not sure if I want to paint it, stain it, or pit a peel and stick tile on it.

Speaking of which, the front room has this floor tile, but a few pieces are bad. It's so old I can't find tile to match it, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

 

[ericbphoto]

That’s great progress! Looking good.

 

[Rick W]

Then there's the bathroom....

When I bought my house, I didn't realize there was bathroom in this building.

I really don't know why someone mounted the sink on the right side of the wall where you have to stand between it and the toilet. My plan is to move the sink to the left.

You'll also see where I've had to use some mortar repair in the block.

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There was drywall behind the paneling. You can see the mold and water damage.

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I had to open up this wall to re-do the plumbing. Please excuse all of the 2x4's along the end stud. After adding the furring strips and brick panel, I had to attach 2x4's to give the new drywall something to screw to and there's a 2x6 in the way where the sink was.

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The old plumbing needed replaced. this valve won't even open. I have no idea when the last time was that the water was on in this building, but I bet it's been a long time.

Whoever nailed the panel up drove a nail into the drainpipe right buy the bottom. I pulled out the nail and have to see what I can find to seal it back up.

View attachment 105997Because.
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I removed some of the old water line, turned it in to the wall, and added a water shutoff that takes a PEX.

View attachment 105998​

The vanity I showed before will have a sink in it as well. Plus, I plan to add a tankless water heater. So, I need to split this line off to the toilet, the water heater, and then the (2) sinks.

Plus panel the walls and replace that old toilet. I was going to rebuild the toilet with new internals in the tank to save money, but it's got an unusually small awkward bowl. I think the toilet in my camper was bigger than this thing.

I haven't decided what I want to do with the floor. Not sure if I want to paint it, stain it, or pit a peel and stick tile on it.

Speaking of which, the front room has this floor tile, but a few pieces are bad. It's so old I can't find tile to match it, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

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The baking soda/super glue trick will patch that pipe permanently. You might need to chip out just the tiniest bit of concrete to make sure you can access the whole area of damage. Also, use a file or sand paper or grinder to just take the surface off the area, and clean it with mineral spirits or acetone, or whatever, and then clean that off with alcohol. The baking soda/superglue will stick to any kind of plastic pipe, or a metal pipe, but if there’s mold or any kind of organic scum or build up, it won’t adhere to that.

If the tiles are 9” x 9”, they are probably asbestos containing. Make sure you wear a HEPA mask covering your mouth/nose when dealing with it. If they are 12 x 12, they’re vinyl tiles and you probably won’t have that worry.

Those are “chip” tiles. The manufacturer takes all the little bits left over from everything and blends them together in giant runs. Even month to month they sometimes don’t match. What we’ve done in commercial applications where we didn’t want to replace all the tiles, is we put in a few “accent” tiles.

if you have a half dozen that are bad, take them out, but then maybe strategically take out a few more or even many all across the area and put in a complementing color tile. If you try to match it, and it’s not exact, everyone sees it from a mile away. But if you intentionally use complimenting tiles as the accent, and you place them strategically, it looks intentional, like a fancy design.

Also, you can buy some interesting tiles that may have hunting pictures or wildlife or cars or who knows what on them. They’re kind of expensive compared to the originals, but if you don’t need many, then it really looks like a custom idea. If they are 9 x 9 tiles, you can buy the 12 x 12 tiles and just cut them down.

Finally, if you’re going to take some up and use this accent tile approach, for the ones you remove, break them up from the middle out, don’t try to catch them on an edge and pull them up. Pretty hard not to chip up the adjoining tile, but if you bust them out in the middle, and you work outward, you can end up with a really clean edge.

And, just one afterthought, it’s a shame that you already took that sink out, and the funky toilet. With that kind of arrangement, if you had learned to wash our hands behind your back/and or sit on the throne sideways, you may have been able to save time during the proceedings….

As always, only suggestions, it all looks absolutely great, fantastic. Hope it all helps.

 

[Rick W]

Afterthought, if you want to, do a quick sketch of the room that has the floor tiles, the plan view like you’re looking down from the top. Show where the bad tiles are, show where the cabinets and such will be installed, show the doorways in an out, and if you have any idea what furniture is going to look like sketch it out quickly. If this takes you more than 15-20 minutes you’re over thinking it. I don’t need accuracy, just the concept of general appearance.

If you send me that, I can give you two or three different concepts on how to do accent tiles, so it will look like it was always the plan.