Good morning, friends!
It's been a while since my last report on the garage organization series. I have to give you a good explanation of why I'm already planning to build a mudroom in that little corner of the garage that you see in the picture up here, given that I didn't follow this list of future projects I gave you in this post in March:
It's been a while since my last report on the garage organization series. I have to give you a good explanation of why I'm already planning to build a mudroom in that little corner of the garage that you see in the picture up here, given that I didn't follow this list of future projects I gave you in this post in March:
- Building the miter saw station with underneath storage
- Painting the floor (waiting for warmer days to tackle this project)
- Building a table saw station
- Starting work on the mud room.
As per the schedule, painting the floor was my next task.
Look how empty the garage looked after I completed the miter saw station!
Especially when compared to the starting point. 😖
I postponed the floor painting because I didn't want my newly painted floor to be ruined by all the construction I had to do to build the mudroom. So, let's talk about it.
THE MUDROOM
This little area in the right corner of the garage, leading to the house, has been our little mudroom area for the past 20 years.
It was the most awkward space to get in and out of the house. I had that basket there to collect shoes—ha, it was always full of shoes. A small bench in front of that basket was a storage spot for anything and everything.
Going to the laundry room, that little clearance was all the space we had to move in and out of the house.
But wait!
The first step was to bring the cars in. (It's been a few years since we parked them here!)
I brought the cars in to mark the area—furthest away from the back wall—where they could be parked. Even though I'm not planning on parking the vehicles here, I still want this garage to be a two-car garage. I don't want to damage the house's resale value. This is my current shop, but future owners might prefer to use this space only for parking two cars.
OK, it's now time to demo that tiny platform.
Bye, Felicia!
In no time... Well, two days... I had this open space.
Knowing the area I had to work with, I drew my ideas on paper. The plan is to build an enclosed room in that corner of the garage to serve as a mudroom.
I always thought the stairs would face the garage entrance. But when drawing things on paper, doing the stairs that way didn't seem right.
THE PLAN
Knowing the area I had to work with, I drew my ideas on paper. The plan is to build an enclosed room in that corner of the garage to serve as a mudroom.
I always thought the stairs would face the garage entrance. But when drawing things on paper, doing the stairs that way didn't seem right.
Plan 1: The one that makes the most sense. A straight pathway from the house door to door/stairs, and all that back wall is free to turn into storage.
Plan 2: The stairs were pushed against the back wall, creating a less-than-ideal pathway and compromising wall storage.
Plan 2: The stairs were pushed against the back wall, creating a less-than-ideal pathway and compromising wall storage.
Plan 3: The staircase to the right was definitely not a good option. Both doors being close to each other was a big no.
You may have noticed the windows in those drawings. Yep. I want at least a window in that little room. I don't want it to feel claustrophobic.
When you draw the plan, you must also know the materials you'll be using and the dimensions of those materials/items (window and door sizes). You also need to follow the code when building the stairs. There are guidelines for the dimensions (depth and height) of treads and risers.
Now, guys, I'm getting into new territory. I've never built a room from scratch, not even a wall. And here, I'm about to create a mudroom! I first needed to build the platform to bring it to the same level as the house.
Well, I'm so fortunate to have my BIL- Stan- as the person who's going to help me with this entire project. I'm going to work alongside him and be a sponge, getting all that knowledge from him and sharing it with you!
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Plan 1 was the one to follow. Armed with a pencil, a ruler, a measuring tape, and a level, Stan started by drawing the plan on the floor. Those double lines are the two-inch material for the platform. Post locations were also drawn onto the floor, ensuring things were square.
This is the final moment to adjust your plan. I didn't calculate the stairs' area well, so he adjusted the floor measurements.
The lines were brought up the wall, again ensuring everything was level.
Then, the height of the ledger, and finally, the height of the posts.
We used 2 x 10s for the ledgers, and cutting them to size was our next step in building the platform.
HOW TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF THE PLATFORM?
Well, I wanted the final flooring to be the same height as the floors inside the house. An easy way to check the floor height was through that opening in the Sheetrock. We could see all the layers inside the home.
Knowing the final height, we had to start subtracting all the material we were planning to install in the mudroom: the thickness of the flooring we're going to use, Durock (if any), thin-set, subfloor, etc.
It's like building a little deck in here.
Well, I'll save this part for my next post because this is getting too long.
Stay tuned for my next post this Wednesday with a fun Father's Day giveaway!
See ya!
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Here are all the projects that were tackled during this mudroom build:
THE MUDROOM PLAN - You're Here!
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