Framing in a room in the garage

[MisterDrow]

Getting ready to put up an insulated partition wall in the third bay of our garage to create a room for my wife's guinea pig and rabbit breeding operation. I've not done much framing but I am confident enough that I think I can handle it... anything I should watch out for or know ahead of time?

[woodbutcher74]

If you keep both hands on the hammer handle you won't smash your thumbs. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[mat60]

Will the wall ever need to be removed? Was you thinking 2by4s.and mabe 16 or 24 on center..Will you need outlets in the wall.?.Is your woodworking shop in the garage also ?

[wdwerker]

If you use Tapcon screws to attach the wall to the concrete it will be easier to remove in the future if needed. 

[Coop]

Do the ceiling joist run parallel to this wall or perpendicular. If parallel, then you will need to run your new wall directly under a joist to attach your top plate to, or provide appropriate cross pieces between the joists for this purpose.

[drzaius]

Is the garage also your shop? If so, I'm not sure you should be giving up that bay easily  

[MisterDrow]

15 hours ago, woodbutcher74 said:

If you keep both hands on the hammer handle you won't smash your thumbs. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

THAT'S what I've been doing wrong!

15 hours ago, mat60 said:

Will the wall ever need to be removed? Was you thinking 2by4s.and mabe 16 or 24 on center..Will you need outlets in the wall.?.Is your woodworking shop in the garage also ?

I'm hoping to build it with enough room that a car can still be pulled in there... I've heard arguments on both sides as to removable walls in the garage. I'm planning on 16" centers since it's an inside, non-load-bearing wall w/ 2x4s. The existing wall is an exterior wall with 2x6 construction and already has two outlets which should be sufficient.

14 hours ago, wdwerker said:

If you use Tapcon screws to attach the wall to the concrete it will be easier to remove in the future if needed. 

I'll look into those, thanks!

14 hours ago, K Cooper said:

Do the ceiling joist run parallel to this wall or perpendicular. If parallel, then you will need to run your new wall directly under a joist to attach your top plate to, or provide appropriate cross pieces between the joists for this purpose.

They run perpendicular so I was going to double-plate the top even though it wont' be load bearing. Maybe that's not necessary, however?

13 hours ago, drzaius said:

Is the garage also your shop? If so, I'm not sure you should be giving up that bay easily  

Well, sort of. We live in a subdivision so I have no outside shop space. My goal was originally to get that area cleaned up and then build a shop there... but we need a bigger home for my wife's animals so I'm giving that up. I park outside, though, so I figure I'll make some workbenches and workstations on wheels and store them in my old spot in the 2-car portion. My wife can park in there daily and then when I need to work on stuff, I can pull her car out and wheel everything into place.

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, MisterDrow said:

THAT'S what I've been doing wrong!

I'm hoping to build it with enough room that a car can still be pulled in there... I've heard arguments on both sides as to removable walls in the garage. I'm planning on 16" centers since it's an inside, non-load-bearing wall w/ 2x4s. The existing wall is an exterior wall with 2x6 construction and already has two outlets which should be sufficient.

I'll look into those, thanks!

They run perpendicular so I was going to double-plate the top even though it wont' be load bearing. Maybe that's not necessary, however?

Well, sort of. We live in a subdivision so I have no outside shop space. My goal was originally to get that area cleaned up and then build a shop there... but we need a bigger home for my wife's animals so I'm giving that up. I park outside, though, so I figure I'll make some workbenches and workstations on wheels and store them in my old spot in the 2-car portion. My wife can park in there daily and then when I need to work on stuff, I can pull her car out and wheel everything into place.

I've got a similar situation. My shop is a large 2 car garage, but I have it set up so both vehicles can always park in there, at least in the winter.

[Marcus Hand]

I'm in the middle of doing this exact project. I have a 3 car garage and am building a partition wall (with door) to separate off the bay my wife parks in. I am at the point where I have the wall framed and one side (wife's side) has drywall up. Unfortunately for me, my joists ran parallel, so I had to get up in the attic and block them. Being in the attic in FL during the middle of the summer is stupid, but I did most of it early in the morning and came down often for breaks. 

This was the first wall I've ever put up, so I spent a while reading about adding a garage partition. 

- A lot of people will say to float the wall. I decided not to do this, but you may want to consider it. 

- On my wife' side, I'm only putting up drywall. On the shop side, I am considering putting up OSB and then drywall, which would make hanging stuff on the wall easier.

- Use it as an opportunity to add more electrical outlets. I'm adding them to the shop side, but I'm also adding two to my wife's side, in the hope that one day she will let me use that space for the shop also.  I also separated the light switches, so the shop will have its own switch. I bought an occupancy sensor switch that works with fluorescent lights and I really like it so far. 

 

 

 

 

 

[MisterDrow]

Not sure why I was thinking the joists were perpendicular... they're parallel to how the wall will go. Luckily, a joist runs right down the line (about an inch off of the original plan) where I want the wall.

One thing that I know I need to do is to check the insulation in the attic above the garage. It doesn't get as hot in there as our last house that had ZERO insulation in the garage but it definitely gets warm in the summer. Winter doesn't seem to be much of an issue, though. Can I just put batting above the room or am I much better off paying to have insulation blown in if necessary?

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, MisterDrow said:

Not sure why I was thinking the joists were perpendicular... they're parallel to how the wall will go. Luckily, a joist runs right down the line (about an inch off of the original plan) where I want the wall.

One thing that I know I need to do is to check the insulation in the attic above the garage. It doesn't get as hot in there as our last house that had ZERO insulation in the garage but it definitely gets warm in the summer. Winter doesn't seem to be much of an issue, though. Can I just put batting above the room or am I much better off paying to have insulation blown in if necessary?

You can do batts if you want storage up there.

I will say don't pay someone to blow in insulation in a garage. It's easier to do yourself then placing batts. If you go through some box stores, buying over a specified amount will get you a machine rental for free. If you can spray with a garden hose you can blow in insulation.

[MisterDrow]

That's really good to know. I wasn't sure what was involved there. I guess I could go ahead and do it in the wall I'm putting up, as well. Don't you get higher R-Values with blown-in?

[Chestnut]

1 minute ago, MisterDrow said:

That's really good to know. I wasn't sure what was involved there. I guess I could go ahead and do it in the wall I'm putting up, as well. Don't you get higher R-Values with blown-in?

Thickness determines R value, I don't know if it's a common practice but in theory stacking batts could get you to the same place. If your shooting for super high R value blown in represents a better value, in my opinion.

I should say blowing insulation almost always requires a helper. 1 person to feed the blower 1 person to point the house. The big thing to watch out for is to not over load the hopper on the blower.

[MisterDrow]

1 minute ago, Chestnut said:

Thickness determines R value, I don't know if it's a common practice but in theory stacking batts could get you to the same place. If your shooting for super high R value blown in represents a better value, in my opinion.

I should say blowing insulation almost always requires a helper. 1 person to feed the blower 1 person to point the house. The big thing to watch out for is to not over load the hopper on the blower.

Where it's going to be housing animals that are heat sensitive, I'd rather maximize my insulation potential if it fits the budget. I need to figure out where I get diminishing returns there, though. Don't want to pay more than necessary. I'm assuming, though, that in a 2x4 wall there is only so much insulation (and therefore R-Value) you can get in there.

As for a helper, I'll recruit my wife for that one. It's a project for her, after all!

[Eric.]

Get one of these.

 

 

 

 

Then find every rabbit and guinea pig you can find, and put a nail right in its head.  Have beer, job done.

 

 

[Chestnut]

In my area i can get R-30 loose insulation for $25 which covers 65.3 sq ft. Taking that to R-49 you'd halve the coverage area. So you'd get 32.6 sq ft per $25. I commonly see R-49 as the number to shoot for in ceilings and attics in colder climates. I'd do this sooner rather then later. Once cold fall hits those blowers become a hot commodity, well around here at least.

I used a conversion of R-2.2 per inch. I chose the low number because insulation will settle some after you blow it in. R-49 comes out to being 22" deep.

[MisterDrow]

2 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Get one of these.

 

 

 

 

Then find every rabbit and guinea pig you can find, and put a nail right in its head.  Have beer, job done.

 

 

Hey, now... I actually like these little guys! Plus, my kids have learned more about goal-setting, delayed gratification, project management, and animal husbandry in 4-H with these things than I ever could have taught them on their own.

That being said, we're currently planning on cross-breeding one of our Flemish Giant rabbits with another meat breed and then raising our own meat rabbits.  

[Eric.]

So the Paslode will come in handy eventually.  LOL

[MisterDrow]

I think I'll leave the slaughter to the butcher. I've heard rabbits scream before... it's one of those sounds that haunts you in a big way. All it takes is for something small to go wrong when you are putting them down and they start up... and when other rabbits hear it, they chime in as well. It's horrifying, to be honest.

[Tpt life]

Stick built, I can roll an attic faster than blowing it by running a deep upper layer. Web truss with lots to dodge and it becomes less clear. Alternating layers of rolls is effective. Just be careful if your eave vents. You don't want to block the air circulation. 

[Eric.]

1 hour ago, MisterDrow said:

I think I'll leave the slaughter to the butcher. I've heard rabbits scream before... it's one of those sounds that haunts you in a big way. All it takes is for something small to go wrong when you are putting them down and they start up... and when other rabbits hear it, they chime in as well. It's horrifying, to be honest.

Totally get it.  I stopped hunting when I was an early teen for that very reason...the screaming of the rabbits.  Of course my insensitive idiot redneck of a friend was like, "Jus' stomp his head." :spits_tobacky:

And I never shot an animal again.  Call me a puss, I don't care.  I prefer to have my meat tortured and pulled limb from limb far from my sight and I'll just stay in denial about it, thank you very much.

[Tom King]

Forget the wall.  Move to the country, and buy a farm.  I can tell you about a Wife who loves animals.

[midtnwoodworker]

I have to agree with this. I don't think I could ever live in the city/suburbs. Our closest neighbor is my parents, and they are a half mile away. My aunt is a half a mile in the other direction. I love it.

[MisterDrow]

15 hours ago, Tom King said:

Forget the wall.  Move to the country, and buy a farm.  I can tell you about a Wife who loves animals.

That's become our long term plan. We don't want to take the kids out of good schools so we are planning on selling this place when the kids have gone to college and moving just outside of town. Somewhere with a shop, small barn, and no HOA. 

[Guest]

I like my HOA.  Seriously.