Garage Studio Conversion - Progress Log

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khani

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The garage is currently a hub for all sorts of useless rubbish, some useable weight lifiting equipment and bits of old wood.

The space measures approx 10ft wide and 16ft long with a 3.5 meter high celling. The internal wall is red brick whilst the outside wall is constructed of breeze blocks. The celling is an open construction of joists and needs to be closed off. All the walls have a coat of white matt emulsion applied about five years ago and is in a bit of a state. The garage hosts one single socket electircal point and a water tap. At one end of the space is a PVC window and door and at the other a tilt & slide garage door. A single long tube light illuminates the space.

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Ok first step was to clear the entire garage. A few trips to the shed and to the skip allowed me to clear the space in about 4hours. Once cleared I purchased 50 plaster boards and nailed them to the celling joists. I left an area open to allow me access to the roof area of the garage, here I have a load of wood for future use.

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Next I called in some hard working chaps originally from Prague, these boys skimmed the entire roof in a day and did an excellent job ensuring all the edges were neat, no gaps were left where the plaster board met the brick wall and that the celling was smooth with no uneaven wavey patches. BIG THANKS to Mario and the lads :thumbs::thumbs:

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Next I made a frame for the celling access point. Used some wood filler and cut in all around the edges ensuring a clean finish.

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Now I had to decide on what colour to paint the the walls and celling. After some carefull thinking I decided to paint the walls a neutral grey to elimate the chance of light bouncing all over the place, somthing that would happen if the walls were pure white. Black was never an opition as I did'nt want a dark and small looking space.

For the celling I naturally went for pure white. I used some trades masonary matt white emulsion mixed with 15 table spoons of black matt dulux paint to get the correct shade of grey. 3 cups of coffee, 3 cigs and a full days work and the job was done, two coats on all the walls and celling.

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Next on the list of jobs to do:
  • Fitting the carpet (grey)
  • Fitting 4 double socket electrical points
  • Black out curtains for the window
  • Setting up a home made interchangeable backdrop system for use with vinyl/paper roll placed in front of the garage door.

Will keep you all posted! :thumbs:
 
good-looking project!

any shots of the "target" wall yet?

or is that the one with the "up-and-over" door?
 
Going for a white seamless setup very similar to ZA's setup here: http://www.zarias.com/?p=71

Will be looking for the tile board tomorrow when I get the carpet.

Any suggestions where I can get good value white paper roll or would you suggest going down the vinyl route?.

I Have used creative backdrops in the past but they were not that cheap.
 
Complete - carpet in, all walls painted, curtain attached, door seals and power sockets (x4 double) installed.

Cost:

Paint: £50
Plaster board: £50
Labour: plaster board and skimming: £200
Carpet, underlay, adhesive and fitted: £160
Plug Sockets black nickle double x4: £48
Carpet trim: £12

Total: £520 approx

Before:
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After:
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great conversion you've done there. when are you going to start using it so we can see some of your work from there?
well done and im soo jealous
 
I am loving what you are doing, but have a question. My up and over door not only allows dust etc. to be blown underneath, but also allows water to toget underneath. I have used an offcut of a peice of sofit (the l shaped bit) and siliconed it to the concrete floor (won't hold forever but going well) and now no dust or water.
 
lawrie29 said:
I am loving what you are doing, but have a question. My up and over door not only allows dust etc. to be blown underneath, but also allows water to toget underneath. I have used an offcut of a peice of sofit (the l shaped bit) and siliconed it to the concrete floor (won't hold forever but going well) and now no dust or water.
Click to expand...

you could try siliconing a six inch wide piece of rubber to the outside of the door and use some self tapping screws to hold it. this will form a skirt type effect and seal to the floor. (it obviously need to be the lenght of the door) it will probably last longer too and help stop drafts,dust etc.
hope this helps,jase:D
 
looking good already. wish i had room to do something like this.
 
This is awesome. Looks great, I bet it feels very rewarding seeing that. I'd love to have a garage space to convert.
 
lawrie29 said:
I am loving what you are doing, but have a question. My up and over door not only allows dust etc. to be blown underneath, but also allows water to toget underneath. I have used an offcut of a peice of sofit (the l shaped bit) and siliconed it to the concrete floor (won't hold forever but going well) and now no dust or water.
Click to expand...

I used a door brush base thing (3 in total) and fitted them to the bottom. This stops any dust getting in whatsoever. On the outside of the garage I have drilled some holes into the concrete and created a channel to allow water to drain down and not into the garage (the drive is on a slight slope anyway so no water comes in).
 
Which end are you shooting from, the garage door doesn't look too light proof.
I would have blacked the walls too, not essential you can always hang fabric.
Looks nice and neat as it is though..:thumbs:
 
joxby said:
Which end are you shooting from, the garage door doesn't look too light proof.
I would have blacked the walls too, not essential you can always hang fabric.
Looks nice and neat as it is though..:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Shooting from the black curtain end, the door will have a support system and white/black/grey backdrop so you wont see any light. I have pretty much total darkness when the garage (or should i say studio :naughty:) light is off.

Painting the place black would have made it rather miserable looking and very small, the grey is nice imo, still fresh enough without much light bounce. Also went for approx 50% grey to allow me to shoot against the wall for added background texture/interest and also eliminate the background entirely through using multiply/soft light blending mode in PS.
 
KayJay said:
This is awesome. Looks great, I bet it feels very rewarding seeing that. I'd love to have a garage space to convert.
Click to expand...

Yes it is rewarding, especially when you put in 90% of the graft yourself, however it will be even more rewarding when I start shooting good photographs. :D
 
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