Homeowners Heather and Steve Vaughn have a garage not working at its full potential. It needs a lot of work in order to achieve peak function and organization. The DIY to the Rescue team will help the couple remove some half-walls and built-in closet -- remnants from the home office the garage once housed. Next, the couple will learn to patch drywall and remove layers of old carpeting. A new polyvinyl floor, slatwall, cabinets and fresh paint will revamp the space.
Before: The Vaughn family enjoys lots of activities together, but their disorganized garage -- and its lack of storage -- isn't as efficient as desired.
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Before: While the Vaughns have attempted to be more organized, this wall could benefit from some custom cabinetry and a slatwall organizational system.
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Wall DemolitionMaterials: Claw hammer
Crow bar
Reciprocating saw with metal and wood blades
Screwdriver or Screw Gun
Utility knife
Safety goggles
Work gloves - To demolish a wall, the construction process is essentially reversed. Typically the trim is removed first, followed by the plaster or drywall, any plumbing or electrical lines, the studs, and then the top plate and bottom (sole) plate.
- To remove the moldings and trim, gently pry them away from the wall using a prybar and hammer. Doorjambs can be removed the same way after the casing is removed.
- Before you start removing any plaster cut along the corners of the wall so plaster from other walls and ceilings will not be pulled off with the plaster you are about to remove. In situations where the corners are reinforced with wire mesh; use a metal cutting blade in your reciprocating saw
- If there are any electrical lines or boxes in the wall they must be removed. First, turn off the power, then remove the electrical boxes, and remove any conduit to a point where it is no longer in the wall.
- Remove the studs by knocking out any blocking and cutting along the joint between the stud and the plate with a reciprocating saw. It may also be possible to knock the studs loose by hitting them at the base parallel to the wall and pulling them off the nails on the top plate.
- Finally, pry up the top and bottom plate and any wall braces with a crow bar.
Drywall Patching Materials: Joint compound
Drywall mud
5" putty knife
Sand paper
Drywall tape
Drywall - Using a 4"-6" putty knife, scoop knife into the mud. The mud comes with different drying times, but a 40-minute mud is good to use on larger jobs like this. Mix the mud according to the manufacturer’s directions.
- Load about half the putty knife with mud, then center the blade over the area to be patched and begin to apply the mud. Make sure that the area is covered well, about an 1/8" thick. Apply one coat at a time (three coats will be applied).
- Apply stucco patch the same way as the drywall patch, spreading over the area as smoothly as possible. This step will also be repeated three time -- by the third time your patch should match the existing wall. Because the stucco patch has grit in it, you don’t need to sand between layers.
- Now you are going to apply another layer of mud, same process as the first step. Continue these three steps on the remaining areas and allow to dry about 3 to 4 hours depending on the temperature that day. When completely dry, sand, then paint.
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