All Built out with no one to host
Well, here we are. I think it’s August, maybe it’s still July……already September? Perhaps I’m stuck in a parallel universe situation where it’s still March and I haven’t woke from this wild dream. Whatever the case, here we are.
It has been some time since I have written an entry to update you all on the happenings at Lost Penguin. While it has been mostly radio silence for the past couple months, I am still here and working away. I have been busy filling private label orders as of late, and while I enjoy the work, it isn’t exactly exciting to post the same processes over and over on our social outlets.
“Oh wow, look, he’s clicking out a few hundred of the same item… again. How exciting….”
So what have we been up to that is exciting? Well, the shop renovation is 80% complete! That’s exciting…right? I thought so.
Here is a recap:
- I tore out all the old particle board walls, old insulation, and poor electrical.
- Cleaned all interior walls as needed. (Evidently, pink insulation is an ideal habitat for geckos, seeing an uncomfortable number of them scurrying out of it, in addition to the 100s if not thousands of broken eggs I found)
- Inspected old insulation and trashed any that was in poor shape.
- Bagged, and hauled off old particle board. I will note, this stuff was nasty, and basically disintegrated when I touched it. It was very necessary to have good ventilation and a mask while tearing out and bagging up to haul off.
- Bagged trash insulation and any remaining junk.
- Final clean up and inspection.
After the nasty work was done, I moved onto the fun part, installing the new. I used Lowes for 90% of the materials used, and Sutherlands for a handful of smaller items.
Materials Used:
- 5/8” OSB
- 15-20 cans of Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks foam insulation
- 10# Decking screws
- Faced fiberglass batt insulation
- New outlet boxes for relocation
- New outlets, switches, and covers.
Once the exposed studs and exterior wall was cleaned out and any repairs made, I went around the entire perimeter with Great Stuff canned foam insulation. I sprayed about 6” high along the base all around, as well as filled any gaps and cracks with the foam. ** I will note, this stuff is nasty. It is a great product and works well, however, be mindful of where it all goes. Once it’s on your hands it’s the to stay, or if you step in some that has fallen from the application tip to the floor, its on your shoe and its going to stay. Certainly, don’t want to walk into the house with that junk on your shoe. Ask me how I know…..
Once the foam had set up sufficiently, I then surveyed the area for fiberglass batt insulation.
Non-pro tip: carry a spray bottle with you while spraying the foam insulation and give it a sprits. This will help speed the curing of the foam.
I got all the new insulation up and stapled into place. I then began to lay out the 5/8” OSB sheets. I should add here, that I am no carpenter or framer, but I do know that my shop, when built, was not laid out for consistent centers on the studs. This proved a little tricky while installing the insulation as well as the OSB sheets. I had the measure carefully so that the edges of the sheet would meet up at studs to be screwed into place securely. I figured this out the hard way on the first wall I did back in early March. (I replaced one wall back in March as things were getting crazy with COVID, so I could get my cabinets installed and functional for the time being. The additional three walls came later, as I am describing now.)
After measurements were mostly figured out, I began to install the new OSB sheeting. This turned out to be a pretty easy job. I did this all myself, with no extra help. The concrete floor has a lip that, based on the location (leveled area) of the shop, is 1” to 2 ½” tall and had a surface of about ½” out from the framed-out studs. This allowed me to set the bottom lip of the OSB sheeting on it and push into place and it was seated securely so I could get a couple screws into the studs while holding it up with one hand. Additionally, the sheets are 8 foot tall, same as the distance between the concrete lip and the ceiling.
You may have taken notice that the lip was ½” wide for the sheeting to set on, and my OSB was 5/8”. Yes, that is correct. The sheeting does hang off the lip a bit, but let me tell you why I am not worried about it. Yes, it will make floor/boarder trim difficult to add, but…. but, I will not be adding any boarder floor trim. For one, it is going to be covered along the walls with cabinets, furniture, and equipment for the majority of the area. Second, remember where I said the lip was anywhere from 1” up to 2 ½” tall from the floor, maybe even 3” tall on one end, it would be difficult for me to trim that out anyways. Finally, I wanted to use a thicker sheeting to make it easier to add shelving or additional cabinetry anywhere without worrying about hitting studs at ever point. Using the 5/8” OSB will give me all the hanging strength that I will need in the future, to a degree.
Now, a step back. Before anchoring the sheeting into place, I had to relocate a 210v plug and a couple other plugs and one light switch, I also replaced all the electrical outlet boxes for two reasons: One, the old boxes were positioned on the studs for the ½” maybe 3/8”? particle board walls that were in the shop, making the old outlets recessed pretty far into the wall using the new 5/8” sheeting. Second, the old boxes were worn out, bent up, and just did not seem up to snuff. After relocating and replacing the boxes as needed. When the OSB sheeting went up, all outlets and switches set flush with the new walls. I will tell you right now, I was pretty proud of myself having measure and performed as well as I did. I just assume I got very lucky on the installation.
Okay, so wall perimeter is foam insulated and sealed, new batt insulation installed, outlets and boxes replaced and relocated as needed, and new walls are up. Next, what I thought would be the easy part: Paint.
PAINT TIME – NOT THE ART KIND
So, painting is supposed to be the easy part right? Well, not in this case. After some careful research I learned that OSB sheeting takes special care to paint. For one, the OSB sheeting, which is used primarily as subfloors, roofing subs, and exterior home wall sheeting (to be covered up) has black lines printed on them for installers to easily line up during construction. Big, black lines….. Secondly, the surface is not smooth, it has thousands of crevices and dips. That means if you want an even (not smooth/level) finish, you have to get paint into all of the nooks and crannies. And finally, OSB is constructed using water-based glues and adhesives, meaning if it gets too wet or moisture soaks into it, the glues can let go and the wood fiber will soak it up and start to swell among other things. That meant that I could not use a water-based paint. Whew, the list just kept growing. SO, what did I do?
I used KILZ Original oil-based primer to paint all the walls. The first coat was tough, I had to be vigilant in making sure the primer was getting into all the nooks and crannies. After the first coat of primer, I felt accomplished…. Until it dried….. and all those black lines were showing through as if I had only white washed the walls. Hmm… I wanted three white walls and one accent wall in grey. One coat was not going to cut it. So, four gallons, three full coats and a lot of touch ups applying primer, and the walls were primed. Now to paint. The white paint went on well, and we ended up applying two coats of a white latex top finish just to be careful of full coverage. The end result looks very nice and clean. The multiple coats of primer, them paint covered up obvious screw and mounting holes, and even concealed some of the sheeting joints. The OSB texture also looks nice with the paint, showing off a cool and unique textured look.
The accent wall is another story…. Remember all those nooks and crannies, yeah, they were tough to fill in using the multiple coats of primer and paint. But, at least using the white latex over the white primer, if you didn’t get full coverage and fill, it wasn’t glaringly obvious… Not the case with the grey latex top coat for the accent wall. This wall ended up being a thorn in my side. But, I will admit, a lot of the issues could be solved if I were not trying to pinch pennies and speed through the job.
You see, the accent wall is the same wall as all my cabinets, so really, there wasn’t a lot of surface area that needed to be painted. We primered the whole wall, but the grey finish coat would only need to be applied to the areas that the cabinets didn’t cover up, this lessened the total area that needed painting. What did I do? I just bought a Quart of paint. HA! Well, I was able to cover the areas that needed painting, but I didn’t have enough paint to go back over it and fill all the little nooks like I would have liked to do. The good news is that it is an easy fix, I just need to go get another quart and touch it up, I just haven’t had, or made the time to do so.
After paint dried, I was able to get all the cabinets, workbenches, and all placed back where they belonged, I could step back and take a breath. With the walls up and painted, all that was left was to put on the electrical outlet covers.
The reno was done…ish.
So what’s left? What is the 20% from the 80% completion mentioned earlier? Well this is a misleading number, but to simplify, I am 80% finished with this initial renovation. The remaining 20% accounts for a few small items:
- Trim out my windows and A/C unit.
- Install Blinds on windows (5)
- Hang TV in corner (60”)
- Mount Speakers with TV
- Purchase furniture. I am wanting a couple nice comfy chairs to place around the TV and corner of the shop that is geared towards a dedicated “hang out/Man Cave” area. Also, a good place for Lincoln or Jayme to come hangout with me.
- Various small items: wall décor, book shelf, coffee table, etc.
That pretty much accounts for that remaining 20%, but I will circle back to the emphasis on “Initial renovation”. What I mean by that; the major reason for doing the reno on the walls, insulation, paint and all, was to make it a nice usable work area, and I think we accomplished that up to this point. However, there are a few other areas I would like to tackle down the line:
- Remove old sagging ceiling. (It’s the same junk particle board as the old walls)
- Remove attic/ceiling insulation and replace.
- Inspect or replace ceiling electrical as needed.
- Install new lighting
- Add trim to wall/ceiling joint
- Kick back, relax.
While the shop has come a long way from when we moved in December, there will always be something else to do. For now, we will wait and see how the rest of the year goes, and plan to tackle the ceiling in 2021.
If you have any questions about this project or the items/materials we used, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. I will add links to everything I can remember tat I used.
Thank you all for following along and hearing what I have to share, and don't forget to order one of our new T-shirts! BUY HERE!
Cheer,
Jesse W. Beckham
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