Garage Project 2009

Earlier this week, Andreas and I decided we needed to organize the garage. We figured if we were going to unload everything, we might as well seal the floor while we were at it! In order to avoid an all-day project on Saturday, we planned to conquer the floor on Thursday and the organization on Saturday.

This is what the garage looked like when we arrived home from work Thursday afternoon. Not bad, not great. After watching the DVD that came with our flooring kit, we were torn whether or not to continue. It was over 100* outside, and the video warned that the chemical reaction for the epoxy would move dangerously quickly at temperatures above 85*. We decided to move ahead.

It's extremely important to get the existing floor as clean as possible before painting. The DVD explained the multi-step process. Andreas and I knew this was going to be an endeavor, but I don't think we could have guessed what we were getting into. Lather, rinse, repeat...or something like that, right?

Here I am, channelling Cinderella. Scrubbing the floor is hard work! Keep in mind it was hot, 104* in the garage to be exact. We scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed until we had cleaned the entire floor, and then we did it all again. I would estimate this portion of the prep work took about 3 hours.

Then Andreas started scraping paint off the floor. It was like he couldn't stop. He just kept at it for what seemed like forever until I begged him to quit. Of course he was doing a great job, but I was getting impatient. It was late, and I wanted to move on with the process.

Then it was time to apply the concrete etcher. This basically consisted of scrubbing the floor all over again, only with a different cleanser. Add 2 hours.

Finally around 11:30pm we started painting, and when I say 'we' I mean Andreas. I happily sprinkled confetti behind him. It's a wonder we were both still upright at this point.

I think we got to bed an hour later. It had been a looooong day.

The next morning, we checked out our handiwork. Pretty!

This morning we got up and started to organize. Lucky for us, it was a pleasant 87*.

Bookshelf organized and weed eater hung.

Tool bench cleared and shelves in order.

Our garage is complete! Well, actually we are learning that in home ownership, nothing is ever fully complete. There are always things to be done and improvements to be made. But, Andreas and I made it through our first home project together, and we are so happy with the result!

Too bad we can't park in here for SEVEN days!