One Room Challenge: Garage Exterior Reveal!

It's week 8 of the One Room Challenge!  So much has happened for all our spaces, finished or not, and I am so thankful to have been part of this fall's participants.  Check out the other reveals and see all of the participants' progress over each week here!  

I am so excited about what we've done over the last eight weeks: my thoughts about this "glorified shed" have completely turned around while investing a little time into this project.  
Check out where we started, weekly progress, and all the specific projects week by week:
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Mural Tutorial

Project Planning: Hindsight Observations

Since Minnesota gets cold fast, I really broke this project into chunks that were really heavy on the front-end.  I wanted to be certain things that needed to be done before it got below freezing were finished: specifically the roof and all the paint.  The window snuck up on me, and I'm glad I had a chance to get that squeezed in during this project. 

Honestly: I got lucky!  We had a very warm autumn this year, and it was a gamble whether I'd be able to get everything done that needed to be finished (and truth be told: there are a few trim pieces that could use another coat of paint), but we got all the needs finished!  From adding trim pieces to tie in the addition, to completely rebuilding the window sill and repairing the rafter tails.  The amount of time I had to get everything done outside was far more than I expected.  

​The Last Few Additions

In week 6, I painted the awning, and this week, I was able to get it hung over the side door of the garage.  With the beige metal roof on the house and the corrugated roofing on the chicken coop and playhouse (from one of my ORC projects on IG last year), the awning really helps to tie the garage in with the rest of the property.  I do have enough roofing left over to build a small wood shed, so I may get another tie in eventually too.  

The last addition to the project was adding the projector and screen to the side of the garage.  With how much this backyard fits for entertaining, this was one addition I wanted to make it work more for the family to enjoy, especially when we're in the colder months.  I think of it as a season-extender, and I can't wait to watch more movies out by the fire with the kids and our friends.  

​Budget Breakdown

With this project, we were really lucky to have gotten a kickstart from our homeowner's insurance to replace both our main house roof and this one (details for the main house here).  I initially was hesitant to do much with this garage, and didn't want to commit to this particular can-of-worms on our property.  But I am so glad we did!  I'm a firm believer in working with what you have, and this is a huge example of that.  With that: our insurance gave us $918 to replace the roof of the garage, which was a huge portion of our total cost of $1316.78.  So, our total additional investment (beyond providing the insurance) is $398.78.  

We did have a lot of things already on hand, and a few things in here, especially for the window, are arguably connected to other projects too.  I have a few windows to repair for the attic, and the practice on this one was really helpful!

The budget broke down as follows:

Roofing materials: $828.24
This includes everything for the roof: the shingles, the drip edge, and the roofing nails.  I did have some nails and the roofing cement on hand.  In last fall's ORC, I bought these for adding the roof vent for the bathroom, and wound up waiting until we got a new roof instead.

Wood Repair: $60.00
This includes the wood repair kit and a set of foam brushes to really get it into the rafter tails.  What isn't included in this cost is the wood I had on hand to do the sill replacement for the window.  

Window Repair: $124.62
The window repair went into a few purchases.  I was able to get Sarco Dual Glaze and the putty knife online from SRS Hardware.  They are one of the few places where I can easily source professional-quality materials for window repair, and I'm really thankful to get these.  The rest of the tools and glazing points I was able to get at local hardware stores (although I had to mix and match among local and big-box).

Miscellaneous Paint Supplies: $224.28
The paint supplies don't include the majority of the paint on the garage.  Since I had plenty of paint left over from painting the main house last year, I was able to use what I had left over from that on the exterior of the garage.  This does include the oil primer for the window, the spray paint for the awning, and four of the five colors on the mural.  It also includes prep supplies to get everything cleaned and replace filters on the shopvac. 

Eaves Repair: $30.97
This is the one part of the project I had to wait on due to weather.  But I have the supplies ready to go in the spring! It's not critical to the structure, so with the foundation problems we uncovered, that took a backseat to getting that settled.

French Drain: $48.67
The French Drain was the drainage solution to stave off failure of the foundation, and to hopefully mitigate some of the spring flooding that we have.  While I had plenty of stone that I was hoping to use in a handful of garden locations this year, I'm glad those project additions were postponed so we could do this repair instead.  The rest of the stone I'm going to spread over my parking space, so spring mud season will be much better for everyone.  

Before and After

With all that: here is a quick Before and After!  As always, my Instagram has more of the day-to-day updates on all the projects I'm working on at home, and occasionally a few others.  All the updates for this project are in the Garage highlight.  I'm really excited with what we were able to get done with the garage, and I'm excited about what is coming next!