Look what we’ve been doing …
Our garage is the black hole of our home. Periodically I try to re-organize it, but it refuses to be organized. It just reverts to the heap of tools and camping gear and random tennis balls and tools (did I mention tools??? – we have TWO table saws for heavens sake!!). This past fall we replaced our kitchen cabinets and hung on to a few of the old cabinets that were still in decent shape. The plan was to hang them above a new workbench that we would build, whereupon we would be able to corral all the tools and saws, etc. – creating a “workshop area in just ONE area of the garage instead of the entire space.
The other problem with our garage is the lack of power. There is ONE electrical plug that happens to be on the household GFI circuit. Our freezer and garage fridge are plugged into this plug. Last fall we came home from a trip to find that the circuit had tripped while we were gone and everything had melted. YUCK! So, along with the handy new bench, we needed more power. And that was hanging us up because neither of us felt comfortable about adding another breaker to our electrical panel. We kept talking about calling an electrician, but never doing it. Early in June Tom’s brother, Alan (and wife Jan), came to visit. And while they were here he helped Tom add the breaker (along with fixing our basement toilet that was leaking from the wax ring – aren’t they the most awesome house guests!?!). So we have a source of power.
So this past weekend Tom and I got the materials and did this:
We installed the blue boxes, ran wire from plug to plug, wired the plugs (I had a moment there when I couldn’t remember which screw the black wire went to – fortunately, it came back to me!!), and figured out how to get power to the far wall (conduit, anyone??). It was a happy moment when we flipped the circuit and powered the utility light!! Then we insulated the walls and called it day. Tonight we purchased the dry wall and hope to have that hung by the end of the week. We have a few things to figure out – like what to do with the gas line that is running along the bottom of the wall. And we need to do some googling to find out the best way to mark our electrical boxes so we can cut them out of the drywall. But it is coming along!! Maybe by fall we’ll have a garage that can house one vehicle. Maybe …