Garaging Part 2

The garage has seen a little more progress since last week's update. The next project I decided to tackle was a fairly time consuming undertaking: I labeled our entire circuit breaker. Let me back up for a moment and explain to you why this is worth doing. 

A few years ago, my dad and I wanted to change out some outlets and light switches in his house. As I've said before, I strongly advise that you turn the power off whenever doing something like this. Electricians do it with the power on, but especially since I've seen what can go wrong if you don't turn the power off, I always flip the appropriate circuits at the breaker. The issue at my dad's was that he had been living in his house for 20+ years and had tons of devices plugged in in all of the rooms, so every time we flipped the wrong breaker it turned something off that we didn't want turned off. We kept having to reset everything (clocks, DVR schedules, etc.) over and over. Lesson learned: label everything before anything is hooked up.

First, I assigned each breaker a number. The previous owner had stickers on there that said things like "living room," "master," etc., but I knew that they were blanket statements and not perfectly accurate. Breaker 5 didn't turn off all of the master outlets and only the master outlets, so I wanted to make sure I knew exactly which breaker did which outlet, not just have a general idea.

John and I spent a day with him standing at the breaker box and me going around the house while he flipped each one to figure out how they were connected. I printed out our floorplan before we got started so I could mark where each outlet was as I went. John would flip the breaker, and I would use this little device that tells you if outlets are wired correctly to see if it still had power. If it did, the device's lights would be illuminated. You could also just use a lamp or anything else you plug in, but this was quick and easy because it's so small. 

When we figured out which number the outlet corresponded to, I wrote the breaker number down on the floorplan wherever the outlet was. 

I also created a spreadsheet that indicates which breaker is connected to the light switches/light fixtures and also the outlets for the large appliances. I didn't put outlets for the large appliances on the floorplan because we won't ever be plugging anything into those outlets other than their intended appliance. Some of the breakers don't seem to be connected to anything which means we can use them in the future if we ever add an outlet or light fixture somewhere!

Then, I combined both of those...

I printed it out and taped it under the circuit breaker for easy reference! How sad is it that I get extreme satisfaction out of this? Like really, extreme satisfaction.

Next, I want to talk a little about my tools. Whenever people come over, they're always really shocked at how many I have and how organized they are. The truth is that I've used every single tool (with the exception of one) I own and if they weren't so organized I would be pulling my hair out trying to find them. I initially thought I'd hang all of my tools on my workbench's pegboard, but I decided that having them horizontally, rather than vertically, would be easier for me. Plus, I have a lot of tools that are bulky and heavy which would not lend well to pegboard hanging. My dad got me this Craftsman tool chest for Christmas to store everything in.

Let's go through them all, shall we? I'll try to reference projects you've seen me using the tools for, but some things like screwdrivers are of course just used all the time for tons of things so I'll spare you from that long list ;)

The top is full of random things I use on a regular basis. It has all of my screws and nails (in that clear plastic organizer), electrician's tape, my 37 cent tool belt, pegs for the pegboard, and other miscellaneous items.

The fop drawer has all of my screwdrivers (big, small, and tiny) and Allen wrenches.

The second drawer has the electrician's pliers and voltage meter I used for replacing the light switches, regular pliers, the outlet tester I used to label the circuit breaker, the stud sensor I used to hang the garage cabinets, the putty knives I used on my wedding menu and to frame my master bath mirror, caulk removers and applicators that I used to recaulk my master tub and kitchen sink, and vice grips.

The third drawer has the laser level I used to mark the top of our backsplash, a two-way horizontal level, a t-square, a magnetized level, a tool to take very small and precise measurements, a mallet, the crowbar I used to remove the old backsplash, a hammer, and some wood and metal files.

The fourth drawer has channel lock pliers, a hand saw, the hack saw we used on the spigot, and crescent wrenches. 

The fifth drawer has combination wrenches, drill bits, and my drill.

The sixth drawer has caulk and a caulk gun, a rubber mallet, and various brushes and rollers.

The seventh drawer has hand clamps, a tool to measure angles, a dremel (the one tool I haven't used yet), and the staple gun I used to reupholster my vanity stool.

The eighth drawer is sort of my leftovers/junk drawer and has various things in it that I just about never use. There are leftover outlets and light switches, random hardware from our furniture that we didn't use but I didn't want to toss in case we need it some day, glass leftover from my DIY earring stand, etc.

The ninth and final drawer has the hand sander and sand paper I used to revamp my workbench, among other things, my jigsaw, and extra blades for my miter saw.

Whew. That's a lot of tools! Some of them I got at Harbor Freight for super super cheap, and some I spent more money on because I want them to work well and work well for the long haul. For example, my miter saw is not something I wanted to skimp on. There were cheap options, but when it comes to a spinning blade, I didn't think it was wise to skimp.

Then there are the few things I've hung on my pegboard for easy access like tape, safety glasses, and my workbench brush. I know those white frames on the pegboard look kind of silly, but they were leftover from the wedding and I didn't want to toss them but I have no actual use for them... yet. Maybe when I get around to actually putting things on the walls they can be of use, but for now, they frame tape. Haha.

So, what tools could you not live without? I'm realizing that's a hard question for me to answer seeing as how I really need them all. Projects just turn out so much better when you have what you need to get them done.

Garage Happenings

Our garage has come a long way from where it started, which was basically just an empty box. I re-built a workbench back in January, and have now installed cabinets and refinished a stool!

After taking the kitchen cabinets down back in December, they've been sitting in our garage taking up floor space. Remember these guys?

Well, I finally got around to hanging them a few weeks ago and I'm just now posting because of all of the wedding madness/settling into the condo/general laziness. 

I had 5 cabinets in all, three of which were 30" wide, and two of which were 36" wide, so naturally I planned to hang them in two stacks based on their width. I wanted to put the three 30" ones between my workbench and the shelves my handyman installed, and the other two on the other side of the shelves next to the door to the laundry room. The first step was to find the studs so I'd know where to screw them in. I didn't take a picture while I did this, but this is the little device I used.

It's just about the most basic stud finder you can buy, but it's done its job every time I've needed it to. On the left side there's a little button you push down as you slide it across the wall. Once it gets to a stud, it lights up and makes a beeping noise. Then, once it's back off the stud, it goes back to being unlit and silent. My handyman had a really fancy one that had lots of lights that lit up to show you the location and width of the studs, like so:

But I'm not that fancy. I just made a mark on either side, got my level and straight edge, and drew lines up from my marks. 

My dad came over so one of us could screw them in while the other held the cabinet in place. We just used some 3" decking screws because that's what we had on hand and they worked quite well.

Bam bam bam, three of five cabinets up.

The other two were going to the right of the shelves, and there was only one stud behind them and it was all the way to the right. We used the 3" decking screw to put it in the stud, and then used a 1.5" screw to put it in the drywall on the left. Since it sits directly on the ground, I wasn't worried about there only being one stud because the full weight is supported by the ground. The screw on the left is more for stability.

To hide those screw holes, the ugly red paint that used to cover the kitchen, and to give the cabinet top a nice surface, I cut a piece of plywood to fit the top and put it on with some finishing nails. Here it is hiding under John's basketball bag :)

Look at all of that extra storage! Currently we have extra paper towels in the top right cabinet, and the rest is empty. Even those blue and green boxes are empty, just waiting to be filled up. Even though the cabinets and containers are empty, it's driving me kind of crazy that there's so much stuff on the shelves, but those cardboard boxes will be removed soon and the rest is just kind of necessary to keep. I'm such a purger, so keeping anything we don't need or regularly use is extremely hard for me. On the top shelf is leftover flooring and suitcases, on the third shelf you can see some paint cans peeking out, and on the ground are all of the blinds we took down and the pressure washer I used to clean the driveway and back patio, none of which we should get rid of, but it just sits. there. doing. nothing. I hate it!

Now, did you notice the white stool in the corner? My dad surprised me by bringing it to the condo and I had forgotten we even had it. Back in like 1998, my favorite neighbors moved away, and they gave me this stool. As an 8 year old, a free stool was pretty exciting. It had an interesting paint job though, with green on random parts of the top and little maroon dots on the bars.  

I decided to give it a little face lift. First, I sanded it.

At this time, let me introduce you to the best creation of all time: the spray paint trigger attachment.

If any of you have spray painted before, you know that your finger will be mighty sore if you have a can with the regular old knob/button on top. Holding that thing down is not a fun job, so when I came across this attachment on Home Depot I pounced. It just snaps on to the top of any regular spray paint can, and when you squeeze the trigger a little mechanism pushes down on the button on the top of the can. Genius. Index finger: saved, not sacrificed.

After one coat of Rust-Oleum white in satin, we had some good progress.

After a night of drying and another coat, it was as good as new!

Here it is sitting happily in front of my work bench waiting to be used :)

Here it is with Velma--my car--inside. Still nice and spacious!

So, what do you think of the extra storage? Those cabinets were pink tinged and disgusting while they were in the kitchen, but I think they fit in just fine in the garage. On one hand I'm excited to have so much extra storage space, but on the other I'm hoping we never amass enough stuff to fill it all up! I know we'll have a lot of Christmas decorations, but other than that I'm hoping to only keep what we really need. I just can't stand having tons of stuff that just sits unused. What about you? Are you a purger like me? Or do you like to keep things for that just-in-case hypothetical moment that you might need that one thing from 1995?