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Garage Organization - The Mudroom Plan

Garage mudroom - the plan - entrance to the house from the garage platform
Good morning, friends!

It's been a while since my last report on the garage organization series. I have to give you a good explanation of why I'm already planning to build a mudroom in that little corner of the garage that you see in the picture up here, given that I didn't follow this list of future projects I gave you in this post in March:
  • Building the miter saw station with underneath storage
  • Painting the floor (waiting for warmer days to tackle this project)
  • Building a table saw station
  • Starting work on mud-room.
Well, the miter saw station was built. You can check that post right HERE.
garage organization - makita miter saw

As per schedule, painting the floor was my next task. 

Look how empty the garage looked after I completed the miter saw station!garage with mitersaw station, pegboard, tool storage bench
 
Especially when compared to the starting point. ðŸ˜–
messy garage ready to be organized

I postponed the floor painting because I didn't want my newly painted floor to be ruined by all the construction I had to do to build the mudroom. So, let's talk about it.

THE MUDROOM

This little area on the right corner of the garage, leading to the house, has been our little mudroom area for the past 20 years.

It was the most awkward space to get in and out of the house. I had that basket there to collect shoes—ha, it was always full of shoes. A small bench in front of that basket was a storage spot for anything and everything. 

Going to the laundry room, that little clearance was all the space we had to move in and out of the house. 
garage organization - mudroom

Let me explain my plan for this area.

But wait! 

The first step was to bring the cars in. (It's been a few years since we parked them here!)

I brought the cars in to mark the area—furthest away from the back wall—where they could be parked. Even though I'm not planning on parking the vehicles here, I still want this garage to be a two-car garage. I don't want to damage the house's resale value. This is my current shop, but future owners might like to use this space only to park two cars.

Cars parked in the garage

I used Gaffer tape to mark the area on the floor. The space I can use for the mudroom extends from the tape to the back wall.
area for the mudroom marked in the garage

OK, it's now time to demo that tiny platform. 

Bye, Felicia!
Cristina Garay domoing the platform in garage
 In no time... Well, two days... I had this open space.
empty area in the garage for a mudroom

THE PLAN

Knowing the area I had to work with, I drew my ideas on paper. The plan is to build an enclosed room in that corner of the garage to serve as a mudroom.

I always thought that the stairs were going to be facing the entrance of the garage. But, when putting things on paper, doing the stairs that way didn't seem right. 
plans for mudroom in the garage

Plan 1: The one that makes the most sense. A straight pathway from the house door to door/stairs, and all that back wall is free to turn into storage.

Plan 2: The stairs were pushed
 against the back wall, creating a less-than-ideal pathway and compromising the storage on the wall.

Plan 3: The staircase to the right was definitely not a good option. Both doors being close to each other was a big no.

You may have noticed the windows in those drawings. Yep. I want at least a window in that little room. I don't want it to feel claustrophobic.

When you draw the plan, you must also know the materials you'll be using and the dimensions of those materials/items (size of windows and doors). You also need to follow the code when building the stairs. There are guidelines for the size (depth-height) of the treads and risers.

Now, guys, I'm getting here into new territory. I've never built a room from scratch, not even a wall. And here, I'm about to create a mudroom! I first needed to build the platform to bring it to the same level as the house.

Well, I'm so fortunate to have my BIL- Stan, as that person that's going to help me with this entire project. I'm going to work alongside his side, and I'm going to be a sponge, getting all that knowledge from him and sharing it all with you!

---- o ----

Plan 1 was the one to follow. Armed with a pencil, a ruler, a measuring tape, and a level, Stan started by drawing the plan on the floor. Those double lines are the two-inch material for the platform. Post locations were also drawn onto the floor, ensuring things were square.

This is the final moment to adjust your plan. I didn't calculate the area for the stairs well, so he adjusted those measurements on the floor.

how to build a mudroom out of the garage
 The lines were brought up the wall, again ensuring everything was level.

HOW TO DETERMINE THE HEIGHT OF THE PLATFORM?

Well, I wanted the final flooring to be the same height as the floors inside the house. An easy way to check the floor height was through that opening in the Sheetrock. We could see all the layers inside the home.

Knowing the final height, we had to start subtracting all the material we were thinking of installing in the mudroom: the thickness of the flooring we're going to use, Durock, if any, thin-set, subfloor, etc. 

Then, the height of the ledger, and finally, the height of the posts. It's like building a little deck in here.
We used 2 x 10s for the ledgers, and cutting them to size was our next step in building the platform.

Well, I think I'll save this part for my next post because this is getting too long.

Stay tuned for my next post this Wednesday with a fun Father's Day giveaway!


See ya!


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Here are all the projects that were tackled during this mudroom build:


THE MUDROOM PLAN - You're Here!
The mudroom plan


DIY - Garage platform


How to frame a mudroom in the garage


How to build an indoor staircase


How to install slate tile




















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