Transformed Backyard Workshop

Heidi
by Heidi
Our next door neighbor was preparing to tear down his existing one car garage and replace it with a 2 car detached garage. We asked his permission to move it from his yard to ours because we needed a dedicated workshop for a place to work on our projects. One Saturday morning, a few friends came over and helped us move the garage, one wall at a time, through our backyards and onto the new foundation we had poured. Over the next several months, we transformed a dilapidated garage into our dream workshop with a budget of $2,000.
The garage was located directly next door to us. Before we could move it, the roof, garage door and windows had to be removed. We would later use the salvaged wood from the roof to construct the soffits of the new workshop.
To physically move the garage, we cut a seam down each corner of the building and slowly lowered it to the ground.
The phrase "many hands make light work" definitely applied in this case! Our friends helped us carry each wall from our neighbors yard to ours where we stood them up on the new foundation.
By the end of the first day, all of the walls were standing, a new roof had been framed and the front wall was built to accommodate double doors.
The set of 6 windows on the roof that create the dormer were actually from the original garage door! The dormer lets in lots of additional natural light.
After trying to scrape peeling paint from the existing siding on the garage, we decided it would be worth and extra $300 to put new siding on the entire workshop. Money well spent!
We found 4 windows on Craigslist for $20 each and relocated the original windows from the garage to the front of the workshop.
Some landscaping and a small deck finish off the exterior. Shutters were a simple addition and cost less than $5/each to build. Plans are available on our blog.
The front doors came from our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore for only $80!
Exterior lights and DIY flower boxes were added just recently. We couldn't be happier with this wonderful addition to our backyard! Follow us on Facebook for more projects we're working on https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kruses-Workshop/544083725671242
Heidi
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Beautiful, but what's going on the inside?
  • Memo1955 Memo1955 on Jun 24, 2022

    The whole project only cost $2000? Does that include the concrete foundation? And I am pretty sure there is power in your new workshop as well. Did you add a Duckless mini split AC/Heat unit inside? The idea for the Dormer was brilliant! A very nice conversion for only $2k, shows that nothing is impossible with innovation and creativity! Congratulations.

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