Project: Garage Office/Workshop Thread

[Matt-Page]

Not sure if anyone is still reading this/interested in progress but will add an update for my own sanity:

Next on the list was putting up the Vapour barrier, which qas a fairly quick job with a wacker tacker & staples. I also filled the small voids at the edge of the room with loft roll/rock wool cavity insulation.

The next stage was to install the counter battens to give a service void for cables and attach the plasterboard to:

I then contacted my electrician and got him to do the first fix electrics. When he arrived I still hadn't fully decided how I wanted the room laid out, but made it up quickly and should hopefully have enough.

I've got cabling for:

• 4x LED Downlights (these will be dimmable)
• 4x Double Sockets (2x on desk side, and 2x below window)
• 1x Single socket for a TV above Desk area (opposite wall to window)
• 1x Single socket on large back wall for panel heater (will be a Wi-Fi controlled heater so I can turn it on/off remotely/on a schedule)

The hole removed for the downlights from the insulation is quite large and will obviously break my vapour barrier. Agreed they will put some Rockwool on top of light to aid insulation but still disappointing (is this normal?!)

So that's where I currently am up to. I now need to consider network. I want to have Ethernet and Wifi out here. I haven't done anything like that before, but suspect I will dig a trench from the side of my house to the workshop in my garden and bury some ethernet cables in some conduit. Once inside the workshop I'll need to run them to the office part and decide if I want wall sockets/switch/etc. From memory I've got a Wireless AP but is PoE so will need a PoE switch as I doubt my EE Home Hub will offer that!

To do list:

• Finish Alliminium taping.
• Run Ethernet cables
• Plasterboard
• Electrics - Second fix
• Tape and join
• Paint walls (White)
• Decide on what flooring to go for
• Order/fit panel heater
• Fit door lining and door
• Skirting board/architrave/coving

Getting there but struggle to find time to do it!

Any feedback/questions welcome.

 

[PermaChanged]

Thanks for this thread, providing some really useful tips and guidance!

We're going to be looking to do something similar to our single block outbuilding, to allow us to install a shower and toilet in it and it not be riddled with damp and mould - first steps for us will be a new roof given that it's currently got a corrugated asbestos roof!

We've got a pal who's a carpenter who should be able to do the majority of the works for us at mates rates hopefully

 

[Matt-Page]

Thanks for this thread, providing some really useful tips and guidance!

We're going to be looking to do something similar to our single block outbuilding, to allow us to install a shower and toilet in it and it not be riddled with damp and mould - first steps for us will be a new roof given that it's currently got a corrugated asbestos roof!

We've got a pal who's a carpenter who should be able to do the majority of the works for us at mates rates hopefully

No worries, its a bit daunting when starting if you like to get things right and are picky like me. If it's single block make sure the roof is 100% as you said. Would also recommend rendering the outside walls if you can. Then when building inside the garage, give yourself a 50mm air gape off the wall to your wall studs. Then if any moisture does penetrate your walls, it wont bridge across to the stud wall/insulation/plasterboard/etc. Good luck!

 

[bluntslide]

I'm loving this thread! Great job and a great guide too! Very inspiring, maybe one day....if I could even get in to my garage I could achieve something barely close to this!
Would be interested to see a breakdown of costs and hours sacrificed.

 

[Duke]

Great work, thanks for posting

 

[Chockymonster]

Nice efforts, I love plooking at projects like this, seeing the amount of effort that goes in to something you'll never see.
With regards to the AP, you could always get a POE injector if you didn't want to put a POE switch in, obviously if you need a switch then great, but that might be another option.

 

[Matt-Page]

Great work, thanks for posting

No probs.

Nice efforts, I love plooking at projects like this, seeing the amount of effort that goes in to something you'll never see.
With regards to the AP, you could always get a POE injector if you didn't want to put a POE switch in, obviously if you need a switch then great, but that might be another option.

OK so the initial plan was to just run a couple of cables up to the garage and/or use Powerline Adapters.

But with a week to think about it, I've had some major scope creep...

So I'm now essentially going to:

• Run 2x CAT6 Cables from the House/Router to my garage and terminate into patch panel which will be housed in a mini comms cabinet
• Run CAT6 Cabling to 1x 4 Port CAT6 face plate where my desk will be, 1x Wireless AP on the ceiling and 1x 2 port CAT6 face plate to the wall under the window & terminate in patch panel
• Install Mini Comms cabinet on wall with patch panel and a 24 port PoE switch
• Fit Ruckus PoE AP on ceiling/wall

I've already purchased pretty much everything and its been delivered:

• Mini Comms Cabinet / Shelf
• Outdoor Direct Burial CAT6
• CAT 6 Face plates
• Patch Panel

I've got a Ruckus AP and a 24 port PoE Cisco switch which I can utilise with it. I'm probably going to get some normal CAT6 cabling for the socket wiring in the office room as the external stuff is super thick and wont be very easy to work with for that.
So yeah, I've gone way over the top as usual but hopefully it should be sufficient once finished and future proofed for a bit.

My priority for this weekend is to get the internal CAT6 wiring done in the office room so it wont hold me up plaster boarding the room.

 

[Chockymonster]

Better off going that route than regretting it later. Oh, label the cables when running them, with something super sticky, don’t rely on a sharpie. Sharpies don’t last very long on car 6 cable and it’s really annoying trying to identify which cable is which when you’ve flooded the house with them (this might be the voice of someone that has done that)

 

[Chockymonster]

Oh, also run more cable than you need. If you think you need one network point, double it. It’s cheaper to do all of that now than try later.

 

[Matt-Page]

Better off going that route than regretting it later. Oh, label the cables when running them, with something super sticky, don’t rely on a sharpie. Sharpies don’t last very long on car 6 cable and it’s really annoying trying to identify which cable is which when you’ve flooded the house with them (this might be the voice of someone that has done that)

Very true, I've always been a firm believer in that, hence why I am running 2x cables from the house outside up to the garage. 1x for redundant/spare or maybe it could be used to double the uplink bandwidth? Not sure on that, my network cabling knowledge isn't the best. Yep, will label them properly, I've unfortunately not got a DYNAMO at home, so will have to think of something better.

 

[Matt-Page]

Oh, also run more cable than you need. If you think you need one network point, double it. It’s cheaper to do all of that now than try later.

Yea, I have thought that. So for my 4x port face plate I was going to run 6 cables to it, or 5x cables and some draw string back to the patch panel. Will run 2x to the AP and 4x to the 2x port face plate.

 

[Chockymonster]

Very true, I've always been a firm believer in that, hence why I am running 2x cables from the house outside up to the garage. 1x for redundant/spare or maybe it could be used to double the uplink bandwidth? Not sure on that, my network cabling knowledge isn't the best. Yep, will label them properly, I've unfortunately not got a DYNAMO at home, so will have to think of something better.

You could do that, would depend on what’s at the other end as it would have to support port aggregation otherwise you’d end up with ports being shut down to prevent loops.
I don’t focus much on small networking stuff apart from personal use, I’m more used to dealing with big enterprise stuff, but I’m happy to offer pointers and will try not to confuse you!

You need a Dymo labeller, life is so much more complete with labels.

Yea, I have thought that. So for my 4x port face plate I was going to run 6 cables to it, or 5x cables and some draw string back to the patch panel. Will run 2x to the AP and 4x to the 2x port face plate.

If you’re running the cables, just patch them! Otherwise they’ll be stuck in the wall forever!

 

[Matt-Page]

You could do that, would depend on what’s at the other end as it would have to support port aggregation otherwise you’d end up with ports being shut down to prevent loops.
I don’t focus much on small networking stuff apart from personal use, I’m more used to dealing with big enterprise stuff, but I’m happy to offer pointers and will try not to confuse you!

You need a Dymo labeller, life is so much more complete with labels.

If you’re running the cables, just patch them! Otherwise they’ll be stuck in the wall forever!

Yeah, I've done a fair bit of Enterprise stuff, but its mainly switch/firewall config/VLAN's and cabling has only been patching patch panels to switches/desks, not done any faceplates or terminating before, but can't be that difficult. I doubt my EE Homehub supports port aggregation, so will just patch it and label it as a spare for now on the patch panel.

Haha, I'll maybe look at them on Amazon now and tempt myself with one. Will send my OCD into overdrive having the ability to label stuff though!

So for the cables, I'll run them but leave them behind the face plate. The face plate will only have 4x ports, but will run some for redundancy in case any of the x4 fail.

 

[Matt-Page]

I had some time on Saturday afternoon so I decided to get the network cabling done. Having not done this sort of cable running before, it was a but trial and error, but got into the swing eventually.

I've run:

• 5x Cables to left hand side wall where my desk will be (4x ports on face plate, 1x spare I'm hoping I can leave behind face plate in case of any issues in the futute)
• 2x Cables to middle of ceiling where POE Wireless AP will be fitted (1x for AP and 1x spare)
• 2x Cables to right hand side wall in case I want to put another desk there

I also finished foil taping the ceiling and sealed around the vapour barrier.

4x Ports where my desk will be:

Trimmed the excessive ends (hopefully I've left enough!)

2x Cables for the AP:

2x Ports to the right of the electric sockets (didn't run a spare to this port, hope I don't regret that!)

Foil Tape / Vapour Barrier complete:

Routed all cables to here which is where I plan to mount my Mini Comms cab and terminate the cables into a patch panel:

Luckily I labelled them with a Sharpie, but have taken @Chockymonster 's advice and have ordered a Dymo Label Maker to make this better/neater.

I'm ready for Plaster boarding now but would like to find a way to test the CAT6 Cables in situ without terminating them.

Apologies if I have made some mistakes with my network cabling. Keen to hear feedback if I've done this right or not so I can make improvements/changes before I plasterboard.

 

[ShadowMan]

Do yourself a favour and unbundle the cat6 in the walls. If one is broken it will be impossible to pull it out and pull in a new one if they are bundled. If loose you at least have a chance tying a new one to end of old and just pulling it through.

I know it won’t look as neat now but it will be covered anyway.

 

[Matt-Page]

Do yourself a favour and unbundle the cat6 in the walls. If one is broken it will be impossible to pull it out and pull in a new one if they are bundled. If loose you at least have a chance tying a new one to end of old and just pulling it through.

I know it won’t look as neat now but it will be covered anyway.

Thanks for the advice, good idea, I had considered it but dismissed it. Will do that before I plasterboard. Thanks.

 

[SimonR]

Honestly, given the routing of your cables, you have slim to no chance of redragging those cables in-situ. This is why we always recommend redundancy and over-installing the number of cables that you may need. In fact you may actually damage other cables if you try to re-pull a non-functional cable as they pass through the same holes in your framing. Test everything before you close your walls up, that way you will know that it all works.

 

[PermaChanged]

Sorry to potentially derail the thread, but is there any reason you couldn't have used something like this on the floor and walls instead of a sheet based DPM?

https://ardex.co.uk/product/liquid-waterproof-membrane/

• Ideal for under raised access floors, in plant rooms and wet areas • Provides a water and water vapour barrier

I'm thinking I'll coat our single block outhouse in this, then pour roughly 35mm of self leveller over the lot, so we can affix base plates when installing the stud walls.

 

[Matt-Page]

Honestly, given the routing of your cables, you have slim to no chance of redragging those cables in-situ. This is why we always recommend redundancy and over-installing the number of cables that you may need. In fact you may actually damage other cables if you try to re-pull a non-functional cable as they pass through the same holes in your framing. Test everything before you close your walls up, that way you will know that it all works.

Hmm you're right. Worse case scenario is I have to make a small hole in the plasterboard and thread a new cable through which wouldn't be too bad as I'll be able to patch/fill and paint it. I have run spare cables to most sockets and have way more than I need anyway so I think I should be fine. It would be nice to test the cables but I doubt I'll have time before I Plasterboard. I'll also have a Wireless AP (with 2x cables run) for extra resilience.

Sorry to potential derail the thread, but there is there any reason you couldn't have used something like this on the floor and walls instead of a sheet based DPM?

https://ardex.co.uk/product/liquid-waterproof-membrane/



I'm thinking I'll coat our single block outhouse in this, then pour roughly 35mm of self leveller over the lot, so we can affix base plates when installing the stud walls.

Yep, potentially that is an option I could have considered, but I've not head any leaks. My garage is also rendered on the right hand side, rear and front (left hand side is right up against fence so this wasn't done.). However, I've done the DPM and also spaced my studs off of the wall if there are any leaks so hopefully I should be OK.

 

[MassiveJim]

Luckily I labelled them with a Sharpie, but have taken @Chockymonster 's advice and have ordered a Dymo Label Maker to make this better/neater.

I wouldn't bother, any cabler I have dealt with uses a sharpie on the cable as labels can get pulled off.