# Studio makeover.



## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Been gradually giving the studio a makeover over for the last month or so, been difficult to juggle cars coming in and applying the final coats of paint to the floor, but we are finally there now, just another 2 days and it should be fully cured.

Very pleased with the outcome and 4 coats now down, the wooden shelving is temporary, going to replaced with a workstation.










Still need to sort out the lighting to something more organised, what I'm struggling with is a solution to board up the rafters, I want to line the underside, so weight needs to be kept as light as possible. What I am keen on is the PVC tongue and groove panelling, this way I can fit in spots all round, but other than B & Q (Expensive) I can't find any stockists, or another idea was PVC sheeting, again struggling to find a supplier.

Any help appreciated.:thumb:


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## uzi-blue (Mar 16, 2011)

Very Nice. Though about good old plasterboard?


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

I was gonna say that ^^ , try wickes building supplies there are a varietie of boards to choose from.
HTH.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

uzi-blue said:


> Very Nice. Though about good old plasterboard?





dennis said:


> I was gonna say that ^^ , try wickes building supplies there are a varietie of boards to choose from.
> HTH.


The only thing that worries me with Plasterboard is the weight and should it come away for some reason whilst a cars in.


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## Ultra (Feb 25, 2006)

How about sheets of ply wood, [ Thin sheets ] easy to work with and easy to put down lighters in, just a thought.


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## LeadFarmer (Feb 23, 2011)

Theres a firm near me on an industrial estate called Scotplas that sell all sorts of plastic guttering etc, and they also sell the tongue'n'groove cladding boards. They are much cheaper than B&Q.

Be careful when carrying large sheets of it that overhang the front of your roof rack. Once you get above 25mph the 
sheets flip up, snap off, and fly all over the road. Ask me how I know

I see from their website their nearest branches to you are in Dartford and Bedford.


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## Andyowl (Mar 12, 2011)

The tonge and groove panels are available from 'eurocell building plastics':
They are a nationwide company (google it!) that will deliver anywhere.
The unit will look the dogs swingers when finished, very proffesional :thumb:


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## Derek Mc (Jun 27, 2006)

TBH I would look at this

http://www.shop.drifixlimited.co.uk...m-materials-buy-online-with-drifix--grid.html

It is cheap reliable and adds to the insulation layer, plus is easy to swap tiles out if you add LED or Di-chroic / sodium lighting to a stock 600x600 cat 2 reflector florescent and it could be thrown up in about 3 hours in that size of space


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## slrestoration (Nov 11, 2009)

As above i'd suggest a suspended ceiling of some sort Rob, would certainly give you a serious choice of lighting options


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## dooka (Aug 1, 2006)

Or maybe some 9mm plasterboard..

Nice little unit you have there :thumb:..

When it comes to lights, go nuts ..


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## 47p2 (Jun 17, 2007)

If the plasterboard is attached using the proper nails it should never come down. PVC ceilings are very expensive, my bathroom cost a fortune and I would guess that to do my garage ceiling would be around £2k


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## banditbarron (Sep 1, 2007)

How about a mad fabric ceiling like this, would help with defect spotting too










Dave


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## rich1880 (May 26, 2010)

I used plasterboard, had about 40 screws in each board then finished with a skim, I rarely use the small loft space so it worked well for me and easy to get the spotlights cut into it!!


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

Once it's all boarded (if using plasterboard) it shouldn't come down, if you use 12.5mm board - don't think 9mm is available now? Plus that would be very weak.

Fixing for plasterboards to ceiling are at 150mm centres (thats to BG spec) and that's what we work to on sites, also the same centre's for Knauf boarding. I personaly wouldn't want to nail the boards on, just because sometimes they work loose, and if you do use screws if you allow for a 10mm fix into the timber.

But as recommended a grid ceiling would make the area very smart and bright, and would also be very easy to add whatever lights you want. 

Can you tell what I do for a living? lol


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

*Recent update.*

A couple of recent updates fitted in around work and the benefit of having the Bank Holiday off.

A new shiny red locker/cabinet, shelving and artwork added, and of course a comfy armchair.



















Whilst the rafters were still open, an additional powerpoint added.










Managed to have a steal last week on e-bay, won x4 8ft double fluorescents for the ceiling and x5 5ft Fluorescents which will be going at waist level at a later date.










Jobs left to do.

Decided to go down the plasterboard route for the ceiling, mainly because it will add a cleaner look and secondly it will cost next to nothing, this will be completed as soon as I can grab a hand and hire a platform.

Some further painting to be completed above the doors, pillars and another coat to right side wall, possibly a matching workbench to go with the red cabinet theme, think I'm pretty much where I want to be then for the time being.:thumb:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Very nice Rob


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

looking really good Rob


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## kempe (Jan 9, 2011)

Here you go buddy :thumb:

http://www.fascias.com/contents/en-uk/d532_External_Cladding.html?gclid=CIbd7Nv6zqgCFcJP4QodwjZXgQ

http://www.cabp.co.uk/acatalog/pvc_hollow_solid_cladding.html


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Great looking space Rob :thumb:.

Have you replaced the 2 garage doors with 1 large double to make the cars easier to move or is the garage long enough to be able to get the car in and then move it to give you space down both sides.

I think with boarding the roof space and with those lights (which when the tubes go you can replace with 'daylight' one's, give an almost natural light) you'll be set .... Just wished you lived a bit closer to me.... :lol:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

ads2k said:


> Great looking space Rob :thumb:.
> 
> Have you replaced the 2 garage doors with 1 large double to make the cars easier to move or is the garage long enough to be able to get the car in and then move it to give you space down both sides.
> 
> I think with boarding the roof space and with those lights (which when the tubes go you can replace with 'daylight' one's, give an almost natural light) you'll be set .... Just wished you lived a bit closer to me.... :lol:


Thanks Adam.

I have yet to see to the doors, we decided that the door extension would be put on hold for the time being, to avoid any disruption to work, as a substitute my wife allowed me to get ruthless and dump the stuff she was harbouring, thus creating a space purely for detailing.

I have mastered backing a car in now and can get it at a decent angle to allow a space all the way round to manouver, had 2 cars in the other week and still left plenty of room, so a decent sized space.:thumb:

At the moment the lights are loosing about 50% efficiency as the diffusers are bouncing the light into the rafters, so eager to get the roof boarded, despite this the space is definately brighter. Just added a wall light today for the side panels which is very effective.


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## mbrad_26 (Apr 19, 2011)

Looking good...but i think you should get your self a nice litle fridge to acommodate waxes or more important some BEER...in my opinion the most important piece of kit.

Cheers


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Looks great - very nice set up. :thumb: 

Will look so much brighter when the ceiling is boarded and painted white.

Where did you get the wall light by the way?


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## ant_s (Jan 29, 2009)

Looking good mate, added loads of light already, soon as it's boarded will be sooo much brighter.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

yetizone said:


> Looks great - very nice set up. :thumb:
> 
> Will look so much brighter when the ceiling is boarded and painted white.
> 
> Where did you get the wall light by the way?


The wall light was given to me by my dad, it came out of his shop a few years ago, not sure where he got it but will ask for you.


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

Many thanks. I like the tapered edges. Looks a lot cleaner than a standard angular edged fluorescent light cover.


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## [email protected] (Jan 28, 2009)

How big is the space? Have you had a look at

1) ScrewFix, there is one just round the corner of B&Q Lakeside.

Screwfix

It's light weight and white which should bounce a chunk of light back down.

Less my maths is off that pack will do about 16m square for £78 about £5 p/m squared

2)Merrydale Plastics in Chadwell St. Mary - http://www.merrydaleplastics.co.uk/ do all sorts of stuff at fairly good prices.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

[email protected] said:


> How big is the space? Have you had a look at
> 
> 1) ScrewFix, there is one just round the corner of B&Q Lakeside.
> 
> ...


Thanks but in the process of going down the plasterboard route.:thumb:


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## MA09 (Mar 28, 2011)

Gleammachine said:


> The only thing that worries me with Plasterboard is the weight and should it come away for some reason whilst a cars in.


ive boarded litteraly hundreds of rooms...and never has any board come away...dot'n'dab...sticks perfect if the surface is dry,sound and dust free.


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## MAXI-MILAN (Oct 26, 2008)

Very nice Rob  what is the size of your garage ?


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

MAXI-MILAN said:


> Very nice Rob  what is the size of your garage ?


Cheers mate, about 18ft x 18ft.

Plasterboard guy is booked and will be going up in a couple of weeks.:thumb:


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## DetailMe (Jan 13, 2011)

Rob, photobuckets gone up the swanny, I can't see the pics! 
Chris


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## cmaxed_dan (Mar 13, 2011)

If you wanted a brigther light from the fittings you already have you could always change the tubes to daylight tubes as these give of a blue/white light. I can get these for you as i work in a electrical wholesale and i live around the corner


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

cmaxed_dan said:


> If you wanted a brigther light from the fittings you already have you could always change the tubes to daylight tubes as these give of a blue/white light. I can get these for you as i work in a electrical wholesale and i live around the corner


Thanks Dan, thats very kind of you and will be in touch when I decide to change them.:thumb:


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## dominic84 (Jan 27, 2007)

Cool, look forward to seeing it finished with the plaster board in :thumb:


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

*Plasterboard update.*

Well the plasterboard is finally up and making the space look a whole lot more presentable, just need to have the joints taped and plastered when I get back from Spain, then I can get a couple of coats of paint on it.










Next job is to tackle the flooring with some tiles, not overly happy with the floor paint peeling in certain areas.


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Still not had the opportunity to sort the floor to my liking, however I did grab some time today to wire in some additional lighting, sort out my Porsche bonnet comparison for the wall and fit in the tv and dvd surround.





Proper 80's Porsche colour. 



Tv, dvd and fridge, what more do you need?





For the time being a final 2 coats, finished this evening.


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2011)

Looks good man


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## rittz (Mar 1, 2011)

work studio+ beer fridge + tv = win win :thumb:


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## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

Looks fantastic Rob :thumb: gets me thinking I really should make the effort and get my own work space tidied up 

Richard


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## North east Car Care (Jan 14, 2008)

looking really good Rob


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## Gleammachine (Sep 8, 2007)

Added another row of halogens yesterday, these can be tilted, and switched seperately to the fluorescents, pleased with the effectiveness.



















Got to get the plasterboard gaps sorted and then a couple of coats of paint.


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## wookey (Jul 13, 2007)

Did he use tapered edge boards for the ceiling? If so tape and joint them.

Tape all the joints, then a 2 nice tight coats of Easi-fill on joints and screws. Lightly rub back and then paint.


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