Finally, the main part of the house is basically finished except for some expensive items like kitchen counter tops and new appliances. So, on to the garage conversion! When we bought the house, the listing said two car garage. The single-wide garage is a two car if you park one behind the other and take out the workroom in the back. Since we build a large unattached garage, we wanted to make this a front door entrance with a 4 foot mudroom area to the immediate left. To your right will be a full guest bath, straight on a living room with a guest room behind a barn door. At the back of the living room an enlarged doorway will get you to the back hall and kitchen.
First Steve laid a cinder block foundation across the garage doorway, and then framed in a front door and bathroom window:
Laying the block
original garage door
We found large Andersoon windows at our local Restore and installed those at the side of the garage.
front door and window framed
We had to jackhammer the cement floor to create a drain pathway to the shower and sink. Then plumbers came to put in the drains and Pex tubing after we framed in and insulated the floor. We hard insulated the drain cavities so the pipes don’t get too cold, you know northern wisconsin winters are pretty cold! We left airways to the crawl space for additional warmth. 
There was no framing in the outer walls, only 3 inch log siding, so we framed in the walls and windows and ceilings. Now there was space for insulation and a nailing surface for drywall. 
Then the framing of the rest of the floor. Steve used 2×8’s and shims to frame it with a vapor barrier laid first. Then R11 insulation and 3/4inch floor OSB.
Framing,insulating floor
The ceilng cavity has only a 2/12 pitch so we used air baffles at the front and back walls of the project, R19 until the middle where there was room for R30. We should have raise the pitch of the garage roof but the budget would not allow. So, plans are to put in a front porch roof and overhang .
After electric was run and drywall hung, there was just A LOT of mudding, sanding, and painting. We have just now run out of reclaimed wood from the house renovation so the trim is stock basic 1×4’s from Menards. I don’t know if I’ve told you yet but we are Menards fiends! We wait for the 11% sale and buy what we need for a project and then get a sizeable rebate check later.
mudroom
barn door for guest
cement counter
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