180 relocation project

[normanviking]

Here a few pics of what I have been up to in my free time. I am moving in with the girlfriend and prepareing to sell my old house. Anyone want a house in Widefield. lol I need to get the tank out so I can refinish the hardfloors AFTER I get the tank out. Luckily my tax return will be here soon to help with the bills. lol I am posting the pics for advice and just to show. If anyone has any input I would be happy to hear it.

This one is a shot of the garage door hanger. It is going to be in the way. SO I figured I would trim it to fit. The garage door does not need the whole rail anyway. Any other ideas?

Here is the garage door I insulated with door skins and R-13. So much fun. lol

 

[normanviking]

ANy drywall tips would be greatly appreciatted also.

 

[racer69]

I really like the hammerhead shark, but don't you think it will outgrow a 180????? lol

 

[rekn]

moving a 180? i suggest taking that glass in the second pic and filling it with margaritta

 

[Thurge]

Wow she lets you cut holes in her walls. THATS love.
Wish I could help you out with the dry wall tips, but thats one of Mom's areas of expertise.

 

[Deuce67]

Sorry Dan, I have no drywall tips but the project looks good! Good thing the GF shares the same passion in reefing huh?!

 

[calvin415]

Okay, drywalling tips

Rule 1, hire someone else to do it.

Just use as many full sheets as possible, use the mesh tape and take your time with the mudding. Sand your dried mud perfectly and reapply as needed. Rent a texturing machine, or hire it out as texturing is an art. Wish I had more time to help but I'm still trying to get my own basement done. Darn all these tanks taking up all my time.

 

[Deuce67]

I would also use the green type drywall on the inside of the garage. I wouldnt even textue it since its in the garge. Just paint it. I agree, texturing is an art or a pain in the arse!

 

[reefkoi]

I have a guy doing a repair to my drywall this week, hes cheap, if he does a quality job I'll give you his number. I hate drywall, its hard to do and even harder to make it look right. I love the ideas you have though and you have a keeper there with your GF. Not too many women would let you cut a huge hole in their house! For a fish tank no less!
Chris

 

[normanviking]

I just redid the hardwood floors in the house. So we thought it best to put it in the garage. lol I htink I am going to tackle the drywall. Thanks for the green type drywall tip Russ. My GF has the same idea as you for that. I have a friend that did a really good job texturing his drywall. I may get him to help me. I am on super budget. I can not wait for this project to be done. lol

 

[Joe69]

I wouldn't texture the inside of the garage, just tape it and call it good.

 

[fuzzyt]

I wouldn't texture either. It'll save you the cost of the rental and the mud, and it takes quite a bit. Cost can really add up over a short time.

 

[New2NaCl]

Hope you don't mind the advice, but it's well intentioned. I have a lot of experience in framing and some arcitectural design background.

It looks like you cut through your garage wall. The wall between the living area and garage are load bearing in almost all cases. If there's a concrete footing at the bottom of the wall, that would guarantee it's load bearing. When you cut through the 4 studs without adding jack and king studs on the sides of the opening and the correct header across the top, you created a situation where the load is not adequately supported. Lying 2x4's flat across the top provides no support at all. The top of the opening will eventually sag with the weight of the roof and snow or possibly fail altogether.

The usual header here would be two 2x10's or 2x12's spiked together with a 1/2" piece of plywood in between to add up to the width of the 2x4 studs.

Another thing I noticed is the notch in the stud with the piece of 2x4 let into it at a 45 degree angle. That provides no structural support above the opening, and notching half the thickness of the outermost stud supporting the load weakens the stud. The way it's angled from the outside inward transfers load to the 2x4's over the opening, which is what you should avoid. Any load over an opening is supposed to be transferred to the supporting studs on the sides of the opening.

Not being critical. Just passing on my experience.

 

[reefkoi]

Dang hes right! I totally missed that, normally you see this done in the interior wall somewhere that is'nt load bearing. I could see it sagging if nothing else and looking bad or sagging down onto the tank and causing a stress crack at the least. The key is the foundation at the bottom! When we hacked into my basement wall to add a 5 foot window, we jacked up the floor from underneath to take a little weight off, then cut out the studs and put in a laminated 2x10 or somewhere close to that for a header and did like 4-5 king studs on each side then let the weight back down.

Good call New2NaCl !!

 

[normanviking]

New2NaCl thanks alot for your input. I was looking for some feedback like that.When you say spike, do you mean just screw them together or something else I do not know about? The 45 degree peice was already there. You were right about the concrette foot. I was wandering if it was a weight bearing wall. Know I know what to look for in the future. Is that the only thing I need to modify, the header?? Thanks to guys with the drywall tips too. I always like help.

 

[normanviking]

New2NaCl I just noticed this your first post. WELCOME TO REEF CENTRAL. I am honored your first post was to help me out with such a critical peice of information. lol I am sure my GF will thank you much also. lol

 

[murfman]

Isn't this a great place? Nice catch and welcome to SMCAS and RC, new to salt water!!!!

 

[New2NaCl]

I think your insurance company would appreciate it too.

Since you are making significant modifications to the structure, you really should be drawing a permit. Assuming that you will actually draw a permit, here's what you should do to frame it correctly.

I would find a way to support your roof immediately. That wall is doing double duty, supporting the weight of the house roof AND the garage roof. That's probably the most structurally important wall in the house. Those horizontal 2x4's aren't helping at all.

You should not be using any partial boards where a whole board should be used for structural loads. I see you used a small piece to complete the framing around the opening. That's not good. Think of two boards stacked up end to end. Then think of what happens when you stand on top of them.

Second, use regular framing nails for everything.

Because of the span of the opening, I would use two 2x12's and the 1/2" plywood spacer nailed together every 6-8 inches or so in a double row. They make the 3 pieces act as a single piece of 4x12 wood. The studs above the header should be resting solidly on the header.

As insurance, I would add another king stud on the outside of the studs at the sides of the opening. Nail them to the other studs so they will have the stiffness of a single 4x4.

You should support the header at each end with double 2x4 jack studs. These jacks will be bearing all of the weight transferred from the roof to the header. With luck, the framed opening will still be wide enough for your tank. Don't forget the thickness of the drywall in the width of the hole.

Add a jack stud under the ends of the bottom of the opening.

Any time you have boards doubled up, nail them together so they act as a single board.

So on each side you will have 2 studs all the way to the top plate. Also on each side you will have 2 studs all the way to the header. Also on each side you will have 1 stud supporting the end of the sill in the opening. At the end of all this you should end up with 5 2x4's sandwiched together below the opening.

 

[normanviking]

What is a king stud and a jack stud?? The roof goes from one end to the other. No separate structures. Are you saying framing nails are better then screws? Do the horizontal pieces lay on top of the vertical ones? Trying to picture it in my head. Just wondering if the vertical peices are solid all the way up and down, I just put the horizontal peices in between? I tried looking in a few books and could not find info like this. I just used what they showed for a door or window frame. Thanks for the help. What do you do for a living by the way? Structural engineer?

 

[calvin415]

Hopefully this will help Dan... LMK if I can help, I've got a compressor and framing nail gun that will make that a quick task.