So now I have awesome cars (and a bike) and they should have an awesome home to live in. I have two main issues I need help remedying...

1. My garage concrete floor is cracked and uneven in areas. How do I fix this? I'd like to get this level and then do some type of grey speckled sealant.... anyone have a good writeup on this? If its too much of a pita, I don't mind paying someone to do it either. Anyone have contacts in Colorado (Colorado Springs) that could do this?

2. The walls have a very rough 'textured' finish on the concrete. I want it to be completely flat so I have a smooth surface to paint. How do I fix that?

Your replies or willingness to help is greatly appreciated!

 

To fix #2 you can secure furing strips into the concrete to essentially create studs. Then dry wall it.

 

How deep is a furing strip? I'm wondering how much space I will lose to drywalling...

 

I used the term furing strip loosely. You could you 2X4s and you would lose 3.5" of depth on each side. This will give you a strong wall to hang cabinets and such on. Or you could use 1X2. The idea is just to build the wall out a bit so you can attached the drywall. Attaching anything to concrete is a PITA. I would suggest you use masonary screws. They sell them in the hardware section of home depot. The are a dark blue color. The are expense, but work really well. Since you'll have a lot of holes to drill I suggest renting a hammer drill if you don't have one and buy a bunch of the mason drill bits.

 

That does sound like a PITA, but definitely worth it. It also seems I would want to get the floor done before adding walls. Would it help to keep heat in in the winter to put insulation between the concrete and drywall?There is one section of wall with fake wood paneling that I would want to rip off. Will there be drywall behind that most likely?

 

Insulation would definitely help. Insulation will also help keep some of the heat out in the summer time. If you plan on insulating use 2X4s. If you squish insulation down to fit in 1X2 the insulation it will lose its effectiveness. If the rest of the room isn't drywalled I bet they put furing strips up and nailed / glued the paneling to them. If you do have drywall they might have used liquid nails or some other glue to affix the paneling which when you take it off will rip the face of the drywalll. ie. you may have to redrywall anyway or spend losts of time fixing all the imperfections.

 

Premier garage is out of Denver is doing my floors next week. I will post pictures but price was pretty reasonable.
Posting pics will help to understand your issues better.

 

some of the above info seems a bit different than I would handle the situation, but without pictures cant be sure.
1 I would deal with walls first to make sure a new floor finish does not get destroyed.
2. To deal with the walls I would first run a string line to find out how out of wack they are. Pull a string down the wall and the high point is the most you will lose from the room +1/2 for drywall.
3. use this as your string line to lay out your furring strips this can be as little as 1" or up to 3 1/2" Usually a 2x4 laid flat is the best option and the least you would want to use if looking for insulation and not lose much space. To attach the strips I would use a ramset (like a gun that shoots nails) no need to drill holes
4. Insulation could be done with foam board as thin as 1" and this will provide some thermal break. By the time you drywall you would have a decent R value and with heat in the area should be fine. I am assuming some of the wall is below grade since it is concrete?
All of this could be done by a pro and is no big deal, should only take a few days max and base on Springs construction cost should be fairly cheap.
Hope that helps