Garage to Office Conversion -

All,

I know that I had mentioned it at some point quite some time ago that I was going to create an office space in my Garage to set up my computer and monitors ( yes plural monitorS). Well it has been several years since i mentioned that I wanted to do this and I have played with several options ( one of which was not converting the lower bunk to a full size desk - but Dam that looks good!! ) on how I could do this and not have the thing take up so much space that I could not get two bikes into the Garage. Also to engineer it so as to secure it so it did not fall over on to the said Bikes in travel mode.

My Answer: a custom built hard wood desk with a fold down desk top. it will measure 8 inches deep 45.5 inches wide and 72 inches tall. That will allow it to be installed between the Bunks and the sliding glass doors and fit under the over head cabinets ( over the sliders ) with several inches to spare on both sides and on top.

The Challenge: How to properly secure this structure to a wall that has no real structure to it in the area this will sit. ( actually we could eliminate the word "real" from that last statement)

Solution: Run wood ( Oak ) 1x4 from the to vertical supports in that wall ( one behind the bunk frame and the other right in the corner where the interior wall (slider) meets the side wall. ) at two levels one at the bottom of the desktop ( supporting the desk top and backer for monitor mounting ) and the other at the top of the desktop area (supporting the first shelf and the top of the monitor mounting )
OAK was selected due to the ridge nature of the product along the flat side to provide a solid anchor point for the desk unit.

Additionally, I will add two anchor points at each main support ( at bunk and corner ) to run a strap across the unit, further securing it and more importantly securing the drop desktop in place during travel.

Photos of Build:

Desk Body:


Desktop


Desktop installed with three inset hinges


Desktop Closed



Desktop down ( no supports installed yet )




More photos to come as the install in the Garage is happening today!

Installed Photos:

Looks great Kevin. I expect that it will be fully functional and open for tours in 2 weeks.

Duane, it will be fully installed - I still need to do the electrical ( Dedicated 20A Circuit ) for systems and a small Space heater when it get's chilly. But I should have the monitors installed and the desk wired ( I may not have the dedicated 20A installed )

I think you saw my 20 amp add on. When you do it, my suggestion is do both sides at once. I ended up doing my center outlet by the slider first and then added the double duplex on the ODS wall and a single duplex next to the garage entry door.

BTW, my two wall outlets were wired from the panel to the genny compartment and then back to the garage.
I ended up with an inverter in the genny box. So those outlets are live all the time, basically on battery back up. I eventually tapped into that circuit and now the TV's and all the SAT equipment run off the inverter as well.

My motorcycle trailer was a "small office" for remote oil spill work at times. I use a flat panel, wall mounted heater in there because of space constraints.

Duane,

Yes I recall seeing your 20 amp add on. I will have to go look at it again. It will require dropping the belly so it may wait until Fall for that work. For now I can run the computer and monitors on the current 15amp service in the Garage. I will have to discuss with you how you wired in the Inverter There is some advantages to that with regards to the computer for sure. I was thinking of a small wall mounted heater under the desk just to help out the propane since I do not have any heat in the garage other than what comes in through the open door.

Very nice Kevin!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Very nice!

Very nice Kevin. I will take the tour in a couple of weeks.

Monitors are now installed - but I need to wait on the Cable Management - before I drill the Holes in the different pieces. I do not want to drill the holes based on what they say, I'd rather wait until I have the actual Grommets in hand.

Kevin, we'll discuss how I ran the AC line at Boston.

Very cool Kevin. Looking forward to the tech tour in Mass

This is very cool! Any updates? I work from home and in the summer i am going to work from the garage of my new 4200. This is giving me lots of ideas!

[h=1][/h]

cdensomnia,

No updates to speak of really, the desk worked out really well, I still need to run the dedicated power but for now I have it powered from the outlet above. If I had more space ( like you do ) I would have made it slightly wider to allow for larger monitors since at 48 inches wide the widest monitor I could use was 22 inches and I would have preferred to go with 30 inch but I was limited to a 48 inch desk. Also one other change that I would consider if I did it again would be to not to go for a full depth desk - as it takes up too much space when open - considering that it is only a computer station I really did not need the 30 inch depth and could have easily gone with 20 inches and been perfectly happy with the desk space. that would have been a door that would only extend out from the Cabinet by 14.5 inches... or a total of 21.5 inches off the wall.

Kevin

cdensomnia said:

This is very cool! Any updates? I work from home and in the summer i am going to work from the garage of my new 4200. This is giving me lots of ideas!

Click to expand...

Very nice setup.