Hi,
No revelation here, just a confirmation that prepping the area will go a long way in you having a successful layout experience. I would insulate the walls, and close off the area if possible. Floor covering of tile or linoleum covered with a carpet remnant will surely help your feet, and keep down the concrete dust.
Thanks again for all the suggestions. Maybe I’ll just keep the family buggy out of the garage and section it off.
Don’t underestimate the temperature and dust control abilities of decent quality insulated garage doors.
We have a 2 1/2 car garage which is fully drywalled and insulated, with bedrooms above. Last year we replaced our original single skin uninsulated steel doors with 2" thick foam core insulated steel doors. In the summer the old doors got hotter than Hades with the sun on them in the morning, with the result that the garage heated up pretty badly too. The new doors barely get warm to the touch even on a hot summer day with full sun. In fact, much to my suprise and pleasure, the garage stays comfortably cool even during heat spells if the doors are kept shut.
Last winter we went from having snow drifts on the garage floor because of the poor fitting old doors to no snow even during the worst winter storms. The garage stayed comfortable enough that I could work in shirt sleeves when it was well below freezing outside. Mind you, the cold doesn’t bother me. Others might not be as comfortable in the same conditions.
Part of the issue is good quality properly installed weatherstripping. Our doors have double vane rubber weatherstrip which stays flexible in the cold. The installer also did a great job of trimming it tight into the corners. If you experience cold weather, stay away from vinyl weatherstrip. It loses its flexiblity in the cold.
I don’t anticipate any problems temperature wise when the layout is up and running. I will put a separate circuit into the garage for a space heater. That will likely come into use as I get older.
FYI, we are just north of Toronto. Typical temperatures range from the mid 90s F in summer to -10 F in the winter with occasional dips into the -40s in January and February.
Dave