Window on the world
About once a year I like to do a major shop improvement. Well, its about that time again and Ive got the itch. Ive converted my two-car garage to a…
About once a year I like to do a major shop improvement. Well, its about that time again and Ive got the itch.
Ive converted my two-car garage to a full-time woodshop. (I treat the garage door as a fourth wall and almost never open it.) Short of designing and building a freestanding shop from the ground up, I couldnt be happier. Well, yeah, I could be. I want a window.
I want some natural light in there. I want a way to bring in a nice breeze on mild spring and fall days, and a place to perhaps mount an air conditioner in the heat of the summer. And most of all, for lack of a better way to put it I want a way to remain in touch with the outside world on those days when Im spending 10 hours in there. I went in there on a sunny morning the other day and had no idea that rain had moved in two hours later meaning I never knew itd be a good idea to go back into the house and close all the windows until way too late.
The installation itself isnt the issue. Ive installed windows and doors before, but those were all in new, open-stud walls. Thats easy, since everythings exposed and you know exactly what youre dealing with, and nothing else is inside the wall to get in your way. But I have no idea whats inside the wall Id be using (I have just one outside wall), but since my houses main breaker box is in a corner of that wall, Im going to guess theres tons of wiring in there.
Thats not insurmountable. My dads an electrician, and between the two of us Im sure we can work that part out. But the other factor is that the subcontractors who built my house did a lot of, uh, creative things in places where they thought no one would ever see them. No telling what surprises might be waiting behind that drywall.
So for now, the project seems a bit daunting. And, at the moment, frustrating. Its one of those situations where you have the knowledge of what to do and how to do it, but theres a big unknown in the middle of those two things. Makes me nervous.
And if theres anything I dont like being when Im in the shop, its nervous.
Till next time,
A.J.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.