Converting a Garage into a Studio Part 2
I have put back the smart sharpening article until Sunday… In the meanwhile the conversion of the garage continues with the Greg and I sealing the concrete floor ready for painting. We have put together a little video for you entertainment.
© Stuart Little 2009 - iPhone Image
Now that you have picked yourself back up off the floor with laughter lets get down to some info.. It probably took longer to prep the floor than it did to seal it, but make sure you give it a good run over with a vacuum cleaner to pick up any remaining dust and dirt. Also, a word to the wise! Make sure you have plenty of fresh air about and no naked flames because concrete floor seal has some seriously potent fumes that come off the liquid especially as it cures after an hour of being down on the floor.
© Stuart Little 2009 - iPhone Image
I used Thompson’s Concrete Seal as it was cost effective at £9.99 per 2.5 litres and we used one and half tins to cover the floor with one decent coat. If I was not going to paint it then I would have bought another tin and gone for two coats of the seal. But saying as we are going to paint the floor one will do as all its there for is to keep the dust from coming up through the floor.
Next we will be sealing the ceiling ready for it to be painted as it is just plaster board and therefore needs a surface for the paint to adhere to rather than soaking into the board.
Finally…
The video was shot on my little Canon G9 in time-lapse movie mode and set to a frame every 2 seconds. Then it was imported into iMovie for a bit of post production before uploading. Note that the fluorescent tubes are now daylight balanced. 
Enjoy!
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Great video Stu!
Made me laugh…
@Alan, just a bit of a laugh for a Friday afternoon… Did you drop me a message via facebook? if so it was corrupted and I could not read it, can you send it again.
That brought back memories, I can tell you
@Michael, no girls chasing us though…
Great Vid, a home studio is something i’ve always wanted to setup, so i’ll be following this with interest
I look forward to your interest and feedback Gary thanks. BTW, Like your site and the time lapse stuff etc..
Hi Stu,
Just picked myself off the floor, one of the best bits of the late great Benny Hill’s show was that music. I was just waiting for a short Bald guy to be chased across your wet floor followed by some blonde’s, key stone cops and Benny himself.
But on a more serious side you really should have used some sort of face mask that stuff gives off some nasty fumes from what I remember.
You missed a bit
I was waiting for that Rob… lol David, I thought that plenty of ventilation would have done but your right, you really need to use a mask with this stuff.
lol! Very entertaining!
If I thought that the two of you really worked that fast I’d get you to pop along here as I have a couple of rooms in need of painting!
Seriously though, this little series will be a great resource for the many people who’ve been thinking about doing a similar thing but just don’t know where or how to get started.
It also might encourage a few of us to tidy out our garage space!
Thankfully my garage space has never actually been a garage space as it was specifically put aside for this purpose. But yes it will be a good resource for photographers wanting to do this…
This is going to be a great series. I thought about doing something similar in the future. Hope you finish it before I start so I can learn from you.
I’ve had a retail studio for 5 years in a small town and have determined that I can generate more profit and offer my clients more space and convenience if I convert/operate from home. I read the first 2 posts but haven’t been able to find any more that show the full conversion of your garage. I’m curious how it turned out. HELP! Thanks. Tony