frame by frame
i spent a good chunk of the weekend working on the doorway from the garage to the studio, since several details of the studio framing depend on the door placement and all that.
here's an old pic to show what i started with:
my original plan had been to fill in those jagged edges with half blocks, but i soon discovered that the alternating courses of block weren't well-aligned, and the mortar was spread really thin, making it a bit tricky to do patchwork like that. i'm very tired of dealing with all things concrete, so i decided to solve this one with power tools. i loaded up my circ saw with a mason blade and just plowed through the pieces that were jutting out, making for a wider opening than planned, but making it much easier to deal with. cutting through concrete is a pain in the ass, largely because it kicks up a ton of dust if you're like me and don't have a wet saw handy. i tried to compensate by draping plastic covering from the ceiling around the work space and hooking up a fan by the garage door to help suck the dust outside. this worked mostly well, but i still ended up completely covered in dark-gray dust, as did any portion of the basement not protected by the plastic.
i also picked up a smaller concrete dry circ saw. since it only uses a 4" diameter blade instead of a 7", it was a good bit easier to handle and maneuver. the blade that came with it was pretty slick too and cut through the concrete pretty quickly.
once i got the big chunks out, i had to go back and deal with the unevenness of the various courses, since there were still 1/2" juts and stuff that kept things from being suitably flush. i took my sharpie and 4-foot level and marked a line straight down each side of the opening and ran the saws along that line to get things nice and even. there were still a few trouble areas even after doing this, so i just pulled out my handy concrete planer and fixed those guys up in no time. this is how the opening looked when all was said and done:
next step was to frame in the opening. this proved to be a tad tricky since the existing concrete wall is essentially a free-standing one and doesn't meet up with any joists or anything else that would provide ceiling support. to top it off, getting at the joists on either side of the wall was a little tough, since the garage side has a plastered ceiling and the studio side has another joist about an inch away from the first one. i didn't want to spend too much time ripping out the plaster and lath, so i took out just enough to clear the way to the first joist. i put in 3 short 2x4s perpendicular to the joists on either side of the wall to provide top support for the frame. this situation meant i had to toenail these pieces into the joists on either end, which given my general lack of toenailing skills proved to be a pain in the ass. but it's all good now:
