I recently closed in my garage. It was an easy process, and I thought I'd tell you all how to do it. First, you need to have a garage. I don't, but I live with my father-in-law and I closed in his, so that was close enough. Second, you need to decide how much you want closed in. In my case, I wanted to close in 2/3 of the garage, which is much easier than the whole thing. Third, you need to decide how to air condition it. In my case, I wanted this to be temporary, so I bought a stand alone air conditioner for the garage, but it is easy to tap off your household A/C if you can access the crawl space where the ducts are.
For stage one, I built a wall. I put up metal track on the floor and ceiling (using a laser I borrowed from work to line up the ceiling track, but you could use a plumb bob from Lowes just as easily). I left a gap in the bottom track where my door is going (I got a metal door frame and solid wood door that was left over from a job, one of the benefits of working in construction). I put the wall parrallel to the garage door and right where the door ends, so if I open the door too hard it hits the wall, but otherwise this is a great way to do it because it gives the maximum space without changing your garage door or building an exterior wall to replace the door. If you want to leave the door there for asthetic reasons but will never open it again, you could also put the wall right in front of the door without wallboard on the outside and then cut (using a blow torch if you know how or a good bolt cutter) the garage door track off. Since I put the wall about 6' into the garage, I put wallboard on both sides. Next come the studs at 16" o.c., with double studs on each side of the door frame and track and studs above the door frame. Be sure to put the door frame in as you frame the walls, unless you are using a knock-down frame that gets put in afterward. Then I hung the drywall on one side.
Next came the insulation, make sure you pick up an insulation suit because this stuff is terrible to work with. Use FSK faced insulation and put the foil toward the outside, this will help with moisture. Also, make sure the drywall on at least the outside of the wall is moisture resistant (such as National Gypsum's XP board, I use this everywhere since my wife has alergies). After the insulation is in the cavity, put up the other layer of wallboard.
Next you need to finish the wallboard, and caulk the floor. I caulked the top too because this is temporary and I didn't want to have to scrape down finish material, but since I was meeting a drywall ceiling I could have finished it like an inside corner instead. Be sure to use fire caulk and fire rated drywall if you want this wall to have a fire rating. Consult UL details and other sites for information on fire rating of drywall partitions. This is particularly important if you are planning on leaving part of a garage because garages are places where fires often start.
Next I hung the door. I could have furred and insulated the outer walls, but I chose not to because this is temporary. Then I put in the A/C unit. This was done by standing it in place and running the exhaust through an existing vent hole in the side wall. I needed to close that vent up anyway, so I simply put the exhaust hose in it and used Great Stuff expanding foam to fill around it. I could have done more to prevent bugs from crawling in through the exhaust, but in Florida this thing is never going to turn off and it is only temporary.
I put down carpet squares without adhesive since it is temporary, but for a permanent room I would have done wood laminate. You can do that for under $2/SF if you install yourself and buy from Costco!
My long term plan is to buy the house, when I do I want to clear out the rest of the garage and move that wall back to the door so it completely encloses the garage. I'll furr and insulate the side walls and add some low walls to seperate a work area and an office from the rest of the room, which will be a game room. I'll also put in a closet that will hold the house's network equipment. About that time we'll be upgrading the A/C anyway, so I'll have the A/C company install a vent for me to get rid of the portable A/C unit. And I'll consider wood flooring as well.
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