My man cave build - UK edition

[oldE]

Steve, can you mount a chain fall in the garage ceiling to raise the flagstone to the upper level, then move it on rollers to the doorway?

Best
Les

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by oldE

Steve, can you mount a chain fall in the garage ceiling to raise the flagstone to the upper level, then move it on rollers to the doorway?

Best
Les

Great thinking Les,

I'd already had the roof steel ridge beam pre-drilled for an electric hoist but forgot about it and now it's covered up with insulation and plasterboard

Thinking of reinforcing my temporary garage stairs and with a combination of pulling the stone with ropes while it's on rollers, slowly slide it up to the 1st level

4 maybe 5 people should do it, sounds like a family activity to me

[javadog]

All of this mucking about with heavy stones has to be the furthest thing from your day job that there could be.

Dare I ask how the other 40-odd stones made their way up there?

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by javadog

All of this mucking about with heavy stones has to be the furthest thing from your day job that there could be.

Dare I ask how the other 40-odd stones made their way up there?

As big a contrast as one can imagine, my day job spent saving grams on race cars but my fun job spent adding tons of weight to a house

We carried all the stones up, a few of the larger ones needed both of us, was much easier than carrying the big pile of left over stone and buckets and buckets of rubble down

[Captain Ahab Jr]

When I'm busy working on the house part I try not to loose focus on the all important man-cave element by constantly thinking of ways to make it the best it can be

Knew I want a TV in there but never considered a hidden TV that drops down out of the ceiling by remote control

Well that was yesterday and now today I have a 2nd hand electric lifting mechanism, for a bargain $50 (new price is $425)

It's the same as this one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YasrXCcgq-k&feature=emb_logo

Will take a 44" TV but I'll fit it upside down, should be perfect for watching 'How to fix my car' video clips on YouTube

[Superman]

This illustrates the importance of a clear and well thought-out mission statement, since this has implications for much of the decision-making throughout the project. This is either a house project which incidentally also might result in man-cave improvements -or- it is a man-cave project with whole house implications. Focus, Ahab. Focus.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

S'man, all along I've sold it as a house improvement 1st and man-cave addition 2nd but I'm sure Mrs Ahab has worked out exactly what my plan is

[daepp]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

S'man, all along I've sold it as a house improvement 1st and man-cave addition 2nd but I'm sure Mrs Ahab has worked out exactly what my plan is

Smart!

BTW - does Mrs Ahab read this...?

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Originally Posted by daepp

Smart!

BTW - does Mrs Ahab read this...?

Yes, she does and appreciates all the comments as much as I do

Mrs Ahab is very supportive of my man cave quest, I've been agonising over which car lift to buy, 1st world problem, I know

Do I compromise my F1 inspired man cave vision by buying the more affordable 'conventional' single level 4-post car lift or go for the expensive 'extreme' 2 level high 4-post car lift at 3x the cost which is the car lift I really, really want?

Mrs Ahab persuaded me to buy the one I really want, so today I contacted the company and the wheels are in motion

[astrochex]

^Thats awesome! Mrs Ahab is truly your soulmate.

[daepp]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

Yes, she does and appreciates all the comments as much as I do

Mrs Ahab is very supportive of my man cave quest, I've been agonising over which car lift to buy, 1st world problem, I know

Do I compromise my F1 inspired man cave vision by buying the more affordable 'conventional' single level 4-post car lift or go for the expensive 'extreme' 2 level high 4-post car lift at 3x the cost which is the car lift I really, really want?

Mrs Ahab persuaded me to buy the one I really want, so today I contacted the company and the wheels are in motion

Def a keeper!

[Captain Ahab Jr]

This morning I started insulating the small roof above garage opening, after only cutting/fitting 3 panels I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, boy did they hurt like hell warming up

Not my idea of fun so went indoors to try and book flights to somewhere warm

4 seasons in a day weather here it's sunny again so will try to do a few more panels until I can't feel my fingers again

[911 Rod]

Maybe put the door in first so it's cozy?
JK. I'm sure you have a plan.

[Rusty Heap]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

, after only cutting/fitting 3 panels

are you screwing the large foam sheet insulation up into the 2nd story floor joists? 3"-4" long screws or something.?

[group911@aol.co]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

This morning I started insulating the small roof above garage opening, after only cutting/fitting 3 panels I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, boy did they hurt like hell warming up

Not my idea of fun so went indoors to try and book flights to somewhere warm

4 seasons in a day weather here it's sunny again so will try to do a few more panels until I can't feel my fingers again

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Rod, door is a big project, I'll use rustic oak planks to make 8 panels ie 4 panels will slide to each side

Rusty, if only it was that easy I'm using the low angle roof void for more storage and space is quite limited

3 far panels are finished, with 2 layers of 2" thick insulation boards and any gaps have been foil tapes too. The other panels aren't finished and only have 1 layer of insulation board



Bob, that photo warmed me up, thanks, looks like Bali or maybe Sri Lanka

I found somewhere warmer going in the opposite direction, got a great deal on flights to Lima, Peru, now excitedly planning a 14 day self driving route and an 3-day excursion into the Amazon

Back to man cave but keeping to the great deal theme, I bought something from FB Marketplace that is almost worthy of a place on the 'Craigslist and Garage sale scores' thread

For $50 I picked up a used but perfect working order remote control motorised TV lifting mechanism which will take up to a 44" TV

Same model as this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YasrXCcgq-k but I'll use it upside down to the lower a TV down from the ceiling so I can watch YouTube 'how to fix my car' videos

[masraum]

Before you finish, you should mount a couple/few pairs of these in one of the stone walls as a funny conversation piece.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Steve, that should scare off any porch pirates

As it's been a while since my last update, here is a two part double update!

Somehow, between the new build extension and shed we've built in holes for 15 windows Quote for locally made, custom, hardwood, painted windows that exactly matched our original windows came in at $25k This build is a 'no budget build' ie it will cost what it will cost but I'm not made of $'s

For me windows on a house are like wheels on a car, they make or break the overall look. Any new build windows had to exactly match the original house windows
so I found another company that mass produces made to measure softwood windows.

Original windows are softwood and as solid as the day I fitted them over 20yrs ago so softwood would be plenty good enough

One window style were dimensionally an exact match but the horizontal/vertical glazing bars were crap, self-adhesive, plastic trash that just looked wrong so I ordered the windows without glazing bars

I bought some off the shelf timber window beading profiles and set to work 'hot rodding' all 15 windows or 33 panes of glass

Tools look brutal but they worked perfectly as no damage was done while I carefully removed the wooden window beading



After some measuring, chopping on the bandsaw, hey presto one window done, just needs painting and fitting



Here is an original house window for comparison


Best part of my my 'hot rodded' windows is they will only cost me $12k

Part 2 update to follow shortly and the theme will be 'now my man cave has a ceiling'!

[javadog]

That looks good, you did well. Those details are different in England and in the US. Interesting…

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Thanks, javadog

The life of a builder is dangerous as at the end of this job it was off to hospital for me again, this time to the Eye Accident and Emergency department. I was wearing glasses but got an eyeful of circular saw wood debris, needed a bit picked out of my eye jelly and some antibiotic drops for a cornea

Rear roof above the garage opening originally was designed to be a glass roof but in reality it would have looked out of place and not worked out well with the internal ceiling.

Not worth the extra cost/complication so I changed to concrete roof tiles to match the house roof, added bonus was I gained a bit more storage space



1st job was to cut and fit 2 layers of 2" thick insulation boards between the roof joists



Cladded the inside with 3/8" plywood, only crawl space sized, just big enough to go in head first, wringle along to each end and roll over but not turn around. On a clumsy exit attempt I kicked over the ladder but luckily had my phone with me so called Mrs Ahab to rescue me



To support all the car junk that will end up being stashed I fitted floor joists using a 2" x 3" and 2" x 2" screwed together



Then another 4" of insulation board between the joists as I plan to spend my winters working in warm comfort on the car projects I have queued up



Keeping the comfort theme going I also found a position for my 'drop out the ceiling' remote control TV lift mechanism. Can't afford a TV so spray painted 'TV' on a correctly sized piece of plywood for a 50" TV. Would have preferred it angled towards the centre of the garage but there just wasn't enough height clearance



Lastly covered over with 1/2" 30 minute fire rated plaster board to create a ceiling above my garage which at the moment is being used as my 'window chop shop'