I haven't done anything on the man cave :( Between relatives coming and going and temp's in the 20's and 30's it's just not happening . We are dropping off our youngest son at the airport tonight and the nag in law leaves this coming Saturday . I'm in no hurry to see our son leave but the NIL............anyway I'll get back to it as soon as it warms up some . Happy New Year ! :D

NIL...Ha! Happy New Year!

NIL.. That is hilarious...thank god I don't have one of those...my mother in law is the anthesis of this...never complains about anything. As a matter of fact, she is sitting on my couch right now laughing with us and the kids...sitting by the fire and watching the NYC New Years Freeze! I hit the lottery on MIL but I am jealous of your man cave...been perusing the Garage Journal planning for this spring.

Just think , next year you'll have the "MAN "cave to go to,...No NIL allowed !!

To be fair the NIL comment should be in green font . I have a great MIL was just poking fun because she has been here for over a month . She is good to me and has been the entire 42 years I have known her daughter ( 2 years dating 40 married ) . Happy New Year everyone .

Thats funny, I'll use that!

No rush, too much work takes the fun out of it.

It may be cold outside and no nails/screws are flying but that doesn't mean I can't move forward :D Did some net surfing for LED light fixtures and came across these . On a whim I purchased three of the 8 packs so 24 total 4 ' lights for less than 200.00 . My plan is three strings of six running front to back equally spaced and then one string of six in the back of the garage which will be directly over the work bench area . Man I wish it would warm up it was 21 degrees this morning :confused: what is going on ???

Oh yeah go UCF Knights and GA. Dawgs !!!


https://www.amazon.com/Integrated-Fixture-Utility-Ceiling-electric/dp/B076FQ15R6/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1514809033&sr=8-13&keywords=4%27+led+shop+lights

It is 8 degrees out........... are you friggen kidding me ??? :mad: Stayed inside yesterday when it was in the 20's and watched football I'm definitely not going out there today :D Oh yeah go Dawgs !

Whenever you think you have enough lights......add a few more.:D

Man if twenty four 4 ' LED light fixtures isn't enough I give up ! I'll add one simple light fixture in the compressor room and that will be it for interior lighting . I do have two ceiling mounted roll up drop lights I pulled from the previous garage that I will use in this one also . The exterior of the building will have a few flood lights and a light by the entry door .

Make sure you can switch lights how you'll use them. Have a switch for the exterior lights or put them on a motion sensor. I didnt realize how much I needed a 3 way switch until too late. Same for the shop, I like a switch for 1-2 lights when I need to grab something, emtpy the trash.. and not fire up the entire place. Another is lights above your bench. Sounds simple but if you are between the light and your work you block the light. But the bench light close to the wall above the bench, I have them in a switch. I added a few led can lights in the soffit and but them on a dimmer. Works great and looks good too.

I like to feel like I'm working on the face of the sun. In my 3rd car where I have my lift, I have five 8' double bulb high output florescent fixtures with the reflector. The 3rd car garage is about 11' wide and 24' long, they are basically lined up end to end from front to back of the garage and one going laterally near my workbench. I also have a window and windows in my garage doors, because nothing beats natural light.

My plan is to have three strips of lights 24 ' long on the ceiling with them individually switched . One strip in the center then the other two equally spaced . Then one 24 ' strip of lights at the back of the garage over/near the workbench . These might be installed on the wall vs. the ceiling . The lights I purchased have a 6 ' switched cord so the workbench string will be " switched " by the cord . Then there will be two cord reeled worklights hanging from the ceiling for lighting specific areas like when working on suspension/brakes/under the car . I should be covered .

There will be outlets on the walls every 4 ' or so any additional lighting if needed can plug in there . This is just a DIY garage not Jay Leno's garage :D

Finally got a break with the weather today ! It was a little rainy/slight drizzle this morning but in the 40's so out I went . I started with the eye brow rafters , turns out cutting the 2 x 6's at 27 degree angle on both ends worked perfect . I cut them 29 1/2 " long and they will wedge in between top and bottom plates so they won't be moving in my lifetime . There will be 14 total . I didn't install them I'm actually going to do that after I install the exterior plywood . Easier for me to notch the plywood once it is installed with a multi tool . I made myself a quick jig out of a piece of scrap 2 x 6 so good to go .

I then moved to finishing the window headers . All four window frames are now roughed in 100 % so tomorrow I am going to start installing plywood . I think I will start at the front as I think it will be the hardest for me working solo , if I can knock that out I'll gain speed/confidence for the balance . Plus it will add structural side to side support . The weather is supposed to be decent for a few days then turn to crap/cold again so I'll see how much I can get done this week . Too bad about the Dawgs :(

I give up....... friggen raining and foggy out :( Oh well while I wait for weather to clear heading to HD to pick up final trim boards for garage door openings . I want them installed before I put on the exterior plywood .

Can't catch a break it's raining out again !

Today no rain but in the low 30's......... crap........ but I went out and finished trimming out the garage door openings with 1 x 6 . Both openings now done and within spec for the 10 x 9 doors . Tomorrow supposed to be in the 40's so plywood is the plan for tomorrow . Will post a pic or two once plywood is installed .

Just remember 'overbuilt' is not a derogatory term.

I'm getting so much useful info from this thread, will be ordering some of those lights.

Just think next winter you will be inside your new shop enjoying your projects, instead of fighting the weather.

Keep the updates coming.

Cheers Richard

I'm glad you are able to learn some things as that was the intent of my posting this topic . I did receive the lights they come packed in a cardboard tube inside of a box ! I plugged each one in while still inside the tube and they all lit up and seemed white bright . For the price they should work fine .

I was hoping to get an early start today but it's 15 degrees out so that is not happening . By the time it warms up the NFL playoff game will be close to starting so not sure what I'll get done today . Tomorrow supposed to be mid 40's which is warm enough for me . Yeah I am looking forward to be able to USE the garage vs. BUILD the garage . But there is total satisfaction in the build portion .

My hope by building most of it myself that I could somewhat control the costs . To date I have spent $15,413.56 :eek: . That includes $1950.00 for the mini split and $1,000.00 for the used 2 post lift so not really part of the build cost . I will itemize at the end of the build the construction costs . The big dollar hitters I still have left to go is the professional electric install , the exterior siding , the garage doors/openers , insulation and the perimeter retaining wall . My guess is I will be all in for around 25 - 26K . I think if I would have had a conventional stick built building done by a pro it would have been higher but that really doesn't matter at this point :D

By doing most of the work myself I can control the cash output based on my progress , purchase items as I need them vs. buy everything in one shot . Plus I have had the time to find used plywood , a local vendor for inexpensive windows/doors , finding the inexpensive LED shop lights things like that . I am retired now so all this money is coming out of my " play " money and it's going down faster than Linda Lovelace :D