My man cave build
 

Hello everyone I have a couple of topics running regarding various items for a garage I'm building . I thought I would start one post to document the build in hopes that some info can help others . I am starting with this 24 x 28 pole barn had it installed a few months ago . It has 12 ' tall walls and is now prepped for the concrete pour . That will happen the week after Thanksgiving . It is framed up for a 5.5 " thick floor with two areas aprox. 36 x 36 that are 9 " deep that is where the two post lift will be installed .

I have been driving on the dirt for two months plus with my garden tractor and my dually to pack that red GA. clay down . Did a final grading and pulled in some # 57 gravel . Spread that out and then covered with 6 mil vapor barrier . Sent pics to my concrete guy he was happy with it just gotta wait until after the holiday.

I already purchased a used Ammco two post lift she's waiting to be installed . And I also purchased a Mitsubishi mini split to heat/cool the space . I will install radiant barrier under the rafters forming a 3.5 " air space and will have vented soffits the full length on both sides . Already have a full length ridge vent with the metal roof . I'm pretty sure I will go with metal ceiling and a good 6 - 8 inches of insulation . Walls will be 2 x 6 . Pretty sure I will go with a 18 ' wide x 10 ' tall insulated garage door . No windows in the garage and there will be one 36 " entry door.

Two concrete pads will be poured on the back of the garage on the perimeter of the floor , one pad will be for the air compressor and one for the mini split . The air compressor will be framed in but will be " outside " of the interior space to keep the noise down . Other than the concrete and the electrical I plan on doing the majority of the work myself as I am officially retired as of 12/1/17 ! :D

Interior cabinets will be the Gladiator cabinets I previously had installed in the garage of the house we recently sold . They were almost 3K and I was NOT going to leave them behind ! Lighting I'm leaning towards LED track lights I also had those in the other garage and liked them a lot . I also pulled from the other garage three wall mounted adjustable fans for when the AC/heat are not needed . Sorry for the long post but wanted to get the basic story out there . Hopefully others can benefit or at least enjoy the build :D Here are two pics to kick things off .

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511103444.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511103444.jpg

sub'd

Why no windows? Security or simplicity?

I'm thinking if it's essentially a simple box, then having windows in the back and/or on the sides would allow a breeze to blow through which might be nice.

For cutting down the noise of the compressor, maybe something like the stuff below? Or just not necessary since it will be "outside".

http://s3.amazonaws.com/finehomebuil...of-700x549.jpg

Masraum I was thinking no windows mainly for simplicity and partially as bad guy entry points :mad: But we are in the country and very low crime area so may have to rethink that as you bring up good points about ventilation . When I say the compressor will be " outside " it will basically be a mini room off the existing building with an entry door from the inside . That way I can roll the compressor in or out if needed it already is sitting on a 4 wheeled platform I built for it in my previous garage .

So yes your diagram is basically how the building and the compressor room will be built . The studs will be 2x6 with plywood on the exterior and house wrap and OSB on the interior . Standard fiberglass insulation is the plan . Probably vinyl siding on the exterior for minimal maintenance . I will insulate the back of the compressor room door for noise suppression and even thinking about leaving a open space on top of the three perimeter compressor room walls of maybe 3 - 4 " and cover with window screen/hardware cloth of maybe 1/8 " or 1/4 " grid . My thoughts are two fold: one it will allow some noise to escape and two that will allow intake/cooling air for the compressor pump . Have any of you guys done something like this ? I would size the roof over the compressor room to allow coverage so wind driven rain would not come in .

Interesting on the double layer of drywall.

Does code require the 5/8's drywall for a detached building? Would be cool to have two layers up to 1 1/4", but why? Not a push back. Just asking.

R3 per half inch sheet or thereabouts. Say R4 for fire sheetrock.

Do windows...put in bars if need be. Natural light is gold.

I have redone an old barn on the farm and added windows on one side, decided not to on the other.

I will have windows put in.

Do awning style windows at the upper height of the wall if security is an issue. Don't go lower than 5-6 feet from the floor. The awning windows crank out for fresh air and the light is amazing. Gives privacy but you still get natural light.

There are no wind braces on those poles. If it is going to stay that way very long, add some cross bracing.

Nice way to go on this style of building. Looks GREAT !!! :)

You guys have convinced me to rethink the windows . I'll look into some vinyl double hung insulated . I can frame up any size but will look for something smaller like 18 wide by 24 tall or whatever is close to that size at the box store .

In regards to wind bracing not going to add any because as soon as the concrete is poured the 2 x 6 walls are going up , that will be my bracing along with the exterior plywood . It has been like this for several months and several storms including hurricane Irma and has stayed rock solid .

I do appreciate the feedback guys so keep it coming .

Looked at a home that was for sale that was built by the seller. The exterior walls were built with 2x6 instead of 2x4. The entire attic was decked with 1/2in plywood. The house was on a corner of a highly trafficked 4 lane street. You could not hear the traffic at all unless you opened a door. He had built in a gun safe with hidden door in the back wall of a closet. The wall slid open to reveal the large gun safe. He said there was another safe in the house he would reveal if I bought the house.

Besides the attached 2 car garage at one end of the house there was an unattached garage built the same way. It was tall enough it had a lift and would fit an RV. Was wide with two tall doors. You could basically drive a golf cart around the RV and 2 cars and had workbench and cabinets across the end. It had a drain on the side with the lift. It was a car guy's dream garage.

Would be living there except for being on that corner with the major 4 lane street. Told him he needs to take if off the market and list it in the spring or early summer when you don't see all the road grime in the front yard from the 4 lane street.

Also watched another home being built that the exterior walls were styrofoam forms and filled with rebar and concrete. The forms were designed with tabs to attach masonry on the outside and framing on the inside. So the house had rock veneer, the layer of foam, 4 nches of concrete the layer of foam and then regular framing. Had a large closet that had 12in thick concrete walls that was to be their hidey hole. The exterior walls of poured concrete with the styro forms was pretty interesting.

I'm starting the building of a man cave and a man shed, where I live we build em strong, my end of our village is a conservation area which means no match stick house builds allowed.

Cave will be an outer course of 8" thick stone, a middle course of 4" concrete blocks and an inner course of 4" concrete blocks, about 2ft thick including insulation and air gaps.

Garden shed will be an outer course of 8" thick stone, 4" concrete block and 6" insulation as when my wife is not using it for gardening I'll use it as a spray booth and carbon fibre oven

Mr Wolf can huff and puff but he aint getting in to this little piggy's house :D

I tihnk you're maybe missing some of the details.
I don't know anything about the details. It was just the results of a google image search for a technique of sound damping interior walls. Maybe this will demonstrate better for RF.

The point is that the header and footer of the wall are 2x6, but the upright studs are only 4" and alternate which side of the wall they attach to. That way the sound can't vibrate from drywall to stud to drywall because there is a 100% air gap alternating through the studs the length of the wall.

I assume the 5/8" is just to make the wall extra thick and heavy for more sound deadening.

http://www.soundproofingcompany.com/...8723419458.jpg

I wouldn't bother with compressor room. Too much space, get a good, large belt drive compressor, quieter and won't run that often. And if you're using air sanders/chisels/wrenches/impact gun.... they are noisy anyway.

Have you looked into resilient channels?

I like the idea of operable awning clerestory windows protected by a roof overhang.

What about those translucent fiberglass panels, corrugated Lexan, or Monopan?

Sorry to disagree but I have an IR 60 gallon industrial two cylinder belt driven compressor and it is fairly loud . I previously had it in my 24 x 26 garage and it is/was annoying to hear it run so a separate compressor room will be built . I don't expect to not hear it running but if I can cut down by 70 - 80 % it's a win for not much money AND it won't take up any footprint in the garage another win .

I'm not going to over think the compressor room , concrete pad with 2x6 walls with fiberglass insulation and one or two layers of OSB/plywood/sheetrock on the interior and be done . That will achieve what I want . There will be plenty of other items to over think :D . Right now even though I don't have a floor yet I'm struggling with one garage door or two ? Conventional panel or roll up ? I know it/they will be insulated regardless of which style I go with . And I will go with wall mounted openers .

My shop is a converted tobacco barn.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511188630.jpg

The window area was what was called a "stripping room" - they stripped the tobacco leaves from the stalk after it was cured by hanging in the barn. That was my shop for over 15 years.

The wood was getting hard to maintain and the roofs need to be replaced. Wrapped and re-roofed. We left all the original wood beneath the wrap so the barns can be returned to their old glory. I am not into wood maintenance!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511188816.jpg

The next year I converted the next two stalls into more shop room. Windows, A/C and heat. I hung panel door that slide since I wanted the head room for a lift I never put in. The door were a mistake. The stripping room door is to the left of the Mercedes and it is a pain. The doors will be replaced some day,

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511188985.JPG

The next year I finished out the rest of the barn and used overhead doors on the last open stall and at the end of the barn. I really recommend the overhead doors for you place.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511189108.JPG

That is the area I am going to add windows to.

One last shot from behind.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511189202.JPG

One other thing. After looking at your site, I would thing about putting garage doors on both ends of the shop, even if the one end does not have drive-in access.

The ability to completely open the storage area in the last picture above has been great for ventilation, in my case drive through and a sense of openness working in the shop on nice days.

I now do all maintenance on that side because of the open space.

Seahawk nice work on the old barn and I'm with you on minimal maintenance on the exterior . I will either go with vinyl siding or vertical metal panels for the exterior . I do not want to be painting when I'm 80 years old ! :D I will be going with overhead doors just not sure panel style or roll up style . With the pole barn construction there will be more framing involved for the panel style for the overhead rails . Plus the intrusion of the rails . I am leaning towards insulated roll up/coil style but I have a long time to think that over :rolleyes: as I am far from being ready .

BTW, I concur with the separate compressor area. I have a portable I use a lot to clean equipment (blowing down filters, getting farm detritus out of nooks and crannies) and the noise is annoying.

When I get a stand up it will have an insulated room somewhere!

Looking forward to following your progress.

Best.

^^^ This. My personal dbl garage has an overhead door and a service door. I get a great breeze thru them. I spend most of my time in my garage/office. Would be unbearable without the two opposing doors.
Dave

Cross breeze is nice but unless your space is huge its tough. If you have doors on the back, where is your bench and tools? I planned to have a drive through then once I figured rear door tracks, lighting, layout... I just went with a rear man door and 2 windows. Windows are nice but they always seem to block my tools/shelves/whatever. I like 1 window for some air and/or a window AC and if you really want the light put them high and out of the way. For light I have tons of t8's, works great. :)

The beauty of these threads is the diversity of opinions...gold, Jerry, gold.

Everything in my shop space that isn't a cabinet rolls, benches, tables, the works. A lot of the other work tops, welding tables, etc., hang and are carried to work. The most useful item I own is an adjustable metal rolling table I put battery chargers, small stuff, tools, tire compressors on when I need them...roll to the task. I just replaced the OEM wheels with significantly larger wheels.

Mongo isn't as flexible as before:D

This build will be fun to follow.

In my previous garage I had three air hose reels , two inside the garage and one outside in the front . I also had two coil type hoses on either side they were mostly just for filling tires as they are small diameter and don't carry much volume . I am a firm believer in making it as easy as possible to use my air tools . If it is a hassle then you end up not using them .

My air tools were easy to get to ( not buried ) so all I had to do was flip on the compressor , roll out the closest hose reel to what I was working on , plug in the tool and ready to go . This garage will be done the same way . Each vertical drop had a ball valve at the very bottom of a tee so each drop could be drained of moisture if needed . Everything had quick connects so very easy to add/delete/swap items if needed .

As I get older and supposedly wiser :D I find using as an example an air powered ratchet much easier on the hands/wrists/arms than conventional ratchet . Air powered lug guns are the cats ass for removing lug nuts but I still hand torque when installing . Zip wheels are much easier to cut things than a hacksaw . I am a one man army so have to preserve the old body ;)

"I.C.E. Block" or "Smartblock"... been around for years.

They are the concrete forms and stay in place after the pour.

I ended up not putting in any windows and like it, but have lots of led bulbs, would suggest a 6 or 8 inch vortex type fan to move air through and out when you want to, are you in a windy area? A possible option for the compressor is to run the intake of the compressor after the filter through a automotive muffler to quiet it down.

For drywall if you are after mass, use some fire rated 5/8, about twice the weight of 1/2 lite, but does have glass strands through it, keep that in mind when cutting it.

If you have time, wet down and run a small 150lb plate tamper over the surface, that will compact the surface more then driving on it.

I am not a expert but, where your floor changes depth from 5.5 to 9 inch, try to make that a gradual transition, there is a good chance that it will stress crack if there is a sharp corner there, 5/8 rebar will help solve any problems.

Looks like a great place for Ranger Studs to warm up....

I started using a 1/4" cordless impact all the time and really only use air for the whee gun, cutters and so on, never for my old 1/4 or 3/8 impacts. Quiet, no hoses, compressor doesnt run as much, love it. Good idea about an enclosure for the compressor. Easy enough to box in with some foamboard, drywall or whatever you have on hand. Roxul works great for noise, and isnt flammable, 1 bag should do it. Just make sure you have a baffle or opening for fresh air.

The transition from 5.5 to 9 is gradual and a little angular/rounded so I think I'll be OK .

Not a clue what this means ? :confused:

908/930 I do have three wall mounted fans I think they are about 16 or 18 inch blades that I removed from my previous garage . I made the mistake of having them mounted too high in my last garage . In this garage I will mount them maybe 5 ' above the floor . The wall mounts allow movement side to side and the fan mount allows movement up/down so they are adjustable . They are 3 speed and move a decent amount of air .

I purchased the exact same Mitsubishi mini split that I had in my previous garage . It worked great there and was very economical to run . This garage I'm building now is just 2 ' deeper and the same width and similar ceiling height but will have better ( thicker ) walls so I expect even better results . In my previous garage I could walk out in 95 degree temps , turn on the AC and 15-20 minutes later be cool enough to work in ! And same results in cold weather.........keep in mind cold weather in GA. is the 20's - 30's.......... ABOVE zero :D

Next week can't get here fast enough to get this floor poured !!!

My shop has been a work in progress for two years. I made a big mistake in not getting the walls finished before I had to move stuff in. It was a lack of funds, lack of experience, etc. Finally getting the drywall up so I can go through my crap and get stuff on shelves and make it more use-able. 40ft by 30ft. I put in two doors including the 12 footer as the theory was I was going to store the RV in there. That has changed as the cars have multiplied. I put radiant heat in. I did windows more because it is a residential neighborhood and I wanted it to look less shop like. The windows have bars on the inside. Getting close!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511271729.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511271729.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1511271729.jpg

So this morning I decide to go to a local lumber liquidator we want to replace two sets of sliders with French doors in our house . Anyway I'm like a kid in a candy store :D and left with four windows and one entry door for the man cave . Windows are vinyl single hung 24 x 36 and entry door standard 36 x 80 with a half moon glass for additional natural lighting . Just over 500.00 for all so a pretty good deal .

They also sell concrete siding for a very reasonable price so I may have to rethink my exterior finish choice .

Though not 'fancy' that is a nicely sorted place(and toy collection) jhynesrockmtn. Very functional and fung shui.
Not sure about the two porches but that sure is a picturesque view.

Considering the $ you put into radiant floors, I'm guessing those exposed 2x4 wall studs framework might be a thermal bridge and letting the cold in?
Perhaps some kind of heat tape or foam/other insulators before dry walling would help block the transfer, and stop airflow around the edges of the batt?

Hey guys while I'm killing time waiting on the concrete pour lets discuss work benches . In my last garage I built a 16 ' long work bench she was a beauty :D . But because of it's size it was VERY easy to use it as a catch all storage space :( . I had two bench vices ( which I still have ) mounted on each end . So how long of a work bench is considered good enough ?

I'm not going to be doing major rebuilds or projects ( that I know of :D ) so is a bench 10 - 12 ' sufficient ? I want to use the least amount of real estate but still big enough for most " average " projects . Between the Gladiator cabinets , the work bench , the two post lift I want to use the space as efficiently as I can . Would love to see some pics of what you guys have done .

For me, 16' would be the absolute minimum for a work bench. My last garage had a 16 footer and that was good for working on 2 projects at a time. My current garage has 50' of workbench where I could work on 10 things at a time, but like you said, it's really easy to throw a lot of crap on there.

If you're really concerned about space utilization, you could do a 10' permanent bench with some Jack Olsen-esque fold down (or up) extensions on the ends.

Have you studied Jack Olsen's 12 Gauge Garage for ideas?

It is, of course, pretty awesome. He's got a few threads here about some of his builds, but it's got it's own website too.

One of the things that I thought was really cool (that may not be as useful for you due to space) are the fold up workspaces. He had a couple of solid wood doors that he hung on the wall, I think with large piano hinges that were flat against the wall when not in use, but could fold out when needed.

You're space is going to be very different, so some of the things that he did that seemed like clever uses of space in a small attached garage may just be extra work or not that useful in a larger garage/workshop like you're going to have.

Hah, I clearly should have read the very last post before I posted mine...

Hey guys Happy Thanksgiving ! Yes I have seen the Jack Olsen garage and it is impressive for space utilization . I will probably end up building a 14 - 16 ' bench and practice more discipline to NOT use it as a shelf :D . So this is the rough idea I have on how the garage will look . First off the first 4 ' off the floor on the walls will be corrugated metal installed vertically , a metal wainscote look . From the top of the metal to the ceiling will either be plywood or OSB . I like using wood vs. sheetrock as it frees up the options to be able to mount anything anywhere not just on the studs . Above the wainscote on one side will be USA red/white/blue stripes and the other side will be German black/red/gold stripes maybe 3 ' high . Above that will be white to the ceiling .

The Gladiator metal cabinets are a grey/black color so will look good with this " theme " :D . After all it is a man cave ! The back wall will probably stay white . The wall mounted fans are black and if I go with track lights that will all be black also . For the ceiling I'm leaning towards white metal roof panels . I had that in the last garage and it is fairly light to hang , strong when screwed to the rafters and basically never needs painting . It also reflects light very well . I have a good amount of Porsche posters to hang on the walls to finish her off .