30x40 Shop w/ Mancave in Oklahoma

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

My wife and I outgrew our house and my little 12x24 shop in Fort Worth, TX a long time ago. We have been dreaming of a new house and big shop with some land. Well, this last spring I received a promotion at work that came with relocating to Oklahoma City. After some searching we found the perfect place! A bigger home w/ craft room for my wife, 2 acres in a hilly forest, and a Cleary building out back. 30x40 w/ its own electricity, insulated w/ drywall and two 10x10 rooms in the back. All this down a 300 foot dirt driveway. The perfect project!

I plan to build a man cave inside with heat and air, loft storage, a place for a 2 post lift, a small home theater room where I can display some collections, and a workshop area. I also want gravel on the driveway, some cement area in front as well as a carport on the side for trailers and such.

And my Jimmy moves in!

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

I would have loved to be able to clean it all out and build my rooms and THEN move in. BUT I had nowhere to put all my stuff and had no choice but to move in first and then build after.

We live right by a large lake which means we have a ton a sand in the yard. The shop has sand all around it and my little boys have a HUGE sandbox.

madoc1 · Nov 2, 2014

nice find! keep us up to date. pls.

jim

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

We had a tornado shelter installed and I also had the guy come level out the driveway a bit and then put down some gravel. Kind of a package deal.

My kiddos got front row seats!

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

We have been learning that country life comes with critters. Scorpions, brown recluse spiders, black widows, armadillos, DEER, skunks, etc etc

This little guy was in my shop

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

So time is here to work on the inside...

I need to move everything around and start tearing out the back two 10x10 rooms and build a 16x15 room plus a 12x10 side room.

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

Here is the tentative plan

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

So I started moving everything around to get ready for the build

And the walls started coming down

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

I decided that since the walls are fully covered in 12' drywall, I would cut it at 8ft and build my walls there. Once I did that I realized that the guy who built it did not frame it properly at all. instead of a stud every 16", he did a stud every 4 feet. Seriously.... sigh

His studs weren't even flush with the inside posts. So the walls would all have to be move out to line up properly.

Our house inspection found termites in the shop. We had it treated and now I see why. The guy that built it did not use treated wood on the slab. That will change.

So I decided to take it all out

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

The new framing has begun

I have a bunch of Ryobi tools. heh

My boys like to come hang out and help

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

Lots of late nights out here

Temporary stairs until I build my real stairs

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

A little test fit hehe

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

Starting on the decking. 3/4" tongue and groove

Getting some insulation in.

GregJW · Nov 2, 2014

And I hung my TV temporarily while I work on the shop area. hehe

1/2 Cup · Nov 2, 2014

Absolutely fantastic place you have brought, many thanks for sharing.

Looking forward to following your progress.

Regards

atvguy1234 · Nov 2, 2014

Amazing, love it! Keep us updated!

Skylar Jeppesen

JB22 · Nov 2, 2014

Lookin good!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

choke burnsley · Nov 3, 2014

That's great! We're hoping to do the same thing next summer. Eager to see your progress.

GregJW · Dec 8, 2015

Back to the shop again

We have stairs

Have electrical boxes every 3rd stud inside and outside

nsula_country · Dec 8, 2015

Nice start on awesomeness! I'm sure the barstools will come in handy.

CT

Modoc · Dec 9, 2015

GregJW, what gauge wiring and what amp for your circuits?

bloomingtonmike · Dec 9, 2015

Looking great!!

GregJW · Dec 9, 2015

Modoc said:
GregJW, what gauge wiring and what amp for your circuits?

12/2 wire and 20amp circuits w/ GFCI breakers.

GregJW · Mar 6, 2016

I finally had time to get back to the man cave. We have insulation and drywall. Next step... MUD....

I got a deal on LED recessed lights. Less mess and more space.

I ran speaker wire for 7.1 surround sound. Also brought in coax for DirecTV.

Almost there!!

Insulation

GregJW · Mar 6, 2016

Last minute change of mind on the exterior door. I filled it in and made it sonthatbif I ever wanted, I could put it back in later

So close...

GregJW · Mar 6, 2016

Nice view of the garage from air conditioned comfort in the man cave.

Bears Fan · Mar 6, 2016

Awesome spread you purchased! I like that you installed a storm shelter for safety. The barn is awesome, same size as mine. The man cave room is a cool add on, I stayed with a open floor plan on mine. Looks like the boys are enjoying the barn too. I'm subscribing and looking forward to seeing more! Congratulations! :beer:

GregJW · Mar 6, 2016

Thanks. We really enjoy it.

kerr · Mar 6, 2016

Good on you and your family . Kids need room to move around outside and be healthy . Good for you guy .

petethekiller · Mar 6, 2016

Nice build! Glad to see we have another Okie on board! I'm just about 15 miles west of Norman in the Bridge Creek area... Let me know if ya wanna crack on open sometime.

Pete

1/2 Cup · Mar 6, 2016

Thank you for the update, looking fantastic. :thumbup:

Regards

CNGsaves · Mar 6, 2016

Nice looking place you've got OP . . . . findng prior owner's "work" not so fun, huh !!

You'll love being an Okie in OKC area, especially if you have bi-fuel or CNG vehicle !! Right now 7-11 in Moore, OK has it for $0.39/gge (ie per gallon) and all the Okla Natural Gas locations statewide have it for $0.87/gge.
http://www.cngprices.com/station_map.php

Did you transfer to job at Chesapeake ???

Good luck at finishing out the shop. Do you have everything tied down today ?? Wind is really whipping like a beyotch with potential for storms. :sad:

Very smart to have your storm shelter in "tornado alley."

THEIKM · Mar 6, 2016

just curious - why did you run the drywall that direction? usually its run horizontally?

GregJW · Mar 6, 2016

For my 8' walls, vertical installation created less cuts and joints. For walls over 8' like 9' and up, horizontal installation would be better for smoothing seams and less cuts.

GregJW · Mar 11, 2016

The mud work is done. Walls and ceilings are textured. Next paint, then grand and epoxy the floor.

andyaus · Mar 11, 2016

Nicely done, please keep the updates coming

GregJW · Mar 11, 2016

petethekiller said:
Nice build! Glad to see we have another Okie on board! I'm just about 15 miles west of Norman in the Bridge Creek area... Let me know if ya wanna crack on open sometime.

Pete

I looked at buying a place out in Blanchard, then I found this house and couldn't pass it up! I heard bridge creek got a bit windy last spring. Scary

65cayne · Mar 11, 2016

Hi Greg,

Just a note of caution on your temp stairs and the way they are nailed/screwed into the end of the step.... you might consider adding some blocking to each stringer, under each step, to prevent the step from breaking away under heavy load. Could result in a severe laceration up your leg or broken bones (or both).

Enjoyed reading your thread and look forward to more updates. I'm up in the OKC area.

-Kevin

GregJW · Mar 11, 2016

Thanks for the tip. Someone else had suggested that and a few months ago I added 2 metal brackets under each step for extra support. I also built a 3x3 platform to the top. In the long term I plan to build a real staircase, but for now I feel better with the metal brackets screwed in.

GregJW · Mar 18, 2016

Had the gang out helping to paint

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