Lean to addition, what size "Man Cave Room" inside?

[stuntjake912]

So I have a 24'x36' shop, its been great for almost two decades just cramped now. I have started my 18'x36' addition off the back. It will be 8' ceiling due to roof pitch limitations off my 12 foot walls. One side of this addition will open to the shop which is my truck, motorcycles, welders, wood tools etc. Im leaving up half the exterior wall as it has spray foam insulation and white panel steel already. Ill just add conduit and boxes for electrical. My initial plan was to split it down the center, 18'x18' man cave for my reloading equipment, couch and shop TV in this room. I keep my shop at 50F in winter and have a 2.5 ton AC unit, I would keep this man cave at 65F over winter, wife wants all my reloading equipment out of the house. which in turns means my son, dog and self will never be back in the house with guns, motorcycles and entertainment out there.

Long story short, is an 18x18 a waste of room for garage space or should it be 16x18 making the shop space slightly bigger? what would you do and why?
What do you wish you would have done if you have experience on this subject.
Thanks

 

[NUTTSGT]

Waste of space ? Not if that's the plan when you build it.

Is it getting a bathroom ?

 

[stuntjake912]

Waste of space ? Not if that's the plan when you build it.

Is it getting a bathroom ?

I need to CAD out this room with my couch, reloading benches, riding gear, helmets, etc to see how much room is used or wasted.

It will not have a bathroom, as I do not have running water in my shop unfortunately. If I did have water it would be hard to tie into the septic system but ….easy to find a field tile.

 

[Jazz1]

18x18 is not huge. My dedicated “relax zone” corner in garage is 10’x 10’ Wood stove, fridge, bar, tv and a couple chairs fills that small space

 

[quickfarms]

wife wants all my reloading equipment out of the house. which in turns means my son, dog and self will never be back in the house with guns, motorcycles and entertainment out there.

My wife would never say something like this unless the stuff was in the living room, kitchen or master bedroom

I think your addition needs to be twice the size since she is trying exile the tree of you.

I would go two stories if the government will allow it and add a kitchen and bathroom

I have the same size shop built 20 years ago and am currently planning a second shop that will probably be 2100 sf

 

[KevinR]

Last year, I started working from home regularly (well, full time for 15 months...). In any case, I built my office out in the barn, roughly 7x14. I have a desk, fridge and TV in there. For me for now, it's a perfect size. If I shared the space or worked on projects not on a computer in there regularly, I'd want a bit more depth. In the new shop I'm planning roughly 18x18 ish with room for a couch and workbench.

 

[Cobragr]

I added a 30'x40' to my existing shop with a 9'x14' office/bathroom.

 

[stuntjake912]

Started this project in October when i made this thread. Did all the work myself, If you have any questions or scrutinizing let me know. Here are a few picture from the project, it took me almost 3 months to complete.

 

[stuntjake912]

Concrete and framing. I do have one helpful tip here, I cut 10" off the bottom of my existing shop wall to get level concrete with the existing. I made my skirt boards high and added XPS foam around the perimeter to insulate the pad better to from the outside temps. My tip is to be ready to temporarily cover it with plastic. No matter if your skirt boards are level with your concrete you'll still get water pooling and wanting to run in your existing pad/ shop. I added water dams and drain holes in the skirt board and then added the roof 6 mil plastic once i got the purlins up.

 

[stuntjake912]

Added house wrap and made all my laminated LVL's so i could have open free span. Trusses were not a structural option as the slope pitch was to low. So money was spent on LVLs.

 

[stuntjake912]

Interior framing and big LVL support for 20 foot opening.

 

[stuntjake912]

Insulation and electric.

 

[stuntjake912]

OSB paneling and seal priming.

 

[stuntjake912]

Moved in stuff and trying to get organized, I settled on 16'x18' man cave reloading room. I figured with the wood shop and all my projects a 20'x18' shop addition would be well used. I wanted and made a 4'x8' wood working table, I knew this would take up some room and with all the other stuff.

 

[firebirdparts]

You'll indeed never be back in the house with guns, motorcycles, entertainment, and your friendly dog out in the shop.

 

[GettinJunkDone]

This is amazing and inspirational. Good work!

 

[stuntjake912]

This is amazing and inspirational. Good work!

Thank you, I still have to build my reloading bench. Which I've roughly planned out 8' long 30" wide on one side and 10' long 24" on the other. The detail work always takes longer than expected. I don't like leaving projects half done, it doesn't help that I'm a bit of a perfectionist but mistakes are inevitable. As a young apprentice my journeyman trainer said the difference between a journeyman and an apprentice is you cant see a journeyman's mistakes, a apprentice will tell you just by looking at him or his work.

 

[GettinJunkDone]

Looking good so far! On a side note, what are you reloading?

 

[stuntjake912]

Looking good so far! On a side note, what are you reloading?

Thank you, as a reloader/handloader I think the list is forever expanding? Currently I have 1 progressve shotgun, 1 progressive rifle and a single stage press.
9mm, 45auto, 223/5.56, 6mm ARC, 6mm Dasher, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, 308, 300 PRC, 33XC and shotgun 12 gauge & 16 gauge.
@GettinJunkDone I assume you reload freedom seeds as well? Also I just realized I've seen about a dozen of your YouTube videos. Nice Channel.

 

[GettinJunkDone]

Thank you, as a reloader/handloader I think the list is forever expanding? Currently I have 1 progressve shotgun, 1 progressive rifle and a single stage press.
9mm, 45auto, 223/5.56, 6mm ARC, 6mm Dasher, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, 308, 300 PRC, 33XC and shotgun 12 gauge & 16 gauge.
@GettinJunkDone I assume you reload freedom seeds as well? Also I just realized I've seen about a dozen of your YouTube videos. Nice Channel.

I would love to get into reloading in the future, just hasn't happened yet. One day though, one day. I'd probably focus on similar calibers as you, 9mm, 223/5.56 and 30-06 is where I'd start. Didn't want to hijack your thread.

Thanks for for checking out the channel and the compliment. I'll be following your thread here on out.

 

[finn]

Looks good. Only comment, and it’s too late now, but I would have kept the semi cathedral ceiling for a more open feeling.

The 12’ height along the existing wall would have come in handy for potential future projects and would be less cave like.

 

[stuntjake912]

Looks good. Only comment, and it’s too late now, but I would have kept the semi cathedral ceiling for a more open feeling.

The 12’ height along the existing wall would have come in handy for potential future projects and would be less cave like.

I really wanted to do this idea, having vertical space is great and feels more open. My rafters are 2x6's and this leaves me with only 5.5" of potential insulating value. Spray foam is the highest R value at roughly 3.7R per inch. That would put me at 20-21R for ceiling insulation. If I went with a 2x8 or x10 would have been better but then would have eaten away at my roof slope pitch which with a x6 is just steeper than a 2/12. I have R38 insulation in the ceiling with the way I done it. I figured if I need anything taller than 8ft it can go somewhere in the 24x36 with 12' ceilings.
Am I missing an obvious solution to this? I enjoy learning from my mistakes or hardheaded planning. Thanks.

 

[rburke65]

You did a real ni e job on that addition. Congratulations

 

[nadogail]

All of my garage/workshop is my Man Cave.