Between 265 & 485 SQ/FT Mikes Man Cave

[lakelandcat]

I started my shop 4 years ago and Im just now getting around to documenting it. This is done in my backyard, every thing to city specs. and permitted. I am going to try to take the build from ground up. Please be kind, I was younger and 50lb. lighter when I started. I was also working for Lowes and got some great deals(just happened to be in the right place at the right time). First set is staking out the foundation. By far the single most expensive part of the build. Shop slab is 16'x20', I step down 6" to a 8'x20 slab which connects with a existing patio and runs to the fence line. This part was done with p-gravel and is a 4" slab. The shop is 6" 16'x20' with a 12" footer. Arcatectual permit was required along with a exterminator treatment. Contractor permit was required to pass inspection. This was the only part of the build I didn't do all by myself. The second photo is a trench I ran for conduit so I can run emergency power from a portable generator in the shop to the house. 3rd is a pic of the footer.

 

[lakelandcat]

1- Shop slab
2-Connecting patio running to fence. Did this so Mrs. Cat could feed the birds when it was raining.
3-8'x20' screened in porch, This is what Mrs. Cat got for letting me build the Man Cave.

 

[lakelandcat]

Laying out the walls of the shop

 

[lakelandcat]

Pictures of me and the crew raising the walls. OH forgot there is no crew just me and Mrs. Cat, she said she would take pic. to prove thats what caused a heart attack. Third pic is my best bud, Wai Lund, he's short so we took the pic up close to make him look bigger.

 

[lakelandcat]

Ceiling joists going in, center joist is staggered 2x6 with 3- 1/2" bolts between each joist. All joist are hung on joint hanger. I used a new toy a palm nailer for the hangers. Highly recommend it

 

[jumbojak]

That's going to be a great little shop. Keep at it!

 

[lakelandcat]

A couple of things going on here, I put up my plywood on the walls to sure them up, then I wanted to have storage in the attic so I decked it before I added my roof ridge and rafters. Made it easy to put up rafters and ridge and kept Mrs Cat from being scared. She doesn't like to see this fat man climb ladders. Not so much climb but fall. Details later. The 3rd pic is a opening for a French door, I was going to put a 3.0 out to the patio but the mang. at Lowes sold the one I wanted out from under me. I looked at the returns and found a Pella French door with the blinds in between the glass. I ask how much? and the mang. said it was a $1250 door. Someone returned it because they ordered it for a 2x6 wall. I told him there was no way in hell I was going to pay that much for that door and he said it was reduced to $650, I said it could sit there and rot till I paid that much. He said make me a offer and I said $65. I love my French door.

 

[lakelandcat]

Nows the time to start putting up Decking to sure up the roof and start on Mrs. Cats catio.

 

[lakelandcat]

One of the few times I had any help, my neighbor Wai Lund (yes thats his real name) a Mississippi redneck chinaman helped me.1- Wai helped me raise the garage door wall because the double 2x12 header was to heavy for one man, 3 if you count Mrs. Cat supervising. 2- He steadied the corner 4x4s on Mrs. Cats Catio. 3- Wai helped me put up the attic stairs, almost a serious situation the stairs slammed shut on Wais hand, not good, nothing broke still has all his digits. Love ya bud, thanks. This was another "great deal". It looked like someone returned the Warner, Alum.,Fat Boy stairs and it was missing a gas shock{no springs on this bad boy}so I got this $250 set for $50, still a little expensive for my taste but a good quality and the shock was going to cost $20 I still made out. When Wai and I dumped the stairs out the missing shock fell out with it. It looked like the first cust. thought he could take the shocks off and install but then couldn't compress the shock to reinstall. I put my 300lb of *** into it and got it back on. Now I have attic access xtra wide, alum.,gas shocks, for a reasonalble price.

 

[lakelandcat]

Time for decking, getting ready for roofing,

 

[lakelandcat]

Decking up and I had a roll of felt left over from another job. Got lucky and got a lot of broken bag shingles from Lowes, enough to do the whole roof. They all matched and only cost me $25. Got lucky a second time when I found out because it was a permitted structure the shingle had to match my house, by chance they were the same shingles. I added ridge vent and it made a major difference. WORD to the wise- don't try to shingle in July, Im not a praying man but on the last shingle when my tennis shoes had melted, I prayed to God "Please let me make it down off this ridge, Ill be good I promise."

 

[lakelandcat]

Time for moisture barrier and finish plywood siding. Window was a discontinued window I got it for $10, this is where my window AC is going.

 

[lakelandcat]

Had to build the walls of Mrs. Cats Catio and install the French door, I the nailed up the siding insulation and vinyl siding on the French door wall.

 

[lakelandcat]

Now is the time to frame for the storm door to the Catio. I found a storm door that was returned, paid $20. It was returned missing the handle, I went to the millworks employee and ask if we had any spare handles, The door is the cheapest door but the handle is the most expensive handle Lows carries. It came off a display and had never been used.

 

[lakelandcat]

Vinyl siding time, another good deal days. Siding was a discontinued loose, I picked up enough to do my shop and house. $25 Nails cost me more than the siding.

 

[lakelandcat]

Time to finally dry in the shop. The garage door was a damaged one car/four panel, the first pic shows the damage. All the hardware was there. When I started I purchased a pallet of Cull wood. Wood that has been returned for some reason, some may be bowed, split, knots,ect. I got a whole pallet for $25. It had all my ridge, most of my rafters and most of my 6" studs for the French door wall. Most had to be cut to size, but I just laughed at every cut. In the pallet were around 80 cedar fence pickets, most just were split on the end, I cut the pickets to size and cut lap joints on all the sides. Once the table saw was set up it was just a matter of production. I used construction glue on the back to glue to the panels and to ensure they would stay I ripped a 2" piece and ran some carriage bolts to hold them in place. I picked up some Thompsons water seal spray cans, a whole case for .10 a can, and squirted the whole door with a couple of cans. I saw a Genie 3/4 hp that someone had returned and picked it up for $20, when I got it home it was locked up so I was just going to return it and buy a brand new one.(very unusual for me) I also purchased some heavier springs and 2 low profile hinged rollers. When I took the opener back, all I wanted was a credit on what I paid. The Cust, Serv. girl insisted on a full refund, when I explained she wanted to argue so I just shut up, she explained the price had gone down on the new opener, gave me a brand new opener, springs, and my roller hinges and a store credit for $13. I love America.

 

[lakelandcat]

next its time for electrical

 

[lakelandcat]

Next to foundation, electrcal was prob. the biggest expense. The only break I got was on my panel box. I got it on sale for $10, it is a 200A Eaton with the Breakers. 12/2 Wire, conduit, ground rods 4 ga wire, boxes switches, plugs, covers, I did get fixtures, ceiling fan(hunter), LED fixtures all at .10 on the $1. Materials cost me right at $700 and I did have to have a lic. elect. pull the permit and hook up main pwr. that cost me $400. I also had them double check my work, even at that I failed the first Insp. I saved a ton by pulling the wire, digging the trench from the Catio to the main box. Where I failed was I had a AC unit in the window and he said it had to have a dedicated outlet, my neutral was not bonded to ground, and I needed 2 ground rods not just one and the first was not pounded in far enough. My house is on a old creekbed and 6" down you run into rock. I trenched 12" and he said I could have got by with 6". I could ***** but I would rather have it right. This guy had been doing insp. for years, I think he knew what I was up to so he wasn't going to make it easy. 2nd visit and I got my final green tag. Not bad really considering I have 13 outlets, 5 switches, 5 lighting fixtures and a ceiling fan. Not bad considering if I would have had someone do it it would prob. cost me 2-2.5k. Looking back all I can say is Elect.you guys earn your money.

 

[lakelandcat]

Its hard to see in the first pic but pwr. is coming into a box in the corner and up the ceiling via schedule 40, across the ceiling and down the thru the top plate to the breaker box. I pulled 3 4G wires 125'. But I can hook anything up.

 

[lakelandcat]

It just wouldn't be right if you didnt have a outside GFCI, I put it between the Catio door and the garage door., One thing I didnt know was you are not suppose to run more than 3 wires through a hole in a stud. My elect. bud clued me and saved me a ton of trouble. Last pic are outlets where my work bench is going. TV, surround sound, chargers, DVD, comp.what not, I got 8 of em.

 

[lakelandcat]

This is the ceiling fan I picked up for $10. Its a Hunter. The second pic ia a work bench I built from the left over cull pack and a busted counter top, another $10 buy, I just ripped the backsplash off and it gave me a flat top, the casters came from a Kobalt tool chest that was damaged in delivery so they said throw it away. The cabinet was trash but the casters were still in the box. Total in the rolling work bench maybe $12. The first pic is the diamond, the Dept. mang in the cabinet dept. ask me if I would like to have the Wood Craft cabs and counter, I said how much and he said $100, I told him he was crazy he could keep them. He waited about a week and ask me again. I found out the display was on a wall that was not on planogram. I told him I would take down the bogus wall on my day off for the counter and 3 cabinets. He said he would have to ask the rep.if he wanted them and the Rep said hell no, so I got them free. Now there is more to the story, I got all the screws out and tried to lift the counter and almost pull a hernia. It took 4 grown *** men to lift it to a flat cart. This damn thing is heavy, when I got it home I slid it off the back of my truck because it was on a mat and slid easy, it came down on my dolly and flattened both tires. To move it to the Man Cave I had to build a special dolly with 4" casters and it broke that. Back to Lowes, The cabinet salesman came up to me and ask if I knew how much it cost, when I said no he told me it was a $6k counter. All drawers and doors are selfclosing hinges and the drawers are all dovetail. The center cab is real leaded glass. Im going for Better Homes and Man Cave.

 

[lakelandcat]

I wanted to put some shelves in Mrs. Cats Catio but they had to be weather resistant. When I worked for Lowes they were throwing out a old wire mag rack, I thought maybe I could make a lumber rack or something. The sat outside for a couple of years but never rusted. I had a cust. back out on a deal for some wire shelves, I had already gone to Lowes and found some 10' that were bent and got them for $2 each. I just cut out the damaged part and came up with some nice 8's. Long story short, I cut down the 8s to the mag rack size and doubled them for strength. I'll attach them with hose clamps and I have a case of discontinued spray Krylon thats what I painted my gutter with so the shelves will match. I hate wire shelves so Im going to put some of the floor tiles I used and strengthen them up, the tiles are 1'x2' I should be able to put 2.5 tiles on each shelf, it will give them a custom look.

 

[lakelandcat]

All the trim is from the cedar pickets that I got from my cull pack. I cut them to size, primed each piece and gave them two coats of finish. Facia is done the same way.

 

[lakelandcat]

Mrs Cat wanted proof that the man cave was the cause of a heart attack and not me being dumb enough to do it. Some of the corners needed that custom cut. Last pic is color going on.

 

[lakelandcat]

My neighbor Wai was putting new siding on his house and decided to go with 6" gutter instead of 4". He ask me if I wanted some of his long run gutter for the Man Cave. Hell yes. Gutter and downspout, no cost. Paint 3 cans of Krylon-.25 each, total .75 for gutter front and back. My kind of #s.

 

[lakelandcat]

I wrapped the trim in the front to give it a pillar effect. Small things you might not notice, I cut a piece to to between the first coarse of siding and the slab, it gave it the impression the building was sitting on the slab instead of hovering. Another challenge was the slab slopes toward the corner and out for drainage. In itself not a bad thing but it made coming from the shop to the Catio a challenge. No prob. as long as I remembered to use a level.

 

[lakelandcat]

This brings me to date, 11/5/19, I started insulation and sheetrock, I have 2.5 walls rocked. Cart the frig. is sitting on is a Cart a cust. gave me because she was moving and didnt want to take it. I squirted gloss black on it and it looks like new, I apologize to all the purist out there the second box is a 1963 Mac box I got in trade when I had my Matco Tool Truck. I wanted it to match so I did the same as the cart and spayed it black, I also replaced the handle pulls with some pulls I picked up a Lowes for .25 each. I like it and think its a improvement. Mrs. Cat bought me the Craftsman box 25 years ago, I love it but I sprayed it black as well. The Kobalt was a damaged corner(not racked) I got it for $25. Still a lot of work to go but Im getting there.

 

[Pathfinders]

Nice shop.

 

[lakelandcat]

Thanks its been a long road. Its like a hobby/obsession/sickness. I told Mrs Cat I wanted to build a Man Cave in the back yard, I have a Garage full of tools and I can't get into the garage because its full of tools. I started working for Lowes when the stock market took a big dive and started investing in company stock. Lowes @$20 a share. Thats how I paid for it. Working for Lowes my target price was .10 on the $1. Slab, elect., lumber and HW. I might have 12-13K in the whole thing. Now I don't work for Lowes so everything is more of a challenge to get good deals. Lucky for me Im about 95% done. Its not a giant shop 24x20 but large enough to work in. If we ever sell the house it can be marketed as a game room, home office, extra bedroom, man cave, the options are endless. My footprint on the home is $99 last time I checked, that makes the shop a $45k shop.

 

[lakelandcat]

I want to make it as nice as I can for Mrs. Cat so I picked up some 1'x2' Italian Porcelain tile. I laid it down in a herringbone pattern. It was a discontinued tile, I think no one wanted it because it was so expensive. It cost $2.50+ per tile. I had to buy all that was left and paid .25 a tile. I still have enough I can do a 10'x16'. I picked up a couple of broken bags of thin set for 1/10 the price. Now all I have to do is wait for my knees to heal and I'll grout.Side note: Tile is a floor tile with a texture finish, because its a screened in porch and not a sunroom (yet)it is subject to rain. These tiles won't get slick.

 

[lakelandcat]

I wrapped the trim at the base of the Garage door for a finish touch.

 

[lakelandcat]

This is going above the outside storm door.

 

[Odd Job]

Looks great. I have a similar issue, a garage so full that it's impassable. Fortunately there's a basement for tinkering. Expansion plans are in the works. Love the sign.

 

[lakelandcat]

Looks great. I have a similar issue, a garage so full that it's impassable. Fortunately there's a basement for tinkering. Expansion plans are in the works. Love the sign.

Thanks Mr. G. Its taken a lot of hard work and time. When I started this thing I had to keep telling myself I wasn't building the Tajmahal, prob is when I tried to cut quality I would tell myself I wouldn't be happy if I didnt do it right. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Tell that to my back!

 

[BuffettFan]

Looking Great!
You should be proud.

 

[lakelandcat]

I gotta keep going, Mrs. Cat wants to park her car in the attached 2 car. I have some cool plans for shelving. I have a 50 Chevy PU bed I'm going to cut the sides and fenders down to 12" and hang it on the wall with some shelves for the Die cast. It should look like the bed is sunk into the wall. Peg board and shelves on the long wall. I'm going to frame in my compressor and generator which is where the breaker box is. Next step is 2 4' 4 bulb T8 LED fixtures. Mrs Cat says its nicer than the house.

 

[lakelandcat]

Just found my "Binder O Receipts". Last count just $8626.91 including slab, also had a anniversary. Pulled the permits both city and county 10/09/2015. Poured slab 12/14/2015 45 yd.@$107. that included the engineers and termite pre treat.

 

[dirt_dobber]

Fantastic price! I love how you got things on sale/clearance/damaged etc to help keep your prices low. Great work! and sounds like you have a good neighbor as well. Like the detail and pics you provided.

 

[319]

Nice work. A cave of any size is still a cave.

 

[lakelandcat]

Its. amazing what people will do to return stuff. 9/10 times there is nothing wrong they just changed there mind or bought to much. Lowes sells this stuff as a returned item if it looks like they opened it. I got a lot of 12' 2x6 that were bowed, knots, or split. Thats how I got most of my rafters, I just cut off the bad part. Thats also how I got my header for the Garage door. Hell Im a carpenter I know how to straighten a board. Mike