TWO Mancaves!

After years of thinking about it, and months of fixin’ to get ready, I finally started on the conversion of my 1½ car garage into a DOUBLE MANCAVE! I’m splitting the space into two rooms, running a wall down the center of the garage. On the one side will be a gym/bonus room (about 13’x20’,) and on the other will be workspace/brewhouse/inclement weather cigar lounge (about 8’x10’.)

So this is what the space looked like about two months ago, before clearing it out. Note the carefully designed walk areas in the middle of all that extra crap. Somewhere out there is where I actually worked out for the past couple years!

Looking in, from the driveway
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Looking in, toward workbench & HVAC (in background)
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Looking out, from the HVAC corner
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Another angle, from the other corner (standing in the current work-out space)
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As you can see, anything will be an improvement over the 8 years of clutter that’s accumulated.

I generally know my way around power tools, but it’s fortunate that my BIL now lives in the area. He’s a contractor/handyman with plenty of time to spare, and he loves projects like this.

We started this a few weeks ago, so it's fairly well along now--will post a couple updates to show how the work progressed, and as we get closer to finishing. Should be “fun”—at least, when it’s done! Plus, I know everything will be top quality work and to code, so that’s an added bonus.
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That is going to be awesome!
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That has mucho potential! Good luck man.
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Go for it man. Keep us posted as progress is made.
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post some project pictures as you make progress
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Watching this one Gerard. :-)
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This will be cool......I'm subscribing!!
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My offer of objective opinion on build quality still stands:-)
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:-) SWEET!
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After the first few weekends, we got the place cleaned out (stuff either pitched, craigslisted, or stored in a Pod on the driveway.) And renovation began!

The center wall went up first
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We built the wall in place, since the ceiling joists were 10’+ high and we had restricted space on the garage floor to work with the studs. The thing is definitely sturdy, and probably one of the straightest walls in the house. :-)

Also framed-in the HVAC, as well as an extra storage area next to the interior garage door, with a recessed area for an extra frig.

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Next, we ran all the electric and insulation, installed some doors, and finished a good bit of the drywall. We're concentrating on the interior room before we hit the workspace. Haven’t yet decided on the ceiling and floor options. I'll just use an epoxy concrete paint on the workspace floor, but I’m thinking of a floating floor in the gym/bonus room.
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Lookin' good so far. Keep the pictures rollin' in.
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That's BadAss Brother. Keep the pics coming!
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looks great so far
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Awesome Gerard!
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Must not let my wife see this.
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Looking good!!!:-)
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A few more weekends of work and here's where we are.

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Got the HVAC enclosed, hung a louvered door to ensure proper airflow into the unit. Sealed the cinderblock and framed the windows. Moved the refrigerator into its spot, finished the drywall on the closet and put a plywood floor down in the upper storage area. Ran electrical for the frig, a light, and some extra outlets along that wall.

Here's a look into the closet, still have to cut and mount the shelves.

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Also, hung a new six panel security door leading into the house, so that everything matches (at the wife's request.) That's Three Doors Down! :-)

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A woman cave is better, because then, we can lock them in and have the whole house....LOL
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And then there's this whole pain in the ass

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It wasn't so much heavy labor as it was awkward, hauling long batts of insulation up & down a ladder. But at least that room is now noticeably warmer than before!

That big shiny thing is the new ductwork, I've cinched it off until we're done with the ceiling. Unfortunately, I think I installed it on the air return, instead of the supply duct. Not sure how much of a difference that is going to make--anybody have thoughts on what kind of a screw up that is? :-)
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VERY cool! Nice handiwork, too!
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