Is it a shop or a man cave? Why not both?

I had mentioned in December, in my Z thread, that we purchased some property. The buildings consist of a nice sized home (2500 sqft), a two bay shop (24x32), two large sheds and a partially built smaller shed that will become a playhouse for our gremlins. 

The basic floor plan is like this, except inverted. The laundry room / kitchen face the road and the "entry" faces our backyard and is a sliding door. Three bedrooms, two baths.

Birdlady works from home and "we ain't fancy", so before we move in, I have been tasked with remodeling the formal dining and living rooms to add an office and a kids play room / rec room. 

Once THIS project is complete, the third shed that is currently IN the shop will get moved to the backyard and built out as a playhouse / swingset. 

I imagine there will be some raised garden beds and landscaping projects, as well as the remodel of our old fifth wheel (1985 Nomad). 

"But Brandon, the title is about a shop / man cave, and this crap is boring." 

I concur, but this is the "give" in the "give and take" bargain of domestic partnership.  I'll get to the shop remodel soon. 

Okay, let's begin. First pic shows living room as of day of purchase.

Here's the formal dining as purchased

Being that we were super excited and anxious to move in, the first thing I did was remove that closet and the flooring in the future office and play room. 

Then framed up walls to play room (formerly formal dining), 

Started framing out the office, quickly remembering how much I hate framing around beams and vaulted ceilings.

I removed the wall mount AC and plugged the hole with some scraps, only to find evidence of water intrusion. Started backtracking the water and found my header framing to be rotted out.

berkeley. 

Okay, rot surgically removed, new header built and installed.

This got me thinking, since the framing was cut out and there wasn't an easy access to the backyard without traipsing through the office, the master suite or through the gate outside... 

It got drafty in there. 

Less drafty now. 

I failed to get pictures of reworking the existing wall to shift the door opening on the living room side over 18" to accommodate dual barn doors for play room and office. 

I also failed to document the extensive electric work that went in to making this all work the way we want it to, but that's okay. 

I have some drywall to finish, then mud, and paint. Then floors get laid and we move in!

It's been a slow process, with me working there evenings and weekends with minimal help, but we're getting really close

So, projects in order of importance and rough idea of what they entail.

House remodel:

Demo - done

Framing - done

Repair rot - done

Install new exterior door - done

rework electrical - done

drywall and paint - 1/2 done

Playhouse:

Drag out of shop and in to back yard.

Sheet walls and install roofing.

Build out benches and bunks inside. 

Attach swingset. 

Set minions loose. 

Shop:

Tear down existing bathroom wall and relocate water heater to opposite end of kitchen. 

Rebuild wall 4' further in from garage door so Z can park in that bay.

Build and install sheet curtain / tarp thingy to keep Z cleaner. 

Build powder coat oven. 

Build media blasting cabinet. 

Purchase and Install 240V compressor.

Build heated shop seats.

Party

I'll take shop photos tomorrow to help this make sense. 

Progress has been super slow, between getting sick, snow storms, vehicle repairs and general life responsibilities. I have reached the end of my phase of the remodel, and am now able to start looking towards future projects and fun. I apologize if this is not relevant here. Once I get to the shop upgrades portion, I'm hoping it gets more interesting. 

House: Drywall is complete, awaiting final texture and paint. Pictures are not up to date. Door openings have been wrapped, mud work is mostly finished. 

Next step is laying flooring down in kid play room. Once flooring is down, we can move in and work on finishing Birdlady's office flooring and any trim work. Door openings will have barn door style rollers, but they are a ways down the priority list currently. Birdlady is very excited to have her office nearing completion. We are both very excited to have more than double our current sq/ft to live in. 

Playhouse: Acquired a swingset to mount to main structure. 

Cannot remove from shop until snow melts, but will be an interesting project when that time comes. I'm open to suggestions on how to move this thing to the back yard, short of renting a crane. (I'm a crane guy, I distrust the local crane outfit, plus its not cost effective for this.) measuring in place tells me it will just squeeze under the door, but disassembly is a possible outcome. 

Shop: Need to replace a couple of lights, but am over all satisfied with the lighting and fans. 

Will post update once tool boxes start moving in, because that's when it will start to get interesting. 

I am still deliberating on moving the bathroom wall back four feet, which will enlarge that bay enough to park the Z in. I'm also rolling around possible locations for the powder coat oven I want to build. Size of oven will be dependent on location and size available. I'd prefer 4'x4'x7' or similar. Large enough for a motorcycle frame or Z car cross members, bumpers, etc. 

150 Amp service to shop should be sufficient for my needs, don't seen an immediate need to upgrade. 

Z car: Been neglected, needs love. 

Needs: Suspension bushings, struts and springs, brake overhaul / upgrade. 

Proper tune up and fuel tank cleanout. 

Ignition upgrade

WANTS: New seats. Might be a need.

Flares? Have a set. Undecided on use.

Fender mirrors? Have a set, undecided on use. 

450 SL Benz: Need to figure out grey market registration.

Get relocated to my place.

Party

Looks like a lot of work, but you did a nice job. Let see some pictures of the shop, and the play shed inside of it! 

bgkast said:

Looks like a lot of work, but you did a nice job. Let see some pictures of the shop, and the play shed inside of it! 

Thank you! It's been a nice reminder of why I don't swing a hammer for a living. I might hate it less if I wasn't working 10 hour days, then squeezing this project in on nights and weekends. 

Shop pics uploaded. Please disregard the sheer amount of clutter and mess, 90% of the stuff out there will end up in the house or storage shed(s), once it is ready for us to move in. 

I have a 50" tool chest with smaller top box, a 40" chest and a couple of benches I need to get moved in, as well as a couple of wood work benches. 

The long term goal for the shop is for it to double as my man cave, complete with sim rig, WiFi, and a place to lounge with buddies. Maybe a couch or fold down benches? Minimal storage, probably one of the gun safes and our bows. We have two large sheds on property for storage, so I'm hoping to prevent the Mrs from taking over my area. She has a dedicated office now, so this is my compromise. 

Looks good. I love those high windows in the vaulted ceiling. And that shop looks like a great starting point. You already have lots of electricity, finished walls, AND a full bathroom. 

Well done on the framing! looks like a great start to a new compound

Looks good. Ill be following with interest. This is pretty much how I spend my weekends, but you seem to be quite a bit faster than me. Id like to see a build thread on the Z car.

Thanks guys! I am the son of a carpenter and spent a lot of time building as a youth. I had to get a little creative with some of my framing, but nobody but me can tell where / how. 

It gets hot here in Eastern Washington, so the shop having air conditioning is pretty exciting to me. Plus two sources of heat for these cold months. 

Here's a link to my Z. It's pretty unexciting still, need to spend some quality time on it this spring. 

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/accidentally-acquired-my-dream-car-240z-content/185213/page1/

Quick update with a couple of pics of the shed in the shop. It's going to be TIGHT getting it out of there. There is definitely a better than zero chance that project will end with a tow strap hooked to my truck...

Take measure says it will go through, but I can't confirm if the ground is level or not in front of this bay.

Also hooked up my stereo and installed a basketball hoop. 

And then I made milkshakes! 

I'll explain in my other thread.

Getting the tunes going is always a big step in the right direction for me.  Makes all subsequent time better whether continuing to improve the space or actually working on the car stuff.

Nice

Rough sketch of shop floor plan as it stands now. Not perfectly to scale, as the center bay should line up with that overhead door. I printed a few of these to play with space / layout before I load it all up. 

The two rectangles in the top left corner, either side of the man door, are shelving / cabinets. Both can be fairly easily removed for more vertical space. 

Shop is 32 x 24, if any one wants to play. 

*edit*  First major expense after custody stuff is over might be an additional bay on the right side of this layout. I'd turn that window in to a door and add an additional bay door and exterior man door. This area would be man cave / Z car safe place. 

I love it when a plan comes together. Birdlady's bookshelves tuck up perfectly to the new wall that separates her office from living room. The jog in this wall is to allow swing room for the new exterior door, and I took the opportunity to measure and make this a near perfect fit. 

So happy with how this came out!

Plus,

Signs of life in the shop. One tool chest on site, one more to go, plus a collection of smaller boxes, bags, etc. Need to get cherry picker, jacks, welders, etc over here too. Then I'll build real work benches.

I wish I was the son of a carpenter. Great work!

Nice work and a fair trade! I did a bunch of renovations in our home and in exchange have "owned the garage" as my shop for the last 12 years. At 18x18, I did not do too much to it, used some used cabinets to build a bench and storage, overhead crane to lift stuff and some electrical outlets for my welder.  12 years later, I finally built a much larger shop and will be moving out there in a few weeks once the electrical service is finished. I completely agree with your plan of shop/mancave idea, that is my plan as well. Nice Z car, great to see one in stock condition in good shape!

Good progress, man. Those bookshelves look like they were made for the space!

Thanks guys! Her bookshelves have been her background for work calls for quite a while and were non-negotiable for her. It was really fun laying out the floor to provide a good fit for them, as well as the new door, wiring configurations, etc. The whole project hinged on making sure her backdrop would be correct. 

Dherr, your shop looks great, I've been following along. Birdlady doesn't want to sacrifice our yard for a big shop, so I am stuck with my current setup until I build an additional bay on the roadside. And while I always appreciate Z compliments, it won't stay stock for long. The engine is all blowed up, so changes are brewing in the background. 

Ha! It did fit! I'm slightly disappointed, I had hoped to justify the use of my truck to remove it. 

Baby steps.

Next big moves are to get the playhouse structure in the back yard and to organize the shop finally.

Now the interesting parts can begin. 

FIL and I got the shed relocated to the backyard with relatively little drama (pun intended). His tractor with forks attachment and a couple of ratchet straps made short and sketchy work of it. 

The one and only picture, due to the big boss forgetting to save the rest. (Please don't judge my shoddy lawn, it's going to be next year's project)

I'll wrestle it into its final home soon and then wrap it with siding and whatever cheap roofing we can find. Thinking a couple of open window frames for now, maybe a saloon style door. The swingset will be attached and maybe a slide built in somewhere. 

And then, this happened!

I now have WiFi, my stereo, an actual desk, and my printer set up. That means my shop office is operational and I am ready for a big white board to hang and start lining out projects. 

The next step is to explode every drawer in every tool box and chest and organize and put away neatly(ish) in the three boxes on the wall and on shelves. Leftovers will get sorted into smaller chests and boxes and stashed in the RV, my truck, etc. 

For those of you still following along, you may have noticed that I now have room for two cars to fit comfortably. (Cue obvious foreshadowing)

I also scored this beauty over the weekend!

What do I do with a stainless steel box on casters? Could it be the start to my rolling powder coat oven? I think so! Not bad for $20

Just realized I have no "before" pictures of how messy the shop was. It was like pictured below, bit with roughly 50 empty cardboard boxes from moving, a bed frame, a box spring, random boxes of stuff, a set of wheels, and a heaping pile of tools and tool crates. 

It was gross

Updates are necessary. 

The racing team with no name was in need of an engine for our Z race car, so I needed to make room for a second car.

I then parked a TL in here to rid it of its engine and the drug stash in the console.

It was a tight fit, but I'm glad I was able to test out the practicality of a two car system in my tiny shop. 

Once the TL left, I spent a few months going the wrong direction in the shop, accumulating more junk and piles of boxes and totes of crap. At one point, my shop looked like this:

Birdlady's grandpa was put in to an assisted living facility and we spent a few months cleaning out his shop and farm. He had 30+ years of tools, supplies, and assorted treasures. We acquired a small portion of the items to use as ammunition in a yard sale. There wasn't a lot of room for car shenanigans and the two weeks that the stuff was supposed to be here became six weeks and two extra loads. 

Yard sale was a complete failure. We ended up giving 90% of it away for free, just to make it some one else's problem. It took another three weeks to actually reclaim my shop, but yesterday I started to make good progress towards my goal.

Couch and storage rack in place. Need some help getting my larger desk hauled out here. Dual monitors, stereo and a mini fridge will be set up with the desk. Primary goals are sim racing, football watching, formula 1 races and general hang out shenanigans.

And so much more room for engine work! Note the TL engine, ready for delivery, one Z engine and a third shortblock all lined up and ready to get worked through production. Need to finish organizing and getting things set up properly, but the end goal is in sight!

Thanks for following along, and any GRMer that passes through is welcome to come hang out in the man cave. 

And now I sit and enjoy Mancave 1.0 and contemplate version 2.0.

I'm quite pleased

Very cool stuff but please don't use the word "mancave"

That's a shop, where stuff gets done.

A "mancave" is where beer enthusiasts who can't even install a baseball cap correctly go to hide from their wives when they are asked to change a lightbulb.