Man Cave Begins!

[GiveMeToro]

Hello to all fellow Men!

I've been coming onto this site and keeping up on things for the last 3-4 years, gathering intel, getting ideas, and creeping around. :)

We lived in our old house for 3 years and this July finally (After 9 months of being on the market) washed our hands on that disaster. (No surprises seeing as it was a 100 year old house.) We just got moved into our brand spanking new house and after getting the necessities caught up I managed to get the basement stairs built last weekend. Thus begins, my journey.

I will warn you that this will be a long drawn out process as I piece together my little underground slice of manland, I'm planning on putting a little money into it every month, but after enjoying all of your guys 'caves I thought I would include myself!

Ok, enough blabbering, right now the basement is concrete and jack stands, I'm hoping at the end of the month to start getting some 2x4's and framing out walls. My rough plans look like this:

http://oi42.tinypic.com/4uz20w.jpg

The room is going to be 26x28 so it should be a pretty decent area!

Now I'll just post the pics I've taken down there, comments/suggestions?


http://oi39.tinypic.com/10ht8p2.jpg

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http://oi40.tinypic.com/2igydg8.jpg

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http://oi43.tinypic.com/34ipdma.jpg

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http://oi44.tinypic.com/sxzucw.jpg

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http://oi44.tinypic.com/bedi7d.jpg

The bar is going to get sanded and refinished, it's got a top on it I need to get put on. The reason it's down there is because it came out of Kaufman Stadium and I thought that added some authentic-ness to my 'cave. :D

That's it for now, I'm looking forward to the late nights and the coooold beer!

[Quads]

At least you've for your priorities right.
Tape the walls off on the floor, and start building the bar.

Nice work.

[gator20]

Welcome.. Looking forward to updates.

[stok2]

Nice, can't wait for updates.......

[GiveMeToro]

Okay, I have a quick question I'm hoping can be answered fairly soon.

I went to town today and picked up a couple hundo in 2x4's to start framing up my walls. I had figured for 16" spacing between studs, but after speaking to my dad earlier he thinks that 16" is overkill and that there shouldn't be any reason you couldn't go with a 24" spacing. I'm sure this all depends on the thickness of 'rock that you hang, but what are your guys preferences and thoughts on this subject?

Thanks!

[Quads]

Personally..... the son of a man who built houses for 30 years, and a guy who framed houses as a teenager, I wouldn't frame anything less than 16" OC. certainly not in my house.

Can you do it? Sure. Do you want your walls to be flat, uniform, and not bow with the sheetrock you hang?

Would I do it for an old shitshack woodshed in the back of my property that I didn't care what it looked like in 3 years and wanted to save a couple of bucks. Definite maybe.

Again, 100% personal opinion.

[gator20]

Personally..... the son of a man who built houses for 30 years, and a guy who framed houses as a teenager, I wouldn't frame anything less than 16" OC. certainly not in my house.

Can you do it? Sure. Do you want your walls to be flat, uniform, and not bow with the sheetrock you hang?

Would I do it for an old shitshack woodshed in the back of my property that I didn't care what it looked like in 3 years and wanted to save a couple of bucks. Definite maybe.

Again, 100% personal opinion.

Absolutely this!!!

[Scuba_Dave]

If you do 24" you really need to go to thicker sheet rock
And you still have some bow possible if someone leans against the middle
With 16" OC its a much stronger wall
While 1/2" sheetrock is rated for 24" OC installation I would never do it
For me the possible problems are not worth the amount of $$ you save

[Bar 3-25]

http://oi44.tinypic.com/bedi7d.jpg

The bar is going to get sanded and refinished, it's got a top on it I need to get put on. The reason it's down there is because it came out of Kaufman Stadium and I thought that added some authentic-ness to my 'cave. :D

That's it for now, I'm looking forward to the late nights and the coooold beer!

I LOVE the bar, great idea, and the framed beer pics in the front are perfect! Great find from an old stadium. Good Luck!

[GiveMeToro]

Framed up a couple of walls over the weekend, tonight I'm kicking around ideas on light up movie poster frames.

I want the area when you first come down the stairs and have the little hallway leading into the man cave area to have a movie theater vibe going on, so it's always been my plan to have three back lit poster frames in that hallway wall.

I'm going to build them into the wall and sheetrock around them. I might not have painted a clear picture of my idea, but it will all come to fruition one of these days! :D

Anyone on here ever done a build like that or have pointers or links that they've came across?

I think I'm going with a 2x4 framed out opening and using some kind of thin wood boarding for the back of it, covering the inside with a reflective material, wrapping it up with rope lights and then screwing white plexi to the side that will be facing the hall.

That's the easy part, I am planning on just trimming around the light box and using glass for the front to wedge the poster in between the plexi. I just cannot come up with an idea on how I could easily change out my posters with this set up.

[Quads]

Router a groove in the sides where you'll sammich the poster between two pieces of plexiglass. Pull the frame off the wall, slide the sammiched poster out, swap it, insert new one, <profit>

[Wedge Rock]

Personally..... the son of a man who built houses for 30 years, and a guy who framed houses as a teenager, I wouldn't frame anything less than 16" OC. certainly not in my house.

Can you do it? Sure. Do you want your walls to be flat, uniform, and not bow with the sheetrock you hang?

Would I do it for an old shitshack woodshed in the back of my property that I didn't care what it looked like in 3 years and wanted to save a couple of bucks. Definite maybe.

Again, 100% personal opinion.

I did 24oc. I hung the sheetrock sideways and I don't have any bowing issues. Don't remember what thickness I used, but I don't have anyone leaning up on them, so give was not a concern either. I did, however, have insulation issues. Batts were precut for 16oc, not 24 oc.

If I had to do it again, I'd go 16oc. As Scuba Dave said, the savings do not justify the hassle.

[GiveMeToro]

Hey guys, I was wanting to pick your minds again. I am getting ready to start framing up the walls that run against the concrete basement walls, I'm planning on leaving between an 1 1/2" to 2" space between the concrete and the studs. I have read about gluing Rigid Foam insulation to the concrete walls because you start framing up. Is this the ideal thing to do?

I can't see it having much of an affect when it comes to keeping the cool out and the heat in, and I'm not sure if it's needed seeing as this is a newly poured basement, so what are your guys thoughts? Use the stuff or not worry about it?

FYI: I'm leaning towards using it, I just wanted to get a second, third, and possibly fourth opinion. :mrgreen:

[Scuba_Dave]

Where are you located ?
Are you heating/cooling the basement ?
Ground temp keeps fairly constant at about 50-55 f about 4' down
Above that it can dip down to below freezing depending upon your location
I'm not finishing off my basement but I am planning on 1-2" of rigid against the walls to keep the basement warmer

[GiveMeToro]

I'm in Kansas and planning on running vents for heating/cooling. So if there would be a noticeable difference in keeping the basement cooler then that's all I needed to hear.

[Trann]

My understanding with rigid foam is that if you ensure it's up tight to the wall with the proper adhesion and all the seams are tuck-taped/sealed, then you have effectively created an insulating and vapour barrier layer all in one.

It may be more awkward to do this than to use bats between studs but I haven't done a whole space, just one exterior wall in a basement bath. It was trivially easy for me, in this case.

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm actually going to put the rigid against the wall 1st
Then build a stud wall against the rigid, that way I don't have to cut the rigid
Plus the stud wall will help hold the rigid against the cement
Usually rigid is R-5 per inch
Here they want you to have an R13 min wall insulation for a basement'
But I think the 2" rigid against the cement/then a wall will give you a better over-all Rvalue then insulation between studs

[Trann]

I should have clarified: yes, in this manner, rigid is meant to be done without studs then studs atop/in front.

http://www.energyvanguard.com/Portals/88935/images/foam-board-rigid-insulation-xps-pink.jpg

[GiveMeToro]

Here's a few picture updates, not much has changed, me and my brother-in-law got a couple of the walls framed up a few weeks ago, been waiting to get a little more money put back and I think this weekend we may start gluing up foam boarding.

I wish I had more patience... this waiting around for money is killing me! :mrgreen:

http://oi40.tinypic.com/1ytk05.jpg

http://oi43.tinypic.com/k3li14.jpg

http://oi39.tinypic.com/6ei2xv.jpg

[Trann]

I wish I had more patience... this waiting around for money is killing me! :mrgreen:
I hear ya. But patience pays. Rest while you can.

Are you leaving the support posts in place and exposed? If so, no worries about it, just an interesting approach.

http://oi40.tinypic.com/1ytk05.jpg

I love this stage of a build. Looking good.

[GiveMeToro]

The support posts will be removed, I'm planning on either butting up and nailing a couple 2x4's together to replace them or just go buy 4x4's to wedge under there.

[Quads]

The way your walls intersect the support areas and the beam above, I'd sammich 2-2X4's in the wall under / in that area where the support is. Essentially the walls you're building will be load bearing once you do all of this.

[GiveMeToro]

Here's another question for you fellow men...

How far can you go in a basement without any support beams? I have an area that I would like to go beam less that would be anywhere between 15' and 20'. I'd really hate to have to sheetrock supports right in the middle of my theater area, so is there a rule of thumb to go by?

[Scuba_Dave]

Here's another question for you fellow men...

How far can you go in a basement without any support beams? I have an area that I would like to go beam less that would be anywhere between 15' and 20'. I'd really hate to have to sheetrock supports right in the middle of my theater area, so is there a rule of thumb to go by?

You want to remove support beams?
Or the posts that support beams ?
Most beams are sized to carry a certain load over a certain distance
If you want to remove posts you usually have to replace the beams with bigger beams to span a longer distance

[GiveMeToro]

That's what I was thinking, I figured I'd have to either go with a wooden or steel beam the width of the theater room.

[Quads]

google joists span table for some info on it, but like SD said, they're sized to support what you have there. I won't take much out without doing some calculation.

generally speaking, you want an inch of beam per foot of span. starting at 4". There are variables to this of course.

[shakey0818]

nice work

[IFLOPPEDITSUCKER]

your ductwork hanging like that concerns me.

[Dragon Lair]

Here's another question for you fellow men...

How far can you go in a basement without any support beams? I have an area that I would like to go beam less that would be anywhere between 15' and 20'. I'd really hate to have to sheetrock supports right in the middle of my theater area, so is there a rule of thumb to go by?

Check the tables but it would take a fairly massive beam to clear span 20'. How high are your basement ceilings? I'd go with a microlam wood beam so you could nail right to it and not have to frame around a steel beam. Most builders span about 8' between lally columns.

[GiveMeToro]

Care to elaborate?

your ductwork hanging like that concerns me.

[GiveMeToro]

And I think I've decided on framing around the two jack stands that are out in the open, makes the most sense and I can just suck up my pride and deal with it, plus I think I might place on of my surround sound speakers where I cover up a jack stand.

[Dragon Lair]

You might be able to shift them a bit one way or the other if they are not centered as well as you would like, as long as you don't create too big an unsupported span. If you want a little bigger open span to improve sight lines you could sister in a couple of microlams on either side of your existing beam - as long as the load is transmitted to the floor.