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Trann's Man Cave

50K views 89 replies 35 participants last post by  Trann 
#1 ·
I'm so enamoured with my own work, I'm going to pseudo-blog it twice...

Enjoy!

Again!



































































































 
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#32 ·
This is what I do on a Superbowl weekend...



Shower finished, toilet replaced, vanity installed, floor trim everywhere. Need to hook up the vanity's water/waste lines and chop a door down to fit and install.

Of course, the wifey has ideas for shelving, towel bars, and general pooftering on top of this but that's trivial.
 
#37 ·
I especially like the recess behind the john.
It wasn't by choice: the guy who did the basement drainage put the shower and toilet drains too close together and too close to the outside wall. The recess is to fit the tank and we were forced to get a 31" shower (one of the smallest).

But at least it functions now.
 
#41 ·
Update: wet bar is done.

The flooring, made up of the 2'x2' tongue-and-groove subflooring panels with plywood on top, was made true (but not level). Shims were set in place to get the cabinets level and screwed/glued down to the floor.







The studs of this wall were not ideally placed for the wall cabinets so I decided to run a strip of fir across the length, driving it into the studs and then the cabinets could hang anywhere off of it.



This is my load helper.



First cabinet up, plumb, and level.





Other cabinets the same.







Test-fitting the base cabinets and showing the severe shimming going on here.





Laser level, baby.



Cabinets fastened to the wall and to each other.



Cutting into the countertop took hours, mostly measuring, remeasuring, and taping the surface so the jigsaw wouldn't damage it. Not a single mistake or off-line cut.





Sink, drain, and lines installed. Because the water lines here are shared with those in the bathroom on the other side of the wall, one had to "cross" the other -- I wasn't going to cross the copper lines -- so I figured the bar would get the job.



The mounting framework proved to be an annoyance when it came to getting the tap fixture installed. I had to lay under the sink, goggles on, and use a hole saw to carefully cut upwards into two layers -- the first being the base cabinet mount strip, the second being the countertop mount strip -- leaving just the last layer of the countertop for the fixture mounts to lock onto.



And done.



Access panels for...



...sewer and vent clean-outs. May never be needed but I'd rather have the cut outs where I want them now than to be bashing my way through the cabinet and drywall later.



The rest of the cabinet doors were added and straightened out to perfection. Only the handles remain.



The floor will be a marble-like finish done using 1'x1' stick-on tiles rather than linoleum but that won't be done until the carpets are about to go in (or after, depending on how I'm going to handle the transition strips).

Next up: spare room subfloor.

...

The wife and I have been dickering over the furniture. She wants leather, I want to save a few bucks and get comfy/cheap simply because I don't care if it lasts, it's cheap enough to by something else. She wants sofa/loveseat combos and I figured a sectional would work better. It wasn't looking good for an agreement on this one...

The she e-mails me a link one day and asks if I'd consider this leather piece:



*drool*

A home theatre sectional! It's perfect for our space and can be broken down and repositioned for larger poker games.

I think I'll keep her!
 
#47 ·
...The wife and I have been dickering over the furniture. She wants leather, I want to save a few bucks and get comfy/cheap simply because I don't care if it lasts, it's cheap enough to by something else. She wants sofa/loveseat combos and I figured a sectional would work better. It wasn't looking good for an agreement on this one...

The she e-mails me a link one day and asks if I'd consider this leather piece:



*drool*

A home theatre sectional! It's perfect for our space and can be broken down and repositioned for larger poker games.

I think I'll keep her!
Yup yup! I love those home theater sectionals.
Good choice in the middle section being a love seat. Perfect for snuggling.
Are those storage containers behind the cup holders?
 
#44 ·
Looks awesome dude. I may have to put up with your little farm town calling station players one night in order to come see these in person.;)


As for the leather theatre seating, your wifey has basically just given you the go ahead on turning the spare room down there into a home theatre. Get a nice projector with some good audio and you're set!!!!:D
 
#49 ·
I may have to put up with your little farm town calling station players one night in order to come see these in person.;)
Don't worry: you'll get the invite on the inaugural day, if not sooner.

I've bumped my home games to Dennis' place for this month and maybe next so I can press on and don't have to worry about cleaning up. Once I'm done making sawdust, I'll be open for games again.

As for your game Friday: I'm juggling some things and hope to make it but can't confirm just yet. I'll ring you up when I know (our mail system is acting up on campus).
 
#54 ·
Trann --

Remember that EVERYTHING you are purchasing is negotiable. Negotiable in price, as well as other things -- free delivery, tax waivers, etc. So, particularly if you are getting a large item, or several items, talk to the store manager about a better deal. The salesperson probably cannot give you a discount, but the store manager certainly can.

Furniture and electronics have high retail markups generally, so even if the item is "on sale" ask if they can give you a better deal for purchasing the whole lot from them. Or, ask them to throw in something at the end of the deal. You would be amazed at how much extra money can be saved simply by asking for a better deal.

By the way -- it is looking very nice. Good job so far.
 
#56 ·
Nice.....the carpet makes a huge difference in the appearance and your will to finish the damn thing up.

I have bad soil too, and they didn't even do slab on grade....did a structural subfloor and have had no problems with it. I was a little iffy at first, then realized they actually did this to solve the problem, instead of throwing the slab in there for someone else to deal with 5-10 years down the road.
 
#57 ·
Trann,

I've got a great product for you that I used in my basement for the columns that I couldn't remove. You space these things out and wrap them around your columns (package of 5). Then you can drywall right to them. Simple, easy way to dress up your columns without wasting space by framing around them. I used them on 3 columns in my basement and they were very easy to install & drywall to.

http://www.grabberman.com/ItemDetails.aspx?pkey=Framing+Solutions|E-Z+Framing+Collar|E-Z+3"+COLUMN+FRAMING+Kit+5%2FPKG&pval=34|96|EZCOL3&pIds=CategoryID|ProductTypeID|itemid&itemid=EZCOL3

Your mancave is looking GREAT!
 
#59 ·
Slev, the wife and I discussed column covers and we found about 3 different variations out there for fully encasing them but nothing like your suggestion...



I love the simplicity of it! If I were going to cover it with anything, I'd do it this way.

But, in the end, we're actually going to leave them as-is (or rather, just painted with a built-up decorative cover for the tops and caps for the bottoms). And here's why:

The very first day down there, the kids were doing what I remember doing as a kid: holding onto the post with one hand and running myself dizzy going around it.

Something more fancy couldn't handle that abuse. 8)
 
#61 ·
From the far end of the space...



From where the pub table may sit...



The theatre seating...



The entertainment center and 50" plasma...



*Aside: my mother came over last weekend and was asking no end of questions about this and that. After staring at the entertainment center for a moment, she asked, "So, what made you decide to by a large brand?"

I blinked. "A what?"

"A large brand."

My wife whispered, "She means LG."

Yeah, my family is like that.

...

Poker night, however, requires things to be broken down...



No one needs to get into the storage room anyway, and the hall leads to laundry, so it all works...



And there's plenty of space to get around and behind each table...



As you can see, I've got some stairs to paint yet and we're still debating the pub table and stools. When those issues are closed, I'll share and end this thread for good.

But where it counts, the space is fully usable: I've reconnected my satellite lines to serve the downstairs instead of upstairs --- the old lines remain for if/when we get digital up there -- and we've brought down the Wii and DVD players (the PS2 remains upstairs with the standard def. tube).

Vacation starts in a week and I'm going to enjoy relaxing down here every night.

*Aside: I've gotten some family who've not really believed that I did what I've said. A brother-in-law asked the missus, "Yeah, but did he do this?" to apparently half a dozen different aspects of the build. She was happy to correct him, repeatedly.

On the other end of the spectrum is the high praise from others who, probably honestly, didn't expect this much from me. I don't take insult from that -- I'm an overeducated computer geek, mostly -- but I do take it for what it is: exceeding expectations.

I'm also fearless when it comes to nearly any (future) home reno work. All it takes is research, patience, time, and a wee bit of money. 8)

Thanks for all the kind words throughout this project, everyone. It was fun to share.
 
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