# My Mancave/Workshop refurb



## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

A couple of months ago I was in the lucky position of buying a house with my OH of 6 years.
So we set some ground rules for what we wanted.

The OH wanted a dining room, I wanted a garage or space for a garage.

After viewing 6 houses we decided on one. Which came with not only a garage but a 1.2 x 5m space between our house and the garage next door, which one of the previous owners had put an end and roof on this space. Giving me a large "shed".

As the garage is in a block and around 40m away from my house it is just storage for my car or the occasional detail.

The garage (It's now completely empty and has had the floor painted):


So onto my workshop:

The overall space:





After a couple of months my dad came to visit me and we began working on the mancave.

I cleaned it out:



Then we made a door frame and fixed it up:





Then made a door and hung it:



The door is 12mm exterior ply with CLS as the frame and has a Yale lock and 2 Chubb locks (I've got a bike and Snap On toolbox ready to go in)



And once again cleaned the inside:



And that's it so far.

I've got insulation and hardboard coming this weekend to board the inside of the roof and end walls. Then it's being painted and installing electricity etc.


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## Rayner (Aug 16, 2012)

Looks good mate. One little thing though, are you planning on painting that ply? I only ask as even exterior ply will eventually de-laminate with temp changes etc. It'll last a while though :thumb: 

Look forward to seeing it all done


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Rayner said:


> Looks good mate. One little thing though, are you planning on painting that ply? I only ask as even exterior ply will eventually de-laminate with temp changes etc. It'll last a while though :thumb:
> 
> Look forward to seeing it all done


Yeah it's had 3 coats of woodstain preservative so it should be okay.


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## James Bagguley (Jul 13, 2013)

Cosy, but i like it.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Made some more progress this weekend 
Made a new end wall as the old timber was rotten so I tipped loads of wood preservative onto it before finishing.
Also insulated the end wall and roof.

































And then covered it all in hardboard.
Next I need to fill all the gaps and paint it


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## Craig73 (Apr 4, 2013)

Any update on this?

Would be interesting to see how you utilised the space.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Been a while but here's a small update 
Haven't really done much except full it with crap.

I have put up some shelves for paints etc and made a shelf/rack for the lawnmower.





































Also been painting the garage. Need another coat though.


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## Alfa male (Jun 16, 2009)

Looks good. Is it a bit awkward to get that lawnmower in and out though??


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Alfa male said:


> Looks good. Is it a bit awkward to get that lawnmower in and out though??


It's not too bad actually.
It only weighs a few kg and just slides in and out from the side.


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## jason_price85 (May 16, 2010)

Looks good idea.Why not grind through the side of the garage and put a door from the garage into the new area you have made?


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

jason_price85 said:


> Looks good idea.Why not grind through the side of the garage and put a door from the garage into the new area you have made?


Because that garage isn't mine. Mine is much further down in the block unfortunately

If it was I would take the wall down completely.


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## eibbor (Sep 8, 2015)

I read your initial post wrong I thought you had 2 garages plus the space! Can't see it being used for anything apart from storage but well done making it secure & insulated!


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

eibbor said:


> I read your initial post wrong I thought you had 2 garages plus the space! Can't see it being used for anything apart from storage but well done making it secure & insulated!


I wanted the garage next to it but never got anything sorted.

The plan is to build a small workbench in there after Xmas as I have a nice big toolchest waiting to go in


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Update on the garage.
I finished painting it white earlier in summer and have been trying to sort some lighting out.

I bought 5m is Led strips off eBay for £6 wand planned on running them off a car battery with a solar panel to keep it charged.

So today I fitted it all (bar the solar charger as it's not been bought yet)




























They aren't the world's brightest but I'm actually quite impressed. Including the wire it's cost me about £20 to light the garage.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

It's been a couple of years now since I did anything with this. I've been spending my time cycling rather than doing DIY or washing cars.

A few weeks ago we had the awesome news that my wife is pregnant, so we have a little one on the way this winter.

Last year I had been using a spare room for my turbo trainer room (mainly with Zwift) and the news of a new arrival meant I was losing that room, so I decided I'd convert this into my dedicated "pain cave" and some more storage for my stuff that now has no space in the house.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Started off by levelling the floor. It needed about 50mm on one edge, so this took a few pours:




























I had planned on fixing plywood to the wall to get rid of the pebble dash, but couldn't get battens to fix so I gave plastering a go instead.

First skim:









Finishing Skim:









I didn't do a great job but once it was painted it looks okay.









I also repainted the floor:


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Then I needed some storage and a TV cabinet, so came up with my own design and measurements and got to work:


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Usually for trainer rooms, people use the interlocking rubber floor mats, so a quick trip to B&Q meant that I could do the same. So I got those laid down:










Then mounted the two fans on the wall and ceiling:










Finally moved all my training kit in.
Current set up is a HP Elitedesk G1, 32" 1080p TV, Logitech 2.1 speakers and a Tacx Neo smart trainer.


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## Lewis. (Feb 26, 2008)

Looks great, what a transformation! It's amazing the difference some paint and plaster can make, good work.


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## srhutch (Aug 2, 2009)

Dannbodge said:


> Because that garage isn't mine. Mine is much further down in the block unfortunately
> 
> If it was I would take the wall down completely.


Do you know who's garage it is?

Would they swap?

You'd need to do it through a solicitor, but might be worth looking into.


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

srhutch said:


> Do you know who's garage it is?
> 
> Would they swap?
> 
> You'd need to do it through a solicitor, but might be worth looking into.


Yeah I know who's it is.
When we moved in and I was more into my cars I really wanted to swap but now I'm not too fussed.

The owners did sell the house around 18 months ago and I got in contact with the estate agents to pass on a message to the new ones, but I never heard anything.


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## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

Lovely paincave you did there. Surprising amount of room for such a small surface!


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## streaky (Dec 2, 2006)

You've really transformed what you had there. Enjoy your suffering :thumb:


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Cheers guys.

I've started to get out and use it now, still a bit hot in there (24-26deg C for a "race" the other night).

Also used it last week to change the bars and cables on one of the bikes. The Neo makes quite a nice workstand too.


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Dannbodge said:


> Usually for trainer rooms, people use the interlocking rubber floor mats, so a quick trip to B&Q meant that I could do the same. So I got those laid down:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Love it mate and well done. I like Zwift too enjoy :thumb:


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## Alan L (Feb 23, 2016)

That is an outstanding use of space! Once my garage if fully finished I shall also be using it as a training room. What are the fans?


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Great bit of work that. Maybe you could wall mount the monitor/tv to give you the top of the unit back, or put a shelf half way up the wall for it?


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Alan L said:


> That is an outstanding use of space! Once my garage if fully finished I shall also be using it as a training room. What are the fans?


They are Honeywell Turbos HT900



garage_dweller said:


> Great bit of work that. Maybe you could wall mount the monitor/tv to give you the top of the unit back, or put a shelf half way up the wall for it?


The back wall is only fibreboard so isn't very strong, it's also got the PC and sub for the speakers behind it.

For the position that you're in on the bike, you want the monitor to be in-front of you as if your outside, which is why it's like that.


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