Who doesn't need his own space? What better place to make into your very own man cave than a garage?
I'll show you how to turn what is probably already your own territory into a place where you can hide or go for some peace and quiet. A room that will help you decompress and just chill. This particular garage-turned-man cave is one that was done from start to finish.
This post assumes you know how to do basic construction and is based on the YouTube video by Sean Rice.
Laying a Subfloor
Your first step after clearing out the garage space that you're going to turn into your man cave, is to lay the sub floor.
Frame the Walls
Next, you'll need be sure that you frame the walls, so that you can add insulation. This will help with weather-related hot and cold.
In addition, it will help with sound-proofing your man cave, depending on what you'll be having in the "cave". If you have music or loud stereo, having walls added inside will help.
Insulate the Walls
Again, adding insulation is key to making your room warm in the winter and cool in the hotter months. In addition to keeping a nice temperature, insulation will help with sound-proofing the room.
Guys like to have loud music, drum sets, blasting stereo surround sound for movie-watching. Insulation will prevent you from having neighbor complaints.
Add Electric To Your Man Cave
Clearly, if your garage doesn't have electricity run to code, you're going to want to be sure your run enough electric to have outlets at least on every wall. You'll also want to be sure you run enough to have sufficient lighting for whatever it is you're going to need lighting for. Be sure to have enough outlets so that you don't regret it later.
It's better to have too many than not enough, especially since you're sort of building this from the ground up. It's easy to add it now, a pain to do it after everything's done.
Adding Drywall
So, you have the floor, the walls, the insulation and the electric, so now it's time to start really making this look the man cave you've always wanted. Time to add drywall to the walls. Drywall comes in 4x8 pieces, so measure the room and get what you'll need. Remember to measure the ceiling.
Personally, getting someone to help is ideal, as it's pretty difficult to hold up drywall alone and screw it to the ceiling joists.
Mudding the Drywall
After all the drywall is put up, you'll need to mud all of it. Again, this is something that can be done alone, but if you've never done it before, it would be a good idea to get someone to help you - someone who has done this before.
If you don't know what you're doing, hiring someone to do this part would TOTALLY be worth the money. Someone who is good at mudding drywall will make this room look outstanding.
You have to sand and mud, sand and mud. Be sure you know what you're doing.
Painting Your Man Cave
First, you will need to get primer- white primer. After the drywall mud is completely dry, you are ready to prime and paint the walls. I'm sure by now you have picked out the man cave wall color. Priming helps you have to paint fewer coats on the walls. The drywall tends to suck up the paint. Adding primer first will save you time and money.
Paint the walls after the primer dries completely. You'll probably need two coats of paint to fully cover the walls well, since these are virgin walls. If you are smart and purchase paint that has primer already in it, you may get away with two coats of paint and no primer at all.
Ask your local paint department at the hardware store for tips.
See below for the full video showing Sean turn his garage into a man cave:
Adding Man Cave Necessities
Feel free to add anything your heart desires. I am going to put some great man cave ideas below for you to check out and be inspired.
Pallet Dart Board
Check out this cool idea for a dart board in your man cave. Posted by Stephen Edgar.
Repurpose those beer bottles
Check out how to make this cool clock and add it to your man cave!
Man Cave Sign
Check out this great sign on Etsy. How true!
Cabinet Turned Beverage Bar
Check out what Karen did to her home cabinet. She took a simple, black cabinet and made it into a beverage bar for her guests. There's no reason this won't work for your man cave.
These are just a few creative DIY ideas for you to enhance the look of your garage-turned-mancave. Once you add that personal touch, you're cave is sure to be a place where you and your friends can spend quality time doing whatever man-cave things men do.
Click here for even more DIY man cave ideas.
