Not so much a man-cave but a bike cave. Expanding the 1930's garage to make it suitable for bike work, wood working, powder coating and anything else I want to do.
It started out like this in when I bought the house in 1987. You see the garage on the right side in this view looking southwest. I couldn't locate any old photos except these few when we had unusual snow in Seattle. Guess I only felt the need to take a photo when we had snow (which is rare) - none during the normal weather.


Then a greenhouse was added around 2000, behind the garage. This is looking south from the north corner of the garage. You see the large yard and patio area just perfect for washing bikes - if only I could get one back there. But that will get solved - 11 years later.


There was an old cement frame that I was told used to be the out houses in 1900. As a foundation, framed and poured a new slab over it in 2006



And so it sat.......


Until demolition started in April 2011


Back of garage gone and ready for the expansion which was planned in 2006




basic framing is done



Not everything went as planned....
Roofing material delivered and blocked Suzi and Junior in the carport with no way to get out. Fortunately Trey was out so I had a bike to ride until the material got moved


Old garage roof was rotten and had to be completely replaced

Roofing blew off one windy night

South side of garage needed major repairs, too.


Wrong doors delivered. Like full glass doors would survive? This is a BIKE cave, not a MAN cave. No laz-y-boy or big screen TV in this garage so order the right doors, please?


Taking shape with plenty of power - including two 220v outlets for powder coating oven and welder


Ceiling has LED night lights so I can walk into the garage at night to get something and not have to fuss with turning on all the lights.
However, that really doesn't use any power. All lights are LED - including the 4' fixtures. Carport also had eight 4' tubes installed and it is so bright you can work all night long. LED tubes are brighter than a 40 watt tube and use only 17 watts with no ballasts required. No flickering or buzzing when cold. These LEDs come right on no matter how cold it is.


Double doors in the back are now installed. A ramp will be made from Ipe wood so bikes can be rolled through the garage to the patio for washing and posing. Without the doors, there is no way to get a bike into the back yard.


Floor will be leveled as the added slab was not poured to the same level as the garage floor.


All is done under the supervision of Pixie and Stitch.


More to follow next week.......

They look like they are taking a break from mouse hunting.

Cool! Thanks for sharing! 

Great project! 

cute cats

Maybe one day Flick can visit!
Looks cool

Mary

Very nice project.  I would say bikes are an essential ingredient to any man cave, but I get your point.  It's a workshop, not just someplace to hang out in peace.  That's what rare Seattle snow looks like?  Here in Buffalo we call that a dusting!  And why would a guy in Seattle want a greenhouse?  Uh, never mind! 

Quote from: bill14224 on June 08, 2011, 01:34:14 PM
Very nice project.  I would say bikes are an essential ingredient to any man cave, but I get your point.  It's a workshop, not just someplace to hang out in peace.  That's what rare Seattle snow looks like?  Here in Buffalo we call that a dusting!  And why would a guy in Seattle want a greenhouse?  Uh, never mind! 

that would be kinda obvious Eh?

very nice! that's gonna be a sweet hide-out lol

Quote from: reload on June 10, 2011, 08:44:09 AM
very nice! that's gonna be a sweet hide-out lol

plus it has a back door so if hte wife is on the rampage, which i hear can be common. youve got a shot at escaping    have an early warning alarm set up so it sounds liek the star wars darth vader tune when she approaches

That is awesome! Cant wait till I can afford my own house.

Slow progress - but there is some.
Main problem is finding rot in lots of the old stuff. Over budget so I'll have to sell off my hoard of parts to pay for it.

Rot in corner of house from years of leaking roof - ugh!



But there is progress!

Found an old "before" picture form comparison


Construction done on garage (house roof still in the works) and painting nearly done



Bikes still without a real "home" with all the materials in the carport


So they know I care, Junior did get his belly pan swapped with a red one

Progress.
Walls done, ready to start putting in new shelving.


all old stuff piles up - will go on new shelves but for now it looks like an episode of "Extreme Hoarders"


New shelving and wall units going in...

Wow this is the stuff of dreams for me.  Someday I hope to have a spot on the planet like this! 

More progress.

Lots of old lumber and crap to clean out. Photo taken at night without flash. It shows how bright LED lights can be. 


Out it went - to the carport - until I can sort out what is good. 25 years of remodeling and lots of lumber gets left over "because someday I might need that scrap for something" 


Carport from other end. 4 LED fixtures: so bright I was out at 1am and didn't realize it was the middle of the night.
Those square thingies on the upper right: LED night lights. Motion sensing. Even a cat sets them off at night. In the bike cave, too, so I can go in to get something and not have to flip on all the lights.
Even though the garage and carport each has a bazillion lumens of light, they uses a few watts of electricity because they're all LED lights. So cost of turning on all the lights is not the issue: its the convenience of some lights coming on when I walk in to grab a tool at night. Anyway, those night lights are good for security and so I don't blind myself at night when I need to grab something from the carport or garage.
Also nice at night when I get on the bike at night: they sense me and are equal to a 30 watt light so enough to see the bike to get on it and get going. ( I use them in the house, too. Handy in the basement, attic and closets.)
For those interested:
     4' tube lights: http://www.ledlight.com/led-tube-lighting.aspx
     motion sensing lights: http://www.ledlight.com/motion-and-battery-backup-led-lighting.aspx
     And if you're tired of getting burnt on those tiny halogen desk lamps: http://www.ledlight.com/g4-ultra-bright-9-smt-led-light-12-volt-ac-dc.aspx
(Distortion due to wide angle lens - bike is not twisted up.)


Old 1940's bowling alley lockers destined for the dump. You could take the 3 and make 2 with good doors and one open, but I can't find anyone that wants them.


Wall cleaned off, ready to put up new stuff this weekend. The back wall is almost finished.

Made some progress today. One side wall and back wall nearly finished. (Cabinet doors go on when all done). Now its moving things onto these cabinets and off of the floor. Then doing the other side of the garage then epoxy the floor.



The trash piles up outside


I was told that I should sell my old disco albums. Some like Pink Floyd Off the Wall (unopened) could be worth some bucks. Got Donna Summer, Bette Midler, Pointer Sisters, Gloria Gaynor, Abba, ELO, etc. Some unopened. All excellent condition except for some of the jackets. (I worked part time running lights in a disco in the late 70's, early 80's)

Thats looking SWEET!

Looking AMAZING!  How big is it again?  It looks gi-normous in there!   

Hey what rear end do you have on that red one? Looks awesome, I would love to get something like that for mine...

Bike cave is 17' wide and 23' deep. While it is supposed to be a 2 car garage, you can't get 2 cars in it because of how it is situated at the alley. You can't turn enough to drive straight into the garage, so only 2 tiny laughable Smart Cars or Metropolitans would be able to drive in. It will be a bike cave, wood working shop and general workshop. The car will get the car port next to it.

The red rear is a Gimbel seat. You can search the Wall of Fame for photos by me and search for other postings which have more photos of Junior.
PS: The Gimbel seats come un-painted. There are 2 different ones I have which you'll see as you search the photos. You can search the Wall of Fame by user ID.

Quote from: adidasguy on July 25, 2011, 11:38:59 AM
Bike cave is 17' wide and 23' deep. While it is supposed to be a 2 car garage, you can't get 2 cars in it because of how it is situated at the alley. You can't turn enough to drive straight into the garage, so only 2 tiny laughable Smart Cars or Metropolitans would be able to drive in. It will be a bike cave, wood working shop and general workshop. The car will get the car port next to it.

The red rear is a Gimbel seat. You can search the Wall of Fame for photos by me and search for other postings which have more photos of Junior.
PS: The Gimbel seats come un-painted. There are 2 different ones I have which you'll see as you search the photos. You can search the Wall of Fame by user ID.

Do you know where I might be able source one from?