Man Cave on a budget.

Martini1991

Martini1991

Martini1991

Caporegime
Joined
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Dormanstown.
Hi, I'm looking into buying my first house with my girlfriend, we've got all our budget set aside etc, and now it's thinking about the luxuries (Although this is all for next year, so things could change)

This would be in a new build.

Is it possible to get something like ; https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/premium-severn-w5-0m-x-d4-0m

to use as a man cave (Get it powered/networked) and mount a projector in as a sort of home theatre system room?

Obviously I'd need it fitted professionally etc, and I'd need an electrician to wire it etc.

Or is it a completely poor idea and just full of potential problems?
 
I've seen that thread before, and it's why I'm after doing it with a wooden structure, but obviously his was quite custom.

I don't know what type of steps/extras I'd have to take if I went with something like in my OP.
 
Lie has one from them.

I've been looking as well, but I think getting power down to the bottom of the garden might be quite a pain, have to pull up the patio and path etc.
 
Do you know how Lie finds it? (Or hoping he sees this thread)

As for the power, I'm not *too* concerned yet, I've got some scope to ask as it'll be a new build, so see if there's any chance of something being done (But that's next years questions)

Just, there is obviously limited space with new builds, and the garden isn't a bad size.
We were just going to shoot the projector on the living room wall, as it's just asking for it, but something outside could be better.
 
Yep, totally do-able. You'd want to insulate the walls, of course, or it'll be freezing in the winter and boiling in summer.

As long as your new-build garden is big enough. Fairly sure the garden in my first house (Victorian terrace) was about the size of that shed :p
 
cheesyboy said:
Yep, totally do-able. You'd want to insulate the walls, of course, or it'll be freezing in the winter and boiling in summer.

As long as your new-build garden is big enough. Fairly sure the garden in my first house (Victorian terrace) was about the size of that shed :p
Click to expand...

From what I can see on a lot of the places that sell these cabins, insulation are all options, so that's good.

When I went to the showroom today, I took a gander at the garden of fully constructed versions, and the garden size seems quite "sound", not that there will be much garden left after said man cave :p
 
My father has a very similar sized cabin that we built one summer in his garden. He spends most evenings in there watching a film on his projector. No problems at all.
 
My friend had the same problem. No where near as fancy as the one you linked. He bought a massive shed and then eves up putting about 6/7" of insulation around all walls, floor and roof. Then put up another internal wall which he put his TV, PS4 and sound system behind and has his computer in there. Has it all carpeted and properly electrically wired up with a beanbag sofa. I can take some photos of it next time I go around if it helps? He loves it but I think it's cost him a few thousand.
 
- What type of base will you be installing the cabin onto?
- The cabin must be <2.5m tall if within 2m of a boundary, <4.0m tall if outside this 2m.
- General guidance is that it's best to buy thicker wood than it is to insulate walls. People seem to recommend 44mm+ wall thickness. Fitting insulation to walls is meant to be a right ballache. Double-skinned walls with cavity insulation are probably the best way to go, but really expensive.
- Double glazing and 28mm walls is a waste of money (without supplementary insulation).
- You really must treat the wood. Use preserver and then a top coat. I used Sikkens Nova t e c h preserver inside and out, then Novatop as the top coat. This is not cheap. I spent about £300 on my 5.0 x 2.6m cabin.
- Insulate the floor and ceiling if you want to use it in the winter. This will cost £400-600 for all materials if DIYing. I used 50mm Celotex in the floor of mine, and 50mm Celotex + 50mm Earthwool in the ceiling with a false internal roof.
- You will need a damp proof membrane & damp course in the base/under the wall bearers to prevent damp (duh).
- Floor preservatives are not cheap at about £60/2.5l can. I used a wax/oil for mine. - - - Much better than using varnish IMO as it's far easier to maintain.

My 5.0 x 2.6 apex roof cabin with 600mm front overhang, double glazing, 28mm floor boards and 70mm walls cost:

Cabin - £4.5k
Concrete 5.2m x 3.0m x 150-200mm thick base with steel reinforcement - £1.2k
Insulation, damp proofing, false internal roof - £400
Wood treatment (external/internal walls) - £300
Floor treatment - £60
Electrical hookup - TBD
Guttering/water management - TBD, but expecting about £150

I did all of the work myself (apart from the base and electrics). Probably budget £700-900 for the cabin to be built for you, less wood treatments.

I've got a thread on here, but it's not complete yet (I need to get all the pictures from the build together and finish writing it up).
 
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what type of base I'd be using etc.
At the moment it's literally a case as I'm looking at possibilities of things to do with my new build.

When I was speaking to the sales adviser they mentioned their estates manager is meant to be pretty accommodating, I'm somewhat hoping that when it comes to going for a new build (There's a development that'll literally be slabs when I intend to buy) that I might be able to get it built into the garden through them. But I imagine the likelihood of this is very low.

I've got builders in the family (Well, God father who did our Kitchen/Bathroom) so I'd hope that I'd be able to get them to do the DIY (Although I'd pay nigh on their usual rate, just friends and family discount) and I'd consult them first before I did anything.

I did notice that on the cabins there's scope to get them with insulation/flooring in the ordering process which is handy.

To be honest, having measured the type of area that I'm currently in with my projector, I'd only really need 3M by 3M's.

And as for height, I was ideally going to keep it ~2.5M.

To be honest, if it started to get into the area of 4.5K for the cabin I'd probably have to put the idea to one side for at least a few years, we're only on modest wages, the only reason we'll have any solid money to do something like this is my Mam's paid my deposit and then some, and I'm able to save about 7,000 by the time I'd be moving in (Assuming I was literally moving in a year from now)

I'd want to try and keep things to an absolute maximum of about 3,500. But I think that might be a fools errand to be honest.

EDIT ; The 10x10 of this; http://www.tigersheds.com/product/the-corbetti-28mm-log-cabin/?option=759 seems perfect to be honest.
I intend to have my PC in the man cave, in the new build we want there's a tiny third bedroom which will be used for my PC. This space would literally be for a type of home theatre system, just my current HD141X blasted onto a 92" fixed screen connected to a blu-ray player and my current speaker set up of my Marantz PM6005 and Monster B2X's
 
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It'll probably be cheaper and far easier to go for 44mm than attempt to insulate 28mm walls. Also, as the structure will move with the seasons, you need to account for this in how you fit insulation to walls.
 
danza said:
It'll probably be cheaper and far easier to go for 44mm than attempt to insulate 28mm walls. Also, as the structure will move with the seasons, you need to account for this in how you fit insulation to walls.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, thicker walls might be the answer then.

Since you've obviously got experience with doing a project like this, do you think if I were to get the 10 by 10, that I'd be able to do everything for 3.5K max?

Cheers.
 
It'll cost as much as that cabin again to get it fully habitable. For comparison i am self converting a detached garage into a home cinema/study (properly, to building regulations) and i have already spent over £3000 on materials alone with no labour (all DIY). Insulation etc is expensive.

Looking at the spec of the example in the OP there is no way i would try and use that as a year round habitable room. The windows alone are nothing like the grade you will require for warm winter use for example.
 
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Can you not just look to buy a slightly larger house/extra room? Depends where you are in the country, but sounds like the building is expensive, and a larger house is easier to recoup resale costs

(assuming this isn't the only house you'll ever live in)
 
Martini1991 said:
Do you know how Lie finds it? (Or hoping he sees this thread)

As for the power, I'm not *too* concerned yet, I've got some scope to ask as it'll be a new build, so see if there's any chance of something being done (But that's next years questions)

Just, there is obviously limited space with new builds, and the garden isn't a bad size.
We were just going to shoot the projector on the living room wall, as it's just asking for it, but something outside could be better.
Click to expand...

It's great, I think there is a lot of similarities between how the log cabins are constructed. It's important to get the base very flat and solid, otherwise like mine it will move a lot more during the hot weather.

You can get cheaper log cabins, but I've seen the first hand it's not worth it. A relative bought pretty much the exact same design from a cheaper supplier and it shows.

I use it for a gym and it's warm in there right now, I have all the windows open and a fan during summer. During winter I have an electric heater on which takes the edge off things. I'm not sure I'd like to sit out there in winter, it's only because I'm exercising that's ok.

I find that during winter anything metal gets condensation, so for electrical items I'm not sure if it would be suitable. It's more the fact that these log cabins are in many ways no different to a shed. Sure they have thicker walls and windows, but they aren't air tight and will naturally get moist.

I don't think there is much difference in terms of quality between Dunster House and Tiger Sheds. I've got a shed coming next week from Tiger sheds to sit along side my log cabin.

You would ideally want something like this - https://dunsterhouse.co.uk/man-cave-cinema
 
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The Craig said:
Can you not just look to buy a slightly larger house/extra room? Depends where you are in the country, but sounds like the building is expensive, and a larger house is easier to recoup resale costs

(assuming this isn't the only house you'll ever live in)
Click to expand...

Well, I'd be buying first time so ideally I'm after a new build.
To be honest, given how nice I found it, I could happily live there indefinitely.

At 112k I thought it was reasonably priced, I'd only need 84k mortgage because of help to buy.

If I was reasonably looking at an old build, I don't think I'd have enough money to do it as I so wish

I'll have about 8000 after deposit and our furniture.

That'd be nil in an old build.
 
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