Joe's Retreat

[dakshdar]

I don't know if I posted this here, I think I did in the Discord.

Moved into a new (to us) house in mid July and been getting the back part of the garage set-up and coordinated into a nice retreat space/man cave.

The bar was actually inside the house we bought but we didn't want it taking up all the space it had in the living room so pulled it out and installed it out in the garage. There's a mini-fridge (dorm sized) and small cabinet on the floor level as well behind the bar.

LED hanging rope lights are tied together to one circuit with a dimmer located behind the bar.

TV came from my new next door neighbor - late 2000s 1080p Sony Bravia - thought about spending money to buy a 4k but don't really see the need or want to spend that in terms of the budget at this point. TV is tied into mid-2000s Marantz SR-7001 receiver with a 3.1 Polk Audio speaker system going. I have some random old Sony surround speakers (4) so I may wire them into the rafters as rear and side surround for the viewing space to try out a 7.1 system just for fun.

There's a PS4, XBox 360, and SNES Mini that you can't really see in the picture that are tied into the media area along with FireTV and Roku stick (stupid Spectrum cable won't stream on FireTV and Roku can't do anything but 2 channel stereo so need both).

Toward the left side you can see some of the Ikea Kallax I have set-up for board games (there's 5 Kallax total so you're just seeing a little bit.

Did the partial shiplap wall myself to just give it some variation in the wall area - was a fun little project.

Still in progress:

Just got an area rug down (big one) for most of the back area just shy of the bar over last weekend. Next up is a small 2 person couch (maybe double recliner) and the old kitchen table for gaming will be brought in as well (likely tomorrow).

I also set-up 8 4ft LED work lights in the rafters that are all on smart plugs that I can control through the Alexa in the garage.

[Cnasty]

Nicely done.

That outlet is giving me all kinds of OCD/code violations for fire vibes near all that wood.

[nick]

guy works for nasa and has a fan in the window.

and take that rangers shit down.

[dakshdar]

guy works for nasa and has a fan in the window.

and take that rangers shit down.

The garage has some challenges in terms of ventilation and moving air around. It's also quite large (almost 40 ft x 20 ft). There's no roof vents so I'm just dealing with the main garage door and then two small windows - of which you see one. I need to add a roof ventilation option but haven't had time for that.

The fan is necessary even if it doesn't look pretty.

[dakshdar]

Nicely done.

That outlet is giving me all kinds of OCD/code violations for fire vibes near all that wood.

I'm quite risk adverse and I don't think there's anything to worry for here. There are no other plugs on the back wall or on the wall to the left (at all). That set of outlets runs the mini fridge, but otherwise it's running the fan (which is on only when I need it) the LED lights (very low draw), and the entertainment center (which isn't on for long periods). It's a good outlet as well. There's also really just minimal wood there - the outlet is in a standard wall/dry wall set-up. The shiplap is only 3/8" thick there around it.

[Cnasty]

I feel better knowing your line of work and expertise.

Thank you for calming me.

[ReignOnU]

Ventilation/temp is one of the reasons I took down my golf simulator setup in my garage. (other big reason was I started tapping my driver on the ceiling on my follow through)

I considered a mini-split, but since the other 2 bays in the garage were functional and open (not walled off from the 3rd bay where the sim was), I decided not to. I realized that 1 time opening the main double door and my wife pulling her hot car in ramped the internal temp by more than 15 degrees within minutes. A single car enclosed area should be solved with a $1,500 AC/heat pump combo.

[dakshdar]

Ventilation/temp is one of the reasons I took down my golf simulator setup in my garage. (other big reason was I started tapping my driver on the ceiling on my follow through)

I considered a mini-split, but since the other 2 bays in the garage were functional and open (not walled off from the 3rd bay where the sim was), I decided not to. I realized that 1 time opening the main double door and my wife pulling her hot car in ramped the internal temp by more than 15 degrees within minutes. A single car enclosed area should be solved with a $1,500 AC/heat pump combo.

Luckily, Southern California doesn't suffer from too much temp fluctuation for most of the year. Right now it is a little warm late in the day - but we're having daily highs near 80. That only lasts for bout 4-5 weeks each summer and it usually isn't consecutive.

The rest of the year, temps are between 65-72 ish. So 90+% of the year it's a nice normal temp, low humidity, and comfortable.

We're also not using the rest of the garage for a car (the rest will be storing the kids bikes as well as exercise equipment - we have a weight machine with multiple stations/weight stack, Bowflex spin bike, and elliptical).

[ReignOnU]

That weather is amazing! I can't stand Ohio weather!

[DRiccio21]

congats on the new spot.

had to squint to see the mets poster... but its there, well done

[wdoupis]

Really cool Joe. Had no idea you were a New York sports fan.

[dakshdar]

Really cool Joe. Had no idea you were a New York sports fan.

Born and raised in Northern New Jersey.

[dakshdar]

Got the table, rug, and double recliner couch setup over the long weekend. Plus book collection and bourbon/scotch/whiskey loaded into the bar.

Now just need the heat wave to pass and will be all ready for enjoying the space (probably by this weekend).

[The_Niddler]

You need a little air conditioner and vent it out the window.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electron ... /314714112


I like it though man, definitely a cool space.

[dakshdar]

You need a little air conditioner and vent it out the window.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electron ... /314714112


I like it though man, definitely a cool space.

We actually had a few like this and have given them away - house has central air. I don't actually think the AC would do much in the garage space. It's almost 800 sq ft and has that space open to the rafters so the volume of air you'd be looking to cool is very significant. We even had one that was rated up to ~600 sq ft and I can say they provide a little relief but aren't great (it was mostly useful when we needed it indoors at our old house to control the humidity and provide some temperature mitigation, though not all that much).

And, to be fair, there's probably 15-20 days a year where it is hot enough that you'd even try to use it. By late September it will be perfect to just hang out in there with the window fan/existing ventilation and it will stay that way until next August at least.

[plasma1896]

LOOKS GREAT ! i think a 85" screen mounted in that corner where tv is now would give it that wow factor when walking into Joes Bar

[Weasel]

Of course Joe has a bar of....books

[ajalves]

Of course Joe has a bar of....books

Alan, take it easy on Joe man....sheesh

[Weasel]

Ha I wanted to call him a nerd, but I clearly have quite the glass house over here

[dakshdar]

I haven't had the space to put out any books for several years and since I basically drink bourbon/scotch/whiskey or beer (which is in the mini fridge behind the bar) I had a lot of space available.