Days 6-22 Building my gameroom

[TOK]

I'm surprised your home owner's association let you put a building like that up. I can't even put in a tool shed if it's too tall and goes over the fence.
What a building like that cost if you don't mind me asking...

Thats why you never move anywhere that has one. Nothing worse than a bunch of busy-body neighbors policing stuff that doesn't matter.

Sorry for the rant.

The building is excellent. I'd like to just have something that size for a garage/gameroom. Nice work!

 

[Roadrunner000]

Now that is how you do it....and I agree use your garage and basement if you have one to use for other things...that is what I'm going to do but mine is going to be bigger since I have a large collection...

I can see the concrete work being expensive...i've had some quotes and it ain't cheap...

 

[cnlmoore]

Concrete is crazy expensive, I agree. Vinyl siding is easy to do if you have someone to help you. I sided my 24x34 garage and did the eaves with a little help. Cost about $800 in materials, gutters not included. Took us two days to knock it out and I had never worked with it before. I have a mitre/chop saw with a 10" blade. Install the blade backwards to get nice clean cuts in the vinyl with no chipping. Wear head gear though as it screams when you cut it, awful, horrid and really ear splitting.

If you buy from menards or other DIY store, they should have a guide on how to install it from the manufacturer. It really is easy to do and if you can do that framing work you'll have no trouble.

 

[Muerto]

Wow! great! another Gameroom build!
I don´t know how the climate in missisippi is, but the reason im asking is that it seems like there´s only room for 4" of insulating in the walls - is that enough??, or am i mistaking?

 

[timiskander]

Thats an awesome gameroom you're building there man...
I wish I had the space and $$ for something like that.

thanks for sharing, I love following these kinds of threads

cheers
/Tim

 

[Shavenyak]

Wow! great! another Gameroom build!
I don´t know how the climate in missisippi is, but the reason im asking is that it seems like there´s only room for 4" of insulating in the walls - is that enough??, or am i mistaking?

It was built with standard 2x4s, 16" on center. As I understand it, that's the norm. The father in law was the brains of the operation. He has a Masters in Engineering. I'll just use the standard insulation. I forget what the R rating is but I got what is recommended for this area of the country. I don't forsee a problem in that regard though.

 

[timiskander]

I'd guess keeping the room cool is going to be more effort than trying to keep it warm (esp. in MS). Of course, insulation helps there too and 2x6 studs _would_ let you get more insulation in there, but an attic fan (gable vent fan) would probably go a long way.

cheers
/Tim

p.s. I really don't know jack about HVAC, etc ... just spouting off

 

[Robomayhem]

That should be a SWEET gameroom! Thanx for the pics too, I am a Union carpenter and highly enjoy doing wood framing jobs, which is rather rare in commercial work.

Hanging drywall isn't too bad, but depending on the job you do hanging it will determine the difficulty of finishing it. Less seams is preferred, but more important is do whatever you can to avoid butt-joints. This generally means standing the proper length sheets up verticle for the walls, hopefully the framing is on 16" centers. It looks like you intend to drywall the ceiling too, use 12' sheets for this if you can. There will still be butt-joints, but a lot less than if you use 8' sheets. Also, make sure the screws/nails are countersunk up to about an 1/8 of an inch. Not so much to break the paper, but enough that there won't be a hump to mud over.

For ripping sheets lengthwise, hold the tape measure in one hand, with the sheet upright on it's side. Have your knife in the other hand. Pull the tape out to the measurement you want/ want to cut off. In this example the number is 11"

Then put the blade of your knife on the end of the tape and put against the sheet (the example is plywood) while still holding the measurement and the body of the tape with the other hand.

Hold this while you pull the tape and knife at the same time all the way across the sheet.

It takes a little practice to get a nice straight line, don't try to go too deep the first pass, and once you do, it'll save a ton of time as opposed to snapping a line. Use a 4' T-square to do the full cross-cuts.

I am remodeling a client's basement right now working for myself.

 

[Shavenyak]

I'd guess keeping the room cool is going to be more effort than trying to keep it warm (esp. in MS). Of course, insulation helps there too and 2x6 studs _would_ let you get more insulation in there, but an attic fan (gable vent fan) would probably go a long way.

cheers
/Tim

p.s. I really don't know jack about HVAC, etc ... just spouting off

I thought about it but I didn't want to give up the floor space. Every bit helps, you know?

 

[Shavenyak]

Less seams is preferred, but more important is do whatever you can to avoid butt-joints. This generally means standing the proper length sheets up verticle for the walls,

Thanks dude!

It is 16" center with standard 8' walls. Let me make sure I have this right.

The building is 40 X 24. On the 24' side I was thinking of using 4 4x12 pieces of sheetrock. This would be two on the bottom and two on the top. That would be two seams. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by standing up vertically.

 

[Steverd]

Cost is around $40,000. My father-in-law and I did the framing and I'm going to do the sheetrock & vinyl siding to save money. The concrete work alone was more than $7000. Here's the thread on the first 5 days.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=110772

I was going to post: That's alot of concrete!!!
We spent around $25,000 for a 720sq ft shop a few year ago.
We spent over 5K for the heating and cooling.
Spent 2.5k for electric, 1K for insulation and 1K for drywall

PLUS had to listen to an old neighbor complain about it blocking her view and wanted us to tear it down.
Of course we had all of the permits and inspections, so not sure there was much she could do about it.

Steve

 

[jsquared]

It took some convincing but I got it approved. Let's just say there are stronger HOAs out there. We closed on the house back in June and I got permission before the close. It was a condition of the sale.

Cost is around $40,000. My father-in-law and I did the framing and I'm going to do the sheetrock & vinyl siding to save money. The concrete work alone was more than $7000. Here's the thread on the first 5 days.

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=110772

$40K??? OMG that sounds high. What the Sq. Ft??

 

[IvanTT]

Ceiling insulation is way more important then the walls so make sure your attic gets stuffed good and full and a gable fan is a good idea too. You'll loose way more cooling through the windows and doors than the walls ans roof though. Keeping a room like that cool here in AZ would cost about $200-300 a month to keep it a comfortable temp for me. You're making me jelious and very anxious to get started on mine. Looks great LMK when you want to do some signage for the inside I'll hook you up!!!

 

[simpsons99]

Days 6-22 Building my gameroom

wow thats amazing your able too Build this with the way things are these days.

I can'nt wait too see it finshed!! Hopefully a Video too watch i really enjoy those!

 

[nomore25s]

Good update - keep them coming!

I've had the vertical vs. horizontal drywall discussion many times. I can't find anyone to tell me why "they" hang drywall horizontally (as mentioned above, it creates butt joints since drywall generally comes tapered on the horizontal sides, but not on the ends).

You mentioned "painting". I'm going to make sure that primer is first before paint. Sorry if thats obvious - to some its not.

 

[mike200mph]

Nice work, It's gonna be a killer space for your gameroom.Hell you might forget what your house looks like after that baby is and up and running.keep posting those pics

 

[Robomayhem]

Thanks dude!

It is 16" center with standard 8' walls. Let me make sure I have this right.

The building is 40 X 24. On the 24' side I was thinking of using 4 4x12 pieces of sheetrock. This would be two on the bottom and two on the top. That would be two seams. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by standing up vertically.

ok, on the 24' wall that is 8' high, you would be better off using 6 8' sheets standing up than using 4 12' sheets laying down. The former way you will have no butt joints and 5 regular joints. The latter way you would have one 8' long butt joint in the center of the wall, along with a regular joint, 4' high, the entire way down the wall horizontally.

IMO, standing the sheets up is the way to go, even on the 40' wall.

 

[MundoMan4]

If anyone has any advice on installing sheetrock and vinyl siding, I'm open for suggestions & ideas. Today I'm installing insulation.

I'll give you my ideas / pointers later today, but looks like you were starting insulation a few days ago. so give a little on that.....
For insulation its pretty simple (assume you are using fiberglass) use R13 3 1/2" insulation in the 2x4 walls. Don't compress it too much or it will decrease the value. BUT make sure there are no little gaps. A small 1/4 gap will let tons of air come through and pretty much make the insulation worthless in that stud cavity. Take little scraps and make sure everything is filled loosely. Many/most places recommend a vapor barrier on, in the north its towards the inside(warm side) since you are more south, I'm not sure of the weather. Where it is always hot and air conditioning is always used I would think you reverse it so the vapor barrier is on the outside (warm side) you wouldn't want it on the cold side or you would get condensation building up. Check what is standard in you area.

For the ceiling, thats the most important, you will lose most heat going up, and it will get very hot above when you are trying to keep the room cool. Use a much thicker insulation, and make sure all gaps are filled. some places will do a two layer job. They go across the joists with one layer and then between the rafters with another layer. That way you have less gaps and don't have voids between the insulation where the rafters are. What I do on my houses is blow in a thin layer of blow in insulation on top of the fiberglass to be sure everything is filled and there is no place for air to get through. Its pretty cheap and the home centers rent the machine or include it free if you buy enough bags. (and they don't seem to realize if you return unused bags a few days later)

Oh very important, don't block the air flow from the vents, make sure air can flow along the roof sheething the whole way up, they sell plastic spacers that you put against the roof so your insulation stays an inch or so away. Its where the ceiling-walls-roof meet where your ceiling insulation is too thick and will touch the roof sheathing. Hope thats understandable from my explanation.

 

[Shavenyak]

$40K??? OMG that sounds high. What the Sq. Ft??

It's 40X24=960 sq. ft.

It does sound high but here's what you have to consider:

Concrete--$7000
Electrical--$6300 (including ground outlets)
HVAC-----$4300
Materials & Tools--$3500
Trusses---$1700
Roofing work (shingles install)--$2000
Plumbing---$4000
Siding---$2000 (installing myself) Would be $6500
Sheetrock--$1000? (installing myself but will pay someone to tape & mud)
Carpet---$1800
Windows---$1000
Doors---$750

That's $35000 and I'm thinking I'm forgetting something(s). That's still roughly $40 a square feet. It's cheap though, when considering how much of the labor I'm doing myself. My parents in law and I did all the framing. I really didn't want to do the plumbing but I didn't want there to be a deterrent to being able to sell one day. All I had them do there, was bring in the sewer & water lines. If someone wants to install a bathroom in the workshop, they wouldn't have to worry about that part. They would just have to install a water heater and fixtures.

 

[Shavenyak]

I'll give you my ideas / pointers later today, but looks like you were starting insulation a few days ago. so give a little on that.....
For insulation its pretty simple (assume you are using fiberglass) use R13 3 1/2" insulation in the 2x4 walls. Don't compress it too much or it will decrease the value. BUT make sure there are no little gaps. A small 1/4 gap will let tons of air come through and pretty much make the insulation worthless in that stud cavity. Take little scraps and make sure everything is filled loosely. Many/most places recommend a vapor barrier on, in the north its towards the inside(warm side) since you are more south, I'm not sure of the weather. Where it is always hot and air conditioning is always used I would think you reverse it so the vapor barrier is on the outside (warm side) you wouldn't want it on the cold side or you would get condensation building up. Check what is standard in you area.

For the ceiling, thats the most important, you will lose most heat going up, and it will get very hot above when you are trying to keep the room cool. Use a much thicker insulation, and make sure all gaps are filled. some places will do a two layer job. They go across the joists with one layer and then between the rafters with another layer. That way you have less gaps and don't have voids between the insulation where the rafters are. What I do on my houses is blow in a thin layer of blow in insulation on top of the fiberglass to be sure everything is filled and there is no place for air to get through. Its pretty cheap and the home centers rent the machine or include it free if you buy enough bags. (and they don't seem to realize if you return unused bags a few days later)

Oh very important, don't block the air flow from the vents, make sure air can flow along the roof sheething the whole way up, they sell plastic spacers that you put against the roof so your insulation stays an inch or so away. Its where the ceiling-walls-roof meet where your ceiling insulation is too thick and will touch the roof sheathing. Hope thats understandable from my explanation.

Good advice. Thanks!