Catch Up

 

If its not completely obvious (i.e. 3 posts in 3 days), I am playing catch up after taking a 4 month sabbatical from my blog.  As my last two entries outlined, my outbuilding was completed just before Christmas and in January I started thinking long and hard about designing the interior.  Once I settled on a concept, I got serious about the details.


The first set of decisions I had to make was the room's basic dimensions:  length, width, & height.  This was a pretty straight forward process.  I walked around the shop and tried to visualize how it would look and feel from both the inside and outside.  I gave careful consideration to the space requirements for the exercise area as well as the mancave space.  I settled on the following dimensions:

Dimensions are absolute (in other words, as I framed out the room I added space to account for stud wall thickness and other necessary framing & finishing elements to ensure the above room dimensions were maintained)

Ceiling height required significantly more consideration.  The outbuilding's total ceiling height is 15' 8"...which if divided equally leaves ceiling heights of 7' 10" for both the man cave and the gym space.  Unfortunately, these dimensions don't work because I had to factor in beam height and flooring materials--so in the end there is even less space with which to work.  Obviously, I wanted both spaces to be functional from a head clearance standpoint...after all, who wants to work out on their knees?

Another important consideration, however, was that I wanted ensure the beams did not feel out of scale with respect to the cave's ceiling height.  Had my outbuilding's finished ceiling height been 18 feet or greater, I would have increased the cave's ceiling height and opted for 4" x 12" douglas fir beams...but beams of those dimensions would eat up far too much vertical space in my current space and would leave the gym's ceiling height far too compressed.

Hence, I settled for 4" x 8" beams and then started playing around with various ceiling heights in effot to strike a balance between function and aesthetics.  I shared my proposed ceiling heights with a few friends and one friend, Brian Fortuin, made the astute observation that my originally proposed dimensions might not accommodate the Bowflex I had in my rendering.  Having failed to consider this, I researched the height of the tallest Bowflex model and used that as my ceiling height for the gymnasium (and added 2 inches for good measure)...then I worked backwards.  I settled on the following dimensions:

With the basics dimensions established, I then needed to determine the beam spacing and limits of my cantilevered floor section.  I ran my preliminary spans and dimensions by my uncle who builds custom timber-framed homes in Montana (here is a link to his website) and he used what he refers to as his "beam tables" to help me determine how far I could space my beams.  I also ran the dimensions by my friend Andrew Schwarz who is an engineer (and probably one of the smartest people I know)--he crunched the numbers as well.  The big issue here is that I wanted to avoid any detectible deflection in the beams and floor when someone above is walking, jumping, or exercising.  Space the beams too far apart and things are going to shake.  Space them too close, and the aesthetic effect of the tongue and groove ceiling is lost.  When it was all said and done, I settled on spacing the beams 16" on center and allowed myself four feet of cantilever:

With my beam spacing and dimensions determined, I was ready to order my lumber. Because of the beam's dimensions, I had to special order them from the mill along with the vertical grain douglas fir that would be used in my project as well.  One of the dieticians with whom I work hooked me up with her husband, Anthony, who works at BMC Supply...he got me a great deal on the specialty lumber.  Because of the beam's unique dimensions, however, it was going to take 4-6 weeks before my order would arrive.  To bide my time, I began framing out the room:

Don't worry, I added a top plate to this wall (you'll see in later pictures)

Though you can't tell from these photos, I am painfully slow at framing.  Let's just say its a good thing I don't have to make my living framing stud walls...because I'd starve.  I should point out, however, that I typically only get an hour or two at a time one or two days each week to work on this project, so its no wonder my progress was so slow.  The good news for me was that I had a solid 4-6 weeks before my beams would be delivered...so I just took the slow and steady approach to this one (probably good practice for the truck).  It also, of course, goes much slower when you are working solo and crippled...regardless, my shop time has given me a sense of zen I can't get at work.

Now, "WHEN ARE MY DAMN BEAMS GOING TO ARRIVE!!!"