5 Questions To Ask When Planning Your Garage Man Cave

Let’s face it. Most people store junk in their garages rather than cars. For people with large trucks and SUVs, their garages might not even handle the length or width of their vehicles. And if you’ve lived in your home for any length of time, the garage becomes a dumping ground for sporting equipment, Christmas decorations, tools, and miscellaneous items.

But maybe you look at your garage and envision a potential hangout spot for you. A garage man cave can be a great option for a man cave in your home. Just ask yourself these five questions to get a good idea of whether you should create your own garage man cave or find your spot somewhere else in or around the house.

Will You Have Enough Storage Capacity?

If you start making a man cave in your garage, you home’s overall storage capacity starts decreasing. Think through whether you need that garage space to store things.

You might need to pack your outdoor shed a little tighter. Or maybe some of that garage junk can go in the attic. You could also enhance your garage storage by putting up cabinets, baker’s racks, or pegboard. Perhaps you can have a garage sale to get rid of the items you’ve been meaning to ditch for years.

Bottom line on this issue: You don’t want to eat up your home’s storage capacity if you really need that space for other things.

Do You Need More Power?

Both older homes and new construction tend to skimp on electrical outlets in the garage. If you have more than one set of two outlets, consider yourself lucky.

Consider your power needs before making your garage man cave. If a television is all you need to plug in, you’re probably all set with the power plugs you have. But if you want to set up a woodworking shop or practice space for your band, you probably want to book an electrician to give you a quote on installing more outlets.

It is better to have too much power on tap than not enough. If you think you might need more electricity, put in more outlets sooner rather than later.

Is There Enough Light?

While you’re considering the expense of hiring a professional electrician, think about your lighting needs. Garages are notoriously dimly lit. If you’re just going to watch television, a dimly lit room is perfect. But if you need to see, you might want to add more light to the space.

A quick fix is to replace the light bulb at the center of the ceiling to a deformable LED garage light. This thing will light up your room like an airport. You’ll wonder how you ever lived without one in your garage. If you find yourself quinting to see the items in your garage, this light is a great investment regardless of whether you make a garage man cave.

That filament bulb to LED swap may not be enough for you. You might want an electrician to install more light fixtures. If you’re a DIYer, some linkable workshop lights may do the trick. You can install them hanging from the ceiling either by chains or by mounting them flush. You can string a few of them together using only one electrical outlet. Be sure to follow the manufacturers guidlines on how many you can run off one power source.

How Is the Heating and Cooling?

In some parts of the world, a garage man cave needs no heating or cooling. The weather is so good that all you have to do is throw open the overhead door and let that beautiful weather in.

Other places, not so much. In extreme climates, garage man caves need some form of heating or cooling. For heating, the fix may be as simple as a few strategically placed space heaters. With cooling, an optimal climate might require box fans, a swamp cooler, or a single room air conditioning system.

Whether you live in a cold or warm climate, insulation may be a good investment. Almost all garages have insulation in the walls. You may need to invest in garage door insulation panels to finish insulating all four sides. Plus, you may need some spray foam insulation to seal leaks around the base of the walls and the lower corners of the garage door.

How Loud Are You Going to Get?

Do you plan to crank your guitar amplifiers to their maximum volume? Will you be running power tools all weekend? Think about your family inside the house and your neighbors next door. If other people will hear you enjoying your garage man cave, think about the steps you should take to make sure your pleasure doesn’t fuel their angst. Again, insulation may be a good investment here. The same materials that regulate temperature also mitigate noise transfer.

Or maybe you just need to be considerate about the hours of the day when you’re loud. And maybe invite the neighbors when you host a game day party. A few drinks and some snacks can smooth over a lot of issues.

—

Note: This blog post contains affiliate links. See Affiliate Disclosure for more details.