Building a man cave on a budget

[LittleLebowski]

Took these pictures this morning, I can take more. This is a crawl space at my new house. It looks like the previous owner was making it into a room and I would like to as well.

I want a Spartan room for gun stuff, especially reloading. I don't need anything pretty, just dry and functional. I am on a budget and won't be starting right away. I would prefer to do this in stages.

If you make suggestions, please keep in mind that I know nothing about home remodeling, concrete, or woodworking

[JM Campbell]

Pics are broken for me.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[JV_]

Broken for me too. Here are the links:

http://imgur.com/gE8v9EN

http://imgur.com/cPFKIeA

[LittleLebowski]

Pics fixed, I'll take better ones later.

JV has seen this room in person, anything he says about the condition of it should be noted.

[rob_s]

So the floor is just dirt right now?

If so, that's going to be your biggest impediment, especially for your stated uses. Water is a bitch, and you will never win the fight if you try to stop it. The most you can hope for is to divert it in a direction that is favorable to you. and it comes up just as often as it goes down.

[JV_]

JV has seen this room in person, anything he says about the condition of it should be noted.

It's essentially a (standing) crawl space. It's exposed to the outside with a number of screened vents, so it's going to be cold, hot, humid, dry and wet.

I would not store my powder and primers in there, nor would I keep those paint cans in there. Paint doesn't recover well from being frozen.

[Rich@CCC]

Assuming a dirt floor(you called it a crawl space) so, the very first thing would be to dry in the floor which will involve pouring an finishing a concrete at the very least. You can do it yourself with rented tools but unless you have lots of free time hiring it out is cheaper in the long run.

Is there a sump of any kind? That adds a dimension to the concrete work if so.

Then, of course there's electrical including lighting which will require permits and inspections if done legally. I am actually of the mind set that anything I do to the interior of my domicile is my business and no one elses, but since you said you have no experience with this kind of thing the electrical work in a reloading room is not the place to learn. Find a friend with electrical experience or hire that out as well.

fortunately this kind of project can be done in small bite size stages to help with budgeting and time management.

[Peally]

So you're trying to turn what is essentially a weather exposed concrete shack into an actual basement

[rob_s]

I am actually of the mind set that anything I do to the interior of my domicile is my business and no one elses,

I used to think this way, then I started buying houses.

It's unfortunate that the process and cost involved in getting a permit has led so many people to that conclusion, but I'm actually in favor of stiffer and harsher penalties for those the circumvent the process. If you are never, ever, going to sell the property or pass the property with structure on to someone else, and if you sign away your rights to public emergency services, and you disclose your personal removal of the system to all that enter there, I'm all in favor of people wiring their houses with exposed copper if they want to.

There's a false argument that always goes with this nonsense. Guys say "I don't *need* inspections, of course I'm doing the work correctly". If the work is done correctly, you should welcome the inspections.

[Rich@CCC]

It appears to have concrete block walls all four sides? so drying and insulating it in will be possible unless ground water is ridiculous.

This is not going to be a small job, that's for sure. I'd say that I would do it for my self If I had the space available and the monetary resources. That much space wasted on an unfinished crawl space is a crime.