Project Man Cave

Alex Svenson

So it is official, I will now be a home owner. My wife and I are giving up condo living and bought a house outside Chicago to start the next chapter of our lives. While she is busy picking everything out for the house (her mother is an interior decorator) I have been busy creating my new office/ man cave. Working on the air filtration now. If anyone has any experience with air filtration or tips for smoking in the house, please send me a PM. I think I have a good handle but could use some seasoned advice. The man cave won't feel like much of an escape if the wife is going to nag me about the smell of cigar smoke LOL. As I get the construction under way, I will have to post some pics. So far I have a the bar, the desk, a small theater system that will double as video conferencing for some...... virtual herfing.... ah hum..... i mean business meetings via Skype and some comfortable seats etc. Oh yes and of course the cabinet humidor!

bigharpoon

Congratulations on your new home and Man Cave. As a contractor (without a man cave) the only heads up I can give you is if your office doesn't have an exterior wall to vent through. In that case make every effort to keep the corners, elbows and vertical rise of the vent run to an absolute minimum. The effect of rises and corners is not to be underestimated, it has an enormous effect on how much volume you can move. Can't wait to see some pics!

jj20030

congrats, man i bet you get a lotta pm's, lol ,

Shaun.Harrison87

Congrats Alex...make sure to post up some pics!

zeebra

Very nice Alex! PM to you.

Alex Svenson

bigharpoon:

Congratulations on your new home and Man Cave. As a contractor (without a man cave) the only heads up I can give you is if your office doesn't have an exterior wall to vent through. In that case make every effort to keep the corners, elbows and vertical rise of the vent run to an absolute minimum. The effect of rises and corners is not to be underestimated, it has an enormous effect on how much volume you can move. Can't wait to see some pics!

PM to you

Alex Svenson

zeebra:

Very nice Alex! PM to you.

Back at ya.

Alex Svenson

bigharpoon:

Congratulations on your new home and Man Cave. As a contractor (without a man cave) the only heads up I can give you is if your office doesn't have an exterior wall to vent through. In that case make every effort to keep the corners, elbows and vertical rise of the vent run to an absolute minimum. The effect of rises and corners is not to be underestimated, it has an enormous effect on how much volume you can move. Can't wait to see some pics!

Too bad you are not in Chicago land. The house was a foreclosure and the prior residents stripped the place. My wife and I pretty much have to rehab the whole place and are starting to look for carpenters, contractors, bathroom people, the works. Need to find someone that will work for cigars LOL.

phobicsquirrel

bigharpoon:

Congratulations on your new home and Man Cave. As a contractor (without a man cave) the only heads up I can give you is if your office doesn't have an exterior wall to vent through. In that case make every effort to keep the corners, elbows and vertical rise of the vent run to an absolute minimum. The effect of rises and corners is not to be underestimated, it has an enormous effect on how much volume you can move. Can't wait to see some pics!

Yup good advice on the ventilation. I helped my dad do his many years ago, I learned a lot. BTW great news on the house. I live in a townhouse now and am really annoyed by it. Like the place but don't like being so close to other houses. I want some space dammit and I hate the HOA. Good think I didn't buy it.

kaspera79

Alex Svenson:

bigharpoon:

Congratulations on your new home and Man Cave. As a contractor (without a man cave) the only heads up I can give you is if your office doesn't have an exterior wall to vent through. In that case make every effort to keep the corners, elbows and vertical rise of the vent run to an absolute minimum. The effect of rises and corners is not to be underestimated, it has an enormous effect on how much volume you can move. Can't wait to see some pics!

Too bad you are not in Chicago land. The house was a foreclosure and the prior residents stripped the place. My wife and I pretty much have to rehab the whole place and are starting to look for carpenters, contractors, bathroom people, the works. Need to find someone that will work for cigars LOL.

I get the feeling all of these talanted Contractors and tradesmen would be willing to relocate for this project.. I mean, being paid in cigars !

KingoftheCove

Alex Svenson:

So it is official, I will now be a home owner. My wife and I are giving up condo living and bought a house outside Chicago to start the next chapter of our lives. While she is busy picking everything out for the house (her mother is an interior decorator) I have been busy creating my new office/ man cave. Working on the air filtration now. If anyone has any experience with air filtration or tips for smoking in the house, please send me a PM. I think I have a good handle but could use some seasoned advice. The man cave won't feel like much of an escape if the wife is going to nag me about the smell of cigar smoke LOL. As I get the construction under way, I will have to post some pics. So far I have a the bar, the desk, a small theater system that will double as video conferencing for some...... virtual herfing.... ah hum..... i mean business meetings via Skype and some comfortable seats etc. Oh yes and of course the cabinet humidor!

You already know this I'm sure, but build the room with as little "fabric" as possible..........wood or tile floor, leather only for furniture, wood panel walls, etc. No fabric is best.

xIcedGuardianx

Congrats on the new place! Looking forward to the pics!

JDH

PM to you.

Krieg

Congratulations Alex! Owning your own piece of America has always been part of the American Dream. I wish you lots of fond memories ahead of you in your new home. As for building your man cave, take a look at this website. He wrote up a nice blog about building his cigar room, complete with ventilation. http://www.ryandeyer.com/cigar-room Hopefully it could be of some use to you.

Rhamlin

I'm the opposite tired of the upkeep on the house and yard, thinking of going for a condo. But congrats Alex , sounds like the man cave is going to be great.

JDH

Krieg:

Congratulations Alex! Owning your own piece of America has always been part of the American Dream. I wish you lots of fond memories ahead of you in your new home. As for building your man cave, take a look at this website. He wrote up a nice blog about building his cigar room, complete with ventilation. http://www.ryandeyer.com/cigar-room Hopefully it could be of some use to you.

I am a Building Code Enforcement Officer, and IMO this is a great article. I also believe that the same results can be achieved without some of the expense, (automatic duct dampers that close off the HVAC ducting and open up the fresh air intake ducting when you enter the room might be a bit of overkill, because manual dampers can be used just as well at a fraction of the cost). but this guy did it riight. The only thing I'd change is the use of the Csonka O2 air purifier. I'd advise against using an O2 air purifier; I use a blueair sized for my room, and I swear by it.

"Technical Information

The first challenge was to make sure smoke leaves via the exhaust fan to the outside of the house and not into the rest of the house. To do this I installed automatic duct dampers that close off the HVAC ducting and open up the fresh air intake ducting when you enter the room. There is one place to exit the smoke (exhaust fan) and one place to bring new air in from (fresh air intake). Both the exhaust fan and the fresh air intake have hoods that I installed to the outside of my house in my backyard that you can see in the pictures. The fresh air intake was an ordered item and the exhaust fan hood I had specialty made since the sizing I wanted was very specific.
In Michigan the fresh air coming in during the winters can be chilly to say the least, so I installed a duct heater into the fresh air intake. This unit has heating coils that temper the air as it comes in. There is a temperature sensor installed into the ducting so the unit only activates when the fresh air temperature drops below a certain point.
In addition to exhausting the air I put in a Csonka air purifier, which produces O2 for the room. This unit just ensures the odor of smoke does not linger in the room after the smoke is exhausted. The combination of this with the exhaust fan is perfect. You could smoke for hours on end, but within a few minutes of being done never know someone smoked in the room."

JDH

JDH:

Krieg:

Congratulations Alex! Owning your own piece of America has always been part of the American Dream. I wish you lots of fond memories ahead of you in your new home. As for building your man cave, take a look at this website. He wrote up a nice blog about building his cigar room, complete with ventilation. http://www.ryandeyer.com/cigar-room Hopefully it could be of some use to you.

I am a Building Code Enforcement Officer, and IMO this is a great article. I also believe that the same results can be achieved without some of the expense, (automatic duct dampers that close off the HVAC ducting and open up the fresh air intake ducting when you enter the room might be a bit of overkill, because manual dampers can be used just as well at a fraction of the cost). but this guy did it riight. The only thing I'd change is the use of the Csonka O2 air purifier. I'd advise against using an O2 air purifier; I use a blueair sized for my room, and I swear by it.

"Technical Information

The first challenge was to make sure smoke leaves via the exhaust fan to the outside of the house and not into the rest of the house. To do this I installed automatic duct dampers that close off the HVAC ducting and open up the fresh air intake ducting when you enter the room. There is one place to exit the smoke (exhaust fan) and one place to bring new air in from (fresh air intake). Both the exhaust fan and the fresh air intake have hoods that I installed to the outside of my house in my backyard that you can see in the pictures. The fresh air intake was an ordered item and the exhaust fan hood I had specialty made since the sizing I wanted was very specific.
In Michigan the fresh air coming in during the winters can be chilly to say the least, so I installed a duct heater into the fresh air intake. This unit has heating coils that temper the air as it comes in. There is a temperature sensor installed into the ducting so the unit only activates when the fresh air temperature drops below a certain point.
In addition to exhausting the air I put in a Csonka air purifier, which produces O2 for the room. This unit just ensures the odor of smoke does not linger in the room after the smoke is exhausted. The combination of this with the exhaust fan is perfect. You could smoke for hours on end, but within a few minutes of being done never know someone smoked in the room."

A cheaper approach might incoroprate a typical hotel heating/cooling unit for the room instead of the elaborate ducting / cold air return heating system he used. These can be purchased for between $600 - $1000.

http://www.alpinehomeair.com/viewcategory.cfm?categoryID=248

Then the only concern is to exhaust the air in the room as quiklly as possible, while keeping the air exchange seperate from the rest of the house. Using a good air purifier is also a very good idea, highly recomended. This is a pretty good article regarding the sizing of an exhaust fan for a smoking room.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/B98_Sizing_an_Exhaust_Fan_.shtml

JDH

For my own personal use, I have the cheapest possible version of this concept that I could come up with. My room has an exterior wall with two large windows. In one of those windows I've installed a simple window exhaust fan that will give me two complete air exchanges out of that room every 8 minutes. I sit right next to that fan while smoking so that I get almost 100% smoke exhaust immediately. The other window is located about 6' away, and I crack it open at the top of the window just a little bit (about an inch) for cold air return. This creates a nice air circulation of continuious fresh air and exhaust.

I seal the door with weatherstripping around the edges and a towell at the bottom of the door, and put a plug (home made) in the central air warm air vent, and use a portable space heater to keep warm while using the room. The temp has never gone below 68 - and that was in the coldest part of the winter, usually, I have to turn the heater way down to stay comfortable (I'm fortunate to live in a climate with relatively mild and short winters). As I've already stated, I use a blueair air purifier sized for the room (which will run constantly during the winter months), and I let the exhaust fan run for about an hour or so after I'm finished.

As God is my witness, you cannot detect any indication that somebody has been smoking in this room.

KCW

PM Sent

JDH

JDH:

For my own personal use, I have the cheapest possible version of this concept that I could come up with. My room has an exterior wall with two large windows. In one of those windows I've installed a simple window exhaust fan that will give me two complete air exchanges out of that room every 8 minutes. I sit right next to that fan while smoking so that I get almost 100% smoke exhaust immediately. The other window is located about 6' away, and I crack it open at the top of the window just a little bit (about an inch) for cold air return. This creates a nice air circulation of continuious fresh air and exhaust.

I seal the door with weatherstripping around the edges and a towell at the bottom of the door, and put a plug (home made) in the central air warm air vent, and use a portable space heater to keep warm while using the room. The temp has never gone below 68 - and that was in the coldest part of the winter, usually, I have to turn the heater way down to stay comfortable (I'm fortunate to live in a climate with relatively mild and short winters). As I've already stated, I use a blueair air purifier sized for the room (which will run constantly during the winter months), and I let the exhaust fan run for about an hour or so after I'm finished.

As God is my witness, you cannot detect any indication that somebody has been smoking in this room.

I should also add that when I'm finished, and the exhaust fan is removed from the window, both windows are then closed, the space heater is unplugged, and the plug is removed from the heat vent and the room is left open to the central heating system.

amz1301

JDH:

JDH:

For my own personal use, I have the cheapest possible version of this concept that I could come up with. My room has an exterior wall with two large windows. In one of those windows I've installed a simple window exhaust fan that will give me two complete air exchanges out of that room every 8 minutes. I sit right next to that fan while smoking so that I get almost 100% smoke exhaust immediately. The other window is located about 6' away, and I crack it open at the top of the window just a little bit (about an inch) for cold air return. This creates a nice air circulation of continuious fresh air and exhaust.

I seal the door with weatherstripping around the edges and a towell at the bottom of the door, and put a plug (home made) in the central air warm air vent, and use a portable space heater to keep warm while using the room. The temp has never gone below 68 - and that was in the coldest part of the winter, usually, I have to turn the heater way down to stay comfortable (I'm fortunate to live in a climate with relatively mild and short winters). As I've already stated, I use a blueair air purifier sized for the room (which will run constantly during the winter months), and I let the exhaust fan run for about an hour or so after I'm finished.

As God is my witness, you cannot detect any indication that somebody has been smoking in this room.

I should also add that when I'm finished, and the exhaust fan is removed from the window, both windows are then closed, the space heater is unplugged, and the plug is removed from the heat vent and the room is left open to the central heating system.

I have a very similiar set-up in a room on my bottom floor (not really a basement, it's above ground). Sealed the door with weatherstrip and put a rubber door sweep on the bottom of the door. Blocked off the two central HVAC vents in the room. In the two windows one always has the twin fan in it for exhaust

http://www.njappliance.com/Bionaire-BW2100R-U-Twin-Window-Fan-with-85-Inch-Blades-Remote-Control-and-Digital-Thermostat-P10004C125.aspx

in the other window or when it's not too hot I put in this air exchanger for intake and if it's cold use a small ceramic heater

http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BAP336M-U-EverFresh-Exchange-Purifier/dp/B001L1BPKQ

when it's hot in the summer I put a small window AC unit in there instead of the air exchanger. Instead of the blueair purifier I have an AustinAir HM400 air purifier. Same thing when I'm finished I pull everything out of the windows open the door and leave the air purifier running.

Sounds like alot of work but it's really not. It works well especially since I didn't have to do any major home modifications.

chemforever

Good luck on the house rehab Alex and I can't wait to see the pictures. One day I also hope to have a man cave, dreams that I would think all brothers here share.

90+ Irishman

Congrats, and PM to you!

dowjr1

Any pictures or websites of smoking mancaves out there?

ShotgunJohn

Congrats Alex, it won't be long now before you are sidelined from visiting with AJ and staying home changing dirty diapers. Now that your wife has a house, step 2 is a child, The Beard will be a wonderful uncle.

kuzi16

my only thought would be for heated return air. if you only have a vent out then the house will be where the vent out draws from. if you have return or makeup air then it will pull air from somewhere else. since you live where its cold an option to heat that air is probably a good idea.

also invest in an Oreck Air Purifier. turn it on when you are done. it should take care of any lingering odor.

JDH

amz1301:

JDH:

JDH:

For my own personal use, I have the cheapest possible version of this concept that I could come up with. My room has an exterior wall with two large windows. In one of those windows I've installed a simple window exhaust fan that will give me two complete air exchanges out of that room every 8 minutes. I sit right next to that fan while smoking so that I get almost 100% smoke exhaust immediately. The other window is located about 6' away, and I crack it open at the top of the window just a little bit (about an inch) for cold air return. This creates a nice air circulation of continuious fresh air and exhaust.

I seal the door with weatherstripping around the edges and a towell at the bottom of the door, and put a plug (home made) in the central air warm air vent, and use a portable space heater to keep warm while using the room. The temp has never gone below 68 - and that was in the coldest part of the winter, usually, I have to turn the heater way down to stay comfortable (I'm fortunate to live in a climate with relatively mild and short winters). As I've already stated, I use a blueair air purifier sized for the room (which will run constantly during the winter months), and I let the exhaust fan run for about an hour or so after I'm finished.

As God is my witness, you cannot detect any indication that somebody has been smoking in this room.

I should also add that when I'm finished, and the exhaust fan is removed from the window, both windows are then closed, the space heater is unplugged, and the plug is removed from the heat vent and the room is left open to the central heating system.

I have a very similiar set-up in a room on my bottom floor (not really a basement, it's above ground). Sealed the door with weatherstrip and put a rubber door sweep on the bottom of the door. Blocked off the two central HVAC vents in the room. In the two windows one always has the twin fan in it for exhaust

http://www.njappliance.com/Bionaire-BW2100R-U-Twin-Window-Fan-with-85-Inch-Blades-Remote-Control-and-Digital-Thermostat-P10004C125.aspx

in the other window or when it's not too hot I put in this air exchanger for intake and if it's cold use a small ceramic heater

http://www.amazon.com/Bionaire-BAP336M-U-EverFresh-Exchange-Purifier/dp/B001L1BPKQ

when it's hot in the summer I put a small window AC unit in there instead of the air exchanger. Instead of the blueair purifier I have an AustinAir HM400 air purifier. Same thing when I'm finished I pull everything out of the windows open the door and leave the air purifier running.

Sounds like alot of work but it's really not. It works well especially since I didn't have to do any major home modifications.

That's a terrific set-up. I strongly considered the bionaire products you have, and if the winters here were longer, I'd have been all over it. Fortunately, we only have about 8 weeks max of winter, and the bitter cold is only for about half of that time, so I went even cheaper. I have a dual window fan like yours, but without all the bells & whistles, and it cost considerably less. When it wears out, I'll probably get the fan you have. The heating unit for fresh air is a great idea, and for anyone living in the Chicago area, this would be highly recomended if they didn't want to buy one of the commercial heating/cooling units I recomended.

Good job! You covered all the bases, probably for under $700. Exhaust is the key, and that window fan unit is perfect for a small room, probably something under 250 sq' with an 8' ceiling height. You're right about set-up and break-down time, too. I can be up & running in less than 2 minutes.

KevinFitts

This will be awesome. Please post pics. I am working on something similar in a new home. Not sure what we will do for sure, but I am thinking that I want to have the ability to smoke in the house during the coold winter months. Good luck with everything.

Direwolf

The only tip I can give for ventilation is roll down the windows and open the sunroof

y2pascoe

I'd buy a ticket to Chi-Town for Alex Svenson's man cave christening.

cooch36

Alex I also went for reasonable price and picked up a bathroom vent in a drop ceiling. vents straight out so max air flow. I may install a second near the stairs so that no smoke flows up. I picked up an automatic air freshner from local large grocery store. An it spritzs the room on a self timer and runs on Batt's. Less the $200 I can smoke with 4 guys and have very little residue, next day nothing. If I installed a second fan it would eliminate any wafting from going up stairs but that is very minimal and doesn't stay in the house.