5 Questions To Ask When Planning Your Bonus Room Man Cave

Many suburban homes built within the last 10 or so years often include a bonus room above the garage. There’s an economic reason for this: it costs the builder very little to finish out a bonus room. Today’s building codes often require roofline insulation, so a builder just needs to add a little bit of HVAC ductwork, drywall, and flooring. For a few thousand bucks, your unfinished attic space becomes a functional room for just about anything you want.

A bonus room is the perfect spot for a man cave. But don’t just throw a big screen TV and poker table up there. Be strategic with your space. Ask yourself the following questions when planning your bonus room man cave.

How Low Are the Ceilings?

Bonus room ceilings are sometimes really low. In fact, some builders only build them as tall as they must to have that space legally count toward the home’s square footage.

Having low ceilings limits your choices in light fixtures. If you want a ceiling fan, it may need to be a flush mount variety. Or you may not be able to install a ceiliing fan at all. Check with your builder or a contractor to make sure your ceiling structure can support the weight of a ceiling fan.

Low ceilings can also limit the size of television you have in your bonus room man cave. If you install a pull-down screen and projector, low ceilings restrict how far down your screen can go.

All this said, low ceilings are a restriction rather than a deal breaker. You’ll work around a low ceiling rather than give up or move your man cave.

Are There Knee Walls?

Knee walls are short walls that meet a sloped ceiling. They’re usually five feet tall and are common in bonus rooms. They allow builders to put the ceiling drywall against the roof decking as much as possible.

Check your home’s blueprints to see if there is vacant space behind your knee walls. If there is, you may be able to use that space for extra storage. It’ll be a substantial remodeling project, but you’ll be glad when you’ve completed it.

Knee walls limit the amount of walking space in your bonus room man cave. However, you should have no problems backing a couch against a knee wall. If you’re of average height, you can’t walk along a knee wall, but you can sit by it.

Is the Room Warmer or Colder than the Rest of the House?

Bonus rooms tend to not have as good of climate control as the rest of the house. If the bonus room is the only upstairs room, it probably won’t have its own HVAC unit. When architects design the homes with optional bonus rooms, the heating and cooling of the bonus room is an afterthought. Construction crews run a bit of extra ductwork, and the HVAC system is complete.

But will the system heat and cool the bonus room as well as the rest of the home? Maybe. An experienced HVAC technician can give an educated opinion before the bonus room is built out. However, you may not know for sure until construction is done. You may need a small space heater or oscillating fan to maximize the room’s comfort. And depending on your ceiling height, you might want to install a ceiling fan as well.

Will the Room Have Other Purposes?

If you will have the bonus room all to yourself, you can set up your man cave however you like. But if you have to share the space, you’ll need to divvy up the area. Or perhaps you need a home office, and it has to go in your man cave. Knowing the purposes your bonus room will help you maximize the room’s potential. And sometimes, stylish room dividers come in handy for demarking areas for each purpose.

Where Is the Nearest Bathroom?

Many bonus rooms have an attached half bathroom. This is great for guests or merely for maintaining your uninterrupted man cave time. If you don’t have a water closet attached to your man cave, you’ll need to identify the nearest bathroom. This will be where you and any guests relieve yourselves.

To be considerate of the other people in your home, make a plan to regularly clean the man cave bathroom. It’s only fair if you’re using it consistently. And just for fun, make sure you hang some novelty hand towels to give your guests a chuckle after they do their business.