So let’s get this 540 business out of way.
Spoiler alert, it was a failure.
In fact, I didn’t even come close and eventually the front wheel gave out.
But, it ain’t over.
We’ll repair this bike, and revisit the 540 another day.
On to building stuff.
Today, we’re building an office and for good reason.
You see, Mrs. Bike Hacks was very patient back at Berm Creek where this YouTube channel
took over the yard, the garage, and an entire bedroom in the house.
So here at Berm Peak, we’re staying out of the house and non wooded yard space.
That leaves the woods and the garage.
But if we want to build an office in here there’s one very big problem that needs
solving: This place has a lot of reverb.
Indeed, every week I record voiceovers like the one you’re listening to right now.
If we’re to record them in here, it’s going to take a lot more than gluing some
foam blocks to the wall.
But we still need a workspace, guest work space, a place to keep riding gear, and a
hangout area for down time and possibly to film interviews.
We also need coffee.
So this structure will be somewhat of a mothership that all these activities are centered around.
The outside dimensions are 4 feet by 5 feet.
Most of that will consist of a voiceover booth.
The rest is for a gear storage.
Since this isn’t a permanent outdoor structure, we don’t need to fasten it to the floor
or anything like that.
Gravity should do a pretty good job of keeping it in place.
Still, it needs to be somewhat solid to support all the things that will be attached to it.
This opening at the bottom is—well, I’ll let you take your best guess.
With the overall structure complete, we can move on to the staircase—I mean, shelves.
Since this is an office I’ll need someplace to put things such as coffee and coffee accessories.
So this very deep shelving unit should provide plenty of storage.
And the fact that this shelving unit does kind of resemble a staircase—that does not
mean that this top part is a mezzanine.
But in the off chance that someone climbs up to get an overhead shot, I’m installing
a railing.
On to some ventilation for the voiceover booth.
My dad found this brass window while snorkeling, and it appears to have been part of a ship.
Well, it’s now part of this mothership.
The rubber gasket has hardened considerably over the decades, but this thing looks really
cool and I’m happy to finally have a use for it.
Finally, out of slightly nicer plywood I’m building a wrap around desk for my work area,
and enough extra space to seat a guest or two.
I’m supporting the backside of the desk on the side of the mothership, and the front
with this metal table leg which works out perfectly.
Now to make this place functional.
As you can see, the door to this voiceover booth is under the desk.
Although I do wonder if there was a better way, I didn’t want to give up a whole side
of this thing just for a door.
I also didn’t want to move it away from the wall as that would take up valuable floor
space.
So, once a week I’ll crawl under this thing to record a voiceover.
As it turns out, just being in a small enclosed space isn’t enough to eliminate reverb.
In fact, that can sound worse.
After some experimentation, I finally settled on covering the booth in utility blanket—
about two layers on each wall.
Provided I don’t fart in here, it should be a great environment for recording voiceovers.
On to the rest of this space.
Gear storage goes by the side door, with the centerpieces being the sticker cabinet and
shoe rack from the last place.
There’s plenty of space here for all my stuff, and even a little extra for guests.
Guest space will continue to be important.
My workspace is on the far side of the wraparound desk.
It consists of a 5k LG monitor and a 36tb raid.
Cable management is essential since I’ll be crawling under here to record voiceovers.
With the thunderbolt cables ready to go, I can just plop my laptop down here and work
like normal.
These days I edit everything on my laptop.
This is great for traveling, or if I just feel like sitting someplace else.
This space was very much missing from my last workshop and office.
It’ll come in handy when I have company over, need to take a long phone call, or just
relax for a minute.
The couch could also be used for an overnight guest considering this place is climate controlled
and insulated.
I also plan to film interviews here in the coming months, so it could definitely be considered
studio space.
But we still need to install the power plant that propels this entire channel.
I
commandeered the espresso machine from the kitchen, and from now on my wife will need
to visit the garage if she wants any.
I’m not into beer and I don’t like sweet soft drinks.
But every morning I drink an iced americano with no cream or sugar.
If you’ve ever stayed with me, you probably had one.
And with that, this entire garage is open for business, and I don’t just mean for
bike repairs and projects.
This entire YouTube channel now operates out of this place from recharging camera batteries,
to performing voiceovers, to spending all night editing.
All of it happens right here, year round.
I’m excited to walk into this place every morning to start working, and what more could
you really want from the place you spend the most time.
My desk is right where I can see the entire garage, and adjacent two big windows for natural
light.
I can work with the doors open, or closed with the mini split controlling the climate.
The best thing about building a custom workspace or a custom anything, is that it only has
to suite your needs.
And whether you’re building out a three car garage, or a closet, that fact remains
the same.
So should you be lucky enough to have a space to build out, use what you know to make a
space you can be proud of.
Now, we can use this workspace as a home base for everything else on Berm Peak.
Thanks for riding with me today, and I’ll see you next time.