I've been looking & dreaming

Bart Leetch

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3,206
Location
Clinton, Washington on Whidbey Island
About a new shop in the future. 28' x 48' seems a good size with 1 wing as a man cave. With no garage door on either wing. That would make the shop approximately 28' x 36' & the man cave area 12' x 28' & allow for a bathroom too . I would have hinged swinging doors not overhead & make my own stairway raised with a winch. I don't like those fold-able attic stairs.

http://www.garagebuilding101.com/plan-gardenoak-4car-garage.html

Well its nice to dream.
 
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Nice, but why not put the man cave upstairs?

Rennie

It will also be used for a small group meeting of men from the church & I need to remember there could be someone that cannot negotiate the stairs. Also I won't have a regular built in place stairs even if they are regular 8" risers. The stairs will be a one piece structure hinged & raised by a winch.
 
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If there's room, a second floor can make a nice bench / hand tool work area.
I've thought about that for my own dream shop... a spiral staircase in the corner (that takes up minimal floor space) and a trap door in the floor above to hoist things to the second floor. If I recall, there was a shop detailed in Fine Woodworking where that's what the man did. Add a hoist to the ridge beam and you can lift substantial weight, just don't fall thru the trap door when you're upstairs.
 
The compressor & DC & storage will be upstairs. I really don't want to be running up & down stairs to work on a project. There will be a stairway that retracts into the ceiling & a trap door & hoist or chain fall to raise items to the second story. I also need to think of what my physical capabilities will be in the coming years'

Thanks for the ideas though.
 
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Unless you're really putting some serious machinery in, that's plenty of room. You can fit some good wood storage, finish room, and a nice shop in there.

Few things I ran into after building mine:
- Look at your storage room. I only have one wall with nothing interfearing with 12' shelving. I could have relocated the AC and had two.
- I'd prefer carriage doors instead of roll up too. I put in 8' high roll up doors so the tracks are just over 8' off the floor. It's a huge benefit to me over standard 7' doors.
- I installed 110V outlets on 6' centers. This didn't end up being enough. I'd go 4' centers or plan on some strips around workbenches with outlets
- In addition to a 110V dust collector and air compressor, the refridgerator also needs a dedicated 110V breaker.
- If you have any idea where your DC overhead ducting is going to run, drop the light fixtures down to clear the ducting. I have to lower a couple of mine now because the duct makes shadows across the shop.
 
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