New Backyard Shop

I’ve been lurking on this forum for the past few years, but now that I’ve started to build a new shop in the backyard, I’ll post my progress here.

The new shop is going to be 24 x 30, with a 10 x 10 room for my wife, Beth, to use for sewing and as a weaving studio. That leaves me 620 sq. ft., and I’ll make do with that. The building is the standard stick construction, with a wooden floor over a fairly deep crawlspace. No water or bathroom, but it’s only 50 feet to the house. I’m running 100 amp service to it, and will have both 110 and 220 volt outlets throughout. Lighting will be 8 – 10 4 foot dual tube LED fixtures. I’m also adding a five foot covered porch to the front 30 feet of the shop, so we’ll have a cool spot to hang out on hot and or rainy summer days. The same contractor that built our house is getting the main structure up, and then I'll finish off the interior and do a lot of the electrical work. And all in my spare time, to boot! :D

I’ll try to keep up with the posting, and get as many photos uploads as I can. I hope you enjoy this, and please feel free to comment, pro or con. I am sure this will be a learning experience for me! :wave:
 

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Looks like you've found plenty of rocks while digging the foundation... :D

Ought to end up with a nice sized shop.

Two caveats: 1. Even though it's only 50 feet away from the house, a bath/powder room will prove to be a good addition. My (no bath) shop is also only 50 feet from the house, and sometimes, when the urge hits, 50 feet can be a long ways! :eek:

2. Beware the 10 X 10 sewing room! My wife's quilting studio is 14 X 40, with a 'stash' overflow into another room. My shop is 26 X 32.
 
Rocks

Looks like you've found plenty of rocks while digging the foundation... :D

Ought to end up with a nice sized shop.

Two caveats: 1. Even though it's only 50 feet away from the house, a bath/powder room will prove to be a good addition. My (no bath) shop is also only 50 feet from the house, and sometimes, when the urge hits, 50 feet can be a long ways! :eek:

2. Beware the 10 X 10 sewing room! My wife's quilting studio is 14 X 40, with a 'stash' overflow into another room. My shop is 26 X 32.

Thanks, Jim. We live next to the San Juan River, and the entire area is full of river rock. The contractor brought in truckloads of dirt, to build up the foundation area, and he says the rocks help lock the dirt together. Must work, because it's really hard to dig a hole of any size around here. And I grow many more rocks than veggies in my garden!
 
:lurk: Everyone loves a good shop build thread.

2. Beware the 10 X 10 sewing room! My wife's quilting studio is 14 X 40, with a 'stash' overflow into another room. My shop is 26 X 32.

Haha, yes indeed... the overflow at our house is into three rooms (at various levels of "overflow") each of which is in the 10x10 range so hypothetically possible but..

On a similar note - are you considering adding a side room/partitioned areas for dust collection and compressor to isolate the noise (preferably on the other side from the sewing room for added harmony :D)
 
How high will the walls be? If you use attic trusses there will be a nice room over the shop for your wife to use and you will gain a bit more shop space.
 
What power tools do you own? What power tools do you anticipate obtaining?

For reference: My shop's inside dimensions are 24' 6" x 29' 6". There are several power tools I have not purchased because there is not really enough room to add anything. My shop does contain a 7' x 7' bathroom, it is part of the original house. It also contains FAU, Hot Water tank, Washer and Dryer, and did contain a 27" x 27" freezer which I removed to get the space. Myrna's sewing room and her office are inside of the house. There are NO cars, bicycles, motor cycles, lawn mowers, etc. in the shop.

The shop is cozy, however I am not really crowded. On the other hand there is definitely stuff I would do if I had more room. I think electricity is related to clamps; I just don't seem to have all I want (100 amp to shop). I have enough of both, but would like to have a bit more. I have a 10 amp, 220 volt dust collector that sees a pretty fair amount of use.

If you have not already done so, get free 1/4" per foot scale, paper cutouts of the tools that will be in the shop and play around with tool locations. Then your electric outlets will end up where you want them not behind the wood storage or some other, equally inconvenient place and you will know where your dust collection ducts will need to run (knowing this saves moving luminaires, fans, etc. in the future).

I STRONGLY suggest that you give a bedroom, den, or whatever to your wife's sewing ventures (Myrna got the family room and the front room became the family room). And, since you will be doing woodworking, you can make her cabinets for her sewing paraphphernalia and toss in a new sewing machine or serger (are you bankrupt yet?).

You are going to have a wonderful time with this venture. Good planing is part of the woodworking hobby; it really pays off in time, trouble and dollars spent.

Enjoy,
JimB
 
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Ryan- What I’m planning for the air compressor and dust collector is an acoustical “screen” to help muffle the noise. I can always add a “lean-to” on the outside of the shop if necessary.

Ted - Walls are going to be 10 ft. The building has a 7 / 12 pitch, required by the HOA, so I’m having the trusses engineered to allow as much open space as possible. Beth’s studio will mainly house her loom, and some overflow sewing stuff. She already has one bedroom full of her quilting and her sewing machines, along with her home office. The studio will be totally sealed off from the shop, with a separate entry door. I’m going to rough in a door frame in one of the interior walls, just in case we decide to use the room for something else in the future.

Jim – Let’s see… Equipment includes contractor style table saw (soon to be replaced with a Grizzly G1023RLWX); a 10” radial arm saw, 6” jointer, 13” planner, router table, belt/disk sander, small lathe, 2 HP dust collector, and all of the requisite work benches, cabinets, etc. Hope to get a larger lathe, and perhaps a shaper.
 
2. Beware the 10 X 10 sewing room! My wife's quilting studio is 14 X 40, with a 'stash' overflow into another room. My shop is 26 X 32.[/QUOTE]

Welcome Dave, and keep up the progress reports.

And, mind what Jim says about almost everything ! Looking at adding a third floor to our barn or maybe a 40' container here for "fibre arts" related stuff ! :doh:
 
I’m sorry I’ve been off line for the past few days – We had a death in our family, and I’m dealing with that.

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The construction goes on. The contractor was able to get the framing in for the foundation, and got the concrete poured in between rain storms. Yesterday, they pulled the forms, and removed the rest of the dirt from the crawl space area. Then the foam forms for the stem wall were set, and they are ready for the next inspection. Once that is done, The floor joists should be delivered, and then I’ll start on the under-floor dust collection system. I’m using 4 inch PVC with a ground wire running through the pipes. I used this system before, and it always worked great. Here are some photos of the progress. More to come in the next day or so, I hope!
 
Sorry to hear of you loss Dave but glad you are making some progress. Only thing I would suggest is going to 6" pipe for the dust collection you wont be sorry. I ended up using poiy drain pipe it is MUCH cheaper $14.00 compared to $35.00/ 10' sections. Most dust collector have a 6 or 8" inlet and you dont want to reduce it down to 4" until you are almost at the collection area. Believe me it will make a HUGE difference
 
Sorry to hear of you loss Dave but glad you are making some progress. Only thing I would suggest is going to 6" pipe for the dust collection you wont be sorry. I ended up using poiy drain pipe it is MUCH cheaper $14.00 compared to $35.00/ 10' sections. Most dust collector have a 6 or 8" inlet and you dont want to reduce it down to 4" until you are almost at the collection area. Believe me it will make a HUGE difference.

I'll have to see what size port my dust collector has - I traded a friend my old 4 " collector for a larger one, but haven't used it yet - it's in storage. If it's 6", I'll definitely go to 6" pipe. Thanks! :thumb:
 
Carol,
Many areas require that the stem wall is insulated. This system provides that insulation, plus serves as the forms for the concrete, and a method for tying in the re-bar. It only took the crew about an hour to set the form, seal the base to the footer, and brace. A lot faster than using normal wooden forms, and not much more expensive than normal forms. I saved on labor, and the net expense was pretty much a draw.
 
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