Rob's New Shop

Messages
360
Location
Pennsylvania
Alright, here we go. I thought you may want to follow along for the building of my new workshop. I'll try to post as many pics as I can of the progress and I'll try to keep everyone updated as much as I can.

Some of you know me. For those who don't, here's a quick intro. I'm a novice woodworker. I've done a few small things but nothing I'm especially proud of. Until this year, I basically worked on a $100 benchtop table saw and a benchtop bandsaw. I enjoyed working on projects but the limitations of the equipment was frustrating to me. Not only that, but I knew my TS especially was very unsafe. So, this year I made a committment to buy good equipment. Already I've noticed that I enjoy this hobby so much more. The tools do make a difference. Some of my purchases over the past year have been a PM2000 table saw, Delta X5 6" jointer, Dewalt planer, Grizzly bandsaw, Bessey clamps, Hitachi 12"SCMS, PC air compressor & nailers, dust collector, router. Picked up a five or six Bailey planes as well. I've built a rock solid but inexpensive bench, built some jigs (crosscut sled, router dado jig), and bought some cherry & walnut. Enough about me, let's get to the new shop.

It should be said up front that costs need to be controlled on this project. You already know that, though. True for every project. I'm pretty much at my limit with this thing financially. Because of that, I want to get the structure up now and worry about the things I CAN do later, later. Like insulation, interior finish, flooring (maybe?), dc, air, etc, etc, etc. That said, I'm trying not to do anything that would preclude being able to do some of the things I want to do later. I am not a professional WW by any means. I work full time as a consultant and own another business. I have a five year old, a four year old, and another one due this month. Between work and family, I only get a few hours in the shop per week. You may ask, "Then why the **** are you building a shop?" Good question. We really want to finish our basement. That's where my shop is now. So, in effect, I'm being evicted. Plus, the noise and dust has become an issue. Also, once the kids grow up, I'm sure I'll have more time to spend out there. I've worked in cramped garages and cramped basements, I find that I get more enjoyment out of this hobby if I can do it in an environment that is comfortable and organized. Another thing, while we do plan on staying in this house forever, you never know what the future brings. Because of that, I don't want to do anything that would hamper resale value. Or, who knows, maybe one day I won't be interested in ww anymore. I'd like the shop to be able to easily converted to a garage if necessary. These things all affect my decision-making.

Unlike some of the more ambitious members here, I have hired a general contractor to do the heavy lifting for me. Simply don't have the time to do it myself. It's going to be a detached building about 20' from my house at the end of my driveway, land is pretty flat. Dimensions are 24'x36' with 10' walls and a 12/12 attic truss roof. There will be a subpanel hooked in from the house and plumbing will be run to the building. This structure will be visible from the street and will look like a garage, except with nicer carriage-type doors. In other words, needs to go well with the house. My closest neighbor is about a football field away. This is what we're working with.

Let's talk about the floor. Remember I said I'd like to revert back to a garage if necessary? That's part of the reason for going with a slab. That, and cost. I guess if I knew that this would be a ww shop forever and I didn't have to think about resale and the costs were the same, I would probably go with a perimeter foundation with a wood floor on top of that. I think that for the reasons I mentioned, slab is best. Now, I really want a wood floor. The whole creaky knee thing plus I like the looks of it. I've heard people say they'd laid sleepers and plywood down on top of concrete to get that wood floor. I think I'd like to take it a step further and raise a floor on top of 2x6s. This would provide enough room for dust collection ductwork and wiring. You may say, why not just lay conduits and ducts in the concrete? Well, I GUARANTEE I will be moving the location of my dustmakers. I would like to get in the shop for a while before I commit to locations for these things. Once they're in concrete, they're, well, set in stone. Of course, raising the floor will cost me six inches of wall height. I think I'm ok with that since my walls will end up at 9'6". Should be sufficient. Connected to this discussion is heating. I've heard a lot of people say to install radiant heating in the slab. If I were not going to raise the floor, I probably would. Raising the floor leaves the option open for installing radiant heating under the wood floor. Until then, I'll probably do some sort of electrical heating.

As I mentioned before, I'll have attic trusses put in for storage. I've played with the idea of putting my DC and air compressor up there but I'll wait to make that decision. Leaning toward scrapping that and building a small closet outside. Not a critical decision at this time since all I currently have is a pancake compressor and a Delta dust collector. No cyclone yet. I'd rather not have electrical or dc drops from above but I will if I need to. Much prefer to go under-floor. Leaving all options open.

Let's get on with it...
 
They broke ground this past Wednesday, 11/29. Here are some pics:

From the street:
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Closer:
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Electrical & plumbing trenches from the house:
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Shop will butt up against the end of driveway. They'll make a clean cut when they do the pour:
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yup, more updates:D ........and we`ll all help you spend any money or time you may have left over;) .......thanks rob!
 
OK, tod. Here's where it stands today:

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They've got the trenches dug for the slab and some of the stone tossed on there. Scheduled to pour on Monday.

For those of you wondering, yes, that is a black walnut tree on the left there. Don't get any ideas.:D
 
they must be planning to work at least tomorrow and maybe sunday to be ready to pour on monday?......i didn`t see plumbing or electrical stubs or any formwork.......thanks for the update rob.....tod
 
I don't know why I wrote that. Stupid. Actually, the concrete guys are coming on Monday to do the forms. The plumbing & electrical stuff will also be worked on then.

See what happens when you type before you think? :eek:
 
IMPORTANT SUGGESTION

:wave:
Rob, it looks good so far, but I do have a couple of suggestions to make, (One that you would need to address IMMEDIATELY, or it will be too late). These suggestions come from my own experience with my shop, (which still isn't finished:( ), I would make the outside closet/shed slightly larger and put BOTH your DC AND your Air Compressor in there, to save room in the shop, and also it will be much quieter working in the shop. I have a shed room for those two items and for lawn/garden equipment and a wet potting sink/bench.

The MOST important item though is that NO MATTER what kind of floor you end up with, INSTALL 2" foam board insulation UNDER the slab you are about to pour NOW. It is a lot colder where you are than where I am, and last winter, my feet and legs nearly froze, (and I'm very hot natured). I wanted to put it under my slab, but due to all kinds of problems with my contractor, it never got worked out.:doh: By insulating UNDER the slab, it will be much easier to control the temperature in the shop, AND your heating bill will be much lower. I just can't emphasize the importance of this one little item enough. It will cost a little more now, but the payback will be from now on, and once the pour is made, there is just NO cost effective fix for this problem.

Good luck with your contractor, and keep us posted.
 
:wave:
I would make the outside closet/shed slightly larger and put BOTH your DC AND your Air Compressor in there, to save room in the shop, and also it will be much quieter working in the shop. I have a shed room for those two items and for lawn/garden equipment and a wet potting sink/bench.
I've read that it's not a great idea to put the DC and AC in the same enclosed space. Could someone else chime in on that? I was planning to maybe put the AC in the attic. Not sure how I feel about that though. I could do what you did & build a closet near the front around where the plywood storage is. That may be a good option that I could retrofit later.


The MOST important item though is that NO MATTER what kind of floor you end up with, INSTALL 2" foam board insulation UNDER the slab you are about to pour NOW.

Good advice. It's done.
 
rob, it`s fine to put a compressor with a tefc motor in a closet with a dust collector, probably one with an odp motor as well? but i`d want some air circulation for one with an odp motor just for safety...maybe build a partition wall between the units if your compressor has an odp motor....tod


tefc= totally enclosed fan cooled
odp= open drip proof
 
Rob,

Looks like a great shop plan, look forward to seeing the progress to completion:thumb:

If you put the DC in the same room with the AC you will need a good filter on the air intake for the compressor, most of the home use models do not have much of filter on them
 
Rob,

Congrats on breaking ground on the new shop. Although, I am SO JEALOUS that you can afford to have someone else do all the 'heavy lifting'. Heck, I'd have been done long ago if I didn't have to do everything myself! :rolleyes:

Things are really looking good...already.

About the only advice I have for you so far is to carefully consider what (if anything) you put up in the attic. A/C is all I ended up putting up there, since I heard such nightmares about having other equipment up there.

I'll be watching your progress Rob. Hopefully I have some stuff I can share from my shop adventure that might save you time or money...or both. ;)

Keep us posted...
- Marty -
 
Looks like the concrete guys shut down for the day. They spent a fair amount of time cleaning the slop out of the trenches from the ground water and rain that mucked them up this weekend. Once they finished that, they got to work on the forms. Some pics from today:

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They're hoping to do the pour on Thursday. Still need to finish up the forms and lay the plumbing & electrical runs.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post tomorrow. Got plans. :cool:
 
Glad to see its on its way!

The future home of just a few MCWW meetings are going to be held there!:headbang:

Oh... and that is one heck of a dog house to be sent to if you ever get in fight with the LOYL!:rofl:
 
Not sure where to begin. May as well start here:

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Spent the day at the hospital welcoming our third son to the family. Samuel Ryan Bodenschatz was born at 1:08pm today. Mom & baby are doing great.

Back to the shop. My dad came to the hospital today with news that we had a full concrete truck stuck in our backyard. Whatever. I'll deal with it when I get home. Well, he was wrong. Turns out there were TWO full concrete trucks stuck in our backyard. The concrete guy intercepted me as I pulled into the driveway, basically begging for mercy. I'm not gonna go through the whole story he told me because I can't remember it all. Apparently the stuck trucks really did a number on my lawn. Tore it to shreds. Of course it was to dark to see it but he said I'd be in for a shock the next morning. I tried to put his mind to ease. I understand this is a construction zone & things like this are gonna happen. As long as he makes it right, all is cool. He swore he would make sure the lawn gets repaired properly. The guy had a really bad day & I wasn't about to make it worse. Stuff happens.

Anyway, the plumbing & electrical stubs are in and the footers are poured. I'll get some pics tomorrow.
 
Rob,

There's nothing like the birth of your son to put (relatively) unimportant details like a damaged lawn into perspective. Congratulations! :thumb:
 
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