Work Shop Ideas Needed?

david graves

Member
Messages
69
Location
Mississippi
Hi all, long time reader here but dont post much for some reason.

I am finally going to build my workshop/office. I have attached a .pdf file here for those who wish to view the layout.

The foundation pad is going in today(hopefully). I am looking for ideas of things you have "wished you had done" after you finished yours.

I have only included a floorplan but have a full set of architectural plans available.

The following is what you dont see on just the attached floorplan:

Brick exterior
Shop has a dedicated air conditioning system
Office will have dedicated air conditioning system
Shop will have plywood for the walls/ceiling
Office will be sheetrock
Stone floors in office
unfinished concrete in shop
100 amp electrical service


Thanks in advance for any tips/ideas.

Regards,

David Graves
 

Attachments

  • SHOP_FLOORPLAN.pdf
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How fun. Congrats.

- epoxy shop floor.
- twice the electrical you could ever think you will ever use.
- DC/compressor outside.
- going to the house would have to be extremely inconvenient before I would give up shop space for a shower and toilet.
- you'll love having the sink.
 
I was curious about the epoxy floor. I will do some welding in there on my horse trailers etc... and wasnt sure how durable the epoxy floor coating would be. I will look into that some more.

As far as the shower goes, I will be moving my office from the house to the new shop when finished and I am a "early riser" so I will be working the office for a couple hours most mornings before leaving at 5:00 a.m. to head to my "real job". I will shower there to keep from disturbing the wife.

I will be putting the air compressor and dust collection outside as well. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

I will post progress pics as soon as I can get started. I know how you guys like pics.

Thanks,
 
Make provision for some electrical conduits to stub up in the centre of the floor. That way you can put a receptacle in the floor near something like the position of the table saw.

I wish I done the same with dust collector pipes in the floor or at least a couple of runs from one side to the other.

Guess you cannot do these if the pad is going in today. You might be able to put in some conduit though.

I would also get my trusses overdesigned greater than what i have to be able to use the space overhead for storage. You never have enough space.

Take a good look at the shop tours. Lots of great ideas when you see other guys shops in picture form.

Best of luck with the whole operation. Now should be a good time to build with the economy down and prices low.
 
Hi all, long time reader here but dont post much for some reason.

I am finally going to build my workshop/office. I have attached a .pdf file here for those who wish to view the layout.

The foundation pad is going in today(hopefully). I am looking for ideas of things you have "wished you had done" after you finished yours.

I have only included a floorplan but have a full set of architectural plans available.

The following is what you dont see on just the attached floorplan


Thanks in advance for any tips/ideas.

Regards,

David Graves

well dave ,, i too thought the shower was a bad idea but your reasoning is good.. the floor i was gonna sugest putting wood over it, but welding and wood dont mix.. so you will want rubber mats at your tool areas and benchs ,, save he legs and back in time believe me it will catch up to yu.. the DC and compressor outsde of the shop is a must.. and the ducting in my opinion under ground is great but to lat for that now:) the electrical should be a 200 amp service..you will be surprized at how fast your 100 amp will fill up. and for the ply wals paint the ceiling white and if you like white the walls too.. and run several banks that are switched seperatly of t-8 lights..you dont need them all on at once usually and sometimes you do.. also not sure what your project type is but you should look at a finish room somewhere..
 
I wanted dust collection in the floor but I have been delayed nearly two months due to rain and trying to finish a remodel on a 9 year old house (Thats another story I will get around to telling soon). I am to a point that I am ready to just get this thing out of the ground.

I agree about the electrical and may opt for a 200 amp service.

As far as a finishing room goes, I have a pretty tight (clean room type environment) room in one of our horse barns that does not stable any horses any more. If not for that, a clean room is a must have in my opinion for any shop if space permits. I would love to have it here, but this home in within the city limits and I had to get a variance just to build this. (what a pain in the rear that was).

Thanks guys and keep any more ideas coming as all are appreciated.
 
well i have found one draw back with thw dc in the floor.. you cant move it once its there:) but i got more of it right then wrong..and it was because of the help here that i did..but your shop will evolve, from what you thought was perfect, after you work in it awhile.. mine has.
 
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It looks like your doors are 30" I would make them 36" better for resale = handicapped accessible. I am not a great fan of over head doors unless they are the metal ones that roll up above the opening. I don't like the track hanging down & they block overhead lighting when open. I prefer hinged hung doors.
 
I was curious about the epoxy floor. I will do some welding in there on my horse trailers etc... and wasnt sure how durable the epoxy floor coating would be. I will look into that some more.

You could leave a "welding zone" that was still bare concrete(?). My buddy and I got houses around the same time. Due to scheduling, he got to epoxy his and I didn't; I've always been sad about that.

As far as the shower goes, I will be moving my office from the house to the new shop when finished and I am a "early riser" so I will be working the office for a couple hours most mornings before leaving at 5:00 a.m. to head to my "real job". I will shower there to keep from disturbing the wife.

Now there is a perfectly good reason for that bathroom; good plan.

I will be putting the air compressor and dust collection outside as well. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

This is another thing my buddy got to do that I did not; again . . . sad.

And of course, you are right, we love pics ;-)
 
It looks like your doors are 30" I would make them 36" better for resale = handicapped accessible. I am not a great fan of over head doors unless they are the metal ones that roll up above the opening. I don't like the track hanging down & they block overhead lighting when open. I prefer hinged hung doors.

The two entrance doors are 36" wide. A 3068 door = 3'-0" x 6'-8" . I too like the hinged hung doors better, but with this thing fully air conditioned I need something that I can seal off/ insulate a little easier. The overhead door will be my most economical choice.

Money is tight on this project as the house remodel I mentioned earlier went way over budget; big time. It started out as floors only change ended up as " changed everything but the paint on the ceiling" and I mean that literally.

Regards and thanks for the ideas.
 
bart does have a point,,, on the light blocking..as for cost factor,,if you enter in the abillty to insulate better you might be surprized on the hinged doors vrs the overhead,, just for grins price out a framed up door with insulation in it and compare$ it doesnt take much to make a good seal and 2x4 are easily to get as is insulation.. plus you can have a window in them too.
 
I wish I hadn't put in an overhead door. I understand where you're coming from but it does play havoc with the lighting.

I'm going to disagree about the amount of power you'll need in the shop. I've got Just about all the toys needed and I'm running on only 50 amps. I'm not a production shop so there is not that much running at any one time. I do have 110 and 220 outlets all the way around the perimeter and a dedicated 220 in the floor for the TS.

I hope your walls are 10'. My last shop was the same size as yours and only had 8' and that was a real PITA.

You'll love the disappearing stairs. I don't have much space above my shop, but enough to store some wood and plastic totes with odds and ends. Be sure to lay some boards or sheetgoods up there before you close it in, other wise you'll be kicking your self later. Don't forget to add lighting up there too!

I did the epoxy floors too. Looks nice but I wouldn't put the sprinkles on again. Looks nice until you have to look for the little screw or part that falls on the floor. Also lots of lights. If you don't think you need them now.. wait a few years when your eyes get older!
 
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I have an overhead door in my shop and use that area for the storage of veneers and some sheet goods along with some cabinet parts that I cut out ahead of time but don't need right away.

I also use it as a drying rack when I spray and hang my doors there to dry.

The floors I just sealed them but wish I had done the epoxy coating instead.
 
I epoxied my floors, but failed to put anything in the paint to give traction. There are additives available where you buy the paint - use one. My floor can get pretty slick with a little sawdust on it.

As for lighting, I use high output fluorescent daylight color lamps - 5500 kelvin I think. I love them and I can be out there in the middle of night and it feels like high noon inside. Regular fluorescents have a muddy blue green cast that can get depressing and give you poor color rendition. IMHO
 
You'll love the disappearing stairs. I don't have much space above my shop, but enough to store some wood and plastic totes with odds and ends. Be sure to lay some boards or sheetgoods up there before you close it in, other wise you'll be kicking your self later. Don't forget to add lighting up there too!

My garage (converted to my shop) also has access to a large the attic space via pull down stairs, but unfortunately the truss system takes up all the space. Suggest you get a truss system designed to allow for storage. Something like this:

203-1.jpg


The truss designers will design it to handle loads. It should not cost much more than a normal roof truss. Much better way to go.
 
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200 amp minimum.....it really depends on what you`re doing?
welding takes juice but you`re unlikely to be using much more than lights with the welder,
depending on your location place your windows strategically for good light at your work stations.
if you`re serious about wood or metal working talk to you `lectrition about a "raceway" either overhead or in the slab, it`ll make upgrades much easier.
 
I installed a 100 amp sub panel in my shop with no problems. I run a 220 volt 24,500 btu a/c unit, 220 v compressor, soon to be cyclone.

On the 120 volt circuits I have the lights, 2 fans, drill press, jointer, planer, tablesaw, dust collector, mig welder, lathe.

How many Items are you planing to run at one time? I've had the tablesaw, dust collector, a/c, router and even the compressor running at the same time with no problems what so ever.

It really boils down to what machinery you are going to run and what they draw power wise.
 
I worked in a production welding shop for a few years, the floors were all wood, they were old, most likely older than my Dad, and there had never been a fire. They were very nice to work on, especially in the winter. We had a "New" section of the factory that had concrete floors, if you worked there for even a few hours, you found ways to get back on the wooden floors for a while, just to ease you back. I'll mention that I was only about 21 at the time and I could really feel the difference even then, concrete floor suck, bad.

If I could snap my fingers and change anything, I'd put good wooden floors in my Dungeon, just way, WAY WAY too much work to do it now:(

The other suggestions are all good, more electrical is good, you will be happy down the road that you have more rather than less, and usually putting more in does not cost that much at the building stage.

Tod's suggestion on window placement is also great, a sink near a window is a fantastic place to sharpen hand tools with waterstones, nothing beats natural light. Speaking of lights, more is always good, I don't know how old you are, but I was told by a wise old guy to put in way more lights than I think I need, I was just shy of 40 at the time. He said what I need for lights at 40 will be different than what I need for lights at 60 or 70, so do you really want to be up on a ladder at 60 or 70 installing more lights, or at 40? :D

You can wire them in sections, so that you don't need them all on all the time, during the day, maybe only half would need to be on. If you can do it, run one light from the house, not on the main panel in your shop, that way, if you do trip the breaker for the shop, you will not be plunged into total darkness with a tool in your hands that has a spinning sharp blade in it. <- this last bit may not apply to you if you have lots of light outside the shop, and or don't work in the dead of night, or down in a Dungeon like I do :rolleyes: :D

I think that Vaughn epoxied his floors and put some kind of traction stuff in it, and he has been happy with it so far..... :dunno:

Best of luck, take lots of pictures! :wave:
 
Thanks for all of your suggestions, as far as age goes, I am 39 adn will be 40 in about 6 months. I already have back issues from Rodeo and just playing too hard when I was younger. I will have sufficient lighting, like you said I dont want to be up there later trying to hang lights and pull wire.

I will try and take a pic of the site today. I have to stop by there and get my trac-hoe out so the guy can start the foundation pad today (mother nature permitting).

Regards,
 
I put a in-floor receptacle in for my table saw and I messed up on the conduit. I ran the bends too tight, and with the heavier wire, it would not push up through. Now I have an empty box that fills with sawdust and does me no good as far as power goes. The point here is to really plan for light sweeps when bending your conduit. It sounds pretty dumb I know, but when dealing with the limited space of a slab, it is easy to make the bends too steep.
 
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