Shop design?

[JDuke]

Shop design?

A little over a year ago, my family moved onto 16 acres outside city limits, now I am about to get to build a shop.

The plan is to build an oversized 3-4 car garage that either mimics or compliments the house and locate it such that it's garage doors face the current attached 3 car garage.

It will house my woodworking, and metalworking equipment although welding will probably be sequestered to another barn on the property.

I find myself paralyzed by all the possibilities.

I started woodworking in a basement, and have been in garages, one and 2 car, most recently I had a dedicated shop but at only 15x35' it was very crowded. I have always adapted my shop to fit the space.

So far the only requirements that I'm certain of, are
More than 1000 square feet with easy access to an upstairs for seasonal storage
Slab on grade
Insulated and climate control

I'm just not sure what else I really have to have.

Duke

[Mandrake]

Shop design?

A little over a year ago, my family moved onto 16 acres outside city limits, now I am about to get to build a shop.

The plan is to build an oversized 3-4 car garage that either mimics or compliments the house and locate it such that it's garage doors face the current attached 3 car garage.

It will house my woodworking, and metalworking equipment although welding will probably be sequestered to another barn on the property.

I find myself paralyzed by all the possibilities.

I started woodworking in a basement, and have been in garages, one and 2 car, most recently I had a dedicated shop but at only 15x35' it was very crowded.  I have always adapted my shop to fit the space.

So far the only requirements that I'm certain of, are
More than 1000 square feet with easy access to an upstairs for seasonal storage
Slab on grade
Insulated and climate control

I'm just not sure what else I really have to have.

Duke

A good problem to have.

Consider separate space for finishing, and dedicated, and sound insulated, space for dust collection and air compressor. Water, perhaps a bathroom, is good to include.

[Wild Turkey]

I'm in the middle of that delightful problem.

LOML insisted I have a garage door at each end. I'm not sure but it does seem to have some advantages, especially on those pleasant days when open doors are preferred


I gave up on upstairs storage -- everything I checked (trusses, roofing, etc) each added $1000 to the cost of the building. It was cheaper to build bigger and not worry about the knees giving up.

Like you I'm looking at a "4-corner" shop -- woodworking, welding, automotive, general repair and finishing.

Right now the two things I've settled on are LOTS of windows and PLENTY of led lights!

[GlenS]

And many many outlets.

[daddo]

You're still thinking "Adapt to the size of the shop" when you exclude welding. I couldn't imagine separating that way. Too many times welding/metal work and woodworking coincide.  It can be done safely and without a big footprint.

The things I wouldn't do without are the urinal, the big sink, climate control, and my dvd player/TV/radio.  I build my shop around these items.

[Splinter Puller]

You're still thinking "Adapt to the size of the shop" when you exclude welding. I couldn't imagine separating that way. Too many times welding/metal work and woodworking coincide.  It can be done safely and without a big footprint.

The things I wouldn't do without are the urinal, the big sink, climate control, and my dvd player/TV/radio.  I build my shop around these items.  

In floor heat.   Best heat ever for a shop that is subject to cool / cold weather.  

Cross ventilation. I have big sliding doors looking out onto the back yard on end end and an overhead door on the other.  Open both up and the breeze cools the shop and removed lingering dust.

Ceiling height.  My shop peaks at 15 foot in the middle.  Perfect for swinging long boards.


Seperate finishing room.  Nothing stops a project harder then having to clean the shop and prepare an area to finish a piece.   While the finish is happening it also stops other work.  Separate these functions!

Metal work should also be seperated as grinding, welding and drilling steel spreads metal everywhere.

[Bit_Fiddler]

I built a dedicated shop building a couple of years ago...  A couple of lessons I learned (and may still be learning)...

Outlets - figure out how many and where you want 110 and 220 outlets - then fill in the empty areas with more.  As you evolve, so will the arrangement of your shop and you don't want to be limited by the layout of the outlets.  Also, drop a few outlets from the ceiling so you can get power to the middle of the room without walking over an extension cord.  52" from floor is better than 48" just in case you lean sheet goods against wall.

Keep the ceiling high - 10 feet should almost be a minimum on a new build - plenty of room to flip long boards and sheet goods.

I didn't do in floor heat due to cost, but i did put 2" of blue rigid foam under the slab (pretty cheap).  Made a HUGE difference in floor warmth even without heat.   Shop floor is DRAMATICALLY warmer than the garage floor on the same property, so I know the insulation made a huge difference. 

Make a small closet for your dust collection and air compressor - makes a big difference in shop noise.  I put one of Onieda's bin alarms on the dust collector barrel so I know when the barrel is full without being able to directly see the barrel.

I wish I could have gotten sewer and water out to my shop, but the cost was just too much...

When the electric was trenched from the house to the shop, I had them bury a 2nd 2.5 inch conduit in the same trench.  I put RG-6 coax, cat 6, fiber optic cable and an air line in that formerly empty conduit.   The air-line was extended to a large air tank in the attached garage so I don't need a 2nd compressor in the garage.   I used the fiber optic cable to connect the internet to the shop without worrying about nearby lightning strikes taking out my LAN.  I put a cheap AP for WI-FI in the shop and a small Ethernet switch for wired devices.  The RG-6 provides DirecTV service to the shop without a 2nd dish on the property.

The gas company changed out my meter to a high pressure, higher volume meter for free.  This allowed me to trench gas out to the shop for a gas furnace.  I went with a sealed combustion furnace so I don't have to worry about blowing the place up with finish, solvents or dust.  I upsized the furnace by 1 size over the recommended unit (75K BTU to 100K BTU ) to warm the place up faster in the winter.  I also installed a Honeywell wi-fi thermostat so I can control the shop thermostat from the house and warm it up before I head out there.

Even though I bought the thicker, insulated overhead doors, I find myself trying to figure out a way to insulate and seal them better....

Hope this provides some food for thought,
Dave

[rwe2156]

Its nice to have plenty of windows, especially facing east, which side you can have your workbench.

Having done it like 3 times, I recommend wiring externally with armor flex or conduit.  Simple to add/change a circuit.  Faster than romex,  plus putting up walls is a cinch no holes to cut.

I found its a huge advantage to be able to move your machines around wherever you want without being restricted by power supply location.  Just put your machines where you want 'em and run a circuit to 'em.

[measure once cut remeasure]

What climate are you in ?

[TheTradesmanChannel]

I am currently building a two story timber framed shop that is 28'x50'. Welding, blacksmith and tractor repair shop on the first floor...timber framing and woodworking on the second floor. It is slab on grade, all mortice, tenon and pegged together. It might be a process you might enjoy for your own. I figure to have about $12k into this project not including the cost of the Hudson bandmill I bought. Nothing compares to the feeling of putting that joinery together and standing those bents. You can do it on your own too with the help of an old tractor. It would make you a heck of a workshop.