Adding on mother in law suite (sort of)

[gear jammer]

Wife has turned into a fanatic quilter and wants more room. Thinking about adding on the other side of the garage 16x30. It would tie into the septic and water easy. Would add a bath. Thinking I would add a small furnace with a heat pump. At the door end I would ask for a header so that someday if wanted could add a garage door. I would like floor heat in the concrete. Would the hot water heater with a pump work for this. Or could I use a heat on demand system on a pump and thermostat. Haven't given ac much thought yet, window or mini split.
I have not mentioned this to loml she would get excited and nag me incessantly till I'm ready to do it.

[MstrCarpenter]

What! You're going to let sawdust get tracked into your wife's quilting studio! You should let her take over the garage, being closer to the house and all, and just accept the fact that you will have to build yourself a new shop. I'm sure she'll understand it will have to be bigger than 16 X 30, but that's nothing compared to the sacrifice you're willing to make.

[KC]

What! You're going to let sawdust get tracked into your wife's quilting studio! You should let her take over the garage, being closer to the house and all, and just accept the fact that you will have to build yourself a new shop. I'm sure she'll understand it will have to be bigger than 16 X 30, but that's nothing compared to the sacrifice you're willing to make.

I expect you say that in jest, but it's a valid point.

[R Clark]

I'm not really visualizing what you describe.  It sounds like this new space would be separated from the existing living area by the garage.  I would make craft/quilt space contiguous to the rest of the house; I think making the quilting room almost like walking into any other room of the house would be preferable for most.  I would think about adding on a new garage and making hte existing garage space the quilting area.  Of course, there are a lot of factors that I don't know about which might make this unworkable.

Regarding shop space:  I don't know how you're fixed for shop space now, but what MstrCarpenter and KC said are true.  


A separate building was my long-held dream.  I never really viewed it as an achievable goal.

When we decided to move out of our suburban tri-level house (with cramped garage shop) and began our search for the "forever home", we had on the list that our forever home would have a separate shop building.  We saw some homes with great walk-out basements that would make for nice shop setups.  I was willing to settle.  LOML was not willing to settle.  

What I didn't realize at the time was that 15 years of noise, electrical woes, tracked sawdust and dirt, and fine dust everywhere had made a separate shop building one of LOML's dreams, too.

End result was that the separate shop building became a reality seven years ago. 

[gear jammer]

I already have a separate shop. I'm not landlocked but for the size it would put me to close to the lot line than I want. As for moving the garage over I would have to take down a beautiful oak shade tree to accommodate a driveway. It would tie into the existing roof line easy. 
My concern is the heat. She likes to be warm so I'm trying to figure out the heat.

[MstrCarpenter]

Yes an "on demand" water heater would work for your radiant heat, but i would not use an electric unit. It would be gas unless I was already burning oil in a boiler. in which case i could simply add a zone with circulator and controls. I would also consider a heat pump for heat during the spring and fall and A.C.. In a space like that it would bring the air temp. up fast while the floor was warming up.

[crokett™]

I would go with a min-split for heat/cooling. That keeps it separate from the rest of the house and she can set the temp to exactly what she wants it to be. You won't need any of the air ducting that comes with a traditional heat pump, and the outside unit is much smaller.

[rwe2156]

We've got an overarm quilting machine we need to sell.

NE FL