New shop space ideas welcomed-

[mongo]

Hello! Its been while,

I am closing on this Friday on house where I will finally be able to setup shop again.  Its been a year since we moved out of my old one and have been staying in a rental.  And most of the year before that we were trying to sell so the shop time has been mostly on standby for the better part of 2 years.

The space my shop will occupy in the next house will be in a roughly 24' by 28' attached garage.  I know I am going to have to run some electric but what else do you wish you had done when moving into a space before getting everything settled.  Very excited as my last space was about 20'x20' that I shared with a washer and dryer and a water heater, plus the gardening tools.  This time I already have a shed for the lawn stuff and possibly for lumber storage.  And the laundry is inside the home.


So what suggestions do you have for things I should consider right off.  I have a few idea's but am open to some fresh ones.  Pics will come this weekend when I take possession.  Last I saw the garage it was packed floor to ceiling with boxes the current owner was moving out.

[Gregory of Sherwood Forest]

Run air lines alongside the electrical in many areas. Run dust collection piping before too much stuff moves in just to make it easier to get around with the ladder.

Otherwise, plan for storage. As much as possible. There's never enough.

[Hank Knight]

The thing I most regret about my shop is that I didn't put down a wood floor. Mine is concrete, and even with floor mats, it's a back killer. You can never have too many electrical outlets. Don't tie yourself down to a specic layout. I've reorganized my shop a dozen times over the last 25 years in search of the optimum layout. It has been relatively stable for a while, but I'm not sure I'm done yet. Put a French cleat rail around the entire shop so you can add/move wall cabinets and shelves easily. I agree with all of Gregory's comments, especially his comment about storage. Be sure to include wood/sheet goods storage.
Good luck! Setting up a new shop is great fun.

[WaterlooMarc]

I'll echo the wood storage. While I'm satisfied with what I would call my actual lumber storage I am in dire need of better solution for my scraps. You know, those pieces too big for the burn pile that you might use someday but in reality just shuffle them around for a few years until you finally wind up burning them.

I built my chop saw station into my main lumber rack. I like that pretty well. It's nice to just take a board off the rack and right onto the table.

[brianwelch]

The Grizzly website has a clever shop planning/layout feature...
http://www.grizzly.com/workshopplanner

[bennybmn]

Do something with the floor. Someone else suggested wood (fantastic idea), but if that's too costly, paint/seal/epoxy coat/bedazzle, whatever works best for your floor. I wish I had done mine... A smooth floor will clean up SOOOO much easier and more completely than concrete. There always seems to be dust...

[Window Guy]

Hey Mongo welcome back glad to see you posting again. Where did you move to ? if I remember correctly you were abot 2 hrs +- from where I live.  Anyhow I had all my electrical done, 4 ( 4 ) gang boxes 50" off of the floor and ( 1 ) 220 outlet for my compressor etc. My shop is my over size 2 car garage also and I was lucky to have a utility sink in the garage which I use all the time. I need to run a few lights but so far I have managed as my work bench is near the over head door and faces to the exterior. Hank is right I wish I had a wood floor also and I might try and build a couple wooden platforms around my bench area. I also have 10' ceilings which is nice.


So I guess what I am saying running electric and adding lights if needed would be a priority, I am not sure if you have access to water or not but a utility sink is helpful for a number of things. A lumber rack if you need one also. Let us know what you are doing and your thoughts.

Also if you were planning a dust collection system you may want to run the duct work. I use mostly hand tools now and I do have a dust collector which I can hook up to each machine I use if need.


Steve

[TxTawd]

Being a garage, you should insulate the walls, the ceiling and the door. I say this because I live in north Texas and the 100 degree days wouldn't allow me much time in the shop without swimming in sweat. I have finally (after 10 years) insulated the walls by blowing in cellulose as dense packed as possible. Then I repainted to brighten up the space. Finally, if your budget allows, add AC and heating.  I just had a mini-split AC/heat pump unit installed. Now I am a comfortable 75 degrees on 100+ degree days. Best thing I have done to the garage/shop ever.

[frigator]

"The thing I most regret about my shop is that I didn't put down a wood floor"

Me too.....my two previous shops had plywood floors, nothing fancy but a joy too work on...plus could run electrical underneath right to the machines. In this new shop of mine, which I am still working on, I didnt put down a wood floor cause my knees are bad and I just cant get down on the floor like I used to. But I could have hired someone, and I might even do it down the road. Just the other day I dropped a 45$ LN plane iron on my concrete floor and knicked the edge badly.  Wouldnt have happened with wood floor. 

Lights...I put in LED and the place is like an operating room...love it. Plenty of power outlets. I like my shops painted. I am setting up my third shop right now too, running the dust pipe so think about where you want your machines and how you will get power and dust pipe to them. 

Anyway, congrats on the new shop.

[Window Guy]

I agree insulating would be nice but home is CBS and then drywalled, there is no way I could afford to insulate the walls and if I don't insulate the walls then the OH Door would be a waste.


Steve