What would you do differently if you were setting up your shop?
#21
If I build another shop (which will happen if I actually start selling like I hope to) it'll be big.  Like 40x90 big.  Or bigger.  Current is 24x24.

As mentioned above, a big electrical panel.  I have 60A now, should have gone with 100A.

As mentioned above, wood over the concrete.  Make sure it's level.

As mentioned above, 50" electrical outlets, and I would still bury my wiring in the walls, BUT I would put in a boat load of outlets and multiple circuits.  120V every 6', 240V every 10'.  My garage is my shop; it had bare walls.  I wired and insulated it myself, and have no lack of outlets.

As mentioned above, LOTS of LED lighting.  It's lovely.

Radiant heat panels.

Ceiling fans.

Compressor and DC in a walled off room, if not detached.  Hopefully I'll be where I can just vent my shavings directly outside.

14' ceilings, because I often buy 12' lumber.

A separate room for finishing and a room for lumber storage, probably upstairs with a lift.
Semper fi,
Brad

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#22
If the zoning board nazis had allowed me, I would have made it twice as big.
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#23
For my shop I built a 24 x 48 "barn" with a full walk-out (drive-in) basement and walk up attic (with the rafters on top of the floor sys. for the additional height). Ceilings are at 8', 10'-6" and 8', so I think I made it big enough. The main floor, attic, and half of the basement are clear span (no posts).  It has two 60 amp panels, but only one 60 amp feed. Should have fed with 100a but I had the wire. F.H.W. by oil heats the basement and attic, and a big F.H.A. furnace takes care of the main floor fast. There's a wood stove on all three levels too.

So what would I do different? Completely finish it before anything was moved in. Although it is a questionably functioning shop, I was just typing a list of what still isn't done. That was depressing so it got deleted. I'm getting ready for semi-retirement. I should be minimizing and making improvements by now, not stressing that there's still a lot to do before I can just enjoy it. Now there's a lot of "stuff" in the way and it seems that for every project, there's something that has to get done first. Also, I'm blessed that I can afford it, but it's still depressing to see how much more materials cost now vs. then.

Never in all of the houses, additions, and remodeling projects did my customer move in before the "Final customer walk-thru". Was I really too busy finishing their jobs 100% to finish my own?
Sign at N.E. Vocational School Cabinetmaking Shop 1976, "Free knowledge given daily... Bring your own container"
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#24
(03-15-2022, 12:39 PM)atgcpaul Wrote: Did you put in a wood floor over concrete (sleepers and AdvanTech), or was this a purpose-built shop with real floor joists, etc?  If the latter, how far apart are your joists?

I'm about to setup shop in a 2 car garage again with a concrete floor, and I probably have enough headroom to add sleepers and plywood over top.

This is a smallish 12x16 wood framed shop on skids to meet community restrictions on size and construction.
My floor joists are 16” apart.

But if I had a concrete floor I would add insulation and the advantech.  If you plan to A/C and heat the space that concrete slab becomes a giant heat sink.  

Forego the sleepers. If you put 2x4 sleepers down at 16” oc with styrofoam insulation between you have covered a fourth of your floor with r-1.5 material.
Insulation panels have made significant advances since the decades since my original shop.  Owens Corning makes a sheet insulation product called Foamular.  You can buy it in various compressive strengths from 25psi to 100psi. A live load strength for your kitchen to support your freezer is like 40-55 pounds per square foot. 
25 psi translates to 3600 pounds per sq. ft.
Cover your floor completely with Foamular, no sleepers.  Lay the advantech or other sheet good flooring material directly on the Foamular, maybe gluing the tongues.  You could drive your car on it with no effect.  My school district built an addition to my school building on sloped land.   They dug to correct footing level, poured the foundation walls, then backfilled within the foundation walls with large Foamular blocks before pouring the floor slab.

Tape the seams on your Foamular.  Concrete can wick moisture, the XPS Foamular will act as a vapor barrier.  You could use a lot of different floor products but over concrete I would only use Advantech.  It is guaranteed not to swell for 500 days, even if stored in a puddle.  I can attest to that.  My workshop build was interrupted for almost a year shortly before I could put up my roof because of a back injury.  The advantech floor was covered with snow, melt, snow, melt,...., then spring rains for a couple of months, it was dirty colored, but that was it.
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#25
First things:  Good luck on your adventure.  It's an exciting time!

My shop is 25X44; it was stick built and was already existing when we bought the property.  It wasn't insulated and the electrical service was inadequate.  There were no windows; only two 16' overhead doors and an entry door, all on the East-facing side of the shop.  LOML and I decided that basic shop outfitting was the first domino that would fall when we moved in because all of other work would benefit from the shop being done.  I got in a rush.

First "do-over":  Take the time to really plan the shop.

Second do-over:  Put in windows on the south and west sides.  I really wish I had better natural light, particularly in the winter.  Yes, I could put windows in now, but inertia makes that little more than a pipe dream.  When we moved in, the framing was open and the building was up to code (built in 2004), so it would have been easy.  I blew that one...

Third thing:  As others have said, pay attention to the floor.  The original owner of the property built the shop building as a four-bay garage.  It's a concrete slab.  I keep the north half of the building fairly open because I do use it for vehicle maintenance, particularly in winter.  But there is spillover WWing in that area as well, and I keep my mobilized planer drum sander, and some wood storage over there, and the lathe is there, too.  I need to be able to roll things between sides, and putting in a flooring system for the wood shop would really compicate moving things from side to side.  Thus, I have foam floor tiles in the wood shop, and it's not ideal.

Heat source:  I heat my shop with propane.  I wish I had a geo-thermal system. That's a whole other story unto itself.  

Space and organization:  When we looked at the property before buying, I was amazed at what I thought I could do with 25X44 space.  Within a year, I was storing some stuff outside when I needed to do some things, and the north side of the shop was a mish-mash of stuff that was never organized.  Then I retired and added a small boat and trailer for fishing.  Six years into our tenure, we added another 25X30 building that I call the machine shed.  It houses the majority of the wood storage, the boat, the utility trailer, ATV (with snow plow), and the myriad small machines, carts, and stuff that go with living on an acreage.
Ray
(formerly "WxMan")
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#26
(03-15-2022, 10:19 PM)MstrCarpenter Wrote: ... Although it is a questionably functioning shop, I was just typing a list of what still isn't done. That was depressing so it got deleted...

That was good for a morning chuckle.  
Laugh

We moved early, so I had to wire and finish my garage (shop) around all the equipment and boxes that weren't unpacked yet.  Then the spray foam guy worked around it when he did the roof deck.  When that was finished, I placed most everything and unpacked most of the boxes... the first time.  I've moved things around a couple times since then.  Enjoy the beginning of the upcoming retirement fixing it up the way you want it!

Garage at the old house had 9' ceilings (finished).  Those were only problematic one time in 10 years, so I would've done 9' here (open trusses)... but I couldn't go any more than 8' because the garage can't be 'taller' than the house.  I only had one window put in because I didn't want to give up wall space... but would if I was doing it again there'd be more.
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#27
I will only have one wall that can be fitted for a window because 2 wall are adjacent to the house and the third has the overhead door. I believe that the usable wall faces east /northeast. I need to see if the HOA will allow a window AC unit on the side of the garage.
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#28
(03-16-2022, 01:40 AM)srv52761 Wrote: Cover your floor completely with Foamular, no sleepers.  Lay the advantech or other sheet good flooring material directly on the Foamular, maybe gluing the tongues. 

Good info. Thanks.
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#29
There have been several references to flooring--advantec, etc. Take a look at DriCore. It's OSB backed with a vapor barrier membrane that has an air gap between the floor and membrane that allows air flow, permits moisture evaporation and minimizes thermal transfer. Comes in nominal 2'x2' tongue and grooved tiles that go down easily but are removable if necessary. I did my basement shop floor prior to setting up the shop. No doubt the best money invested. Peroid. My feet and knees thank LOML every day for convincing me to spend the dollars on the floor.

Gary
I've only had one...in dog beers.

"You can see the stars and still not see the light"
The Eagles: Already Gone
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#30
Its funny. Many people saying "bigger is better". Bigger isnt better, there is a sweet spot. You gotta pay to heat/cool (that isnt cheap any way you try). There is a bunch of drawbacks to a super large shops. Lots of walking around, storing clutter and junk, longer piping runs because tools are spread out and a larger DC to accommodate that, having to move materials over greater distances, etc.

Years ago I started in about 240 Sqft (12x20), moved to about 528 sqft (24x22) and now I have 2500 sqft (shop maybe 1700 sqft of that) and there are days where I feel like there is a lot of walking.

I use to think the bigger the better, and in fantasy land, sure, but in reality, not so much.

Once Favre hangs it up though, it years of cellar dwelling for the Pack. (Geoff 12-18-07)  



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