We're in the process of buying a new home, and I have an area in the basement that is roughly 18' x 22' x 8 1/2' reserved for a wood shop. We're at the stage of construction where the studs are in, but no wiring or plumbing yet. Other than upping the electricity from 150 to 200 in hopes of eventually aquiring, say, a 220 cabinet saw, I haven't gotten around to making any specific requests. I'm looking for suggestions as to what else I might want to specify at this stage of construction to take best advantage of the space.
Lets see...maybe a lot of soundproofing in the ceiling? Seriously tho, you would be very wise to consider having the walls covered with 5/8 or 3/4" CDX before drywall. Just think of how much easier it will be not having to worry about where the studs are every time you want to hang something on the wall. Also, when you get pissed off and throw a hammer, it will domuch less damage... DD
Put in electrical outlets everywhere at 42 inches high. Its much cheaper to do it now than to add it later. You could also have them pull the wire and loop it into electrical boxes for adding sockets later. I'd strongly suggest you put in a separate electrical subpanel to power your shop. Maybe that's what you implied below, but I wasn't sure. Its really handy to be able to kill power to your big tools right there in the shop. I also find it comforting to know I can disable power and not worry about kids getting into something they shouldn't.
Have you considered putting water or a half bath in there?
What about lighting?
Heck, get the book "Setting up Shop" and read the whole thing. It will give you ideas and direction that you might not even have thought about.
Some like 42" onna 'count of it's at "arm level" (the same height as you'd typically find a light switch).
With about 120 running feet of wall space I don't have much of it left for leaning sheet goods.
I've also noticed that some of my machines (jointer, planer and band saw) have clustered themselves in the middle of the shop. The seem to like it there but this means cords strung off in each direction to the wall boxes. I have on my short list the task of running a line down the ceiling and terminating into a 4-way just above this location. I have a similar line above my assembly area but it's only rated 15 amp (portable power tools only).
Just finished wiring mine at 42. I was thinking "higher than the intended benchtops and lower than the intended cabinets."
I'm really cramped for space. 12'X16'. My intended ply storage area will be the first 4' of space as you come into the shop, plywood slid into the (intended ;> ) hinged rollout plywood holder thingy. KnowhutImean?
Another week or two and it'll all be moot since I won't be able to afford plywood anymore.
Insulate the walls, screw plywood( if you can afford it !) and use conduit for all your electrical runs. I laid my 4 by 8's horizontal, used a 1 by 6 to hide the seam,mounted conduit on the 1 by 6s. Makes for a clean look, clamps grip the 1 by 6s, upgrading( you ALWAYS needa nother circuit !) is real easy. Put sub panel in, I used a 'fastpak' and put lights on separate breakers from machines. Install good doors to help keep the dust in the room and out of the rest of the house. hth jay
outlets at 42" - 50" every 5 - 6', max of 2 or 3 outlets to a circuit. Several ceiling mounted outlets where ever you might put your bench or assembly table. I would wait on the 220 outlets and add them on the surface once you figure out where they will go. Could go as far as to have the electrician run a 3/4" conduit and boxes every 12' around the room after the sheetrock was done. Chances are you will have 3 or less
220 machines and the 3/4 will handle that many circuits.
Sub panel is a good idea but i would let my lights and maybe one outlet come from the main panel. that way, if you want, you can shutoff the main breaker (lock it if desired) and know that your tools won't get run accidentally. You would then still have lights to use hand tools and get picture hanging hardware or whatever and any battery chargers or clocks could plug into the one outlet.
Plan for ventilation now with either a kitchen thru the wall fan or if you plan to do any finishing then perhaps an explosion proof exhaust fan. I would not finish in a basement shop but that is a personal preference.
Water, absolutely and a half bath if you can afford it. It gets tiring (and the neighbors complain) running outside and "using the tree" all the time.
Lighting, to your comfort level. there are too many discussions on this one already. I use primarily fluorescent but am adding incandescent "detail lighting".
Sound proofing the ceiling at the very least. I believe the current method is sheetrock, isolation channel and than sheetrock again. several discussion on this in the past. Google search the group. Heavy door(s)...
if your house will have a whole house vacuum, run a connection, or 2, to the shop. these work better on drill presses, sanders and band saws than traditional DC do. IN MY OPINION. I use one, I am happy with it, I empty it so I use it for the shop also. If you don't have one planned, now is the time to do it, you wife will like it, the dust goes out of the area/house and no I don't sell them.
the thought about plywood under the sheetrock is a good one, I would do that if I did my shop over but have not missed having it since I found french cleats. after all, this is a shop and not a museum. (SWMBO made me say that)
Just saw a mag on the newsstand that was labeled something like "Best Shops" (or something like that) and featured a number of shops of all sizes and what makes them special. Sorry I don't recall the name but since I already have a shop, I didn't spend much time looking at it. But it is on the stands right now.
I used 7/16"ish OSB for my first layer. Home Depot had it for $7ish a sheet and when you get done calculating ($150ish for a 20' X 20' space) it's nothing to the budget. I drywalled over it onna 'count of I didn't want to look at skanky OSB for the rest of my life.
Thanks, I think you might be referring to the Wood magazine series. I have most of those, and they were instrumental in our house decision (although my wife might not realize that :-). You can see their various configurations on their website:
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Woodworking also has some shop setup specifics in their annual issue, on the stands now:
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for all the comments guys - plenty of stuff that never occurred to me. Provided we succeed in selling our existing house (and maybe a suitcase stuffed with cash falls from the sky,) I'll upload some photos when I finally make the new shop happen!
On Wed, 26 Nov 2003 05:44:29 -0600, Unisaw A100 scribbled
IMNSHO, our North American 42-48" inches is stupid. I know we're all used to it, but the Yurpeens put theirs much lower, so you don't have to lift your elbow to flick a switch. OTOH, Charlie's 54" makes a lot of sense.
That's why you need windows in a shop (Sorry Charlie). With windows, you reserve a wall space to lean sheet goods on. Unless the windows are placed too high, which then tempts you to put a counter or bench under them.
Luigi Replace "no" with "yk" for real email address
Well, I've got over 135 running feet of wall space (interior of 25 x 48, minus one 8' door and one 4' door) in my Bedford shop, and there almost never seems to be enough space for anything, at least along the walls. My few windows are placed high enough so that I can put tools or benches under them...in my view, windows are a PITA, but some are helpful for ventilation. They allow light to screw up photos, and the differing angles of winter and summer sun can create problems, as well. I seriously regret the window in the end wall of my shop in winter.
I have about 16' of wall space where sheet goods are more or less permanently tilted (which will change when I get back), plus another 8' or so wide stretch on the front wall that provides hanging space for jackets, aprons, similar things, plus standing space of seamless paper (for photo backgrounds), that is also occupied right now by about 8-9 sheets of oak plywood. One wall is all workbench (and will get wall cabinets over shortly after I return, to add to the cabinets under...which will get new and different doors: the simple plywood doors have warped all to hell and back, thanks to the Virginia summer/winter humidity changes).
I do have some open space on the end wall, though right now that has some 8-10' long 4/4 oak and cherry taking up most of the space. Stuff ahs been there about
3 years, so is ready to use.
Charlie Self
"If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." H. L. Mencken
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