Buying a house - building a shop.

M

macardoso

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H-M Supporter - Silver Member
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Hi All,

In a few months, my wife and I are going to be buying our first house. We currently rent a 1300 sq-ft place and will be getting something likely a bit bigger. While we haven't picked the house, I have a good feeling that I will be setting up the shop in the basement again. I current have a space about 15' x 15' but I'd like to expand that a little. I currently have a G0704, a 12x36 lathe, (2) 3x6' workbenches, and a few 3x6' shelves.

What would be some suggestions for starting a shop from scratch? I'm thinking of putting up walls around the shop in the basement with some sort of sound damping in the walls and ceiling. I'd also like to seal the floor with something that will be easy to clean, won't stain with oil, and won't scratch up too much from chips. First thoughts are the epoxy coating in garages, although I don't know the durability.

I'd also like to add a clean workbench station for inspection and electronics work. I'd have my soldering stuff and a oscilloscope set up so I'd like to have a way to keep it free from dust and oil.

Just brainstorming right now, but will get serious once the house is purchased.

Mike
 
Make it as big as you can. That way you have an excuse to buy more stuff because you will need to fill up your shop.
 
I used to have my shop in the basement and invariably tracked chips into the house. Maybe a clothes hanger at the shop door; clean clothes never go through the door to the shop, vice versa for the shop clothes.

The two annoyances for me in the basement shop was access and ceiling height.

It wasn't too bad getting my Grizzly mill drill, Atlas 12 x 36 and Jet JVM 8 x 30 mill into the basement. PITA to get them out. A walk-out would have been great. My 4 x 6 band saw was in the garage where I'd cut 12' or 10' stock down to workable sizes.

I also did wood in my basement and had to pre-plan when cutting 4 x 8 sheet goods. The ceiling was under 8' tall which made it a pain maneuvering stock.

I didn't have too much problem needing to isolate the noise. None of the metalworking tools came close to my 15" thickness planer.

And of course, the more space the better. If you can put up a 30 x 40 x 10' barn next to the house, all the better.


Bruce
 
I'm sure you will get all sorts of advice on what tools to buy and I am sure that no matter how much space you have, you will (sooner or later) fill it to over 100% capacity as this is the nature of things. I have two suggestions to think about.
1. Cover the walls with Plywood. This way you can hang stuff where YOU want to, not where the Studs are. Paint with brighter color for "More" light
2. Along the lines of your Clean Workbench. find a way to isolate a small section where you can do dirty jobs, like grinding, sanding etc. I've seen lots of ideas from Walls to shower curtains but the smaller the space, the more important this is. My electronics bench is in a completely different building from my metal shop.

Looking forward to seeing how you build out your space (once you get it)
 
I had my lathe and mill set up in "temp space" in the basement for a couple of years. It was a comfortable place to work, and everything was close at hand. Small projects were a treat, big stuff got postponed. I wanted to say that I, like Bruce, had zero issues with noise. A lathe and mill aren't that noisy to begin with. Of course, during this time I never shot sparks down the driveway with an angle grinder or did any head work or fabrication that would be the target of noise complaints.

When you're moved in and set up and decide you need to discuss noise control engineering, let me know. If nothing else, I can save you from wasting time.
 
If this is going to be a long term residence I would shoot for something without stairs.
Get it at the same level as the home.
Me personally, I am starting to loath stairs. It has to do with age and a couple of odd injuries.
After more than 3 or 4 trips down into our basement here and I opt to put it off until the next day.
If I'm hauling something heavy or awkward downstairs I have to stop and think about it before taking the stairs.
We have (3) steps off the back porch to the shop and even those start to become tedious after several trips during a long day in the shop.
Stairs are easy when young but I would think about it long term.
 
Better make that ceiling height an even 12' so you can fit a lift. I know, now you'll have to order a taller brass pole, but by the time you're enjoying the show from the stocked bar you won't be worried about it anymore.

Edit:

I almost forgot to add, ask me how I know.
 
pontiac428 said:
Better make that ceiling height an even 12' so you can fit a lift. I know, now you'll have to order a taller brass pole, but by the time you're enjoying the show from the stocked bar you won't be worried about it anymore.

Edit:

I almost forgot to add, ask me how I know.
Click to expand...
Stocked Bar? I gotta visit the PNW... :grin:
 
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