Turning a tool shed into a shop

[PHPaul]

As posted in the "Questions" forum, I've embarked on a project to turn a 20x24 shed into a heated shop.




I built this ca. 2010 as a combination tool shed and chicken coop. The 8x10 area partitioned off on the left side is the coop.



I insulated the daylights out of it. 1" blue foamboard between the rafters both for insulation and to direct any condensation out to the eave vents, hung 2x6 ceiling joists with R19 between them, rock wool (R15?) between the wall studs and 1/2" sheet rock over everything. I replaced the sliding barn-style doors with a double entry door. Don't have a picture of that. Do still have heart palpitations when I look at the bill for it!



My electrician installed a 100 amp service entrance and I ran 20 amp circuits around 3 walls with a double duplex about every 6 feet. I have breakers installed for a 50 amp 220 circuit for the welders and a 30 amp 220 circuit for the air compressor. At the moment, I'm waiting on the utility folks to hook me up.



I decided to go with daisy-chained LED shop lights. Need to order a couple more to finish up.

The air compressor, hot air furnace and oil tank will go in the "chicken coop" once the birds are moved into their new quarters.

The only issue I can foresee is that the floor was just broom finished (hey, it was a tool shed...) and leveling the lathe might take some doing, plus sweeping will be a pain.

 

[jwmay]

I guess you could pour self leveling epoxy. That'd solve your broom finish problem. What you've done so far looks great!

 

[PHPaul]

I guess you could pour self leveling epoxy. That'd solve your broom finish problem. What you've done so far looks great!

That's a great idea. Only place it would really be critical is under the lathe so one or two buckets would do it. That's pretty economical.

Thanks!

 

[PHPaul]

A little progress and some promising developments.

I moved the chickens into their new home last night after several days of preparing their new digs and fencing their yard. Predators...four legged and winged...are a huge problem here. I lost 14 birds in two days before I built a covered pen for them.

Then I started on the cleanup of their old coop which is the back corner of my shed. Getting several years worth of used chicken feed scraped off the floor is a non-trivial task.

My furnace guy stopped in today for our annual cleaning and I picked his brain about heating the shop. We came up with a plan that will work with the space I wanted to use and laid out a much more cost-effective way to deal with the exhaust.

Finally, I got in touch with the line construction guy and he's supposed to be here Saturday to install my power pole. That's the last roadblock to getting power hooked up to my shop.

Once power is hooked up and I finish up a bit of indoor trim, I can move on to leveling a spot on the floor for the lathe and building benches.

 

[PHPaul]

A little more progress. I started the process of cleaning the coop floor by soaking it in a strong detergent solution and scrubbing it with a broom. That worked reasonably well for the bulk of it, but there was still "stuff" embedded in the grain of the concrete.

A pressure washer was the obvious choice for the next step, but I don't have running water down there. I got to wondering (which often leads to some very strange places...) if I could get away with gravity feeding water to my pressure washer. A few inquiries indicated that it had been done successfully without damaging the pressure washer, so I decided to give it a shot.



I have a 30-ish gallon plastic barrel with a bulkhead hose bib that I use for watering the garden when needed. I filled that and put it on a pallet and hoisted it up about 6 feet with the forklift on my tractor.



I successfully cleaned the 8x10 coop with 8 foot ceilings. Two passes, one with soapy water to clean, one with plain water to rinse.



I used about 1/4 of that barrel of water. Methinks this technique is going to come in handy on a regular basis!

WOOHOO!!! While I was creating this entry, my pole guy called and said he'd be here in 30 minutes!!!!

 

[PHPaul]

That didn't take long. I may have the only property on the Maine coast where you can drive a post hole digger out of sight without hitting ledge/bedrock.

I'll call the utility folks Monday and see if I can schedule a hookup.

 

[PHPaul]

Still waiting on the power (hopefully before the end of the week) but did make some progress on the shop:





Finished hanging drywall, got most of the ceiling trim up and built the main bench along the South and West walls. Topped the bench with Melamine clad particle board which may turn out to have been a mistake. That decision was driven by the breath-taking price of plywood. There's a layer of 5/8 CDX over the framing and then 3/4 Melamine over that. Thinking I'll look into covering the whole thing with some black iron sheet if that's not too insane, price-wise. My big toolbox will live at the end of the short leg of the bench. Initial plan (subject to change as plans on paper sometimes don't live up to expectations...) is for the alcove to be mostly storage for hardware and various supplies.

The press won't be living where it is now obviously, just waiting until I move some other equipment in to see where I want to put it.

The "chicken coop" has been wired for the furnace and compressor and the oil tank installed and plumbed. Waiting on my furnace guy to find me a decent used "trailer" or "cottage base" furnace. He assures me they're out there.

 

[hman]

Very well planned!

 

[PHPaul]

STILL waiting on electrical hookup. Hopefully this week sometime, but I thought that last week too.

Anyway, while I'm waiting, I'm thinking about my options for plumb air around the shop. I'm thinking 3/4 PEX and a RapidAir kit for about $200 that has 100' of line and enough components for 3 drops.

I priced copper and black iron individual components and the RapidAir kit is cheaper. The downside is that it won't cool the air as well. I may do a DIY air cooler/dryer in the compressor room.

Any suggestions/pointers appreciated.

 

[hman]

Here's what I did in my shop. Post #7:

Anyone Getting Much Shop Time Lately?

Now that the weather has broken, and many of the pandemic restrictions have been lifted shop time seems a thing of the past. Since early March I can count the number of minutes spent in the shop on one hand. Most days it's just a pass through to pick up some tool needed for an outdoor project...

www.hobby-machinist.com

You could do nearly all your air plumbing with PEX, and just a short section like this of copper. Depends a bit on how high your ceiling is.