What the size of your workshop?

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

My shop is 16x24 which when I moved in was big. now I am lobbing with LOML to expand out the side. That involve taking down a tree and she is against it. so I guess I will wait till we move and go bigger. I highly recommend a separate shop though so the sawdust can stay in the shop.

Roger

[Dave Right]

I moved from 1/2 garage ( my half) to a 30 x 40. It took me 2 years to build by myself. I also have a 4 ft knee wall for 2nd floor and with 6 - 12 roof pitch that
gives me plenty of storage ( about 13 ft down the center) . Someone once told me to build as big as you can afford since you will have plenty of room to grow. I always figure 30% larger than you think you will need. 14 years ago I put up a storage building and added my 30%. 4 years ago I ran out of room.
Dont forget, like me, you will be exchanging your table model tools for some
floor model that will take more room too.
If I could change one thing I would have 10 foot ceilings.
Good luck and have fun planning it!

[Keith Christopher]

I believe this is all depending on how you layout, honestly a shop is like a hard disk, the more space you have the more you'll fill it up. be it storage, cutoffs, tools , projects in progress. . . You get the idea. My 30x30 shop it doing good for me, I have laid it out quite nicely, would I like more room ? sure, that's why I put on a 1/2 floor for lumber. oh and 10-12' ceiling IS a must !

[Ralph Morris]

I think your wife would like me! Mine is 10'x10' little shop! It's way too small but I can make do with the works....(Not what I like ) Don't show her this! I'm building cabinets for my kitchen and it is piling up the basement and she is looking at it taking up the room!

[Roger Fitzsimonds]

16x24 detached barn structure. it is 2 stories, computers up stairs

Roger

[Michael Stafford]

My shop is 20x24 with 81/2 foot ceiliings. I have all of my openings on the long sides with three windows facing south and French doors and an overhead door facing north. This is a detached building. It also has an 8x10 deck in front of the French doors about 6" above ground level.

[Larry Browning]

I have a separate building 30X42X9 with an 8X16X8 additional room for compressor/radiant heating system/dust collector(future)/office/storage
Total sq = 1388

The main shop room is 30X30. I have a 12X12 finishing room, a 10X8 bathroom and a nook off the main shop for misc storage.

PS This is a hobbiest shop

[Dan Mages]

This is a tough question to answer. Right now I am using my basement as a workshop for the work being done around my house. It is 18x30. I have found myself working on the back patio a bit this summer which is an additional 12x13. My permanent shop will be in my one car garage The back work area is a measly 6x12ish. With the car out, it grows to 24x12. I am also building a 10x14 shed in the back yard which may serve as a workshop of some sort.

Dan

[Denny Lawson]

22 x 22 attached garage. share with cars "most" of the time. all big tools are on mobile bases.


Denny

[Garry Smith]

I have a 28 x 40 with 9 foot cielings and a 8 foot wide by 36 foot lean to the side for drying lumber and buiilt it with a gambrell roof which gave me enough room for a 20 x 40 2nd floor. The second floor is the key for me. I store the dried lumber, jigs, cutoffs, scraps of plywood, seldom used tools and whtever else my wife and boys happen to think I should store for them. Having the second floor keeps the shop in a somewhat uncluttered condition. This size building allows me to construct large pieces and still get around. I have a beam in the middle wth 2 post to support the second floor, as a result I am secure that the cieling is not going to come down on me with all the wieght from the storage above. Point is unless you throw away all your scraps and do not plan on getting any more tools or stocking any lumber, make sure you build it right the first time, your wife will not be so easy to talk into another shop.

Garry
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[Ed Breen]

I started at this home with a 24x24, but two years agop built a 30x50 pole barn type with concrete slab and 10' floor to rafters. Over a year LOML usurped some space til she finally decided she wanted a twin to my shop. We built it this summer, and have moved a lot of non-shop stuff into it. The two of them sort of balance out the backyard. Our place is on five acres. Only tools I don't have are performax sander and lathe. (Over 75 years you collect a lot of tools!)

I still believe bigger is better if you plan your shop and do keep certain tools on wheels.
Ed

[Brian Hale]

My shop is in the basement and shares some room with the washer/dryer and geothermal HVAC unit(~2'x4'). It's cut in 2 sections, one 29'x39', with steps 9' from one wall, where the work is done and the other is 7'x14' for lumber storage. Ceiling is 7' at the duct work and beams and 8' to the floor joist above.

Funny, it feels a lot smaller when i'm trying muscle a sheet of ply thru the shop to the table saw.

Brian

[Alan Turner]

My basement shop consists of two rooms, about 14 by 19, plus a bit here and there also in the basement, and holds a Unisaw with 52" fence and slider, DP, HSM, 20" BS, 14" BS, 2 x 6 bench, 36" drum sander, PM 26 shaper, 20" planer, 12" jointer, grinders, back bench, storage for hand tools and wood, and a beer cooler with personal disposal unit. I think I could use a bit more room, but my property does not permit it. I suggested blowing out the side wall of the bsement, and extending the foundation to the other side of the driveway, with a metal ceiling, but that was pretty quickly vetoed by SWMBO. A 2 car garage is chock full of wood at the moment, but I am working on its reloaction to industrial space.

[Wade Samuelson]

I'm definately in the running for smallest shop: 8x16 with 8ft ceilings. It was originally a storage area attached to the one-car garage. My only truly stationary tool is the 22 cu ft freezer!! Everything else gets pushed around a lot!

[Jim Ketron]

Until last November, I had a 500 ft' two room shop that I did my work in. I no longer have that space and live in a 3 room apartment. Since I am almost exclusively a turner, I moved my Jet mini lathe into a 54" x 37" walk-in closet. I ran electricity in there and have plenty of space to do my turning.

I decided it was important to me to continue to turn even though I gave up a lot of space.

I think Keith has you beat Wade!
Jim