Next Workshop?

[Adam Carl]

Looks like my wife and I might be moving. I have been in a basement shop for the last 4 1/2 years but the potential new house has a 2 story barn. See photos. Any suggestions when it comes to a shop on the second floor? The barn is very sturdy with real 2 X 12 floor beams although I may need to sure up the floor with an i beam and posts. And some type of hoist will be needed.

[Jim Kountz]

Looks like a good space, love the B-ball hoop on the wall!! I think you covered most of it really, just be sure the floor is up to the task and install some sort of a hoist system for lifting the big stuff. Other than that its basic shop 101 that has been beat to death and then some here. Im sure a search or two will yield you many many results as far as setting up your new space.

[John Keeton]

Adam, adjacent to the "barn" I see what appears to be a garage. Why can't you have the whole barn?? Getting finished furniture out of the second story will be a pain, as will climbing all those steps when you get to the "autumn" of life as some of us are.

The upstairs is some neat space, and probably easier to heat without the large garage style doors, but seems like taking the whole thing would be in order!! Put the heavy machines downstairs, along with a separate finishing room, and make the upstairs more of a man cave, perhaps with a design center, neander corner, wood storage, TV, DVD, bathroom -- well, you get the idea!

[Ken Higginbotham]

You may even be able to partition off the left side for parking the car and leave the right side for the shop. Based on the minimal structure in the rafter/walls I doubt the second story floor would be beefy enough for very much heavy tool weight...

[Adam Carl]

Adam, adjacent to the "barn" I see what appears to be a garage. Why can't you have the whole barn?? Getting finished furniture out of the second story will be a pain, as will climbing all those steps when you get to the "autumn" of life as some of us are.

The upstairs is some neat space, and probably easier to heat without the large garage style doors, but seems like taking the whole thing would be in order!! Put the heavy machines downstairs, along with a separate finishing room, and make the upstairs more of a man cave, perhaps with a design center, neander corner, wood storage, TV, DVD, bathroom -- well, you get the idea!

This house is actually in a village so the garage belongs to the neighbor .

[John Keeton]

How accomodating is the neighbor - maybe you can trade some shop time for the privilege of parking the vehicles in his garage

[Jim Becker]

That will be a wonderful shop. Robert Tarr's shop is similar, being on the second floor and with similar construction. The one improvement he's made to-date that has been incredible is getting closed cell spray foam insulation put in place. It not only does the obvious, but also added significant strength and rigidity to the structure, especially with the roof rafters. You'll want a wide second floor door overlooking your driveway so that you can use a lift to get heavy items up and down, however...we used a rented forklift to get Robert's J/P and other heavy gear upstairs when they moved into that property. It looks like there is already an access door, but it may not be tall enough for practical use.

[Ken Higginbotham]

Are there posts in the middle of the first floor that support second story floor joists?

[John Keeton]

Jim has a great idea with the spray insulation for the upper area. I will add this note, as well. We used spray foam in several areas of our home (most of which is SIPS), including about 2 inches in a trussed attic area, completed with about 10" of fiberglass.

After spraying the foam on the trusses and the drywall ceiling, I watched a 200+ lb. worker walk across the drywall ceiling with NO give!!

Depending on the actual span, I doubt 2x12 joists are going to be sufficient. From the pics, there are 17 stud spaces in the upper level. If the studs are on 16" centers, then the building is about 23' wide. Although I am certainly not an engineer, that sure sounds like it is way too much for 2x12 joists alone.

My guess is that spraying insulation on the ceiling of the lower level (floor of the upper level) combined with a beam, would remove virtually all bounce and would provide a great situation.

[Adam Carl]

Yes 23' feet wide it is. 35' feet long. 23' into the garage is a load bearing wall parallel to the front of the building. I figure I can place a i-beam and posts from that wall to the front of the garage between the garage doors.

I think I am also going to added a ceiling to the second floor 10 feet high or so to make it reasonable to heat. No more basketball

[Adam Carl]

Thanks all for the spray foam suggestion. I didnt realize it would provide that much rigidity.

[Adam Carl]

Once the shop is set up, I'll have my work cut out for me. I'll be doing more carpentry and painting than furniture but having a good shop is a must.

[Don Bullock]

Looks like my wife and I might be moving. ...

I hope all goes well and you do move. That looks like a great house and garage/shop. The proposed shop space looks like it will work out well for you.

[John Keeton]

Adam, that house has some great character! I bet it ends up being a showcase - and, lots of room for that furniture on down the road.

[Ken Higginbotham]

That is a really great looking house. If you swing the deal post more picture of your shop project!