Shop with basement?

[John Neel]

It seems that most people who write about building their shop have something over a concrete slab. It's good for heating and has other advantages.

I was in a shop which was the second story of an old barn. The shop had a wooden floor. The advantage of a wooden floor for a second story shop was that dust collector pipes, and electrical wiring were all under the floor. A pipe came off the back of the tablesaw and dove straight into the floor. The same arrangement on all tools made the floor easy to configure and easy to change. All ductwork was under the floor and therefore easy to handle and to avoid.

Wouldn't a single story shop with basement and wood floor above the basement be easy to setup and easy to change the setup as well. If so, why have so many preferred the slab?

John Neel

[eugene thomas]

i would guess coast.

[Matt Hankins]

My father and I are putting a shop in the second floor of a barn. The problems that I foresee are machine weight and vibration. These concerns can be limited by your choice and location of equipment. Shops have however been built on wooden floors for a long time.

Matt

[Prashun Patel]

Excavation and foundation pouring is a lot more expensive than slab pouring.

[Art Mulder]

One option that I've seen is to pour a series of concrete piers, set some beams on these, joists over that, and then build a shop -- so you get a wood floor, and space under it to do wiring and DC, and yet not have the large cost of a full basement.

Marty Walsh and Frank Pellow both did that (some of their posts are still here in the dark dim depths of the archives...)

[Jerome Hanby]

I'm sure that the cost would be higher, but on a house, it"s commonly said that the basement is the cheapest square footage in the house. I would think the same would apply to a shop. Plus the extra room would be handy, maybe install extra ventilation and have a finishing room...