Woodworking Shop in Basement?

[Ole Anderson]

As I said, I've never really had issues with dust, so I'm really puzzled when I read comments like this. I have shop shoes that I take off when I leave the shop, and a mat at the door to catch dust. I also closed off the header spaces above the joists, so the shop is fairly closed off. I'm not sure what you and others are doing different from me that causes the dust to make it's escape.

My shop has 2 ceiling registers that blow air whenever the furnace or A/C is on, so if I am making any dust, even with the DC on and the ambient cleaner going, some dust will be circulated to the rest of the house. That is one downside to a shared HVAC system in a home. Without those registers open it can get real chilly in the shop. Small price to pay. The amount of time that there might be dust in the shop air and the furnace is running is quite small.

[Kent Cartwright]

Been in a basement shop for over 10 years. Things that really would improve the experience would be:

1. 9 foot or higher ceiling
2. A way to get the dust collector located in the garage or anywhere away from the furnace.
3. A way to do finishing, again away from the furnace and water heater.
4. No support posts in the workspace. These really make it tough to set up optimal work flow.
5. Doorway to the outside for moving materials and equipment.

Each of these issues has work-arounds if you run into the issues. For instance, I had to build a closet for the dust collector, because there just wasn't anywhere else to put it other than the basement. This creates noise issues, along with dust issues, but with some research and hard work the problems have been solved. A good dust collection system will fix any dust getting into the rest of the house concerns.

Finishing is another toughie, because without a way to vent fumes, family members get a bit grumpy with the smells, not to mention the issue about combustible fumes and pilot lights. A seperate finishing room is best, with a fan for exhausting air, but I did it with the same fan but used plastic sheeting to create a "finishing space" in the shop.

The best thing my wife did was have us install a door to the outside. We had to create a sunken patio to make it work, and installed french doors out to the patio. I now only have 4 stairs to get materials and equipment from the basement, instead of 12 stairs, and I don't track stuff through the house.

[Phil Thien]

My shop has 2 ceiling registers that blow air whenever the furnace or A/C is on, so if I am making any dust, even with the DC on and the ambient cleaner going, some dust will be circulated to the rest of the house. That is one downside to a shared HVAC system in a home. Without those registers open it can get real chilly in the shop. Small price to pay. The amount of time that there might be dust in the shop air and the furnace is running is quite small.

I have a basement shop with one register right above the table saw. There are no cold air returns in the shop, but the ductwork for all the cold air returns run through the shop, and I imagine they are somewhat leaky.

I don't really get any woodworking dust in the rest of the house when I'm working in the shop. In fact, when I cut walnut my wife doesn't smell it in the rest of the house, but when she comes downstairs she sure smells it.

[Kevin Bourque]

I had a basement shop for over 20 years. My only problem was the ceiling height.

Getting machinery up and down the stairs required disassembling the machine into small manageable pieces that I could wrangle down the Bilko stairs. A few extra hours of work, no big deal.
I never had much of a moisture issue, but it's something that needs to be dealt with before bringing all the stuff down.

[Ken Louis]

Very much surprised with the number of ongoing replies! Thank you! Every post gives me a clearer perspective on the whole garage vs. basement issue. I am still keeping all my options open; however, I'm beginning to favor the basement option.

My better-half has been very reluctant to give her blessing on using an interior basement stairwell for hauling wood and projects in and out of the basement if we were to purchase a home with a 2-car garage. So, I investigated the option of installing an outside, walk-in basement entrance. I found a local, established concrete contractor that said he could modify an existing basement "egress" window with a staircase, standard door, and outside Bilco (sp) access door, for approx. $8500-$9000. That's approx. 1/2 the cost local contractors were quoting to add a single car garage to an existing 2-car garage.

[Phillip Gregory]

My current shop is in a daylight basement without a walkout door. The garage is a two-car garage and is filled with two cars, the lawn mower, trash cans, and some miscellaneous stuff. It also gets very wet, salty, and nasty in there in the 6-month-long winter with snow dripping off the cars. I wouldn't want to have any tools in there even if there was any room just for that reason. I have one "stall" of the basement which is at the base of a 6-step landing and it is a few feet wider and deeper than a typical single car garage stall. The other stall is laundry room and a semi-finished room. I hung plastic sheeting to make myself a door of sorts (there is just a missing stud in the framed wall as a doorway) to keep dust out of the house and it actually works pretty well. The staircase is short enough that you can get enough angle on boards to easily get 8 footers in. Sheet goods are a little more "fun" but still doable. However anything over 10 feet can't make the turn at the base of the stairs. Getting equipment in is not terriffically fun but is doable with disassembly and an appliance dolly. I managed to get a 600 lb cabinet saw down there last week after I took the table top off and the motor out of the base. Probably the worst thing about it is the 8 foot ceilings with two runs of ductwork that hangs a good 6" lower than the bottom of the joists. I try to get away with buying 6 footers when I can as they are so much easier to handle. The breaker panel is very close nearby so there's a 240 V outlet for me to plug into. Eventually I will have a shop in an outbuilding which is much larger but for now this is plenty fine.

[Jonathan Clement]

Our shop is in the basement which is quite handy for us as it is so close at hand. It has direct access to the outside via a bilco door. It has been no fun getting some of the heavy machines down the stairs (i.e. a cabinet table saw, 8" jointer, 17" band saw), but it has been doable. Our main challenge has been dust control but we have beefed that up. Our oil furnace guy commented that he was surprised how clean the furnace was at our last annual tune up. In the past the dust has been a problem in that regard.

[Rod Sheridan]

Ken, I have a small basement shop with some mid sized tools

I have

- oneida cyclone

- GI 17" band saw

- Hammer A3-31 12" jointer/planer

-Hammer B3 Winner sliding saw/shaper

- drill press

- wood lathe

Guess what, I don't have a walk out basement, in fact I have a set of basement stairs with a 40" square landing at the top, with a right angle entry onto the landing.

The largest machine is about 800 pounds and my cat and I moved it downstairs, it's not hard if you're smart about the move.

Would I like a 500 square metre shop above grade? Sure, but I would have to pay for it, and heat and cool it, something that's no issue with a basement shop.

Regards, Rod.

[Michael Lutz]

My shop is in the basement. It is cool year round, unlike the garage. I have a walkout basement which is only so useful since I would need to be able to cart tools and materials around the house and down a significant grade. That said I did use it for moving in my 19" bandsaw. I got a new Saw Stop cabinet saw, but I hired movers to carry it down the steps and move the PM 66 up the stairs. I have a straight shot of stairs from the basement to the exterior or to the garage with a 90 turn at the top landing into the garage. I have an oneida cyclone. Don't notice a lot of dust carry out through the rest of the house even though the furnace is in the shop and the cold air return is located in the doorway to the shop from the basement. Worst part is finishing using any oil based finish.

[JayStPeter]

My basement shop is fully underground, but it has a 7' wide stairway with double doors at the bottom. I have to admit I came pretty darn close to lying under my 8" jointer at the bottom of the steps. Movers are pretty amazing. One of them carried my Unisaw (minus fence and extension table) down on his back. Other issues in a basement are water and noise. I've had a few water issues during a couple hurricanes and now make sure all the stuff I build for the shop is at least on leveling feet to keep it off the very occasionally wet floor. I've also upgraded my backup sump system, but fortunately haven't had to test it out yet.

Here's an old thread on my shop buildout http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-Basement-Shop. It's kind of funny looking at it and reading my plans compared to what actually happened.

[Art Mulder]

Here's an old thread on my shop buildout http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-Basement-Shop. It's kind of funny looking at it and reading my plans compared to what actually happened.

Did you ever get around to moving your DC out of that corner? I just browsed through that thread (I remember it!) and see the comments about not being too thrilled with the DC location. And did you leave the compressor out in the garage?

I'm kind of surprised that you have any water issues in such a new house. I tend to think of water as a problem with older houses -- we know so much more nowadays about water proofing and good drainage. Does your 7' wide stair go up to the garage, or to the outside?

[JayStPeter]

Did you ever get around to moving your DC out of that corner? I just browsed through that thread (I remember it!) and see the comments about not being too thrilled with the DC location. And did you leave the compressor out in the garage?

I'm kind of surprised that you have any water issues in such a new house. I tend to think of water as a problem with older houses -- we know so much more nowadays about water proofing and good drainage. Does your 7' wide stair go up to the garage, or to the outside?

Never moved the DC, the closet is still in place as originally built. The sump is in there with the DC along with the electric dog fence control and some other stuff. The thought of having to deal with all that stuff is more than I care to deal with. It is something I'd change if I had to do it again, but I wouldn't say it is in my plans to change it now. Compressor in the garage is great, though I have wished for more capacity on occasion.

The water problem is because the drain in the stairwell, which is outside, gets clogged often. If I keep it clean it works fine. The smartphone revolution has mostly taken care of the problem by keeping a device in my pocket that harasses me to do things like clean out the stairwell drain on a regular basis. The biggest problem was when I had a power outage during a hurricane cause the sump in the DC closet to backup and overflow. Luckily power kicked in just before the water reached the other half of the basement (which I had just finished). I have since put in a pretty serious backup system which I have not had to test out (knock on wood). I also had a pipe to the dishwasher break and flood down, but I don't know if that counts.

[Art Mulder]

The water problem is because the drain in the stairwell, which is outside, gets clogged often.

Time to roof over the outside stairs... (easier said that done, eh!?)

[JayStPeter]

Time to roof over the outside stairs... (easier said that done, eh!?)

Especially with a HOA