Converting Cinder Block Barn To Woodshop

[Karl Juelch]

My wife and I recently purchased a home with a dilapidated 24x32 cinderblock barn on the property. The floor is earth. The exterior is vinyl siding but it is in very bad condition and will have to be replaced.

The plan is to excavate some of the earth to create enough room to pour a cement slab, then line the interior of the building with 2x4 stud walls for sprayed foam insulation, wiring, and sheet rock. I would like to heat and cool with a mini-split if possible.

The property is in a VERY quiet neighborhood, but it is a large lot and the barn is about 60 feet from the nearest neighbor. I will be using power tools most of time, including a 5hp air compressor and air tools, routers, TS, DC, etc, etc. I really do not want to tick off the neighbors, so I have been reading a lot about sound attenuation strategies in the archives. Does anyone have any experience with working in a cinderblock building fitted with sprayed foam insulated sheetrock walls? Does the cinder block have any sound deadening properties on its own, or will I have to go the more thorough route using sound board, mass loaded vinyl, etc?

Thank you for your thoughts, suggestions, criticisms.

Karl

[Brian W Smith]

Karl,block walls suffer from water intrusion coming in the top.I've made good money replacing block lintels,in situ.The water gets in them,and the rebar rusts,then they sort of do a slow motion explode.Check ALL moisture issues.Find the lowest point/elevation on the foundation,and go over every sq inch all the way to the top,following the grade.If it isn't near perfect condition,ask yourself,why.

Proper HVAC maintains just about any environ.......best of luck with your decisions,BW.

[Jim Andrew]

Any kind of concrete does deaden noise. If the walls are in good shape sounds like you did well. Does the barn have a loft for storage?

[Scott Brandstetter]

Karl
Congrats to you and your wife on the new home. I hate moving but love the feeling once it's done. In regards to your shop, once done, you will have a nice area to work in. Reading your post made me remember something I was told quite a while ago. I never looked into it so please don't take it as Gospel.

At one point I looked into moving into a condo (thank the Good Lord I didn't). It was a two story that shared a wall with the neighbor next door. I asked the developer what the sound issue may be and what he does to control me, or them, bothering each other. He immediately responded that he puts a double layer of sheetrock on each adjoining wall. Again, not sure its true that it does much but he did seem confident.

Good luck with your shop and keep us updated with pictures.

[Joe A Faulkner]

I converted a cinder block two car garage to a workshop. I wanted insulation more for maintaining shop temperature than controlling sound. I first attached 3/4 inch firing strips to the block, followed by 3/4" rigid foam. This created a dead air space between the block and foam. Then I framed up traditional 2x4 walls and insulated with batted insulation and went with 1/2" sheet rock on the walls. The building sits 50' from the house. In the summer if I run the router table at night with shop windows open, my wife can hear it but she has never complained that it disturbed sleep. I heat the shop with two 1500 watt electric oil filled radiator style heaters. The building is 22x22. I maintain the temp at about 40 degrees FAR when not in use and bump it up to 55 - 60 when I'm spending time in the shop.

I highly recommend sky lights. I put in three 44" lights on the north facing slope. I regret not placing two or three in the south facing slope as well. Natural light is a big plus in my book.

[Ray Newman]

You may have already thought of this, but insulate the slab. Consider installing a wood floor over the concrete. Your back, knees, and dropped tools will thank you. Also install more than minimum amount of insulation. It will keep the ever increasing energy costs down and soon will repay the extra expense with a warmer/cooler and more shop year round shop.

[Jim Andrew]

#2 on the under slab insulation. Use closed cell foam, like the blue dow board, or the pink foamular. And I agree with the wood floor over the slab. My slab is not insulated under, and I plan to put wood strips down, with foam between and cover with some t&g flooring. Thinking 19.2 centers. Look at your tape, the marks are there.

[Karl Juelch]

Brian, thanks very much for pointing out the possibility for water damage. I spent some quality time today in the barn (quality if you like the smell of ancient horse manure!) checking out the blocks, fittings, etc with a flash light. I am relieved and impressed--everything appears to be rock solid. No evidence of water issues at all. No cracks or any evidence of settling either. Despite its dilapidated condition, the barn looks like it was very well built.

[Karl Juelch]

Any kind of concrete does deaden noise. If the walls are in good shape sounds like you did well. Does the barn have a loft for storage?

Yes, the walls are in very good shape. I inspected them carefully today and was surprised by how good they look.

The barn does have a generous loft for storage, but since the walls are only 8 feet tall, I am willing to lose some loft space in exchange for a higher ceiling. I am planning to reposition the cross ties to give me at least 10 foot ceilings.

[Karl Juelch]

I converted a cinder block two car garage to a workshop. I wanted insulation more for maintaining shop temperature than controlling sound. I first attached 3/4 inch firing strips to the block, followed by 3/4" rigid foam. This created a dead air space between the block and foam. Then I framed up traditional 2x4 walls and insulated with batted insulation and went with 1/2" sheet rock on the walls. The building sits 50' from the house. In the summer if I run the router table at night with shop windows open, my wife can hear it but she has never complained that it disturbed sleep. I heat the shop with two 1500 watt electric oil filled radiator style heaters. The building is 22x22. I maintain the temp at about 40 degrees FAR when not in use and bump it up to 55 - 60 when I'm spending time in the shop.

I highly recommend sky lights. I put in three 44" lights on the north facing slope. I regret not placing two or three in the south facing slope as well. Natural light is a big plus in my book.

Hi Joe. Thanks for sharing your experience with cinder block building conversion. Sounds like a good strategy for insulating the walls, and it probably helped with sound deadening too. I will keep that in mind when I start my conversion--probably still some months off, as we are still working on finishing up the house renovations.

[Karl Juelch]

Karl
Congrats to you and your wife on the new home. I hate moving but love the feeling once it's done. In regards to your shop, once done, you will have a nice area to work in. Reading your post made me remember something I was told quite a while ago. I never looked into it so please don't take it as Gospel.

At one point I looked into moving into a condo (thank the Good Lord I didn't). It was a two story that shared a wall with the neighbor next door. I asked the developer what the sound issue may be and what he does to control me, or them, bothering each other. He immediately responded that he puts a double layer of sheetrock on each adjoining wall. Again, not sure its true that it does much but he did seem confident.

Good luck with your shop and keep us updated with pictures.

Thank you Scott!

From what I've been seeing in the archives, it does appear that double sheet rock alone will have some sound deadening value, and the mass of the cinder block also has some sound absorbing capability, so maybe I will be alriahgt without having to do too much extensive (and expensive!) sound proofing work).

Thanks for the well wishes! Pix to follow.

[Karl Juelch]

Thank you Ray and Jim!

Yes, I am definitely going to insulate that slab. I don't want to spend any more for heating and cooling than I have to!

I have read a lot of threads in the forum archives about putting down a wood floor over the concrete and this is something I would also like to do.

[Mike Heidrick]

Since you are putting in a slab and extruded polystyrene foam, are you considering adding pex for radiant floor heat? Even if you don't do the boiler now at least get the pex in before the pour?

[Jim Andrew]

Don't understand your term crossties. Usually a barn has a floor system above the ceiling, used to store hay in the old days. I see some old barns locally that would make fantastic shops, other than the 8' ceilings. Only way I can see to raise the ceiling on these would be to dig some dirt out before putting in a floor.

[Karl Juelch]

Don't understand your term crossties. Usually a barn has a floor system above the ceiling, used to store hay in the old days. I see some old barns locally that would make fantastic shops, other than the 8' ceilings. Only way I can see to raise the ceiling on these would be to dig some dirt out before putting in a floor.

I'm not a builder so I'm sure I used the wrong terminology. "Ceiling joists" perhaps? The barn has a loft that extends for the entire length and width of the building. Having higher ceilings is more important to me than having a usable loft, so the plan is to tie the roof rafters together with "cross ties" or "ceiling joists" that are maybe 2 or 3 feet higher than the loft floor. They will keep the 2 halves of the peaked roof from spreading, then we can cut away the structure that makes up the loft, leaving me with higher ceilings for the shop.

This "barn" is not one of those beautiful old timber framed structures--I would never consider butchering one of those. Rather, it is a cinder block building that was built in 1971, fitted with an overhead garage door on one end, and 3 horse stalls down one side. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can figure out how to do that on here.