Building dream shop, need clever ideas

[mreza Salav]

Rick, congratulations! it's a journey that I finished (building a new house/shop) not too long ago.
I didn't know you can have basements on the west coast. One advice I give is do not fix the location of your machines yet as it will almost surely change when you actually move them.
For that reason I decided to do all my electrical for them on the surface (3/4" EMT). One thing I didn't do and I kinda regret was to do something about the floor (bare concrete).
I already have oil, stain, glue, and other things over it and it's not looking new anymore. I considered epoxy and studied different options but didn't do any of them. I don't have a specific suggestion but I wouldn't leave bare concrete.

[Rick Fisher]

Progress is finally being made...

Yes you can have basements on the Island, but its not as simply as you land lubbers find it .. This shop is quite close to the ocean, so way more went into the height than I thought would be needed to get this basement. I ended up settling for 7'6" of head room in the basement. The floor ( slab ) is 18" above the water-table. There is a rock pit with a pump that will step in should there be times when the water is going to become an issue.



The foundation has a steps at each corner. However, the concrete walls will be 7'6 - 8'6 high .. The first 30" of floor ( coming through the garage door is going to be concrete.. Then it switches to a wooden joist floor. As such, the foundation has an add-on .. its a 2 part pour. Its hard to explain but the second set of walls are only 30" high .. on compacted gravel .



Those 6 pads are actually huge. compare to the 1000 lb plate.. They are the footings for the 6 posts that hold up the beams that hold up the floor.



The forms are standing .. first wall pour is wed. Then they backfill to 30" from the top .. and form up the second set of walls.

The electrical drops are in .. ( underground ) .. I'm putting a 400 amp panel in which will feed a 200 amp panel to the house. ( which is 20 feet away ). .

[Rick Fisher]

The garage door will come down on concrete slab. The slab will enter the garage for 30 " .. this is due to living in a such a wet and rainy climate.

I was going to put actual flooring in .. but I'm seriously thinking of painting the floor sheathing with Elastomeric Paint. ( like stretch deck coating ) .. I dunno ..

All the electrical for the machines will run through the floor. I will drill a 1" hole, take the plug off the cord .. run it through.. and then put the plug back on and plug the machine in .. If I move the machine, I simply move the cord, patch the old 1" hole and drill another.

[Rick Fisher]

Shop progress.

The Roof is on. The Ceiling height is 13'6 at the peak. The shop has 7 windows and 2 doors..



That is the inside.. 3 windows on that wall .. Shingles start in 3 days..



As I posted before, the floor where I will work on is 2x10x12" OC, with 1-1/8" Edge Gold Floor sheathing. Its extremely rigid ..



Don't mind the Mess.. This is the dungeon. It turned out 7'6" high .. Its purpose is to run electrical, plumbing, and Compressed air. And of course storage.



The water is from a recent rainfall.. The 2x10 Floor joist are as I said 12" OC .. ( 10.5 " Between joist ) .. and the spans are 9 feet or less. the floor sheathing is glued and screwed. and the joist attach to these 2 ply 14" LVL beams which are supported by 6x6 posts..

Its engineered to hold cars like a parking structure..

[Rick Fisher]

That basement really is just a tall crawl space. It has a 4" Concrete slab, but its not warm and fuzzy space. The pipes sticking through the concrete are sewer and water..
There is a sharpening station going in .. basically a bar sink for water stones.

[Jim Becker]

Great progress, Rick. That's going to be a wonderful shop when completed!

While that floor is already very sturdy, are you going to put anything over the thick sheathing, such as hardwood for a wear/"look" layer, just paint it, etc.?

[Rick Fisher]

Hey Jim .. I'm looking at flooring now .. Thinking of a commercial vinyl or epoxy.. I dunno .. I save a whack of scraps to make plugs so if I move a machine, I can patch the holes for the ducting etc..

Electrical today

[mark mcfarlane]

Hey Jim .. I'm looking at flooring now .. Thinking of a commercial vinyl or epoxy.. I dunno .. I save a whack of scraps to make plugs so if I move a machine, I can patch the holes for the ducting etc..

Electrical today

I'm anxious to hear about your flooring decision, please do share when you come to a conclusion.

[Mike Heidrick]

Put in antennas in trusses - Ill be adding a couple to mine soon.

[Jim Becker]

Almost nothing beats a wood floor in a woodshop...

[Rick Fisher]

The floor is thick, and heavy .. but its soft because its wood. Its so nice to walk on .. The Engineer inspected it today and made the framers do a few things.. We plopped a 3000 lb lift of OSB on the floor during framing .. it was irrelevant. I ordered a new slider ( stealth gloat ) .. Its about the same weight .. so I figure I'm okay ..

[Rick Fisher]

On the flooring .. I am really leaning towards " Loose Lay Vinyl Plank " .. its a heavy Vinyl plank that has no locking mechanism. I plan to drill 6" holes in the shop floor for Dust, and 1" holes for electrical .. if I move a machine, I can simply patch the holes, and replace the Vinyl plank .. You lift it up with a plunger.. Its quite heavy ..

http://www.homeflooringpros.com/blog...lank-flooring/

[Mike Heidrick]

Rick you private message inbox is full. You need to contribute the $6 and double that space .

[Jim Becker]

Rick, my one concern with the vinyl product is the potential for slipperiness when there's any kind of dust about. Be sure that the surface design you select accounts for that important safety factor. Regardless of the ultimate flooring choice, you may still want to put anti-fatigue matts down...that's made a world of difference in my shop.

[mike mcilroy]

+1 for the ant-fatigue mats.
I didn't need them not too long ago and now can't live without them. Old man's back! Another bonus is when you drop a chisel or knife the edge survives more often.