Contributor
“For a garage”? Don’t designate it as such. You are improving the interior of your home. Yes, it has a big door, but you are building this out as an extension of the home. Also, having experience with this in the Boston area, once you condition it and turn it into a shop you won’t want cars in and out of it. They make too much of a mess. Project cars aside, of course.
Member
It's impressive how you've tackled the renovation of your garage to create a workshop space. The dedication and planning you've put into this project are evident, and it's clear that you're passionate about woodworking. Having a dedicated workshop can be a game-changer, and you'll soon be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor as you bring in your tools and start creating. It's great to see your progress and enthusiasm for your woodworking journey!
Contributor
Having lived North of Boston, I would do spray foam if it was me. I didn't do that in my garage when I lived there, but I didn't use that as a workshop. Can you say frozen pipes??
- After I ask a stranger if I can pet their dog and they say yes, I like to respond, "I'll keep that in mind" and walk off
- It's above my pay grade. Mongo only pawn in game of life.
[OP]
Contributor
Hoping to post an update soon but I ended up going with spray foam on the roof. The extra ceiling space will make it feel a lot more open and I avoided needing to add a vent to the roof. No water out to the garage fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it).
We replaced all the plumbing in our house when we bought it and made sure all the water pipes were inside the envelope. This past winter was especially cold, lots of burst pipes among friends and family, and we didn't have any issues.
Moderator
I have zero regrets for doing the spray foam and keeping the "up there" space open in my own new shop, Denis. There are so many advantages, both visually as well as practically, and for the latter, it includes ease of putting certain kinds of infrastructure up above the bottom of truss/ceiling level.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
[OP]
Contributor
Agreed, it will be nice to run the ducts for dust collection above what would have been the ceiling level.
[OP]
Contributor
The tagline for my home renovations has been "I thought I'd be done by now" and the workshop has been no exception. I did some traveling in November and wasn't able to finish the walls before then so I had to wait until I had a heat source before continuing. That's all been rectified now and I'm cruising again so here's a quick update and I should have more soon.
I took Jim and Bill's advice and went with closed cell spray foam for the roof. Vaulted ceiling and exposed beams are all the rage right now.
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I had an AD741 delivered somewhere along the way ... it was a giant pain to work around. I also managed to find some used red oak engineered hardwood on Facebook marketplace within my self imposed $1 a square foot budget. I had to level portions of the floor for the floating installation and I wish I had spent more time leveling the OSB from below. I probably could have gotten away with self leveler but I used something that's approved for use over OSB and that stuff is not cheap.
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I still have to scribe the last pieces of flooring once it finally stops raining outside. I don't want to get the floor too dirty just yet... The electrical is getting there as well. In the picture below you can see the lab trough which will hold all the wires and allow me to move outlets as needed while I figure out the layout.
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This weekend I'm planning on finishing up the flooring, triming out the windows and doors, and laying out the lights. I went with the Barrina strip lights so I can spread them around the shop and hopefully get sufficient lighting.
I'm also going to run down to my parents house and grab my old Oneida V-3000. I've been going deep down the dust collection rabbit hole over the past week. If I can overcome my crippling indecision for various duct layouts then I should have an update on that shortly.
Contributor
"I went with the Barrina strip lights so I can spread them around the shop and hopefully get sufficient lighting.
I have the 4' Barrina strip lights. As my eyes get used to(older) the amount of light. I just buy another pack and scatter them around.
Sure beats fluorescent and 300 watt incadensant lamps.
Ron
Moderator
I did the 8' Barrina lighting...14 of them.Only about $280 which was eye opening, too.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
[OP]
Contributor
It's finally starting to look like a workshop. I finished the flooring, installed the lights, and added baseboards and window trim. The Barrina lights are really bright. I went with the 5k lights and the lighting is great but I might opt for something a little softer at some point and supplement with the 5k in areas where I need the extra light. I'm not in a rush to do that though and plan to work in the shop for a bit before making any lighting changes.
Once I had the room for it I went out and picked up a SawStop PCS with the industrial mobile base. I bought the router table extension on sale from Harvey and that should arrive on Friday.
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I went down to my parents and picked up the old Oneida. Unfortunately, Oneida doesn't make a wall mount for the older steel models and didn't have any solutions to help me out. We ended up building a strut rack to hold it in place which I honestly think was a better solution. It's rock solid and with the rubber washers there's no vibration at all. I'm watching Facebook marketplace for a 55 gallon steel drum close to me with a clamping lid to replace the carboard drum but it will work for now. I also have most of the components to make a filter gauge and bin sensor. I just need to pick up an LED light for the bin sensor. Hopefully I'll get to that this weekend.
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I'm also hoping to get started on the ducting this weekend. I tried pricing out the clamp together duct but couldn't make the numbers work. I have a good source for 6" spiral locally so I'll only have to order the fittings which ends up being roughly 1/4 of the cost of the quotes I got for the clamp together. I'm planning on buying the fittings from Air Handling Systems in CT. If anyone has any experience with them I'd love to hear them.
Contributor
Denis,
I'm enjoying your build a lot! I have been slow poking my build out for my shed and am happy to see others making nice progress
Contributor
Looking good, nice and roomy. The Barrina lights are a shock when first installed, once you spend some time in there they are just right and other places are dark. Plummer remove a 4' fluorescent light above drill presses when doing bathroom remodel. I bought another 6 pack of Barrina's, just need to take time to hang two above the drill presses to see again.
You will really like that industrial mobile base, especially if you move the saw very much. I use mine all the time as I have too many tools in too small of a space.
Ron
Moderator
I personally like my shop space very bright and at 4100-5000K color temp when working, but some folks do prefer it more muted or at a lower color temp. It's kinda subjective. But yes, the Barrina lights are excellent, especially for the money and ease of install.
In the one photo, you seem to have the cyclone near the mini split air handler. Hopefully that will change, both for keeping the dust further away from the inside unit as well as insuring you can easily get up there to service it regularly. (filter cleaning) I say that because in my "infinite wisdom" I have my vertical lumber rack on the same wall as the air handler and that means a little more precarious operation when I clean the filters which in my case is nearly 10' up in the air.
The quick connect stuff is indeed more expensive, but I don't regret it one bit. But it can be mixed with less expensive spiral. I found that Blastgate Company had the best cost for the quick connect at the time and Dan was a pleasure to deal with.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
I built a bin sensor for mine hooked to an led strobe. It worked for 2 loads and stopped. Im not sure why but it was nice while it lasted.I have a 3' clear section above my 40 gallon bucket so I can see the dust.Originally Posted by Denis Rezendes
[OP]
Contributor
In the first picture the cyclone was still in its stand, we moved it into the corner when we hung it up on the wall. It's probably 8 feet away from the split so hopefully that's enough room to keep the dust away.
I priced out blastgate along with a few local companies. They definitely had the best prices but the spiral piping I got was virtually free and it's tough to beat that.
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