New construction: workshop in basement or not

[Andy Pratt]

I'm planning new construction and weighing the options of building a shop either on a slab or into a daylight basement. I wanted to find out the cons of building a shop into a basement with walls 5' below the ground surface as far as humidity and temperature issues, as well as the potential for water problems. I would have level access to the basement, so that's not an issue, I'm mostly wondering if it's fundamentally good or bad for the shop to be there, since I have a choice (i.e. am I always going to have moisture issues no matter what, will the wood I'm using be off humidity wise so that it changes dramatically when I take projects upstairs etc)

Thanks,
Andy

[Lee Koepke]

Well, my 'home' shop is in my daylight basement. I have an overhead door and a personnel door.

As far as humidity and moisture, I live in Georgia, so my climate will be different than yours, but for me, I have probably average 35-39% humidity. The temp stays pretty constant, except when I open the overhead door. I havent seen any moisture related problems with my stored wood, except cheep stuff thats going to pretzel anyway.

I need to add dust collection, and intend to spray insulate the floor joists above to help with dust transmission to the living areas.

The daylight basement is real nice to get equipment in and out, as well as the completed projects.

[Greg Pettis]

-planning new construction - cons of building a shop - 5' below the ground surface - humidity and temperature issues, as well as the potential for water problems - level access. I'm mostly wondering if it's fundamentally good or bad for the shop to be there...

Thanks,
Andy

Andy

I had a basement shop for the last 23 years and have just moved to a stand alone shop so...

The "cons" to a basement shop include: Plan for noise and dust segregation from the rest of the house (make sure the furnace, water heater etc. are away from the shop space), and plan on some sound deadening in the shop ceiling and any common walls. Adequate headroom - 8' plus ceiling in the shop for flipping around a sheet of plywood. In addition to the normal needs of the house, the electrical main panel needs to be sized for several 110 circuits and enough 220 circuits for your stationary tools such as a table saw, planer, DC, air compressor, shaper, the 20" bandsaw you have always wanted etc. Access - you mentioned level access but getting stationary tools and sheet goods through the landscaping and accross the lawn to the shop from the driveway can be an issue. Shop time ends when the rest of the family goes to bed and doesn't start in the morning until the latest sleeper arises. The family needs to be trained not to enter the shop while machinery is running to avoid being startled by someone suddenly standing beside you when sawing, planing, routing or joining. All the flamible finishing supplies need a home where you are comfortable storing them. Stains and varnishes may require some venting when applied as that smell seems to spread through the whole house (your plans for a daylite basement permit ventilating as needed). If you are building a birthday/anniversary surprise for the spouse or kids, it is really hard to keep it a surpirse. When entertaining, you may find the ladies in the living room and all the guys in the shop so keep some coasters handy and be prepared to yell at anyone who sets a beverage on your new cast iron.

The "plus side": The house provides electricty - no separate service, fuse box or obvious shop specific electric bill; free heat and airconditioning as the basement will stay at a reasonable working temp without adding vents and the AC settles to the basement. A dehumidifier will take care of humidity. Having your materials and building your projects in the basement are about as close to the conditions in the rest of the house as you are going to get, certainly a closer match than a separate building. Put a half or 3/4 bath downstairs for cleaning up before tracking sawdust through the living room. Just having water available for cleaning up finishing tools and equipment is a real perk as is not having to trek from the shop to the house for a potty break. If you are using a land line, a phone in the shop is easy as is cable TV (catch Norm on Sat AM) and internet access to the Creek. The tax assessor and insurance man don't get to run up the bill as easily as they seem to with a separate structure. Probably the nicest parts of the basement shop are not having to grab a jacket, duck boots and a hat to dodge the rain and snow to get to the shop, the family can drop in easily to view progress or participate and can quickly check on you following the crash from the basement or the screamed expletives. One of the things I miss most about moving out of the basement is being able to run down and try out a new idea or solution for the current project that I had while she was talking about her day.

Hope this gives you some things to consider in making your decision.

Greg

[John Morrison60]

Andy
You will want to control the humidity in your basement whether or not your shop is in it. A dehumidifier can manage the humidity in most new homes.
I love my basement shop. Tools stay warm in the winter, and I
stay cool in the summer. There are issues, like sound and air quality, but those are issues that can be dealt with. Issues like access to bring tools and wood in is an issue that could be
a deal breaker. If you do not have reasonable stairway access to your space. You may not be able to get your tools in or your projects out.

Good Luck
John

[Rob Bodenschatz]

I was in my basement for a few years & now I'm in a detached shop. Greg hit almost everything I could think of.

I probably would have stayed in the basement if I didn't want to finish it as living area. That said, I LOVE my detached shop.

Again, listen to Greg. He has a lot of great points there.

[Randal Stevenson]

Andy

I had a basement shop for the last 23 years and have just moved to a stand alone shop so...

The "cons" to a basement shop include: Plan for noise and dust segregation from the rest of the house (make sure the furnace, water heater etc. are away from the shop space), and plan on some sound deadening in the shop ceiling and any common walls. Adequate headroom - 8' plus ceiling in the shop for flipping around a sheet of plywood. In addition to the normal needs of the house, the electrical main panel needs to be sized for several 110 circuits and enough 220 circuits for your stationary tools such as a table saw, planer, DC, air compressor, shaper, the 20" bandsaw you have always wanted etc. Access - you mentioned level access but getting stationary tools and sheet goods through the landscaping and accross the lawn to the shop from the driveway can be an issue. Shop time ends when the rest of the family goes to bed and doesn't start in the morning until the latest sleeper arises. The family needs to be trained not to enter the shop while machinery is running to avoid being startled by someone suddenly standing beside you when sawing, planing, routing or joining. All the flamible finishing supplies need a home where you are comfortable storing them. Stains and varnishes may require some venting when applied as that smell seems to spread through the whole house (your plans for a daylite basement permit ventilating as needed). If you are building a birthday/anniversary surprise for the spouse or kids, it is really hard to keep it a surpirse. When entertaining, you may find the ladies in the living room and all the guys in the shop so keep some coasters handy and be prepared to yell at anyone who sets a beverage on your new cast iron.

The "plus side": The house provides electricty - no separate service, fuse box or obvious shop specific electric bill; free heat and airconditioning as the basement will stay at a reasonable working temp without adding vents and the AC settles to the basement. A dehumidifier will take care of humidity. Having your materials and building your projects in the basement are about as close to the conditions in the rest of the house as you are going to get, certainly a closer match than a separate building. Put a half or 3/4 bath downstairs for cleaning up before tracking sawdust through the living room. Just having water available for cleaning up finishing tools and equipment is a real perk as is not having to trek from the shop to the house for a potty break. If you are using a land line, a phone in the shop is easy as is cable TV (catch Norm on Sat AM) and internet access to the Creek. The tax assessor and insurance man don't get to run up the bill as easily as they seem to with a separate structure. Probably the nicest parts of the basement shop are not having to grab a jacket, duck boots and a hat to dodge the rain and snow to get to the shop, the family can drop in easily to view progress or participate and can quickly check on you following the crash from the basement or the screamed expletives. One of the things I miss most about moving out of the basement is being able to run down and try out a new idea or solution for the current project that I had while she was talking about her day.

Hope this gives you some things to consider in making your decision.

Greg

When you get older, (or have injuries), going up and down the stairs gets more difficult. Also, if you leave the WIFE the basement for her stuff, it has NO REASON to enter your shop!

Those were the only two things I didn't really see covered above. As for monitering, new cordless phones do allow monitering of a room/location.

[JayStPeter]

I had my house built with 9' basement ceilings knowing that my shop was going to go there. It cost me $1500 to add a foot to the basement. They just built a 1' wall on top of the concrete walls and put a 4" block under the beams which would've gone into pockets. Where I have beams, they are just over 8' after framing. Otherwise, I did soundproof it and really enjoy it.
The humidity in my basement (not walk out) is higher than the rest of the house. At least I know when I build things that they are going to shrink when they get upstairs so I can plan accordingly. Aside from learning to prefinish my door panels so I don't have a gap when they shrink, there have been no other negative effects on my wood or projects. I do let all wood I use acclimate for a couple weeks as my normal process. But, that applied when my shop was in my garage also.
My Shop

[Andy Pratt]

Thanks for the great replies, Greg I appreciate you taking so much time, that was really informative.

Sounds like a basement shop isn't too big a problem for anyone as long as you take the proper precautions to avoid problems/effects on family life, but could be a major problem if you don't.

What have you guys used for soundproofing? How effective would you say it is? My guess would be that nothing prevents some sound from going upstairs, but that if you do it right, it will stay at an annoying but tolerable level most of the time, is that fairly accurate?

Edit: Jay, I just read your shop post, good information on the sound deadining work you did there. Can I ask how much it cost to do that over just normal drywall?

Andy

[JayStPeter]

What have you guys used for soundproofing? How effective would you say it is? My guess would be that nothing prevents some sound from going upstairs, but that if you do it right, it will stay at an annoying but tolerable level most of the time, is that fairly accurate?

Andy

The link in my post above labeled "My Shop" provides great detail about what I did. I'd say mine is below annoying levels almost always. Only the planer and router still manage to be slightly annoying, but you can still watch television right above the shop without having the volume turned to 11.