What would you add to a "new" shop?

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Hi guys! It's been a while since I was here last, it's good to be back!

A quick question that I know has been asked before, but I'm not finding the search data I'm looking for.

If you had an old abanded house in your yard that you could gut, and make into what ever you wish for a woodshop, what would you add? My donor house is pretty much an L shape, one wing 30x40, and the other 20x25 with a 10x25 lean. It's a typical old farm house, four additions to make the whole. As I get it down to the bones, I'm finding a few issues to fix, but pretty good in all.

What I'm thinking right now of doing is to open it up completely, and frame for higher ceilings and much more insulation. Beyond that, keep the hardwood floors that are there, and finish the rest of the house similarly. A closet for the cyclone, a furnace, and a small coat closet. Use the lean portion as a finishing room, the large room for machines, and the small for hand tools and assembly. A toilet is not possible, but a sink is. I have a big slider combo, so I want to run the ducting under the floor for it, as well as the power. Some of you may have seen pics of my lil Oliver bandsaw on my about me page. Needless to say, I might also need to make sure the floor is solid.

So, what am I missing??? I'll post a pic tomorrow. It'll be a big project, but fun so far!

[Rick Potter]

One of the best things I added to my shop was skylights, followed by good insulation, and double pane windows.

Rick Potter

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Rick, you bring up a good point. This being an old house, there are a lot of windows, and they are all low on the wall. For cost, security and wall space, I was going to eliminate a bunch of them, and raise the remainder. Skylights would be great, I'm going to explore that option a bit.

[Scott Holmes]

A dedicated finishing room 10' x 12' would be good for most projects.

[Don Bullock]

That's a very interesting opportunity for you. It sounds like you'll have a lot of space to utilize. Before getting too excited about the prospects I'd suggest doing the check you mentioned on the stability of the floor and expand that to the whole building. It sounds like you're in a rural area so building codes may not be a problem, but I always mention them in cases like this. It's amazing the problems that they can cause in situations like yours.

[Rod Sheridan]

Great to hear from you again Steve.

I guess the only thing I would add is easy access to the shop and finishing room so that you can move machinery and projects in and out.

Gee, I'm jealous, wish I had that opportunity.

Best wishes and a Merry Christmas...........Regards, Rod.

[Don Jarvie]

Big storage area for wood so you can peruse the Clist and when you hit the lumber load you have plently of space to store it.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Thanks for ideas guys, keep em coming!

I had planned on using the 10x 25 lean as a finishing room. It needs removed and reframed I think, the roof was put on too flat, and water has beat it up badly. That also gives me the opportunity to add the heighth needed to subfloor to the same height floor as the rest of the house. Probably put the air compressor in a sound resistant closet in there too.

I live in the sticks, so no zoning laws to deal with here.

Good point on access Rod. I'm thinking a tall, wide, forklift accessible door on the end by the old garage, which is also where my current lumber rack is.

My wife offered to help me work on it today, so we actually got a lot done. The small part of the L is gutted now, pretty much, and the junk is gone in the rest of the house. I took down the old block chimney, and checked the floors out really closely. I think it's actually a more stable structure than my current house! Never thought I'd say this, but waay too many windows though.

I have a suspicion that this will be a long project, but thats ok. Sorry I forgot to take a pic until the sun went down.

[Clarence Miller]

A panel saw would be on my top 10 if I had the space and $.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

A panel saw would be nice. I do have a big Felder slider, and I have it layed out in my mind to easily wheel a lumber cart from the lumber pile to the slider. It would be easy to put a panel saw on that north wall though...

[William A. Parker]

What size panel do you have running to the house and are there adequuate electrical outlets?

[Jim O'Dell]

I'd make sure what are load bearing walls before I'd demo too much. If you have center walls, they may be load bearing. You might be able to put in structure so that you can open up a lot, but you will still need the structure designed in to carry the roof load. If in doubt, get some professional opinions! Jim.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

William, it's a complete redo on the electrical. I have good underground to a pole about 20 feet from the house, which then drops down on three individual wires to the house. I've disconnected it at the pole, and the old wire and panel in the house are junk. Luckily, with the good service that close, and the walls bare to the studs, I can do whatever I want. I'm thinking a 200 amp panel and supply, and plenty of dedicated circuits for each machine. Probably do the outlets in the wall rather than in conduit.

Just thinking out loud here, forced air heat and ac need a place for ducting, and maybe I could do something in the same area for running power to new machines.

Jim, I'm going to have to get pretty in depth with the framing. The ceilings are barely 8 foot as is, so they need raised. Right now I'm thinking of framing in scissor trusses. Honestly though, that plan changes each time I pull the old sheetrock off a wall and find some other suprise. Luckily I do have a good resource for engineering questions.

[Norman Hitt]

I would suggest mounting all your wall outlets about 52 or 53 inches above the floor, then you can push a bench, table, or other tool or equipment against any wall when needed, OR lean a sheet of plywood against the wall without covering ANY outlet and can still plug in drills or sanders, etc to use on the bench or table. As you get older, you will also appreciate not having to bend down to plug in or unplug anything. I made removable 8" tall x 8' long panels (same thickness as the wall covering) to cover all the horizontally run "inwall wiring" with fitted cutouts for the outlets, completely around all 4 exterior walls, and this will allow me to easily go inside the wall to make any future wiring changes without having to have surface mounted conduit, (which I personally HATE because it is such a dust collector).

[Steve Rozmiarek]

That's some good stuff Norman, I'm using the height and the runway. Thanks!