New Shop Construction

[Charles Lent]

I know someone who has his entire shop above his garage. He has a motorized lift that slides/folds out of an end door to lift his machinery and supplies, etc.
It works for him, but I wouldn't want it. My shop was in the basement of my previous house and the only access was the inside stairway that went up to a 3 X 4' area with two doors, one left into the kitchen, and one straight ahead, which then dropped two steps into the back corner of the garage. Everything had to go in and out through that up and down maze. Before I moved, I was considering finding a sidewalk elevator and building an outside entrance with the elevator in it for access in and out of the basement, maybe with a removable stairway so the elevator didn't always have to be used. You can make do with these inconveniences, but it sure doesn't promote good shop time.

Charley

[John K Jordan]

... Before I moved, I was considering finding a sidewalk elevator and building an outside entrance with the elevator in it for access in and out of the basement, maybe with a removable stairway so the elevator didn't always have to be used.

Another option is to build an elevator. A quadriplegic friend of mine had an elevator made from a surplus fork lift. He had someone weld a frame and cage with guides and rollers. A small AC motor powered the hydraulic pump. I built a sturdy upper deck attached to the house with a big hole for the elevator and someone else built an enclosure and put a door into the house. This elevator is probably 7-8' square inside, could work for a shop. He had it made big enough for easy access and for turning his motorized wheelchair. Before the elevator he couldn't get to the second level of the house.

JKJ

[Kris Cook]

Too busy at work right now (working on two different projects in two different states). Still trying to do some planning when I get time. We spent a couple of days at the new place this weekend and still trying to figure out layout. Shop is probably going to have an upper half-story for office and potential future use as an apartment. I was planning on a 24' X 40' shop with a 12' X 24' single-stall garage taking up part of that square footage. The problem I am having now is my wife is not real keen on the 25' width for the full length because it encroaches on the yard too much. I would still like to incorporate a garage stall and maybe an "L" shaped setup of some kind.

Not really a question being posted here - more just thinking out loud. I will post some specifics after I can present some more fleshed-out ideas.

Thanks for the responses.

[Charles Lent]

Wherever you end up putting your shop, make sure you provide a bathroom in or adjacent to it. This is my biggest problem, having to stop work and head for the house when I need to use it. A half bath is Ok, but one with a shower and changing area is the ultimate. Of course, your shop will need running water for doing glue-ups, so a sink is needed at the very minimum. But a real 1/2 bathroom is also needed, with cold and hot water if you put in the shower. I have running water and a sink in my shop, but there's not enough room for the rest. I was just given a 120 volt "instant" heater for hot water at my sink, so this will be a needed improvement that I have gone 25 years without. My next shop will have a full bathroom and changing area in addition to the shop sink (who am I kidding, I'm 75 now).

Charley

[Kris Cook]

Still noodling on ideas. My work is finally starting to slow down so I can get back to planning mode. I used the Grizzly Planner to come up with the attached to see if my general layout thoughts are going to work.

I wanted a bigger shop but I think this will work. the white area in the bottom right is not part of the building (the planner won't let you create an "L" shape).

DC is in the garage which will house the wife's car. Stairwell above DC will go to office upstairs which will be half the footprint of the bottom floor.

[Kris Cook]

Seems like there are several folks going through the same process I am for figuring out shop layout. My previous post included a drawing of a plan for a 25 ft. wide shop. Subsequently, my wife made it clear the shop wasnt going to obstruct the view. I am now looking at a 20 ft. wide building. The drawing below reconfigures my layout with the 20 ft. width (shop keeps shrinking ) My main goal at this point is to convince myself I can make the shop work with this arrangement, and finalize the layout of the building itself.. I could probably go longer with the building but not wider. Cant seem to insert photos in line like I have done before.

[Jim Dwight]

Due to space on the lot considerations and appearance, I was limited to a 14x24 shop addition. It is a separate third stall on the garage. Sometimes I pull a car out and use the adjacent two car garage for something but no woodworking tools are in there. To make this work, I took the extension rails off my table saw and switched to a track saw for all cuts on big pieces. I like this arrangement better. Makes more sense to move the saw rather than the wood on big pieces. I mention this because you have a lot of space around your table saw. You wouldn't need so much if you made a decision like mine.

[Kris Cook]

I am building two swing-out doors in my smaller garage door opening. When the slab was being poured, the finisher cut down the approaches to both door openings. I almost had them fill it back in to maintain a flat surface all the way to the edge. I really wish I had done that.

In the sketch below you can (hopefully) see what I am talking about.

I want to be able to seal the door with a "kerf-in" type sweep that need to press against a horizontal surface (threshold). I have drawn in purple the approximate shape of what the threshold would have to look like.

I plan to keep a 4-wheeler in this bay during the winter and I would rather have a tapered approach inside and out but I don't see a way to do that without something laying on the gravel beyond the slab.

Any suggestions?

[Jim Becker]

For an area like that you could consider putting up a form on the outside that has it's top level with the shop floor and pour some concrete to do what you described was an option during the original poor. Yes, you'll see it was added, but it will be concrete. That kind of small area is pretty easy to do even for someone who doesn't have experience with doing concrete work. There would be a little bump getting the ATV in and out of there which it will most certainly not mind and you could simplify the door bottom and use a replaceable, flexible weather seal. This, of course, just an alternative to the added formed threshold you show in your sketch.

[Kris Cook]

Thanks Jim. I was just looking on the JLC forum and saw others with a similar challenge where the consensus seemed to be what you are describing.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have lots of experience with concrete patching (I built swimming pools in my younger days - no, not in Montana)

I guess I hate to patch a brand new slab but I think you are probably right. Will have to wait until things warm up around here though. I may do something temporary in the interim as I was hoping to get these doors hung in the next week or two.

Haven't made any progress on the building for a few weeks due to weather, and a few work obligations. Looks like the weather may be starting to break this coming week so hopefully will see some progress.

[Jim Becker]

Tack some lumber milled and shimmed to thickness in there until the weather is amenable to concrete and do your doors.

[Kris Cook]

I think that's a good plan.

[Jim Becker]

The primary problem with your shop design is that truck that's taking up space.

Can you shift the building location a little to re-gain your 4-5' of footprint? That narrow space on the front is going to be pretty constraining, honestly. How about another 2-3' as that would allow you to turn the "garage bay" front to back and you'd gain a lot of space. You could also shift the stairway so it's along the wall that borders the "garage bay" for maximum space utilization. My shop building is 22x44 and was originally a 3.5 car garage build by the previous owner. I have all but the last bay on the end as my shop. Unfortunately, I do have a stairway that takes up space in the middle-back of my shop.

[Art Mann]

A lot of research has been done on the explosive nature of wood dust. It turns out, there is a minimum density of dust that will sustain a flash fire and that concentration would not allow you to survive very long in the room. You would choke before the heater would cause a fire. A dust collector can, under unusual circumstance, contain a level of dust that is explosive. That is what you need to be concerned about. I have a 5000 watt electric heater in my shop and after a summer without use, enough dust will collect on the heater coils to cause a burning smell when first used but there is no threat of fire.

[Kris Cook]

<p>
Jim D. - thanks for the suggestion. A track saw is in my future regardless of whether I modify the table saw. Jim B. - The garage will be for my wifes car - just making sure there is room to work on a larger vehicle if needed. I agree the bowling alley is problematic. I have to have the building 10 ft. off the lot line so I moved it 12 ft. off so I could drive into the back yard if needed. I could move back to the 10 ft. and gain 2 ft. - I have been considering this as I could drive in from the other side of the yard in a pinch. I am not sure what you mean by moving the garage bay front to back. Do you mean 90 degrees? I am limited to the end it is on, as that lines up with the driveway next to the house. If you meant something else I would appreciate if you expounded.</p>