New Shop Ideas

[cflansbaum]

I know this is a common topic on many of the other woodworking forums, but I don't see it here on FOG and I think we have a really diverse group here that may lead to some interesting suggestions...

In the next few months, my wife and I are planning to sell our current house and move out on some acreage.  One of the major reasons for this is so that I can have a real shop to pursue my woodworking business.  (One of the others is to pursue my dream to build my own house, but the shop will be first.)  I'd be interested in what you guys would do again or do differently in your shops if you were to build again or from scratch.

I've got about a 30k budget and am thinking concrete slab with a SIP wall/wooded pole building frame and metal roof.  Any experience with SIPs and rumors I've heard about low frequency sounds would be helpful.  I'm also considering radiant heat (which I will do in the house) but wonder if that makes sense in a woodshop due to the time to heat up, etc.)

I'm thinking around 800 sq feet and will most definitely have a dedicated finishing room and the dust collector venting outside.  I have (or will eventually have) all the big machines and am more a power tool guy than a hand tool one. 

So what would you all suggest or do yourselves???

Carl

 

[sw1211]

You might check out some of the shops at this site for ideas. http://www.shoptours.org/

 

[Scott W.]

Hi Carl,

A couple of things come to mind.

1. If you vent your dust collector outside it will suck the heat / cooling out of your shop in short order. If you are in a mild climate this may not be a concern. Separating the DC from the work area for noise control is something I truly wish I would have done, I may yet enclose mine. (It's on my list of to-do's  )

2. I have radiant heat in my shop. My heat unit is propane fired and totally sealed (uses outside air and vents outside) it is by re-verber-ray It will warm up the shop in short order and is pretty efficient. Mine are the HL2 2 stage model, I have two units 25 ft each connected end to end.

3. Try to give yourself plenty of ceiling height.

4. If you plan to have a compressor, try to also put it in a separate room for noise control.

5. Concrete is hard on your feet. Plan for mats or better yet install a wood floor, they are easier on dropped tools also.

6. Lots of natural light if you can swing it.

7. Don't forget about lumber storage and flammable's storage.

8. Double walk in doors are nice.

9. Spend a lot of time thinking about machine placement, air lines, electric etc.

10. If you can have a washroom and a big sink also a spigot for filling a bucket etc.

Most of these things are things I would like to change about my shop 

Scott W.

 

[neoshed]

I have a fair amount of experience with SIP's.

If you were to go with them you certainly wouldn't need the poles part of it unless you were planning on doing a rafter type of roof. Unless you have experience with them, they can be intimidating to put together and you certainly need a few people to help position the panels.
My advice would be to use the dealers erection team as they'll have all the necessary equipment and a crane.

The cheapest option would certainly be a tin shed type of building.

I cant offer much in the way of shop layout as I still use my single car garage  :-\

 

[JJ Wavra]

I work in the garage and one of the first things that I would love to have is windows.  fresh air and natural light.

sorry I can not help more.

JJ

 

[cflansbaum]

steve -- thanks for the link, I had seen that site awhile ago and forgot about it -- I also saw that quite a few do have pics of the construction which I am more interested in at this point

scott -- we're thinking exactly the same my friend...

patrick -- yep, I see your point, in the house I plan to do a SIP roof (stawbale walls, timberframe structure), but I'm still trying to decide the structure of the shop.  I really like the idea of SIP walls for the shop, but not sure about the roof yet, so still have some research to do here.  Plus I understand that I need to do a full on foundation for SIP walls vs just pouring a slab.  Definitely would sub out the erection part for the SIPs though...

carl

 

[cflansbaum]

oh yeah one more thing -- I checked out Cascade Joinery (a Timber frame op here in Bellingham) the other day and the guy gave me a tour of their shop -- they have HUGE doors made of SIPS which I thought was a very cool idea...

c.

 

[semenza]

Hi,

  Woodgeek, are you talking about radiant heaters, or radiant floor?

Seth

 

[cflansbaum]

radiant floor

 

[robtonya]

I am kinda slow, but I am trying to figure out what an SIP is. Other than that, I will tell you to make it big as you can. I always want more room. Good luck on your business too. I remember reading about that awhile back.

 

[Greg B]

SIP = Structural Insulated Panels consist of thin wood sheathing (usually OSB) glued to a central core of expanded or extruded rigid foam insulation. The entire structure forms a type of stress skin panel and has good strength properties and excellent insulative value.

GB

 

[robtonya]

SIP = Structural Insulated Panels consist of thin wood sheathing (usually OSB) glued to a central core of expanded or extruded rigid foam insulation. The entire structure forms a type of stress skin panel and has good strength properties and excellent insulative value.

GB

Thank you, I don't think I have ever heard of it. I am always doing remodeling, I would love to learn about new construction. I want to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity for several reasons, but I think I could learn some basic skills too.

 

[Corwin]

Hey Carl,

We should probably do lunch or something, as we are both working towards vary similar goals.

In any event, I look forward to the replies on this thread.

...
2. I have radiant heat in my shop. My heat unit is propane fired and totally sealed (uses outside air and vents outside) it is by re-verber-ray It will warm up the shop in short order and is pretty efficient. Mine are the HL2 2 stage model, I have two units 25 ft each connected end to end.
...
7. Don't forget about lumber storage and flammable's storage.
...
Scott W.

Scott,

This is overhead radiant heating, right?  You have 50', so what size is your shop?

Lumber storage and flammable's storage...  I'd like some recommendations on these issues.

 

[Scott W.]

...
2. I have radiant heat in my shop. My heat unit is propane fired and totally sealed (uses outside air and vents outside) it is by re-verber-ray It will warm up the shop in short order and is pretty efficient. Mine are the HL2 2 stage model, I have two units 25 ft each connected end to end.
...
7. Don't forget about lumber storage and flammable's storage.
...
Scott W.

Scott,

This is overhead radiant heating, right?  You have 50', so what size is your shop?

Lumber storage and flammable's storage...  I'd like some recommendations on these issues.

Hi Corwin,

My shop is roughly 65 x 35 or so. You can get a look here
(I don't remember if you can see the heaters in any shots, they are high up on the wall withe the doors)

Scott W.

edit:
I just took a look at my photos, The heat doesn't show. If you want I'll take a pic when I go to the shop next.

 

[Dave Rudy]

Scott,

This is overhead radiant heating, right?  You have 50', so what size is your shop?

Lumber storage and flammable's storage...  I'd like some recommendations on these issues.

Scott,  Even more detail please.  What is the square (cubic footage) heating capacity (or BTU's as an alternative).  Do they burn propane?  How much do they cost to buy; how much to operate?  I live in Colorado and have a mostly insulated shop with high (peaked barn roof) ceilings.  Can get below zero here from time to time.

Thanks

Dave

 

[Scott W.]

Scott,  Even more detail please.  What is the square (cubic footage) heating capacity (or BTU's as an alternative).  Do they burn propane?  How much do they cost to buy; how much to operate?  I live in Colorado and have a mostly insulated shop with high (peaked barn roof) ceilings.  Can get below zero here from time to time.

Thanks

Dave

Dave, Im in PA & it gets pretty chilly here from time to time also 

I'm sorry I don't recall the cost probably wouldn't matter what I paid anyway I have had them for more than 10 years.

Mine are the 2 stage ones and they seem pretty efficient. They have them in all sizes of BTU.

Yes mine use propane they also work with natural gas.

You can get all the info Here

Scott W.

 

[Tim Sproul]

I'd consider putting the shop on a crawl space rather than on a slab.  This gives you flexibility in the future to run ducting/electrical/plumbing/pneumatic underneath instead of overhead.  If you're going to build it with 15-20 foot ceiling, then overhead doesn't matter as much.  Even with a 10 foot ceiling, you can quickly run out of headroom.  Run your ducting/electrical underneath.....having drops from the ceiling can impede workflow, especially when you work with long/large pieces of material.  From a visual perspective, not having drops impede your vision helps in subtle but significant ways.

Even if you don't want a bathroom in there now, consider having it plumbed for a full bath and have a natural gas line run out to the shop.  Even if you never use these, having them in place also lets you renovate more easily in the future and affects the sellability of the property - not everyone will want a shop.  Some may look at the building and think about it as living space.

Consider a smaller separate structure for wood storage.

In your finishing room....you need to carefully consider lighting.  A finish that looks great under T12 fluorescents and finish splattered walls may look rather odd under incandescents combined with sunlight through a window.

 

[neoshed]

patrick -- yep, I see your point, in the house I plan to do a SIP roof (stawbale walls, timberframe structure), but I'm still trying to decide the structure of the shop.  I really like the idea of SIP walls for the shop, but not sure about the roof yet, so still have some research to do here.  Plus I understand that I need to do a full on foundation for SIP walls vs just pouring a slab.  Definitely would sub out the erection part for the SIPs though...

carl

You can do sip's on a roof quite easily. I'm not sure what your local regs call for but a 6.5 thick roof panel is R25 on its own. If you're really serious about sip's I'd suggest you do the whole thing in sips because its a system much like festool. You could certainly still use a timber frame structure with it.

Feel free to email me is you go with sip's and I'll hook you up with some info.

 

[Corwin]

Thanks for the continued information...

I remember some home improvement television show years back built a garage with SIPs for walls and ceiling -- also had radiant floor heating in the slab, IIRC.

Separate building for wood storage...  I suspect this is a good idea due to those pesky little critters that might come with the wood.  Therefor, should this storage building be metal?

 

[cflansbaum]

thanks everyone...

I like the idea for SIPs and for walls it seems somewhat cost effective.  Roofs seem pricey though I'm just doing rough estimates now.  I'm using the pricing athttp://thesipstore.com/ for my rough pricing.

I'm somewhat intrigued by the stuff at faswall.com as well... stackable ICF (insulated concrete forms)  There's a bunch of info athttp://www.greenbuildingtalk.com/ for anyone interested

I really would like easy access to the mechanicals, dust collection, etc so I understand the attraction of a crawlspace, but they give me the whillies!

As some of you may have guessed, I'm going for as "green" a construction as I can. 

carl