Shop ideas to consider

[repete]

I will start off this "idea" thread with this shop addition:
I put a solenoid valve at the outlet of my air compressor that is "opened" by turning on my shop lights. No broken hoses at night running my compressor when no one is around. I can also find out that I have an air leak if my piping empties overnight.

 

[MossRoad]

A separate sound-resistant room for your air compressor with filtered outside air.

 

[CliffordK]

I'm planning a new workshop, hopefully to break ground this spring/summer. It will be 100 yards away from the house.

A few extra features that I'd like to include are:
Bathroom Toilet
Bathroom Shower (plus a closet). I consider this as a critical safety feature. If I get something on me or in my eyes that needs a shower, I want it. Plus, an ability to clean up when one leaves the shop.
Laundry. Keep some of the dirty stuff and dirty rags in the shop.
I'd like wood heat. I can get a fair amount of windfall on my property, and probably can get more nearby if needed.
I am also planning for both internal and external fire safety.
Dehumidifier can help reduce the need for heat.
I am hoping to add a loft accessible with a 4 post lift.

 

[D&D]

I'm planning a new workshop, hopefully to break ground this spring/summer. It will be 100 yards away from the house.

A few extra features that I'd like to include are:
Bathroom Toilet
Bathroom Shower (plus a closet). I consider this as a critical safety feature. If I get something on me or in my eyes that needs a shower, I want it. Plus, an ability to clean up when one leaves the shop.
Laundry. Keep some of the dirty stuff and dirty rags in the shop.
I'd like wood heat. I can get a fair amount of windfall on my property, and probably can get more nearby if needed.
I am also planning for both internal and external fire safety.
Dehumidifier can help reduce the need for heat.
I am hoping to add a loft accessible with a 4 post lift.

Maybe a wood boiler and radiant floor heat? From safety side, no flame or heat source inside. Flammable storage and “dirty” rag storage. We almost lost a building because the dirty rag pile was where the sun was hitting it through the window. Had a nice blaze from the spontaneous combustion, lucky someone was there and put it out. Dirty rags now go in a safety can.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Yes a metal trash can works for rags. Dirty ones washed or too bad thrown away.
When I had my garage built years ago here's a few things I did & some I wished I did. I did have a bathroom and adjoining laundry room which is good, and with floor drain. Really came in handy when we had to have house drain replaced or water problem. It's well insulated and has hot water heater and propane wall heater. The heater pilot running is enough to keep pipes from freezing.
Other side or wall is a laundry sink next to parts cleaner. Garage is about 250ft from house, no fumes & fire safety.
Although garage has a propane furnace it has an adjoining one car garage with workbench easy to heat just that instead of whole garage. It's two story and I probably should have gone 3 story. Gas & diesel is in a separate building.
I should have had a floor drain put in and a wash bay with It's own drain would have been nice. Garage is close to stable so we could wash horses easily also.
Before bringing in the first car I should have insulated and used OSB. Drywall if hit you have to patch. Then I would put electric in metal conduit on OSB...it's easy to get to, add on, etc.

 

[CliffordK]

I will start off this "idea" thread with this shop addition:
I put a solenoid valve at the outlet of my air compressor that is "opened" by turning on my shop lights. No broken hoses at night running my compressor when no one is around. I can also find out that I have an air leak if my piping empties overnight.

At the moment I don't use air a lot. Most tools are either electric or battery.

I'll plan on running hard air lines around where I'll need air. But, I foresee air as:

Tire Inflation
Tire Machine
Painting
Sand Blasting (planning to get the big stuff out of the main shop, I already found a nice diesel compressor).
Planishing?
Blowing/Cleaning?

I may try air sanding, but hand sanding and electric sanding will probably do what I need.

Anyway, I anticipate turning on the air when needed, and turning it off when not needed. I'd rather do an electric shut-off rather than an air solenoid shutoff.

It might be worth evaluating what needs a master shutoff switch, and what needs to run off hours. So, at least some fans and air circulation should be able to be run with the lights out. Heat?
67Also any fire safety needs power. And recharging batteries. But, a lot of the rest of the shop could be killed with a master shut off.

I'll probably plan a main battery charging station that is both heat controlled, but also fire protected.

 

[CliffordK]

Before bringing in the first car I should have insulated and used OSB. Drywall if hit you have to patch. Then I would put electric in metal conduit on OSB...it's easy to get to, add on, etc.

I've picked up a used triangular metal rag bin, but I haven't used it yet.

I'm not planning on flammable wood siding. Hopefully some brick and concrete. I've picked up some used corrugated steel for some areas that I need a thin covering, but unfortunately that stuff is expensive, and often mighty battered.

I've been researching closed cell spray foam, and it isn't as flammable as I had thought, and does very well at sealing. Apparently there is an Intumescent paint that reduces the spread of flames.

 

[KennyG]

Lots of good ideas here. I have a wood stove in my building but I have outside air intake and I'm very careful about using it when I have solvents and paint. I keep all the fuels in the opposite corner of the building and have a metal container for rags and towels with solvent.

I have OSB on the walls and that's been good. I wish I had run all the electrical in surface conduit but I didn't. If you are heating the building, a metal ceiling with blown in insulation is the way to go.

 

[WM75Guy]

Have plenty of electrical capacity. I have a 200A meter with a large breaker box in our shop. We just added on to the shop to expand our stained-glass business. A stainless-steel sink with 6-gallon hot water heater has come in handy to clean glass. Added a 50,000 BTU electric heater just to keep a minimum temp of 50 degrees so the plumbing doesn't freeze. A dedicated office/design studio with 18,000 BTU HVAC to keep the computers. printers, and Cricut cutter away from the dust and heat. Also another 240V plug for a kiln to fuse glass, this one was 20A. That is in addition to the 240V plug 40A I already had for a welder, if I ever need it.

Here are a couple of examples of the projects my wife just completed. Jesus with a Crown of Thorns is 3'X4' and has 577 individual pieces of glass of 48 different types. It is displayed the lobby of the new ED in town, along with 3 additional pieces the same size.

 

[paulsharvey]

Set your work benches up at "bar stool" height. It's much more comfortable for standing work, and your gonna be standing a lot more then sitting; plus, you can have some bar stools in there for that.