Garage/Workshop Critique

fenneran · Feb 23, 2005

( Bathroom: What's to ponder? It's a great idea!! I wish I had one in my garage. Plumbing the toilet, sink and shower make possible real floor drains and a hot water heater. Both are on my need to have list on the next garage. I would suggest a "tub sink" rather than a regular vanity in the bath, though. That type of sink allows "bulky" items to fit and will take the abuse better. Also the faucet on those allows the hook up of a garden hose for floor cleaning with HOT water and whatever else you can think of. )

I thought a regular vanity in the bathroom itself, then a wash sink right outside for the big stuff. Is that overkill?

-Frank

fishman · Feb 23, 2005

Where's the fridge? /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

fractal · Feb 24, 2005

There are several things I do not see in your shop.

1 - air compressor and air lines. You can get away with a consumer grade 120v air compressor but if you get into serious air tools or do a lot of painting you may want to get an 220v industrial model. Planing the air distribution up front can save you a lot of retrofit afterwords.

2 - dust collection. How much woodworking are you going to do? If it is a lot you might want to invest in the infrastructure for a dust collector.

3 - if you do go for air and dust collection, you might want to consider an insulated room. Some folk do a simple lean-to type structure outside the main structure. This lets you put the air compressor and dust extractor far enough away that the noise is not a nuisence.

4 - I don't see a 50 amp 220v outlet conveniently located for a welder, or am I missing something.

5 - the bathroom is a great feature for a shop. I would not eliminate it. Drop the shower and internal basin if you feel you must save space but keep the toilet.

Probably the biggest thing I see you doing wrong is not building it in my back yard <grin>

Av8r3400 · Feb 24, 2005

( Bathroom: What's to ponder? It's a great idea!! I wish I had one in my garage. Plumbing the toilet, sink and shower make possible real floor drains and a hot water heater. Both are on my need to have list on the next garage. I would suggest a "tub sink" rather than a regular vanity in the bath, though. That type of sink allows "bulky" items to fit and will take the abuse better. Also the faucet on those allows the hook up of a garden hose for floor cleaning with HOT water and whatever else you can think of. )

I thought a regular vanity in the bathroom itself, then a wash sink right outside for the big stuff. Is that overkill?

-Frank 

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Better yet!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Phred · Feb 25, 2005

( Don't forget floor drains. Put under the cars where they get parked. That way runoff will go under the car instead of between them where you have to walk.

Electrically:
Don't forget receptacles in the ceiling for the garage door openers and maybe some spool type lights or extension cords. )

Good advice. I have one floor drain and if I did it again I would put in about 5.
The extension cord reels are the best. Also an air reel would be a good adition.

I have a frost free hot/cold faucet outside as well as an air line outlet on the outside mounted to the side of the shop. This way I can use the air in the winter time easily out front. The warm water outside can be a real plus in winter time.
Very hand for a quick fix on farm equipment.

Also I have almost every thing on casters. This way you can rearange the shop as needed.

Another key item is storage drawers for small parts. You can make your own very cheaply with
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=46037&cat=1,43326

Phred · Feb 25, 2005

(
1 - air compressor and air lines. You can get away with a consumer grade 120v air compressor but if you get into serious air tools or do a lot of painting you may want to get an 220v industrial model.
)

I would not bother with the 110 models. Jump right to a 220V if you can and at least 10+ CFM. Otherwsie you may find yourself like me; I have payed for a 110V and then a 220V when it was clear after a year or two that the 110V could not cut it!

If you only want to run a brad nailer the 110V will do fine. But the problem is that air tools tend to mutliply and before you know it you will have a sander or heaven forbid a sand blaster...good by 110V.

fenneran · Feb 27, 2005

Sorry to keep pounding the questions out at you guys, but here's another thought. My thinking all along has been that this would be a stick-built building on a pad. A friend works for a pole-barn building company and asked if I had considered pole construction with a poured pad. I know some of you have that. Are there advantages/disadvantages to either method of contstruction? I want this to be a heated/cooled space, so does that come into the picture for choosing which way to go?

-Frank

Glenn9643 · Mar 2, 2005

I'm a little late into this discussion but have a few thoughts anyway.
If you mentioned a ceiling height I missed it, and would recommend at least 10' for handling plywood sheets, etc.
Several have mentioned potential problems with duct clogging if placed within the slab. I used 4" schedule 40 PVC under my slab for the DC, with "wye's" to bring it up the the equipment drops and extended it beyond the slab at the end with a "cleanout" plug so I could remove any plugs. It's been in use for about four years and I've not had any problems with plugging, hooked to a 13" planer, router table, or cabinet saw. My only recommendation would be to use 6" instead of the 4" PVC and place the DC in a separate area filtering the return air with high quality filters available from Lowe's, etc. Even with a good DC you'll have some dust blowby and this will help with that as well as keep the noise down. I have added dropsheds that extend out 24' on three sides of my shop and 18' on the front for additional covered storage, and built a 6x8 room on one end that's outside of my main shop area for my DC and air compressor with two filtered return air openings through the wall into the shop.
When you run the electrical under the slab put each outlet on it's own circuit and use wiring large enough for your greatest anticipated need. That way you can drop down to 120v and 20amp breaker if that's what you need or go up to 220, depending on the tool.
What type of planer are you using? Mine is a Dewalt "portable" and I built a stand for it so that the output is the same height as my cabinet saw. My router table is huge, made from an old double pedestal desk, and I removed the legs and put it on a heavy frame on casters with the top the same height as the cabinet saw, planer, and my miter saw. This allows me to move the router table as needed to use it as an outfeed table or assembly table when not using the router. The paner, cabinet saw, miter saw, and bandsaw are also on casters.
If you're running the electrical from your house to the new building underground you should consider added conduits for telephone lines and perhaps wiring for a networked computer or cable TV. It won't cost much and now's the time to do it.
You can never get too many electrical outlets in the shop, and I have at least one outlet on each exterior wall outside the shop.
Good luck with your project. You'll enjoy it.

Glenn