Buying a house - building a shop.

[mikey]

In a few months, my wife and I are going to be buying our first house.

No matter how the shop turns out, CONGRATULATIONS on your first house!!!

 

[macardoso]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions so far! We are going to be moderately close to Detroit, so yards and lot sizes are not large. I'd probably have a hard time finding space for an outdoor shed/pole barn shop. A 3rd bay of a garage would be great too, but we saw none when we went house hunting last week. I was really hoping to end up ground floor, but I'm thinking that is less and less likely to happen.

I did move my 1000# lathe into a basement once, but it was not fun. I can certainly do it again. I would have liked to buy a knee mill, but that may not happen. For me, having a closed off shop where the cats don't sneak into, with better lighting and storage than my current setup would be awesome. As much time as I spend in the shop I don't make a large volume of parts, just whatever sounds fun to me, so it doesn't need to be the most production focused setup.

I do absolutely zero grinding right now and I intend to keep it that way. I'm actually not bad on a grinder, but it makes such a mess indoors that I stopped and found other ways to do what I want. That might change one day but not now.

I like the plywood on the walls suggestion. That would really make mounting stuff easy!

Any thoughts on treating a concrete floor? I'd rather not get it all oil stained

 

[7milesup]

And of course, the more space the better. If you can put up a 30 x 40 x 10' barn next to the house, all the better.

Too small.
Ok, how about 36x40. Too small.
40x40? Too small.
40x60? Maybe

In all seriousness, if you (Marcardoso) are going to build a shop, do NOT build it with an 8ft wall height. If you decide to work with wood at some point, 8ft ceilings suck. My last shop had 10' ceilings and that was good. Current one has 11ft ceilings. I would not go over 12ft though unless you have a specific need for that much height.

 

[tq60]

If stairs insure single row, straight.

Our building is 2 floors, 40 inches stairs.

Over time picked up 3 stair lifts.

First one, not quite long enough and the next, bought as a pair, correct side and fold up bottom.

2 installed, wrong side one has platform, it carries things while the other is for humans on long days.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

 

[macardoso]

Too small.
Ok, how about 36x40. Too small.
40x40? Too small.
40x60? Maybe

In all seriousness, if you (Marcardoso) are going to build a shop, do NOT build it with an 8ft wall height. If you decide to work with wood at some point, 8ft ceilings suck. My last shop had 10' ceilings and that was good. Current one has 11ft ceilings. I would not go over 12ft though unless you have a specific need for that much height.

I have not done any wood work other than pulling the miter saw outside to trim up some 2x4s or landscaping lumber. I mostly do small metalworking, electronics design, and would like to get into custom gunsmithing work (dreaming of scratch building a Remington 700 from bar stock and a barrel blank). I have 8' ceilings now, and while I wish they were taller, they don't bother me too much. I don't forsee myself getting into anything that generates a ton of dust because I don't see how that doesn't make a mess of the house over 20 years.

 

[7milesup]

Floor treatment....
A couple of pictures when I was building my shop last year. It has a stain applied and then a clear sealer over the top. I like how it turned out. My previous shop had an epoxy coating with the flakes added to it and then sealed. I liked that too, but did not want it in my new shop due to cost, and it also does chip if you are not careful. The more flakes you add, the more grip it has generally speaking.
I stained the front entry of the house with a different product than my shop. I really liked it. (picture attached) Super easy to work with and non-caustic. Water based. The company was very helpful too. ---> Sim Stain <---

 

[macardoso]

Floor treatment....
A couple of pictures when I was building my shop last year. It has a stain applied and then a clear sealer over the top. I like how it turned out. My previous shop had an epoxy coating with the flakes added to it and then sealed. I liked that too, but did not want it in my new shop due to cost, and it also does chip if you are not careful. The more flakes you add, the more grip it has generally speaking.
I stained the front entry of the house with a different product than my shop. I really liked it. (picture attached) Super easy to work with and non-caustic. Water based. The company was very helpful too. ---> Sim Stain <---

Wow, that looks sharp! You prefer that over the flaked epoxy? My current rental basement has floor paint which just doesn't hold up to the use. Do you remember roughly what it cost (either total or sq.ft.) to do that?

 

[pontiac428]

That is a nice looking finish. Makes sense why you chose it. Epoxy is expensive, with a clear coat finish I was approaching $2/sq. ft. on mine.

The nice thing about the chip epoxy is that you put all of the chips in it when you roll it on. That way, when you chip the floor moving something around, it doesn't hurt so bad because you know the chips were there in the coat all along. See what I did there?

 

[7milesup]

="macardoso, post: 799889, member: 50105"]
Wow, that looks sharp! You prefer that over the flaked epoxy? My current rental basement has floor paint which just doesn't hold up to the use. Do you remember roughly what it cost (either total or sq.ft.) to do that?
[/QUOTE]
They both have advantages and disadvantages. The epoxy can be less slippery when wet depending on how much flake you put into it. When I did my first shop floor the process is to put down some epoxy (mine was gray), maybe a 4'x4' square, throw or scatter some of your chips on it until you get the desired look and then do another section. Repeat the process until the floor is covered. Make sure you work towards a door.... LOL. The next day you go back in and put a clear epoxy over the top of that. I think the clear top coat is optional. Also, the temp needs to be up there, ideally around 70F+. Mine was around 55 and it took 3 days to cure.
The stain approach is much easier. I used ---> THIS STAIN<--- for my new shop. I used leather color for that one. Just roll it on and done. I am afraid I do not remember the exact cost per gallon. I want to say less than $50 a gallon. I then clear coated it with --->TK Bright Cure & Seal<---. I see that one place had it for $180 for 5 gallons but I know I did not pay anywhere near that much. Maybe a little over $100 for five gallons.
For my front entry, which is 10'x21' I used about a gallon and a half of Sim Stain at $50 per gallon. You can put as much or as little Sim Stain on as you want for effect. I used a 2 gallon garden sprayer to apply. Also, as a side note the concrete cannot be sealed before staining. Some cement contractors use a cure and seal right after they pour the concrete. You do not want them to do that because your stain will not work unless you go through a lot of effort of acid etching it.
My new go to for staining is that Sim Stain. You can mix colors and do all sorts of cool stuff with it. No obnoxios odors either, although the TK Cure & Seal is definitely a "wear your respirator" product.
Hope that helps a little.

 

[tjb]

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions so far! We are going to be moderately close to Detroit, so yards and lot sizes are not large. I'd probably have a hard time finding space for an outdoor shed/pole barn shop. A 3rd bay of a garage would be great too, but we saw none when we went house hunting last week. I was really hoping to end up ground floor, but I'm thinking that is less and less likely to happen.

I did move my 1000# lathe into a basement once, but it was not fun. I can certainly do it again. I would have liked to buy a knee mill, but that may not happen. For me, having a closed off shop where the cats don't sneak into, with better lighting and storage than my current setup would be awesome. As much time as I spend in the shop I don't make a large volume of parts, just whatever sounds fun to me, so it doesn't need to be the most production focused setup.

I do absolutely zero grinding right now and I intend to keep it that way. I'm actually not bad on a grinder, but it makes such a mess indoors that I stopped and found other ways to do what I want. That might change one day but not now.

I like the plywood on the walls suggestion. That would really make mounting stuff easy!

Any thoughts on treating a concrete floor? I'd rather not get it all oil stained

Some observations:

1. Since you're house-hunting and not constrained to a specific residence, and assuming it will be necessary to set up your shop in a basement, do the best you can to find a home with outside access to the basement. (Down in our part of the country, that's very common. However, it may not be in the Detroit area.) There are loads of stories floating around about the nightmare of trying to move heavy equipment down a staircase. Sounds like you already have experience with that.

2. Boswell's suggestion of plywood walls is a good one. I did that in my shop and several others here have done so, as well. I would suggest mounting the plywood with screws instead of nails. That way, if you ever need to get back into the walls (e.g., changing wiring or plumbing, etc.), it's a relatively easy matter. Also, use real 'plywood' - not particle board or press wood. I did not paint mine, but if you do, as he suggested brighter is better (I'd opt for white). Also, at least be cognizant of ventilation and exhaust issues in a basement. It is definitely doable, but it has its own set of considerations.

3. As all of us know, the maxim about available space is absolute - "The amount of stuff accumulated is directly proportional to the degree of space available." That axiom goes for height as well. You may be fine with 8' ceilings, but if you had ten or twelve feet, you'd figure out something to do with it. Again, while you're in search mode for a home, if you need a tie-breaker, go for the one that has the higher ceiling in what will become your workshop. If for no other reason, it provides loads of space for storage.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Regards,
Terry