New Shop Build, anything new you would have done differently?

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Maineiac1

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May 3, 2017
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I'm in the works on plans for a new workshop that's its own outbuilding for this summer project. I'm thinking of going with a 14x24 sitting on skids so if I move to a different house I can take it with me. I'm located in a cold climate in Maine so it will be heated with a modine hot dawg, insulated floors to ceiling and possibly a window A/C unit also. For tooling I am set up as a stock removal maker so no forge equipment.

Is there anything with a shop you wished you had done differently? One thing I'm looking to upgrade is an actual dust collector system, as right now I am using a shop vac.

I'm guessing the first answer will be to "make it bigger" but I cannot as I want to be able to move it to where later on I can add to it if need be. I was wanting to go 14x36 but I don't quite want a mobile home...
 
Separate a section of the concrete slab for a power hammer and make that area much thicker, this will isolate the hammer to that area of the concrete and prevent the rest of the slab from cracking.
 
IMHO when it come to shop space bigger is better, I have a 13' x 20' and wish I had at least a 3rd more space.
 
Scott Hanson said:
IMHO when it come to shop space bigger is better, I have a 13' x 20' and wish I had at least a 3rd more space.
Click to expand...
My 10x20 wishes it were 13x20!
Surprising what you can get in a small shop
 
some random thoughts,
i like roof windows for natural lighting,
a large, wide and tall double swing open door to bring in equipment
a ceiling mounted rail crane to move equipment around
 
Consider making it as two or three buildings. I would suggest 12X20 max if you want to move them.

They could be connected, but detachable. Another choice would be to set them about 5 feet apart and build a semi-enclosed breezeway between the two doors.
Tw0 12X20 will be the same as a two-room, 24X20 shop.
Raise them up at least a foot off the ground, if possible.

Ventilation is often forgotten in cold climates, but a shop should have good air-in and air-out vents. There should be a fan on the air out vent. If you have a dust collector that wil send the grindings outside, it can be the air-out.

Put twice the lights and outlets in the shop than you think you want.
Separate the wood cutting from the metal grinding. ( another good reason for two rooms/buildings)

 
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Led lights and paint everything white, walls ceilings everything.
If you have it off the ground. Have a hole in the floor with a bucket underneath.
Whipe everything to the hole and it is in your dust bin.
A neat little time saver
 
I plan on renovating my barn (30 by 40) plus enclosing the 30 by 20 ft lean too and when I do so, I wand to have a small room for dusty work like grinding and wood working so the dust is contained. Word working is tough though as it often requires a lot of room so that may change.

I may also just make a knife making dedicated room so I only need to heat it instead of the entire barn during the winter. I need way more 240v outlets. My water bucket and epoxy has been frozen for 2 months. In floor geothermal heating would be nice.

I'd also love to have dust to have collection. I like the suggestion of LED lights and painting everything white. Really helps with lighting.
 
have you looked into shipping container shops? i know you done want to hear it my 16x24 shop has 2 floors and is still too small. one tip is making the shop have dust zoning (i used butchers curtain)
 
I was going to say bigger, but you said no. Mine is 36x48. The only thing I would have done different other than larger is skin the inside with white metal.
 
consider a dedicated writing/drawing surface
A fire extinguisher
list all your equipment requiring power and put an outlet everywhere you ink you might want to put the equipment.

You sill NEVER HAVE:
to many outlets
to much light
to much storage area
to much work bench surface

a place for a coffee pot and a microwave is also nice
Don't forget things like stools, chairs, vacuum cleaner, trash can, etc need to be included in the floor plan unless you want to hang them from the wall or ceiling.
space shrinks and stuff grows!
 
My shop is 12x40' and they delivered it with a truck and trailer. It can be moved no problem for about $500. See if you can go longer... You will need the space. Also, I recommend running plumbing for a sink... Very handy to have one in the shop!
 
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