Building a wood shop
- Thread starter Bobb
- Start date
yes, I built my shop with attached garage in 2013. My shop is 24' x 36'. I'm an engineer so I'm fluent with CAD. I already had most of my floor standing tools so I drew up a pretty detailed plan including electrical. I put 120v outlets every 4' and a 220v outlet at every other 120v location. My 120v outlets are on 4 separate circuits number 1 through 4. As you walk around my shop, they go 1, 2, 3, 4, then repeat. That way if I need to large tools plugged in, they will be plugged in to say, outlets 2 and 3, so separate circuits. Also, prior to pouring the concrete floor, I installed 4" PVC pipe under the concrete with stub up locations where I wanted dust collection. So one location has 4 stubs together at the dust collector and the other ends are distributed around the shop floor. Also, in the center area of the shop floor I installed a 120V outlet in the floor. Oh, and go for 10' ceilings min. Don't go shorter! You'll regret that decision! If you're going to be doing any spray finishing, I'd think about a dedicated spraying room with the proper ventilation. Don't put up drywall on the walls, ceiling is fine. I put up OSB and painted it white. Some sort of plywood is good because you can hang anything anywhere! Any other questions, just let me know and I can DM you my phone number and we can talk... I see you're in Clayton, that's a bit of a ride but if you get up to Chapel Hill, you're welcome to stop by and see what I did in my shop.
Thanks I will take you up on it at some point
I also built mine, approximately 32 x 40. I’m not an engineer and had an architect design it. For outlets, I have 120v every 4 feet at approximately 48” off the floor for convenience and similar to Michael they are on multiple circuits so if one goes out I don’t lose an entire wall or area for power. I don’t have any in the floor, but figure out where you’re going to put your air cleaners and be sure to put some in the ceiling for those. I also have a couple extras in the ceiling for garage door openers and to hang electric reels - I have 2 so I can pull a cord anywhere in the shop (great when working in the middle). For 220v, which many of my machines are, all of them drop from the ceiling and I’ve come to like that (my last shop had them in the floor). Finally, I had the power company run a separate line to my shop, so I have a full 200 amp panel - they didn’t charge since it was considered installation of a new residential service. I have a separate meter to the shop and it probably adds $50 - $75 per month (I retired at the end of last year and am in the shop nearly every day).
Include wiring for your internet access. I ran CAT6 to the house in case I need it and installed a couple outlets. We have a mesh network at the house and I was able to use an extender to get wireless in the shop so have not used the hardwire, but it’s there in case needed.
Install at least a half bath - a convenience worth having (and my wife doesn’t yell at me for tracking stuff in). We tied into the house’s water and waste systems, and laying it out from the start doesn’t add much cost. I also added an industrial type sink which I recommend. We buried a drain for a bath/shower in case the next owner wants to turn the shop into a guest house or something like that - didn’t do the work to install, but the next person only has to break through a thin spot of concrete and then build the shower (remember to have them install a piece of metal on the drain cap so it’s easy to find with a metal detector).
I also installed 2 mini splits so I can heat in winter and cool in summer. There are many opinions on unit types, system types, etc., and my Mitsubishis have worked well for me so far. I’ve never had climate control before and it’s a game changer to me.
For lighting, that took some thinking. There are a few discussions going now about this on the forum and you should read them. I have 2 rows of 8’ LEDs. Lights are spaced 4’ apart in each row, and the rows are 4’ apart. I like the 4000K color and 9000 Lumens - very little shadow.
I have drywall and if I had it to do over again would take Michael’s suggestion and use plywood of some type. I painted bright white, again thinking shadows and light bouncing and am glad I did.
I’m in the Charlotte area, so even farther away than Michael, but you’re certainly welcome to stop in if you happen to be in the area. If you have any specific questions, just let me know and happy to answer. I’m sure there are many things I thought of then that I’ve forgotten now or things I wish I had but didn’t.
Include wiring for your internet access. I ran CAT6 to the house in case I need it and installed a couple outlets. We have a mesh network at the house and I was able to use an extender to get wireless in the shop so have not used the hardwire, but it’s there in case needed.
Install at least a half bath - a convenience worth having (and my wife doesn’t yell at me for tracking stuff in). We tied into the house’s water and waste systems, and laying it out from the start doesn’t add much cost. I also added an industrial type sink which I recommend. We buried a drain for a bath/shower in case the next owner wants to turn the shop into a guest house or something like that - didn’t do the work to install, but the next person only has to break through a thin spot of concrete and then build the shower (remember to have them install a piece of metal on the drain cap so it’s easy to find with a metal detector).
I also installed 2 mini splits so I can heat in winter and cool in summer. There are many opinions on unit types, system types, etc., and my Mitsubishis have worked well for me so far. I’ve never had climate control before and it’s a game changer to me.
For lighting, that took some thinking. There are a few discussions going now about this on the forum and you should read them. I have 2 rows of 8’ LEDs. Lights are spaced 4’ apart in each row, and the rows are 4’ apart. I like the 4000K color and 9000 Lumens - very little shadow.
I have drywall and if I had it to do over again would take Michael’s suggestion and use plywood of some type. I painted bright white, again thinking shadows and light bouncing and am glad I did.
I’m in the Charlotte area, so even farther away than Michael, but you’re certainly welcome to stop in if you happen to be in the area. If you have any specific questions, just let me know and happy to answer. I’m sure there are many things I thought of then that I’ve forgotten now or things I wish I had but didn’t.
I built my "dream shop" when I moved to the lake in 2018. It is 32 x 72 with a full length , 12 foot wide walk up attic with a gable end door . The wood shop portion is 52 x 32, so plenty of floorspace. the rest is for lawnmowers , second story stairscase etc.... I added lots of windows (9 total) because I like to see outside and let light in. These widows are on one side of the shop and one gable end so I still have mnore than enough wall space for hanging whatever. That leads me to my next point, I covered the interior wallas with OSB because it was cheap , you can screw cleats/shelves anywhere AND you can take it down easily to route/reroute wiring if need be. Like others have mentioned, I have dedicated 200 amp service on a separate meter as well. I installed some 32 LED ceiling mount fixtures for lighting as well as a 3 TON HVAC/heat pump.
Don't forget about flooring. Concrete is hard on your feet and difficult to keep clean.
As for drywall vs. plywood/ OSB, drywall is a lot cheaper and easier to paint than OSB. You can always add blocking in strategic spots to make it easy to hang things. On the other hand, you can easily remove OSB panels if you need to change an electric outlet, and the ability to hang anything anywhere is nice.
LED lights are the way to go. They are cheap, lightweight, and last forever.
Think about some sort of covered space outside where you can do messy jobs such as breaking down sheets of plywood. The best dust collection is a strong outsize breeze.
As for drywall vs. plywood/ OSB, drywall is a lot cheaper and easier to paint than OSB. You can always add blocking in strategic spots to make it easy to hang things. On the other hand, you can easily remove OSB panels if you need to change an electric outlet, and the ability to hang anything anywhere is nice.
LED lights are the way to go. They are cheap, lightweight, and last forever.
Think about some sort of covered space outside where you can do messy jobs such as breaking down sheets of plywood. The best dust collection is a strong outsize breeze.
Wow--I basically endorse every suggestion in all the above posts. A couple of the shops sound like Taj Mahal shops, and are larger than an average hobbyists shop. I wish I had any of these shops with all the features instead of my oversized one car garage. Anywho...
When you start designing your shop, Bas's slogan--I don't need it. I just want it.--is going to apply big time to a custom designed shop. If you don't put it in your design, odds are you won't retrofit it to your finished shop, and odds are the day will come when you will wish you had it.
Square feet of shop are just like clamps: A woodworker cannot have too many. If you can plan and afford a large shop, IMO >1,000sf, most of your layout and storage problems just won't exist, and there ain't nothing wrong with 1,500sf. If you're going to build smaller, you've just doubled the planning and floorpan, machinery, storage, and accoutrement layout issues that should be settled pre-construction.
Lighting is just like clamps; you can't have too much. Same applies to windows. Give up the wall storage space for natural light. You'll be glad you did.
Dust collection systems are a science all by themselves, so don't take it on yourself unless you're a scientist. Oneida offers a free service where you send them your plans, and they will design and engineer a complete system for you as long as you buy the components from them. This will be the best extra money you spend on your dream shop. You can definitely build one cheaper, but you can't build one better than Oneida by yourself, and you'll never second guess the entire system. Retro correcting a fault or design flaw in a whole shop dust collection system can be an expensive, annoying challenge.
Design your shop so your dust collector and your air compressor are housed in an exterior stick out separate from your shop workspace. Sound insulate it. The noise reduction inside your shop is indescribable.
One thing that hasn't been addressed yet--an enclosed finishing room. If you will have the space, this is a necessity. Size is flexible. It needs a 36" exterior door that seals for the interior entrance, and passive exterior ventilation. There are two equal duties of a separate, sealed off finishing room. 1) to seal off the rest of your shop from fumes. 2) to seal off your wet finishes from dust from the rest of your shop while they are drying. This is why you don't want an exterior aimed exhaust fan. Turn it on and you're drawing fine dust from the rest of your shop into the room and across your wet work.
If you're building on a slab, solid concrete can just pound on your body and joints. Put something on top of it. You can be a purist and install hardwood flooring, or use a modern composite that has some cushion engineered into it.
Plan for internet connectivity.
An exterior carport, ideally on the south side of your building but this is not essential, will let you store rough cut lumber and air dry green lumber. Your cost savings just by being able to do this will pay for the exterior covered surface.
A fully featured shop is going to cost as much per sf as building a mid-range house. Be prepared.
Whew, I could keep going, but this is why there are a hundred books and software programs out there on woodworking shop design and build. Get some recommendations off this website, buy a few, and start your research.
Bottom line(s) are this--designing a proper woodworking shop is more work than you now think, takes way more advance planning and design than you realize, and will cost more money than you have budgeted so far. So what. Do it right and you'll enjoy your woodworking craft so much more with no regrets and a constant stream of "attaboy, you did this right" for the rest of your woodworking life.
When you start designing your shop, Bas's slogan--I don't need it. I just want it.--is going to apply big time to a custom designed shop. If you don't put it in your design, odds are you won't retrofit it to your finished shop, and odds are the day will come when you will wish you had it.
Square feet of shop are just like clamps: A woodworker cannot have too many. If you can plan and afford a large shop, IMO >1,000sf, most of your layout and storage problems just won't exist, and there ain't nothing wrong with 1,500sf. If you're going to build smaller, you've just doubled the planning and floorpan, machinery, storage, and accoutrement layout issues that should be settled pre-construction.
Lighting is just like clamps; you can't have too much. Same applies to windows. Give up the wall storage space for natural light. You'll be glad you did.
Dust collection systems are a science all by themselves, so don't take it on yourself unless you're a scientist. Oneida offers a free service where you send them your plans, and they will design and engineer a complete system for you as long as you buy the components from them. This will be the best extra money you spend on your dream shop. You can definitely build one cheaper, but you can't build one better than Oneida by yourself, and you'll never second guess the entire system. Retro correcting a fault or design flaw in a whole shop dust collection system can be an expensive, annoying challenge.
Design your shop so your dust collector and your air compressor are housed in an exterior stick out separate from your shop workspace. Sound insulate it. The noise reduction inside your shop is indescribable.
One thing that hasn't been addressed yet--an enclosed finishing room. If you will have the space, this is a necessity. Size is flexible. It needs a 36" exterior door that seals for the interior entrance, and passive exterior ventilation. There are two equal duties of a separate, sealed off finishing room. 1) to seal off the rest of your shop from fumes. 2) to seal off your wet finishes from dust from the rest of your shop while they are drying. This is why you don't want an exterior aimed exhaust fan. Turn it on and you're drawing fine dust from the rest of your shop into the room and across your wet work.
If you're building on a slab, solid concrete can just pound on your body and joints. Put something on top of it. You can be a purist and install hardwood flooring, or use a modern composite that has some cushion engineered into it.
Plan for internet connectivity.
An exterior carport, ideally on the south side of your building but this is not essential, will let you store rough cut lumber and air dry green lumber. Your cost savings just by being able to do this will pay for the exterior covered surface.
A fully featured shop is going to cost as much per sf as building a mid-range house. Be prepared.
Whew, I could keep going, but this is why there are a hundred books and software programs out there on woodworking shop design and build. Get some recommendations off this website, buy a few, and start your research.
Bottom line(s) are this--designing a proper woodworking shop is more work than you now think, takes way more advance planning and design than you realize, and will cost more money than you have budgeted so far. So what. Do it right and you'll enjoy your woodworking craft so much more with no regrets and a constant stream of "attaboy, you did this right" for the rest of your woodworking life.
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When I moved to my current home on the shore of Lake Murray I had only a two car garage so the tools went into a storage unit. I then hired a contractor to add a third garage stall 14x24. Much smaller than the others have but I had limited space on my lot and this was also my second dedicated shop and the first one was about the same size and worked fine. I also have no 220V outlets, and only two 20A 120V circuits for tools plus a 15A light circuit. On of the tool circuits powers my 1.75hp SawStop and a 14 inch Jet bandsaw with 13 inch resaw capacity plus other tools with lower demand. The other 20 amp circuit is for my "2hp" HF dust collector. I actually only use the motor and blower of this tool. It sits on top of a super dust deputy and is fastened to the wall in the corner of my shop. 5 inch snap lock pipe runs to the bigger tools with gates so I can use close to the full suction at whatever tool I am using at the moment. What the cyclone does not catch is discharged outside. Outlets are on the walls at about 4 feel from the floor. Lights are LED. I recommend calculating your lumens per square foot and going pretty large but I am not at 100 lumens per square feet as some recommend. I am closer to 50. But if you don't have experience to guide you it would be best to aim high. My ceiling height is only 8 foot and it is limiting sometimes especially because the dust collection piping hangs down from that. But it is something I can work around.
For a smaller shot like this I believe a track saw is a near must if you want to do larger projects. I only have about 30 inches of rip capacity on my SawStop which is fine because I use my track saw for bigger pieces of sheet goods or solid wood anyway.
My walls are also waferboard and the ceiling is 5/8 fire rated drywall which is required because I have living space above the shop. I skimmed the waferboard with a coat of drywall mud before painting it and I think it is worth the effort.
I'd love to have more space but as I age my projects are becoming smaller so my current shot fits me pretty well. I've built several queen sized beds and dressers to go with them in my little shop. I expand out into the adjacent car garage or driveway sometimes but I've been able to do what I wanted to do.
For a smaller shot like this I believe a track saw is a near must if you want to do larger projects. I only have about 30 inches of rip capacity on my SawStop which is fine because I use my track saw for bigger pieces of sheet goods or solid wood anyway.
My walls are also waferboard and the ceiling is 5/8 fire rated drywall which is required because I have living space above the shop. I skimmed the waferboard with a coat of drywall mud before painting it and I think it is worth the effort.
I'd love to have more space but as I age my projects are becoming smaller so my current shot fits me pretty well. I've built several queen sized beds and dressers to go with them in my little shop. I expand out into the adjacent car garage or driveway sometimes but I've been able to do what I wanted to do.
Outlets outlets and more outlets wired with heavy gauge wire and nothing less that 20 amp breakers. Both 220 and 110. Like clamps you can’t have too many. Don’t forget to put some in the ceiling and if possible the floor. Before try to do a shop tool layout so you know where to best place them.
What???
I'm guessing Dan thought he was in a different thread, or starting a new one???
@danmart77 Perhaps you intended your post for the chair making thread you started?
Hey Bob. Got lots of good info above. I'm just outside of Smithfield in Four Oaks.
I built a shop and then recently turned it in to an apartment. Then built a much smaller shop in my barn.
Long story short, if interested, I have a 125amp sub panel box (with breakers) and about 15 to 20, 20 amp 110 outlets. Probably 4 to 5 220 outlets.
If you want to stock up on some electrical materials, Ill make you an awesome deal.
I built a shop and then recently turned it in to an apartment. Then built a much smaller shop in my barn.
Long story short, if interested, I have a 125amp sub panel box (with breakers) and about 15 to 20, 20 amp 110 outlets. Probably 4 to 5 220 outlets.
If you want to stock up on some electrical materials, Ill make you an awesome deal.
Build your new shop as big as possible. If you think your floor size plans are the right size, think again, you might want the shop bigger.
As for the electrical don't forget that you can run extra wire for future use if you need it.
The electrician that helped me taught me to do this. We ran an extra set of wires in the conduit.
I have already used one section of the extra wire five years later.
My floor is wood which worked out good because I have a loading dock within 1 or 2 inches of the truck bed.
I think a masonry foundation and wood floor joists, etc. at the time cost a little more than concrete, but I'm not sure about the cost difference now.
Good luck!!
Joe
As for the electrical don't forget that you can run extra wire for future use if you need it.
The electrician that helped me taught me to do this. We ran an extra set of wires in the conduit.
I have already used one section of the extra wire five years later.
My floor is wood which worked out good because I have a loading dock within 1 or 2 inches of the truck bed.
I think a masonry foundation and wood floor joists, etc. at the time cost a little more than concrete, but I'm not sure about the cost difference now.
Good luck!!
Joe
Best part of my shop is wood floors with blocking every 4 ft which picked up the tongue and groove edge on the advantech subfloor and then 10 ft walls with a 12 ft coffer ceiling. I can run additional electric plumbing and dust collection under floor wire ease. Put in a 200 amp service. To save cost build in 8 ft intervals if possibly.
While not a true-stand-alone shop, I designed and built our personal home, and specificially laid out the garage, (3-car, 30x32), to serve as my short-mid term workshop, (2 of the bays anyway). We dont park in the garage, and I'm super busy in my day-to-day career, so the shop often sits unused for weeks on end, so the garage was the most practical location for my current needs, vs. a stand-alone shop farther away on the property, (which I may/ will probably build 1 day, closer to retirement, etc) - we're on 6 acres abutting another 10 I can pick up when/ if so desired, so plenty of room).
That said, my garage shop is pretty awesome for my needs if I do say so, and I followed/ incorporated most of the advise above ie: a separate sub-panel, outlet considerations, natural light, DC layout, rubber flooring, etc - and would strongly encourage you do the same there.
That said, the 1 (increasingly big) wish that my current space does not allow for is a separate/ closed off area to use as a dedicted "finishing room". It wouldnt need to be big - a large closet, maybe ~8'x8' or so, (bigger wouldn't hurt though), ideally w/ a window for ventilation, would do the trick, but to be able to finish a project w/o concern for any lingering airborn dust landing in the wet finish, overspray getting on everything else in the shop, etc, would be huge. Keep that in mind if you can swing the space.
That said, my garage shop is pretty awesome for my needs if I do say so, and I followed/ incorporated most of the advise above ie: a separate sub-panel, outlet considerations, natural light, DC layout, rubber flooring, etc - and would strongly encourage you do the same there.
That said, the 1 (increasingly big) wish that my current space does not allow for is a separate/ closed off area to use as a dedicted "finishing room". It wouldnt need to be big - a large closet, maybe ~8'x8' or so, (bigger wouldn't hurt though), ideally w/ a window for ventilation, would do the trick, but to be able to finish a project w/o concern for any lingering airborn dust landing in the wet finish, overspray getting on everything else in the shop, etc, would be huge. Keep that in mind if you can swing the space.
