Well, let me chime in since I am where you hope to be with a basement shop. When we bought our house, it had a basement in half of the house, with a crawlspace in the other. Having been built in 1939, it also has a coal chute sloped to the basement. I decided that would be my shop. There is outside access as well as stairs from inside the house.
Here are the problems: First, being a basement, it tends to flood at times. This is murder on my tools. When we first moved in, we had a big rain and I had 6" of water in the basement. There is a sump pump, but it can only do so much. After 6 years, I have finally gotten it to the point that floods are rare. Actually, the ONLY reason it now floods is when the float on the sump pump sticks. It took digging trenches in the crawl space to divert water to pipes which ran directly to the pump, as well as a lot of work on the outside of the house.
Second, even with the improved drainage, it still gets quite moist down there in the summer. Winter isn't bad, but the summer humidity really is bad. It also makes drying out wood a real pain.
Third, since you have 7' of head space now, if you can't dig out, you will have about 6-1/2' of clearance to work in. That is about all I have. Being 5'-nothing, it doesn't bother me except when I try to work with larger pieces. A lot of times I have to take long boards out to the back yard, turn them around and come back in to cut, run through the router or plane off. Work on a table, bed or something large like that is impossible in the basement shop. I know because I built bunk beds for my boys and had to do everything outside, except the finishing work. Assembly also had to be done outside, which was a royal pain in the rear.
Fourth, dust. Sanding, cutting or anything else creates a ton of dust. I have a shop-vac that I use with the sander, but it still creates a lot of dust. Since I have one outside door and one window that cannot be opened, it makes it rough to work without a fan blowing out the door. Of course, being a basement, in the winter it gets real cold doing that kind of work. Fumes from paint and finishing also are a problem. It is compounded when people are home because the fumes WILL make their way up to the living areas of the house. Since I have small children at home, I have to limit my finish work to times when no one is there.
Finally, noise. My basement is directly under the bedrooms, so I can't do any work at night. Actually, if anyone else is home, I can't work at all with some tools, as it is so loud they can't do much of anything else. And I insulated before we ever moved in. It is LOUD.
Now, lest you think I am all negative, let me tell you that with my limited budget, I learned to work around all of this to really enjoy my shop. It is my refuge. My wife calls it the "pout house". Regardless, it is the first "shop" I have ever had and I love it. It isn't easy to work in, but it is much better than what I had before, which was nothing!
One more thing, before you start digging and pouring, contact a contractor or someone well versed in basements. Having worked a lot of construction and having done a lot of remodeling, I can tell you there are always issues you don't think of or see and having someone who has done it before is a real asset, even if they charge you a little more.
I wish you well and hope you find a solution that works for you.
Here are the problems: First, being a basement, it tends to flood at times. This is murder on my tools. When we first moved in, we had a big rain and I had 6" of water in the basement. There is a sump pump, but it can only do so much. After 6 years, I have finally gotten it to the point that floods are rare. Actually, the ONLY reason it now floods is when the float on the sump pump sticks. It took digging trenches in the crawl space to divert water to pipes which ran directly to the pump, as well as a lot of work on the outside of the house.
Second, even with the improved drainage, it still gets quite moist down there in the summer. Winter isn't bad, but the summer humidity really is bad. It also makes drying out wood a real pain.
Third, since you have 7' of head space now, if you can't dig out, you will have about 6-1/2' of clearance to work in. That is about all I have. Being 5'-nothing, it doesn't bother me except when I try to work with larger pieces. A lot of times I have to take long boards out to the back yard, turn them around and come back in to cut, run through the router or plane off. Work on a table, bed or something large like that is impossible in the basement shop. I know because I built bunk beds for my boys and had to do everything outside, except the finishing work. Assembly also had to be done outside, which was a royal pain in the rear.
Fourth, dust. Sanding, cutting or anything else creates a ton of dust. I have a shop-vac that I use with the sander, but it still creates a lot of dust. Since I have one outside door and one window that cannot be opened, it makes it rough to work without a fan blowing out the door. Of course, being a basement, in the winter it gets real cold doing that kind of work. Fumes from paint and finishing also are a problem. It is compounded when people are home because the fumes WILL make their way up to the living areas of the house. Since I have small children at home, I have to limit my finish work to times when no one is there.
Finally, noise. My basement is directly under the bedrooms, so I can't do any work at night. Actually, if anyone else is home, I can't work at all with some tools, as it is so loud they can't do much of anything else. And I insulated before we ever moved in. It is LOUD.
Now, lest you think I am all negative, let me tell you that with my limited budget, I learned to work around all of this to really enjoy my shop. It is my refuge. My wife calls it the "pout house". Regardless, it is the first "shop" I have ever had and I love it. It isn't easy to work in, but it is much better than what I had before, which was nothing!
One more thing, before you start digging and pouring, contact a contractor or someone well versed in basements. Having worked a lot of construction and having done a lot of remodeling, I can tell you there are always issues you don't think of or see and having someone who has done it before is a real asset, even if they charge you a little more.
I wish you well and hope you find a solution that works for you.
