Replies

1. 
   mike4244 | Jun 23, 2003 11:51pm | #1

   Jeff, have you considered a woodfloor in the shop area. The floor could be higher than the concrete floor where your vehicles are parked. I would not run dust collection under a slab, if it clogs you got problems. If the pipe ran under the wood floor and the floor is plywood or osb you could unscrew a sheet if neccessary. Personally I would run the DC pipe on the ceiling. High ceilings are nice in a shop, you can turn sheet goods without hitting the ceiling. My own shop is 600sf, 8'-0" ceilings (I should have made it at least 8'-6"0). I screwed Osb to the walls, drywall on ceiling. You may want a lot of windows for natural light.I heat the shop with a 30,000 btu wall mounted Blue Flame heater. Does a good job even in the coldest weather(single digits sometimes here in south Jersey).Talk to heating contractors first, try to determine what each heating system will cost per year.Sometimes a more expensive system may be cheaper in the long run. Example of this, my uncle put electric baseboard in his lawn mower repair shop. Cheap to put in , cost too much too run.We put in same natural gas heater as I have last year.Even with gas prices way up he said he saved a lot of money in utilities cost.Consider electric outlets at 4' 0" centers,and possibly a few ceiling mounted receptacles. I have floor mounted receptacles for table saw, jointer, planer.

   I hope I helped a little, Mike

2. 
   WorkshopJon | Jun 24, 2003 06:21am | #2

   Jeff,

   If you haven't already read these threads....You might find them imformative.

   12048.1

   11609.1 

   Jon

   
   

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   Edited 6/23/2003 11:27:10 PM ET by WorkshopJon

3. 
   DennisS | Jun 24, 2003 08:43am | #3

   Hi Jeff -

   I'm in the concrete floor camp. I like the durability and haven't yet begun to suffer from the problems some people have with standing on concrete for extended periods of time.

   Agree about the issue of pouring in the DC ducting in a concrete slab. Concrete is pretty permanent. What I did in my shop is built a utility trench across the floor (20 x 40 shop) so's I could run the DC pipe across to pick up the table saw (in the middle of the floor) and jointer on the far side. Bandsaw and sander will probably go overhead. The utility trench has a wood cover so I can get at the ducting when/if necessary.

   I installed the PEX tubing in the slab so down the line when I can afford it, I'll install some sort of heat source for the water and have a heated slab. I think a warm floor is important and will alleviate some of the problems with standing on the concrete for hours at an end. Aside from that, if you decide to go with a concrete floor, consider those anti-fatigue mats around the areas where you'll be standing for prolonged sessions.

   Machine layout and arragement is completely dependendant on the scale and type of work you intend to do. A cabinet shop would probably need more room than you have available for any large scale work. Hobby turning doesn't really take up much space for the average size pieces one does. Also depends on what kind of machines you have or intend to have.

   When I laid out my shop, I thought I had it pretty well nailed. The roof was just completed this week and I've started moving things in. It's already too small! I'm working on plans for expansion as I type! (grin)

   ...........

   Dennis in Bellevue WA

   [email protected]