Kelley Mascher wrote:

For sound control, look into resilient z-channel attachement for the
sheet rock, especially the ceiling. There are also special sound
attenuation blankets you can use in the rafters.

You will also need to look into air scrubbers to take care of any
smoke generated. There will be smoke. You can probably use a smaller
scrubber if you do your grinding and welding under a hood of some
sort.

There are methods of arresting sparks from grinders but I'm not very
familiar with them. You will also have to give some thought to make-up
air so you don't suffocate. Minimally you need CO detectors. This of
course doesn't protect you against displacing all of the oxygen in the
room with CO2 or Argon.

It's probably going to cost almost as much to convert your basement as
it would to build a garage of equal size.

Cheers,

Kelley

On Thu, 3 Nov 2005 10:04:06 -0600, "Jeff B" wrote:

I have a newer home that has garages *barely* deep enough for the cars
themselves. I also have neighborhood covenants forbidding any kind of
outside shed, shop, etc. So basically, if I want a place to play it looks
like it's going to have to be in the basement.

My question is, am I crazy to think about building an enclosed room in my
(currently unfinished) basement? The space I have that I could allocate to
this is about 12' x 15'. I was thinking that I'd leave the floor concrete
and put up drywall all the way around... sound isolation would be a major
concern. It would almost be pointless to have this workshop if I could use
it late at night while the family is sleep (2 floor up). I guess before I
go on too much more I should mention what I actually want to do in it! It
will mainly be for Tig welding, which I'm not concerned about excessive
noise or dirt/debris levels, but I will also be prepping/making the pieces
that will be welded in this room as well. This means grinding, drilling,
cutting, etc. I won't have any air ducts going to this room, so hopefully
the mess would stay enclosed in there, but basically I'm looking for a real
world sanity from anybody else that has done this. If I'm shop-vaccing the
room twice a week, can I actually pull this off without ruining my house?
If anyone else has built something like this, I'd love to see some pictures.
I am just trying to prepare my "case" for when I tell the wife "oh yeah, I'm
going to start welding in the basement, but don't worry, the whole house
won't be covered in aluminum shavings" :-)

Thanks
Jeff


While displacing oxygen with the Argon is possible and you certainly
need proper ventilation, you also need to look realistically at the
actual risk. If you're doing small time TIG you probably don't have a
huge tank of Argon, I have an 80cf tank. A 12' x 15' room is 180 sq. ft.
so if you dumped an entire 80cf tank you could only displace a little
less than 6" off the floor. Could be a problem for a cat or small dog,
but pretty unlikely to be a true risk to a human. Even a big 220cf tank
would only do like 16" off the floor. In real world use you're not going
to come anywhere close to dumping that much Argon in an evenings
project. If the basement is fully underground I would recommend a low
level exhaust vent intake to prevent a continuing buildup of Argon.

Pete C.