Don D. wrote:
We are selling our house in town and moving in the country so my wife can
have her horses closer to her and the deal is that I get my workshop so I
can build what she will need.

I am kicking it around not sure to have a steel building built or a wood
building. The workshop will be around 30' X 40' or so bigger to 48'.

If you were to build it or have it built what would you have... ?

The main expense will be a floor. I may have to go plywood till I get rich,
but having horses and tools that plain is shot.

Don D.



I had my workshop built about 6 years ago. Concrete slab, wood frame.
It's 24 x 28 and the floor holds 1 large and 1 medium workbench, 8"
jointer, 2 10" table saws (1 with extended fence rails), 20" planer, SCM
saw/stand, 5 grinders on pedestals, 12" x 36" lathe, 18" bandsaw,
horizontal 4" metalworking bandsaw, MIG welder, cutting torch, rolling
toolchest, minifridge, PC, shaper, belt/disc sander on pedestal, 15"
floor model drill press, 30 gal air compressor, 2HP DC and cyclone
separator/can, scroll saw, 3 4' and 2 3' wide shelf units, a 4 drawer
file cabinet, and a 3' x 3' x 10' stack of stickered hard maple that
will eventually become a bench.

I wish it was a tad bigger, so your 30 x 40 sounds nice. Would give you
a nice storage area for wood.

Suggestions:

By all means go with 10' ceilings. I'm glad I did. You can swing a long
board easier. Also, if you have a garage door make it 8' high instead of
the standard 7'.

Use minimum 12 gauge wire for 110 and 10 gauge for 220 electrical. Place
receptacles both high and low. Mine has pretty much a high receptacle
(4') or a low receptacle every 4' around the perimeter. Most duplex but
some double duplex where I have benches. Put at least one 220 outlet on
each wall. Put in some floor receptacles as well. I have 2 halfway back
and each 1/3 away from the side, each with a combo 220/110 duplex
outlet. My planer, tablesaws and shaper are clusterd around them and o
cords to trip over. Put in at least one 70A outlet for a welder. Instead
of ceiling fixtures for lights, I put in 5 duplex outlets in the ceiling
that are controlled with a wall switch. I can plug any kind of light in
I want and also they can be moved if necessary within the length of the
cord. I have 5 4' double tube hanging shop lights. I've been thinking of
adding some spot lights stategically above some of the equipment as well.

At least 1 window per wall.

Insulate it. I have R30 in the ceiling and R13 in the walls.

Instead of all sheetrock or panelling, mount a 4 x 8 sheet of pegboard
lengthwise in each wall you can put one on. I put a layer of heavy black
plastic sheeting behind it as a barrier for the fiberglass insulation.

I wanted mine to look like a freestanding garage and it matches the
house. It has a double garage door, but on the inside I have 2 4' wide
by 7' tall shelf units facing in and blocking off half the entry. Still
gives me an 8' opening when the garage door is up. I put theses shelf
units on rollers so they can be moved if necessary without unloading
them. The garage door side of each has a 4 x 8 sheet of pegboard screwed
to the back. Keeps stuff from falling out the back of the shelves and I
also hang stuff on it, like rope, long extension cords, outdoor tools,
etc. If I had it to do over, I'd put in a rollup garage door.

As you're building, take digital photos, especially of the wiring. I can
look at pictures and tell where every wire is inside the wall.

Let me know if you need more info.

-jj


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