New shop under construction #1: Groundbreaking to framing

OH YEAH! Thanks for sharing the birth of your new shop!

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

Woah…awesome! 750sq. ft. is a pretty significant space and over 2x the size of my new shop.

What made you chose a concrete shop floor? Was this for load-bearing capacity?

Thanks for sharing—I look forward to future installments. Thanks!

-- Patrick, Chicago, IL http://www.TenonAndSpline.com/blog

Neat shop. Looking good.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Patrick Jaromin said “What made you chose a concrete shop floor? Was this for load-bearing capacity?”

Our house has a 2 car attached garage. For resale purposes (not that I’m moving anytime soon) I wanted to make sure someone could park vehicles in there if they so desired. I’m still struggling with floor covering issues. A friend of mine put resilient vinyl flooring in his shop with a nice hardwood pattern and it looks great. It creates a little rolling resistance when moving the machines but also provides a little fatigue relief. It’s also much cheaper than “garage” floor coatings. I’m still torn, but I know his shop really looks nice.

-- Mark

Great building. You will love it.

-- Thos. Angle

Man, that is one nice shop!

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

sweet building and lots of potential

thats why some folk never move and some do it all again and again and again

I see custom?...workshop

I see an 8’ ceiling, three floors

why did you stop at an 8’ ceiling on both floors when plywood is sold in 4’ x 8’.

why did you need a crane?............with an 8’ceiling and a footprint of 750 sq ft?

a hobby eh?............LMAO….lol

Thats one nice hobby shop.

Congrats

-- http://www.furnituremann.ca/

This is wonderful. You have a unique opportunity here. I daresay the majority of us try to fit our shops into an existing space, (usually garage) and make do with this. But here you are designing your shop to fit your individual needs. Needless to say I am envious.

Keep us posted on the progress.

Congratulations.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

at first glance I just see the drawing and before I’m done reading it’s already built! Wow, that was fast.

-- ~ Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Roman said: I see an 8’ ceiling, three floors. why did you stop at an 8’ ceiling on both floors when plywood is sold in 4’ x 8’.

The scale is not well represented in the pictures. Both floors have 10’ ceilings. In the basement the beams are 18” high leaving 8’ 6” of clearance. I wanted to make sure my tractor could be driven in there without the rollbar hitting the beams. The ceiling in the attic is only 7’ 8”, so it will be a little low, but it’s only storage.

-- Mark

ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh, the sound of envy eminating from my lips…....do you know what some people would give for a shop like that? I am sure you will be very happy in your new digs. Looks like a very nice house and a great looking lot as well.

Great job!!!!!

-- Grant...."GO BUCKEYES"

Great looking structure and definitely hurricane proof. <g>

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

That is so AWESOME !!! What a great project.

-- Making sawdust is what I do best

I like many LJs, dream of designing our new workshop space. What a treat. Enjoy your new digs.

Dalec

Thanks for all the kind comments. I know that I am very lucky to have the where-with-all to build my own shop. I did have to make some compromises from my “optimum” – like the concrete floor, but I’m not complaining in the least. My plan was to build a shop that I could spend my days in after I retire – which is a long way away. Originally this was just going to be a garage that would really be used as a shed, but after I discovered that the footers would have to be almost seven feet deep then I decided to bite the bullet and put in a full basement which would allow me to move my woodshop out of the basement of the house. Although it is extremely painful right now I know that I won’t regret it in the years to come.

Today they started putting the roofing shingles on and they finished framing the full gable return on the front. The siding has shown up and they said they will pretty much be working on the outside for the next week or so.

I met with the electrician and the quote for that came in WAY over the allowance in the contract. I’m not too happy about that. I’m running a 90amp line from the house to the shop. I’m putting in a total of six 30A/200V outlets in the woodshop as well as one 50amp/220V outlet in the basement to use with my welder.

For HVAC I’ve decided to go with a split ductless heat pump for the woodshop and a propane heater for the basement. I like the heatpump because it has a “dry” setting which will allow me to keep the humidity in the shop down in the summer without cooling it. If the heat in the winter becomes too expensive then I can always augment it with some type of propane heater as well – although propane isn’t cheap either!

-- Mark

wow! nice work.

-- Bong

Amazing. Happy woodworking!

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com