# Where is the best place for a shop?



## CB_Cohick (Dec 22, 2014)

We all have a workspace, or at least want a workspace. Where is your preferred space? Is it a basement shop, a garage shop, an outbuilding on your property, a rented space away from home? Tell me your preference and why.

My current workspace is in my basement, it is small and I long for more room. I also find myself working in houses a lot lately away from home, also not ideal. I think I would like to have an outbuilding, say 20' x 20' or larger, in my backyard ideally.


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## GT350 (Dec 22, 2012)

I like the idea of a nice basement shop but it has problems like dust in the house and noise from the machines and also it would be hard to get things in and out of the basement. The nice thing is it would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter. I live on a corner lot and my house faces one street and the shop faces the other. The shop is 20 deep by 35' wide with 10' of that sectioned off for a separate room which makes for good storage and my compressor sits in there so it cuts the noise down. I can back right up to it to load or unload things which is a definite advantage. The disadvantage is I have to heat and cool it more than a basement and when it rains I either track water in the house or take my shoes off. I am happy with my detached shop though as there is no dust transfer and noise doesn't bother anyone in the house plus there is more natural light than most basements. 
Mike


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

Detached shops are awesome.


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## jdmaher (May 4, 2011)

Currently use basement and garage. In fact, that's all I've ever used. So, of course, I dream of something more.

I would love to have a barn-like structure where one half of it could be used as 3-car garage (and lawn equipment and storage) and the other half could be my shop. With *MORE TOYS* and great dust collection and lots of wood storage.

Hey, a guy can dream, right?


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## SenecaWoodArt (Dec 19, 2013)

A friend of mine got a divorce and the house. Yeah, I know that 's hard to believe. Anyway, he built the shop he always wanted. He could step right out the back door and into his shop without getting wet. Shortly after he finished the shop, she comes back. She hated the shop location. Long story short, they have a new house. Moral of the story is ask the woman where you can have one, I guess.


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## pjones46 (Mar 1, 2011)

A few years ago I built a shop on my property 24' x 36' with a second floor to store wood and wish I had built it 28" x 40' (bigger is better). The number of tools keeps growing and space has become a problem.

Whatever size or place you choose, make sure everything is on wheels for easy placement and moving. Also, figure on heat in the winter and cooling in the summer if it is a separate building and you use it that allot.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

If my house had a basement, it would have about 2 feet of water in it. :-(

I do all of my work in the garage.


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## Stewbot (Jun 7, 2015)

I work in a garage. I love having a full wall that opens up, lots of fresh air and less hassle moving things in and out. One thing I don't like is that I get random stop ins when they are not always welcome.

a basement shop in the winter seems really nice, but I think a two story detached shop sounds the best, about 20-30 yards from the main house with a wood stove for heat. Downstairs for machines etc, upstairs for an office and lounge.

Bottom line, just happy to have a shop at all.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I had a farm, well really a home I built with 40 acres of woods and a creek in the yard, and a basement shop.
But, I had to sell that place I loved for 37 years.
Now I have a house in town that I remodeled and have it exactly like I wanted it, and with a detached shop.
My new, in town, shop is 16' x 24' with 9' ceiling and an upstairs office and a storage attic.
It's nice, I suppose, having everything within five minutes drive or even a short walk. 
The shop is great even though I had to shrink it down from 24' square to 16×24. It still has room for all my tools, 100 amp electric, air conditioner, soon to have solar heat, city water and drain.
Now I love my new house and shop, but I hate where they are located.
I have come to realize the house and the shop are not where I satisfy my soul. I want my woods and creek back. I want to go outside at night and not have to listen to cars and horns and those damn thumpin car stereos and sireens and crap. I want to look up and see stars and trees instead of the frigging new glaring LED parking lot lights at Hardees.
I'm about ready to sell this and find me another place with woods and a creek, whether it has a shop or not.


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## kaerlighedsbamsen (Sep 16, 2013)

My favorite workspace is somewhere with a nice view and natural light. Outdoors is nice as well.










Ultimately a whole wooden building in mountains or hilly landscape would be great. For instance like /3/]Don Villiams here.


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## ste6168 (Mar 12, 2015)

> I think a two story detached shop sounds the best, about 20-30 yards from the main house with a wood stove for heat. Downstairs for machines etc, upstairs for an office and lounge.
> 
> - Stewbot


You took the words right out of my mouth, and this is the long-term plan. I have the property, we just need to decide if this current house will suit us long-term (forever), or if we will move one last time. SWMBO is pushing for the later.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

> My favorite workspace is somewhere with a nice view and natural light. Outdoors is nice as well.
> 
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> My favorite workspace is somewhere with a nice view and natural light. Outdoors is nice as well.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


David Savage has that same quote. Nice Wegner.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

Detached, but not too far from the house. My last shop was probably 100' away, and often in the winter that was a problem. This one is about 20' away, and while it can still be a little drifted in (in the winter) it has worked out much better.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

My shop is an over sized two car garage for now, but it is getting crowded.


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## Clarkie (May 11, 2013)

First shop was in a vacant bedroom, built a very substantial doghouse, of which I was very proud. Then came the first obstacle, I couldn't get it out of the room, it was wider than the door opening, argh! The next shop was on the kitchen door step, concrete stairs about 4 feet by 4 feet. Eventually had a 1000 square foot shop, had a nice pot belly US Army WW2 stove for heat, Army field phones that connected me to the coffee supply at the house. Then from there got a 2000 square foot shop, on the third floor of a 100 year old barn, ceiling height was 38 feet, that was first shop with a wooden floor. For the past 25 years have been in what they told me was a 2 car garage, but I've never seen a car in it. The best thing is that you only have to walk twenty feet to be in the air conditioning and coffee. The garage door is opened and the guys stop by from time to time, always made it a policy to shut down the machines when company comes, it avoids accidents by trying to talk and work. Have fun, make some dust…btw--How deep would the ocean be if it didn't have sponges in it?


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

I have lots of goofy signs hanging around for them to read while they wait for me to be done with the machine. Here is an important one though.


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## Burgels (Jun 10, 2013)

I'm very blessed to have an insulated pole barn (45' x 25')ish on my property with a poured cement floor. The previous owner built it to work on his derby cars so the layout isn't ideal but I'm not complaining. It's amazing to have a dedicated building away from the house that I can set up all my stuff.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I think you already answered your own question,shops need to go where they work best for each individual.
In general I think basement shops may use space already available but for me I don't think I would like ceilings that are that low ,I have 14' tall ceilings


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

I'd prefer a detached shop for several reasons. Noise and dust control (don't have to worry about it infiltrating the house), ability to have windows for natural light, higher ceilings and loft storage.


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## Earlextech (Jan 13, 2011)

I started my custom woodworking business on my back porch. Two screen walls and about 120 square feet of space. Moved to 1800 square feet rental space in an industrial park. Hurricane Andrew asked me to move again, to a different city, and a 400 square foot separate garage space, then to 3000ft of rental space in the woods, then on to 15,000 square feet of shop, storage, finishing and showroom with offices. Now that I have retired from building for others for a living, I love my 16' x 20' workshop in the backyard where there are no deadlines or impatient customers.


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

I've had two basement shops, two garage shops, and one shed(horrible).

Basement shops if a walkout is fine, except, HVAC tends to coexist and that can cause dust/filter/house/wife issues(in that order). My current shop is a walk-up shop (4 8" steps) with a 6'-0" door. When I move it will be interesting on moving my tools. Gravity was my friend getting them in the shop (and company paid movers), the last move will be on my dime. Although its the biggest area I've have ever had over 1k sq ft shop.

Garages or ok, but tend not to be insulated or heated. That was a constant pain. Being in the garage the wife was constantly riding me that she could not park in the garage.

Shed was worst no electricity(I used generator), uninsulated, and did not do much work in the two years I used it.

My last shop under design now with a build date of 2017/18, will be a stand alone shop with lots of natural light. Have not finalized on wood floor or going with concrete/radiant heating.

Mine have always been find a space and make it work. My last one is mine from ground up.

Good luck and cheers.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

My shop is a stand-alone 40' x 50', with a portion of it I call the "boat side"....That's where I park my bass boat and truck. I can go out either end, cause it has a circle drive. The shop has it's own 200 amp service, has central heat and air, and I have plenty of room for all my tools, a good work space, and it's really close to my house…


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## RichardHillius (Oct 19, 2013)

Wherever you end up one thing that I have found key is being able to dedicate the space to woodworking. I have worked out of several garage shops and no matter what you do to them the big downside I find is it's a garage and ends up being shared space. Be it boxes on shelves or lawn tools on the wall to lawnmowers and garbage can's on the floor it always seems like I am having to work around non woodworking stuff. I really want my next shop to be a detached building as I feel that's the best for all parties in the household and it creates four hard walls that clearly define what is woodworking shop vs the rest of the world.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

*Rick*, I have always loved your shop. It's one of the best that I have seen.

*Chris*, If I had my preference I would have a stand alone shop with it's own electrical service. However, you have to start with whatever your circumstances allows you to do. Until I was in my 50's the only thing that I could afford was to use my open carport. One side was the back of the house which gave me a little protection from the weather. I had an old antique wardrobe that I put all my tools in and it had double doors which I was able to lock. I was finally able to close in the carport and I added a table saw, bandsaw, drill press, lathe, router table, jointer, and some other tools. I was finally able to build my dream shop a couple of years agao.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Thanks, Charles…..You always have nice things to say about people's shops, and their projects…I do enjoy my shop when I'm able to get to it….A few health problems prohibits me sometimes, but it's always there when I need it…I was fortunate enough to have the land and the means to build it.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Nice shop, Rick. I think your "boat side" would be the envy of most of us boat owners.

The other side looks pretty good also.


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## buildingmonkey (Mar 1, 2014)

Like that 40×50! I bought an old building site 35 years ago, it had an old wreck of a house and a pole barn, 26×66. When I decided I wanted a wood shop, I fixed up the old pole barn, really kindof wish I had torn it down and built a new shop, but it is ok. Would have turned it longwise to the south, so it would get more light, and wider, was thinking 36 wide so I could use 20' rafters and still have an overhang. I replaced the house in 81.


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

At our last house I built a 30' X 40' pole barn with a poured concrete floor. Ceiling rafters were 9' but since I never sheet-rocked any of it, I also had almost 6' of "attic" space up there.

When we moved here I was only able to get a 24' X 36' building because of budget restraints. It's a former portable classroom so it only has 8' ceilings. You would think that only losing a few feet on each wall wouldn't make a big difference, but it's been almost a year and a half and I STILL have boxes I cant unpack because there's no room to put it all away.

So my vote is for free-standing detached building , and whatEVER size you're planning … DOUBLE IT ! You wont be sorry down the road!


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

Free-standing, detached, with it's own electrical service, about 20' from the driveway of your home. Facing south, with natural light hitting the workbench and a garage door to let in the outdoors when it's nice outside. About 38' wide, 24' deep is good. Divide the space inside to what you need (storage, workspace, finishing, etc.)


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I am fortunate to have 8 acres of land. When I moved here 15 years ago, the first project was to build a shop. I built a 1200 sf shop far enough from the house so I don't bother anyone with the noise.It is cooled and heated and incorporates my metal working and working shops in one building. I put in a 200 amp service panel so I never have to be starved for power. It has an outside deck so I can work outdoors in good weather. Two large doors, one 8' and the other 10' gives me plenty of access for a truck. If you are serious about woodworking and can afford to spend the time and money, I would consider this a minimum. I never feel the need for more space. I previously had garage and basement shops, but quickly ran out of space. I also live in a rural area well off the road, so security is good. I have every machine I will ever need and then some. The only drawback of a large shop, at least for me is: I tend to allow clutter to build up in unused areas of the shop instead of keeping it neat and tidy.


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## tomclark (Feb 16, 2010)

I have a 36×60 steel building out in the side yard for my shop/garage. Shop is a well-insulated 36×36. It is nice to be able to make noise/dust that does not affect the house. Click on home to see more photos of the shop.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Tom, that certainly is a beautiful shop building.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

When I started cabinet making my first shop was in an old house that I rented farm from. Worked Ideal. Anything I built in that house had to be carried out the front door. If it fit through front door it always fit into house I was doing work in. Had extra rooms to store things."Raccons became problem" 
Then I built a 50' x 50' shop that was shared by automotive and welding worl. (BAD IDEA) always soot and grease everywhere. Then I moved into house that had walk in basement. Ideal , except my wife didnt like dust floating aroiund upstairs. Tried sealing everything, still dust. Then I moved into 14×24 outbuilding. Good but to small, had stuff alaying outside under tarps. Wife not happy again ! The last shop I had was similar to Ricks. My building was 28'x 30'. I lived in 1/2 and had work area in other . Now I have moved back east and live in Apartment. NO SHOP.
Pretty sad exsistance….........! I do have access to shared shop at senior complex….....not the same as having own space.


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## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

Tom,

I'm with Charles…..You sir, have a beautiful shop, and the layout is great…I like your arrangement of tools and especially all the cabinets you've built…When I built mine, I tried to have a "work flow" for ease of use….I took my time in arranging machines to get the set up right….Sometimes you have to shift things around in order for it to work with a good flow…..I try to keep my shop uncluttered to have that flow….I think arrangement is the name of the game….No matter what size shop you have, if it's layed out and arranged to meet your needs, then it'll work..


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

Tom, that is a very nice shop. I would have it cluttered and torn apart in an hour. You must have little elves that help put everything where it goes. Thanks for sharing. Beautiful telescopes as well.


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