# Anyone Running Their Dust Collection Piping Under the Floor? Advice Appreciated



## gerrym526 (Dec 22, 2007)

I'm designing my stand alone "dream shop" and intend to incorporate dust collection into it on a much larger scale than my previous basement shop.

Since I'm working from a blank page, the shop will have a crawl space for mechanicals (i.e. plumbing, electric). The crawl space will be deep enough to run dust collection duct work.

Was wondering if any of you jocks have piped your dust collection system under the floor?

Any advice, helpful hints, etc. in the design of piping, joints, blast gates, etc. would be much appreciated.

After looking at lots of pics of other jocks shops, I've concluded that if it's possible to successfully install the piping under the floor, the shop will have a nice uncluttered look vs. running pipes along the ceilings and walls.

thanks for the help guys.
Gerry


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I have mine under the floor and I love it.
It's covered in this blog series. https://www.lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/series/5536


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

That would be my dream, but, concrete slab (covered in horsey mats).


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## MrUnix (May 18, 2012)

Norm Abrams said that one of his biggest mistakes when he designed and built his new workshop was not putting the dust collection ducts in the floor (they are all overhead)! I'd run them under the floor as well, if I didn't have a concrete slab.

Cheers,
Brad


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## avsmusic1 (Jul 10, 2016)

Check out Frank Howarth on YouTube




That's his build video but I think he did a tour at some point where he talks about his choices and lessons learned


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

I thought about that, including space for power too, but I could not guess well enough when I had the floor poured. So it drops from overhead. Good thing as after using my shop for a year, I moved several machines.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

I have mine under the floor (concrete slab). I also ran 2 open conduit lines to the center of the shop under the concrete.

The in floor collection really cleans up the clutter and keeps the shop very open. I am very pleased with that part of the system and would likely do in floor again if I ever have the chance. It is not without its challenges:

1. I put access point in the center of each wall and 3 spaced down the center of the floor. I use all of them but 1 wall. The challenge is you can't move them so my tool placement is constrained. I have managed to make it work but it does require a little more work to change the shop layout. I also can't move my dust collector but that has never been an issue for me.

2. Make sure you understand the capability of your dust collection system and use the largest duct diameter that your system can handle. I put my duct work in 2 years before I bought my dust collector. I used 4 inch ducting because all the tools I saw had 4" connections. It wasn't until several years later I learned that I should have used 6" or maybe 8" ducting. As a result my systems has less capability than it should.

3. The 4" ducts can clog more easily. I have one run that is 15 feet end to end with no access points between the ends. Over the last ~17 years I have had maybe 10 plugs that required snaking the duct - about a half hour project. One was so bad that the system was down for a couple months as I tried to figure out how to clear it. Larger ducting would have really helped this - maybe eliminated the problem, but think about cleanouts on longer runs.

The conduit felt like a really good idea, but I have never used it. I would need to cut the plug off the cord to feed it through the conduit and then attach a new plug. That's not that bad, but the need has never arrived to make it worth the effort.

As I said, I would do it again, but with 6" or 8" ducts and add access points and maybe a cleanout or two…


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

Best buy stores have 2' x 2' (approximately) trenches in the floor for electrical to the displays. Maybe you could do something like that down the center of the shop, and run low along the outer walls for those machines. Frame in some floor joists and screw down plywood. I put floor receptacles in my shop, and ran duct through a crawlspace / tornado shelter I built into the floor. There are slot of solutions depending on budget.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Running ducts in the attic is another way to go.

But if you're designing your shop why not go with 10-12' ceilings it will be a lot easier to install/modify.

The biggest disadvantage of going subfloor is you better be 100% of your machines final location.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

The hard part would be the 2'x2' chunks for the turns.



> Best buy stores have 2 x 2 (approximately) trenches in the floor for electrical to the displays. Maybe you could do something like that down the center of the shop, and run low along the outer walls for those machines. Frame in some floor joists and screw down plywood. I put floor receptacles in my shop, and ran duct through a crawlspace / tornado shelter I built into the floor. There are slot of solutions depending on budget.
> 
> - ibewjon


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

My dream shop would be on a slight hill, so I could walk in under the floor and back up to the collection cans. That would make furniture re-arrangement so much easier, because I could access the pipes for additions and removals.

What I hadn't thought about is, whether I'd want the pipes insulated or out in the open. Obviously, out in the open would mean they are easy to access for changes, but in the cold of winter, they'd work as heat sinks.

P.S. Being on a hill, I could still just walk in the front door.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

for me id never want it under the floor,ive reconfigured my setup so many times over the years it would have created a real problem.


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## kelvancra (May 4, 2010)

I don't see that that has to be a problem, pottz. For example, most equipment has the pickup down low or at waist height. As such, there would be few pipes in the upper area, stealing valuable real-estate.

At worst, one could have three capped pipes on each wall (one on each end and one at the center, kind of like I did with outlets) for minimal hose runs, and one or two in the center (in my case, to handle the cabinet saw, jointer and sanding station).


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## klassenl (Feb 13, 2011)

Mine runs under the slab. I have a small shop only 18×26 so the table saw can only go in one spot. I have a run to the opposite wall and one to the bench for the sander.

While you're running stuff before the concrete run power and air as well. Or maybe just some conduit and pull what you need after the fact.


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## JohnJenkins (Jul 29, 2016)

I've got mine under the slab to the center of the shop. Power under as well. It's just one 6 inch pipe coming up into an octagon shaped box. I run flex from there to each machine. It works out to an island cluster of tools - table and band saw, jointer, planer and drum sander all in a circle. It's great. Each machine is always hooked up. Just open the gate and start cutting.

Never any clogging problem with the 6" duct.

Your advantage with crawl space would make it even better since you can position the tools anywhere you want or move them in the future. Do it!


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## TajBuilder (Aug 6, 2008)

I dug trenches before I poured my slab and ran 4"PVC for dust collection and 3/4" conduit for electric.

For the dust collection, use a regular tight 90 degree elbow at the machine and long sweep elbows for anything downstream. This is especially true for the table saw dust port because sometimes you get thin offcuts when ripping that can get stuck. With a short elbow, they can be easily removed before they get stuck further downstream.

Also run large (1" or more) conduit. I had several runs where I wanted to run additional wire and had difficulty because the conduit was too small. And also run 10 ga. wire in the floor. My first table saw was 3 HP and drew less than 20 amps but my new saw is 5 HP and draws close to 30 amps.

Also run separate circuits for each machine. In most States you can only have one outlet on a 30 amp circuit. If you have more than one outlet, the breaker can only be 20 amp even if you use 10 ga. wire.


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## idahotinker (Aug 2, 2013)

I really wish I didn't have to look at this:










And it gets covered with dust for some reason. Ironic, no? I was scared to put it under concrete for fear I'd get it in the wrong places and be stuck for good. I'd put it in a crawlspace in a heartbeat.


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## jkm312 (Jan 13, 2020)

> I ve got mine under the slab to the center of the shop. Power under as well. It s just one 6 inch pipe coming up into an octagon shaped box. I run flex from there to each machine. It works out to an island cluster of tools - table and band saw, jointer, planer and drum sander all in a circle. It s great. Each machine is always hooked up. Just open the gate and start cutting.
> 
> Never any clogging problem with the 6" duct.
> 
> ...


Have you got a photo of your "island" that you could share? That's a really clever idea.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> I really wish I didn t have to look at this:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


id love to look at your beautiful shop,that ducting sure doesn't bother me.


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## idahotinker (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks, pottz. I'm actually kind of proud of it, except the way I hung it. There has to be a more elegant way to do it. It was quite a puzzle to figure out and sort of fun. I was lucky enough to find the cyclone on Craigslist and when I picked it up they just threw in about $800 worth of duct and fittings. I've only had to buy one additional blast gate and a couple sections of pipe.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

hey yours is pretty clean compared to mine.id never put mine under the floor because ive changed my layout so many times over the years it would be a problem,and once i had a clog due to a long piece of wood that got sucked in and jambed in one of the elbows,that would have been an issue if i didn't have access.


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## hcbph_1 (Apr 11, 2020)

My only concerns with putting the conduit under a concrete floor would be the need to not change anything connected to the collector (locations that is), what happens if a plug happens and will the dust collector have enough power to pull everything through it?
As long as those things can be resolved, it sure would clean things up.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> My only concerns with putting the conduit under a concrete floor would be the need to not change anything connected to the collector (locations that is), what happens if a plug happens and will the dust collector have enough power to pull everything through it?
> As long as those things can be resolved, it sure would clean things up.
> 
> - hcbph_1


yeah as i said i had a clog,so for me id never go under the floor or slab,the ducting doesn't bother me,hell it's not a living room.i like the industrial look.


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