# Garage or Basement workshop



## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

I know this has been asked several times before on here, and I've read all the material I can find on it. But i'm just looking for people's opinions on my situation.

Basement is where I have most of my tools right now. It's usable dimensions are 22.5 X 30 feet (675 sqft). Pluses are that it's right downstairs, it's unfinished, it has 8 foot ceilings for half of it, the other half has ducting for hvac so it is more like 6.5 feet. It's climate controlled staying generally around 60F all year round. 
Downsides: it's dark, kind of smelly. Floor is not flat at all. It's fairly unorganized filled with old moldings, lumber, doors and stuff. It would be several weekends worth of work to move things around so I can put my tools on the high ceiling side of the room. There's plenty of space in the breaker box, but there's only one outlet wired that I am just using with a power strip for everything at the moment. There is just enough room down the stairs to fit a 4×8 sheet good, but getting finished pieces back up would be a huge chore. Meaning I'd probably have to do assembly in the garage.

The Garage: 25×29 feet (725 sqft). Totally unfinished. Pretty high clearance overhead. Has a vaulted ceiling. It has it's own electrical service and is wired for 240. The floor is totally flat and in good shape! :-D However, it's hot in the summer, super cold in the winter. It would cost more to insulate and finish. It also only has one outlet right now, even though it has a full breaker box. I would need to share the space with my automotive tools, riding lawn mower, some bikes and my snow plow for my truck. Potentially a car in the winter. It would be expensive to heat in the winter, even if I did insulate it.

Right now I have my jointer and planer out in the garage as I was cleaning and fixing them after purchase. I don't want to lug them downstairs till I make up my mind on where to go.

Thoughts?


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## lepelerin (Jan 13, 2012)

You should already be happy to have such a space to work.
I am not sure I got what you are asking for except you are not satisfied with either your basement or the garage.
Do what feels best for you.
I would opt for the basement.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

I'm happy with both, just trying to figure out which is better before I start wiring one up and adding ducting for dust collection. I'm slightly concerned with throwing so much dust into the air in the basement that can migrate into the house.


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I don't know where you live or if flooding is ever an issue, but I'd want to work where it's high and dry and flat and not smelly. If you plan on doing lots of large projects I'd do it where there's easy access, unless you can add a Bilco type door for outside access to the basement.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

So I didn't think water was a problem, but after the massive amount of rain we've been getting there is some leaking into the basement. I need to check the outside of the foundation see what is going on. I can not add external access to the basement.


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## Stewbot (Jun 7, 2015)

This is a tricky one. I work in a garage and love working with the door open, except I do not like when people pop in on me while I'm using saws, it can be dangerous….Basements are pretty cozy to work in, but damn, getting all those machines down stairs. It sounds like both spots need some work done to get them ready for a workshop? If I were you, being that both spots have their ups and downs, I would think to myself "if I were just hanging out, having a beer just kind of relaxing, would I rather be hanging out in the garage or would I rather be hanging out in the basement (after it's been cleaned out)?" This way if you can figure out which environment you would rather spend your time without doing woodworking, it will probably carry over to where you would rather spend your time while wood-working. Maby this logic won't work for you, but my thinking is that whether I'm doing woodworking or not, I tend to spent alone time in the garage just hanging out. It's a relaxing place to be and my garage is more for me than just a place to do woodworking. So I don't know, maby it'll help out to think of it that way.


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## Woodmaster1 (Apr 26, 2011)

I went with my detached garage. An occasional 6" of water (which has not happened in three years) in the basement and noise. My garage is 30×33 with 200amp service. I use 18×30 for the shop and my wife parks on her bay. I heat it with a gas big Maxx heater 60 when not in use and 70 in use the budget only went up 10.00 a month. It is insulated walls and ceiling. In the summer if I keep it closed the garage stays cool because the floor was not insulated. I live in northern Indiana so the winters are cold and summers hot. I have a shed for lawn equipment and things I do not want in the garage.


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## BadJoints (Jun 3, 2015)

For me, the staircase would be a deal breaker. It might not seem so bad at first lugging stuff down there, but eventually I would come to dread hauling stuff up and down the stairs. The inability to assemble pieces would become an issue as well. Unless you intend to have two sets of tools, you have to haul those up each time as well.
It just doesn't make sense to me. That being said, a good friend of mine works out of a basement shop, and he makes it work for him. It's all about what you think you will be comfortable with over time.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

I had a basement shop before I had to sell the farm, and that would have been my preference.
BUT, it was a walk out basement on the same level as the garage which was under the house as well.

If I had to work up and down stairs all the time I would opt for the garage instead.

A problem with the basement shop I had was odor from wood working getting in the house.
Every time I would cut pine or cedar my wife would ask me what I was doing.
Forget trying to apply any kind of finish with any VOC, or even use glue like contact cement, or wipe something down with mineral spirits or use shellac or thin it with alcohol, etc., etc.


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## johnstoneb (Jun 14, 2012)

If your basement is smelly you probably have a moisture problem. You will have to lug everything up and down stairs. You already have two of your heaviest tools in the garage.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

Somehow…I make do with the Dungeon Shop…..about half of what the OP has, and I share it with the laundry area, and the furnace/hotwater heater. hauling stuff up out of there? That is why I have my 22 yr old son, and my 21 yr old grandson around for.

Went from a 2-1/2 car garage that never even saw a car in it, to a 1/4 of a LARGE Pole Barn, to a back porch railing, to the Dungeon Shop.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

Woodmaster, yeah I have 200 amp service at the garage already as well. I was planning on insulating, drywalling and wiring up adequate outlets already.

Johnstoneb - it's mostly smelly because of cat litter :-/. The cat is on her way out though, pretty old with problems. It is a 110 year old house, so no doubt some moisture makes it in.

I guess I like the space of the garage, whilst I like the convenience of the basement :-D I may take the time to finish off the walls in the garage, move the rest of the tools out there which will allow me to get organized. If it doesn't work out, I can add electrical and lighting to the basement and move everything back.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

Bandit, yeah the basement has all the utilities in there as well. And a bunch of beams and posts in the middle of the room so it's not all 100% open. The layout of the basement is a little funky too with walls that aren't squares, they're more like bay windows if you can imagine that shape.


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## pmayer (Jan 3, 2010)

I'd go garage. No stairs to contend with, easy to get materials in and projects out. Also, not being tied in the the house's air circulation is nice when you are creating all that dust.

The only reason I might stick with the basement for now is if you really are not in a position to insulate and heat the garage. In WI, this is a must. If you can't do woodworking in the winter in WI, that's a deal breaker. I'd give up all three of the other seasons before giving up winter woodworking.


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## jkl103144 (Mar 19, 2015)

My one and a half story doesn't have a garage, but it does have an unfinished basement. I'm self employed and use the basement for my business shop, where I make beautiful things for the interior design field. 2/3s of the basement is for my 12' work table, 12' quilting machine, and industrial sewing machines, and other things. The remaining 1/3 is where I do the wood working and all.

The one problem with having the shop in the basement is that no matter how much you try to eliminate the finest dirt, it just doesn't seem to get rid of all of it. And it tends to make its way upstairs.

There is a solution, and that is a comprehensive dust collection and air filtration system. I'm currently in the midst of upgrading my dust separation setup, and venting all the tiniest particles outside to the back of the house. I'll know pretty soon if I have solved these problems to my satisfaction.

www.lumberjocks.com/topics/107738

Good luck on your choice.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

I have a small electrical heater that runs on 220 or something, it'll raise the temp of the garage to "bearable" in the winter. So from like 10F to 40F. For some reason I always end up doing car work in the winter…


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

Thanks John L. Yeah air quality is actually a big deal for me personally. That is one of the biggest reasons I am even considering moving into the garage.


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## tomsteve (Jan 23, 2015)

> I m slightly concerned with throwing so much dust into the air in the basement that can migrate into the house.
> 
> Seems that would be enough motivation for the garage shop. Also that dust can get into the mechanicals. Motors and circuit boards for appliances/mechanicals don't like dust.
> A thorough cleaning of my garage shop is pret simple- a box fan in a window, set a squirrel cage blower at one end, open main garage door and entrance and fire up my leaf blower.
> ...


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## canadianchips (Mar 12, 2010)

OUT in garage.
Keep all the dust out of house.
No matter what you do, there is always dust floating in air upstairs.


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## RichLagrand (Apr 9, 2015)

Hands down - Garage.


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## jkl103144 (Mar 19, 2015)

> Thanks John L. Yeah air quality is actually a big deal for me personally. That is one of the biggest reasons I am even considering moving into the garage.
> 
> - ChrisBarrett


If you go to my current thread, which I linked to above, you can keep up with my latest dust separation setup, and extraction to the outside of the house. This should finally get rid of my problem, by sending out all the finest particulate out of the house, so it won't hang around.

The basement is far and away the best place, provided you can get all of the fine dust removed. That way it won't make it upstairs. Unfortunately I have to work on this a little each day, and have to rely on my shop vac, which has a Hepa filter, but not enough drawing power to collect everything from my table saw.

There's one other thing that makes a basement shop less attractive. And that is getting the 4×8 sheets of plywood down there. But I have no trouble with them, even with my advancing age. I used to be in commercial construction management back in the late 70s, and I learned how to move large demountable partitions by applying the old Korean principle of using the "A" frame. That skinny little bow legged Papa-san could carry almost anything on his back with an "A" frame. When I was stationed in Korea, in the 1/72nd Armor, I watched these tiny little fellows carry stuff on their back you wouldn't begin to believe.










So, when I get the plywood home, I just slide it out the back of my van. And getting it standing up, I slide under it and squat down, grabbing its edges with my hands. Then I stand up and bending forward, I walk it down around the house and to the back door.

Presto!, its ready to go inside. One more problem solved.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

Ha nice.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

I would go for the garage. It sounds like you have a lot of humidity in your basement. You have a overhead room problem in part of it also. In your garage you can put in a ventilation fan to get some air moving to cool it a little and you can use a couple of space heaters for the winter. Spring and fall should be ok most of the time. Your central heat will send dust up into your house probably if you do woodworking in the basement. In the garage you would probably have a less depressing environment. Without seeing your exact situation it's really hard to say so you should be able to decide pretty easily after you consider all of the pros and cons.

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


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## PeteStaehling (May 3, 2015)

In my last home I had a basement shop and now have a two car garage shop. I find the garage shop MUCH nicer. the reasons include:
1. Easy roll up door access for moving lumber, large projects, and tools in or out.
2. In my case more space.
3. Less dust in the house.
4. Rolling up the door and blowing out the shop with a battery leaf blower is a handy clean up method.

You may have different factors to deal with but in my case there was absolutely no contest. The garage shop wins hands down.


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## Woodbum (Jan 3, 2010)

Running away with it would be the Garage as my choice for all of the reasons you stated for the plusses and minuses of each space. Too many downsides for the basement.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

seems like the consensus is the garage.


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## jkl103144 (Mar 19, 2015)

Chris, I'll tell you which is the best bet, hands down. And that is an out building, or detached garage type structure. You can customize it practically any way you want it to be.

And we don't need a consensus for that either. After all, consensus really doesn't mean all that much. All it takes is for a closer look at Global Warming, and the 'so called' scientific consensus to understand what I mean.


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## ChrisBarrett (Jul 4, 2015)

Yeah I'm definitely feeling like I'll go with the garage. Means I need to move the table saw, band saw, and drill press out of the basement (along with like 20 bajillion smaller tools). But I think it'll be worth it for the flat floor, finished walls, and natural lighting.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

I'd go with the garage if you were to insulate it and be able to heat and cool it. I work in my two car garage, it's nice a few months of the year, then it's hot as heck or cold as ice because it's just not insulated at all I guess. I had my bowl with water and micro mesh for turning, was frozen solid.


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