# To deconstruct or not



## Joekwon80 (Mar 16, 2012)

I currently have been using my garage as my wood shop for the past 5 months. It's alright, but it's pretty hot in the summer humidity and it's only a one car garage. Adjacent to the garage is my fully finished basement which I have cleaned out aside from a couple large items like a couch and some desk chairs. This room is a little larger than the garage, is heated/cooled, and has carpet in it. I don't plan on staying in this house but another couple years but I really would like to have the dedicated work space for the wood working equipment.

My question is this, should I rip up the carpet and turn the basement into my wood shop or just maximize my garage as much as I can and live with it? Has anyone tried to sell a house with a wood shop in the basement? Do you think having a fully finished basement is more appealing to the average home buyer than a wood shop?

-Joe


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## MR_Cole (Jun 1, 2012)

I unfinished my basement, and as long as there is smooth clean concrete underneath it will still look fine. My mistake was that the concrete floor underneath had lots of cracks in it and the glue from the carpet wouldn't come up so it looked pretty junky. As far as selling the house, basements by no means need to finished and ready to be a living space. Most basements are just for storage anyway. As long as the concrete is in good condition, it should look fine. Its also nice to be working in a comfortable climate and not have to be worried about the outside temperature!

Also as long as there are no tools left when you sell the house, your basement should look like your average basement.


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## KenFitz (May 21, 2007)

I've seen these large tongue and groove squares for basement floors that have breathing room underneath in case of water damage. I think I would buy some of these, put them over the carpet and you have a heated and cooled shop. When you leave, empty it out paint the walls, take up your t & g floor squares and your back to carpet again. I'm sure you could find use for the squares at your new destination. Just a thought. Good luck deciding.


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## Joekwon80 (Mar 16, 2012)

Are these t&g squares cost effective? I'm trying to put in as little money as possible for this room to keep cost down. I've already run the 220 wiring and everything so I'm really hoping to just plop tools in.

How terrible would it be to put stuff down on top of the carpet and put that adhesive plastic stuff they put down on carpets when they are renovating?


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## KenFitz (May 21, 2007)

I think they are about 2.50 a sq ft.. Cost is a consideration. You could always use the 4 X8 T&G at a cheaper cost and could be taken up also for re-use. I was just suggesting a way you could protect the carpet. On the other side, what would it cost you to replace the carpet when you move? That might be the cheaper way out. I know it's tough, but there are all sorts of alternatives.


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## mporter (May 5, 2011)

Joe-
My shop is in my basement with half of the basement being finished. The shop half used to be a two car garage. We took the garage doors out and filled in the two bays-one with a window and one with a french double door (I no longer have a garage now). I don't know if I did the right thing yet since I haven't tried to sell this property yet, but the house did appraise for 25,000 more because of the added "living area". I have two friends that are real estate agents and they have told me that because of the ease of turning my shop into another room (like say an office or another bedroom) they would have no problems selling the house. I guess I will see if that is true or not.

Ok now for my two cents:
Stay away from T&G squares-although they are great they are very expensive. I would take the carpet out and use a 70 dollar can of rustoleum garage epoxy floor coating. Don't worry about putting the carpet back in-if the new owners want carpet down there they can put it there. If you decide to have your shop in the basement just know that dust is a HUGE problem. It is always getting tracked around the house and if your basement has central heating and cooling I would say it's a no go. As soon as the air kicks on the dust will be all over the house. I don't have any vents in my shop and I have three overhead DCs and 2 stationary DCs just trying to control the problem. Sorry to ramble on about this, I just hope this helps.
Mike


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## Joekwon80 (Mar 16, 2012)

No this is great.

I have an inlet for the central air in the basement but I was planning on just closing it off with some painters plastic. Would that still be a problem for the dust? I have an air cleaner as well as DC and I already know how little the DC actually does when I'm running a big piece of wood through the TS. I usually get coated in the stuff and the TS is the only thing hooked up to the DC.

I'm guessing my issue is that the space is already a "living space" so I would be reducing the actual square footage of the house. I do like the idea of putting down epoxy. Is it pretty even? I love the look of polished concrete but looked up how much it would cost. Kinda out of my price range.


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## mporter (May 5, 2011)

Covering the inlet with plastic will help with the dust but there really is no way to keep it all out. Unfortunately I find that half of woodworking is fighting dust. What kind of DC do you own? A TS will always throw out dust and debris on the top side of the blade. I hate getting pelted with the stuff.

I think the Epoxy looks great and is very easy to apply. It gives the concrete more of a finished look without the cost. Plus you can always put any type of flooring over it.

Also-I don't know if you have looked at this site but if you are new to woodworking I would strongly suggest you check out the site- WWW.thewoodwhisperer.com. Marc who runs the site is very helpful and he has tons of videos on the site that are packed full of great info (including handling dust). I have found the site to be a lifesaver before.

Mike


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

Joe, I would tend to first look at ways to cool the garage, such as insulation and a small air conditioner, like a window mounted type. Then for space, move your less dusty operations into the house, such as assembly and finishing. You'll get a lot more working space and you won't have nearly the dust issue to deal with, compared to moving your table saw and sanders in there. Just something to ponder.

As for blocking the air return, make sure doing so won't put too much stress on the blower. My brother is a heating guy and warned me about blocking the returns at my customers homes, that doing so could burn out the blower motor.


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## Joekwon80 (Mar 16, 2012)

Never even thought of that ted thank you!

I've decided to keep the TS in the garage and move the other operations into the basement. I started moving stuff into the basement today and already I'm noticing how much space it freed up!

Thanks for all the opinions!

-Joe


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## TedW (May 6, 2012)

I'm thinking about doing the same, which is why I thought to mention it. I live in a basement apartment and my shop is in the other side of the basement. I'm thinking of moving my assembly and finishing into my apartment, as I have lot's of space that I never use anyway. I will finally be able to apply a finish, then go right back to making dust doing another project. Oh, and the extra space it will provide.. I'm really looking forward to that. Now all I need is the time to make it happen.


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