# Potential shop layout, trying to decide on size



## Jakl (Sep 5, 2016)

My wife and I recently moved into a new house that has a 2 car garage. It is unfortunately about a foot narrower and shallower than our last garage. Previously we just dealt with dust covering the garage and a portable sort of shop setup that utilized mostly collapsible (mobile at the very least) tools. Things like a jobsite saw on a cart, Ridgid 10" miter saw on a scissor stand, router table on a mobile base, jointer on mobile base, etc.

One drawback to this is that we had to dedicate hours to just getting anything done on a project. It would take 30 min or so just to set it all up and another 30 to put it all away. Otherwise cars were not going back in the garage. Often times they didn't, and that is one thing we want to avoid.

The second problem we faced was dust collection. Since this space served as a garage and a wood shop, our dust collection was less than optimal. The space also being used as a garage meant that there were so many more things for sawdust to collect on (lawn equipment, car-related tools, camping gear, etc). We tried to always be good about hooking it up to our dust separator and shop vac, but most times that wasn't quite enough.

We are only hobbyists, so deciding to build a small dedicated shop was somewhat of a tough decision. The concession we made was to not go all out. This isn't what brings money into the house, although we would love to start making small projects to sell. This combined with the fact that we will probably be in this house for about 5-6 years means we don't want to go crazy.

Our backyard is about .25 acres and the shop would be placed back there. We are looking to build a 1+ car garage sized structure back there, but nothing too big that overwhelms the space.










This is the rough layout we came up with. An 18×24 garage layout with the roll up door facing forward, and a regular door to the side. Miter saw station in the back, table saw with outfeed/assembly table in the middle. Left side would have the jointer, planer, and drum sander all on mobile bases so they could be relocated elsewhere in the shop or just given more room if needed. On the right side I have the drill press, lathe table, desk, bandsaw and the dust collection.

Looking for a little insight into this layout and really with focus on the size. If we can get away with smaller without destroying the productivity then we would love to do that, but we also don't want to spend this money if we are going to be no better off than working out of our garage/driveway with regards to the movement of tools. The idea being that we build something at least big enough to be a 1 car garage so it is considered in the resale of the house.

Thanks for your time!


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## EricTwice (Dec 9, 2016)

You can do much in a small shop. You will like that it isn't connected to the house. Open air will stop the dust from getting in to the house. please note that the person you have drawn is not to scale. arm's reach is closer to 6 feet but there is still plenty of room.

Personally, I don't like the roll around option. I am spoiled from using the big heavywheight professional tools. Are you going to have a work bench or build off the outfeed table? (this is a good option)

Consider putting a shed roof off the side (or back) to house your "garden tools". Things like your compressor and dustcollector are best outside the shop. this will increase your usable floor space and possibly the resale value too. how will you heat this in winter?


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

That's actually a nice size for a shop. Everyone wants bigger, but that will do nicely. As for the layout, I'm in my 4th shop (the first was our garage, the next 3 free standing) and while I tried to do layouts for all of them….it always changed. It's much easier to look at a real room and the tools in t and come up with a plan. So I'm saying what you have is good for now. I'll ditto what Eric said about it being separate, no dust as well as no noise problems…but it is more expensive; and don't forget the heat part along with how much electric you want to run out there (I'd say 100 amps, for you and the future owners).


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## Jakl (Sep 5, 2016)

I plan to stick with the roll around option for future flexibility. The shop will have windows on 3 of the 4 walls so I plan to use window units for heating and cooling. The shop will be drywalled and insulated.


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## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

Don't forget to figure in space to store materials. Also consider swapping your chop saw to the wall on the right so you can break down 16' material. I had mine on a short end wall in my second shop and it was terrible for workflow. Every board has to be turned 90 degrees for cross cutting then 90 degrees back to joint or rip. That got old quick. It will also help free up you TS infeed area which will be useful when you need to break down a 4×8 sheet of plywood.


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## Jakl (Sep 5, 2016)

Awesome, thank you for that input! Material storage is clearly something I overlooked. I'll try the layout again with the mother saw on the long wall and some lumber storage. I'll probably have most of my lumber stored higher to save workspace and only have the pieces I'm currently using down on or near the floor, but it doesn't hurt to at least plan for it. Thanks again!


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## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

Also consider putting the lathe in a corner. It's one of the few machines that will never need infeed or outfeed space. Same for the Dust collector although that one you really need to design and size for minimum piping when possible so it's a trade off between performance and convienence for that one.


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## Just_Iain (Apr 5, 2017)

Back when I was carpenter, one client had us build a big 3 bay shed for maintaining his dump trucks. Rough sawn lumber and a full 6" on insulation and bright galvanized metal roofing allowed him to heat this place with 12' doors with a single wood stove. So consider panels that are insulated that would insulate the 'garage door'.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

I have same size with similar setup. I have jointer to the left up against the saw. Planer is behind TS on right. Rest of machines on left.

I didn't have a garage door cuz it got messed up so I framed the opening in and put storage in along wall.

It's a good size for permanent placement of most tools if well organized.


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

May I suggest going with 24ft x 30ft combo shop/garage. Why? Because you can always move the car for a little bit, when you need that extra room. This is the size of my shop and I store my Harley 100% and will pull one of the autos inside when I need to work on it…


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## Jakl (Sep 5, 2016)

> May I suggest going with 24ft x 30ft combo shop/garage. Why? Because you can always move the car for a little bit, when you need that extra room. This is the size of my shop and I store my Harley 100% and will pull one of the autos inside when I need to work on it…
> 
> - HorizontalMike


I already have the 2 car attached for vehicles. Only have 2 to park in a garage anyway. The only purpose of building this in a dimension to fit a car is for down the road when we sell the house we can sell it as a detached garage instead of just storage


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## HorizontalMike (Jun 3, 2010)

Ah, OK. I missed the point about this being an either/or…shop/garage over time. I would still think about adding ceiling height to this shop/garage. That overhead garage door ends up low and within reach if you don't.

Not knowing where in the country/world you are currently talking about, makes it difficult to suggest materials. Down here in Texas metal framed buildings work very well (mild winters and dry summers). My gable is at 12ft. inside, and sides at 9ft. That way I don't spend all my time knocking out and replacing light bulbs… ;-)


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