# Workshop height



## LarryDNJR (Dec 6, 2009)

Hello all this is my first post here in the forums. I had a question of something I am curious about. I am looking to build a workshop soon under my carport attached to my house. The dimensions are roughly 12' x 28' for the most part but the thing is the height of my shop from floor to ceiling is going to be roughly 6' 4". I myself am only about 5' 11" so I know it will be a little cramped to a point but it will be what I have to work with on getting a shop together. My question is more of a poll what are other height's you Lumberjocks out there have in your shop? I know I have some obvious disadvantages with making things of a certain height and would have to be careful how I move wood around to get it onto various tools for cutting etc. I guess if I needed to stretch I could step outside to do that. lol

So what is the height of your workshop?

Larry
Columbus, OH


----------



## Padre (Nov 5, 2008)

Welcome to LJ's!!

My workshop is in my garage, and I have 8.5 foot ceilings. I think lower would be difficult for assembly, moving wood around and larger tools (band saw, drill press, etc.)


----------



## SnowyRiver (Nov 14, 2008)

Hi Larry,

Mine is about 8 ft. I would like to have at least 12 feet. I find the problem I have is if you are building something tall and have it standing on an assembly bench, it will hit the ceiling in my shop. Also the dust collection system, although I have room in the ceiling, wouldnt take up noticable ceiling height if I had higher ceilings.


----------



## charlie48 (Sep 21, 2009)

I have a garage workshop that has a 8'6" ceiling.


----------



## beatlefan (Dec 1, 2009)

mine is 8'5" and that seems okay so far-


----------



## JohnGray (Oct 6, 2007)

Mines 10' and it works great 4 me.


----------



## sbryan55 (Dec 8, 2007)

Mine is 7'8" and at times it is a challenge to handle full sheets of plywood or long boards. About a month ago I was getting a bathroom storage cabinet that is 84" high ready for finishing by putting it on a dolly. It was an adventure trying to move it around while keeping it on the dolly since it was so top heavy and dodging the lights. Obviously if I had my wish shop, it would be like John's and have a 10' ceiling. But we work with what we are given.


----------



## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

12' 4 1/2"


----------



## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

Mine is in a garage, with a floor sloped for drainage. The low end is 8', the high end is 8' 4".

I have a canoe that hangs from the ceiling (no good storage for it outside of the shop, YET, and it hangs at 5' 9" off the floor right between my workbenches. I am 6' even, and I have to stoop to get around the boat.

That 6' 4" would be somewhat limiting for handling larger projects, and material, but some creativity, and moving outside when you have to will go a LONG ways…

FWIW, LOML and I keep debating over me moving the shop to an as yet not built dedicated shed / shop. I would rather stay in the garage, and build a smaller shed for storing the lawn & garden, and camping stuff… The sheds we are looking at have 6' ceilings, which means I barely fit…


----------



## Fireguy (Jul 17, 2009)

mine is 8'. I think the lower the ceiling the harder it is to get good light setup in the shop.


----------



## Fireguy (Jul 17, 2009)

I think you will find most everyone on here makes what they have work.


----------



## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

After working in a garage with 8' ceilings for many years I built my current shop to my design. It is 20'X40' and has a "shed" roof with 9' ceiling in the rear and 14' in the front. The slope of the roof was made to match the pitch of our near by house roof; 2" in 12".
That works great for me except the roof collects debris from surrounding trees and with the shallow pitch it has to be frequently cleaned, especially in the fall. I use a leaf blower and the shallow pitch does makes it pretty easy to walk around on. Takes about 20 minutes. The roof material is metal and I have three 2'X6' sky lights in it to provide lots of light.
Talk about handicaps. There was a period when I used my ex-wife's garage for a shop (-;


----------



## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

about 9'


----------



## Rick Dennington (Aug 27, 2009)

I have a stand-alone shop out by my house. It is a 40' x 50 ' woodshop, and it has a 9 ft. ceiling height.


----------



## LarryDNJR (Dec 6, 2009)

Appreciate everyone replying. It seems I might hold a record so far for having the possibly shortest ceiling height for a workshop on here. Close 2nd is dbhost. I think it will be a challenge and require some creative thinking to nagivate and build certain things. As for the lights I'm still working on a good idea for that since in some areas I will potentially lose 4" there. Might put single bulb fluorescent 4' bulbs in a run on the perimeter of the walls as close to the corners of the wall/ceiling as possible. In front of the conduit and outlet boxes I'll be running up there.


----------



## LarryDNJR (Dec 6, 2009)

I do agree with Scott Bryan "But we work with what we are given." If I had my way I would go a bit larger on the ceiling but my goal is to stay up the existing metal sloping carport to use that as my roof and I am basically build a box underneath it which is my workshop. Box doesn't sound as pretty for what I am really trying to make it look like though.


----------



## GaryC (Dec 31, 2008)

Mine is 40×50 with 14ft ceiling. I lose too much heat with the tall ceiling


----------



## WoodSparky (Nov 27, 2009)

I had to go and check. 7ft in the older section of my basement were the shop resides. For lighting in this area , I chose to recess 4' two lamp flourescent fixtures between the floor joists. There are 8 in a 18×24' area. I also augmented the shop with track lights in certain spots.


----------



## BlairH (Jan 19, 2009)

I don't know the exact height of my shop but it's in the basement and not much more than what you'd end up with. It's obviously not ideal but I've been able to make great use of the space, I'm sure you will too.


----------



## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

I would say between 34'' to 36''.


----------



## cstrang (Sep 22, 2009)

My shop has 8' ceilings, I would really like to have 10' or 12', 6'4" is a bit small, but being 6'3" myself I guess that would feel a bit cramped lol. Welcome to Lj's!


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

Mine are 14ft tall I wanted to be able to stand a 12' board on end. Welcome to Ljs.


----------



## GaryK (Jun 25, 2007)

Mine are 10 feet. When I built my shop I specifically wanted 10 foot height. I used to have a 8+ foot and kept getting pieces of plywood jammed in between the floor and ceiling.

6'4" doesn't leave a lot or room for lighting.


----------



## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

mine are 10 feet and i have open rafters…soi can actualy have something 14 to 15 feet long if needful and have had such long things in there…and its been wonderful to have that room…...


----------



## Dano46 (Sep 21, 2009)

For 30 years my shop has been in the basement with 7'3" ceilings. For 30 years I told myself I would build a shop out back when I retired. I retired 2 years ago, and am still going down steps every day. Go figure.


----------



## Shamus (Nov 12, 2009)

I've worked in my basement, old one car garage and a car-port as a shop over the years. You do what you have to make what you have work. Inconvienent at times, yes, but it still works.

I'm lucky today as I have a stand-alone woodshop with 14' ceilings. If I had a cat I could surely swing it, as they say. When I turn a 10 footer end for end I don't have to worry about hitting anything, always brings a smile to my face remembering those days when everything was tight.


----------



## gregb (May 24, 2009)

Welcome to LJ's!! Im sorry to dethrowne you but I think my shops takes the cake for smallest ceiling height standing at 6' exactly! I too work in in the basement under my carport and as far as lighting goes I bought the shallowest mount I could find. One day I'll get around to adding a cage to surround the bulbs.


----------



## jimofsanston (Oct 15, 2009)

I had a new shop built it has 8' foot with open joist which helps some.


----------



## Fireball (Apr 7, 2007)

Mine is 7'6" and I hate it. I am 6'2" so I'm a bit taller than you. Despite setting everything up as best as possible, I can't keep myself from bending over when walking around for fear of hitting my head on stuff. The garage door opener, the garage door tracks, the air cleaner, the DC hoses, etc, etc.

If there is any way you can get a standard 8' height or bigger, I would do it. Even if it means saving up and waiting, I would definitely do it. My old shop had 9' ceilings and I didn't realize how much of a problem the shorter height would be.


----------



## HarleySoftailDeuce (Jan 14, 2009)

My shop is in my basement, and is about 8.5'.
Although I'm late to this question forum…Welcome to LJ's !
The people here are great !

Paul


----------



## Gregn (Mar 26, 2010)

Seeing this is been a while ago this forum was posted. I was curious to your final out come and how are things working out. I just recently bought a 12×30 shed for a shop myself. The original wall height was to be 6'8" to low for me, as I'm 5'2" myself. I had them build it with 8' walls instead.


----------



## manumurf (Mar 4, 2010)

26' x 35' shop building 16' tall at front and 10.5' at the rear. No height clearance problems.


----------



## LarryDNJR (Dec 6, 2009)

Haven't built the shop yet. If plans stay as they are based on where I am able to put it the height will be the same as originally mentioned. I am debating now about tearing down the car port so I can put something up with a tad more height. Not sure yet. No where ready to actually build the shop yet have a few other things dealing with first.


----------



## JimF (May 20, 2009)

Thinking outside the box: Can you raise the roof? Lower the floor?


----------



## Rileysdad (Jun 4, 2009)

Welcome aboard!

A little math tells me that sheet goods will be a challenge for you. You'll need a good long straightedge and circular saw to break the sheets down before moving them into the shop. I have 8ft ceilings in my basement shop. There's a 10" dropped soffit running through the middle of it and 6" D/C pipe running over half of it. I usually break down my sheet goods in the garage.

We all have to work with the limitations we have. Figuring out the workarounds are part of the fun.


----------



## bobbyt99 (Jan 16, 2010)

I had 8' ceilings but lost 2 1/4" when I put in the sub floor. It was necessary because of the slope running into the drain, and the concrete was all pitted. The shop is small - 25×12 - so all the major tools have to be on wheels. With the potholes in the floor, it would be very difficult to move them about. The sub floor also is a lot easier on the feet and back. My sheet goods are brought in on their sides and then thrown on a table. They are cut with a straight edge and circuular saw. I have worked with the low ceiling for so long I really have gotten used to it and, without even thinking about it, I do what I have to do without even noticing it anymore. Sure… I'd love to have a bigger, higher shop… I think a lot of us would. But seeing as this will never be possible, I love what I have and am thankful that I have it.

-Bobby


----------



## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

My "Workshop in the Woods" is a Menards garage package. My ceiling height is 103". The ceiling mounted light fixtures hang down about 4 inches, so I have to be careful with long boards, which seems to be all I have been working with lately.

Regardless of you ceiling height, don't let it stop you from woodworking. If it's necessary to go outside to turn a board around - so be it.


----------



## ND2ELK (Jan 25, 2008)

My ceiling is 8' - 6". I lost about 10" because of lights and duct work hanging on the ceiling. It does not seem to be a problem. Thanks for asking.


----------



## LarryDNJR (Dec 6, 2009)

Jim, no I wont really be able to drop the floor. Raising the roof could be a possibility. Mainly what I am doing is putting this under an existing carport. The highest point under there is like 86" I believe. I am basically going to be building a plywood "crate" or "box". I'm basically going to change it up to 10' x 28' to keep it a rectangle. I plan on one end having a double door opening maybe 4' - 6'. Basically this will be sitting right on my driveway under the carport. Going to put down one layer of plywood then a second layer which will be the inside floor. Going to build walls with studs throughout. Might just do plywood on the outside walls/floor/roof which will just be flat since it is under the carport and then do drywall on the inside walls/ceiling. I think ultimately I will have like 4-5 inch clearance over my head with the ceiling based on my current design. I really dont want to lose the carport protection since it technically gives me a "roof". I have looked into some of the Arrow Steel Buildings. Walmart has one but not I'm not sure insulated it is and strong on the walls. I'm trying to keep the noise to a minimum from getting out plus keep the temperature regulated some. Plus I'm not a fan of bugs so want to get this thing sealed up as tight as possible with the exception of good venting.

Riley I have done some math and sketched out some blueprints and I think it will be a pain to do the walls.

8iowa I agree with you, right now I've been sharing my dad's attached garage workshop with some of my tools for now. I plan on with mine not having anything mounted to the walls if possible. All the tools will be on movable carts/bases etc. With 10' wide I should be able to turn most things inside there it is just the height issue is the major problem. No tall projects unless they are under 6' .

Glivingston hello I'm familiar with Urbana been there a few times with an old job as a PC Field Technician. As for lighting I'm thinking of doing the ceiling/wall perimeter with lights all around. Try and keep it from the middle area if possible.


----------



## Abbott (May 10, 2009)

9'4"


----------

