Thoughts on setting up new shop

[TheSilverBuick]

Right on Shawn. It'll be awesome to have some indoor space.

[rightpedal]

Be before you even start to load any thing in there rent a sprayer and paint the whole thing with primer and semi gloss white. Use a push broom and a blower to clean the walls first. Then install tube florescent lights. It's nice to have a clean slate to start with. I use 1/2 copper with sweat joints for my air line and as squirrel said pay attention to the slope/drain. Putting the compressor out side the shop is not a bad idea.

Cool deal on the new shop

Steve

[Thumpin455]

Welcome to the club of 40' shops. That one sure looks like a Michigan outbuilding, except its apparently quite nice inside. They do fill with crap fast, especially when you have all your tools and three cars torn apart in them. One of my projects for spring will be running steel pipe for the air, but I am not a fan of retractable reels. The thing holding that up is insulation on the south and east walls.


Compressor outside the shop up here will freeze and get buried in snow, which will then cause it to overheat.Not a great idea, but in the lean to it would be ok.

[milner351]

Great ideas I'm late to the party.

RENT A SPRAYER AND PRIME AND PAINT EVERYTHING WHITE SEMI GLOSS!

Nothing is worse than trying to work in a hard to light shop - and those wood panels are cool looking for sure - but will soak up light like crazy.

If the concrete is already stained / pitted, etc, you're better off using a sealer not a paint. Sealrs work into the pores of the concrete and keep anything new from soaking in - keeps dust down and makes clean up easier - without the risk of lifting / pealing / bubbling or making it a hockey rink when it gets wet.

Work up several layouts - and make sure you have at least 6" of concrete floor where you plan to anchor the hoist, a couple guys and a fork lift / tractor / etc make hoist assembly a one day job, the columns are heavy.

I'll second the loft - I have one - you saw it - doesn't have to be a fancy metal deal like Dans - though that's an option if you can get a deal on a premade one. Mine's stick built - 4x4 columns bolted to the pole barn poles, 2x6 beams, 3/4 plywood floor, put aisles of shelves up there and leave some open space for storing fenders / hoods / doors when doing a restoration project.

For sure have a dirty area - I just paid money to store the 54 for the winter cuz I was tired of worrying about showering with sparks from the grinder or welder. At least make a partition of the foil lined foam board and spray your sparks at that.

Iron pipe for the main line off the compressor - drops could be the newer plastic stuff - look on Ebay and at TP tools - they have good layout info - keeping air dry is a bitch especially in spring and fall with condensation. Get a GOOD 2 stage compressor (I wouldn't buy another I/R since they strangle you with parts only through them nothing is common) and put an auto drain valve on the tank wired to the circuit that runs the motor - when it's pumping it trains every 30 seconds or so - best place to rid the air is in the tank before it gets to the lines. I'd run a 1" or 3/4" trunk line - and 1/2" drops. Put a ball valve below a T where you connect your quick coupler, than a few more inches of pipe - each drop should have a drain.

Check out garage journal - lots of good ideas there.

CONGRATULATIONS
don't let your shop deteriorate like mine has - BTW - I may have an extra work bench for you.

Buy pallet racks - as many as you can fit for a good price, they can be storage, a modular work bench with storage over head, a place to get your furnace up off the ground and your compressor too.

I would highly suggest putting the compressor in a closet - you've witnessed how loud mine is - won't do that again.

[DanStokes]

David (Rack4u on here) is your source for good used pallet rack. I have his number if you're interested. He sometimes has mezzanine sections like mine and it was less $$ than the wood would have cost. Did I mention it's sturdy!? Mine has a sort of corregated metal floor and I bought 3/4 ply tongue and groove to put over it which is pretty standard practice. You can see the layers in the pic. If you need to store your surplus Sherman tank it'll handle it.

Dan

[rightpedal]

Sorry I wasn't clear on the compressor thing. I meant not in the work space where you will be spending time. Basically so you don't have to listen to the drone or howl of the compressor..... instead you can listen to the hissing air fitting that was not tighten down and is in the middle of the whole mess to which there is no easy way to fix.

I should start a thread of dumb stuff I have let slide that would have been easy to fix if I thought about it in the first place but didn't and now haunt me on a low level of sub conscious.


On a brighter side... What kind of electric/power does the shop have?

Steve

[milner351]

YES - start there, when I got the place my shop is, the house wiring at the panel was scarey. I wasn't living there and had some time to replace things. I rented a trencher for half a saturday and ran the trench from pole to house, and to barn, also trenched in downspout drains to the ditches - those trenchers work fast!

I put the plastic conduit in the trench with a nylon rope inside as instructed by the power company - they pulled the new wires (previous service was 60 amp over head, new service is 200 amp underground)

I wired up the new 200 amp panel in the house - and used the existing wires that ran to the shop - put them on a 100 amp breaker in the house panel.

I then put a new 100 amp panel in the garage, to replace the decrepit screw in fuse nightmare that was there.

Copper is expensive now! Look on Ebay for used panels and breakers - saves a TON of money.

[STINEY]

Trenchers are truly one of Gods gifts. Tree roots slow them down and make them hop a bit, but only a bit. I did my trenching in 2 hours on a Saturday morning.

Properly sized aluminum wire is perfectly acceptable - - even preferred/recommended by some utilities. I know mine will only hook their line from the transformer to aluminum, after the meter I can do what I want, but they required aluminum there. I ran aluminum to the barn and house from the meter/pole.

[DanStokes]

Shop suggestion: If you're going to trench to the shop lay in a spare 2" conduit with a rope in it. That way if you decide to pull a TV cable, intercom or anything else you have an easy way to do it. I haven't used mine yet but it's there and cost almost nothing.

Dan

[STINEY]

Excellent point Dan.

I laid in two 1" water lines (for a hydrant just outside shop door, and a spare) an extra 2" conduit, and in a 3rd water line I ran a phone line, coaxial cable, and a 12/3 wire for an 2-way outside light that can be turned on from back porch switch or at shop. Even then I'm sure I forgot something....

[Deaf Bob]

Excellent point Dan.

I laid in two 1" water lines (for a hydrant just outside shop door, and a spare) an extra 2" conduit, and in a 3rd water line I ran a phone line, coaxial cable, and a 12/3 wire for an 2-way outside light that can be turned on from back porch switch or at shop. Even then I'm sure I forgot something....

The beer line to the tap in the garage is what you forgot!

[Caddyman]

If its not too late, run a multiple wire cable (phone wire) for current/future use for a security system mounted inside the house. Saves a little on monitoring costs over having seperate systems. Just look at the inputs if the it could be a false alarm.
A friend of mine does security systems. He wired my shop as extra door inputs on my house system, modified a couple regular smoke/fire detectors in case something catches or smolders after hours, and even added an siren/alarm output from the box. If you think someone is around the shop, but the sensors aren't tripped, just hit the input override button, and an old car alarm chirps 5x inside the shop.
Didn't cost anything to speak of. Some cable, 6 door sensor thingies, and an old "Viper" siren. He charged me a 12pack and $45 in parts, including the fire/smoke detectors.

[milner351]

Great suggestions Caddyman - if we get this place we're looking at - with the barn a couple hundred feet from the house - I will use those suggestions. I know there's lots of wireless stuff now - but it's nice to have real wires. I plan to put internet in the shop too, with a dedicated shop computer that I won't mind geting dusty (put it in an enclosure with furnace filters, and a protector on the keyboard)

[Shawn Anderson]

Thanks guys great thoughts!