I've been working on this project since June of last year. At the point of taking a breather before moving the machine shop in. Some pics of the build here http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/garage-time-thread.366340/page-11 http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/machinists-need-opinion.340603/page-5 http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/concrete-flatwork-guys.369694/page-3 Here are some recent ones with the finished room for the wife's soapmaking business, the bath and shop area. The shop is insulated with 2" rigid under the concrete, R19+R13 fiberglass in the walls and R50 cellulose in the ceiling. Walls and ceiling are sheathed in 1/2" CDX. I got a separate 200amp service and wired 2 subpanels, there are (4) 50 outlets for welding, around (25) quad boxes for 120vac and (3) disconnects for items like the compressor, CNC and future expansion. I surface mounted most of the electrical in the shop in case I need to add something later. I ran ~300 feet of type L copper pipe for the air system with a 1" feed, 3/4" branch the length of the shop and 1/2" to each point of use with 6" drip legs, all the piping is pitched back towards the compressor for water drainage as well. There are (5) hose reels, 4 indoor, 1 outside, total of 19 air chucks available with 2 being high pressure before the regulator. My outdoor wood boiler heats the 80 gal boilermate type tank to 110*F with a Grundfos 1/6 hp circulator feeding a 7 loop manifold with 3/4" pex at 250' per loop. The system has a 30% glycol mix with a glycol injector to keep the system pressurized. There are (4) 12" floor drains in the shop and 4" ones in the bath and wife's room. Overhead doors are (2) 12'x12' in the front and (1) 12'x10' in the back. The carlift is a 10k Challenger Versymmetric. I just finished the security system install last week and used a Lorex NVR setup with PoE cameras. All in all I'm pleased in the way it came out, still more work to do but the list is shorter, I spent less than $10k in labor and did 90% myself and with my FIL. Still managed to go over budget due to materials going thru the roof over the last year. Glad I'm not building this year though as it's even worse. Thanks to Pickled Egg for answering my service entrance questions and Beac83 for the help on the security system. GRH
Looks pretty amazing. How does this compare with what you have had for a shop? I sweated and squinted in the makeshift shops I've made in various garages until I did a drastic redo of my current setup. For Florida, having an insulated garage and air conditioned shop was a real life changer.
My current shop is 24'x24' for the insulated and heated portion, there's a 12'x24' enclosed area off to one side also for cold storage where I cut materials and store items. The new shop with the heated floor and bathroom is going to make a difference for how long I can work out there. I'm in the northeast so a cold concrete floor in the winter isn't comfortable no matter what the air temp is. My current shop is packed with tools and machines, I have to move things to get to other things. The car lift in the new shop is going to make life easier after years of working on a creeper. I'm not sure about adding A/C yet as I don't even have it in my house, may consider it more come summer time.
Nice...that's exactly the kind of place I want to swoop in and buy when the owner wants to retire/move south/die
Awesome effort and execution, congratulations on a job well done! It looks like you've built something you'll enjoy for a long time to come.
Hmmm... Sounds like your "old" shop was a lot better than what I had, so maybe not as much of a quantum leap for you on your new one. In Florida, A/C is really almost a requirement, maybe not for a large car working area, but at least a portion where you work on bikes or engines (or have a beer or rest). And for the car portion, insulation. My most recent house came with a large garage/shop, but it was a wooden structure with no insulation. For about half or two-thirds of the year in Florida it was difficult to work in during the day. If you worked at night instead, you'd get eaten alive by bugs. I tried a lot of different things, but finally did a major redo. In the insulated, non-air conditioned "car" portion, it gets warm in the summer, but is still a reasonable place to work. Nothing like the 100+ degrees of the old setup. And working on the bikes in the A/C section is... amazing. Of course, in the Northeast, you have a completely different set of hurdles. "Cold floors" is more of a blessing here than a problem!
