Does anyone have a 2nd floor wood shop?

wsettle · Aug 3, 2010

Does anyone have a 2nd floor shop?

I have been thinking about putting my wood shop on the 2nd floor of my monitor barn since it will be a smaller space to heat/cool plus working on a wood floor is much better than concrete.

I believe homes have about a 40 PSF uniform load rating and I'm wondering what the load rating would be for a working shop. Maybe 60-80 PSF? Does anyone have any input on what I should consider?

Also, has anyone put a working shop on a 2nd floor? I'd appreciate any comments on the pros and cons.

Here is what I plan on building. The 2nd floor will be 20'x40' so it will be a nice size room.

drewski · Aug 4, 2010

My shop is on the second floor and if I had it to do over, I wouldn't even consider it. Getting supplies and projects up and down the steps is a royal pain.

The only thing that makes it easier is the fact that I originally installed doors to the outside on the second floor and I use my front loader to move items down to ground level.

Andrew

wsettle · Aug 4, 2010

Yep, that is my biggest concern. I've got a loader as well but it still sounds like a pain to move materials up and down. I think a barn crane out the front would make it easier.

HotRodKush · Aug 4, 2010

My fiance's father has a second story workshop in a barn he built. He builds small boats there. The issue is, he's got to remove one of the floor-to-ceiling windows to hoist anything that won't fit through a door. The advantage is, he's got a full garage underneath as well, so for him it's worth it.

NUTTSGT · Aug 4, 2010

It seems like a good idea til you start thinking about it. Every thing that goes up in pieces comes down as completed project.

twostory · Aug 4, 2010

Due to limits on my slab size (government rules) I had to build a two story garage. The second floor is my wife's wood shop (1,000 sqft). It works for us, while I agree it is a sometime a hassle to move material up/down, we manage.

There are some benefits:
1) the wood dust is upstair and never gets on the cars.
2) the wooden floor is nicer to stand on than a concrete slab
3) the second floor shields the garage floor from the sun, so the garage stays cooler.
4) Our stairway is 4 feet wide, so far there has been nothing we can not get upstairs. The upstair's door removes when we have a wide item to get the full 4 foot width
5) My wife builds small things that one person can carry, so getting the completed project out of the wood shop is not an issue. Also remember most house furniture must fit through a "normal" house door anyway.

Above the 2nd story is an attic room (10x30x8ft high) This is great storage for my wife collection of raw wood. If I were building my garage again, I would have had the attic storage trusses built heavier, so she can store more wood up there.

For those "non wood worker", a wood worker never throws away any wood, no matter how small.

1969 · Aug 4, 2010

As you get older, climbing stairs, getting material up and projects down won't be much fun at all.

willymakeit · Aug 4, 2010

This is where putting a platform on your lift and a removable acess in the ceiling would be handy.

metal1313 · Aug 4, 2010

if your really into the idea of a second floor wood shop, i would have a large access door in the floor that you can hoist open(i think for something like 8x8 you'll need atleast a chainhoist on each side). that and a fork lift with a triple mast would make everything easy. build/buy a platform that attaches to the forks to move stuff up and down. that way you can wheel stuff on and off easily.

spongerich · Aug 4, 2010

Mine is on the 2nd floor of my barn. I've got a 4x8 trap door in the floor. Hoisting materials up and projects down is a pain, but doable. If I start using it more, I'll probably rig up a hoist. Right now, I've got an old block and tackle that works OK, but something powered would be a huge improvement.

bobadame · Aug 4, 2010

I think I'll put mine upstairs for safety reasons. I do more welding and grinding than I do wood working so I'd rather just have that kind of stuff out of the way. I'll probably keep a table saw outside under the shed roof for convenience. Upstairs there will be a table saw, compound miter saw, jointer, planer , disc sander and a dust recovery system. Also wood storage. A strong ridge beam and a hoist will handle full sheets and large projects.

wsettle · Aug 4, 2010

HotRodKush said:
The advantage is, he's got a full garage underneath as well, so for him it's worth it.

I think it would be worth it as well. I'm leaning towards the wood/hobby shop upstairs now.

twostory said:
Due to limits on my slab size (government rules) I had to build a two story garage. The second floor is my wife's wood shop (1,000 sqft). It works for us, while I agree it is a sometime a hassle to move material up/down, we manage.

There are some benefits:
1) the wood dust is upstair and never gets on the cars.
2) the wooden floor is nicer to stand on than a concrete slab
3) the second floor shields the garage floor from the sun, so the garage stays cooler.
4) Our stairway is 4 feet wide, so far there has been nothing we can not get upstairs. The upstair's door removes when we have a wide item to get the full 4 foot width
5) My wife builds small things that one person can carry, so getting the completed project out of the wood shop is not an issue. Also remember most house furniture must fit through a "normal" house door anyway.

Above the 2nd story is an attic room (10x30x8ft high) This is great storage for my wife collection of raw wood. If I were building my garage again, I would have had the attic storage trusses built heavier, so she can store more wood up there.

For those "non wood worker", a wood worker never throws away any wood, no matter how small.

Appreciate the input. I've got a lot of scrap wood as well but I won't have an attic upstairs. It will be a vaulted ceiling for a more ceiling height.

willymakeit said:
This is where putting a platform on your lift and a removable acess in the ceiling would be handy.

metal1313 said:
if your really into the idea of a second floor wood shop, i would have a large access door in the floor that you can hoist open(i think for something like 8x8 you'll need atleast a chainhoist on each side). that and a fork lift with a triple mast would make everything easy. build/buy a platform that attaches to the forks to move stuff up and down. that way you can wheel stuff on and off easily.

spongerich said:
Mine is on the 2nd floor of my barn. I've got a 4x8 trap door in the floor. Hoisting materials up and projects down is a pain, but doable. If I start using it more, I'll probably rig up a hoist. Right now, I've got an old block and tackle that works OK, but something powered would be a huge improvement.

I'm really starting to like this idea. I found all sorts of hoist systems and trap doors on this site that appear to work well. I don't need to lift more than a few hundred pounds at a time anyway. The fork lift system seems like a cool idea where some have use the fork masts and mounted them against a wall and it hoists a platform up and down.

bobadame said:
I think I'll put mine upstairs for safety reasons. I do more welding and grinding than I do wood working so I'd rather just have that kind of stuff out of the way. I'll probably keep a table saw outside under the shed roof for convenience. Upstairs there will be a table saw, compound miter saw, jointer, planer , disc sander and a dust recovery system. Also wood storage. A strong ridge beam and a hoist will handle full sheets and large projects.

Yeah, that's kind of what I want to do. Have a separate wood working area away from the garage shop.

Anyone want to take a stab at what the load rating should be on a 2nd floor shop? 60 PSF, 80 PSF?

According to Universal Forest Products, http://www.ufpi.com/literature/siteprodtech-104.pdf, 100 PSF is used to support automobiles so I would think somewhere in between 40 and 100 should do it but the cost different in ijoist and beam sizing gets pricey the higher I go.

6768rogues · Aug 4, 2010

Commercial buildings are regularly designed for 100 PSF live load, so the number is shown in many design tables making sizing of framing members easy. An Amish wood shop that I purchased from many times has their showroom on the first floor and the shop on the second floor. They gave me a tour and it was pretty slick except for the part about getting stuff up and down. I guess they have lots of people who like hard work.

swharris · Aug 5, 2010

What do you guys think about one down in a basement? I'm planning a basement to be under a small "mother in law" apartment that will be attach to my new shop.

I'm thinking of having a stairway and larger opening at the far end of the shop/garage that leads down to the basement. I was thinking about a larger opening at deep end of the stairs with a removable railing. Along the front of the shop will be a longitudinal gantry/hoist to allow lifting heavy large items from top shop to bottom shop or the other way around. Does that seem silly?

Hard to envision I know.

twostory · Aug 6, 2010

wsettle said:
Anyone want to take a stab at what the load rating should be on a 2nd floor shop? 60 PSF, 80 PSF?

My second story is 16 inch high wooden I beams, 16 inch on center. The span is 25 feet. The floor is 3/4 inch Avantech OSB subfloor and 3/4 inch tongue & groove solid wood flooring stapled to the OSB.

My mid span is somewhat bouncy, but not bad. I also have a heavy cabinet saw in the middle of the span (700#).

madjack · Aug 6, 2010

Mine is 24x36 with 6' side walls and 10' center sissor trusses. The garage is built into a hillside so access to the second floor is by 14' long aluminum ramps up the 6' rise from the alley. Out front, I've put in a swinging boom crane. Still building, so haven't used the boom for anything yet....work is progressing

Does anyone have a 2nd floor wood shop?

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