Bought a home and am on my 4th man-cave remodel. Having learned from the previous 3 shop setups, I am getting closer to zen, at least I have a large 2 car garage to work with this time, my smallest was a 1 car shop that had to fit my Uni-saw with the extension. My hips will never heal their scars from bumping that thig for 2 years..!
Started out with a rough 1960's garage that was in pretty tough shape and a very cracked floor.
All new electrical with a sub panel and lights and 220v. Cat 5 for internet and phone and cable
Beefed up the ceiling beams with 2 oversized beams and some steel up there should I want to hang anything of any weight- I work on my bikes and a quick, dirty way to work under a bike or pull off the forks is to hang it off the ceiling with a light chain hoist. I figure I'm good up to 600lbs with the new framing.
Created an attic above to store stuff and installed a attic ladder and lights and vents up there. Decked and insulated up in the new attic.
Framed in a new window in the side, insulated and drywalled. Soundproofing on the wall where the shop connects with the house, wife won't have to hear the tools going off..
Now, the floor..
Hired an epoxy flooring pro to do it, why? Cancer and time. Those fumes we all play with all reek havoc with us in time and industrial floor epoxy is one of the nastier of the coating out there. The floor finally came out beautiful, it tough as nails and I had 2 coats of clear applied.
The $10k question is this for the epoxy fans: Would I hire another company to do my epoxy job again??? NO. It was expensive and the guy was dog-slow. With my babysitting him and the 9 days, yes 9 hot, no humidity days of me badgering him I got paint chips all over my yard, muriatic acid splashed on my new drywall and paint and muriatic acid spilled on my melamite work bench- pure slop and slow- guess this guy has been working with the good stuff too long.
I could've ordered my own epoxy, etched my own floors and completed the job in 4 days with out even breaking out in a sweat. My tools and boxes and benches were outside for 9 days, foggy mornings are not good for thoes guys, even under tarps. This guy came highly recommended to me as well, I think now he has a new sensitivity to his customer's desires as he has had to carry out every last detail for me.. It is almost a curse to be able to DIY as every 'pros' work alway's come up short in my inspections. And California is laden with hacks and screwballs, old-school types and true journeyman are snuffed out by cheap mexican labor at discount- sad, but true.
Next is the new bench to complete, cabinets floor to ceiling on the back wall, 60 gal compressor, retractable hose lines, lumber racks, in-wall speakers, vac system and DI water system to wash the cars..
The new bench will be awesome- 2" thick, laminated strips of walnut, cherry, oak, quarter-sawn oak, maple, 6 1/2 ft long, X 28" long with 4x4 solid Walnut legs and maple framing. I used all scraps of stuff I had that were useless lengths but nice lumber, have had this collection going for 15 years. Probably weighs 200# when assembled, it should hold the vise... Can't wait to whack it with a mallet.
But.. I'm in love with the new shop so far, took me 3 shops to get it this complete, but this one will be a good, productive layout and a nice clean look.
Started out with a rough 1960's garage that was in pretty tough shape and a very cracked floor.
All new electrical with a sub panel and lights and 220v. Cat 5 for internet and phone and cable
Beefed up the ceiling beams with 2 oversized beams and some steel up there should I want to hang anything of any weight- I work on my bikes and a quick, dirty way to work under a bike or pull off the forks is to hang it off the ceiling with a light chain hoist. I figure I'm good up to 600lbs with the new framing.
Created an attic above to store stuff and installed a attic ladder and lights and vents up there. Decked and insulated up in the new attic.
Framed in a new window in the side, insulated and drywalled. Soundproofing on the wall where the shop connects with the house, wife won't have to hear the tools going off..
Now, the floor..
Hired an epoxy flooring pro to do it, why? Cancer and time. Those fumes we all play with all reek havoc with us in time and industrial floor epoxy is one of the nastier of the coating out there. The floor finally came out beautiful, it tough as nails and I had 2 coats of clear applied.
The $10k question is this for the epoxy fans: Would I hire another company to do my epoxy job again??? NO. It was expensive and the guy was dog-slow. With my babysitting him and the 9 days, yes 9 hot, no humidity days of me badgering him I got paint chips all over my yard, muriatic acid splashed on my new drywall and paint and muriatic acid spilled on my melamite work bench- pure slop and slow- guess this guy has been working with the good stuff too long.
I could've ordered my own epoxy, etched my own floors and completed the job in 4 days with out even breaking out in a sweat. My tools and boxes and benches were outside for 9 days, foggy mornings are not good for thoes guys, even under tarps. This guy came highly recommended to me as well, I think now he has a new sensitivity to his customer's desires as he has had to carry out every last detail for me.. It is almost a curse to be able to DIY as every 'pros' work alway's come up short in my inspections. And California is laden with hacks and screwballs, old-school types and true journeyman are snuffed out by cheap mexican labor at discount- sad, but true.
Next is the new bench to complete, cabinets floor to ceiling on the back wall, 60 gal compressor, retractable hose lines, lumber racks, in-wall speakers, vac system and DI water system to wash the cars..
The new bench will be awesome- 2" thick, laminated strips of walnut, cherry, oak, quarter-sawn oak, maple, 6 1/2 ft long, X 28" long with 4x4 solid Walnut legs and maple framing. I used all scraps of stuff I had that were useless lengths but nice lumber, have had this collection going for 15 years. Probably weighs 200# when assembled, it should hold the vise... Can't wait to whack it with a mallet.
But.. I'm in love with the new shop so far, took me 3 shops to get it this complete, but this one will be a good, productive layout and a nice clean look.
