Starting over in a unique workshop

[Justherbie]

Hello Gents,

this is sort of a reintroduction thread as I've been here a long while now but not posted much.

I've been through a rough time of it over the past few years dealing with divorce. Now that I have all that behind me I have recently purchased a home with several interesting characteristics one of which is the workshop space.

The house was designed and built by an industrial architect in the mid seventies. He used many industrial building products including framing out the whole space with huge steel beams and lots of concrete.

The workshop is under a two vehicle carport. There is a man door that connects with the basement level and a single bay garage door but other than that the entire workshop is concrete, brick, and steel beams. The space is roughly 22' by 23' with a 9' ceiling.

I intend to use this space for home improvement/repairs and general tinkering.

Other than the tools everything is as it was when I purchased the home in the estate sale.

Just like the rest of the home, everything is over built and over engineered. I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet the previous owner as he seems like my kind of people.

The white "tarp" along the one wall is an Aquaguard system. For some reason the original owners never had gutters installed and over the years there was some water seepage. First thing I did was replace the roof and install gutters. I plan to build a wall just in front of the "tarp" so I can get back all that wall space. Other than that I'm planning to upgrade the lighting and then actually move in. It will be a fair bit of work starting over with almost nothing but I'm still excited about the prospect.

I'm open to suggestions if anyone has bright ideas.

Cheers,
Herbie

 

[Terranova]

Cool space.
I would paint every piece of concrete I could with bright white Killz. You'll need sunglasses when your done. Depending on what you plan on doing, I'd figure out some type of sound baffles too. Total concrete and a power tools is a recipe for hearing loss

 

[Justherbie]

Cool space.
I would paint every piece of concrete I could with bright white Killz. You'll need sunglasses when your done. Depending on what you plan on doing, I'd figure out some type of sound baffles too. Total concrete and a power tools is a recipe for hearing loss

It is loud in there for sure. I've taken to wearing earpro when doing anything in there with power. Thanks for the thoughts on sound baffles, I'll work on figuring that out.

As far as paint, I do plan to paint the shop though all white would be bright once I've upgraded the lighting.

 

[jtprettyman]

Nice space, looks like you have plenty of power already in there, and the trolly is a big plus.

 

[Outlander]

rather a cool workspace!!

 

[colt zantop]

Lots of potential!

 

[hefnerconstructionlc]

Holy cow that's one heck of a prepper bunker! That should make a real nice shop, good for you.

 

[67CarGuy]

Cool space, and a neat story to go with it!

 

[Jackfre]

I used UGL to etch and then used their paint on the basement walls. Came out really well

 

[Falcon67]

There's a "Ferris Bueller" vibe to that first pic. Interesting space to work with.

 

[bdbecker]

I'd love to see more of this place - very cool!

 

[Max]

Looks very nice - congrats! I think you get a “you ****” for the shop and trolley.

Max

 

[Justherbie]

Here are a few shots of the house. It's got a mid century modern vibe and a fantastic layout. All the stonework is from a huge boulder that was on the property when the home was under construction. It has several acres of woods and a creek at the back of the property. I couldn't have asked for a better place to restart.

 

[bdbecker]

Oh man, that place is cooler than I expected!

 

[engineer2]

Cool place! What state? Even cooler than the Brady Bunch house. Great "man cave" potential.

 

[jdewitt]

Inspiring house and shop!

 

[y'sguy]

What a great place. Love it. The workplace has nice potential. Yea, I would consider some sound deadening ideas for the concrete. I would not think it would be much effort and it would decrease the fatigue from the noise.

 

[Doc995]

I don't know why, but your house reminds me of Buddy's house in "Ozark".

 

[55chevy]

Too cool! Thanks for sharing. Please add your location to your profile. We like to know where folks reside.

 

[Justherbie]

Cool place! What state? Even cooler than the Brady Bunch house. Great "man cave" potential.

It's funny how we get the Brady bunch house reference a fair bit.

I'm in Georgia.

 

[metaleltr]

Since no one has mentioned it, I would be cautious about putting too much weight on that trolley. That appears to be a major beam that is already carrying a bit of weight.

 

[Keith_MN]

That is a really neat looking house.

 

[TMcCay]

That is a very cool house. Especially for a restart!

 

[fourjeepin]

Very cool!

 

[gahrajmahal]

I predict a humidity problem with all the trees and one wall with soil contact. Similar to my own two car attached without the concrete roof. I would choose hydraulic concrete paint for the room. Put everything on casters so it can occasionally be moved away from the walls. Paint all that nice wood storage and work benches. For your soundproofing Menards sells a 4’ x 8’ x 1/2” product called “Homasote “ https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...95-c-13329.htm?tid=7878005753239967754&ipos=4 That I have used in a similar basement ceiling. Use screen door trim to cover the joints making a nice mid century friendly grid look to it. Really nice place!

 

[bugnut]

Enjoy and let the fu/work begin!

 

[ford33]

That is a house with character. Not cookie cutter style. Enjoy your time there.

 

[cvairwerks]

Love the deck suspension....

 

[nadogail]

May you enjoy your property in good health.

 

[Justherbie]

I predict a humidity problem with all the trees and one wall with soil contact. Similar to my own two car attached without the concrete roof. I would choose hydraulic concrete paint for the room. Put everything on casters so it can occasionally be moved away from the walls. Paint all that nice wood storage and work benches. For your soundproofing Menards sells a 4’ x 8’ x 1/2” product called “Homasote “ https://www.menards.com/main/buildi...95-c-13329.htm?tid=7878005753239967754&ipos=4 That I have used in a similar basement ceiling. Use screen door trim to cover the joints making a nice mid century friendly grid look to it. Really nice place!

You've hit the nail on the head here. Humidity control is my biggest concern at the moment. When I purchased the home the entire house had a musty smell. It had been sitting empty for two years while the children decided how to go about selling their deceased parents home.

The first thing I did was research, buy, and install a free standing whole house dehumidifier. The workspace is not connected to the main house except a single man door and there is no ventilation and so no way to utilize the big whole house dehumidifier in the workspace. Yet. I'm thinking on that issue for a bit. The whole house until is rated for up to 6500 sq ft. and the main house is only a little over 5000. The shop is under 500 so technically the dehumidifier can handle the workspace. I just need to decide if I want to tie in the workshop to the ventilation system or work out some other way to involve the workshop air with the dehumidifier as I'd rather not purchase and run a second dehumidifier unit if possible.

Now I like your idea of hydraulic concrete paint and casters. More to think about. Thank you for that.