# Shop



## bbos2 (Mar 20, 2015)

I will be slowly transitioning a cold storage shed over to a heated Shop. Wanted to get some ideas, regrets, must haves from others on how to set it up.

This will be done at a slow pace when money is available so want to make it really nice for many years to come. But I have no plans of going over the top on anything. This will be a workshop not a party space. I don't plan on having a bathroom or shower. I have a bathroom off my garage close to my shop. Also I have a nice office in my house so not planning on that either. It will be insulated well and heated with a outdoor wood burner. I want to have a bulk oil handling area and small wash bay. The building currently has a drain so plan to have wash bay in that area. 
Any ideas would be appreciated


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## paoutdoorsman (Apr 23, 2016)

How big is the space? And you already have concrete floors with drains?


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Depending on the size of the building you may want to add radiant tube heaters over the overhead doors. Really helps


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## bbos2 (Mar 20, 2015)

Yes it does have concrete and a 1'x1' drain by the spicket. 
The building is 50x100. I was going to partition it but there is no good way of doing it without it being a pain in the butt. I really don't want to have a cramped work space few years down the road either. I know it'll take a lot of wood to heat but I enjoy cutting wood so not an issue I guess. And I can make my boys someday cut and stack wood.. Ha

Didn't know if anyone has pictures or ideas for tools and organization. Type of welding tables/work benches, Bulk oil setups. Can Anybody heating large shop with wood give me an idea of wood consumption? Anybody think it's worth having a compresor room?


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## hillside hay (Feb 4, 2013)

Definitely worth having a compressor room. Helps keep you sane when things aren't going so well. Depending on you winter temperatures; one will prolong the life of the compressor. I am guessing you will be using HW unit heaters? Or will you go with heavy duty baseboard and ceiling fans?
The more welding tables you build I find it is handy to construct them so they nest together. The legs are adjustable so you can dial in the height. When you say bill oil do you mean to be serviced by say Cenpeco or some such bulk delivery provider? Pneumatic delivery pumps can be used as it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to take up.space in the panel for such infrequent use. Unless you are doing a lot of draining and filling. Since you have all that waste oil you might as well filter it and add a oil gun to the door of you wood burner for the shoulder seasons. Just a few thoughts


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## bbos2 (Mar 20, 2015)

Good points hillside. I currently pump motor oil out of a 55 gal barrel. I change about 60 gallons of motor oil per year, and I would like to gravity feed that along with my hyguard. I counted about 25, 5 gallon buckets of hyguard laying around from probably just a couple years so I'm tired of that too. So my bulk oil will just be purchasing 55 gallon barrels. I considered totes but I don't know... Pneumatic air oil delivery would be nice but might not be right away.

The heat will be coming from wood burner from hot water and I am planning on using heat exchangers with "squirl cage" fans. I don't think I can burn used oil in my burner but it would be really cool if I could. That would be a really nice backup heat sorce for vacations or if I ever got into a short wood supply.

Thanks for your reply


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

You don't mention what kind of building it is, but if it needs insulation yet spray foam is hard to beat, it's spendy but worth it in the long run.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Spray foamed my walls, now just need the money to do the ceiling.

I used 3/4" plywood 8 ft high on the walls, and tin above that. Glad I spent the money. Mounting stuff onto tin walls sucks...


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

PaMike said:


> Spray foamed my walls, now just need the money to do the ceiling.
> 
> I used 3/4" plywood 8 ft high on the walls, and tin above that. Glad I spent the money. Mounting stuff onto tin walls sucks...


Yep.

we cheated when remodeling the kitchen, nailed 2x10's between the studs where the top and bottom of the cabinets would be, so much easier to mount em when you can drop a screw in anywhere and hit real wood.


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## bbos2 (Mar 20, 2015)

I was considering spray foam for the walls. Anybody have idea on cost per square foot?

This is a pole barn so it might really help seal things up.


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## woodland (May 23, 2016)

For oil drums we use an air pump with 20 feet of hose with a meter for the engine oil and although pricey it works slick. Our THG drum has an electric pump with a short hose for filling tractors and jugs. We also have just got some that pressurize the drum with a steel tube for filling jugs with ATF, gear oil, and antifreeze. They were only $60 and work pretty slick. Also we put dollys under each drum so they can move around easy. We contemplated a gravity system but went this way and think it turned out much better. Probably use 7-8 drums a year total as bulk is more expensive than drums ironically.


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## woodland (May 23, 2016)

I would also suggest to make sure the doors are bigger than you anticipate you'll need them. Our shop is 50x80 with 16 ft walls and in 1995 a 14x20 door seemed big. Now.........not so much.

Don't let the electrician talk you into 15 amp plugs instead of 20's. That still haunts us whenever you use the chop saw????


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

woodland said:


> I would also suggest to make sure the doors are bigger than you anticipate you'll need them. Our shop is 50x80 with 16 ft walls and in 1995 a 14x20 door seemed big. Now.........not so much.
> 
> Don't let the electrician talk you into 15 amp plugs instead of 20's. That still haunts us whenever you use the chop saw


Hear you there, all plug ins have been getting 20 amp receptacles and 12/2 or 12/3 wire for years if i'm running wire.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

A few ideas for you to think about. If it can be put up on shelves, or up on a mezzanine it sure saves floor space. Run a separate electrical panel on both sides of the shop and size them bigger than you think you need. If it goes on the floor and it can be put on wheels, do it. Sure makes clean up easier. Used oil tank is a must but it can be left outside with a drain line through a wall to fill it. Lastly if you service your own vehicles plan for a lift.


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## Ranger518 (Aug 6, 2016)

Spray foam is great. but when I talked to the guy that did the spray foam in my house when I built my shop and he said that he would not do it in the shop if had plans on doing any welding or grinding unless I covered all the walls ciling and sealed the seams up good with some type of sheeting. He also said that he would use closed cell insted of the more common open cell if I did decide to do it. I ended up not doing it and just using a 4" fiberglass insulation which I have no complants with and I heat and cool my shop 50x40x12


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## CowboyRam (Dec 13, 2015)

This might answer some questions about foam. It should have some sort of non combustible barrier.

https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/72240/Does-Your-Spray-Foam-Insulation-Need-a-Thermal-or-Ignition-Barrier


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

My spray foam in the walls are behind 3/4" plywood. All joints are caulked. Floor has a piece of baseboard trim to make an extra barrier against sparks skating along the floor.


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## deadmoose (Oct 30, 2011)

carcajou said:


> A few ideas for you to think about. If it can be put up on shelves, or up on a mezzanine it sure saves floor space. Run a separate electrical panel on both sides of the shop and size them bigger than you think you need. If it goes on the floor and it can be put on wheels, do it. Sure makes clean up easier. Used oil tank is a must but it can be left outside with a drain line through a wall to fill it. Lastly if you service your own vehicles plan for a lift.


I second the idea of putting everything on wheels that can be.


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