Your choice; workshop in the garage or basement?

[Brian Mills]

We may be moving to a home with a basement. So if you could choose would you rather have your shop in the basement or the garage and more importantly why?

I'm leaning toward the garage as I can open the door for some much needed fresh air and it would make getting boards in and out MUCH easier.

What say you? Thanks

Additional Info: Basement is only 27'x20' (including washer/dryer, stairs, sump pump areas) and dry. Garage is a two car garage and I'm not sure a car will be going in there at all anyway.

[Greg Woloshyn]

I believe both areas have pros and cons. My workshop is in the garage which gets very cold in the winter here in upstate NY. It is partly insulated, which helps when I run my salamander heater. You should find out what kind of insulation, if any, is in the garage. Opening up the door as you mentioned would come in very handy for moving large machines in and out, or large projects. Not to mention good airflow which is important for all that dust if you don't own a DC unit.

The basement is a great space for a shop mainly because it's toasty in winter and cooler in summer months. Overhead space may be limited if you build tall cabinets or whatever. I think the more headroom available, the more comfortable it is to work and enjoy your time in the shop. For both options, do consider what kind of power you will have and how easy it will be to add more circuits if you need.

Having said this, I would have to choose the garage as a better place to work mainly because there's always room for expansion, more headroom, and most importantly it's enjoyable to work outdoors with the door open.

[Don Jarvie]

Garage more room, drawbacks are it can get expensive if to heat in the winter.

Basement can tap the heat from the house system.

[Bruce Seidner]

You don't choose your family, but if you have the option to choose your shop my vote is the garage. I don't have ready access to pictures of people who have built things in basements only to find they have to do home cesarean to birth the project. But they are hysterical. Then there is the mess. It is hard to keep the dust from traveling into the living space and the mess of moving material in and out of the home basement should give you pause. Maybe you make jewelery boxes or miniature doll houses. But getting a desk or something useful up and out of a basement is a task.

I am from Buffalo NY and if its the winter that has you spooked, a pair of white army surplus mouse boots, Carhart quilted bibs, and a down jacket makes the temperature irrelevant in my experience.

[Jon Lanier]

Basement! I just left a basement shop and moved. Now I have to have a garage shop. Too cold in the winter and the Garage Door up... just about every bug on the Eastern Shore wants to show up and help me sand.

[Shawn Christ]

Prefer my basement shop... I hate woodworking with cold fingers and toes

[Van Huskey]

Basements to me have way to many cons unless it is a walkout. For me it would be a garage every time unless again the basement is walkout AND at least 9' ceilings. BUT keep in mind I like big machines and don't like to be limited on the size of my projects, someone that builds boxes or turns pens may have a very different view.

[eugene thomas]

grage is so much better, i had a basement shop for 11 years and got so old having to carry stuff down steps build project then make sure can get out of basement. I have 34' by 50' shop thats supper insulated and takes about 350 gallons of propane year to heat with infloor heat/ nice haveing windows and natural light.

[Steve Kohn]

I set up my first shop in the basement. That lasted until my first project was at the sanding stage. Then the forced air heating system did a great job of distributing my sanding dust throughout the entire house. I did the rest of that project in the garage, heating it with a kerosene heater. I quickly discovered that polyurethane really stinks when the fumes get burned by a kerosene heater.

I was then required to move the shop. So my next shop was in the garage, heated first by my trusty kerosene heater and then later by a ventless natural gas heater. For the next 15 years I had to remember to turn off the heater when I started to finish my projects. Of course for a while it was possible for my wife to get her car in the garage, but only when I didn't have a project going. But as my tools got more extensive, and bigger, she finally gave up ever trying to park inside.

So about 4 years ago we did an addition to the garage. It has a stall for my truck, but the truck sits our when their is a project going. The shop is heated with a Hot Dawg ceiling mount heater. I keep the shop at 45 during the winter unless I am working in there. The addition is roughly 30X30 and is all shop. My wife get to park inside now and is happy with the situation.

[Dave Hartunian]

We need a poll.

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Here are some pros and cons. Please feel free to add or edit...

Garage



Pros:

With doors open, nearly unlimited room. Great for ripping and planing.
Better control of dust from entering your home living areas.
Access for equipment and materials is easy. Also, easier to get large projects in and out of the shop.
Better ventilation for finishing (weather dependent).
Cons:

Can be quite cold depending on where you live.
Heating via kerosene or electric can be expensive and slow.
Depending on where you live, humidity can rust the tools.
May loose indoor parking spaces which is nice to have during the winter.
Noise to the neighbors.
Less privacy to the rest of the world (including potential incentivation to drive-by thieves).
A two car garage is desired vs. single car garage.
Basement



Pros:

Generally better temperature and humidity control.
Improved readiness. That is, no set up of equipment or wait for the heater to warm up.
Likely more floor room (depending on the size of your home).
Noise is shielded from the neighbors.
Better security and privacy.
Your garage can store cars and lawn/snow care equipment.
Can install plumbing (including a slop sink) as most basements already have the means. No worry about freezing pipes.
Cons:

Access for equipment and materials can be troublesome especially if there is no direct access via Bilco door.
Dust has the potential to circulate into living areas unless careful.
Often shared with a heating system, so watch the fumes and dust.
Overhead height will likely be less than a garage. At least a 7 foot ceiling height is desirable.
I have a basement shop. My garage is being used for cars. My biggest gripe is the lack of easy access for equipment and materials since I have no direct access to the outside. But, I enjoy the easy accessibility and readiness of my shop. My shop also serves as a hobby room, repair shop and recycling center.

-Jeff :)

[Eric DeSilva]

Silly, silly. The woodshop goes in the basement. Garages are for the metalworking shop.

[Brian Mills]

The basement ceiling is a good 7-8'. And of course, where the woodshop doesn't go the reloading bench will! ;)

[Leigh Betsch]

The basement is for spiders. The garage is for all the stuff that is supposed to be in the basement. So the logical choice for the shop is the barn. 46 x 90 ft. 10 x 20 for the horse, the rest for the shop.

[Don Jarvie]

If you insulate the garage well and get a good heating system it can be great. I have a Dayton heater and insulate the garage and I can get it from 40 to 65 in 45 minutes. I put the heater on and go back out in 30 minutes.

I didn't really notice a huge spike in the electric bill but I am out there maybe 10 to 15 hrs a week.

[Bryan Hunt]

It's kinda amusing to read about everyone's concerns over heating the garage. I'd be more worried about air conditioning the garage! All depends on your location :D

[Rob Wachala Jr]

We may be moving to a home with a basement. So if you could choose would you rather have your shop in the basement or the garage and more importantly why?

I'm leaning toward the garage as I can open the door for some much needed fresh air and it would make getting boards in and out MUCH easier.

What say you? Thanks

Additional Info: Basement is only 27'x20' (including washer/dryer, stairs, sump pump areas) and dry. Garage is a two car garage and I'm not sure a car will be going in there at all anyway.

I would easily pick the garage. It's your man cave. In a basement it's easy access for the wife or kids to disturb you. This of course assumes the garage is not attached to the house.

[John M. Smith]

Definately free standing barn or equivalant for woodworking shop. Guess I'm just spoiled.:D

John

[Van Huskey]

One other thng about the basement, if you set up there I bet within a year you will find a CL steal on something like a 32" BS or 16" J/P or 37" wide belt sander...;)

[Thomas Bank]

You don't say what the access to the basement is like or what you plan to work on. Ceilings at only 7'-8" is awfully low - I typically say at least 8'-6" so you can move a sheet of plywood around. But if you are doing smaller stuff the lower ceilings won't be a problem.

Similar to Leigh, I opted for a separate detached building for my workshop to remove the noise and dust from the house.

[Lee Koepke]

Right now I have a daylight basement, so I kinda got the best of BOTH worlds .... I can open my overhead door to get material in / out and let the nice weather in.

Ultimately should the money present itself, I plan on building a detached garage (with a daylight basement) where I will move my shop there to THAT daylight basement. This time with vehicular access to the lower level.

[Matt Meiser]

I'd say it depends. Best IMHO is a separate building. If I had the choice between garage and basement it would depend on the basement conditions. Newer houses frequently have nice high ceilings. A lot would depend on what the access to the basement was like. A straight shot from a door or an exterior entrance would be critical IMHO. There's no way to get something big down our stairs--luckily we have an outside entrance.

In my house, if I didn't have a standalone shop, I'd choose the basement. We've got about 1700sqft of basement--I could partition off a real nice space and keep a fully functional garage. The exterior entrance would allow me to get machines and materials in and big projects out. Ceilings are reasonably high. Theres even some larger than average windows. I'd worry about the sump pump even more than I do now though.

[Rod Sheridan]

With only 3 polling choices I couldn't select any of them.

I have my shop in the basement of a townhouse, as my garage is used for vintage motorcycles. (It would be impractical to reverse those two functions:D).

My basement shop has a nice climate, it is small which means I've gone to combination machines to save space/increase capacity.

My basement shop access is via a straight staircase, with a 1m X 1m right angle landing at the top.

I can hear everyone moaning about moving machinery downstairs however I recently moved a Hammer B3 Winner downstairs by myself.(OK, Diann actually did push the down button on the winch for me)

Since I can't carry a 300Kg machine down the stairs, I built a stair climbing wedge that carries it up or down for me.

Moving wood downstairs isn't a problem, most of my work is solid wood furniture so I can one length of wood downstairs at a time.

Dust isn't an issue after I purchased an Oneida cyclone, and started getting serious about capturing dust at the source.

Yes, a grade level large shop would be very nice, however the basement shop also has a theft deterrent component. I don't know anyone who can carry a 300Kg machine up the stairs:D

Regards, Rod.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

I have a three car detached garage that is about 100 yrds away from my house (at the end of the driveway) and also a basement with 8 ft under the 1st floor joists. I was back and forth about it for all of last summer...and my list of pros and cons looked much like those throughout the thread.

On balance I had decided to go with garage...I had worked out the machine orientation, planned insulation and researched heaters. Then an electrician who knows my house (upgraded me to 200a service) came out to estimate and pointed out that the line running from house to garage and sub panel in the garage were 30a. With some adjustment to my plans he said it could work as long as I didn't run more than the dust collector+220v tool+heat at any given time. I asked, "what about the lights?" He said he could probably finesse it by stretching the panel to 35a, but if anyone hits the garage door opener it'll all go dead and dark. An image of me ripping a 8/4 board when suddenly I can't see anything, including a slowing blade came into my head. It would have been many thousands to break under the asphalt driveway to replace the line/conduit, new panel, permits and repair driveway.

So with some help from a mover willing to give me a two hour block of time, and a rigged-up hoist from Harbor Freight all the tools went over a bed of river rocks and down a steep flight of steps through the bilco doors. I now have a shop I am mostly comfortable with in my basement. Two other things to add to the growing pro/con list:

1) (con) basement shop seems noisier to me...I have masonry painted foundation walls to bounce the sound off of.

2) (pro) with somewhat lower ceilings I feel like i am getting more mileage out of the lighting fixtures I installed.

[Art Mulder]

Additional Info: Basement is only 27'x20' (including washer/dryer, stairs, sump pump areas) and dry. Garage is a two car garage and I'm not sure a car will be going in there at all anyway.

:confused::confused::confused:

I voted basement. It's what I have, and what I prefer. Along with that, LOML and I both hate cleaning off cars in winter, so a usable garage is mandatory for us. That makes the decision easy. (my ideal basement shop, though, would involve a daylight or walkout basement, so I get more light and easier access.)

But your final statement is confusing... If you aren't going to use the garage anyway, then this discussion seems moot.

[Rich Aldrich]

I had my shop in the basement when we first moved into the house. It wasnt long until we realized it wasnt going to work. Alloted area, noise and access were the biggest problems. I ended up building my shop as a separate building.

To rank the options, 1) Separate building; 2) Garage; 3) Basement

For me, in the north, heating cost is an issue with a separate shop. We now have an outdoor wood boiler that heats both the house and the shop, so the cost is burried in the cost of the wood. I dont think heat would be as big of an issue if it was an attached garage.

[scott spencer]

I think a walk out basement would be pretty nice, but a dedicated climate controlled area on ground level is best.

[Brian Mills]

:confused::confused::confused:

I voted basement. It's what I have, and what I prefer. Along with that, LOML and I both hate cleaning off cars in winter, so a usable garage is mandatory for us. That makes the decision easy. (my ideal basement shop, though, would involve a daylight or walkout basement, so I get more light and easier access.)

But your final statement is confusing... If you aren't going to use the garage anyway, then this discussion seems moot.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, woodworking is not my only hobby that takes up a lot of space. ;) So it's kind of an either or thing. Either the wood shop goes in the garage and the other stuff goes in the basement or visa versa. Unfortunately there isn't enough space for all my hobbies to occupy the same space.

[mreza Salav]

If I had a 4 bay grage (two for cars and two for shop) and it was heated and well insulated, and I was not paying for the heat then sure, garage would be my choice! :)
Since I don't have that luxury (have a two car garage that gets VERY cold in winter and have to store the cars inside) have to use the basement.

The two main downside of basement shop is:

- getting large equipments down and large projects out is difficult
- dust and noise control is an issue,
- height is limited

The main advantage is I can pop in anytime of day and get to the dinner table whenever the dinner is ready in 30 seconds (or I say so ;))

[David Peterson MN]

Outbuilding for me...24x32 dedicated woodshop. Fortunately the building was there when I bought the house and already setup 30 years ago with electrical that had a woodshop in mind. The cars get to stay in the attached two car garage. Non-woodworking items DO NOT occupy any shop space.

It is well insulated and I use 1-2 220v heaters on off-peak electric. Costs around $35 to heat for the average winter month here in MN.

[Bud Millis]

In the 19 yrs that I have live where I am, my shop has always been in the "garage". Only 3 or 4 times in that period has a vehicle been in there. Currently with the increased amount of equipment and planned increases, this stand alone shop is no longer big enough.

[Jay Radke]

garage for me. i have a three car tandem garage. the tandem part is behind one of the front two spots. that spot is my shop. all my stuff is on wheels. table saw, jointer etc. even have a moving bench. i am in the process of making another set of carts that will be locked together to form a nice woodworking bench, with dogs and vises. i was able to get nice metal cabinets and bench bases from work that i have used in the shop area as well. when i need more space and have to really make dust the cars go out. then i have the full front two bays to move everything out to that i need. i learned how to pack well from my father, so everything packs up well around and under my cabinets. it helps that my garage is really tall as well.

basement wouldnt work out with my other hobby. i really wouldnt like getting dust on my Curly Lambeau and Jim Thorped autographed football cards.

[Thom Sturgill]

I'm considering a split arrangement. I'm a turner and I'm building a small (12x16) shed for the lathe, DP, BS and sharpening station. The TS, planer, jointer, router table and most hand tools will either be in the daylight basement, or next door in my brother's shop.

[Tom Adger]

What basement. Down here in Florida its not an option.

[Sean Nagle]

I would love to have a dedicated, above-ground shop. Unfortunately, that's just not possible on a postage stamp-sized, suburban lot.

My shop has always been in my 9'-ceiling basement. I do enjoy the climate control aspect of a basement shop; it's always comfortable, winter or summer. Even though my furnace is in close proximity with the shop, I've never had dust issues. Getting solid lumber planks into the shop really isn't a problem even though my stairs make a 90 degree turn. Getting machines into it is a bit more challenging. Sheet goods have to have one cut made to fit easily.

As far as the issue of getting large projects out of a basement shop, I feel that's an advantage. It makes you think long and hard about design. If you can't get your project out of a basement shop, it probably can't make it to the second floor of a house either and in general will be a pain to move anyway. That's why you always want to make that china cabinet for the dining room in two pieces ;)

[David Nelson1]

Outbuilding for me...24x32 dedicated woodshop. Fortunately the building was there when I bought the house and already setup 30 years ago with electrical that had a woodshop in mind. The cars get to stay in the attached two car garage. Non-woodworking items DO NOT occupy any shop space.

It is well insulated and I use 1-2 220v heaters on off-peak electric. Costs around $35 to heat for the average winter month here in MN.

Dave, would you mind elaborating on your heaters and the off peak electric use. Thanks.

[David Nelson1]

For me it would have to be a detached shop. I have, in the past used living space and/or a reserved area in the basement for mechanical and some limited woodworking. Never worked out for me, between the smell of chemicals, dust, metal slivers and the track marks that come from boots it was way to much to keep clean.

I now have a 16X32X12 foot shop with a 10X10 insulated garage door. I have a ton of work to bring that mess up to what I would consider a shop.

[David Hostetler]

It's kinda amusing to read about everyone's concerns over heating the garage. I'd be more worried about air conditioning the garage! All depends on your location :D

I was thinking the same thing... Along with...

What's a basement?

[David Prince]

My shop is a detached dedicated shop. If I had to do it all over again, I would again find or build a detached dedicated shop! (period) I have done projects in garages and basements. If I were only into hand tools and small projects, then a basement would be fine, but the dust issues, humidity, stairs, ceilings, shared space, accessibility in and out do not appeal to me.

The garage is for the cars, other tools, yard stuff, misc. storage. Mixing this with woodworking does not work. Dust collection / air filtration or not, there is dust in a shop. The garage doors are poor insulation barriers for heating. Humidity can be an issue. No plumbing.

I guess I would choose a garage if I could have it all for woodworking and no shared purpose. I would choose a minimum ceiling height of 12 feet though, In floor heat, AC, and Plumbing.

[David Helm]

Wrong question!!! Freestanding is my choice.

[Jim Becker]

My order of preference:

1) Separate outbuilding
2) Garage
3) Basement

[Jim Rimmer]

My order of preference:

1) Separate outbuilding
2) Garage
3) Basement
+1 on what jim said

[Leigh Betsch]

Only thing better than my free standing barn would be if I could attach it to the house via tunnel for those cold winter days.

[Tim Rinehart]

Ok, a separate building is my workshop, a 16x28 I built many years ago. Could be bigger...yea yea...maybe someday.

I like that even if my dust collector doesn't get 100%...it's not going to seep in the house (well, except for what I don't get blown off my clothes before coming in).

Noise is never as much an issue with an outside shop, whereas it could be with a basement or garage shop.

Pests (the wood loving kind), if you have ANY wood stored or in process in your shop, stays confined to the workshop and not connected to your home.

Now all that being said...
A friend of mine has a basement workshop with 11' ceilings...yep, 11'. He has loads of space, great lighting and it's a walkout, so moving equipment or projects in/out is not an issue. He doesn't have to separately heat/cool as basements stay relatively steady temperature, and he has plenty of natural light from windows...and if raining/snowing/cold/hot/nasty....no worries. If I had 'that' basement...I'd be hard pressed to 'want' a separate out building.

If I had a 5 car garage...I would take 2-3 stalls for the shop and isolate them from the car portion. Again, alot has to do with what is already existing.
Already have "extra" garage space...use the garage.
Already have "extra" basement space...use the basement.
Don't have either...but have room to build separate building...build separate building twice the size you think you need.

[Callan Campbell]

As others have posted, Both have their strong points , and their limitations. Garages also have, esp. those not attached to the house, a possibility of getting broken into easier since they're a bit away from the house itself and usually not wiring with a house alarm system, at least around here. Garage break-ins around here are now getting common, esp. with doors that have a weak lock or no dead bolt system.
Having said all that, they ARE easier to unload the large items off a truck, whether it's wood or machinery. And you could also look silly for building something that easily gets out your large garage door but not passed the narrow door of your house:D;). Opps:rolleyes:
With a basement shop, you tend to build smaller or in more break-down assemblies so that the project makes it out of ALL doors in the house.;)
I like having my air compressor, and all my tools in my basement shop. Easier to route electrical and plumbing, and there's latent heat from our hot water boiler that keeps the basement at 60 degrees in winter, which means I only need the smallest of aux. heaters to supplement it. I plumbed an underground air line to the garage years ago, so if I want to run air tools out there, it's always a turn of the valve away.
Air conditioning comes from the basement mounted central air system that's for the 1st floor. There's enough leakage in the system, even with all the seams that I sealed up, to keep things cool and fairly dry in the summer.
Other than the headroom issues and the carting of things in AND out, I think I've got the best of it. Now if I could just find everything that I stuffed into my basement shop........

[Jeff Mackay]

Technically, my shop is in the basement, but with a catch. I built the house and we moved in about a year ago. I had spancrete panels installed for the garage floor and the workshop in a basement beneath the garage. Why under the garage?

- Because it's surrounded by concrete walls, floor, and ceiling, it's quiet. I can make as much noise as I want, whenever I want, and it doesn't disturb anybody in the house or next door.
- It's got a separate heating system from the rest of the house, so I don't have to worry about the HVAC system in the main house spreading dust everywhere.
- I can park three cars in the three car garage. And at 24'x36', the shop is almost big enough for all my tools.
- I still get to use the full basement under the rest of the house as living space. Some day I hope to have both a theater and a pool table down there.
- I had 320-amp service installed. Plenty of power available for the shop. About 20 20-amp outlets, five 220-volt outlets/circuits, and plenty of fluorescent lights.
- I have a dedicated 42" door and stairs directly to the outside, as well as a door from the main basement into the shop. Makes it easy to bring lumber of just about any length into the shop, and convenient to go into the shop when it's 20 below zero outside.
- I insulated the walls and put up drywall, and I'm now installing commercial vinyl tiles over plywood on sleepers. So I get a bit of cushion under my feet. And so far, it looks pretty good.

There are some drawbacks:

- With only a single window, I don't get as much sunlight as I could with a separate outbuilding.
- Bringing heavy tools down the stairs into the shop isn't a lot of fun. A separate outbuilding would be much better in that regard.
- I neglected to dig trenches for dust collection pipe when I had the floor poured. So I'll have to hang dust collection pipe from the ceiling.
- The concrete ceiling is just over 8 feet high--despite pouring 10-foot concrete walls. The spancrete panels with insulation and slab on top took away 14" of that height, and the plywood on sleepers another 2". Again, with an outbuilding, I could have had much higher ceilings.

Overall, I'm very happy with the shop. I think an outbuilding would have been better, but the basement under the garage was much cheaper, and made it possible for us to live in a subdivision that doesn't allow outbuildings (not sure if that's a plus or a minus :)).

Jeff

[John Mark Lane]

My last shop was in my garage. I didn't use it much, because getting it heated up was a pain. Also the humidity issues were a nightmare, and I got lots of rust.

I have decided this time around (new house, better garage, big basement areas) to do it differently. Although this garage is dry and easier to heat, it houses my motorcycle and related stuff. It's a mechanic's space. The woodshop will now be in one of three sections of the basement. Climate control is much easier. Noise control is better. Window onto driveway for moving stock in and out etc.

So I voted basement. Garages are, for me, for now, for motor vehicles.

[Robert McGill]

I use the garage for my shop and park the cars in the driveway. Everything is on wheels. The plan was to use half the garage and wheel everything out as needed but I mentioned to my wife that everything takes up more room than I planned and she said "Just use the whole garage". She's a very good woman! Still have everything on wheels but the TS hasn't gotten moved in months and the fold down 30 inch wide add-on hasn't been folded down since I added it on.

Since I'm in SoCal, I don't have to worry about temperature, or humidity very much. Just open the garage door and go. If I'm going to be doing some planing, or joining, I'll wheel those 2 machines out. DC hasn't been moved in a while and I'm starting to think about running some semi-permanent lines. One problem is that when the garage door is open, it covers most of the TS, which is in the center of the garage. I'm thinking about running some flex line from the top of the garage door to the TC. By attaching to the top of the door and letting it hang, it should keep it out of the way when the door is closed, or open.

[Stew Hagerty]

I am in the process of setting up my shop in the 3rd car stall (and spilling into the 2 car part) of my garage. I live in NE Indiana, so we get pretty cold in the winter too. When I built my house I had the garage fully insulated and I put on 2" thick insulated garage doors. In this area few homes under $250,000 are built with basements and that includes mine. My furnace and water heaters are all in the garage and I have a utility sink out there as well. It never gets below about 50 degrees even on subzero nights. I have plenty of space to expand into the two car part with wheeled tools after pulling out the car (we only ever park one inside anyway) The doors give me good access and fresh air on nice days.

I once had a basement shop. Never again. It was damp, hard to get tools and materials into and even harder to get finished projects out. I like my set-up. I plan on posting some pics when I get it finished.

[Stew Hagerty]

It's kinda amusing to read about everyone's concerns over heating the garage. I'd be more worried about air conditioning the garage! All depends on your location :D


I'm with you. Wood dust, heat, and humidity definately do not play well with each other.

[Gary Herrmann]

The basement is for spiders. The garage is for all the stuff that is supposed to be in the basement. So the logical choice for the shop is the barn. 46 x 90 ft. 10 x 20 for the horse, the rest for the shop.


Now that's just showing off. Dang, I'm jealous.

I'm in the basement. No dust problems, but being 6'7" in an old house where the joists in the basement are 6'10" gets problematic at times.

Especially around the duct work. Ouch.

[Harlan Theaker]

I currently have a shop in the basement, however, would prefer a garage as long as it met my space requirements. For me, the biggest pain is constantly bringing wood downstairs and projects up and out. I can't get anything over 10ft downstairs and sometimes getting projects out can also be a challenge.

We're currently contemplating putting in an offer on a house with a 24x38 garage that's already heated/insulated.... if it works out I think I'll be pretty happy...