New Workshop

[Daniel Heine]

Hello,

My wife informed me this weekend that she wants to close off half of our garage, and build a rec room for my son. She wants a pool table, card table, etc so he can have his friends over for fun, while we can still keep an eye on them - teenagers, you can;t be too careful. The bad news is that this means I'm being kicked out of the garage!! I need to build a structure in my backyard to put my shop. I do carving, woodturning, and some woodworking. I have a table saw, scroll saw, full size lathe, bench drill press, and soona band saw.

I'll have about $1500.00 to spend on this project, and I am hoping you can give me some recomendations on size, type of structure, etc.

I appreciate your input, I need all the help I can get.

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[Don Baer]

We did the same thing when our boys were in there teens and it was a great way to keep em around and out of trouble. Our house became party central for all of the local teens.

As for shop size, as big as you can possible make it. I'll soon, I hope have a 20 x 20 shop and have roughly the same equipment that you have and after laying it out on paper it seems to be barely adaquate.

[Doyle Alley]

You are going to need to give a little more info. Your area (climate) will dictate a lot. A mild climate with low humidity and no hurricanes will require a substantially lower investment than will a harsh climate (either very hot or very cold) as well as the need for a storm resistant structure. Here in SW Florida, I couldn't even get a really good slab and foundation for $1500 much less a good shop.

[Art Mulder]

Hello,

I'll have about $1500.00 to spend on this project, and I am hoping you can give me some recomendations on size, type of structure, etc.


Dan... Like others said, you need to mention your climate, your location, which will have a big impact on your decision.

But like the other fellow said... $1500? I can't see you getting very far with that.

But if you do have a large country property, here is an idea that I read about. A fellow up here in Canada (on the canadianwoodworking.com forum) bought himself a surplus school portable building and had it trucked to his lot. Instant 24x32 shop, for far less than it would cost to have a building put up. (but to be fair to your budget, it was far more than $1500)

[Travis Johnson]

Wow, pretty tight budget.

I shelled this small sized shop out for about 2000 dollars and there is little room in that to cut many more corners. The biggest expense was the concrete, steel roofing and framing lumber. The dimensions are 8 x 12 for the snowmobile section of my shop and 12 x 24 for the main woodworking portion of my shop. I suppose you could cut the size of the main shop back some or eliminate the small sectioin altogether. Traditional asphalt shingles might lower the cost over steel roofing as well.

Personally if I was you, I would fight tooth and nail for your current shop space. It would seem to me that this rec room for the teenagers is a like-to-have sort of thing and a shop space for you is a nessesity. I have often employed the "You have the whole house all I have is the small shop to put my stuff into" statement to get more monetary funds allocated to my shop's building project. Of course amicable domestic relations (wink, wink) usually ceases with said domestic supervisor (wife) for several weeks so perserverence on your part is a must :) :) :)

My feeble attempt at humor now aside, here is a link to a few pictures and features of my shop located on my personal website. I hope this helps and good luck, in building a new shop or defending you old space.

http://www.railroadmachinist.com/Wood-Forestry_Home.html

[George Summers]

I did a 16 x 24 in the back yard and going as cheap as I could, I ended up with about $7500 doing all the labor myself.

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/gallery/showimage.php?i=487&c=198

George

[Ron Franssen]

Here is something to consider.
I built a shed a few years back. I built forms and bought premixed concrete that I poured myself for a foundation. Steel from the foundation was rumaged from other building sites (with permission). So there was only the cost of the concrete. When the concrete was fairly well set up, I tore off the lumber and used it for framing. I also bought some other material for framing. I again rumaged from 7/16" osb (with permission), which made a pitiful looking site but it worked for sub-wall sheathing. I then bought 4x8 sheets of masonite siding (you can buy hardiboard now). I built my own trusses and then used asphalt shingles to cover the roof. All total, I spent around $1700 for a concrete slab that was 15x15 and the shed was about 12x15. For a little more, you could build a shed with a larger concrete slab, put your tools on wheels and work outside, then wheel everthing back in when your'e done. Anyway, this is just an idea. Working outside may or may not be an option. Good luck.

[Doyle Alley]

The more I think about this, the more I think I would not try and build one myself but rather buy one already built. A few weeks ago, there was an ad in the local paper for a wooden shed that someone had for sale $500 and you move. As I recall, it was 10X18. Something like that could be purchased, moved in and set up for the kind of money you have allocated (expecially if you can get some buddys to help with the loading and can borrow or rent a flatbed trailer). The problem is, you'll have to look long and hard for the right building to come up.

[Jim Becker]

Daniel, if most of your work tends to carving and turning, you'll likely be able to make do with a pre-fab or kit building for at least close to your budget, especially if you can have some space outside to pull the TS out when working on larger things for your flat work. But don't forget you have to get proper electricity to that building and there will be costs involved. If you can do most of the sweat equity, you'll be able to keep that cost down, but it will still be there. Think it through and I believe you'll be able to come up with a good solution...and don't be afraid to wait a few months to accumulate some additional funds if you need to. Some things are best done "up front" while others you can do over time...

[Steve Clardy]

If your shop doesn't need to be to big, with your budget, look as to what Jim suggests, a prefab storage shed. They can deliver, block them up.
Then later, you can wire, insulate.

[Daniel Heine]

Hello Again,

Thank you for all of your help. I am in the suburban Chicago area. I plan to build it myself, my father, and my brother-in-law are both electricians, so electricity will not be a problem. Would you suggest a concrete floor, or a wood floor?

Thanks,
Dan Heine

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You need more $$.
Maybe if you stop feeding the boy he'll stop growing giving you more time to assemble more money.

[Alan DuBoff]

Well, as others have said, $1500 is a tight budget. However, if one does all/most of the work himself, it is possible. I built a shed in my backyard and finished the inside myself. $1500 would not have covered the knotty pine t&g, and the floor ended up costing me about $1200. However, if one was on a budget and one did their homework, you might be able to get a structure in.

The big limitations would be:

1) foundation - if you use a stemwall foundtion you'll need to know how and mix quite a bit of concrete to make a useable slab. If you can use piers, you'll need to build them yourself.

2) electrical - since you mention power tools, others have pointed out that you'll need electricity. This can be a large cost if you have someone do that for you, I spent $4k on electrical for my shed, but ran 3 x 20amp circits, and 6 cat5s back to each of the rooms in my house.

3) framing - will require knowledge of the building codes, and enough 2x4 material to frame it. This could take a good chunk of your $1500, in my experience.

4) roof - depending on the size, you'll need the materials for the roof, which add up quickly.

With the above stated, it is possible to get a tuff-shed or similar, but you'll spend more than $1500 just to get the structure that is large enough. You could probably do wtih a structure that would cost about twice your budget, but it would be small.

I have a 10'x20' structure I built in my yard, and I plan to use half of it for hand tool work now (previously was going to use it for my music study). I have $20k into my structure, but did most all of the work myself after the actual shed was installed. 10'x20' would be a decent space (albeit could be limiting to some, I would say it could work out nicely) for a small shop. I have my power tools in the garage, and only plan to do handcrafted work in my shed space. You can see my shed, at the following link:

(linky image)

http://www.SoftOrchestra.com/woodworking/office/thumb_small_desk.jpg (http://www.SoftOrchestra.com/woodworking/office/)

[Wes Bischel]

Daniel,
As Jim and Steve mentioned, a shed (non permanent structure) can go a long way towards your goal (prefab or self built) Once you make a decision to put in a foundation though (permanent structure) all local building code come in to play and your costs will go up significantly (due to code requirements and not skimping on something that will be around for years to come.)

Some thoughts for keeping costs down - start scrounging materials now - dad and bro could put feelers out as well;) . Check your area for a local Habitat Restore or other salvage yard for things like windows, doors, misc. bits and pieces - you would be amazed what they have for a fraction of the cost.

http://www.habitat.org/env/restore.aspx

Good luck,
Wes

[Ned Bulken]

look into www.barnplans.com (http://www.barnplans.com) I'm currently saving up for a minbarn (12x16) , but they have several different styles and sizes to offer.

[Jerry Olexa]

Maybe your basement could be remodeled a little to handle the boys. then you get to keep your shop. might be cheaper, elect already there, no foundation needed etc Just MHO

[Al Killian]

Pole Barn, the quickest and cheapest.

[Brad Noble]

Dan... Like others said, you need to mention your climate, your location, which will have a big impact on your decision.

But like the other fellow said... $1500? I can't see you getting very far with that.

Well, to give you a chance, I have a 16 by 24 shop in my backyard complete with electrical service (75 amp), heat and lights, vinyl siding, four windows, two walk thru doors, etc and I have it completely built for $1750. Now, it takes some time to scrounge for materials and such but it CAN be done. BTW, location is in Ohio.

Brad

[lou sansone]

gee it looks like brad get the prize for the least amount spent. . I guess the operative word is scrounge. what did you do for heat? What % of the material was used or salvaged ? How did you do the foundation ?

thanks
lou

[Brad Noble]

gee it looks like brad get the prize for the least amount spent. . I guess the operative word is scrounge. what did you do for heat? What % of the material was used or salvaged ? How did you do the foundation ?

thanks
lou

OK, scrounge IS the word. Electric heat, 5K unit hanging from ceiling on sale (make that clearance) at Northern Tool. Probably 10-15% was used or salvaged. Treated 4x4 post in the ground every 4 ft at a depth of 36" below grade. The posts were cutoffs from our local County garage ranging in length from 48" to 54". Free for the asking. 2 x 6 floor joists on 12" centers. 2x6's also treated. Had to buy them but found a local lumber yard who had WAY TOO many 16' 2x6's and they were pretty straight. I can cut a few boards if the price is right, and it was.

Oh, and it took me a year and a half to get it built.

Brad