Good cheap shop vac?

[jason lambert]

My fathor is retired does little woodworking but needs a vacuum to clean up around the gurage and vacuum his car along with the occuasional flooding issues so it needs to be a wet dry vac.

Any sugestions on a decent vac. Doesn't need to be that cheap I want something decent but don't want to spend more than I need to it will get little use.

[Matt Meiser]

I have this one (http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/4-Gallon-Vac/EN/index.htm)in my garage and really like it. I also have an older big Ridgid which works fine but is noisy like all older shop vacs and a Festool out in the shop.

[Alfred Clem]

I bought my Ridgid vac at The Home Depot about 10 years ago and can't wear it out...just yet. Didn't cost an arm & a leg either. Easy to clean, can suck or blow. I like the extension arm to reach hard-to-reach places. When one of the casters gave out, I built a platform out of 2x4s with lap joints and some old cast-off casters, and it should give me another decade of hard use.

[David G Baker]

Many times "good" and "cheap" do not go together but once in a while I find a relatively inexpensive item that turns out to be good. The vacuum that I have is a 4 gallon, I think, Shop vac, similar to Matt's. I have had it for about 6 years and it has preformed very well for what I have used it for. It cost me around $30. I use it for small clean up in areas where I don't want to drag out my 30 gallon Shop vac. Works great on Sheetrock dust, cleaning spider webs out of floor joists and just about anything that does not require a 3 inch hose. The unit is light so you can carry it into areas where a bigger vac wont go and your wife won't let you take her rug vacuum.
I also have a similar one that I keep in the basement that I got from Sears around 20 years ago for around the same amount of money that I use in my shops to clean up small messes.
The thing I keep forgetting is that the vacuums are wet or dry. When I have a good sized water spill I never think of the vacuums and clean the messes up with towels.

[Randy Cohen]

i just bought a small Shop Vac at Lowes for about $30. It came with all these car cleaning tools. My wife had a good time with it yesterday.

[Charles Wiggins]

My fathor is retired does little woodworking but needs a vacuum to clean up around the gurage and vacuum his car along with the occuasional flooding issues so it needs to be a wet dry vac.

Any sugestions on a decent vac. Doesn't need to be that cheap I want something decent but don't want to spend more than I need to it will get little use.

We face the same issue with my dad. They are just finishing up a house and once their old house is demolished they're putting up a garage and theyv'e never had a garage before. We got a Shop Vac brand from Lowes because it was on sale and also has a detachable leaf blower (http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=278009-20097-9311111). Can't attest to it reliability though. I have a Ridgid myself.

[Brian Dormer]

I have a 6 gallon Craftsman that I added the .3 micron HEPA filter to. Works great!

[Rob Anthony]

I purchased one of these 12 gallon 5.5 HP wet/dry vacs from Costco. It doesn't actually look like the photo, but has a stainless steel bucket. I'm very happy with it so far for $120.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11234661&search=vacmaster&Mo=1&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search〈=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=vacmaster&Ntt=vacmaster&No=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1 (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11234661&search=vacmaster&Mo=1&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=vacmaster&Ntt=vacmaster&No=1&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1)

[Lee Koepke]

HD just had a RIGID on sale ( black friday weekend) 12 gal i think for $29. I needed a new one, so I made the sacrifice

[frank shic]

the larger capacity ridgid vacs (14 gallons and up) have scroll noise reduction which supposedly makes them as quiet as a fein or festool vac - at a much LOWER price!

[Dave MacArthur]

I also have read good things on the Rigid, particularly the noise reduction.

[Adam Slutsky]

I have had big Shop-Vac brand vacuum for about 10 years and it still works fine. However, the thing is very loud. Also, the handle seems to get in the way of the clips to put the top on.

[Brad Sperr]

I'd recommend a Ridgid also. I've got the 12 gallon, 5HP model and have been very happy with it.