Building an inside job

[Bryan Rocker]

As some of you know I have been house hunting for quite some time. I was originally looking at houses with detached pole buildings/second garages. Well the house we are finally settling on has a full 1700 sq ft unfinished basement SWMBO says I can turn into a shop. Yes I have stairs to deal with BUT they you can walk right down the stairs straight through the front door. It will be a challange to get the 20" planer and my X5 down the stairs. I may hire that out, I haven't yet decided on that. I have read that I should paint the walls with dry lock. Is this something I can shoot with my 3/4 hp airless? The cieling is not quite 8' but it is very doable. Here is a list of things I think I will need or do.

1. Air scrubber.....Jet or Delta
2. Dust collector.
3. Dry lock the walls.
4. Add a number of 220 outlets, the main box has tons of open slots so this should not be an issue.

Anything else I should add to my to do list?

Bryan

[Steve Kohn]

Cut a hole in the wall and install a bulkhead for outside access to your new shop?

[Joe Jensen]

The house I grew up in had a basement shop. The biggest issues are noise and odors. Most finishes have an odor, not too bad to woodworkers, but aweful to non woodworkers. If your spouse is ok with the noise, I'd say create a spray area with an explosion proof fan to the outside.

My shop is in the garage and my wife complains all the time about any non water based finish. I mainly do the finishing outdoors, or with the doors open, but even bringing the pieces in to dry for the night raises complaints...joe

[J. Greg Jones]

We bought a new house a year ago with a full basement that is now my shop. I really like having the shop there, in part because it is always a comfortable 70 degrees and it's easy to get to. One of the long walls is fully exposed on the outside and has two large windows and walk-out access to a concrete patio shaded by the deck overhead. This feature is the main reason that I thought a basement shop would work for me.

I can easily get tools, projects, and materials in/out of the shop and I also enjoy doing some of the dusty task outside on the patio when weather permits. Having the natural light from the door and windows is a big plus also. I don't think that we would have bought this house if not for the walk-out access, so if you can add a door as Steve recommended, you'll be much happier with your new shop.

On the subject of an air scrubber, look for one that will take a charcoal filter as an option to cut down on some of the odors entering the main residence. I have the JDS unit myself which has three filters-a pre-filter, the bag filter, and a charcoal filter. I believe the Jet has a charcoal filter as an option-don't know about the Delta.

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I also have a basement shop, and I installed a 200 CFM fan that exhausts outdoors.

I do not spray, I normally brush or wipe finishes so the 200 CFM has been adequate.

I open a main floor window, so that I am drawing air from the house, into the shop and then exhausting it outside.

The fan has a wind up timer so that I can leave it on for a few hours after leaving the shop.

In 16 years Diann hasn't complained once about odours in the main part of the house.

Regards, Rod.

[Rob Russell]

Bryan,

Drylock is not something you can spray - it's far too thick. You need to buy the really heavy duty brush that should be next to the buckets of Drylock.

I'd highly recommend that you use the water-based version of the product. Even with that, you will need to have several fans blowing out of your basement windows so air flows from the house down to the basement. The Drylock really stinks and you don't want that smell up in the house.

I was working with the oil-based stuff because I had to deal with some concrete block walls that were actively weeping. I wore a respirator and would suggest you do the same, even with the water-based stuff.

You'll also want some some of bandana over your head. The paint is thick and will splatter over you. Have a set of old clothes and shoes that you can toss when you're done - they will get crusty.

In terms of other things, I'd epoxy paint the floor BEFORE you move ANYTHING in. It will help keep the basement cleaner (seals the concrete so it doesn't shed dust) and is a lot easier to vacuum/sweep up than bare concrete. I wish I'd done that years ago - now it will never happen because I'll never get the basement empty enough to do it.


Rob

[Bryan Rocker]

Thanks guys, as to the outside access the front door and stairs will be the only way in or out. Having said that it is very easy to get in and out of. The lot is flat and making access would just add more stairs. As to the dry lock I may enlist the help of SWMBO. She is pretty good about helping out. I wish it was sprayable but oh well.....Now to the air scrubbers, I have been looking at both the jet and JDS units, I may go with 2 smaller units to get the air moving, need to do some math first to size it right. SWMBO isn't concerned about the noise, yes the fumes may be an issue, time will tell.

Now to the floor epoxy, are you recommending the same epoxy as used on garage floors? Is it sprayable? We will close the end of Sept so I have a little bit of time to do things like this........

Now to plan the moving event, anybody had any good or bad luck with PODS?

Bryan

[Ben Franz]

I moved from California to New Mexico about 2 years ago. I looked into PODS before going with ABF U-Pack. ABF cost for a little less than 2 26' trailers was about 55% of PODS cost for 3 16' containers. The ABF trailers (26' long) don't have very good tie downs and there wasn't any way to add any. These were older units - the newer ones might be better. We used a lot of moving blankets - ABF web site sells all kinds of moving materials at good prices.

I hired local movers at each end to load/unload (Craigslist might help find them). It was still an excruciating move - I still have boxes to unpack. I'm NEVER moving again,

Good luck, Ben

[Bryan Rocker]

Well I am a veteran of moving, after 23 years in the military, I know what is ahead I am just looking at ways to minimize my expenses. I got an estimate from PODS online and it was almost $1K for 2 16' PODs......

Bryan

Now why did I get rid of all them moving boxes........

[Louis Rucci]

I know what you mean. When I was in the Navy, I was being transferred from Charleston, Sc to Mayport, FL.

I started packing 1-2 months ahead of time. I scoured both bases for new arrivals and took the boxes being thrown away
Moving day came, rented a 24' U-Haul and drove it myself. I made money on that move.

[Rob Russell]

Now to the floor epoxy, are you recommending the same epoxy as used on garage floors?

Yes.


Is it sprayable?

Not that I'm aware of. Besides, like the Drylock, you sort of want to "work" the paint into the concrete pores and a sprayer won't do that as effectively as a roller.

[Bartee Lamar]

Seal (paint) the concrete floor before you move any tools in.


If you really want to go crazy have foam insulation sprayed overhead. This will seal the space and cut down on the noise that is heard upstairs.

Good luck and have fun...

[Craig Kershaw]

Bryan - Curious as to why you want to put Drylock on the walls. It's a decent enough product for very mild water problems, but are there water stains on the foundation walls or other signs of water problems? If you haven't "signed on the dotted line" yet you might want to get to the bottom of the problem, if there is one.

Water problems in basements are best fixed from the outside of the foundation, although there are plenty of waterproofing contractors who will be glad to charge you $$$ to fix it from the inside.

Best of luck and congrats !

[Bryan Rocker]

Actually it is a very drive basement. I saw absolutely no water instrusion issues at all. The HVAC does have a dehumidifier but it is very easy to tell if there are water problems and I saw none. For a 15 year old basement, the only signs of age were a few surface cracks here and there which had all been repaired. As to water mitigation, you bet you gotta stop water intrustion from the outside. I am just following some recommendations I have seen from other basement dwellers :)

I checked out ABF and they don't do intrastate moves......So I am weighint the options of U-Haul/PODS.......

Do I want to have a seperate sub panel put in just for my tools? I already have 2 220 tools and I am sure there will be a few more coming......