Shop makeover

[Dave Lehnert]

My workshop is in one stall of a 3 stall garage. It is about time the garage needs an update. all new door, Gutters, windows. paint etc...
I have lived at the same home all my life. Now in my 50's. Started woodworking as a teen. The workshop has always been pieced together as money became available. Just got to thinking this weekend I am at a point in my life I can afford to do things right. Tired of things being "Good enough" and not what I want.
Mismatch of old cabinets as storage, things stacked and have to be moved to use a tool etc.....This project is maybe a year away as I have projects at the house to finish first.

My garage is very basic. It is about 24' x 30' All block construction on a slab. One stall of the 3 stall garage is partitioned off with a block wall, walk through door to the other two stalls which is one big area 24 x 24. The single stall has a ceiling with storage above it accessed from the two stall area. The 24 x 24 area has one large beam in the middle so overhead is wide open. not one bit of insulation anywhere in the building.


At this point guess I am looking for guidance on what is the best order to do the work needed as some work will be farmed out.
Here is what I have planed.

-To start I have to get all new garage doors, entrance door, gutters and painted NOW!. I just looks bad.
-The electric will need to be upgraded. Breaker box is small and full. Garage is on it own meter.
-The shop will need to be insulated. Will I need to frame walls to insulate inside or do I have siding put on the outside and insulated that way? will it be
enough? Can I have new windows put in now or wait till I figure out the insulation plan? Since it is a work shop, do I use drywall or is plywood or ??? better?
-Going to put in a mini split for heat and air? I do not plan to keep it heated or cooled 24/7.
- Plan to put in a small office area to get woodworking books and magazines out of the house and just a place to chill.

[Patrick Curry]

Your list seems pretty much in the right order. Get your doors and gutters, maybe add a window, frame out the interior for drywall, new electrical panel, run the outlets, then install drywall.
I’d suggest drywall but that’s a personal preference. Also, add plenty of outlets. Maybe 3 or 4 220v outlets so you change the layout later on.
I’d add insulation, a few windows and a fan and then put the ac/heat last on my list (order of things). Might find you can get by without it.

[Dave Lehnert]

Just want to add I am keeping an eye on maybe one day renting this building out for commercial use. Want to do things right so if that day comes, I can rent without having to redo everything.
As a kid this was a rural, farm land area. Today I live right next door to small commercial buildings. I am zoned commercial and although the house and building is on the same property it has it own road access, own electric meter and access to city water and sewer (Gas too) Think of property located in a fork in the road. House on one road, building on another.

[Jim Becker]

Your general plan is sound, IMHO. If there's no requirement to keep "actual" garage type doors, consider your alternatives. One roll-up can be convenient, but a wall of doors isn't the best choice for a workshop environment. I replaced them with double, outward opening (with security hinges) doors which eliminated any interference with overhead lighting, etc., and also insure that when they are open, they are not taking up space in the shop, either. My shop environment is approximately the same size you will have with adding the two bays to your space. It's a very workable environment. You can see my door setup in this photo, but note that the set farthest to the right (middle bay) are not used and are covered up by my sheet goods storage and some cabinets,




My shop is also all block construction. I used half-stud firing to create walls that could be insulated as well as support stuff. You want to insulate on the inside and with block walls, you'll be fine with something similar to mine with high R value foam insulation between the half-studs. (2x2) The most important part of your insulation is the ceiling...when I did mine and put in acoustic stile to cover it, it transformed my shop. It's comfortable and my mini split, which is already extremely efficient, just purrs along, barely blipping our energy usage. I do run it 24/7 during the winter months and the hot summer months.

Face the walls with your preference. I used T1-11 in the majority of my shop and MUCH prefer it over the OSB I used in another area. I really hate OSB for other than it's intended purpose which is as a covered sheathing, personally. In a future shop, I'd likely do drywall as I've learned that I really don't need to be able to drive screws "anywhere" and can support heavy cabinets using French Cleats which are both strong and flexible over time for rearranging things. In fact, I'd use them for more than just cabinets in a future shop.

I've found that surface mount electrical for mathine circuits is a lot more efficient than burying it all in the wall. Shops change over time. So in a future shop, I'd stick with that using a raceway or conduit (oversized for flexibility) to be able to adapt to changes.

Given your existing partition, you have the ideal setup for both an office and a dedicated finishing room.

[Ron Selzer]

look into how you want the outside to look first. Now is the time to decide if you build out the outside for a different look or the inside walls for insulation. Also look into having the block filled with insulation by an insulating contractor(may or may not work for you). Once YOU decide how to handle the outside final finish, whether stucco, painted block, vinyl siding, brick, or?. Then have the windows, doors, painting, gutters done. Have the electric upgrades done inside with conduit. The inside walls can wait until you decide to rent it out (unless needs to be insulated) and then finish interior walls at that time for the renter's needs. As long as it is your shop don't tie money up in the interior finish UNLESS it is important to you now. To rent it out you will need a bathroom inside. Now is the time to investigate about putting one in and then decide if just the rough in or complete bathroom. The one stall would make a nice finish area. Talk to your prefer contractor and then see what permit/zoning requirements.
MAIN thing is to plan out what YOU want it to look like, how it functions for YOU, and what can be done now and what can be done later when YOU decide to rent it out.
Good luck
Ron

[Dave Lehnert]

Ron.

Thanks for responding.
The garage in the 1970's was my dads auto body shop. The one stall that is now my shop was in fact his paint booth. That area is where I plan the small office what is left over space needed to park a car if needed. That area will have to be storage for my zero turn and golf cart.

[Jim Becker]

Hmm...get a shed for that ZTR and Cart! They are impinging on important shop space!!!

[Dave Lehnert]

Hmm...get a shed for that ZTR and Cart! They are impinging on important shop space!!!

Already have a shed that's full of equipment. Need to have a sale. LOL

Not sure what happened, I responded to your post but don't see it here????

Anyway Like the idea of double doors, Have to think about that.

Did you put your 2x2's 16 or 24" oc?

[Jim Becker]

Dave, I did 16" OC for the firring. Back then, I used fiberglass for the insulation. Today, I'd use higher R-value foam which is available in 1.5" thickness. A few dabs of adhesive keeps it in place. I also put a vapor barrier (poly sheeting) over the whole walls before putting up the T1-11.

The double doors are very worthy. They look nice and are very functional. They are also fully insulated which is truly hard to do with even the best "garage" type doors.

[Dave Lehnert]

Dave, I did 16" OC for the firring. Back then, I used fiberglass for the insulation. Today, I'd use higher R-value foam which is available in 1.5" thickness. A few dabs of adhesive keeps it in place. I also put a vapor barrier (poly sheeting) over the whole walls before putting up the T1-11.

The double doors are very worthy. They look nice and are very functional. They are also fully insulated which is truly hard to do with even the best "garage" type doors.

Do I understand right you just attached furring strips to the block wall, not frame a wall?

[Peter Kelly]

Correct. Rigid foam should be applied directly to the block using panel adhesive followed by vertically oriented furring strips fastened through the foam into the wall using Tapcons or other masonry anchors. Drywall finish surface is fastened to the furring strips.

[Jim Becker]

Do I understand right you just attached furring strips to the block wall, not frame a wall?

Correct. I used a manual Remington "shot" based fastener setup (whack with a hammer) which holds very well in block. It's important to have header and footer pieces to hold the sheet goods flat top and bottom...something I learned the hard way on the first wall. You can certainly make a formal frame...2x2 screws together just fine, albeit with less fasteners...but it's not absolutely necessary. Almost all the support is going to be between the firing and the block wall. If there's an area that you want to make even more secure, you can certainly drill and use tapcon screws. The gunpowder based nailer is faster and more pleasant than pounding in masonry nails by hand.

Peter, I did not overlay the insulation with the firing strips as I wanted the wood to be absolutely secure to the block wall. I did put the vapor barrier over the whole thing as previously noted before skinning with the sheet goods.

[Jack Frederick]

While the furring strips are an effective method, as Jim has demonstrated, I think I would spend a bit of time with the laser, plumb bob, string line figuring out how True the building is first. If the wall is wavy every stud is a customer piece. I know it is a work shop and the pieces can be cut but in can turn into a nightmare.

[Peter Kelly]

*drywall in above wall assembly should be 5/8” Type X firestop if you’re going for code compliance.

Jim - attaching lath or 2x’s directly to a CMU block was creates a thermal bridging which reduces the overall R value of the system. Bridging is eliminated by attaching the lath to the wall through the foam which also creates an air gap. An additional vapour barrier isn’t necessary with this assembly.

8" CMU’s R1
2" Rigid XPS Foam R10
5/8" Drywall + 3/4" air gap R1

Dave is in Climate Zone 4 so you’d be close to the DOE minimum recommended residential 2x4 wall construction of R13.

[mike stenson]

While the furring strips are an effective method, as Jim has demonstrated, I think I would spend a bit of time with the laser, plumb bob, string line figuring out how True the building is first. If the wall is wavy every stud is a customer piece. I know it is a work shop and the pieces can be cut but in can turn into a nightmare.

I've never seen an actually true stud wall either.