Replies

1. 
   colebearanimals | Apr 01, 2007 10:10pm | #1

   gwsaltspring,

   5,000 square foot limitation. Hw will you make do with that? :) Would that be your house and shop or just your shop? The Workshop Book is a good source of information for shop spaces. What type of woodworking will you be doing?

                           Paul

    

   visiting as many shops as possible can be a big help in designing also

1. 
   gwsaltspring | Apr 02, 2007 01:59am | #2

   Hi Paul;That 5000 + is just for farm out buildings (not that I think I need that much space) Since the local building inspector thinks a farm can justify a workshop besides the horse barn and a few assorted other out buildings why not? The house and its accessory buildings fall within another category. I am designing the shop to accommodate myself and a friend. We have a hankering to build ourselves a few boats. We have started out small with a couple of S&G kayaks and a 12 ft Garvey to get our feet wet. Next up is a skin on frame kayak for myself and a car topable fishing boat. Though I have been hearing rumours about a 17' or possibly a 25' fishing boat. The fantasy is to tackle about a 35' trawler style boat, but that is probably what it is going to turn out to be, a fantasy ;-)I design and build custom homes, so can find myself building doors, windows, builtins and kitchen cabinets in the shop at times. Though not particularly skilled yet, I have built some furniture and would like to explore some ideas that I have about that. I am leaning towards two adjacent spaces I think. One for the messy stuff that possibly opens on to a good sized covered area for working outdoors. Along with a smaller, cleaner space for hand work, and less heating costs. One thing I know from past experience is that I want the outside area to have a continuous floor from the inside for wheeling heavy objects from inside to outside and the ability to be swept clean easily. (I like to work outside when the weather is nice) It would have been nice to have brought the Garvey inside to do some work on it this winter but the shop was full of other projects. The shops that I have visited that appeal the most are boatbuilding shops which seem to have covered space for the boat and a separate tool room. Perhaps that is the solution. Design an expandable shop that could be enlarged when the need arose and still lend itself to conversion to other uses in the future. Hmmmmm.... that seems to have potential. A central high barn structure with shed roofed additions along the sides.Time to do some sketches I guess.Greg

1. 
   colebearanimals | Apr 02, 2007 02:38am | #3

   Sounds like a fun project.   If you have the flexibility in how you can orient your shop building on your property, after you have come up with a possible design, build a model with window cut-outs to see how natural light plays in the space. I wish I had done this when I built my 2000 sq ft shop a couple of years ago. My natural light is pretty good but could have been better. ( nothing like natural light) . Love your idea about an open, covered area between two buildings. Always though boat building would be fun to get into. But, alas, I must keep the cabinets and architectural millwork flowing to keep the bills paid.

                          Paul

    

    

    

    

   Edited 4/1/2007 7:39 pm ET by colebearanimals

1. 
   gwsaltspring | Apr 02, 2007 03:14am | #4

   Thanks for the suggestion re:natural light Paul. As I may have mentioned, I've not really had the benefit of so much flexibility in the design before. It is a bit intimidating. I've been in too many houses that are way too big and I'm concerned that a workshop could suffer the same fate. Architectural millwork, now that sounds like an interesting area of work. And yes I am getting more interested in the outside covered area. I recently saw a picuture where the design called for the overhead garage door to open up under the covered area instead of into the garage. I think that could have some merit especially if the covered area has a flat ceiling. You could access it from the inside of the building for some addtional storage me thinks.Greg

1. 
   cadiddlehopper | Apr 03, 2007 05:44am | #7

   North light is fine for an artist's or photographer's studio, but direct sunlight comes in handy in a wood shop. You may want diffused light also, but there are definitely those times when strong, direct light is required to make a judgment in our craft. Unfortunately, my shop lacks much direct, sharp light which gives me a lot of trouble especially with finishes.Cadiddlehopper

2. 
   gwsaltspring | Apr 03, 2007 06:59am | #8

   Thanks for that observation. Sun is a welcome sight here on the coast.Greg

2. 
   Cincinnati | Apr 02, 2007 02:43pm | #5

   Excellent suggestion Paul. I'd orient a long dimension of the building with a Northern exposure, to maximize the amount of soft lilght that I could bring into the shop. I would even include skylights on the Northern side (if the roof is pitched). North light is great indirect lighting. I would place so many windows across the north wall that the casual passerby would think it is a greenhouse :-)

   Edited 4/2/2007 7:52 am ET by Cincinnati

1. 
   colebearanimals | Apr 02, 2007 07:08pm | #6

   I'm with ya Cincinnati. No such thing as too many windows. Well, maybe. But I wish I had put a few more in my shop.

                             Paul