New Shop setup

[BigguyZ]

OK, so I have a new garage that will become a new shop. I don't have the $$$ or time to do a complete remodel of the space prior to moving in, but I do want to do as much as I can do to prep the space.

Right now, it's a 2 car garage with open walls. I'm thinking of doing the following before I make the main move and bring things in:
-The garage is sunk in somewhat, so there is cinder block around the perimmiter of the wall base. Some of the mortar in the joints has deteriorated, and let's water if when it rains. I want to patch that as best I can, and use the water lock paint to keep the dampness from coming in.
-I want to insulate the walls and ceiling (there's a half-story attic area above the rafters that I'll use for storage). It'll cost about $350 or so in insulation, form my rough estimates. I'll just use batt insulation for now.
-I don't care about drywalling the space, but I don't necessarily want the exposed insulation. I figure I'll go with a cheap wood paneling of some sort to cover the walls.
-I really like the epoxy floor look, so I plan to do that as well.

The electrical to the garage is crappy- a single 15a line. I need to take a good look, as the wire seems like it may be high enough gauge to bump up to a 30a breaker and a sub panel. But otherwise, I may want to try to pull the wire and run something larger. My only concern is that the cost may be prohibitive. If that's the case, I may do without for now. Otherwise, I'll probably try to upgrade that as well.

Once those steps are done, I'll start installing some wall cabinets and other storage. Then I'll move my mobile workbench and mobile table saw station. Next, the larger machinery that's on mobile bases as well- RAS, BS, and Lathe. Finally, I'll move all of the rest of my crap.

Is there anything I'm missing? Are there any other suggestions you'd have in setting up the new space? I know I'll adapt as I go, but I want to make it was easy as possible, so I want to address the easy prep work before clutering up the shop with tools...

Thanks!
Travis

[BearPipes-1]

While I don't think pegboard is an ideal wall covering, it's certainly more immediately useful than either exposed insulation or wood paneling.

[dbhost]

Are we talking a detached garage? If so, if it is allowed, go with 1/2" ply or OSB for the walls. And if you can afford to, bring in as much electrical as you can NOW. MUCH easier than later (that is my current struggle...)

[Eric]

I'd forget about the epoxy floor and put that money into electrical. You can have a wood shop with normal concrete floor, but can't run machines if you don't have power.

I'd also cover the walls with 1/2" plywood, or 7/16" OSB. Both will allow more freedom of placing things where you want them without having to worry so much about hitting a stud. Plus you're less likely to put a hole in plywood than you are sheet rock.

So, I would patch the blocks so water isn't seeping in, do the electrical, insulate, sheet the walls, and then do the epoxy floor.

30 Amps requires a 10 gauge wire and it would surprise me if they put in 10 gauge wire and then put a 15 amp breaker on it.

[avbclark]

Repoint the outside and inside of that cinderblock

I would suggest re pointing the outside and inside of the cinder block wall before you put anything on it. That will be the best way to keep the water out. It is not fun, and takes time, but is very doable by anyone with some patience. There is lots of advice on line. In my experience the best way to do it is gradually. Do part of the wall at a time. Remove the decayed mortar. Replace it and the do the outside of that section.

Good luck, and congratulations on the new shop.

[capncarl]

The inside of a block wall is the wrong place to seal a leaking wall. Seal the inside and you are guaranteed a mess. Start on the outside.
capncarl

[JR]

+1 on electrical. You will want to pull a 220v line, even if you don't populate it now. Of course, with the walls open, now is the time to wire outlets.

If it's going to bee a woodshop, I'd want something other than concrete on the floor. There must be a Murphy's law corollary for the odds of a chisel falling blade side down compared the hardness of the floor. I'd also want a level floor in order to simplify bench setup. IOW, a wood floor would be awfully nice.

I know you have a lot on your plate to get this place going, but spending some time to make a good guess at the eventual layout, and putting the infrastructure in now, will save you much pain and anguish down the road.

JR

[BigguyZ]

The area where the leak is coming in is along a conrete walkway. It's actually on the opposite side of where the shop part will be (half woodshop, half garden/ car parking). But anyways, the outside of the block is actually below the level of the conrete walkway... so patching the outside isn't really feasible unless I jackhammer it up, and I really don't want to do that at this point.

I'm planning on using hydrualic cement for the larger cracks, and then epoxy patch for the smaller voids and cracks. I think between that and cleaning out the gutters for the garage (the gutters are clogged and filled to the brim with dirt), that'll abate the moisture issue.

I defintely won't go with pegboard. I'm thinking more of a french cleat system that I can screw right into the ply or OSB. 1/2" sounds about right.

The cable coming out of the conduit that runds from the house to the garage is much larger than a standard 12/2. I'm wondering if it could be 12/3, and there's two circuits sharing a neutral and a ground. Hopwever, there's only one breaker assigned to the garage.

What would you say would be minimal in the garage? If it is indeed two circuits at 15A now, is that enough? If I have the electrical pulled to as a sub panel, how many amps do I want at a minimum? 30? 40? 60? What gauge wire do those require?

Thanks for all the feedback! I can't wait to get started on it, but sadly I'm still in the process of moving, then I have to begin work on my old apt so it's ready to rent for August (I moved from a duplex I own to a single family). But I'm glad to have everything planned out now, so I can get to it and have everything moved in and set up before winter... That reminds me- what's the most space-conscious/ efficient way to heat a garage woodshop?

[pelligrini]

What would you say would be minimal in the garage? If it is indeed two circuits at 15A now, is that enough? If I have the electrical pulled to as a sub panel, how many amps do I want at a minimum? 30? 40? 60? What gauge wire do those require?

A lot of it depends on the distance from your main panel. A 30 or 40 amp 220v would give you 60 or 80 amps at 120.

Just two 15A circuits might be OK depending on the loads, especially if the lighting is on a separate circuit.

I like having one circuit dedicated for a higher amperage tool, and another for a lower amperage DC or Shop-VAC. The second can run a little lighting, radios, battery chargers, etc.. I prefer the lighting and other ancillary loads off of the tool circuits though. You might need a little more power if you want to run any AC or elec. heating.

[LCHIEN]

...What would you say would be minimal in the garage? If it is indeed two circuits at 15A now, is that enough? If I have the electrical pulled to as a sub panel, how many amps do I want at a minimum? 30? 40? 60? What gauge wire do those require?
...

As for how many 15 or 20-Amp circuits or 120 or 240 you need...
you need to count your potential tools.

Main tools (e.g. your table saw, router, jointer, planer, bandsaw) will only run one at a time if its a personal workshop, so you need one shared circuit. If you have a mix of 120 and 240, then you'll have to have at least two circuits.

Dust collector - if you have one like a 2HP HF DC then you'll need a circuit just for that.

If you have an air compressor you like to leave on while working so you can shoot a brad or two here and there or blow the dust off some stuff, then you'll need a circuit for the compressor. It won't always be running but it can kick in automatically at any time to make up for air loss or usage. If you try to share a circuit with your saw and are sawing when this happens it will trip off your main tool. You also don't want to wait a minute or two for the tank to be charged from zero to shoot a brad now and then. So its a real requirement for a well-equipped shop.

A/C and/or electrical Heating would seem to require an additional cirrcuit, if you have this. Of course you wouldn't run both at the same time so you can have them on the same circuit.

All your other stuff, lights, chargers, small hand tools, small bench tools, stereo, computer can probably run comfortably off one more circuit, with a lot of strategically placed outlets.

That's five for a well equipped shop. You may not need them all for example subtract 2 if you have no DC and no Airconditioning and don't plan to ever add either of them. Subtract another if you don't mind waiting for the compressor everytime. So a bare minimum of 2.

P.S. don't forget the cold beverage machine.

[Eric]

For electrical in my wood shop area I've got one circuit for my lights, two 110 circuits along the walls , one for my dust collector. Also have another 20 amp circuit running to 3 outlets on my outfeed table.

For my wall outlets I have it wired so that circuits alternate so that one outlet is on one circuit then the next is on the other, and the outlets are about 4' apart. That way if I have a shop vac or something running next to the router, or sander then they're on separate circuits. Also I wired all my outlets at 20 amps, most tools run fine on 15 but just to be covered I went with 20.

I also like the french cleat system and that's the way I've built all my wall cabinets, clamp racks etc. For pegboard you can make a frame and hang pegboard from it too which works pretty slick.

[pacwind3]

I've gotten away with two 15a, but I would say it's the minimum you can work with. I had my table saw, planer and jointer on one circuit. Since I only use one at a time, there were no problems. Lights, shop vac and everything else on the other circuit. It worked out pretty well actually.

[jabe]

I have 3 circuits all GFI 20 amps w/3outlets on ea circuit and a 220V 30 amp for my dust collector. More circuits the better as long as your panel can handle it or add a sub panel.
Patch your leaks from the outside 1st. Cleaning out the gutters might solve some of your leak issues but U still need to fix the voids in your motar joints. U can use don't know the correct name for it but pastry chefs use them to make decorative icing on cakes, fill up the funnel and squeeze it out, they make um for cement/motar too. Anyway squeeze the motar into the voids and use a pointing trowel to smooth it out.

[thrytis]

If you have water coming through the walls, you may also have some seeping up through the floor. Test your floor first before putting down epoxy, because water movement from under the floor will cause it to peel.

[BigguyZ]

Well, today I should be having an electrical contractor over to look at the wiring. They ran 12/3, and only used one circuit. I'm thinking the best solution (ok, cheapest solution) would be to just have a sub panel with (2) 20A breakers. Table saw on one, and lights and smaller items on another.

While I'm waiting for the electrician, I'm going to start the work of patching the cinderblock wall base. I'll find any loose mortar, and patch with a vinyl patch. I have some concrete for a larger hole, and hydraulic cement for any narrow cracks. Follow that up with a bead of conrete caulk between the stucco exterior and the concrete walkway, and I hope that should solve the water issues. Then, I'll get a gallon (or two, if needed) of the oil base Watertite to fully seal it. Later, I'll epoxy the floor.

If I don't upgrage to a larger amperage sub-panel, what I AM thinking of doing is to wire the outlets and lights and everything so that if I want to upgrade in the future, it's just a matter of re-wiring a little bit by the panel, rather than the entire garage...

After the wiring is done, I'll insulate and cover with 1/2" ply or some other non-drywall sheet good.

What do you all think?