Remodeling the shop, what should I add ?

[Dan_the_Chemist]

She Who Must Be Obeyed decided to give me a remodel for the interior of my shop. Its a converted sheep barn, and until recently you could see outside from pretty much any place in the shop. You could tell if it was raining by the delicate sound of drips in buckets... In the winter I would wear three or four layers to keep from dying.

So I am adding siding to the outside, adding insulation, OSB on the inside, putting in a "sort of" drop ceiling (not the official 2x4 panels in metal rails, it's going to be rafters and 4x8 OSB with insulation over that), new LED lighting, new electrical outlets. The front door will be changed from some nailed together planks to a real door from an architechtural recycling place. I've already installed 3 double glazed windows and that makes it a whole lot nicer.

SO, what else should I think about? Lets say I have a budget of $500-$1000 for things I haven't thought of yet. I can't go nuts here... no jacuzzis, showers, or massage chairs... but what sort of "remodeling things" would be good?

[mihit]

Insulation makes a huge difference to both heating and cooling. If you don't already have a Waste Oil burner/forge/furnace you should make one, it'll keep the place toasty. Obvious warnings about ventilation etc.

I've never been anywhere and thought "aw man, there are far too many power points here"... I like them in the ceiling and at bench height too, rather than crawling around at knee height.

A suspended ceiling will soon rot through if you don't fix the water ingress.

I like wood (Ply, OSB since you're already getting some, or the "insta-lay" TGV stuff) or anti-fatigue matting to stand in front of benches/machines. wood has the advantage that if you drop things, you can hear it and they wont get stuck in the rubber holes, and can be swept easily.

And a beer fridge. Definitely a beer fridge.

[Ringo]

Electrical distribution for your machines, and,,,,,,,,lighting.
a good laundry sink to wash up in
hot water for the above
SWMBO may give you some extra allowance and graces if you get her a new fridge, (and you take the old one)
storage space, tool cabinets, cabinets with worktops, etc.

[Seastar]

Through the wall propane furnaces. They will work without electrical power and are thermostat controlled. Heat the whole shop with one unit
Check out empirezoneheat.com
Bill

[George Bulliss]

Lots of paint.

My shop has OSB walls and ceiling and putting a few coats of light colored paint on it made a huge difference in the lighting. It was more like a cave before I painted. Just make sure to buy a lot of paint, the OSB really sucks it up.

[Ohio Mike]

Lots of paint.

My shop has OSB walls and ceiling and putting a few coats of light colored paint on it made a huge difference in the lighting. It was more like a cave before I painted. Just make sure to buy a lot of paint, the OSB really sucks it up.

Agreed. I can't believe the difference when I finally painted the garage. Bright white on the ceiling and a light cream on the walls. Bright but warm.

[Bob La Londe]

Remodeling the shop, what should I add ?

More outlets, more circuits, and maybe a larger service entrance. Certainly more 220 outlets.

[fjk]

I second the bright paint idea. Use a gloss if you can (more light, doesn’t get as dirty)

Heat, cool, dehumidify?
Internet service and phone?
What’s the floor? Does it need some upgrading?

Frank

[shampine1]

Omg, white paint rocks!

Dual wire all your quad outlets (two circuits and you can get 220 vac later if you need it)

Lots of light!

Plan in air and vacuum piping.

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[andywander]

Cover the walls with white pegboard.

Gets you out of painting, and also makes it easy to hang things.

[shampine1]

That white masonite stuff works as a dry erase board and doesnt need painting... I have a few panels in my shop.

Dont tape or float; that away you can pull a panel to add another wire or some such.

Make walls where you might hang something (like drawer cabinets) plywood or osb.

If you dont have zoning, consider a shipping container! I like mine...

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[Stepside]

French Cleats for cabinets. Then you can rearrange at will. I lucked out getting some well made cabinets from a remodel of an up-scale house. I hung all the upper cabinets on the French cleats. Also light colored painted surfaces with a high gloss paint makes it brighter. I am in the middle of installing a mini-split heat pump to add to the comfort.

[RWO]

Climate control. A thru-wall heat/cool unit gives you year round comfort with low humidity and filtered air. A 12,000 BTU unit will handle 600-700 sq. ft easily. Tool and machine rust problems disappear.

I put T111 siding on the inside walls of my shop. Painted it flat white. I can hang anything anywhere since it is basically 1/2" plywood. Looks a lot nicer than OSB if that is important to you. http://t111siding.net/

RWO

[3 Phase Lightbulb]

Install heat, tons of LED lighting, and plenty of power.