Shop Changes

[Tabasco]

Recently I have made improvements to my shop to make working in there better.

First, I had a 30 x 20 car port installed over the outside of my overhead doors. It keeps the sun out of my shop, allows me to keep the doors open when it is raining. It also and gives me a place to do dirty things like sand blasting and stripping paint in the shade. And gives me a place to do clean things in the shade like car washes and waxing. I have a couple of lawn chairs under there so I have a shady place to take a break.

Here is what my shop looked when I had it built.

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Here is the cover.

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[NickP]

Cool! Looks like it was always there

[Tabasco]

Also, A few years ago I built a wall to separate a third of my shop from the main area. I used that area for storing two cars and a 40 year collection of trifive parts . That area could be kept clean while I did wood working, grinding, welding, body work, spraying primer, etc. in the main shop area.
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Recently I realized that when I do decide to paint a car, my main shop area would not be the cleanest place to do it. So, I redid that clean area. I moved my stored cars and parts somewhere else. Then I replaced peg board with sheetrock. I further divided the space with a wall. Now I have a tool room, about 10 x 20 and a paint room, about 20 x 20. I added 4 new windows for more natural light, added another air drop and installed LED shop lights. I’m still plan to install exhaust fans.

Now I just have to get the car ready to paint and I have a space to do it in.

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[Rick_L]

Nice job on making the shop be what you need it to be.

[TrifiveRichard]

Looks great, nice work! So does the 56 drop top.

[BamaNomad]

Great looking shop Tobasco! :) I LIKE it.... especially the shaded porch area.. :)

[carls 56 (RIP 11/24/2021)]

you did good, great man-cave. good place to hide from your honey, never find you in there.

[56Safari]

Shop is looking good... I'm trying to figure out a way to add functional covered space on my property as well... too many variables, not enough time to focus... maybe next year I can wrap my head around it

[busterwivell]

Nice shop! I added a metal awning to the front of my shop, too. You are right, keeps rain out, actually keeps the shop a little cooler. I used to have the beer frig by the overhead door and it had to work much harder to keep beer cold when the sun was shining on it. Mine is 24 x 30........24 x 20 for the work area, 24 x 10 for the storage, hot water heater, frig, utility sink, oven for powder coating...........and it has a heat pump.....so, warm in winter, cool in summer. My 4 post lift is on a slab next to the shop, outdoors. If the weather is crumby, that job on the lift waits until tomorrow.

[Tabasco]

My garage is a different building from my work shop. It has an office, a full bath, full kitchen and washer and dryer. My work shop is where I make all my messes.

I have called a few air conditioner companies to see about installing central air/heat in the two new rooms I just added to my shop. After I told one guy what I wanted, he told me didn't have time right now to do a small job. Another guy made an appointment and then never showed up. One guy showed up. He told me he would email me an estimate in one to two business days. That was two weeks ago and haven't heard from him.

So this week I put another window in my tool room. I am going to put a window AC unit in for the summer. Maybe if call these guys in October when their business is slow, they will be more likely to take my money.

[NickP]

Look at the mini split units - some are DIY

[Rick_L]

A window unit will go a lot farther than you might think. I have one in my shop but it's relatively small (24'x36'). You have to turn it on early in the day or in the evening to expect excellent results though, and it won't cool the areas far away from the unit. You need insulation too. A friend of mine in central TX has one in 40'x50' metal building. He bought the biggest window unit he could find. It's fairly well insulated and it actually stays fairly cool in there near the unit. (Low 80s on a 100° day). With a good fan it's not too bad.

[55 Tony]

Nice shop! I added a metal awning to the front of my shop, too. You are right, keeps rain out, actually keeps the shop a little cooler. I used to have the beer frig by the overhead door and it had to work much harder to keep beer cold when the sun was shining on it. Mine is 24 x 30........24 x 20 for the work area, 24 x 10 for the storage, hot water heater, frig, utility sink, oven for powder coating...........and it has a heat pump.....so, warm in winter, cool in summer. My 4 post lift is on a slab next to the shop, outdoors. If the weather is crumby, that job on the lift waits until tomorrow.

You had me going, I read those dimensions that followed the info of the beer fridge and thought they were in inches and were the size of the THREE beer fridgs!

[55 Tony]

My garage/shop is 28x32. I have block walls and small windows. I have I think 10 or 11K btu window unit. I measured ahead of time and removed the entire window and frame just leaving a surface of 2x8's around, stuck the air in good and made a plexiglass double pane fixed window above it. I set it at 70 when I'm out and it goes up to almost 75, when in there I set it low and it get's down to 68. Costs me less than $50 on the hottest month and I also do real paying work in there so it's worth it. I do have most of it insulated but half of what isn't insulated is underground.

[Tabasco]

Well I made some more changes to my shop. When I added a paint room I put four 4 ft. LED shop lights in the middle of the ceiling. It seemed nice and bright until I really tried to work in there and decided I need more light. I added eight more 4 ft LED shop lights, 2 on each wall.

I added an exhaust fan. I cut a hole in the walk in door and installed filters for incoming air.

I also got me an electric furnace. There is one vent in the tool room and two in the paint room. I also insulated the 16 ft. door separating the paint room from the rest of the shop. This morning outside temps were in the 20s, inside of shop was about 50 degrees. The furnace got it up to 72 degrees in less than 30 minutes.

[Rick_L]

You can't beat that. Sounds like you made a good choice on the furnace.