How narrow is too narrow in a workshop?

[yellofins]

Hi Folks,
A while back I posted that I'm planning to build a shop.
After going through the HOA process and the town approvals I am reconsidering this undertaking.
Because of setbacks and codes I am limited to 10' wide shop.
After taking space out for foundation and walls my interior would be about
9' wide and 24' long. I wouldn't be able to walk around my saw.....
I don't think it's worth building at this point (especially since with the brick I'm forced to use and 12/12 pitch roof I'm looking at $25K plus.......)
At 10' width the upper floor would also be useless....except for bowling

Do any of you have a shop with a 10' or less width?

I'm interested in the shortcomings of this and if it's worth going on or if I should just stay in the garage.

Thanks,
Ron

[Will Goodwin]

Ask Doug Robinson how wide his shop is. It is a small one car garage bay in a 3 car garage. I think with the length, you'd be able to make it work. Now if it is worth the headache of building, that is another question.
And bowling sounds cool. Just make the lanes out of SYP and we'll all come over and OOH and AHH.

Will

[Bigdog72]

My shop is 16'x24' and (because I am large) it really is going to be cramped when I am done setting up. I have already prepped LOML for bigger and better.

[Douglas Robinson]

Ron:

While my shop is small (relatively) it is 12' wide and 22' long. I tink your instincts are correct. 9' wide will be very difficult to work in. Further, what is the resale value? Can you build the addition as a garage and then make your existing garage a dedicated shop?

Doug

[woodnick]

Door placement will be the key. My shop is 12" wide. I have the door to one side on the 12' width with the jointer just inside the door and the saw on the other side, so I can pull it in front of the door for long cuts. It's not the best for cabinet work but it works for all the other work I do.

[Travis Porter]

I had a shop with interior dimensions of 8 ft by 24 ft one time and it was miserable. The length was nice, but I swapped it for a 15 by 15 interior dimensions as soon as I could.

Have you considered making your shop an addition to the house instead of a detached structure? Might get you by some of the restrictions you are having.

[woodrat]

Hey Ron,

My small shop is only about 10 x 18 and it
does get crowded. It gets to be a mess
when I'm working if I don't pick-up
and put stuff away after use. I learned early
on that you have to clean up often.

Shop layout has to be done just right. I must
have done mine over about 10 to 12 times
before I got it to where I could live with it.

The whole shop(what little there is) is
centered around my table saw. The only 2
pieces that are not on wheels is my RAS and
my drill press. All else is on wheels out of necessity.

JimmyC can tell you just how small the shop is.
He has seen it at it's worst...cluttered and almost
empty.

So, a small shop can be made workable, even though
the vast majority would like a huge shop.

If you would like to stop by and take a gander at the
shop, just let me know. I live in the Cleveland area just
down the road from you. Close to 40 & 42. Send me
a pm if you want to stop by. I here most of the time.

Thanks,

Woodrat aka Archie

[froglips]

I'm in a 12x12 shed/shop.

If it wasn't for the 4' wide door, much of what i do wouldn't be possible. I've cut small "doors" in the wall so I can do things like rip long boards.

I've also sacraficed comfort for storage. I have open stud walls that are chuck full of little shelves.

That said, the cost and HOA limitations sure sound steep for what you are getting.

Jim

[macdaddy]

I used to have a 10' by 10' shop. Well it was just used to store my tools and I did all of the work outside. All of my tools were the small portable kind but even some bandsaws are small enough to pick up and carry around. It was a bit of a hassle to carry thing in and out but there were three main advantages: The best air quality possible and without any filters, also the very best lighting (daytime work of course), and you did not even have to clean up the sawdust when you finished. The wind just blew it into the grass. I now have a 12' by 24' shop but I still carry some messy tool such as 12" portable planner outside the door and let the chips fly off into the wind.

[ebarr]

Man, I am glad the only HOA I have to deal with is Momma!!

Then again a committee might be easier

[McRabbet]

I think you are right not to try for a 9' wide shop -- you will find it very awkward to use. I have a long room in my shop that has limited use. Here is the lighting plan for my shop (nearly 800 sf total):

The lower room of my basement shop is 12' x 32' and I have dedicated it to my woodrack and RAS on the jogged wall that adjoins the main shop, a 10' x 12' finishing area at the right end, benches down the outside wall opposite the woodrack and across the windowed 12' end. I use the RAS very little and have a benchtop drill press and 9" auxiliary baandsaw on one of the benches. My bigger tools are in the main shop area that is 15.5' x 25', with my 10" cabinet saw located dead center (also have 26" drum sander, 6x48 belt sander and 12" compound mitersaw station). I have an 8' wide framed opening connecting the two rooms and a 6' double door to the outside. I've added more circuits since this was drawn.

[Don Sorensen]

Wow, I feel kinda guilty. I plan on building a 12 x 12 "shed" to get all my yard-ninja tools out of my "shop"....a.k.a. "garage. But until I get one of the bigger pieces (like a table saw or a band saw suitable for resawing) I'm only using the back 10 ft or so of my garage. I could load all of my shop tools into the back of a pick up truck at this point.

[Steve W]

I think the cost would kill it for me, rather than the size. Having to spend all that $$$ on the outside doesn't return enough value for what you want to use it for.

I have seen some folks build additions off the back of the garage. Of course, you'd still have to adhere to HOA restrictions, but this could be a less expensive way out.

Having said all that, I did build my kitchen cabinets at my last house in a 7 x 15' space in my cellar. It wasn't the most pleasant workspace (especially with a rough floor poured by someone opening bags of Sakrete and dumping them on the dirt floor without screeding it, and a 6' 10" pipe-infested ceiling) but I was able to build my cabinets one-at-a-time.

Steve

[Nativespec]

You could have a couple of French doors that swing out to a porch and have an awning to give you some more space around your table saw. Fold-down benches would be another Idea.

David

[JimmyC]

Ron,

I have been to Archies(woodrat) shop, it is 10x16 and he does make it work. If you do go for it, try to have a concrete pad leading to it so that you can pull out your table saw and rip long boards. Long ago I learned that we all adapt to what we have.

Good luck,

Jimmy