Wanted: Shop Layout ideas please.....

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Hi All,I'm after layout ideas for my home workshop.Keen to make it practical, tidy and safe - my shop would be in my garage which is big enough to house two cars - would need to move the cars out when working, so my bench will be either foldable or on wheels.Pictures would be ideal and any tips you have would be greatly appreciatedMany thanksChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick
Reply:My recommendation is to not forget about the walls and ceiling. Use the volume of the space, just not the square footage. I don't have any pictures on this computer, but I have ladders hung from the ceiling, tools on every wall, and an entire wall of shelves. Another point is to get some enclosed shelving. The doors help keep things clean and tidy. I was able to recylce an old entertainment center and hung it on the wall. This holds almost all my hand power tools and air tools. Gotta save a $$ where ever you can!
Reply:Thanks Meat man,I didn't think of the ceiling.....that could save a lot of floor and wall space for me :-)ChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick
Reply:Someone had mentioned using the backside of the garage doors for storage of light items.  Bungee chords/ratchet straps etc.  Just don't overload them and use the space wisely. Something to consider.
Reply:Do a big shelf all around the top of the garage, at least big enough for totes to fit on.  Boards laid across the tops of filing cabinets make great shelving storage, with room for storing large things underneath, like tools, welding equipment, etc.  The filing cabinets can also be used for tools.If you are decent with woodworking tools, you can make "I-beams" out of wood, and nail them to your ceiling supports.  The width in between the I-beams should be the right width to take a tote and slide it in between the top and bottom rail - the bottom rail will support the tote.Depending on the size of the pieces you plan on welding, you can make a fold-up table (like a TV tray), or for larger ones, have a table that folds down flat from the wall.  This thread has good ideas for tables:http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...&highlight=wwfLast edited by SpyGuy; 07-10-2009 at 11:49 AM.
Reply:For maximizing work space, I use benches that fold down:
Reply:Gawd, I hate you ..... your workspace is so clean!  Mine looks like someone rolled up the garage door and threw a grenade in there ......
Reply:I have a large "storage" shelf at the back of the garage. The nose of the car goes under the shelf, since I need every inch in the garage to get the old land yaht in and close the door in a 20' deep garage.The same idea could be used with a workbench if the height works for you. If you look at the previously posted pict of the workbench with the tools on the wall, think of the hood of the car going under the bench and between the support legs.BTW thats not clean, its empty. I did have to look twice and see if the anvil flipped up with the bench.
Reply:It's empty for two reasons: 1) it's the side of the garage where the car parks, and 2) I took the picture right after I finished building the second fold-down table (and cleaned up everything from the build).  The other half of the garage has a smaller welding table and two bigger work surfaces.  There's always something going on in there.Right now, I'm putting together a wrought-iron fence and it's anything but clean.
Reply:I just wished I had 1/3 that much free space. Shelves floor to ceiling on both side walls, heavy tools (hor. band saw, vert bans saw, table saw, 6 welders, 3 cutting rigs, plasma, shaper..) and roller cabinets(5) shoved out of the way on the floor. 275 gal fuel tank, large mower, VERY large 71 plymouth in the middle that ends up as "storage" if I'm not carefull ( project vehicle, township gets pissed if it's outside because its not registerd while I work on it), rafters loaded with spare pipe, 2x's boxes, Lots a partial sheet goods stored against needs, large supply of "shorts" for projects. 4 bottles min... You get the idea. I'm lucky if I can keep 2 narrow isles open to get to things. Work in the garage? Are you nuts?! I can tell you how to get 10 lbs of $hit in a 5lb box... and still have room to toss in some more stuff.
Reply:Here is a hit for ALL of the people here.Get out your phone book and look up demolition companies.Call them and tell them you are interested in saving them some dump fees. Tell them you would like to come to their job site and take cabinets.I worked for a demo company for a couple years and we would do anything to keep the dump fees down. If you wanted cabinets, we would call you when we had a job with cabinets and you could get them for free, just show up with a trailer and we would load them for you.Doctors offices have some of the best cabinets. I have one entire wall of my shop that has upper and lower cabinets (millwork). There is a LOT of storage there.You can also get on their list for insulation (it fills the truck fast) and other items.You just need to approach them and ask if they are willing to give cabinets away to avoid dump fees. You can get a lot of good stuff this way. They sometimes get office furniture, mirrors and big glass. We even got a working forklift from a demo job.Call several companies and they will give you more than you want. When you get all you want, ask to be removed from their list.
Reply:Good point Bob.One minor note to that however. These guys want to work FAST. They are not going to want to wait for it to be convienient for you. When they say they have stuff, they'll want you to come and get it and get out. In some cases they won't have issues with you doing stuff after hours, other times you might have to do it days.I've worked several demo jobs. We scavanged all the 2" styro off the walls and stored it for future use. ( saved at least 3 dumpsters if not more, and he's still using up stuff stashed in his attic for foundation insulation) We had several guys who wanted the light metal scrap, fine, just don't get in our way. We'll pile it up on the side, you pick thru it. I also know if you say you'll come back and get the 2nd load, if it's there 2 days later it's going in the dumpster.We got hired, by the owner, to remove 3 stone fireplace mantels, a front arch way, granite steps and some decoritive elements from a building that was going to be demo'd. Aranged a time to start with him on Monday morning, to be done by Wed. so demo could begin. Monday comes, No building! Demo guy got done early on the last job and just started on the previous Friday. About all that was salvageable was a few decoritive elements, the basement mantel (floor colapsed over it and protected it when the chimney came down) and 1/2 the steps. These guys will not wait long, time is money.
Reply:Thanks Guys,Looks like it's shelving wall to wall, a stack of cabinets saved from the dump and I love the fold up benches.Does anyone have ideas on ventilation/exhaust fans etc ?Also, what are the pros and cons of painting/coating the floor as opposed to plain concrete floor ?ChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick
Reply:I would avoid painting a concrete floor.I worked comercial concrete for years, yes it can be done and it can last. The problem is in prep. Any oil or residue on the floor will cause to finish to lift. Concrete is pourous and will absorb things, just washing the surface is seldom enough to get a lasting coating.When the over coat fails you have an extra problem, you now have to remove the failing material and hope the stuff that stays does not fail in the future.On the other hand, those that do heavy work that frequently involves liquids can benifit from having the surface sealed in some way. The best time is imediately after the concrete has cured, usually 3-30 day depending on the Mfg recomendations. I coated my driveway with the same sealer we used for decoritive concrete. It's a commercial ureathane based concrete sealer that soaks into the surface. Unfortunately the Feds have made it unavailable due to the high VOC's it contained, but it is impervious to oils, gas, tranny fluid, salt etc. Leaks can be just wiped off the surface if done with in a day or so of the spill. It does need to be recoated every 3-5 years, usually when you notice that the water nolonger beads on the surface and seems to "soak" in. There are some newer VOC compliant sealers available, but they are not quite as good IIRC. I do know the one my old boss now obtains and uses curently, is not diesel proof like my old coating is. The diesel will begin to break down the finish faster if not removed right away. However it did keep it from soaking into the concrete so that you could mop it up (slight color change but thats about it)A few down sides to it. It changes to color to a darker shade. The best way to describe it is if you spray the concrete with water thats about the color it will turn after the sealer drys. You need at least 2 good coats minimum, 3 on heavy trafic areas. However on high finish surfaces like power troweled floors it get slick very fast when wet. Usually the remedy is to sprinkel with  sand after the 1st coat is aplied and is still wet, then top coat to get the sand to stay.The brands I am most familiar with are those from Increte and Butterfield. Schoefield (SP?)used to cary some but I forget if it was a rebadged product from someone else, and there were several other I forget now. This stuff is NOT Thompsons. It's also not the stain sealers sold in most paint stores. Now that I think of it, Butterfield used to also make the same sealer with color additives, but we never had much call for colors. If you look under stamp concrete suppliers you can find this stuff. Again you can't get the surface too clean. Most of the things we found that worked best to clean a surface were not clean themselves. Hot water pressure washers with heavy duty degreasers worked so/so. Sand blasting off the top surface worked great, but was very messy and left a texture to the floor and paterns could be seen if the operator wasn't careful. Floor grinding or milling was another option, but again very noisy, dirty and sometimes left marks,. It was also tough to do edges and corners well. both grinding and sand blasting required presure washing afterwords to remove any dust.Hope this helps.
Reply:Thanks DSW,It certainly isn't as simple as I thought, especially in the prep of the floor. I would imagine the cost of the good stuff if available would be high ? I'm now starting to think that I may have to put up with the occasional stain and just hose out the garage when done working - even though it would look nicer and cleaner if it was coated.Would the coating be sprayed or applied the conventional way with brushes or rollers ? Would i need any special equipment to apply it?ChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick
Reply:Applying the sealer is easy. The stuff is almost the consistancy of water and we frequently just used a 3/4" nap roller to apply it and occasionally a brush in corners and tight spaces. The only special thing is that you need to use phenolic core rollers (the good ones from a paint store) as the solvent base in the sealer will break down the glue on the cheapy rollers. Oh LOTS of ventilation, this stuff willl get you high FAST in an enclosed space! Whoohoo!You get about 200-400 sq ft / gal depending on conditions and wether it has been previously sealed. Out doors in the summer in the sun on dark colors this stuff would dry almost as fast as it would go down, and  coverage went down signifigantly. In a garage, in the shade, the 1st coat would probably be about 200 sqft/ gal and  after that much better.Around pools and such we would some times spray the stuff with a garden like sprayer so that we go a very light coat to keep slips to a minimum. The sealer cleans up with Xylene and sprayers are a pain to clean, Rollers we'd just leave in a spare bucket with a couple of inches of sealer to keep them wet between coats, (usually the bucket we used to roll out of) and toss the roller covers when done.I forget prices, but want to say a 5 gal bucket was somewhere between $75-100, but I could be way high or low  now for all I know.Here's the Butterfield link I found on what I believe is the sealer my buddy currently uses. It's not sold direct from Butterfield, you need to find a local distributor to buy from.http://www.butterfieldcolor.com/prod..._guard_cs.htmlWe only took a few jobs  on old floors. Usually the floors were VERY bad. The space was being converted usually from auto shop space to retail and they wanted to keep the existing floors for money reasons, but needed a better look on the "industrial" floor if that makes sense. Most times we coated new, and just went back 2-3 days later and applied the stuff with little or no prep on the fresh concrete.If the garage floor has been well kept, you may have only minimal issues. Scrub the floor with simple green to remove oil spots and wash. Pay special attention to any areas that you know had oil spilled there. If you see areas that the water beads or has an oil sheen, those areas have to be rewashed. Continue untill you see no more oil and then do it again. Like I said before you can't get the floor too clean. The cleaner you get the floor, the better chances are that the finnish you lay down will stay.Last edited by DSW; 07-12-2009 at 10:19 AM.
Reply:Thanks DSW,Appreciate your help :-)ChelaSydney, Australia - "Knowing is more precious than Having"Kemppi Minarc, 150 VRD- Small but capable- TIG / Stick