We’ve lived here for nearly 20 years and I plan on doing some light renovations this summer. My workshop looks like it is original to the house - straight from the 1950’s. It’s in the basement of my house. Gray concrete floor that hasn’t been painted in easily 50 years, gray cabinets, sheet metal on top of the workbench. I’ve gotta get it updated. My biggest questions to all my dawgtalkers brothers and sisters are as follows:
Ideas for the flooring? Should I simply paint it or do you recommend linoleum, rubber, or a floating floor?
The cabinets. I have two grey wooden cabinets that run floor to ceiling, great for storage but so outdated. Tear them out? Paint them? Replace with shelving?
The workbench. Think of something that your gramps would have made as a workbench. Wood, sturdy, piece of well used sheet metal on top. It’s held up well butagain, needs either a fresh coat of paint and a new work surface, or needs to be ripped out altogether.
To consider… my furnace and hot water tank are on the left as you enter the room, workbench is straight ahead, cabinets on the wall to the right. Cinder block walls behind it all. The room is about 12’x12’. Thanks in advance.
I am sure you have seen concrete floors in Walmart or some grocery stores that have what looks like polished concrete.
I had some concrete floors done with acid stained concrete. It is great because it seals the floor. No dust etc. Easy to clean with just water.
Workshop space is about planned use?
I use my garage. I have a bench with a vice that is on mobile wheels. It allows me to move it around if I need to cut long boards etc. I also use it to carve. So I have a portable 3/4" plywood top that fits the bench that I can take on and off.
Shelf space is always a need. I don't use cabinets just open shelves. Every wall is almost top to bottom custom built heavy duty shelves. Built with 2x4's and thick plywood. I use containers if stuff needs to be covered.
How you outfit the space depends on what you will use it for.
It's a work shop. I wouldn't spend any money on the floors other than a mat or two where you work. The age of the bench and cabinets don't matter as long as they are sturdy.
I would spend my money on things that are functional.
Are there enough outlets in easy to access places?
Maybe add updated lighting. Small areas next to the furnace usually aren't the best lit areas of a home. My guess is doing that alone will give you a different outlook on the space. Just place the lighting so it isn't casting your own shadow over the work area. Don't ask me how I know that...lol. Yes, i did have to go back up and rehang the light fixture a week or so later.
Is there adequate ventilation? 12X12 isn't very big if you plan to do any painting, varnishing. I'd consider a vent fan over the workbench or on the wall with direct ventilation outside.
As for the workbench, again, if it is functional, why replace it? Just get a sheet of plywood cut to size and wood screw it in over the existing surface. In a few years, unscrew it, flip it over and bam...a fresh surface if it is double surfaced plywood. If not, just get a new sheet every few years. Without seeing it, I'd just leave the metal surface unless it is just beat to crap. I wouldn't paint it. You will start scratching it up as soon as you use the thing. If you are dead set on improving the look, just get a new bench at Home Depot but that sounds like a waste of money if the current bench is solid.
Maybe install some pegboard on the block wall so you can hang wrenches, etc. on hooks.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
Ideas for the flooring? Should I simply paint it or do you recommend linoleum, rubber, or a floating floor?
RMuni...First, when I need ideas for something..I utilize YouTube videos as a source of information. Many times you get different ideas as well as a video on how to construct whatever it is your building.
Concerning a floor..concrete is a good choice, painted in whatever color you wish. If you are going to spend time standing at a work bench, utilizing a padded rubber mat to stand on is easier on your legs and joints and if you need to clean the mat you can take it outside and scrub it with soap and water and use a hose to rinse. Type in "rubber floor padding for workshop floor"... and see some of the different ideas others have tried.
You mentioned your furnace and hot water heater being near the workshop area... if you are heating with gas you have to take into consideration that any product that has an odor (such as paint, varnish or chemical smells such as WD-40) can foul the furnace or water heater flame and give off a toxic smell. You might consider a good ventilation system to turn on if using chemicals in the same area as your workshop...OR use a heating source that does not rely on a gas flame.
Alot to consider. If the cabinets aren't efficient, get them out. Especially if things are cluttered and you need to be more efficient. At the end of the day, regardless of how things look, an organized shop is what will bring the biggest smile to your face.
If you want to do a bunch of work for a night and day difference, break your ass prepping that floor and put down some epoxy. If you spruce and paint around a new floor, it will look like a brand new, modern space.
I'm with 'Peen 100% on the bench. If it's sturdy and fits your needs, keep it simple. If it's not, find some plans for a bench on wheels and build your own...
Other than that, already great ideas by others. Better lighting, more accessible electric, pegboard if necessary, ventilation consideration.
Also, I have pull-out racks under my workbench and love them. There are a bunch of efficiency ideas here:
My buddy and I have a 2500’ sq shop where we build art. We have many of our tools on rollers so we can move them around the shop easily. Our drill presses, table saw, steel drop bandsaw, the welders, the pipe bender/roller, plasma cutter, even our big work table are all on locking casters. It makes clearing space on the floor for bigger pieces easier. It also allows us to bring the tools to where the steel is. Often times moving the steel is difficult if not impossible without a forklift.
I just want to echo absolutely everything 'Peen just said.
If ain't broke, don't fix it. Fancy floors will just get marred up. Far more important is to have flat and level floors. Adequate electrical is mandatory.
Space is limited - this is your biggest driver for design decisions, IMO. Absolutely everything you decide should be taking this and what you plan to do in the space into consideration.
What type(s) of work do you do most in there? Do you do work in there, or is it mostly tool storage? What tools do you use most?
Consider collapsible wall-mounted workbenches and multi-use tables such as this:
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
I’m thinking to take into account what everyone has said. For the floor, it looks like paint or vct tiles. Take the doors off the shelving to make it look bigger and slap a coat of paint on the shelves. Clean and paint the existing workbench and screw on a new surface. Purchase a rolling workbench that I can roam into the other room in the basement to work on bigger projects . I forgot to mention that there is pegboard on the wall opposite the workbench (same side as the entry door). I’ll paint that as well. As for what I do in there, great question. When I was younger, I’d actually use the workshop and create/fix stuff for the house. Lately, I’ll go down there, drink beer and reminisce while talking to old friends on my cellphone. I have an old mini-fridge so I’ll move that to the ‘shop as well. Also, there is only one outlet. Directly above the workbench. Maybe ask my brother in law run a second line for me. I’ll have to get before and after pics to post here as well.
Safety first… not to take over your thread but I just got out of the ER. I got my glove caught in our pipe roller this afternoon. After surgery I’m going to lose my left pointer finger just below the first joint. It took my entire fingertip clean off. I’m okay… as must as one could expect. Good pain meds help.
Damn bro! That sucks. I hope you're okay emotionally but I'm sure it's hard to shrug off. Sending good vibes for healing on all fronts! The price we pay for the things we love -- it's all worth it in the end (and along the way) -- this too shall pass.
It’s weird to get hurt then look down and not see part of you where it’s supposed to be. It’s a little shocking to think about. I’m sure it’ll really set in when I get through the amputation surgery and see what’s left. Right now it’s just wrapped up in a thick bandage until my appointment in the morning. I’m just so incredibly grateful it’s my left hand. The same injury on my right hand would be totally devastating. That’s my drawing hand. My writing hand. My welding hand. Etc.
Thank God man. I was going to ask but was afraid it was the other way around. I'm left-handed and a product of a time when that was discouraged, so I'm fairly ambidextrous (I can't use scissors with my left hand to save my life, weird).
Accidents happen, sometimes no matter how careful you are. As a note to all (because I recently nearly learned the hard way), always 'read the rules' and maybe mix in a YT video before you do something new, no matter how simple it seems. Sometimes can be as mundane as loose clothing being dangerous, but you may have never thought of it. I know that has nothing to do with you, Port, and not trying to hijack, but your "bad" can help be someone else's "good".
I redid my workshop last year. It is a garage. The work benches are husky tool chests. I have a stand up chest as well. Pegboard behind the work benches. And 4 organizers for small parts.
I really like the chests, lots of storage. And labeled with every tool / music pun that I could come up with. Everyone gets a chuckle.
I tried to minimize open shelving and I like closed cabinets.
Stereo with 4 speakers, 200 disc CD player. 43 inch TV epoxy floor.
Lots of automotive signs and some vintage tin ads sitting with the 69 Pontiac Firebird.
The most important tool in a workshoppe is your vacuum.
My first wife called my efforts a Garage mahal. Current wife is way more supportive. She is a keeper for that and many other reasons.
Man, I get this completely. I haven't lost a finger, but I have dentures and it was a weird adjustment to think that I will never again see parts of me that I was born with.
I'm glad you're ok! This sort of thing runs through my head often. Still fresh in my mind from middle school are the stories the shop teacher told about neckties getting grabbed by a table saw blade, or drill presses catching a girl's pony tail.
I once came close to losing a thumb in a log splitter because I wasn't paying attention while a friend operated it and I was the loader. A friend of mine had a two-man auger grab his winter jacket and in a blink his entire arm was wrapped around it and held on at the shoulder by only jacket fabric and a tendon or two.
Bad things happen FAST.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
Not sure if this is applicable, but I'll put in a plug for a modular toolbox. Depending on size and amount of tools, it may help with saving floorspace.
I have a good bit of my tools out in the garage (hand tools for the car as well as outdoor stuff). My tool collection was such that getting rid of the harbor freight tool cart and moving everything in a modular setup I put together saved a decent amount of floor space (additional storage space means the toolbox goes higher, not longer/wider). I also bought the little dolly that goes underneath so now I just roll the whole thing out when I'm under/in the car and it's all right there vs walking back and forth. I bought mine off of Tekton's website (which is the same as the Bosch system), but there are a bunch of brands that have their own systems (I think Milwaukee might be the most popular).
There is no level of sucking we haven't seen; in fact, I'm pretty sure we hold the patents on a few levels of sucking NOBODY had seen until the past few years.
Quick update. Last night was fairly brutal. Had to get up for pain meds twice. I got some sleep thankfully. Woke up to a bloody bandage. Then went and saw the hand surgeon this morning. She numbed it back up for me and rebandaged it. She sent me home with dressing supplies and instructions. I go in for surgery on Wednesday. So weird to think I lost a finger tip and the system seems to be like… “Meh, it’s a flesh wound. We’ll see you next week for the amputation.” …but here I am, living proof of such.
Anyway. My buddy took me to my appointment. Afterwards we went back to the shop so I could get my car. He’s a bit squeamish. Yesterday after he returned to the shop post dropping me at the ER, he saw my fingertip remnant on the shop floor next to the pipe roller. Well, he threw a spraypaint can lid over it as he couldn’t bring himself to clean it up. Lol. So today I did the task. Kind of dissociative to pick up your own smashed finger tip. I took a photo… it’s straight horror show stuff.
Here’s a photo I took after my bandage change at the doc’s office. Before she splinted and padded it.
Um… my pointer finger ain’t supposed to be that short… They’ll take more during the surgery. Suffer for my art… I think I’m done with that [censored].
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Make your own tip prosthesis for different tasks. Need to tie filament, make a protheses that will make doing it easier than with the full finger. Make one for each task you are having problems with. I dont know how or what these might look like but you are a creative guy I bet you can come up with some good ones.
I was just talking with my buddy about this. We could 3D print some fun stuff. It could get strange and lewd if I passed my finger stub file around within the artist community we know. Lol Trying to stay positive. Healing, but never being whole again is a weird pill to swallow.
pd..I feel for you knowing the danger involved in working around powerful lathes and grinders for over 20 yrs. I hope the surgeons are able to restore as much of your finger as possible.
Surgery in a couple hours. Wish me luck. I’m thankful I was referred to one of the best hand surgeons in the state. May she walk away today thinking to herself, ”that’s the best amputation and flap I’ve ever done”.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Up right now with an ice pack. Hoping the pain meds kick in again so I can grab a little more sleep. Tonight has been the most uncomfortable I’ve been since this all started. I’ll get through it, but damn.
I hope you get some relief soon. I didn't sleep much at all following my shoulder surgery. It sucks.
I have been thinking about the idea for a prosthetic type finger end. It turns out that there are companies that offer these, and some appear to be covered by insurance.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
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