After years of working, repairing, and building in the main shop, I’ve finally gotten tired of having to drive down there every time I want to do a simple repair or setup. I decided it’s time to build a small workshop in my house. This might come as a surprise to you. What? I don’t have a workshop at my house. Well until now, no. I’ve always kept all my repairs and building projects at the main shop about a mile and half away. I’m still going to keep that as my main shop, but I want something small that I can use while I’m at the house.
I figured that this would be a great opportunity to show you how I’m going to setup a professional workshop in a small space. Maybe it will give you some ideas for your basement or garage.
So, here’s the layout. Part of our basement is an unfinished area with cement walls and floors, an unfinished studded wall, and no ceiling. Basically, it’s an extension of the utility room. Needless to say, my wife won’t step foot in this room–a perfect place for me to setup my shop 🙂 . I can use this space and it won’t affect the rest of the house.
Check out my progress and thoughts as I turn this unfinished basement into a great guitar workshop. I hope this gives you some ideas for customizing your shop or even starting your own! Let’s get to work.
Workshop Layout and Design
Probably the most important and functional part of building a workshop is the layout. Ask any woodworker or luthier about their shop. The layout is key. Layout and placement controls what you can put in your shop as well as how well you can work in it. Your shop layout will help create something awesome or something very frustrating. Let’s take a few minutes and sketch out what I think is important to have in my shop…
Finishing the Floor
A lot of people probably wouldn’t think too much about the floor when they are building a workshop. The floor is an important part though. In a wood shop, you are constantly sweeping or vacuuming sawdust and wood chips up off the floor. Why not make it easier on yourself? Here’s what I did…