Official Luthiers Forum!

Hesh didn't need no stinkin bath!

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

I can't remember if the thread was here, which I think it was, or on the OLF, but Mario added to a thread about insulating a shop, specifically about dealing with an uninsulated slab. He suggested putting down pressure treated 2x2, I think 12 on center. Putt down thick plastic sheeting down for a vapor barrier next. Fill in between your stringers with rigid insulation and top it off with OSB screwed to the stringers.

It helps to control your RH as well as easier on your knees and your tools.

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Aoibeann

Hi Christian,
Long time no talk. Like you, I have been off the forum for quite some time. LOTS of life changes in the past 18 months!

It's nice to see your setting up a shop in your new house. I'm in the process of doing the same. Everything is pretty well laid out in the new shop, and it's down to installing the dust collecion system and adding a few more electrical outlets for the larger machines.

Lillian mentioned insulating the floor and that is the first thing I did in the new shop. I've been telling everyone that I'm going to be in that shop when I'm 90 and don't want to be walking on concrete. I laid a layer of 1" high density foil backed foam on the concrete and then 2 layers of T&G plywood on top of that. I staggered the joints and just screwed the plywood to itself, other than that the entire system is floating. I'm extremely happy with the floor. It does a nice job of warming up the space, less noise than concrete and is much better to walk on.

I live in the Lacey area now and you're always welcome to come down and use some machines if you need to.

Doug

Thanks for the advice on the floors - I didn't even think about doing that. Where do you get the foil backed foam?

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Christian my friend one thing that I can add here is something that I learned first hand. When building my own shop a little over a year ago a lot of the advice that I received on the forums, not just this one, was not correct. Although all of the advice was very well intentioned where it fell short was that no one providing this advice lived in the same area as I do and as such their concerns were often not my concerns and vice versa....

For example I was told to seal and paint, cover, install a sub floor, etc or in short do something about my bare concrete floor. Folks said that it would constantly be dusty forever leaving a layer of fine dust on everything. They also said that it would be difficult to maintain proper RH with concrete being hygroscopic and all.

My reality one year later with 4 seasons of actual data now is that my house is built in sand and as such even the sump pump has only ever run when I dumped water in it to test it. The basement is dry as a bone. I put R-13 insulation in all of my walls except one 16' expanse of exposed concrete foundation wall that I simply painted with outdoor latex.

It's 20F outside right now and 75F in my shop with a constant 45% RH with a calibrated hygrometer. My humidifier never runs down here until the temp gets lower, around 0 outside and the main level of the house starts to dry out more.

No white dust down here in fact I have yet to notice any dust at all except for the wood dust that I make and the crumbs that my slob dog leaves...

Anyway my point is that much of what I learned before and during my own shop build was from the locals at a local lumber yard and hardware store. They told me what works for them in THIS area and it was invaluable. So that's my recommendation to you - check out your local lumber yard/hardware store, take a guitar and tell them and show them what your shop will be used for. They will treat you right I suspect. After I took a guitar with me I never paid a delivery charge again for lumber, insulation, drywall, paint, mud, etc. The guys knew that whom ever made the delivery could sit in my living room and play guitars so they all jumped to help me when ever I went in there.

Doug lives in your area and this is what I am talking about - he should know, listen to him.

Good luck

Hesh,
Doug and Lillian are both local here and have been really helpful. It's nice to have people around here who can answer specific questions or lend a tool occasionally!

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Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils - Louis Hector Berlioz

Chansen / C hansen / C. Hansen / Christian Hansen - not a handle.

Christian

Hey Doug, good to see you! Hope things have been going well for you. Stop by more often.

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Aoibeann

I've got two 'build areas'; indoors for actual building, with some cupboards where the wood lives, and a small bench for setups and various other bits and bobs, and where I store the tooling:



Sliced up wood lives in cupboards:


Brace stock, ditto (along with some electric body blanks buried under there:


The 'dirty' shop is outside, and tiny:


It's acutally got a thickness sander (16") in there these days. Wood stacked below the bench on almost all levels (mahogany, cedrella, bubinga), above the bench (mahogany, assorted Stuff including some drop tops I'm not sure I'll really use, as I don't build a lot of flat tops). There are even a few boards outside, out of the weather but exposed to the elements. I'm not too bothered about storing the 'raw' wood like that, I cycle it from time to time, and it's how it lived back at the lumber yard anyway. I can plan ahead by a few months, in general, so I just cut up (roughly) whatever 'outside' piece of wood I want to build with next and bring it inside to stabilise/acclimatise/season for a few months before use. That's for electrics, mostly; most of my neck woods, all of my pre-cut stuff, all the really high-figured stuff is stored inside.

I can't wait till my wood stocks looks something like that.

It's like looking at porn

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Disappointment is an empty box full of expectation

Hope you don't mind me posting a related question. I am 1 1/2 -to 2 months away from having a garage workshop. I wanted to check to see if anyone had recommendations for heating and cooling. My contractor suggested that I use a portable heating and AC unit as the easiest solution for a garage. Does anyone have a model they would recommend? I would likely need to dehumidfy in the summer and humidify in the winter. But an AC in the summer may do all that I need.

Appreciate any recommendations or comments.

Greg

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Greg Hatcher
North Carolina