Basement Shop People! advise?

[jiminyrootkit]

so in the interests of getting more time to work, i'm putting serious consideration into moving my shop from the corner of our truck garage a few blocks from here, to my basement.
i have windows & old covered coal chutes to work with for ventilation, cement floor and walls, and a pretty decent amount of room to play with. i'm just wondering if people who have done this have anything they would like to contribute to the do's (or especially the don'ts) list.
things like, i'm in kansas, it's 15 degrees outside, and my house is upstairs.....how do i manage to supply make-up air and not freeze the basement and/or the rest of the house solid?
thanks for any advise.
-f

[Michael]

Yea that whole freezing the family yhing comes into play there. I framed out a section that my shop was to be then insulated the hell out of the ceiling and the walls and put a door to get in. My intake & outgoing never sees the rest of my house. Its cold as hell in there right now but doesn't seem to affect the rest of the basement because of the insulation. Theres probally a better way to do it but I like doing things the hard way,lol

Mike

[puddletown]

I used to love having my shop in my basement. If you insulate well you shouldn't have heat/ cold issues.

It has its ups and downs. its easier to get distracted with house duties, but easier to get more work done as well.

You might have height issues as well depending on what kind of stuff you do.

[Ro's Glass World]

i dont seem to have an issue with freezing house, i run a space heater under my table, there is no actual heat in the basement other than the oil burner. on the days that its under 15 degrees likely im not working anyway! separating and adding insulation sounds like a good plan though. i guess it depends how bad your weather is where you are. ive been working in the basement for about 4 years so far cold hasnt stopped me more than a few days all together.
good luck
ro

[Merlin]

Yea that whole freezing the family yhing comes into play there. I framed out a section that my shop was to be then insulated the hell out of the ceiling and the walls and put a door to get in. My intake & outgoing never sees the rest of my house. Its cold as hell in there right now but doesn't seem to affect the rest of the basement because of the insulation. Theres probally a better way to do it but I like doing things the hard way,lol

Mike

this is the only way I can see it work without boosting your heating bill. If you can manage to do this, you will be set. otherwise, even if you pull your air in directly from outside avoiding leeching from the house, the floor upstairs will be cold and that makes a big difference.

I find that I am most efficient when I go to the shop away from home and work all day without breaks and without the option of going inside the house for milk and cookies or video games. Or the GLDG:D

[Dale M.]

Some issues with a basement studio is ventilation... IF you have gas appliances in basement like furnaces ans water heaters, one danger is causing a back draft in their flues and drawing carbon monoxide and NOX fume from their flues and into you work area....

Careful ducting can provide makeup air into work area and extraction of fumes can be done well with some though, you can even keep heated area of studio warm, IF you don't go for whole studio air exchange, but just "local area" (bench) air exchange...

When designing any ventilation keep in mind that most gas appliances are convection vented and you MUST supply sufficient makeup air that you don't reverse the convection process... IF you are lucky and have newer appliances that use forced (fan powered) venting you have less issues to work through....

Also consider if using propane, basements are low places and propane pools in low places , there is LEAK issues involved here too....

Dale

[jiminyrootkit]

i do indeed have a gas water heater and furnace, though the furnace is rarely on (woodstove). they vent into the house's original brick chimney....there is an open hole in the side of said chimney (not being used by water heater or furnace) i wonder if i could use that for my exhaust... probably have to have the exhaust output or fan closer to the outside (top of chimney) than the furnace/h2o heater?
would that keep backdraft from being a concern?
already planning on keeping tanks outside, running soft hoses in pvc conduit.
i will probably end up framing off my bench area somehow and only venting that in the interests of not raising my heating bill.
-f

[CitizenNot]

my shop is in my basement. i have a closet next to my back door where i keep my o2 tanks. i ran my hoses through the drywall. my bench sits right next to the closet. i used a window that just so happen to be in the right place for my fan, centered in the middle of my bench. i have a 1800 cfm fan, my air comes from my back door three feet from my bench. i'd post pics but my cameras broke. i've never had any problems with my fan pulling from my furnace or water tank. i did cut out one vent hole for heat. other then that its a little chilly but not bad

[CitizenNot]

oh yeah i bring my propane in when i work and put it back out when i'm done

[Dale M.]

i do indeed have a gas water heater and furnace, though the furnace is rarely on (woodstove). they vent into the house's original brick chimney....there is an open hole in the side of said chimney (not being used by water heater or furnace) i wonder if i could use that for my exhaust... probably have to have the exhaust output or fan closer to the outside (top of chimney) than the furnace/h2o heater?
would that keep backdraft from being a concern?
already planning on keeping tanks outside, running soft hoses in pvc conduit.
i will probably end up framing off my bench area somehow and only venting that in the interests of not raising my heating bill.
-f


Check top of water heater if its has a bell shaped piece on top directly connected to vent pipe, you have a convection/draft system on water heater....

IF you try to vent studio fumes in to chimney it will pressurize chimney and force air backwards out any opening... You may want to check if any other things like kitchen stove uses that chimney for vent...Don't think chimney is very good idea...

As long as studio ventilation is a bit aways form other vents there should not be any pressurization issues one everything hits "open air"...

Also keep in mind fresh air intake fro studio needs to be at least 10 feet (linearly) form studio exhaust.

Dale

[Dale M.]

oh yeah i bring my propane in when i work and put it back out when i'm done

Tank should be outside all the time PERIOD!

Bring fuel it in by "temporary hose" (disconnect when done) or piped in in metallic piping. But not by bringing tank inside.

Dale

[Dale M.]

i've never had any problems with my fan pulling from my furnace or water tank. i did cut out one vent hole for heat. other then that its a little chilly but not bad

Have you tested for backdraft at furnace or water heater?

Dale

[CitizenNot]

yes i have tested for backdrafts and my water heater is completely enclosed. i did forget to mention that i only work a few hours a night, 4 hours max. so this setup works for me. i've worked around propane quite a bit(filling stations for large trucks). There's nothing better then filling a 100lb tank only to take the hose off to find a stuck pin, propane blowing back out 20 feet. talk about shitting your pants!
i know the hazards and it only takes 5 min. to drill a hole and setup a hard line.

[jiminyrootkit]

i've got windows, and coal chutes, and in general, plenty of options for ventilation.
i also have a couple good friends who are in heating/ac/appliance work.....one of them is coming by tonight to give a professional opinion on the situation (particularly the chimney and/or interference with the heater/ water heater)
i'll get it sorted out.
-f

[Michael]

When I framed out the shop I built a box around one of the windows about 2' off the wall to keep propane in. That is also insulated & I leave the bottom of the window cracked so the tank can breath if it does leak some. I just didn't have a good home for it. You can see it to the right of the color. Also in the intrest of heat or freezing my ass off as it is now I put one of the benchs in the corner w/ the walls closed in some to allow better venting at lower c.f.m. I can have the fan (in the box w/ all the shit nailed to it) turned down and it'll still suck the smoke right out of my mouth without haveing a 20 mph wind blowing up my back. Just acouple thoughts if its a project your about to start.

Mike-

[CitizenNot]

man those are some pimp ass handles on you graphite tools. homemade?