Where is your shop?

I built a 600 SF shop in the back yard, but it's fairly cluttered up right now.

To the OP--I don't think it's likely you'll find a better answer than having a shop where you live (SFH, or condo with garage). Just being able to walk out there any time and do a project or fix something is much better than having to make a pre-planned trip somewhere else. If the yard maintenance of a SFH is getting you down (esp when traveling), you could hire someone to do that and it would be cheaper than renting shop space somewhere else.
 
You can build your own house with as much garage and shop as you want! :dance::dance::dance:
 

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I had a 100 sf turning room in one house. Yes dust control was an issue. When we lived near Davenport, the Quad Cities Turning club had a great shop that the members could use.

Sent from my RCT6103W46 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app
 
I have a 24' x 28' garage that doubles as my shop...plenty of room as I only need parking for one car.
 
DrRoy said:
I have a portion of the unfinished basement designated as the shop.
Click to expand...

That's what I do. Originally one of the things I was going to do in retirement was build radio control model (R/C) airplanes, the kind that have wing spans of five to eight feet, or maybe a quarter-scale model or two. But after retirement I lost all interest in building R/C airplanes or in traveling to a flying site. Apparently it was a stress reliever from work, or I simply plateaued with that aspect of the hobby. So I have this nice shop with 17 feet of workbench space that is rarely used.

It's kind of a shame too, because there's enough room in there to build a cabin cruiser, although getting it out of the basement without doing serious modifications to the house would be problematic.

Recently I discovered the small foam R/C airplanes that have wing spans of about 18 inches and are powered by an electric motor. Most come ready to fly out of the box but if there is any assembly required it takes less than an hour and can be done on the dining room table with a screwdriver and/or a pair of pliers. These I can fly in the back yard. My current avatar is one of them.
 
Interesting, and I don't want to hijack the thread's original question, but I also wonder about my "shop draw" after I retire. For me it is a money maker though, at least when I want it to. I do some expensive electro mechanical and steel fab restorations in my main shop, and in my basement I make cloth covered wiring harnesses for 1953 and older VWs. Have been since 2003. But it's all gravy money for me, usually blown on more vintage parts, but also on spontaneous travel. And I really like doing it so I don't really see myself losing interest.
 
Lots of great replies. It's something I've thought about from time to time, but it's a few years off for me.

Walt34 touched on this a few posts back - think small.

I had looked through my shop (in the basement), and thought about the future - maybe just keep the smaller things like the Dremel tool, get the drill press attachment for it (I already made a jig so that I could cut things straight, sort of a small table saw). Maybe a jig saw.

So I'd still be able to work on projects, they'd just be a smaller scale. Heck, I'm getting to the point I don't want to do big projects anymore anyhow. I might see if my DD and SIL would store my table saw, power compound miter saw and drill press. They have some room in their garage, and those might come in handy for cutting up a few projects.

I think small projects will satisfy me as I get older, it just an adjustment.

BTW, my FIL spent a lot of time (most of the day?) in his basement shop after he retired from being a carpenter contractor. When they moved to a retirement apartment, there was a nice shop there. I don't think he ever used it (though he was still in pretty good shape for a few more years). I think it was very personal for him. It wasn't 'his' shop.

-ERD50
 
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New one will be compact. Small garage with a free 5 feet for a bench. Nice big 12' pegboard too. I'll primarily be reloading ammunition there. Plenty of storage under the bench for lead, brass there's over 1000 pounds of that(just moved it:)) to keep it put to. Lots of cabinets for powder, primers, and other tools.
 
I too am tiring of the hassle of a SFH, but condos and townhomes around here are more expensive, by quite a lot, than my current digs. Of course, not dealing with, or paying for, yardwork, keeping my aging sprinkler system functional, plus the problem of an empty house while traveling, might make the numbers a bit more "equal".

I have/had a woodworking shop of sorts in my garage. Only have one car, so room is not much of an issue, though clutter is... Sold my tablesaw, but still have the drill, router and table, circular and saber saws, a pancake compressor, etc. It's handy to have a few tools around for minor jobs, but I'm not sure I'll do much woodworking in the future, so if I decide to give up the home (hand over more earnings), I don't think I'd miss not having a shop.

Plus, didn't mention all the garden tools, the lawn mowers and weed whackers and blowers, bought when I thought I'd just mow my own yard. The 100+ degree days convinced me otherwise...
 
HFWR said:
I too am tiring of the hassle of a SFH, but condos and townhomes around here are more expensive, by quite a lot, than my current digs. Of course, not dealing with, or paying for, yardwork, keeping my aging sprinkler system functional, plus the problem of an empty house while traveling, might make the numbers a bit more "equal".

I have/had a woodworking shop of sorts in my garage. Only have one car, so room is not much of an issue, though clutter is... Sold my tablesaw, but still have the drill, router and table, circular and saber saws, a pancake compressor, etc. It's handy to have a few tools around for minor jobs, but I'm not sure I'll do much woodworking in the future, so if I decide to give up the home (hand over more earnings), I don't think I'd miss not having a shop.

Plus, didn't mention all the garden tools, the lawn mowers and weed whackers and blowers, bought when I thought I'd just mow my own yard. The 100+ degree days convinced me otherwise...
Click to expand...

In a townhouse you pay monthly fee, so the guys can mow, and shovel snow (and yes possibly pay for roof in 20 years). Easily $200 /mo.

I found last year, because I was travelling a lot, that I could hire mowers for $104/mo and noticed for me, there is a 1->2 month gap between snow and mow season, and between mow and snow season,
Basically where I would not be hiring anyone.

So the bottom line is, you can make your SFH more like townhouse living by hiring outside companies.

Perhaps it's because it's a choice, it becomes harder to give up doing it myself due to my cheap nature, so this year I'm back to mowing once every 10 days.
 
We retired to our small lake home last year. The first thing I did was to build a 16x26 garage addition to the house. A car has never been inside it. This is my workshop. It is filled with woodworking tools but it also handy for other projects too. I can't imagine going without a shop space. My previous shop was a small room in our basement. The new one is not as large as I would have liked (property restrictions) but it's much better than what I had.
 
marko said:
My grand-dad had a "shop" in his basement, (It's now my shop in our basement).

I didn't know people still called them "shops".

When he died, I wrote this and thought I'd share:

In Your Shop

Little collars from little dogs
Screws and bolts and countless cogs
Hammers and wrenches hung up on nails
...and labeled and marked should memory fail.

Saws and files and boxes and cutters
Straps and sheeting and all sort of clutter
Locks and hinges from long lost doors
...and two of each of “who knows what for!”

These things you could not throw away
They hold your spirit still today
You’re in the things you wrapped with care
...and in the things no longer there

I stand in what you called your “shop”
Sometimes I stand right there and stop
And watch you, close my eyes until
...I even hear you breathing. Still.
Click to expand...

Thanks, marko...

My dad left a similar legacy. Shops and barns have been a family thing for generations, kinda de rigueur in South Louisiana. Grew up working with him in a barn originally built to raise cattle, but used as a workshop long after we'd eaten the last cow. Built almost completely of cypress, it would probably still be standing at the Heat Death of the Universe if the rats hadn't taken up residence. All the tools and parts were moved into the house (it's a sprawling sort of place), and my dad spent his last years just refining the collection. I took a picture of it when home for his funeral:

_DCG0053-small.jpg


Two years later, it's all still there. I think it gives Mom some comfort, and it's not in her way. Gives me a little comfort, too....

To the original topic, a shop will be an important part of my time in retirement. Right now, it's one of the fragmented sorts described by a couple of others; woodworking and small mechanical in a corner of the garage, and electronics/model railroading in a corner of the basement. Both need cleaning/sorting/triage, but I figure some manifestation will be a part of every place I live until expiry.
 
This subject hits home for me. My hobby is old cars, and I need lots of shop space. I currently have not only the 2 car attached garage on my house, but also a 26x48 detached. The detached is my work area, and also tools, car and parts storage. I have thought about what to do for when I move, since I am only at current location because of work. Will move to retirement place, still figuring out exactly where.

I will likely just have the SFH with a bigger detached shop garage. But for OP, one thing to think about is renting a small commercial warehouse type place. Many have a 1/2 bathroom, but no sleeping quarters. They are usually rectangular and several in a row on a property. Used a lot by businesses for storage or a work area, not really set up for a retail sales type location. They have all the electrical you need as far as capacity and circuits. The 1/2 bath gives you a place to clean up or use restroom. No real limits on hours you can work, as most neighbors are gone in evenings and night.

Another concept that some have done is the "warehome", where basically you have a large bldg with living quarters at one end. Won't fly in many areas where zoning is for SFH, so you need to find an area that allows this. Also make sure your wife would go along with it, it does not mean the house portion is unfinished or not nice. But it does mean not having a std house or condo type living situation.
 
38Chevy454 said:
I will likely just have the SFH with a bigger detached shop garage.
Click to expand...
When we were looking for a home I quickly dropped the requirement for an existing large shop--there were just not many homes like that on the market. So, we found a house with space on the lot to build one (and zoning/rules that would allow it--might be an issue with the growing number of HOA czarist empires). I'm not under any illusions that we'll ever get our money back for the attached shop, but that's not why we built it. The price was pretty reasonable, really.
 
samclem said:
When we were looking for a home I quickly dropped the requirement for an existing large shop--there were just not many homes like that on the market. So, we found a house with space on the lot to build one (and zoning/rules that would allow it--might be an issue with the growing number of HOA czarist empires). I'm not under any illusions that we'll ever get our money back for the attached shop, but that's not why we built it. The price was pretty reasonable, really.
Click to expand...

Same thing for me at my current house, looked for something with a big shop and none met our reqts or likes. I built the garage after we moved in to house, confirmed OK for detached shop before purchase. Well, a contractor built the bldg and then I did the work wiring and finishing out the interior. Saved a bit of money doing that labor myself. My shop cost will never be 100% recovered in increased sale price of the lot, but having it right here at home is very nice. It should also help the house sale in future since the shop matches stucco/trim/metal roof styling of the house.

I agree about HOA, to me they are the creation of the devil. My neighborhood does have some restrictions, but detached bldgs are allowed. Most of the rules are for house min size, setbacks, exterior finish/appearance, etc. Fairly mild vs some of the Stepford Wives type HOA neighborhoods where they control everything from the color of your house to the trees you can have. Forget that, not for me :nonono:
 
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