Upstairs workshop?

[_lotusbleu]

I'm trying to start my own workshop and looking around for a decent location to rent. I saw one the other day that could work well, but it's on the 1st floor of a building.
Could this logistically work? I'm not sure if it would be too much of a nightmare getting all of my machines up there and from then on taking materials up and down.
The landlord said they are looking into installing a lift, but even then it could be a pain!

What are your opinions?

 

[Woodmonkey]

My workshop is upstairs. It has it's limitations but it is workable. You are limited to what machines you can have - no old cast iron behemoths, but I managed to get a 10" charnwood table saw up there, most stuff comes apart to some degree. 18mm sheet goods need two people to carry up, and some furniture needs to be made in sections and then assembled on site. It can be a pain in the hole but it's cheap and its big so its a fair trade off for me.

 

[sunnybob]

You can bet that "looking into a lift" is as far as that ever gets. Thats sales talk for "give me your money now"
whats on the ground floor? Are they going to get upset about noise and vibration?
Also, be very careful reading the lease if you are going to sell finished stuff. there are lots of pitfalls about retail premises opposed to storage.

 

[_lotusbleu]

The ground floor is currently used as a community centre, almost always just in the evenings so they said noise wouldn't be a problem. It's also why I wasn't immediately sceptical about the chances of a lift being put in - as it would benefit them to have better access.

Cheers for the advice - I'll make sure to check the lease for that.

 

[sunnybob]

The ground floor is currently used as a community centre, almost always just in the evenings so they said noise wouldn't be a problem. It's also why I wasn't immediately sceptical about the chances of a lift being put in - as it would benefit them to have better access.

Cheers for the advice - I'll make sure to check the lease for that.

I dont trust landlords. Theres no reason to put a lift into upstairs unless they are going to ship old folk up there.

as far as the lease goes, many years ago I opened a pet fish hobby shop in a town centre. My lawyer said "just sign the lease, its all ok".
Well I dont trust lawyers either. I read the lease carefully and it specifically prohibited putting "trade waste" down the toilets. In a tropical fish shop, old tank water IS trade waste. i had to get the lease re drawn so that I could dump the tank water.