Workshop Design Advice

[custard]

I've recently bought a house, it's on a corner plot and has planning permission for a brick built triple garage with a tiled, pitched roof, plus open storage area. Instead of this I want to build an L shaped workshop with an off street parking bay. The L shaped workshop would measure 12 metres x 5.5 metres, with 4 metres x 2.5 metres "wing" at one one end to complete the "L". This is similar to the existing approved plan so I'm fairly confident of getting planning permission. My total budget for the workshop build is £45k which will have to include a little bit of site levelling, but it'll form part of a bigger extension project which will cost an additional £130k so there's some economies of scale for the builder.

I'm meeting the architect on Friday who is going to draw up plans, handle the planning permission application, and draw up building plans. I'd appreciate any tips or advice, in particular in the following areas,

1. It'll have a Felder CF 741S wheeled combination machine weighing about 1100 kilos. Any thoughts on floor specifications? I want it to wheel smoothly and remain accurate.
2. The workshop will be divided into two with an internal wall, a machine area and a bench area. The machine area measures 8 metres x 5.5 metres and the bench area measures 4 metres x 8 metres. I want to heat the bench area with a woodburning stove, any recommendations? Is it practical to have a concrete floor in the machine area and a sprung wooden floor in the bench area, both at the same level?
3. I can fit two windows in the bench room which will overlook the garden, unfortunately these windows will face due south. Any thoughts on how to prevent glare at the bench?
4. Any thoughts on wall and roof construction (it has to be brick faced with a pitched slate roof) and general insulation? Even though the workshop's for private hobby use, it's still in a residential area, so I want to keep the noise down to reasonable levels.
5. It's about 15 metres from the house, should I specify 16 amp power or bite the bullet and go for three phase? If I do would that have to be declared on the planning application and make the planning department suspicious?
6. Any other advice or comments?

Thanks.

 

[Dibs-h]

If I do would that have to be declared on the planning application and make the planning department suspicious?

Thanks.

Why? I'll probably have 3 phase in my garage and workshop and PP never inquired about it & I'll not be mentioning. I would have that it's a Building Regs thing and not a PP matter.

Dibs

 

[kirkpoore1]

Get all the power you can. It's much cheaper to do it up front.

A wood burning stove in the shop requires some setbacks, so you'll lose some space.

For the glare, how about some blinds or curtains? Really. Most of the time you'll want the view. I get direct sun on my bench in the morning and afternoon, and it hasn't been a problem.

Kirk

 

[tomatwark]

Why can't you have 3 phase in a domestic garage?

I should not make a blind bit of difference to the planning people.

You will need to make sure the electrics conform with the building regs, but you will need to do this any way.

I would go for it if the cost is not to high for the connection as it means you can buy all sorts of big machines second hand.

Tom

 

[Blister]

How close will the workshop be to other residential property's ? , as you will be aware noise and neighbors don't mix

I assume you are hobby use only as most houses state on the deeds for residential use only

I think putting 415 volts electrics on the planning application will be detrimental to the application as this normally indicates industrial machines ( as in your case )

You can get the floors screed ed , the floors inside the building I work in are like glass so flat and smooth , pump trucks and PPTs are used 24 7 365 and no problems with the surface Finnish

:wink:

 

[woodbloke]

I get direct sun on my bench in the morning and afternoon, and it hasn't been a problem.

Kirk

I've found the opposite. Siting the bench directly in front of a window, 'specially if it's a South facing one, means that far too much natural daylight is falling onto the bench surface, the result of which is a lot of glare. I would assume that the very best positition the bench is in front of a North facing window, for much the same reasons that artists like a North facing window for the light - Rob

 

[custard]

You can get the floors screed ed , the floors inside the building I work in are like glass so flat and smooth , pump trucks and PPTs are used 24 7 365 and no problems with the surface Finnish

:wink:

Thanks for that, have you got any advice on speccing the screeding?

 

[Peter Sefton]

Just a few ideas on what promises to be a very nice workshop

1 Floor spec
I find it tiring to be on concrete all day long so prefer to have a chip broad floor covering over kingspan very warm and kind to your tools, this also keeps the noise down. Will you be moving your CF 741S around is this new workshop or will it be fixed? Self build & Contract Floors http://floorscreedingsouthyorkshire.com/ have an excellent free flowing screed that self-levels but is usually specified over under floor heating and can be expensive, they laid it for me in my barn conversion and they were very professional.

2 Split workshop
Do you need to split the workshop? This is usually done if more than one person is working in the same workshop to keep the noise away from the hand workers. The division wall may waste space and mean you have no heat in the machine shop. Working on machines in an unheated room can be quite dangerous. I heat my workshops with both multi fuel wood burners and shaving burners no waste and free heat (bonus). It is easier with building Regs if the stove is less than 5 KW no extra ventilation required into the workshop.

3 South facing
Having your bench under a south facing window will put you facing the sun and your timber in the vice into shadow. You may want to work with your back to the sun and your bench either left or right of the window depending on which hand you are. You can specify anti-glare glass, but the more I write the more I see your budget being blown.

4 Insulation
Insulate, Insulate, Insulate your architect should advice you on this as part of the build spec for heat and noise.

5 Three phase
Don’t tell the planners, it can only make them ask more questions, but three phase can be expensive to have installed, it does open up your options to buy to more second hand machines but if they are old the will be noisy! You may be better off just with single phase if you are only doing this for a hobby.

Cheers Peter

 

[custard]

I find it tiring to be on concrete all day long so prefer to have a chip broad floor covering over kingspan very warm and kind to your tools, this also keeps the noise down. Will you be moving your CF 741S around is this new workshop or will it be fixed? Self build & Contract Floors http://floorscreedingsouthyorkshire.com/ have an excellent free flowing screed that self-levels but is usually specified over under floor heating and can be expensive, they laid it for me in my barn conversion and they were very professional.

Thanks Peter, I want to split the workshop to get general woodwork on one side and picture framing on the other. Keeping the dust down is important with picture framing where just one speck of dust under the glass effectively ruins the job. So it was a simple step from that decision to have the main workbench on the "clean" side too. Regarding moving the combination, it'll probably remain stationary for most of the time, but I'd like the flexibility to move it slightly if I need to cut down full size ply panels for example. That's why I'm assuming I'll need a concrete floor to cope with the weight.

 

[Blister]

You can get the floors screed ed , the floors inside the building I work in are like glass so flat and smooth , pump trucks and PPTs are used 24 7 365 and no problems with the surface Finnish

:wink:

Thanks for that, have you got any advice on speccing the screeding?

Sorry I have no spec but any commercial company will advise you

 

[RogerS]

I get direct sun on my bench in the morning and afternoon, and it hasn't been a problem.

Kirk

I've found the opposite. Siting the bench directly in front of a window, 'specially if it's a South facing one, means that far too much natural daylight is falling onto the bench surface, the result of which is a lot of glare. I would assume that the very best positition the bench is in front of a North facing window, for much the same reasons that artists like a North facing window for the light - Rob

I seem to remember Rob mentioning this in the past, a long, long time ago, in response to a similar question from me.

He is right. My bench is under a window that faces West and with the setting sun, I need the blinds down. Also you really miss out on storage area for all those tools that you constantly use. Benches against walls....best route IMO.

 

[jeffinfrance]

as a fellow felder owner, your floor must be dead flat, level and smooth.

mine isn't and i cant move it without resetting everything.

jeff