posted
The first floor of my shop is split in half, half is the clean air conditioned office space & half is the power tool zone.
I've always dragged sawhorses out to cut boards etc. & always tried to keep sawdust out of the shop. Upstairs is another shop area where I coat out boards most of the time. I also store substrates up there & use it as extra space for applying vinyl on larger signs. It is built out of industrial pallet racks though & is not free from dust that may occur below so I am going to seal up the space below to contain the dust.
My new panel saw will arrive in 2 weeks & I will have a drywall guy tack on some metal studs to the bottom of the planks that currently make up the second floor between the beams. There are huge gaps everywhere, so putting a lid on the whole thing is the primary task in attempting to creat an area where I can run any of my power tools right in the shop & then vaccuum up afterwards. On huge sanding jobs I would still set up outside, but for a quick rounding of a corner, routing an edge profile, jigsawing a radius corner, or scroll-sawing a few letters... it will be nice to not drag out horses every time anymore.
Since I like things looking nice, & I know dust is like water when it comes to finding ways to leak... I will also tape the joints in the walls that I put up years ago without tape. Also, judging from the way things have evolved so far... it is fairly likely in the next few years that I may take on an additional bay in this warehouse for my shop work, & this current woodshop space would convert to office space.
So, with all that semi-relevant information stated... the question is this:
The drywall guys gave me a quote to texture the ceiling & walls. Since I don't want it overkill perfect, but I do want it nice... texturing will get it done quicker & cheaper as opposed to several visits sanding & re-mudding the joints. I am concerned that the texture will catch all the sawdust, but they said that the dust will stick to smooth walls too & need to be blown off with an air hose. They said it would be just as easy to blow dust off the textured wall as a smooth one... but again.. cheaper & faster to go with the texture.
I'm not sure though... & I want to give them my decision this week, so decided to ask what you folks think. here is the room:
[ September 16, 2004, 10:03 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
posted
Thanks for your reply. I will probably not go with paneling, although I can see that it could something I could do myself.
For the ceiling, I'm not sure if it could come out nice & flat with the same framing, or if it would need another wall surface behind it anyway. I am used to seeing the fake woodgrain look, although I'm sure it comes in lighter woods which I would need for better lighting on my work.
Anyone with thoughts opinions or experience on the clean-up issue with sawdust?
posted
A couple times a year we completely clean out my father-in-laws woodshop. His equipment (lots of it) is in a 16x16 room. We blow the sawdust off the shelves/walls/everywhere with the air hose. Though the dust on the smooth walls doesn't seem to be much. The ONLY reason this works (a little) is because there are doors to outside directly across from each other on each side of the room (with 20" planer between) and we can push the dust cloud out with fans.
If "you" blow the dust off your walls where will it go? I'd rather brush it into a pan.
Textured just doesn't seem like a good idea to me IMO
If they are any good at hanging drywall a room that size should be paint ready (taped/mudded)within a days work easy.
-------------------- Compulsive, Neurotic, Anti-social and Paranoid ... but basically Happy Posts: 2677 | From: Rochester, NY, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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My humble opinion??? Stick with smooth walls and shiney paint on them. I agree with Mark.."textured" seems like a real dust collector to me.
-------------------- Dave Grundy retired in Chelem,Yucatan,Mexico/Hensall,Ontario,Canada 1-519-262-3651 Canada 011-52-1-999-102-2923 Mexico cell 1-226-785-8957 Canada/Mexico home
posted
Thanks guys... that was what my gut said. I think these guys are telling me what they want to do instead of what I need done.
In their defense though I will say that I've seen some really good finishers & since the mud shrinks when it drys... the best guys would never finish in a day. It always looks great to me after the first day, but to get the wall so smooth you can't see the joints, I don't think that can be done in a day... BUT, for a shop, I don't need that, so I'll take you guys advice & veto the texture.
posted
Smoothe wall cleans easier and requires more skill and care to accomplish.
Doug, now is the time to consider installing some ducting for a dust collecting system. It is so nice to be able to have saw dust go directly from the saw to a barrel outside. Ducts in the floor really make a difference. Try it ...you'll like it!
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6774 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Doug, I would definitely stay away from the textured ceiling.
In addition to a dust collector system with piping (grounded please), here is an easy, and cheap way to keep fine dust down. I made a simple dust collector out of a common "box fan", a simple plywood box, with a common "pleated" furnace filter on the opposite end. It removes a tremendous amount of dust. Occasionally remove the filter, and clean it off with compressed air.
Here is a quick sketch:
Good luck, Bob
-------------------- "The 3-4 minute mark of "Freewill" by Rush.
Bob Kaschak Artisan Sign And Design Peru New York Posts: 1888 | From: Upstate NY | Registered: Jul 2002
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Doug, I run a 1500 sqft woodshop with all the tools possible. needless to say we create a lot of dust. Smooth surfaces are the way to go, and Rick is right on when he says put in some duct work before they start firing up drywall. A key thing with ducting is to use 6 inch metal corrugated pipe for your main arteries and reduce it down to 4 inch at each tool. This way you get maximum pull from any dust collector. Also 90 degree elbows are not your friend you will need elongated 90 for corners, any tight bend 90's you woud find in a home store for furnace work will be like hitting a wall for your vac system. Once the duct work is hung you will want to seal all joints with joint compound to ensure you have a nice tight seal. Good luck. Dale
quote:Originally posted by Doug Allan: It always looks great to me after the first day
There you go. It is a shop afterall. Paint it good and by the time you hang up some yardsticks and paint charts and girlie calendars it'll look like a million bucks. If you find anybody studying the tape seams walk up behind them and kick 'em right in the pants.
SONGPAINTER Original Sign Music by Sign People NOW AVAILABLE on CD and the proceeds go to Letterville's favorite charity! Click Here for Sound Clips! Posts: 1974 | From: Orleans, MA, Cape Cod, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Line it all in coroplast, Doug. Do I get the prize?????
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Doug, I splatter-textured the walls in my showroom but not the computer/plotter/easel room. The textured walls look really nice and a lot of customers compliment on them. They don't seem to hold any more dirt than the smooth ones and small dings,scuffs, scratces, specks etc do not show. Another nice thing is if you drill a hole, hang a picture or sample and decide to remove it later, the hole can be spackled with a little glob of mud and it will not show. The walls are almost five years old and still look great. I also had all of the walls in our house textured the same way. Though the ceilings downstairs are "popcorned", the ceilings and walls upstairs are splattered. We love it but it might not be suitable for a wood woodworking shop.
BTW, Though texture will hide minor stuff, a lousy joint/tape job will show on textured walls. But they won't look quite as bad. If you are planning on texturing them, I wouldn't tell your finisher until he's done sanding.
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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We are now in process of moving into a shop 2.5 times our existing one... we are putting up new walls and our goal is the easier the better... go smooth, easy clean easy up-keep... good luck
-------------------- Rick Whitmire Trick Communications & Signs Box 1124, Hudson, WI Posts: 132 | From: Hudson, WI | Registered: Nov 2002
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We did our shop walls in 1/2 inch plywood. This allows us unlimited attachment points for anything we might want to fasten there.
We caulked the joints with a paintable caulk and then painted the bottom 8 feet a light brown to minimise welding flash reflections for my crew. The top four feet and ceiling are painted a very light beige to maximise light reflection and make the shop brighter.
The painted plywood is a little rough but then again it's just a shop. And the plywood is a lot tougher when it gets banged with long pieces of wood or metal.
On the top four feet I hang all my 'treasures' for display. It all gives the shop more character.
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8748 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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I use Abitibi on my walls. Thats the white or Beige Shower wall stuff used in Mobile Home Bathrooms Realitivly Cheap. $13 a Sheet here. It is very smooth and very little dust sticks to it
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