My Tool Shop - An Inside Look at the Construction of My Shop

I started the construction of my tool shop, with a little help from my father, in late July 2013 and by September 1st the construction was completed (Back in 2001 when we built our home I had the slab for the tool shop poured and hoped to construct it the following year, but things didn’t work out that way). Due to license and permit restrictions the only part of the project that was subcontracted out was the electrical. I was hoping the local municipality would allow me to complete the tool shop by myself but, unfortunately I am not a licensed electrician. Needless to say, every spare minute was occupied in completing this project.

The 16’ x 20’ tool shop was stick framed on 16” centers with 2”x4”studs. The initial plans called for only one window and a garage door and man door. I concluded that there would not be enough natural light and added two 24”x 36” windows to allow extra light. The garage door is a standard 9’ x 7’ opening and the man door is 3-0. The exterior of the shop was covered with 15/32” RTD sheathing and then textured lap siding was installed. A few coats of white trim paint and elephant skin exterior paint completed the exterior of the shop.

The interior of the shop also received a few finishing touches. The floor was etched with muriatic acid to allow the epoxy paint to adhere to the concrete floor. The floor was finished with a light gray epoxy paint to ensure any spills could be easily cleaned up. I also built a 28” x 12’ work bench for working on projects. My future plans include finishing the interior walls and ceiling and possibly adding heating and air conditioning. The tool shop offers sufficient room to place my table saw, drill press, air compressor and protect my lawn equipment from the weather.

The construction was difficult and labor intensive but the final results made it all worthwhile. The tool shop now offers me somewhere to work on my projects and not create a major mess in our main garage. Twelve years after I first started planning, one of my dreams was realized.

Written by Chris Van Dyke. Chris has seen and lived all over the world while his parents were in the USAF. While living in the state of Georgia in the early 80s he accepted a job framing houses just out of high school. A few years later he finally found his calling in low voltage electronics. Chris has installed and repaired almost any type of system that operates on 50 volts DC or less. Currently, he works in the industrial fire protection business in the Mid South region of the United States. He like to says, if it detects or extinguishes fire, he work on it – everything from a smoke detector to a fire hydrant.