Carpenter Carles' Workshop

One reason we bought the house was because of the room in the basement I would have for a woodworking shop.  We needed to put up a couple walls and create a laundry room to prevent dust floating toward the pristine clothes as they exited the washer and dryer.

The following is the condensed version along with the editing of bad words that were muttered by myself or dad along the way.

 
Step 1 was to tear down some shelves.

These monster shelves, HAVE GOT TO GO! because they were in the way.

Step 2 was to tear down a wall.  The lumber from both was reused in building the new walls

In the background is the wall.  You can see how I had four or five things plugged into the one extension cord.  According to the manufacturer it is NOT RECOMMENDED to do this.

Step 3 was to remove plumbing that was in the way.

Dad was invaluable in his help during all the steps of this process.

Step 4 was to build the frames bolting them to the floor.

What is Jen looking at?    Oh ya I still got it!

The walls after they were framed with studs in place.

Step 5 was to add a door.  We wanted to buy a door with a frame but the height of our wall wouldn't allow it so we re-purposed a closet door from my parent's house as a door for our workshop.  We had to add a doorknob and trimmed the bottom off the closet door in order to fit the shorter frame. 

Cutting the bottom where the door will be.

Door's done!

Step 6 was to move the wood shelf to a different location.  In order to do this we had to dismantle it and put it back up.  I forgot to take a picture of where it was before but basically it ran the length of the rock wall on the left side of this picture.

New location of wood storage shelf.

Step 7 was to run wire for the lights and outlets.

One of the junction boxes.  We used eight or nine of these bad boys. 

We had a friend from church come over and wire all the lights to the switches.  Thank God for friends!

One set of three track lights used.  This one is located over my bench.

This is where my my table saw, miter saw, planer, jointer and dust collector will plug in.  If only I had them right now.

Step 8 was to mount siding and paint the walls on the side of the laundry room and add trim.

Lining up the siding.

Finished on the laundry side.

 Step 9 was to mount peg board and my tools on it.
 

Step 10 Use it.

You may notice that the walls are not finished on the inside of the shop.  Right now I don't have plans to finish them.  I store my clamps on one of the cross supports and it helps keep them out of the way.  I have really enjoyed using the shop.  I imagine most wood workers feel like they don't ever have enough tools and I am no exception.  In my plans I have reserved spots for three more serious power tools that I can't save for quick enough.

I dedicate this post and shop to my late Uncle Bob Carle whose tools gave me a great beginning and are being used daily and to my dad Joe Carle whose help and wisdom helped this shop become a reality. The name of the workshop Carpenter Carles' Workshop is for the three Carles, Uncle Bob, Joe, and Ian.  And yes dad that does mean you can come over and use the shop whenever you want!