Overview

I recently purchased a home with a back house that I will be converting into a multi-function shop space. I’ll cover the conversion in a series of posts.

The back house is currently configured as a guest house suitable for renters. It has a living room, bedroom, full bathroom, kitchenette, and a sound-proofed band room.

This building has gone through several iterations:

Originally, it was a one car garage. This is now the living room.

It was then converted into a recording studio, which is when the sound-proofed band room was built.

Most recently, it was converted into a guest house which is when all the other rooms were added.

Building layout

Below is the floorplan of the building as it stands today.

Conversion plan

I’m planning on preserving the existing room layout. The closets take up a lot of space, but they also provide storage that I think I’ll find useful.

The bandroom and living will be the primary shop space.

I’m going to leave the bedroom empty for now - perhaps it will be an electronics workspace or shop office in the future.

The kitchenette and bathroom will stay the same - what shop doesn’t need a kitchen and bathroom? The shower will be useful in situations where I’m covered in dust and want to clean off before going inside my house for the night.

Band room to woodworking room

Size: 22’ x 18’

I’m going to make this my woodworking room. My loud and dust generating tools will go in here.

The sound isolation is really good. I can run a chain saw in this room and hear nothing outside. I primarily work at night, so this will enable me to use all my tools at any time of the day without worrying about disturbing the neighbors. This will be a huge improvement over my previous shop where I had to stop running loud tools around 9pm.

Since this used to be a recording studio, it has some interesting properties.

This room has its own air conditioning, separate from the rest of the backhouse. This is perfect for a woodworking room. A centralized air conditioner can spread dust throughout a building. Since this room has it’s own air conditioner, I don’t have to worry about dust spreading to other rooms.

It has tons of electrical outlets - every few feet along the wall and a few in the floor. Only 120v though.

The walls are floating like in this diagram. This provides the sound isolation, but it also means I can’t hang anything heavy on the walls. Any storage in this room will need to be floor standing.

Living room to general shop space

Size: 16’ x 14’

This will be general shop space, basically anything that is quiet and doesn’t generate dust.

I’m planning on this room initially serving three purposes:

Tools: This will house my clean and quiet tools. For now, just my laser cutter and 3D printers.

Storage: I’ll have a small lumber rack to hold lumber that I’m currently using. I’ll have shelves and cabinets in this room for lots of storage space.

Shop access: I’m replacing the large window with a pair of double doors. This will give me the ability to easily bring large items in and out of the shop.

Next steps for the conversion:

1) Remove the carpeting. I think I’m going to splurge and install oak hardwood flooring. It’s a bit over the top for a shop, but I want the space to feel more like an art studio than a garage.

2) Improve the lighting. The lighting in both rooms is very dim. I plan to install lots of light, preferably LED.

3) Install a double door for easier access.

4) Move in!