Any woodworkers live in a condo?

[Lex Luthier]

I have a small 5'x10' workshop in my townhouse, it's in a storage room that has access from inside the house. I have numerous handtools, a large maple bench, lots of shelving, as well as a 14" bandsaw, 1HP dust collector, 13" floor model drillpress, spindle sander and small compressor.

A condo I may move into in the near future has a small 'office' room about 8'x8'. Would it be unreasonable to move this into it? I have though about downsizing the bandsaw, drillpress & dust collector.

Do you keep any woodworking tools in your condo?

[cadbury8]

I live in a condo. I do not have a workshop in it though. If i were to be only using hand tools there wouldnt be a problem but there is no way i could use power tools. I have neibors beside me and under me. I can hear my neibors when the kids run up the stairs so im sure they would be able to hear a skill saw or planer running as an example. But its going to depend on your neibors. What they will put up with and so forth. Condo neibors change. so i dont really think it would work.

The other thing with it would be dust. having a room inside of a condo working with wood the dust would end up clogging up the a/c unit filter and making a mess in the duct work. You would have to change your unit filter more often and you would have dust throughout the house. not to mention the fact of clogging the evaporator coil on the unit over time from the fine particles that sneak by the filter. These particles would also be able to collect in the condensate drain over time and clog it which could cause flooding in your house and anyone down stairs from you. That could be combatted by flushing the drain once every two weeks with a couple gallons of water to get rid of the particle build up. Just stuff to be aware of. :) hope this helps.

[TDHofstetter]

I can think of a couple of (maybe) viable alternatives...

First, a box trailer parked outside. Big fattie extension cord run to it when you're ready to work.

Second, a storage unit...

-- Tim --

Member of the
Robert "Limey" Bolton Memorial
International
Volunteer Mentorship and Assistance
Programme

[brburns]

Third, rent a shop insted of the condo, and live in the shop :+

[dbriski]

I live in a condo, luckly I also have a 2 car garage, so thats where I have my workshop. Maybe look for one with a garage?

[cadbury8]

that brings a question to me.

does anyone know off the top of their head if they allow woodworking in those self storage rental places, the garage types? For a couple hundred bucks a month it could be worth it.

[brburns]

It would depend on the place. I rented one for $50/month about 6 years ago, but it had no power to the unit. Wouldn't work real well.

[JBark]

I live in a condo and rent a shop. Don't get there often enough but when the cschedule is working it is far better than 5'x10'. You get all that in there???

Look for a spot to rent, they are out there. Join a woodworking club, see if anyone wants to pool/share. Make sure you know them. Become a galoot!

John

[hcbph]

Sounds like when I lived in an apartment. Sawdust is next to impossible to get out of the carpeting. Try getting it out of the residence if you can.

My 2 cents

Paul

[cabinetman]

A possible problem in having a shop in an interior room would be moving materials in and out, or fabricating large or long items and maneuvering them around or getting them out. The room may be limited to one electrical circuit.