I have to say until I read this thread I never thought about the ceiling height. About 6 years ago I moved from a basement shop (i'm guessing 7-8 foot ceilings) into a dedicated shop. I measured the height yesterday at 9'4"
I have to say it is much nicer having the higher ceilings, just never thought about it…...

 

I guess it really depends on what projects you plan to do.

I have 8ft ceilings in my shop. Not really much of a concern. Most boards and sheet goods can be moved around fairly easily without hitting the ceiling.

I had my 3 car garage built and if I were to do it again, I'd definitely go 10ft for two reasons:

a) Extra storage space. I'm pretty tall, so going up in height to get more storage space wouldn't be a problem. From lumber storage to extra wall space. They say a wood worker can never have too many clamps. Well, you need somewhere to store all of those clamps.

b) Working with built-in furniture. While 8ft boards and sheet goods can be moved around fairly easily, not so for an 8' tall cabinet. Thanks to geometry, the corner to corner dimension of any 8 foot tall, 3D object is going to be more than 8 feet. If you're going to be building that kind of furniture regularly, you need to remember that most new houses have 9 to 10 foot ceilings, so you'll never get that stuff upright in your 8ft tall shop.

 

I have a small basement shop with ceilings that are just under 8 feet, and masonry walls. One thing I've noticed when taking classes in a more open workshop is that being boxed into a small area with hard surfaces makes noise more unpleasant. The sound of a mallet or hammer is immediately bounced back at you in a way that makes it feel louder than it would if you just heard it once.

I don't know how much the size of the space versus the composition of the walls and ceiling influence this issue, but I think both are worth considering. (Since I can't move my walls and ceilings, I'm currently trying to reduce their tendency to reflect sound.)

 

i think the vote is definitely in favor of 10' or 12' ceilings,as said ive never complained about too tall a ceiling.if your concerned about heating issues do as AG said and install some fans to circulate the air,thats what my dad did in his shop in oregon during the winter,worked great.youll regret not doing it later.

 

My shop has 12' ceilings. My former shop had 10' ceilings. Not high enough. 8' isn't even close, if you're actually going to be working out there. You won't be able to flip over or carry around plywood, or full length timbers, and a low ceiling is very limiting to future options of larger tools, like big bandsaws, etc…..

Anything hanging down from the ceiling, like a fan, or an air cleaner, or lights, or electrical cords, will be in your face and working height in a hurry.

10' should be the minimum for a well functioning work space.

 

I have 11'4" ceilings and wouldn't want anything much lower. My last shop was just over 8' and it was miserable.

 

most wood comes in 8 foot lengths.. just as others mentioned for sheet goods, but if you want to stand something up, it is convenient.
Of course you are already used to working with 6.5' basement ceiling… but if you get hanging lights, or a dust collector… 8 foot will seem low, and you may regret the small materials savings you got up front.

YMMV

 

You could go with the 8' ceiling but I would drop the floor down 2'.
Put paddle fan/s in it will help with heating, cooling, moisture.

 

Because of a slight break in communication my stick built shop has 12' ceilings. We had been having a pole barn conversation, but I wanted concrete floor, Vinyl exterior, and a shingle roof. My builder just sent me a bid on a stick built, as I was asking for. Price was so low, I just said do it, never gave a thought to saying, ohhhh let's just do a 10' ceiling.

It was strange. I came home from work, and thought oh dear Lord, Noooooooooo.

Now I love the height. There is stuff you absolutely MUST have. BUT you only use it once in a while. It is easily stored up, and out of the way. Long boards, you need not learn a new dance step to turn them, just do it. I am NOT a single one unit MONSTER DC guy, but if I were the ducting would be up there. I don't do car/truck work, but if I did bring on a lift. So many things you CAN do if you have height, and the cost breakdown to add that space when you are building, is negligible.

I know I would never go less than 10'

 

Because of a slight break in communication my stick built shop has 12 ceilings. We had been having a pole barn conversation, but I wanted concrete floor, Vinyl exterior, and a shingle roof. My builder just sent me a bid on a stick built, as I was asking for. Price was so low, I just said do it, never gave a thought to saying, ohhhh let s just do a 10 ceiling.

It was strange. I came home from work, and thought oh dear Lord, Noooooooooo.

Now I love the height. There is stuff you absolutely MUST have. BUT you only use it once in a while. It is easily stored up, and out of the way. Long boards, you need not learn a new dance step to turn them, just do it. I am NOT a single one unit MONSTER DC guy, but if I were the ducting would be up there. I don t do car/truck work, but if I did bring on a lift. So many things you CAN do if you have height, and the cost breakdown to add that space when you are building, is negligible.

I know I would never go less than 10

- therealSteveN

hey that mistake was a good one,i wish i had 12 but the 10 ive got is good but yours is better.

 

I have been woodworking in a basement for years now. I am not a tall man but I sure am jealous every time I see tall ceilings in shop photos. My new shop has 8' ceilings. It will work but I will be improvising to move and store long lumber and plywood. The issues of ventilation, vac location, and storage are real.

 

Well it sounds like 8' ceilings have been thoroughly spit on, haha. Doesn't change a thing for me but only because I have 9 and 11' ceilings in other areas more suited to the work I do there. The largest work a hobbyist will do, like bed rails, bookshelf units and workbenches, are all between 6 and 7' in length. No problem for me to turn end for end at the table saw. Anything larger or longer than that is broken down before it comes into the shop or at the RAS. A warm comfortable place for the hobbyist.

There is no doubt it all depends on the type of work you are doing. Specialty work, production work for a small going concern etc. definitely 10 or 12' ceilings. A turner can comfortably do mountains of fine work with 8' ceilings, but if he is going to turn a 54' X 4' column like this guys father https://hobbyworkshopprojects.blogspot.com/2018/09/secrets-of-production-turner.html (shameless link) then 12' ceiling is a must for material handling (hoist or forklift).

My workbench is 78" long. Preparing the top was more trouble setting up the planer for infeed and outfeed clearance for the 78" X 14" X 3 1/4" half top than ceiling height was. Can't remember hitting it once and my DC piping and flourescentes are all up there.

 

A turner can get by with 6' ceilings and recessed lights.

 

I finished my shop last August. I included 10' ceilings. The pro's are the ability to turn/ flip long boards at will, more wall space for shelves/cabinets/wood storage, and a general feeling of having more room to breathe, I haven't put in DC yet but I can see where the higher ceilings would also be a big bonus. The cons are: harder to service the light fixtures, maybe a little extra expense heating and cooling ( For me in North Texas, I run heat at 64 and cooling at 77).
My advice would be to go with the extra height and you'll be happier. One caution though, check with your local building codes, the height of my shop was limited by the stand off from the property line and the height of my house (Shop can't be taller than the house). Good luck and post us some pictures when you're finished.

 

A turner can get by with 6 ceilings and recessed lights.

- ibewjon

I said comfortably not walking around, stooped like a midget, waiting for a loose spindle to crack you across the head, haha.

 

At 5' 10" that's 2"of clearance, how much do you need? Kind of like 15 amp circuts instead of 20 amp circuts!!!

 

My shop has 9' walls, which are set on about a 4" concrete sill around the perimeter - which makes 9' 4" from floor to the bottom of the trusses. I haven't hit the lights once turning over a board.

When I was talking to the builder, (who only builds garages and shops, not houses), I started by asking about 24×24. The price was too low. ;-) So, I asked about 24×40. That was ok, but I could afford more. So, I asked about 28×40 (which by the way, with "storage trusses" and a walkable roof slope also gives me almost 6' headroom in the center 7' of the attic). The price was pretty close to what I was thinking I might spend. I asked about 9' walls. "+$360", they said. Oh yeah! I'll buy that.

Now my shop is open studs, no insulation nor sheet rock. But the 136' perimeter could be lifted a foot for only $360. I since have thought that I should have asked for 10' walls, but I'm happy with what I have.

Still, if you want to cut tenons on the end of a long board (like a bed rail) on the table saw using a tenonning jig, the upper end of the board will pretty high.

-Paul

 

At 5 10" that s 2"of clearance, how much do you need? Kind of like 15 amp circuts instead of 20 amp circuts!!!

- ibewjon

Whine whine, cry cry, bitch bitch, common man.

 

hey if your building a shop why would you even want to go less than 10', the cost is minimal.

 

My shop has 9 walls, which are set on about a 4" concrete sill around the perimeter - which makes 9 4" from floor to the bottom of the trusses. I haven t hit the lights once turning over a board.

When I was talking to the builder, (who only builds garages and shops, not houses), I started by asking about 24×24. The price was too low. ;-) So, I asked about 24×40. That was ok, but I could afford more. So, I asked about 28×40 (which by the way, with "storage trusses" and a walkable roof slope also gives me almost 6 headroom in the center 7 of the attic). The price was pretty close to what I was thinking I might spend. I asked about 9 walls. "+$360", they said. Oh yeah! I ll buy that.

Now my shop is open studs, no insulation nor sheet rock. But the 136 perimeter could be lifted a foot for only $360. I since have thought that I should have asked for 10 walls, but I m happy with what I have.

Still, if you want to cut tenons on the end of a long board (like a bed rail) on the table saw using a tenonning jig, the upper end of the board will pretty high.

-Paul

- Ocelot

Sounds like a beautiful shop. Those dimensions would make any woodworkers mouth water. If you feel like I did when I built my previous shop you will want to go into production. Mine was smaller as noted in a previous post but had 10' ceilings. I never had it long enough to convince myself to go into production. I know what your saying about the tenons, I felt the same way about finger joint corners for beds at one time, in a low basement shop. Nowadays I like to cut tenons by hand. All of the tenons on my workbench were cut by hand, didn't take much longer than if I would have done them on the saw. The bandsaw helped out on the double tenons for the bottom stretchers.

 

At 5 10" that s 2"of clearance, how much do you need? Kind of like 15 amp circuts instead of 20 amp circuts!!!

- ibewjon

In Alaska at 5'10 and a ceiling height of 6', in the summer time you'd be bumping your head on mosquitoes.

 

And snow over you head in the winter. I know, not all of Alaska is snowy. I spent the winter of 83-84 at prudhoe bay.

 

Sounds like a beautiful shop. Those dimensions would make any woodworkers mouth water. If you feel like I did when I built my previous shop you will want to go into production. Mine was smaller as noted in a previous post but had 10 ceilings. I never had it long enough to convince myself to go into production. I know what your saying about the tenons, I felt the same way about finger joint corners for beds at one time, in a low basement shop. Nowadays I like to cut tenons by hand. All of the tenons on my workbench were cut by hand, didn t take much longer than if I would have done them on the saw. The bandsaw helped out on the double tenons for the bottom stretchers.

- Carlos510

It would be a more beautiful shop if it did not also serve as a storage building for a large family. There are 2 upright freezers near my table saw and various outdoor power equipment near the planer plus some furniture from my parents' house that I couldn't part with, plus my two large lumber racks. But I'm not complaining.

 

I was all set for 8' ceilings. Then when I got home the day all of my framing was delivered I noticed that my studs were all 10'. I phoned my general contractor who was helping me and he told me "I just ordered 10 ft material for you." Maybe the best thing he did for me

 

My shop has 17' tall ceilings. I put in a raised access floor, so now they are 15'6". That has been quite a bear to cool, put up hoists, LED lighting, etc… So let's say that's too high. But having the DC and electrical run under the floor is fantastic.

My last shop had 9' ceilings. They worked, but hoists, and Jet air cleaners were lower than desired.

I really feel that 10' is idea. FWIW. IMHO.