how to find woodshop space


treesner

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I'm on a journey to financial independence in hopes of doing things like furniture/instrument making without having to worry about breaking even. My biggest cost every month is rent at $975+ utilities (i'm in the bay area).. although it's a beautiful location and I have a small area for a woodshop I've been considering the idea of living out of my van (currently setup for sleeping/cooking) for awhile. My biggest hold up here is that I wouldn't have my woodshop, where I spend my nights and weekends. Do you guys have any suggestions on creative ways of having a workshop? There is a tech shop in sanjose near my work which is $150 a month plus a couple hundred dollars worth of classes that you have to take before you can use the tools. I've heard the woodshop is adequate but not amazing, I also am apart of an open woodshop on wednesday nights at a community college here. It would be nice if I could find some small garage are something to rent out cheap to move all my tools into and work out of though. Would love to hear some thoughts.

 

thanks,

-chris

 

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8 minutes ago, prov163 said:

I don't want to sound rude, but choosing to live in your van so you can expand your workshop options  doesn't sound like a path to financial independence.  I would completely rethink the strategy.  Living in a beautiful location with a small workshop sounds pretty good.  There are a lot of guys who turn out great work in small spaces.  How much will it cost you to rent space to park your van so you have a bathroom, place to clean your clothes, etc?  Back in the early 70's I took a summer and traveled in a van and I gotta tell you that it was pretty cool - for the first two weeks.  Got pretty old after that.

Again, no intent to be rude or rain on your parade, but it doesn't sound like a smart plan to me.

Maybe the other guys will be less conventional :)

 

The idea is that I save a huge portion of my income that's going to rent by living out of my van for a bit to grow my investments that will eventually pay for my cost of living. My current job offers so many amenities that it wouldn't be to hard. Cafeteria, bathrooms, showers ect.

Again just an idea, and what i'm trying to figure out is if it would be cost efficient at all to find an alternative workshop.

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Aside the problems associated with van living, where do you plan to store your finished projects?  Not sure about the maker spaces in CA, but I would guess you will need a place to store your work. not sure what storage units go for, but that might be an option. If my math is right, you are going to be saving $9900 a year, at most (975-150).  How long are you going to be in the van until you reach your goals?

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Maybe rent out a storage unit, the ones around here have a power receptacle do your woodworking in the unit and you can store your work until it sells, and tools when not in use. I would not try and talk you out of living in a van, because it sounds like your mind is made up so I'll just wish you good luck, think about just renting a room from someone, or renting out a room in the home your living in(just another thought I had).

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Yeah I agree with these guys...sounds like you need to pick a lifestyle.  The thought of traveling the country and living out of my van sounds very appealing to me...for a few months.  Then I'd wanna come home and sleep in my big cozy bed, and in the morning go out to my shop and scratch my ass in the comfort of my home.  You gotta have a home base.  Otherwise you're just a vagabond.  And vagabonds don't woodwork.  They might be free in a Kerouacian sense...but they don't woodwork.

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1 hour ago, higtron said:

Maybe rent out a storage unit, the ones around here have a power receptacle do your woodworking in the unit and you can store your work until it sells, and tools when not in use. I would not try and talk you out of living in a van, because it sounds like your mind is made up so I'll just wish you good luck, think about just renting a room from someone, or renting out a room in the home your living in(just another thought I had).

It's not that i'm set on the van life, i'm just trying to explore different options that will help me save money faster. Thanks for the thought about storage units, i didn't think about that 

58 minutes ago, C Shaffer said:

My old boss built his pole barn/shop with a live-in loft until he saved for his house. I would prefer a room in a barn to a van. Just two cents as that part of the discussion has been raised. 

I apprenticed a chair maker and slept in a loft above his shop, it was awesome. Definitely an option but property and building permits (even for a simple pole barn) are very pricey up here but maybe paying mortgage on that would be better option than paying rent to someone else

52 minutes ago, BonPacific said:

It will obviously vary a lot with location, but keep an eye out for garages to rent. I spent a year and a half renting a two car garage for $250/month, so that techspace ins't a bad option. I lucked out though, the garage was mostly detached, and the main house was rented by 3-4 college kids, so no one cared about noise. 

I've heard of people working out of storage units, but it's certainly not a first option. There are all sorts of access and power issues. I think your best bet would be to look for some sort of garage-rental, and one where they don't mind power tools. Could take awhile to find.

Frankly, I'm amazed you can rent for even $975 down there, especially if your current place has a shop space.

You could always rent a parking space and build yourself a tiny home. Combine your passion for van-living with woodworking.

 

paying 250 a month for a garage as a workshop doesn't sound bad to me. How did you go about finding that setup? I guess I could just email people who have rooms for rent and ask if they would rent out the garage. 

975 is for one room in a 4 bedroom house with other roommates and the garage is split 3 ways between me, a surfboard shaper and a bike mechanic so it's pretty tight but a cool place to live. Oh but i end up spending 3 hours of my day commuting.. 

 

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8 minutes ago, treesner said:

Paying 250 a month for a garage as a workshop doesn't sound bad to me. How did you go about finding that setup? I guess I could just email people who have rooms for rent and ask if they would rent out the garage. 

Kept an eye on Craigslist and talked him down from $350. He definitely preferred me to the previous tenant who used it to butcher his Deer while hunting. I got to use his old DeWalt SAS that was in storage there too.

Never hurts to post a wanted ad on CL, or shoot off emails to people renting out houses to see if they'll do a split.

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Okay...so don't listen to those guys. They are a bunch of molly coddled nay-Sayers who couldn't go without all the mod cons for more than ten minutes at a time.;)

Of course you can live in your van! A van is downright luxurious; it has headroom.:) Wasn't there a character on SNL (played by Chris Farley) who lived in his van down by the river? Ah yes. Here it is.

 

All kidding aside, my wife lived out of the back of her pick-up for ten years because: [1.] If you have to pay rent you need a regular source of income. [2.] If you have a job you have to go to work five or more days per week. [3.] If you are occupied with a job five days a week you can't go out and climb mountains very often.

So she got a storage locker and a gym membership, and continued to do substitute teaching AND mountain climbing while living in her truck.

Sure there are limitations and annoyances which arise if you have to drive to the outskirts of town every night to camp on some dead-end where people drink whiskey and shoot firearms. No question, there are limitations and annoyances. Maybe you could park in someone's driveway or I think you can camp in most Walmart parking lots.

Finding a suitable shop space could be difficult. Check with other artisans in the area. Maybe a glass blower, potter, or a blacksmith has a shed or room out back he/she wants to rent out.

Good luck!

 

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I don't know how those granola bay area ladies think, but I haven't found a woman turned on by the back seat of a car since I was 15. That alone would keep me in my $975/mo apartment.  

 

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On 1/31/2017 at 7:11 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Or you could move. CA cost of living is abso-freakin' ridiculous.

Your rent for 1/4 of a house is more than my mortgage for nearly 3000 sq. ft under roof, on 3 acres.

Hey you're in TN, that's where I was apprenticing. I wish TN had more mountains and diverse terrain. I love the outdoors and California is an amazing place for that but I do plan to move away to somewhere cheaper once I hit FI. I'd love to have some acerage and a pole barn full of lumber milled from the land 

On 2/1/2017 at 7:54 AM, ClassAct said:

Nothing wrong with living in a van. I've lived in a 30' foot sailboat -- twice -- and lived to tell the tale. Enjoyed the hell out of it, too. Go where the spirit moves you; if nothing else you get great stories to tell when you're older.

(OT: sounds like you're a follower of Mr. Money Mustache. If not, start reading! :) )

yeah I listen to http://www.madfientist.com podcast the most out of the FI bloggers but MMM always comes up and have read many of his articles. A lot of interesting info and has given me a way into learning about finances and investing.  

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4 minutes ago, treesner said:

I wish TN had more mountains and diverse terrain.

Dude!  The Smokies?  One of the most beautiful and diverse places I've ever backpacked.  It's not quite as massive and awe-inspiring as the Rockies, but it's an amazing place.  You wouldn't have to hold a gun to my head to move there.  If I could pick up and go anywhere, it would be on my short list.  Too bad my roots are so deep in MO...I ain't goin' nowhere, at least no time soon.

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59 minutes ago, Eric. said:

Dude!  The Smokies?  One of the most beautiful and diverse places I've ever backpacked.  It's not quite as massive and awe-inspiring as the Rockies, but it's an amazing place.  You wouldn't have to hold a gun to my head to move there.  If I could pick up and go anywhere, it would be on my short list.  Too bad my roots are so deep in MO...I ain't goin' nowhere, at least no time soon.

I was in hendersonville outside of nashville, it seemed so flat everywhere i looked. I had plans to explore more and get over to Nashville but I was so focused on chair making that I ended up spending 7 days a week working and didn't even think about going out to explore/ride mtb/moto

On 1/31/2017 at 6:03 PM, Seth Clayton said:

What about adding an apprenticeship again? You'd have a place to live, could negotiate your hours to pay for living there, and probably have access to a MUCH better shop than you could provide yourself.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not a bad idea although my current plan is to work full time at my high paying job to save up for financial independence unless it was a part time apprenticeship. I really need to connect with more woodworkers around my area, not sure why all my connections end up being on the other side of the states..  

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Not a bad idea although my current plan is to work full time at my high paying job to save up for financial independence unless it was a part time apprenticeship. I really need to connect with more woodworkers around my area, not sure why all my connections end up being on the other side of the states..  

Which 'suburbs' of the bay area do you live in and work in?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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