Ceiling Heights?

[Mark J]

For those in basement workshops, I'm curious how much ceiling height you have to work with?  Exclusive of ducts and I-beams, etc., but looking at floor to joist height (or floor to drop ceiling, if that's what you have).  

My current shop has 8 feet, but we've been looking at other houses lately and many have 7 or 7 1/2.  Wondering what other people's experiences are?

[JohnG]

Mine is about 8’ but has ductwork and stuff below that in some areas. I have one or two places that I can stand a sheet of plywood on end, but only just. 

[Askland09]

Right around 8' as well.  Very similar to JohnG in the fact there's duct work, gas lines, etc running all over the place.  It's a great place for the lathe or some small hand tool projects.

[Ronn W]

7'-6".  8 ft would be nice but I realy have not had a problem the way it is.  All vertical equipment fits including dust collector.

[drzaius]

My current garage shop is 9'-6", with duct hanging up to 10" below that. I would not want it any lower, but could certainly deal if it was. I occasionally bump a duct and have been glad for the fixture guards on several occasions.

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, Ronn W said:

All vertical equipment fits including dust collector.

Ronn, what do you have for a dust collector?

[Ronn W]

On 8/16/2022 at 4:02 PM, Mark J said:

Ronn, what do you have for a dust collector?

I have a 1 1/2 hp Laguna. It's about 6 ft tall.

 

[legenddc]

Mine is mostly 8' so you're not standing up a sheet of plywood. I do occasionally bump the hanging lights but nothing has broken yet.

Just have a small dust collector but I could see shorter ceilings being an issue with that. 

[Ronn W]

Not ot hijack this thread but, I guess this is related.  Different ceiling heights can change your lighting.  How many lumens should you have on a workbench surface

for layout work ( pencil and scribe lines, etc)?  Maybe lumens is not the correct word.

[drzaius]

2 hours ago, Ronn W said:

Not ot hijack this thread but, I guess this is related.  Different ceiling heights can change your lighting.  How many lumens should you have on a workbench surface

for layout work ( pencil and scribe lines, etc)?  Maybe lumens is not the correct word.

Lumens is the measure of the output of a lamp, foot/candles is the unit of measure of the brightness of the surface being lit.

[JohnG]

After I upgraded my lighting, I have 20-25 footcandles at my workstations, according to my phone app. I’m pretty pleased with the amount of light but more wouldn’t be bad, either. 

It’s about the same as my kitchen counters.