Workshop location ideas

[diydidi]

Hi Guys.
Would like to pick your brains a bit and get some ideas. I do mainly repairs for a couple of music shops, and do work for Roland and Focusrite here in South Africa.
I will be moving house soon as I need more space. It has a 18 square meter garage that I was thinking of using as my workshop. We will be two people working together, plus I need space to store all incoming and out-going repairs. Do you think it will suffice?
On the other hand the house has 3 bedrooms, but they are all upstairs.
Maybe I should use the single garage downstairs for storing all the repairs, and the upstairs room for the workshop.
Don't think there is any insulation in the garage ceiling, but then again it doesn't get that cold here.
How many of you work from home? Maybe use a garage? How many of you utilise a room inside your house?
Please share your insights and photo's.
Thanx in advance!!

[soundguruman]

I used to work at home, and the Police warned me about the noise.
Then I found a commercial building.

I work in a shop 200 square feet, but I can also overflow into a warehouse.
So I think 200 Square Foot minimum for 1 technician = bench + test equipment, and desk + file cabs, bookshelves, etc....
you need some extra room besides 200 sq. feet to store incoming / outgoing repairs.

And so 18 sq. meters = 194 sq foot = is half the space you need for 2 technicians.

This space 18 sq meters is better for 1 technician, not 2.

[T9c]

I work from home in a 144 sqft detached shop that was originally a wash room for clothes. It is almost too small for me when the store loads me up with more than 6 amps at a time. But, I don't have anyone to share the space with, so it's bearable. I wouldn't want to carry amps up and down stairs either, although I do have a couple of steps up then down to get through the door. That's a major pain, but bearable.

[km6xz]

Roland? Keyboards take up a lot of room, as do their parts inventory. I would think 18 meters would be way too small for a reasonably busy shop. In my old shop, each tech had about 12 meters but that did not include the parts department(800 sq feet), warehouse(5000 sq ft) lobby, office space, unit storage, library(back when we used actual paper service manuals), Do you receive Roland KB parts reliably in short delivery times? If not, figure on 18 meters of "waiting parts storage" alone. A couple brown-goods keyboards will fill up your area very quickly.
A one man shop has a lot more flexibility for working at home but a regular commercial establishment with customer access is not so suitable for home use.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Maybe I should use the single garage downstairs for storing all the repairs, and the upstairs room for the workshop.

That's what I've been doing 28 years and I don't recommend it. Lugging KB's up & down the stairs, what a hassle. I don't work on KB's but when I have an SVT head or Super Reverb or similar what a grunt session, I could do without it.

Will you be doing warranty work? A brave soul around these parts started one some years back but the major companies would not ever pay him with a check, just credit to buy more parts. And hope he could make enough to pay the help & overhead with income from non-warranty work. Worst offender was Yamaha. Shop sunk beneath the waves after only 3 years or so. Plenty of $$ "on credit" with the companies but not a penny left to pay rent, lighting, heat, phone etc. Damn shame that, for a while I had a place I could send people who inquired about KB repairs, also digital & solid state items I know I can't fix.

[soundguruman]

I used to work at home, and the Police warned me about the noise.
Then I found a commercial building.

I work in a shop 200 square feet, but I can also overflow into a warehouse.
So I think 200 Square Foot minimum for 1 technician = bench + test equipment, and desk + file cabs, bookshelves, etc....
you need some extra room besides 200 sq. feet to store incoming / outgoing repairs.

And so 18 sq. meters = 194 sq foot = is half the space you need for 2 technicians.

This space 18 sq meters is better for 1 technician, not 2.

[soundguruman]

I work from home in a 144 sqft detached shop that was originally a wash room for clothes. It is almost too small for me when the store loads me up with more than 6 amps at a time. But, I don't have anyone to share the space with, so it's bearable. I wouldn't want to carry amps up and down stairs either, although I do have a couple of steps up then down to get through the door. That's a major pain, but bearable.

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You get a window?
What did you do to deserve a window?
I have no window, but it's sound-proofed. Oh well, I can dream of a window...

[tedmich]

[soundguruman]

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The entrance to your shop is already covered...you don't need a Peavey mailbox.

[diydidi]

I don't mind carrying up 10 steps of stairs. Will be doing warranty repairs yes. The garage is very close to the house.
Maybe I can get the wife to give up her side of the garage...mmm
I'll have a double garage all to myself.
Guess one garage and an upstairs room will have to do.

[big_teee]

We use what we have, unless you want to build on, or Move.
GL,
T

[The Dude]

I've worked from home before and if you've worked from home, you already know this. If not, I thought I should bring this up.

IMO, the biggest reason I would never do it again, unless out of necessity is this. YOU CAN NEVER GET AWAY FROM WORK............NEVER! I'd have customers stopping over on Sundays, wee hours of the morning, etc. banging on the door. It's difficult to "hide". Once customers know where you live, you're screwed. If I didn't answer because I was sleeping or whatever, they'd just leave the stuff in my garage or where ever and leave me a voice mail. It got to be ridiculous. If you don't mind scheduling your life around your job, fine. If you prefer to schedule work around your life or have a "fixed" work schedule, don't do it.

Edit: Another thing to consider is insurance. Do not forget that your homeowner's insurance is not likely going to cover any business related losses if you are working out of your home. If you do decide to work from home, be sure to talk to your insurance agent and see what kind of coverage you will need to get the business side of things covered. If you get robbed, your house burns down, have a flood, etc., a standard homeowner's policy is not going to cover gear that belongs to customers and you'll be liable to pay for their losses as well as your own.

[g1]

Agree with above, aside from fire, flood, etc. you are now a more likely target for theft, so you need to think about security.
About the only time it might work ok to have the home shop is if someone else is farming out repairs to you and handling all the customer/retail end of things.

[diydidi]

I won't be taking any private repairs. I do all the collecting and dropping off once a week.
Thanks for all the advice guys!!