The Framers Forum

I have turned my garage into a workshop to do my framing. The garage is an integral garage.
My question is would I need a dehumidifier and some sort of heating to protect my mouldings as they will be stored in there.
The garage is well sealed being an integral one so there are no leaks, but what about moisture, cold conditions and even warm conditions

if possible you want to store mouldings, or any other timber before use, ideally its in the same conditions as they will end up in -"room temperature" and "normal" humidity.
But in practice I would bet your garage is no worse than a lot of suppliers warehouses as a storage environment.
obviously it helps to keep them wrapped until needed, but I'd keep your mountboard in the house rather than in the garage.
If you store your mouldings in racks up near the roof, that's warmer, and where there is an air flow.
Thats what my mate does, and he's been garage-framing for 10 years.

Never thought about the mountboards and backing boards. Are these not suitable tostore in a garage.
Could I store them in the garage and when i know which ones I'm going to use, take them into the house and bring them up to temperature for 24 hours.

Ask yourself: What effect is moisture going to have on the adhesives on mountboard papers?

Mr Bojangles wrote:Never thought about the mountboards and backing boards. Are these not suitable tostore in a garage.
Could I store them in the garage and when i know which ones I'm going to use, take them into the house and bring them up to temperature for 24 hours.

nah, Gary, unless your garage is heated and fairly close to the conditions of a room in the house, they'll fall to bits. And one snail or slug in there and you can kiss goodbye to the face papers one way or another

However you might be OK with boards that come in the plastic wraps (eg. Arquadia) if they stay sealed and if you are careful to re-seal them air tight after use - that was just a thought.

Same would apply to art-bak and foamcore boards, I guess.

Looks like the spare room will have to be turned into a stock room for mountboard and backing board. I'm sure that will please my wife
She will probably be happier when framed pictures of her horse are going up around the house

The good news is that mountboard and wood like the same conditions that we do.

So, my recipe for converting a garage to a workshop is:

1. Carpet the floor. Any old carpet will do - the local carpet shop can probably let you have an old carpet if you ask nicely as they'd otherwise have to pay to dump it. You'll be spending many hours standing in the workshop so make sure the floor is comfortable.

2. Fit decent lighting. You need to be able to see what you're doing and colour match things. Fluorescent fittings are quite cheap. Daylight tubes are a bit more expensive but worth it. Daylight tubes are also likely to make you feel more cheerful. I bought mine at a local electrical shop that worked out much cheaper than the Internet. They supplied the fittings with standard tubes (they all come like that) then bought back the standard tubes from me and supplied daylight tubes. Paint the wall white so the whole place is nice and bright.

3. Insulate the roof space if possible and put plasterboard over any unused doors (that also provides more wallspace). Drafts are really uncomfortable when working in the winter.

4. Get some heating. An oil-filled convector with a thermostat would be quite cheap and if left on all the time on a low setting at least means the workshop isn't freezing cold on winter mornings.

5. Get a humidity measurer such as this: http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?Mod ... 48&doy=5m3

If the workshop is at all damp then get a dehumidifier such as this one http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10370/Hea ... CSTHZPCFFI which includes a fan heater. In the summer it avoids dripping sweat on customers' artwork. It also ensures the mountboard doesn't get damp.

6. Get a decent coffee pot and a comfortable chair. (An alternative to the coffee pot is a pair of cordless phones or an intercom so you can ask the wife to bring in a cup of coffee - might be cheaper but may only provide a short-term solution.) A radio or CD player is also beneficial unless you're really into meditation.


Don't forget the things that most ruin mountboard, moulding and artwork are the same things that ruin human beings: damp, cold and fluctuations in temperature.

Welshframer - thanks for those tips/suggestions. I'm thinking of doing some work on my garage to element-proof it with a view to framing there. Am currently working in a spare bedroom which has become my 'workshop', but the extra space in the garage is beckoning! Guess the storage of mouldings and any type of board is the thing to watch out for.

Mike

Some valuable tips there thank you. Here is a breakdown of where I'm up to already.

Lighting has been upgraded to two double flurescent fittings

Ceiling was already insulated and plasterboarded due to my daughters bedroom above it.

Walls have had 3 coats of pure brilliiant white paint.

Concrete floor has had a sealer on it in preperation for being painted with floor paint.


Unable to seal off the up and over door as this is my only access into garage.

What you could do with the garage door is line it with a layer or two of this stuff and draughtproof the edges. Every little bit of heat saved is helpful!

Steve excellent idea, will visit screwfix at weekend and purchase some insulation

Mr Bojangles wrote:Lighting has been upgraded to two double flurescent fittings

I'd certainly look at the possibility of getting some daylight tubes - part of the reason I got them was to combat SAD and general depression. I do think they help to keep me more cheerful.

(And please don't tell your wife it was my idea to install the intercom for ordering coffee. )

WelshFramer wrote:[I'd certainly look at the possibility of getting some daylight tubes - part of the reason I got them was to combat SAD and general depression. I do think they help to keep me more cheerful.

I have 4 daylight tubes above my painting board, which I must spend hours under.

I'm still a miserable sod though......

prospero wrote: I have 4 daylight tubes above my painting board, which I must spend hours under.

I'm still a miserable sod though......

My wife sometimes says that about me. I just reply that I could easily be even more miserable.

Downstairs workshop has 3 std tubes and one daylight (I didn't have a spare std tube when the old one packed up so I put in a daylight one. Too miserable to change around it again). That means when I am in that room I am only 25% happy.

What about insects/bugs etc? Does anyone spray insecticide at regular / irregular intervals?

I keep a can of woodworm spray handy, although I dont like spraying insecticides about indoors. There seem to be plenty of natural insect repellents available as aromatic oils for pot pouri etc.

I have energy saving daylight lamps in the workshop and at home for the same reasons as Welshframer. I can highly recommend them for a better light to work in as well.

But one problem with flourescents is that they do over time bugger your eyes. In a frame shop you are always either seeing them out of the corners of your eyes or as direct reflections in glass.

I'd get yourself a couple of moveable spots with energy saving SAD lamps in, and use them where you need them! You can get two energy saving SAD lamps for about a fiver on ebay.

Likewise I second the suggestion about carpet!

Does anyone spray insecticide at regular / irregular intervals?

I buy something called a fogger which I use periodically. It is a can which locks open and sprays all the contents into the air..... gets to all the moths and creepies behind roof trusses etc. I activate it at night when I lock up and and in the morning open up windows and start rolling again. I do this because my mount board stock stands up straight and I hate pulling out a board and finding a fishmoth or spider squashed on the surface of the board

Thanks for all the info and my workshop is near completion, just the work bench to construct when I can decide on design (any ideas would be appreciated)
Would i get away with storing mouldings in plastic tubes (like drainpipes) with end caps on. These will be fastened to the wall of my garage in a horizontal position.
Would this help with the moisture problem or not? I agree with having to store the mountboard and backing board in the house.
My garage is quite warm as it's built into the house with a bedroom on top of it.

Am in the same position building a frame shop in Garage and have decided that a custom bench with the mount cutter recessed and above it a fold down glass cutting bench, the idea being that space saving would be acheived, has anyone tried this.
I realise that the mount cutter would be lower than normal but as I do not see being at the mount cutter for an 8 hour stretch I think it should be ok.
Alternativly a duck board arrangement to stand on when cutting glass.
Anyone any ideas?????