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beforewhom t1_iy9pn06 wrote

Question a. Are big temp swings happening dynamically in 1 week or statically over weeks or months? Temp swings primarily mean drastic changes in humidity, while expansion and contraction happens it's primary going to come into play when in the same week or over a span of weeks you have huge swings of humidity, for example Houston in the fall/spring where between 1 week you have humidtiy of 70%, 20%, 30%, 90%, and 10%. If they happen slowly across seasons you may not need to factor in as you are.

1.Concrete can carry moisture and you don't want this moisture to go into your wood studs especially during humid seasons or wet/rainy/monsoon seasons. You can circumvent this by getting treated 2x4s, 1x4 or whatever size wood you decide to frame with. Otherwise you can do literally any of the options you described, pink boards, vapor barrier, or offset from wall so only bottom piece needs to be treated wood. You could also put the 2x4 on a vapor barrier on the ground and then you wouldnt need any treated wood.

  1. It sounds like you are saying (i'm deciding randomly) that your north, east and south walls are outer facing and your western wall isn't and so you want to only frame these three. No risks to doing this. Insulation is used (framing and drywall included) are done to prevent sound, temp, and motion transfer. in your situation you would be insulating from sound and temp since these aren't load bearing walls. You would do this wear you want to prevent sound and temp from transferring for any reason.

  2. No reason to vapor the floor except as mentioned above. If you have lived in the house for a while and are pretty sure there aren't water issues in the basement then no real reason to do beyond what you already did, which is a moisture test. That being said your primary concern having a woodshop should be airflow out of your woodshop unless you don't like breathing clean air. You should plan this and install this before you put your walls up and you might want to add a section of framing to accomodate hanging this. Look up Air Filtration systems on Rockler or any other major woodworking website and spec one out based on the cubic footage of your workshop. After this air filtration system you might need to add an outdoor whole similar to a dryer vent or such that will introduce a water failure point. I say do this early to insure all sealing is done completely correct and you can observe this. A dryer vent isn't anything new or crazy but a new hole in the wall is something you want to make sure is done right.

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Ad-Nauseam91 OP t1_iy9qdao wrote

Thanks for the extensive response… I’m probably being too anxious about moisture, just rather play it safe I suppose.

Sounds like either option I’m probably good with which is a positive.

Lastly, I already have a 1.5hp dust collector that I’m transitioning to 2 stage, so it does a pretty good job at dust collection. And has a 1 micron filter. I still plan to get one of those ceiling hanging air filters too though, can never be too cautious on air quality!

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beforewhom t1_iy9ta38 wrote

Dust collector collects visible dust. Always protect your lungs by constantly filtering the air. Air Filtration cannot be understated especially in stagnant environments like a basement. This becomes even more important if your furnace/register is in the basement.

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StraightUpBullfrog t1_iy9zwf4 wrote

Agreed, from what I've read, the sub 1-micron is the worst for you health-wise, and as mentioned here, invisible to the naked eye. The more filtration/air changes, the better. May be worth looking into grabbing a Dylos or equivalent air quality monitor to make sure whatever measures you're putting in place are actually working the way you think they are. I believe mine measures down to 0.3um?....a couple hundred bucks invested in having healthy lungs in the future is a bargain in my world. Also a big fan of cyclone + venting the DC outside but I understand that isn't always possible.

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Ad-Nauseam91 OP t1_iyax9dl wrote

I could probably vent it out through the small windows in my basement, that’s how my dryer vent is setup today already.

How is DC vented outside? Like how I plan to set mine up, hoses to tools, that go through cyclone then into the filter canister with bag attached to that. Does the venting happen after the canister filter? Sorry newb question but having trouble picturing it.

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nightwing2000 t1_iybcnrp wrote

If it's an old house with good concrete foundation walls and good drainage, and hasn't leaked yet, you should be safe.

Another point - be sure that the basement wall vapour barrier plastic is sealed to the insulation's vapour barrier in between the joists against the exterior wall. (back in the 50's or before, vapour barriers were an occasional concept, usually that paper-backed fiber insulation was the vapour barrier. Proper insulation was also often just a suggestion.)

Also, by code - while pink fiberglas insulation can be exposed (with a plastic vapour barrier) - Styrofoam insulation must be covered with drywall; otherwise, a fire could burn the Styrofoam to produce noxious fumes. Sealing it behind drywall limits this risk. Also, know your code - electrical outlets in a finished room must be no less than 12 feet apart (since many appliances have 6 foot cords) not counting doors and windows. My local code allows for zero outlets in unfinished areas. (i.e. no drywall).

And... finishing a basement (or part) can add to your tax bill if the municipality gets wind of it.

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