Does anyone build their planes in the basement. How do you keep it dry and warm in the winter. Any advantages or disadvantages to building in the basement.

I build in the basement. Mine stays dry and relatively constant temperature all year round. Best advantage is closing the door and not having to clean up. Two main problems - getting rid of the nasty fumes / sawdust and moving the planes in and out to the car. I installed a heavy-duty exhaust fan which seems to help.

Taildrager:

I always have visions of making the plane just that little bit too large, and having to tear the house down to get it out.

Bill.

I build in the basement. I run a dehumidifier 24/7 year round for moisture removal. In the summer, the basement is nice and cool all the time. In the winter, I try to keep my basement woodburner going all the time to keep it comfortable. Hangar rash is my biggest problem. The bigger my planes get, the more hangar rash I suffer. I like the idea of a big exhaust fan, I'd like to do something like that. 2 squirts of spray paint in the basement and the whole house stinks.

Jon

Be careful if you build in your basement and decide to install an exhaust fan for fume / sawdust removal. If your home heating furnace happens to be there also and it is either a gas or oil fired unit you could possibly starve it for air when turning on the exhaust fan. This could cause the flame to be sucked into the basement or flue products sucked back from the chimney. Gas or oil fired hot water heaters can cause problems too. There are other problems that can arise but these are the worst ones that have a great potential for death.

I have always built in a basement. It is not humid here so it is not a problem. The only water problem was when I left the hose running and flooded the damn shop. That was frusterating. I have recently started using a vent fan and saw dust collector like cubman stated. Never used them before last year, but I wish I had been using them forever.

Safer for planes if a twister hits!!!!! I build in my basement no problems. In Summer im off work (teacher) I keep my birds assembled and ready to go!!! in the garage

I tested for Radon, but results were inconclusive.......they wanted me to test again for a $10 cost. I just periodically open the windows; oh, well.

When we built our house, (abt 8yrs ago), we built in an "airplane room" 16X20 in our finished basement. Has worked out very well and the temp is always the same as the rest of the house. Air in the summer and heat in the winter. Only problem was when the sump pump failed abt 2 1/2 yrs ago and flooded the entire basement w/ 12-14" of water. $30,000 later it's good as new. we have had birds as large as 42%, (2 at once), in the shop. Just have to be careful when taking them up the stairs.
Steve

I build in my basement and it works great. I run a dehumidifier 24/7. My forced air furnace is down there and it has 3 registers that I can open or close to let in heat or AC. The temp stays pretty consistent from 68 to 74 degrees and the humidity runs from 42 to 56%. I built a small spray booth out of plywood and an old furnace blower and some filters that works nicely for small spray paint jobs or bench sanding.

Cellar dweller. Dehumidifier runs 24/7 no problems.

I almost did that this winter with my 27% Extra! LOL

I have lived mostly "up north" for my life and would like to have a basement to put a shop in. However, when they build homes here, there are no basements. My shop is in my garage, and the heat plays havoc with the monokote and ultracote coverings. I am constantly having to run the heat gun over them to keep the skin tight. Would love to have another basement, but do remember the water problem. Now that is something of the past. Oh....and no more snow blower!!!!!!!

Good Post Cubman on the "starving for air" note. I have a powered flue exhaust on my furnace and installed a filtered air return in my shop in my cold air return trunk. I don't think an exhaust would starve out my basement shop, but not for sure. I don't have a door on my basement entry from upstairs (I removed it and have it in use as a building bench top), so I think I pull plenty of fresh air from the rest of the house.

I wonder if anyone has pics of their home-made shop exhaust and/or exhaust booth. I would like to put something together in my basement to spray paint parts.

Jon

Thanks for all the good responses, looks like basement cleaning time this fall for my new place to build.