How many sq ft are you in?

[inkman996]

3,600K and really tight. 1 auto 1 manual. Clean out area, dark room 3 offices, embroidery section with two 8 heads and 1 single. We also have a 12 head in another unit we rent space from when we need to really crank out some emb. As we found out recently we can fit about 8k shirts tightly but workable at a time in the print area.

[bimmridder]

It doesn't matter. There is never enough room.

[Sbrem]

8K, mhm 10/12, old gauntlet 6/8, Rototex 8/4 manual, 48' Tex-Air, 60" Tex-Air, 24" Cincinnati... screen room, art dept, lunch area, offices...

steve

[Inkworks]

2800 sq/ft with a 12/14 auto and 6/6 manual, M&R Heatwave Dryer, 2 pad printers, rotary bottle press and a very small clamshell and another 24" wide 14.5' Hix conveyor, 2x 48" x 36" drying racks and all the periphery stuff to support it all.

And now a separate 1800 sq/ft shop which house 4 head embroidery and all the sign shop stuff including install bay and huge vertical panel saw. plus showroom.

[Shanarchy]

I have known more than one shop owner to expand vertically, and add loft space for storage and other appropriate parts of the operation.

200 of our 2500 is actually a loft/storage space about the stairwell. It's pretty useful.

It doesn't matter. There is never enough room.

I'm pretty sure no matter what size space I am in I will end up filling it.

[Admiral]

11K - too tight now.

2 automatics - CH3, Diamondback.  Got rid of manual over a year ago.  Sprint 2000 dryer, 4DTG printers, 4 embroidery machines, pad printing, ink mixing etc.

Screen room is pretty big - auto coater, CTS, starlight etc.

I think 20K would be much more effective but we will go with a bit larger to grow into / expand.

[redwoodtees]

Cramped you say? Micro-shop checking in.. 300sf (containing 6/8 manual, 13' dryer, exposure unit, screen drying cabinet, screen storage, ink mixing station).

[Prosperi-Tees]

Cramped you say? Micro-shop checking in.. 300sf (containing 6/8 manual, 13' dryer, exposure unit, screen drying cabinet, screen storage, ink mixing station).

Would love to see pics of this as I am struggling to figure out how to do it.

[sqslabs]

2600 sq ft and bursting at the seams, both physically and electrically.  12/14 RPM, 6/4 Sidewinder, Sprint 3000, Brother GT-541, Richmond Solarbeam 10k.  Our showroom, offices and screen room take up about 1/3 of our space, but we have 20 ft ceilings in the production area and can expand vertically if needed. 

Planning on keeping things this size for as long as I own the business, and will be reorganizing everything creatively to make a bit more room in the coming year. 

[Prince Art]

Cramped you say? Micro-shop checking in.. 300sf (containing 6/8 manual, 13' dryer, exposure unit, screen drying cabinet, screen storage, ink mixing station).

Dude, I would fist-bump you right now if I could! (And I don't do that much.) We're around 450sf, including office.

I realize you guys with bigger shops have to deal with everything on a different scale... but there may be some value in considering "how do tiny shops do it?" Lower volume is the obvious part of the equation. But the other side is efficiency. We constantly have to ask "what can I do to make the most of what I have?" It means getting rid of the junk in the corner and really having to justify every equipment purchase. It means arranging everything in the most space-efficient way possible. (Tetris experience is a plus!) It means being able to stand at any point in the shop with your arms out, turn in a circle , and touch something - probably several things. It means trimming fat everywhere you possibly can. I'm certain some of the bigger shops are doing the same things, and still need space... but I'm just as certain some others could reclaim 100's of sf if they made it a goal.

...Not sure how that "reads" - no hostility intended! Just thoughts. From the peanut gallery, some of the "complaints" are a little amusing, even if legitimate.

[ZooCity]

It doesn't matter. There is never enough room.

Yup.

[mimosatexas]

1100 here (moving to around 450 within the next month or two).  I have way too much crap in it right now, so I kind of have 2 foot wide paths to wade to different areas and everything is on casters.  I serious need to sell off a bunch of stuff.

[Sbrem]

Cramped you say? Micro-shop checking in.. 300sf (containing 6/8 manual, 13' dryer, exposure unit, screen drying cabinet, screen storage, ink mixing station).

We started with about that, we had a darkroom that was 4' x 4', just enough room for a vertical camera, a processor, and room for my size 13's, ah, those were the days...

Steve

[Northland]

...my production space is a 12'x24' room that houses a 6x4 M&R Kruzer, 7' M&R Economax dryer, LED exposure unit, ink mixing/storage area, work surface, screen storage and wash-out booth.
...art room and shirt storage is another 12'x12' room.
Total of 432 sq' (in the lower level of my home).

That wouldn't work for a full-time gig, but works fine for the 10 hours/week that I print 

[tonypep]

22K