My tech room

Cleaned up and updated basement storage room repurposed for my 3D printers and electronics.

My home's basement had an unlit, damp, and somewhat creepy storage room. It's a small space, but it was a great fit for all of my hobby stuff. Plus, the exhaust fan I installed helps with soldering and 3D printing fumes.


The (almost) original condition of the room. Damp walls, crumbling drywall on the ceiling, rusted electrical box with a non-working light. Not pictured is a long MDF "counter" that was rotten and warped, and resting on rotten wood planks attached to walls and sitting on a contraption made of 2x4s.


Removed the light and wires. Tore down the drywall "ceiling", which was holding a lot of dust and helped accumulate moisture underneath it.


Rerouted some of the wiring, and ran it along the joist to the junction box in the corner.
Cut a 4" hole to the outside, installed and wired an exhaust fan with a switch. Intended for soldering and plastic fumes, it also helped when painting.


Sprayed expanding foam into drafty gaps and cracks, then cut it flush with the wall. It's great stuff, heh.
Painted walls with two coats of drylok. It's very thick and sometimes difficult to apply, but it really works - there was no more water seeping through walls during heavy rains.


Mounted, and wired two sets of outlets, all through GFCI. The wire going into the room is only 14 AWG, but it should be safe enough as long as I don't run space heaters.


Thoroughly swept, washed, scrubbed and then painted the floor. Although the floor is uneven, the paint went on pretty well.


Initial layout. Thrifted file cabinets, random large desk top I found in the basement of the new home, door used as a longer table. Reduce, reuse, recycle. At least that's what I tell myself.
My plan is to build my own L-shaped tabletop that can fit everything, but that would be a whole other project.


The final setup. What I still need to do is to print a box cover for the exhaust to allow mounting standard 3" ducts and then route these ducts to the desk and to the enclosed printer.