re: If you were to build a new shop

While concrete floors vs wood floors and dust collection are very much a personal preference, there really is no correct answer. I installed concrete in my shop and incorporated radiant floor heat. I heat my entire shop with a water heater! Not only does it work, but it works extremely well, so for me, it was a great decision. As for dust collection, during the planning phase I thought a lot about where to locate major tool clusters like table saw, band saw, and router table. These three tend to be the biggest producers of sawdust. I ran a PVC pipe under the concrete to the center of the shop where these tools would be located. After 10 years of intense use, I can report that this idea works well. There is a lot of controversy over PVC and dust collection mostly surrounding the notion that static electricity buildup can cause a buildup of charge leading to a spark that causes a fire. As an electrical engineer, I considered this, but given that the PVC is buried under the concrete, in the ground, the same ground that your shop’s electrical system is “grounded” to, the risk is minimal if not nonexistent. Having said that, there are also merits to an overhead piping system for the simple reason that you can easily change it if you want. Once a pipe is buried in concrete, well, things are “cast in concrete” so to speak.

Good luck.

Regards,

Larry Ciesla
http://www.larryciesla.com