Welding in garage under house?

So I'm thinking of getting a welder (still wavering between stick and MIG). One of the issues is that I would have to weld outside (no shop yet) or in my garage. The garage is in the basement of the house so I'm wondering about gases/fumes/by-products of welding.

Can I do MIG welding in this garage without too much risk of strange gases or stuff infusing my house? A little risk is OK with me. I can turn on a big fan and get some airflow if needed.

If I have to weld outside then I think MIG is out of the question as I live in a high wind area so that will sway me towards a stick welder.

Any thoughts or input appreciated. I'd prefer to avoid Welder brand wars but I'm leaning to either a Hobart Handler 180 MIG or a basic Lincoln AC/DC Stick Welder.

Thanks in advance.

Why not go with the Hobart & just use the flux cored wire if you need to weld outside ?? Seems like a win-win answer to me..............

'Cause I'm too stupid to realize that I could do that.


I still wouldn't mind knowing if I "could" weld in the garage. In the winter it would be kind of nice to be able to use the sheltered area.

I guess I want to know if it is "really dangerous" or just something that can be done with some good ventilation.

The only down side to flux cored wire is that it's almost 3 times the cost of solid core, and that's at Harbor Freight.

So far this year I have gone thru 60 lbs of solid core wire and am working on my 7th 10 lb spool. At $19.99 for 10 lbs of solid vs $59.99 for 10 lbs of flux core at HF I would recommend solid core and weld inside the garage. When the fumes and smoke get up there, then open the door and let it air out.

Looks like good old Google answered my questions:


http://www.cpwr.com/hazpdfs/kfwelding.PDF

Probably shouldn't do it in the house.

Yet another reason to build a shop. Maybe I should hold off on buying more toys until I have some where to use them.

Man after reading that I'm surprised I aint dead yet

Get a stick if youre welding decent sized metals, get MIG if your welding weenie bits. Dont bother getting a welder that you cant use outside, what if you cant fit your project in the garage?

Since I'm going to be teaching myself to weld I am sucked towards the MIG by the "ease of use" argument. In reality, I probably should just go with the stick as I suspect I'll really just be gluing hunks of metal together.

It would be nice to be able to do some finer stuff if needed though. Can you sense my indecision.

Knowing me I'll end up with both anyways (and no shop).

Typical PB purchase thought process:

1. Over analyze situation
2. Decide to get the "best option"
3. Get sticker shock.
4. Decide to get "good enough"
5. Start project and find out "good enough" wasn't.
6. Mid-project frustration results in trip to store and purchase of the "best option" solution I should have gone with in the first place.


Is it safe to assume that flux-cored wire will work as well as stick outdoors?

I have a attached garage and if I just spray some lacquer from a spray can, the wife claims that she can smell it all over the house. Personally, I believe that it is more a man/woman thing than just the smell. Women don't like it when a man is doing something in the garage that he might enjoy. They believe that it is their obligation to complain about everything that men do. When you do something different that what most men do, they complain even more. I think that the solution is to build a out house that the wife can live in. The best days of living with the wife are when she goes to visit her mother.

"Women don't like it when a man is doing something in the garage that he might enjoy. They believe that it is their obligation to complain about everything that men do. When you do something different that what most men do, they complain even more. I think that the solution is to build a out house that the wife can live in. The best days of living with the wife are when she goes to visit her mother."

We've got the same version of wife. If I just move her car out of the garage for a few days I get "the look".

She just went away for a few days and I had her car out of there and my tractor in there as soon as I could. Sprayed all sorts of stinky paint and chemicals - it was great. Of course, I had to get it all cleaned up before she got back. I think I even got some sass for moving her car out of the garage while she was 3500 miles away!

If youre just learning get stick.
I learnt on stick, now i can just go and pick up a MIG and get acceptable results. My first time TIG I did OK.
If you want get a cheap (under $80) stick and practice on that, then decide. For the money they are great machines and will help you decide.
I believe that you should start hard, either gas or stick, then go onto the easy, MIG, then onto the fun stuff, TIG.
Either that, get a TIG/ARC machine, best of both worlds, capable of welding anything, but I hope youve got a fat wallet.

Junk, judging by your avatar your wife has every reason to be nervous of what goes on in your garage

Mith said:

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Junk, judging by your avatar your wife has every reason to be nervous of what goes on in your garage

Click to expand...

Mith...... about 40 years ago, the wife looked like that. The avatar is the girlfriend.

This is what worked for me...
the last time she complained about smells and asked just what I was up to I replied I was building a cage for her to keep her away from the phone and TV.
She doesn't ask any more. I have the whole garage to myself now, except for the space she parks in and the area she piles her stuff in. Did I mention she mumbled something about me having to go to sleep eventually? Actually she is easy to get along with as long as she has her way.

I wonder what your insurance company thinks about welding inside the house?
In an emergency, with a spotter watching out for you, then maybe ok. Keep in mind that in a garage there are usually all sorts of flammables in addition to the structure itself.

My garage is detached, by about 100 feet. I wheel my unit to the edge of the floor, plug it into the outlet beside the overhead door and drag the cables out to the project. It is not a good idea to weld inside a wooden building. I'm sure lots of folks do it everyday and very few of them have any problems. I just don't like the risk, but then I scuba dive so I'm a horses ass in another fashion.

And what's this business about Mig being easier?
I must admit I am not crazy about having my face so close to the arc, and it's not comfortable. There is no way to see the puddle from on top of the gun. The gas nozzle is in the way. The easiest and most gratifying to use is TIG. Once you have a feel for it there is great similarity to oxy/acy without the huge HAZ.

My eyes are bad and my welding sucks as bad as my attitude so disregard everything I wrote.

All the best,
Martin