Where the work happens

The most industrial workspace in this estate, and the one with the most external interest in it.

Chemicals, water and ventilation

Concentrated acids and alkalis, solvents, oxidizers, and a lot of water.

None of it is exotic and all of it is why this is not a kitchen table craft in the way lip balm is.

What the space needs

Ventilation, genuinely, particularly for solvents and for anything that fumes.

A solid, chemically resistant work surface and a floor that can be washed.

Water and a drain, and a plan for what may and may not go down it.

An eyewash station within reach. This is the one piece of safety equipment this craft actually needs and the one most likely to be missing.

Spill containment for stored liquids.

Separate, clean space for filling, away from where raw materials are handled.

And somewhere stable for stability samples and finished stock.

Storage is the regulated part

Quantities of flammable solvent and of oxidizer are where fire code applies, and the thresholds are lower than people assume.

Acids and alkalis stored together is the same incompatibility as mixing them, and a leak in a shared bund is exactly that.

Store them separately, in secondary containment, labeled, with the safety data sheets accessible.

And check the local requirements before scaling the amount you hold, not after.

The insurance question

A domestic property insurer may treat this as a business use that changes or voids the policy, and storing solvents is a material fact.

A landlord will have a view.

Both are a phone call, and both are the difference between an insured loss and a personal one.

References