Air compressor location

I hope i am posting this in the correct spot. I recently added on to the garage of my house going from a 1 car to a 3 plus car, it is 22ft wide and 32 ft deep and the front 2 bays are 2 stories high. i was thinking of putting my craftsman 5hp 30gal. air compressor up top on a platform in the rafters/attic area and run the lines down, as well as a  switch and water drain for the tank down to the lower area. My brother seems to think this was a bad idea as this will shake and be heard easily in the house. i seem to think that if i pad the floor correctly that i put the compressor on i should be fine, but he kind of got me thinking. so does anyone have any ideas on rafter/attic compressor placement ? ? ?

If you plan to do any finish paint work, don't put it up there...
I won't even get into the fumes issue with paint if it is attached and it sounds like it is.
Now, I will admit I have painted in an attached garage, but I did built an exhaust unit that put the entire house into negative pressure and exited through a panel in  a garage door. Still not a good idea.

   The issue with the compressor up above is that it will jar dust loose an drop it into the paint, no matter how well it is insulated.  Otherwise, with no painting being done, I think an insulated booth and thick pads will do the trick if you plan it carefully, use a flex hose for your hardline coupling. Place the compressor as far from the house as humanly possible.  Run your airline out from the compressor and UP to the highest point you can get to. The idea is to allow any moisture to drop back to the tank so that it does not head out into the main lines. Use a long hard line for your tank drain, the tank should last forever if you run the hard line in such away any condensate drops out of the tank and into the line.

   I know there are other details to doing it right, but that's a start.

I know a couple painters who have the compressors sitting up on the top of the office area built into their shops. TALL shop building, with a small room built into the corner and the compressor up there. Line run down with a ball valve at the bottom so they simply walk over and drain the water from the tank every day. Plus, any water then runs down and sits in the pipe, not the tank.

Edited by billd - Aug/27/2009 at 12:29pm

The biggest problem I see regarding putting your compressor "upstairs", is figuring out how to build a pad that'll isolate the vibrations, and stop them from transferring to the floor joists... if you don't, that building will RUMBLE like crazy... literally sending vibrations through the entire structure.

I would be concerned about the weight of the compressor and vibrations. If you do it, build a strong platform that is braced well and will not pull or push on a wall or the roof, and make your connections by through bolting. It would ruin your day if nails vibrated loose and the compressor landed on something important. Weight and vibrations would make me find another location. The mass of the platform has a lot to do with the transmission of vibrations. If you could install an elevated concrete pad, you could make it work.