I recently posted a question about building a shop on a slight slope. This begs the question of flooring. Using a joist floor is simple on a slope whereas a concrete floor will last longer.
So, if you were building a new shop, do you put in a wood floor or concrete? This is a woodworking shop only. Initially it will house a mower and 4-wheeler though I plan to build a second building this time next year that will have only a gravel floor to house those items.
Nothing to talk about. Wood. With one or more removable panels for ducting, electrical-in-floor outlets etc. Also... if applicable, think in-floor radiant heat.
I'm sensing a pattern. :) I suppose the only reason to use concrete would be if I was going to use _very_ heavy tools (which I don't really expect to).
Even with very heavy tools, the wood floor can be engineered to work. I myself am constantly working on my dream shop (in my head anyways) and it'll have a basement for storage/fun and the wood floor above will house all of the tools. It'll take some decent sized joists (engineered in my case). Wood floors were the norm years ago for large production facilities. I forget exactly which company it was but they had a huge facility where they installed all the wood floors with end grain up. Essentially blocks of wood set probably on sand. It had the added benefit of catching any oil that fell (although I seem to remember the place burned down and I'm sure those oil impregnated blocks didn't help the fire co). Cheers, cc
Horseburg & Scott, a heavy duty gear box manufacturer located in Cleveland, OH, built a new machining center back in the early 60's by first laying a concrete floor, then laying creosote soaked blocks that were about 3x4x1 thick like floor tile or paving bricks.
Was told that even though is was a rather expensive construction method, it was a much easier surface to walk on as well as the fact that metal chips that hit the floor would embed themselves flush in the wood within a day or so.
In all my years calling on US industry, never saw it again.
Well, all you guys, guess I'm the only one that would prefer concrete. Using a wheelchair, I like the surfaces I roll on to be as hard as possible. Anything less amounts to increasingly greater drag on the wheels the softer it gets. Since I use a manual (not electric) wheelchair it means more effort to get around.
And... if anybody here has found a way to circumvent physics, I'd like every direction I go to be slightly downhill. :)
For durability, ease of cleaning, lower cost, its concrete. With your special building situation, it appears you have to build a joist floor with an angled crawl space underneath since its on a slope. But for most building on flat ground, concrete. How many thousands of dollars extra does joist and wood flooring cost over concrete? How many dozens, hundreds of extra labor hours are involved? I guess I'd rather spend the thousands of saved dollars on important stuff.
For the hand tool, bench area of the shop, put a plywood layer over the concrete. Glue strips of 1/4" plywood about 12" on center to the bottom of 3/4" plywood or particle board or MDF. You need the open space below the wood to get the comfort. Put these over the concrete in the hand tool area where you are handling the chisels, planes, etc. Places you are most likely to drop tools. And the place where you will likely be spending considerable time standing on your feet. A whole lot cheaper than putting wood everywhere its not needed. And you get the advantages of concrete and wood where they are important. And when you sell the property, the next person will value the building as an extra garage with a durable concrete floor for their mechanics hobby shop.
Resale is definitely something to consider here. I have not priced out a joist floor and my concrete guy here says I can put a slab on it but at $4/sf. I'll let you guys know which direction I go.
My guess is concrete vs wood, material and labor wise on a flat would be close to a wash when you get to having a finished deck to put a building on. At least that's what the estimates I last got on the workshop of my future leads me to believe.
I've seen that kind of floor three times. 1) in the old REI store in Seattle, creosoted blocks. Very worn, and creosote-smelly, but very nice surface to walk on. 2) In the Naval Reserve building on Lake Union in Seattle. All Douglas fir, and strikingly beautiful. 3) in the Museo de Antropologia in Mexico City. Some kind of tropical wood, and also very beautiful.
I've thought about doing that in my garage in my spare time, but I haven't figured out what to glue the blocks down with.
I used to have a bookmark for Cobblewood Flooring, but a quick search found
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remember a post here, or on rcm, about a block floor that had expanded with humidity to form a bubble several feet high. IIRC those blocks were 'dry' laid and the guy responsible was waiting for the humidity to go down so the floor would lay flat again. Joe
If you go with wood be very careful that you have the right water drainage in all directions so that you do not get standing water underneath the shop. Fixing water drainage problems after the structure is built is a miserable and expensive hassle.
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