shop floor in new house

[patriarch]

Leonard Lopez wrote in news:2t2dfaF1rupvjU1@uni- berlin.de:

First of all, congratulations!

Does your contractor/architect/designer know that you intend to load up this new shop with several tons of cast iron? Has that been calculated into the design of the girders and joists? You'd rather find that out sooner than later.

There are sources of supply here in my area for wood flooring for trucks, rail cars, etc. Utility grade, generally (here at least) something related to oak. Pretty inexpensive, durable stuff. Sometimes sealed, generally not 'finished' in the sense of what you would have in your den, although you could, if you wanted. All depends on what you are going for. In trucks, it's often laid on edge, like gluing up a workbench top. That would add a lot of rigidity to the floor, and it would last forever.

My shop has to be able to revert to being a garage, when we sell the place. So concrete is what I live with. And since everything gets moved around, often, I don't use the padded mats, although I should. Wood floors are reputed to be much easier on feet and knees, as well as on edge tools responding to the call of gravity.

Patriarch

[Leonard Lopez]

I am putting a woodshop in my new house. The floor will set on girders and joists just like the rest of the house. What's a good floor/finish to put down?

Len

[Bruce Hooke]

If I had the choice I would definitely go for a wood floor -- probably tongue and grove pine over plywood or thick tongue and groove pine straight on top of the joists. Wood is much nicer on the feet and legs than concrete. Also, it is VERY nice to be able to screw things down to the floor. You could either leave the floor unfinished or paint it. I suppose you could also do some sort of clear finish but if you do I would aim for something like oil so that it still looks OK once it's been dinged up.

Given that an average new house floor should be designed to support things like pianos and fish tanks I doubt that you will need anything extra in the way of framing BUT it is certainly worth checking. Of course if you plan to install a 700 pound 14" tablesaw then that would be another story!

- Bruce

[TeamCasa]

This may be bucking the trend but given the choices available today, I would use a CLP Urethane. It's flexible and durable. I would color it white as well. This would provide the feel and all of the benefits of your wood floor plus the ability to clean spills easily.

Dave

[Ba r r y]

WOOD!! It's easier on dropped edges and your legs.

Check local dealers (NOT BORGs) or chains like Lumber Liquidators, for lower grade hardwood floors. It's got more discoloration and knots than higher grades, but can often be had for a buck or so a square foot.

I'm in a basement, with horse mats placed on concrete, and would kill for the opportunity to work on a wood floor all day!

Barry

[Leonard Lopez]

700 lb. Powermatic is about the heaviest thing. I will either locate it on a girder or over a pair of joists with special support for it.

I will check into some type of cheap flooring boards. That may be the cheapest and best alternative.

Thanks Len

Bruce Hooke wrote:

[jo4hn]

I have 3/4" OSB T&G over wood I beams on 12" centers. Plenty sturdy and with 3 coats of light colored primer on it, reasonable waterproof. mahalo, jo4hn

[Stephen M]

I have 3/4" T&G A/C Plywood painted with 2 coats of oil-based enamel "floor and deck" paint. I mixed a can of white and a can of gray because I felt the generic blattleship gray was a bit dark.

If you are already comitted to a standard framed floor, and aesthetics are not a concern, I don't think that you can beat it for simplicity, cost and function.

It's not pretty, but it has all the benefits of wood and sweeps up very well. I will probably recoat with the same in some areas only because I have been sloppy with glue and shellac drips.

-Steve

[mac davis]

Since the price is going to vary by material and labor, I'd personally go with "standard" 1 1/8" underlayment and the best industrial sheet flooring that I could justify... something that would be warmer and softer than cement, handles rolling cabinets and tools well and (hopefully) takes less maintenance than a wood floor..

[loutent]

I would use wood too. My knees are shot after a day in the basement on concrete (rubber mats help tho).

If I had your situation, I would try to plan the layout as carefully as possible and then make provision for dust collection ducts under the floor where possible and also electrical needs (220 etc) where you want them. Also, dust collector outside the shop. And a separate finishing room with good venilation.

Maybe you have done this already?

You have a lot of us jealous!

Best of luck!

Lou

[firstjois]

I'm seeing a transition in kitchen appliances from grouping the main appliances in a triangle so it's easy to work through preparing a meal with less walking around to one where each task is set apart into (ideally) 4 sections each of which becomes a work station since now more than one person helps prepare meals. (The Not So big House) Naturally I'm looking at the shop to see how this translates to making my life easier in the shop. Since you have a chanse to start a shop from scratch, how did you determine the layout?

Josie

[Leonard Lopez]

The minimum work triangle is still in fashion as far as I am concerned. In the kitchen the preparation center including sink, dishwasher and waste cans are in a large island that can be used by more than one person. There is 3-4 feet on each side of the island to allow for wheel chair access if it should become necessary. The stove/oven and refridge are behind the worker at the sink making a small triangle.

The shop is not so well defined. My plan is for the table saw to be placed in the center (18x25 feet). It has a big sliding table on the left and a router under the extension-they share a fence. There will be a European style work bench behind the saw operator and an assembly table off to the side of that. I hope to have the thickness planer and thicknes sander aligned relative to height so they can share the infeed and outfeed tables. They will be along a wall that will also have an SCMS. I don't think the extended bench will be at the same height as the planer - but it would be nice if it were. I would like the jointer near the saw because I often go between the two when working on a rough piece of lumber. There will be a cyclone in the far corner( to keep the noise out of my face). Another corner will have a small spray booth. Drill press and jig saw float on wheels. Hand tool storage will need to fit in whereever it can. Probably in drawers under the tables for the sander/planer/SCMS. The shop is on a crawl space about 18 inches above the garage floor. I can back the wagon up to a 6 ft door common to the two and use the shop floor as loading platform to get supplies in as needed.

H> loutent wrote: