Work on a gravel floor and youll love concrete...as I did. We got a slab pored about 2 months ago....The feeling I got to just be able to roll a jack under the car and jack it up. Wow that was cool.
They make those end grain floors modern now, there is a website for it that I looked at a couple of months ago, but you know I can't remember it. go to a search on Google. I seem to remember that they have a 3/4 thick endgrain system. I can buy red oak 3/4 T&G strip flooring for 1.99 a Sq Ft. I think that could be glued down with liquid nails? Or I helped rip out an oak floor in a basement that was nailed in the traditional way to 3/4 plywood that was anchored to the concrete with those power nails. That floor held up well. It came out cause the renovation was for something else. I though it was a shame to remove it.
OSB would not work well, in my opinion. Its pieces lift off easily as it ages. My carpenter Dad's garage sat for 10 years with no siding. The Tyvek wrap degraded, and the OSB began to look like wasps had built it. See if you can find some construction company that is discarding 3/4" tongue and groove plywood that's used to pour foundation. That stuff is durable, and has some sort of oil in it that keeps it sealed well.
You didn't mention the square footage of your concrete floors but have you considered diamond polishing (http://www.terrco.com/ ). Diamond polishing produces a very smoth, dust free floor. Many companies can do this around the country & it produces a unique look based upon the concrete aggregate. I used to work for nationwide truck leasing firm. We tried paint, epoxy, super expensive micro leveling. The paint peeled, the epoxy gouged & spalled, the micro leveling was bogus. The diamond grinding with an annual sealing worked the best. Our best floors were diamond ground with imbedded PEX heat tubing. All the mechanics wanted to lay around on the warm floors.
I'm sure there are many ways. Not too long ago I was in an old Pratt and Whitney factory building in Connecticut. The blocks - oak, I think - were a few inches long and they were set in tar on a rough-poured concrete base. They were pretty flat but not perfect; also God knows how many years old. I suppose you could just run a floor sander over them to level them out. I would imagine it is important to set them in tar so that they don't wick in water from the bottom.
Damn, that is nice. A buddy of mine lives in the oldest house in these parts. Still on its original foundation, a few hundred years old. This is the sort of shed that would go on his property. (I'd sure like it, too.)
I know there are some fancy ways to handle concrete, but in the end it is just cold concrete that gets stained and cracks. I really would like to do it in wood.
we have these in our shop. wood block floors, welding cutting not much of a problems the blocks are kind hard to start on fire, actually we never have, they are still avaiable new, cost about $4-$5 per sq ft, they are held down by roof cement and hammerd tight against each other the last row is the bicth ans you need to the key pieces to hold er tight, new bocks fit vvery tight, they are great insulation keeps the place warm and all machinery can be bolted on top of the floor, they were used to keep the vibration of old machines from shaking the buildings apart, god for the back and knees to pm me if you need address of supplier they are in warren mich
The shop I make my living in has 5/4 oak floors.They're great on the feet and back but forget about useing a creepy!My family has run a blacksmith-welding shop with wood floors since 1904 without a fire,we can even get insurance!
Another NIMROD link: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3740&highlight=hot+rod+roadster
I worked for years outside in a stone/dirt driveway. I now have a garage with a concrete floor and feel "big time" every time I'm in there. If you want wood go for it.
I was in Cleveland several years ago at a shippers dock and saw the old wood block floors for the first time. The floor was at least 100 years old and it carried a lot of fork lift traffic... pretty amazing how well it had held up. My buddy Scott completely restored his '67 Mustang in the old carriage house next to his house.... full wooden floor in that building. I always like to gi visit when he was doing that project... nice, cozy atmosphere.
I worked at the Kaiser, Fontana steel mill electric motor shop for many years and we had a floor like that. [it was the leftover machine shop from the Boulder Dam project in the 30,s] Working all day mostly standing and walking, that type of flooring was a lot easier on the feet and legs. It did provide protection to parts and tools that were dropped, We used a lotta heat pulling big couplings with torches and such, and if the heated grease caught fire we would just spray on it with water, and that would put out the fire. [I don't think they would let ya do that anymore]. One problem was if it got a lotta water on it the wood stated swelling and it would form a big mound! gggg
I installed floors and floorcoverings for over 33 years. Go with wood. You will need a vapor barrier to eliminate hydrostatic pressure, though. Doesn't matter if water is not an issue, as it will become one. PM me if you have any questions...
man i have to agree with you about the concrete. I like the look of the wood floor. I am planing on building a shop. but think the metal ones have no style. it will be an old red loft barn style made of wood. but i never thought of a wood floor. NOW I AM. lol
I worked in the GE Cleveland Equipment Plant and the huge machine shop had wood block floors probably 80 years old at the time. One of the reasons for that kind of floor is the the metal chips from the cutting machines wood go into the wood instead of going into the soles and heels of work shoes. It gave it a nice silver-black patina around the mills and lathes.
Couple of more thoughts on the wood floors. I worked at a Corning glass plant in the 70's that the machine shop and part of the production floor was wood block. Very cool. And I spent 20 years working out of a 40 ft trailer, set on the ground. It had white oak flooring, as most trailers had. I cut, welded and sparked on that floor and never had a problem with fire on the floor. The weld berries would just roll across the floor. shop rags and leaves would burn, but not the floor. Plenty of oil on that one, too. Here's the supplier I found: http://www.kaswell.com/woodblock.htm
I have the exact same experience as Mr. Gas Pumper with my 2" thick wooden floor in my shop.I have to cover it up a little when I use the plasma.Paint it every other year to keep it brighter.Heavy use since 1957.
Best place I ever worked was my grandfather's barn with an oak plank floor on a redwood support grid. The floor was just slightly springy, and always warm in winter. As I recall, he did all his welding outside on dirt. I can envision a new garage built with a center wall dividing front from back, with a wood-floored parking area behind the front doors and a concrete-floored fab area in the rear with its own doors.
I worry about fire enough in my garage.... If I had wooden floors I would not sleep nights.... I try hard to keep combustables off the floor where most sparks settle, a combustable floor would be problematic for me. It is not like I often weld or grind inside, I generally always do this stuff outdoors, but sparks don't always go where we want... My garage is attached to the place where my family sleeps, no wooden floor for me... Oh,,, it does not matter how many people say a wooden floor is not a fire hazard in a garage, even if this is true, (might be) I still would not sleep at night.
i would think home owners insurance would have a heart attack and charge you up the butt for insurance..especially if the garage or shop was anywhere near the home or attached..no way for me... concrete dont burn, and who cares about stains? or cracks, hell with wood blocks, you got a million cracks! as if that wood isnt going to suck up paint or oil spills? come on..romance is for the bedroom not the shop floor...un less she likes it that way
Yep. My Dad worked for Pratt for 25 years. When they had open house when I was a kid I can remember the wooden floors. Oak blocks on end. Neat stuff. My wife's Grandfather owned a Ford tractor dealership in a small town in Kansas. The building was an old opera house. They laid an oak floor above the sloped seating area and worked on tractors on that floor.
I am with everybody else. Wood floors are the Boss Hoss. I can't tell you how many times I have thought about having them eventually. I'm not going to run them until my garage is not connected to the house though which only seems like good judgement. Who wants their personal garage to not have any character. I think the personality of a wooden floor or other things gets people motivated.
the other thing wood floors are EXCELENT for is Dryness rust prevention.... I have a partial wood floor where I store my car.... no condensation on the car anymore and I even have a peice of cold rolled 7 gauge (future door header) sitting on it. with NO flash rust on it and its been there for two years. That says ALOT here in WI Wood floors are the SHIT
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