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dupont6480

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Tim
Hi everyone,
First let me thank the site for allowing me to become a member of this great group of woodworkers. After 32 years in the service, 7 years in the corporate world and now on my 3rd year in government work; I am looking forward to building my first workshop. I live in Pungo, VA and my name is Tim. I have not done any woodwork for 30 years and desire to make woodworking my main past time as I near a real retirement and prior to. I plan on turning my 16'x18' 2 stall barn into my workshop. I picked up my permit last week to start the electrical work. This site has been a wealth of information and I do intend to start a post on the progress of my workshop with pictures and truly welcome any and all comments and wise advice. My first question I guess is this: I am not sure how the barn was built and there was only a small wooden deck inside before you approached the two stalls. I tore the stalls out and laid down 6 mil plastic over the sand before putting in the flooring (2x6 seasoned wood). Should I put plastic on top of that and cover with OSB. Should I be concerned about termites etc since no concrete deck? Oh, I forgot to mention the workshop is 250' from the main house. . .
 
DWSmith

DWSmith

New User
David
Welcome!

What branch of the service?

Remember - No pictures = didn't happen. This is a hard to convince bunch! LOL
 
Gotcha6

Gotcha6

Dennis
Staff member
Corporate Member
Welcome aboard!

Lumber placed within 18" of the ground should be pressure treated. Not only for termites, but for mold & mildew. A vapor barrier would be essential too. And don't forget to give the crawl space some ventilation.
Looking forward to the pics!
 
Bill Clemmons

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
Welcome to the site Tim. There are several other members in the midst of a shop build or upgrade right now, so your project will fit right in. Can't wait to see some pics: we love pics. :eusa_danc

As for your question, first about the termites. If I understand it correctly, you're putting a wood floor in an old barn that previously had just a dirt floor. The first thing I would do is call in a Pest Control Operator to put down a termite treatment. On new construction this is required by code. In your case it would probably be a good idea.

When you said you've put down 2x6's, I'm assuming those are the floor joist. I would put down a sub floor of 3/4" T&G (4x8 sheets) glued and screwed to the joist. Then I would lay a layer of 30# roofing felt down, and then I would put down 1/2" OSB as my final floor. That's how I did the floor in my shop. Actually, I laid down two layers of the 30# felt.

HTH

Bill
 
TracyP

TracyP

Administrator , Forum Moderator
Tracy
Welcome to the site and thank you for your years of service to our great country.
 
D

dupont6480

New User
Tim
Bill Clemmons said:
Welcome to the site Tim. There are several other members in the midst of a shop build or upgrade right now, so your project will fit right in. Can't wait to see some pics: we love pics. :eusa_danc

As for your question, first about the termites. If I understand it correctly, you're putting a wood floor in an old barn that previously had just a dirt floor. The first thing I would do is call in a Pest Control Operator to put down a termite treatment. On new construction this is required by code. In your case it would probably be a good idea.

When you said you've put down 2x6's, I'm assuming those are the floor joist. I would put down a sub floor of 3/4" T&G (4x8 sheets) glued and screwed to the joist. Then I would lay a layer of 30# roofing felt down, and then I would put down 1/2" OSB as my final floor. That's how I did the floor in my shop. Actually, I laid down two layers of the 30# felt.

HTH

Bill
Click to expand...
Actually, I put 2x8 joist down a year ago and than the flooring was 2x6 all seasoned wood. The six mil plastic was over the sand under the joists. Should I remove the flooring (2x6) and replace with the felt and OSB??? Great idea on the pest control. I have a friend in the business. Thanks for the ideas. On travel this week but will try to start a workshop post with picutres.
 
D

dupont6480

New User
Tim
Gotcha6 said:
Welcome aboard!

Lumber placed within 18" of the ground should be pressure treated. Not only for termites, but for mold & mildew. A vapor barrier would be essential too. And don't forget to give the crawl space some ventilation.
Looking forward to the pics!
Click to expand...
Thanks. How do I go about providing the ventilation??
 
Bill Clemmons

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
dupont6480 said:
Actually, I put 2x8 joist down a year ago and than the flooring was 2x6 all seasoned wood. The six mil plastic was over the sand under the joists. Should I remove the flooring (2x6) and replace with the felt and OSB??? Great idea on the pest control. I have a friend in the business. Thanks for the ideas. On travel this week but will try to start a workshop post with picutres.
Click to expand...

I would not remove the 2x6 flooring. As far as structural strength goes, the 2x6 floor is probably way stronger than you'll ever need. The main reason you might want to cover it is for insulation value. Putting down the layer of roofing felt and then the 1/2" OSB will serve as a barrier to any cold air coming up from the crawl space. It will also help reduce any odors coming up from below. You said you removed the stables, so I assume this barn once housed horses. :wwink:

But before I did anything else, I would address the concern Dennis raised about ventilation in the crawl space, and get a termite treatment taken care of.

Bill
 
leftoflefty

leftoflefty

New User
Ricky
Welcome to the group. I have absolutely no idea about your floor.:gar-La; But I will be looking forward to seeing some pictures. I really like the "old barn into _____" projects.
 
kave

kave

Kettrell
Corporate Member
Welcome to the website Tim! I echo the appreciation to you for your service to our nation and the world.

Kettrell
 
D

dupont6480

New User
Tim
Bill,
Thanks again. How do I ventilate the space as Dennis suggested? The felt, OSB and plywood is going to reduce my overhead. I probably forgot to mention that the area over the original stalls included a mezanine loft. I will have to measure to ensure I will have sufficient room for lights etc. since I have joists already and the 2x6 flooring and you recommend I do not take the 2x6 up; do I need the recommended first layer of plywood. If not, do I just glue the felt to over the 2x6s and then secure the OSB down?? Problem without putting the plywood down as the first layer is when I screw the OSB down I will more than likely have to deal with any gaps between the 2x6s. I know this is a lot but I do want to get it right the first time. I have the electrical permit and the materials waiting to install. . . thanks Bill
 
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